Packing up my pants

So, I'm moving The Fattypants Papers over to Vox. Vox is kewl.

The new link is: fattypants.vox.com

Book Review: Bad Girl Creek by Jo-Anne Mapson

This book wasn't especially well-written, but I enjoyed it in spite of the occasionally cringe-worthy word choices.

The story takes turns being told from the viewpoints of four women who, through a variety of unusual circumstances, end up living together on a flower farm. Each is trying to deal with her own difficult past, and they help each other by forming their own little family group. Once you find out everybody's secret (in the first few chapters of the book), everything is fairly predictable. I still was sort of glued to the book, though.

Not everything is totally resolved, so I wasn't surprised to find that it is the first in a trilogy. I'll look forward to reading the other two, but they'll be guilty pleasures.

Book Review: Four Spirits by Serena Jeter Naslund

The Summer Reading Program is over, but I think I'll continue to review the books I read. I just don't have to include the page-count anymore.

The "Four Spirits" referred to in the title of this book are the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham. (Or are they? By the end of the book I was thinking the title could refer to four other "spirits.") Although the bombing is a major event in the book, though, I wouldn't say that this book is "about" that bombing. Rather, it's about what it was like to live in Birmingham during the struggle for civil rights, for black and white citizens, alike. And boy, does it ever accomplish that. I was recently asked what I get out of reading, and a part of my reply was that I think there is a lot to be learned from fiction; so often fiction gives us the chance to know what it is like to experience something entirely outside of our own sphere of experience. That was what this book was like for me. I think I could read a hundred non-fiction books about the civil rights movement and not get the same sense of what it was like to live through it than I did from reading this book. It is so striking to me to think of a time so recent and a place so close to home, really, where violence was a such frequent occurrence.

If this book were a film, it would be referred to as an ensemble piece. (Imagine a period version of Crash.) It follows several characters: black and white. Most of them are engaged in the struggle for integration, but some chapters follow a Klan member and his family. We see what they go through in the name of civil rights--police brutality at protests, beatings, threats, fear. But we also see parts of their daily lives that have nothing to do with civil rights--their love affairs, their relationships with their children. Naslund has created a microcosm of Birmingham in this small cast of characters--lives intersect in ways that are maybe too coincidental to be realistic--and through their growth we can see how attitudes towards integration gradually began to change and progress was made.

disneylanddisneylanddisneylanddisneyland. DISNEYLAND! (is a good place to overhear kids say cute things)

Here are some gems that we have witnessed over the years:

Kid being sort-of-dragged through the Space Mountain line by his dad, who is telling him he'll like it. "I don't like SPACE and I don't like MOUNTAINS!"

Little Australian girl in the Matterhorn line (you've got to imagine the accent) "Daddy, are you going to get mewtion sickness?"

Little girl with giant lollipop #1: "Do you like to be sticky?"
Little girl with giant lollipop #2: "It's okay."

disneylanddisneylanddisneylanddisneyland. DISNEYLAND! (has fun things to do even if you don't go on any rides)

Most people think of Disneyland as being all about the rides. For me, the rides are the main attraction, but there are a lot of other ways to have fun at Disneyland.

1. Parades and shows. It can be kind of a pain to sit down early enough to get a good spot for a parade or a show, but if you have enough time to go on all the rides you want to, it is a fun thing to do. (Plus, this is an excellent time to engage in activity number 6, listed below.) Right now, Disneyland is running one parade, the Parade of Dreams, which is a pretty good parade with performance stops along the way, Fantasmic!--an excellent multimedia nighttime show on the Rivers of America, and their 50th Anniversary fireworks, which is a really spectacular show with projections on the castle and Matterhorn. All of these are good--Fantasmic!, especially, is a classic. For all of these, you probably need to sit down at least an hour early to get a good spot.

Below: Trampoline peformers on the Alice in Wonderland float in the Parade of Dreams


California Adventure is running the Block Party Bash, a Pixar themed parade with long, noisy peformance stops during which you might be pulled out of the crowd and forced to dance with a giant green army man. I can skip that one, thanks. But they're also running a short Aladdin. musical, which has really cool special effects, a funny genie who pulls quips from current events, and sometimes audience behavior, and good songs. It takes part in a big, nice, indoor theater, so it's a good place to get in from the heat and sun, and rest your feet, and it doesn't matter where you sit, since every seat has a good view.

