It’s Halloween! My favorite holiday. I’m in a full-on obnoxious panic this morning though because I’m not yet done making both Wednesday’s and my costumes for tonight.
(Eeek!)
However, I can’t let the day wither away without watching Thriller!
Ahhh…. now I feel better.
*le spooky sigh*
Okay, gotta run. I need to make a pair of boots, make a whip (don’t ask), sew stitches on a black dress, and buy green eye shadow, elastic, garment tape, and ivy vines. Ugh.
The final, last ever Harry Potter movie is coming out this Friday. That’s it. Done. Over. Finite Incantatem. There will be n-n-no m-m-more Harry Potter movies t-t-to look f-f-forward to.
*sniffle*
None. Zero. Zilch. Well…. unless JK Rowling writes book eight, of course!
*hoping…. hoping…. HOPING!!!!*
(Yes, yes. I’m a dork. Just roll with it, okay?)
Anyway…. maybe because it’s Harry Potter Week (or, I dunno, maybe it’s just a coincidence or something) (whatever), but a few days ago Harry and the Potters came to town and put on a free concert just a couple of blocks away from our house.
Score!
As a rabid, drooling Harry Potter fan, I had definitely heard of Harry and the Potters, but I had not actually ever seen them in concert before nor heard any of their Harry Potter-y songs, like, ever. But so what? It’s Harry Potter Week, I’m uberoverexcited, and the price was right, so I dragged my hubba hubba hubby, Scope, and my daughter, Wednesday, off to Lincoln Square for the free concert.
I don’t know exactly what I was expecting. Maybe a couple of nerdy wizard-y songs. Perhaps a few squealing Harry Potter fans in Gryffindor scarves and round glasses. I wasn’t really sure what we were in for, but I know I really, REALLY wanted to find out, and I’m exceptionally glad I did.
Harry and the Potters were sooOOooOOooOOoo much fun! The songs were definitely Harry Potter-y, but they were also catchy, brainy and funny. The crowd was a lot bigger than I was expecting (I read in an article the next day that there were roughly 700 people at the concert) and most of them knew a lot of the songs by heart and were singing along with the band. I had a splendiferous time, and I’m pretty sure Scope and Wednesday did too.
Of course, because I’m Cora, I had my camera in hand and snapped a ridonkulous load of pictures. It all looked a little something like this….
Waiting for the show to start…
Harry Potter fans on the loose….
The band hit the stage….
I bought their CDs. Shut up….
Scope got into the “Hagrid Is Full Of Love” song….
Scope and I attempted to make a heart with our hands, but since my hands are the size of drink coasters and his are the size of dinner plates, it came out looking more like a deformed apple. Oh well….
Wednesday and I got Harry and the Potters t-shirts….
And, hey-hey-hey, looky what I just found: someone else at the concert near us filmed the whole dang thing and put it on Youtube. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!:
Part 1
Part 2
Part3
Part4
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand the three of us have been singing those Harry and the Potters songs ever since. We can't get them out of our heads! And I am already wondering when the band will be back in town…. Next summer, perhaps?
Personally I think people of all different sizes can look fantastic. There’s no prerequisite that someone need fit in a certain size pants to be beautiful, handsome or sexy. In fact, often I think the heavier version of someone is far more attractive than his or her thinner version. Like Carrie Underwood. Or Victoria Beckham.
I know I often pout and whine on and on about the 15 or so pounds I’ve put on in the last two years (I’m going to go right ahead and blame that on the fact that I eat REAL dinners now, instead of cups of applesauce and saltine crackers like I used to on that old single mom’s budget of mine) but, really, I’m okay with it. They’re just thighs. Okay, they might be bigger thighs than they used to be, but it’s not the end of the universe. Mostly.
And I still have great hair, dammit!
Some women put a ridiculous amount of pressure on themselves to be skinny. They’re brutal. It’s almost like they think they’re worth nothing if they aren’t a size 0. (Or maybe it’s exactly like that, I dunno.) They take their “thin-spiration” waaaaaayyyyyyy too far down a very dark, dangerous (and hungry!!!!) road.
I know a woman who has been anorexic for 40 years. Let’s call her Joann. Joann is very blunt about her anorexia. She talks about it totally openly. She’s not shy about it at all. She flat out tells me, “I’m anorexic,” rather than making up some cutsie nickname for it, like ‘Ana’ or ‘Rexy’ to make it sound less horrible.
