Peppered Thought – The Spice of Life

Some of life’s little joys:

• When umbrellas flip inside out

• dropping food

• Little kids using big words.

Story time! When one of my cousins (who is now in her second year at ASU) was about 7?, my mom asked her if she was excited about school starting.

She replied, “Kind of. I really feel ambivalent about it.”

My mom was taken by surprise. “What do you mean?” she asked, thinking my cousin just used a word she’d heard.

“You know, i am kinda torn. I’m excited, but also nervous.”

She was a clever little girl.

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5. Tyson Griffin vs. Hermes Franca

Now, I have a thing (meaning ‘don’t particularly like’) about fighters and their hair. Clay Guida’s hair is so amazing it can’t even be reproduced in a video game. But there’s a difference between keeping your hair long/shaving your head, and dying/bleaching/braiding to be more shocking. Or edgy. Or whatever. I don’t care your argument; to this girl, they’re all invalid.

4. Josh Koscheckvs. Frank Trigg

I’m not a big fan of Koscheck (see the above hair debate), but Frank Trigg seems incredibly wishy-washy about this fight. Like a good worker who is talented at his craft, but he’s a year away from retirement so he’s just coasting. However, ol’ Twinkle Toes might have some magic left.

3. Martin Kampmann vs. Paul Daley

It seems like this one might become interesting. Daley’s got some vicious knockout power in his hands, but Kampmann has managed to pull off some fantastic submissions. If it gets to the ground, Kampmann all the way.

2. Mirko Cro Cop vs. Junior Dos Santos

Santos trains with Noguiera and Anderson Silva. He will definitely be a formidable opponent for Cro Cop. If Cro Cop can beat this guy, he is officially back. But, my bet is on the “Gypsy”.  And for the record, I don’t know why Santos’ nickname is “Cigano” (which roughly means ‘gypsy’ in Portuguese).

1. Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort

Rich Franklin had to get his nose reconstructed (not just ‘oh no worries I got my nose broken but it’ll heal’) after his fight with Anderson Silva, and he keeps coming in full force. That’s an aggression that can help you withstand less-experienced fighters. But “The Phenom,” Vitor Belfort, is no newbie to taking hits. This is going to be a definite great showing, and I am excited to see how it goes. I am rooting for Vitor.

Remember the scene in Amelie when she finds a little tin treasure box that had been hidden behind the tiles of her powder room?

“…Only excavators of Tutankhamen’s tomb could have known what she felt like, uncovering this.”

Or Addie Loggins’ (Tatum O’Neal) keepsake box with the false bottom in Paper Moon?

These were the only things she held on to from her old life with her mother, before her whole life was turned around by a con artist with a heart of gold.

Having to leave a place without all your belongings is traumatic to anyone, yet she took the things that mattered most to her, and they served her well: a picture of her mother, some of her mothers old perfume and jewelry, cigarettes – all little memories that will comfort her and make sure she never loses that part of her.

Whenever I see things like this, such as a character that only has one suitcase of their belongings, it intrigues me. We have been trained in this capitalist society to buy more stuff buy bigger houses to fit more stuff. When does it end? If there was a fire in your gigantic house, would you be running into your bathroom to grab the soaps carved into roses? No, you’d be grabbing a quilt your grandmother made you and your dog (or children, if the case called for it). It’s these things that are most important to us, so why do we need all the other things? Why do we keep unimportant stuff around?

I have started reading Rowdy Kittens, and became very interested in the subject of downsizing. This couple is downsizing their life because they want to be able to move into a tiny house soon. But they have nothing but good things to say about living with less. Why don’t more of us do that?

I have been inspired to start purging my life as well; the Beau and I are going to have a garage sale to get rid of a lot of stuff, and once the dust settles from that, the real purging can begin.

What would you put in your trinket box?

You know what I love? Raspberries.

You know what I also love? Margaritas. Especially in mason jars.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

Now you can blend the raspberries in with the mix (yes, I use premade mix-but it’s a flippin winner with the mango!), but even better?

poppin’ them in your mouth, Amelie style!

The trick with my margaritas is just eyeballing the amounts that go in. And just a splash more tequila than you think. Then you only have to have one glass and you’re golden!

Well, it’s really coming down to the wire, people. I realized that it is now two weeks until the first day of fall, so it’s time to step up my motivation and get some of this list crossed off!

Next thing up for crossing:

My buddy “The Duckster” lives in Hawaii now, and I know he gets a bit homesick for the shenanigans of his mainland friends, so I like to send him little reminders we’re still thinking of him.

I like to send small, strange boxes. This one happens to be a cigar box. He can then recycle it for something cool to show off to the wahines he brings home.

“Oh, this old box? I just keep my pipe tobacco and darts in it. My buddy from the mainland sent it to me.”

How cool does that sound? Anyway, here’s some of the mischief the Beau and I sent him:

• Polaroid of Tortilla reading a Jimmy Buffett book (the Duckster is a MAJOR Parrothead)
• A pic of the beau, the Duck and Grits I have been meaning to send him since July (oops!)
• Some tasty morsels (don’t worry, they’ll be wrapped!)
• a little tin toy monkey ( I couldn’t believe my good luck that I had found one so small that still clanged cymbals!)
• Some cool good luck letters (he’s going backpacking in New Zealand, lucky Duck!)
• A good read

Don’t you wish you could get packages like that? Well, the first step is giving one just as cool.

Today’s Take Five is five movies I could watch over and over again. They will also be the five movies my kids’ see over and over again. Here in AZ it’s not quite cool enough to grab some hot chocolate, but it’s never the wrong time to grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy these!

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5. Wizard of Oz – Flying evil monkeys, Munchkin songs, fabulous shoes, and Pink Floyd matchups, all in one movie. You can’t go wrong.

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4. Sandlot – Even if you’re not a boy - even if you’re not a tomboy- this movie hits it out of the park. Boys and the adventures they get into over the summer. And, can I tell you, I had the most major crush on Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez.

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3. Lion King. A loose retelling of Hamlet, one of the last exceptional Disney films, and some fantastic songs.

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2. Labyrinth. If you don’t like this movie, we can’t be friends. This movie accounts for a lot of the strangeness I developed over the years.

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1. Princess Bride. This movie has everything. “Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…”

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(H.M.)- CJ7

This is an honorable mention, because although most people haven’t seen it, this movie is wonderful. It might be a little too complex for really young kids (dealing with bullies, death, separating fantasy and reality), but Stephen Chow creates an amazing world where anything is possible.

Other honorable mentions: Toy Story & E.T. (see below)

*Calm down! These are only my Top Five, people. Granted there are about 3 dozen more that I absolutely cherish on this list, but these are the cream of the crop.