You can check the calendar for show and parade times.

2. Non-ride "Attractions:" Animatronic shows and films are a great place to enjoy a seat and some air-conditioning. And some of them are can't-miss classics, like the Enchanted Tiki Room. California Adventure has the Animation Pavillion, where you can learn to draw a character (you should have seen my attempt at Goofy--next time I will follow directions more carefully), record a voice for a scene from a Disney film, or go to the toaotally awesome Turtle Talk with Crush. There's also a nice little movie about the history of California, which always makes me cry and then I'm totally mortified that my emotions are so easy to manipulate. It's Tough to be a Bug and Muppet Vision 3D are part of a new breed of 3-D films that incorporate animatronics and other surprising effects. (Be sure you keep your seat until the very end of It's Tough to be a Bug!) Disneyland also has one of these: Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. There are also some great walk-through attractions, like Tarzan's Tree House, many of the character's houses in Toontown, and Tom Sawyer Island

3. Dining Experiences: I went to Disneyland in college with some friends who wanted to save money by taking sandwiches and snacks into the park. While I totally understand this impulse--the food is expensive sometimes, I think that eating at the parks is part of the Disneyland experience. I've already mentioned how much I love the Blue Bayou,, and that is as much for the atmosphere as the food. Other can't-miss dining experiences include The Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street and Mickey Mouse shaped snacks (everything from pretzels to ice cream sandwiches to tortilla chips). We recently discovered Pooh's Hunny Spot, right by the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, which is in a fairly quiet corner of the parks and offers a Tigger Tail (marshmallows on a stick dipped in orange coating and drizzled with chocolate), and Rice Crispie treates shaped and decorated to look like Hunny pots.

(This blogger gives a pretty good rundown of some of the best places to eat in the parks and Downtown Disney.)

4. Shopping: I'm not a really big shopper, but there are some shops I really enjoy going to every time I go to Disneyland, particularly the Christmas shop and others in the back alleys of New Orleans Square.

5. Looking around: The Imagineers have put a lot of thought and detail-work into the parks, which you can miss if you are running around from ride-to-ride. Two of my favorite places to just spend some time looking around are Toontown, and New Orleans Square.

Below: "Laundry" hung to dry along the Rivers of America


6. Observing other Disneyland guests. Disneyland is pretty much the best place to observe...um... "interesting" behavior, conversations, child rearing techniques, and fashion choices. Seriously, I am almost never bored waiting in a line or sitting on the curb of Main Street waiting for a parade to start. You'd be shocked how many women decide to wear short skirts and less-than-sensible shoes for a day on their feet, climbing in and out of rides.

Other people seem to enjoy pin trading and tracking down characters for autographs and photos. I don't really get the appeal of those activities, but since it keeps those people out of lines for rides I want to go on, they can go ahead and knock themselves out.

Addendum to yesterday's entry:

I was reminded about the Roger Rabbit ride in Disneyland's Toontown. That is definitely a point in favor of Disneyland, as the Disney World Toontown Faire doesn't have any adult-friendly rides. (My sister and I went on the Barnstormer Roller Coaster once, and the wait in the queue was very stressful for me, as I was really worried we wouldn't fit in the car.)

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin is really fun dark ride, and features the best themed queue I've ever seen (it's too bad the current fastpass arrangement means you often just walk right through it), and one of my favorite effects ("I've got a portable hole!").

Thanks, Kelly, for reminding me!

disneylanddisneylanddisneylanddisneyland. DISNEYLAND! (is better than Disney World)

To know me is to know how much I love Disneyland. At the end of October, I'll be heading down there to celebrate my 30th birthday. This is causing kind of a dilemma for me, because I want the time to go fast so that I can go, but that means I will also be wanting the last 49 days of my 20's speed by.

It's been pointed out to me that I am fixated on Disneyland. Well, I did know that--I have been like this since 1993. If I don't have a trip to Disneyland planned, I feel empty and desolate inside. If I do, I am counting down the days (48, if you're followng along at home). I recently figured out I've been to Disneyland 16 or 17 times. (Anybody happen to remember whether Karen and I went in the Summer of 1998? Because we don't, and it's driving me crazy.) And I went to Disney World 5 times whe I was living in Florida.