Joann and I have had several conversations about her anorexia over the 12 years I’ve known her. When she talks about it, she acts like it’s impressive or an achievement. She’s actually kind of proud of having starved herself for 40 years. I’ve never understood it.
According to her it started when she was a teenager. Most of her family members were overweight and she became determined to escape the “fat gene,” so she started restricting herself to only one “meal” a day (usually something junk food-y like a few onion rings or a piece of pie) and nourished herself the rest of the day on a strict diet of Pepsi, coffee, beer and cigarettes.
That’s what she has survived on for 40 very hungry years.
Her weight has fluctuated a lot. At one point she was down to a frightening, skeletal 70-something pounds. She never really has much energy and she looks a lot older than she actually is.
Or was.
Joann died last night from cancer. Even with multiple surgeries and chemotherapy, the cancer ran rampant within her because her body was too weak and malnourished from 40 years of starving to fight. There was nothing more the doctors could do.
Joann was in her 50’s. She leaves behind a son, three grandkids she will never get to see grow up (one who is less than a year old and will have no memories of her), a house full of cats, and a big mess for her grieving son to deal with…. and all because she wanted to be skinny.
To everybody out there who is unhappy with their body, can you do me a big favor today? Embrace your curves, your thunder thighs, your beer belly, your badonkadonk butt, your double chin, or whatever body part is ticking you off! Love those imperfect parts even if it’s just for today, because there are far, far worse things than extra pounds.
Definitely.
I think Joann got that in the end. I heard that her last request in the hospital was to pig out on ice cream. I don’t know if that is funny or really sad. It makes me feel both things at once, honestly.
I know this song has nothing to do with death (more likely a fight) (or drugs) but it always kinda reminds me of troubled souls being set free. I imagine Joann drifted away across the universe last night and is in heaven right now where she can eat all the ice cream she wants to without fear or guilt or worry. Joann, this one is for you….
My daughter has a friend. Let’s call her “Dippy,” because she is.
Dippy got mad at Gwen the other day because Gwen invited another girl over to our house this weekend. Dippy decided to get revenge. Her revenge? She claimed she fell, hit her head, got amnesia, and didn’t remember who Gwen was anymore.
Uhh…. okaaaayyyyyyyy.
(You see why I call her Dippy, right? Sharpest knife in the drawer, she is NOT.)
So, Gwen got HER revenge by “reminding” Dippy in front of everyone at school that before she got “amnesia” she lost a bet to Gwen and owes Gwen $1000!
And suddenly—*POOF*—just like magic, Dippy’s “amnesia” was cured.
Okidoki. So, in an effort to save myself from getting into any possible irksome future legal smack down(s) by delving into deep, dizzying and dangerous discussions which may tempt, lure and seduce me into saying things I may regret (*cough-someone I know is SUCH A JERK-cough*) I’m going to play it safe today and tell you my top ten favorite cheesy love songs which—ohhhhh, I dunno—I may (hint hint) or may not wish to have the DJ play at the wedding reception in July.
(Scope, I hereby apologize for my uber-dorky taste in music—but, better start getting used to it now, right?!?!)
(And, hey, it’s not like I want to dance to “Islands In The Stream.” *snicker*)
(Sorry, obscure FLASHFORWARD reference.)
(Moving on….)
Here are my TOP TEN FAVORITE CHEESY LOVE SONGS at the moment:
(And, to all the overachieving nutjobs out there, don’t feel pressured to watch ALL the videos, of course!!)
(Unless you’re reeeeaaaaalllllllyyyyyyyyy that wrapped around my finger and devoted to kissing my butt, then by all means carry on and enjoy.)
10. “Hella Good” by No Doubt .
. 9. “If I Can’t Have You” by Yvonne Elliman .
. 8. “Bus Stop” by The Hollies .
. 7. “You Get Me” by Michelle Branch .
. 6.“More Than A Woman” by The Bee Gees .
. 5. “Love You Madly” by Cake .
. 4. “Binary Love” by Blake Lewis (and I swear this one is about has to be about two bloggers falling in love, seriously! Awwwwwww….) .
. 3. “Friday Night” by The Darkness .
. 2. “How Deep Is Your Love” by The Bee Gees .
. 1. “Let’s Just Fall In Love Again” by Jason Castro .