It occured to me...why am I not blogging about Disneyland? I certainly have a lot to say about it.

In order to convince some people that Disneyland is better than Disney World, and they need to give it a try, here is a list of reasons why I think Disneyland is better than Disney World.

1. It's the original. The park was built with Walt Disney's input, and has a richer history, like the apartment over the firehouse, and Club 33.

2. New Orleans Square. What's more fun--the Big Easy, or Colonial Williamsburg. Sure, Disneyworld has Liberty Square--whose biggest attraction is the Hall of Presidents. Big whoop. Disneyland has New Orleans Square, which is one of the prettiest places in any of the parks. So, the land itself is prettier and more fun to walk around in, but then it has stuff that Disney World either doesn't have, or doesn't do as well. They are so important, they get their own spots on the list.

The Disneyland Railroad pulls into New Orleans Square Station


3. Pirates of the Caribbean. At Disney World, you get on a boat, and you go past some animatronic pirates, and it's nice, sure, but if you've ever been on Pirates at Disneyland, you're bound to be disappointed. At Disneyland, you get on your boat, and you drift through a big bayou at night scene, then you come to the arch where the skull warns you "Dead men tell no tales," and you plunge down a real drop (not the dinky little drop they put in at Disney World, which they probably felt they had to do because Disneyland has a drop), and you're in these caverns full of pirate skeletons, ship debris, and booty. Then you come out in the world of the "fleshy" animatronic pirates. There's much more of a story to it--like you were just taking a little bayou cruise and accidentally fell into the caves with the skeletons, and were transported magically back in time. Apparently, Pirates at Disneyland now has a Jack Sparrow figure, but I haven't seen it yet, so I don't have a comment (but will report back after our trip).

4. The Blue Bayou. While you're on Pirates, as you're winding through the bayou-at-night scene, you pass an "outdoor" restaurant lit with pastel lanterns. This might just be my favorite place to eat lunch in the whole world. It is so nice to come in from a hot, sunny day to this "night time" setting, all dark and cool. They have great food, too. A lot of people are smitten with the Monte Cristo, but I like the pork loin with apples. Apparently they've made some changes; check out this review which includes pictures. Pirate dessert! I think the cookie boat is the cutest, but I'm a sucker for a creme brulee trio. Only at Disneyland.

5. The Haunted Mansion. The ride at Disneyland is about the same as Disney World, but the house is much prettier:


And, from early October to early January, they do the Haunted Mansion Holiday: a Nightmare Before Christmas take on the ride. It's awesome.

6. The Matterhorn. Sure it's not the most thrilling roller coaster ever, but it's a fun ride, and a park landmark, and it's only at Disneyland. And you get to listen to yodeling while you wait.

7. it's a small world. Like the Haunted Mansion, the ride is about the same at both parks, but Disneyland's small world has its own, pretty building and outdoor boarding area, with a big cuckoo-type clock.


8. Mr Toad's Wild Ride. It's a classic, and they closed the one at Disney World to put in Winnie-the-Pooh.

9. Alice in Wonderland dark ride. This dark ride is second only to Peter Pan for me. It's so cute. The loading area has big leaves and flowers, and you get to wind around on a caterpillar. Also, the teacups at Disneyland are cuter--no cover, and nice colored lanterns.

10. Storybook Canal/Casey Junior Circus Train. There's a whole land of buldings and plants "magically shrunk by Tinkerbell" depicting scenes from Disney films. The Storybook Canal boats are a guided tour past Geppetto's toys shop, Alice's rabbit hole, Snow White's cottage, and other sentimental favorites. On the Casey Junior Circus Train, you can take a faster ride around the same landscape.


11. Toontown. Disney World has "Mickey's Toontown Fair," which is cute because it features the "vacation homes" of some of the Disney characters, but Toontown is bigger, better, cuter, and more thoughtfully planned. The bathrooms are in the gas station for crying out loud.

12. Space Mountain. It's just a better ride at Disneyland.

13. Autopia. Cuter at Disneyland.

14. Scale. A lot of people like Disney World better because it's bigger and there are more parks. While I can see this as a plus in Disney World's favor, I love that at Disneyland, both parks, all the hotels, and Downtown Disney are within easy walking distance of each other. It makes such a difference that you really can hop out of the park for lunch in Downtown Disney without having to take a bus or a boat there.

15. Indiana Jones Adventure. Disney World has (or used to have--I'm not sure if it's been replaced) a stunt show, but Disneyland has a really good ride. Who wouldn't rather go on a ride than just sit and watch a show.

That's about all I can think of right now, although the main thing for me, is probably just that I went to Disneyland first, every few years since I was about 5, and I didn't go to Disney World until I was 26. So there's probably some nostalgia invovled.

We Like Corn on the Cob


So, the other weekend, we had it for lunch. Not even for dinner. Lunch.

Karen offered to husk it and I took her up on it, since I was trying to finish an SRP book. So, several minutes later, it occurs to me that it seems to be taking an awful long time for three ears of corn. I go into the kitchen to find her carefully peeling the husks off the corn, one leaf at a time, and gently depositing each leaf in the garbage. One at a time.

::facepalm::

This post will be the first in the series of why the Kane girls would have made really, really bad pioneers.

I like to not have giant blackheads.

So I use a face mask once a week or so to clean out my pores and try to curtail any breakouts. I used to get a Desert Clay mask at Garden Botanika that I loved. After it was dry, I could see all the oil it had blotted out of my pores right there in little polka dots on my nose and cheeks.

Tonight, I tried a new one--Queen Helene's Mint Julep Mask. It's got great word-of-mouth, so I thought I'd give it a try, since it cost $3.29 instead of the $15-$20 I usually pay. It was nice and tingly, which I like, because that makes me feel like it is working. The minty smell was very pleasant--Harley thought so, too, and it was kind of hard to keep him from rubbing up against my face while I was waiting for it to dry. My pores look nice and clean, and it wasn't too hard to rinse off.

Here are some others I've tried since I used up the last of my Garden Botanika stockpile:

Bath and Body Works' Pumpkin mask. I can't find it on the website, so maybe they don't make it anymore. It has the appearance, smell, and consistency of canned pumpkin pie filling. It's a too little mild for me and it takes for-freaking-ever to dry.

Jaqua Pumpkin Papaya Pure Enzyme Face Mask I really liked this one. It smelled great--pumpkiny and spicy, and worked well. Not tingly, but it made my skin feel nice and soft in addition to clearer. Also takes a long time to dry, but smells so good I don't really care.

Body Shop Natural Oceanic Clay Ionic Mask Okay, this worked fine, but imagine putting dark green tempera paint all over your face, and then trying to wash it off in your bathroom sink. I can't believe I spent $18 to stain a bunch of my washcloths and have to clean my sink out every time I used this.

Freeman Peel-off Cucumber Mask Peel off masks sound like a lot more fun than they actually are. I was always picking cucumber scented mask boogers out of my hairline.

Disgustingly Delicious, with no calories!

The following are the entertianment equivalents of Cheetos:

1. E! It's basically televised Star! Magazine. Sure, I'm an avid reader, but sometimes, I just find the 100 Greatest Celebrity Freak-outs completely riveting.

2. VH1 Celebreality. Like E!, with the added delciousness of B-list celebrities doing stuff like trying to lose weight, or my favorite...co-habitating.

3. Kelly Clarkson. I've never even watched American Idol. I don't really like pop. But if I'm tired on my wallk, all I have to do is steer my ipod to Since U Been Gone.

4. One Tree Hill. It makes Dawson's Creek look Emmy-worthy. In a cast of 10 regulars, I count 3 who have not been directly involved in a teen pregnancy and/or pregnancy scare at some point during the run or history of the show. It features a teen vixen who looks like she's at least 29, and an awesomly eeeevil, mustache twirling villian. Oh! And one of the characters is a singer, whose performances are featured on the show and on the soundtrack. How very Kids from Fame. Thank goodness it wasn't cancelled in the WB/UPN merger!

5. Movies with dancing. Oh, I'm not talking about Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers classics. No. (Those are good, too.) No, the kind that are delicously disgusting are the ones made after 1980, involving teens, usually one from a strict family and one from the wrong side of the tracks. Excellent examples of this genre include Center Stage, and Footloose. An awesome variation resulted in the awesome The Cutting Edge. I haven't seen Step Up yet, because I'm too embarassed to go to the theater, but you can bet it's in my Netflix queue.