Wow, I'm really sumthin'

Wendy tagged me last week...

I'm finally answering it.

The rules: to write a 6 word memoir...

If anyone else would like to do so, consider yourself tagged.

Here goes:

loyal,

empathetic,

understated,

imperfect,

funny,

woman

Wow, I sound pretty fantastic, almost perfect...don't you think?

Next assignment: to write the real one.

Hey Big Boy

When I was a little girl, the place to get a burger, and I mean the ONLY place to get a burger, was Bob's Big Boy.

We'd head on over to Van Nuys Blvd. for the great "combo" plate. A burger, fries, and salad with the best blue cheese dressing ever.

And those milkshakes?...woah!

Years later, when I was old enough to drive, my friends and I would "cruise" down Van Nuys Blvd. right by the Bob's Big Boy, and all the way down to Mike's Pizza. (the best rolls imaginable).

We'd stand in the parking lot, teenagers gathered to talk and flirt, really quite innocent.

Last night, Mr. Cruisin came home from work and said: "Let's head over to Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake". Although the one on Van Nuys Blvd. has since been knocked over and turned into a car agency, the T.L. Big Boy remains...declared an historical landmark...alive and kicking.

Friday nights are "classic car night". Lot's of gray-haired baby boomers gather to strut their very old cars, oops, I mean very classic cars for all to see. The parking lot was filled to the brim.

By the way, if you're looking to meet a man?...this is the place to be. If you can tolerate the smell of exhaust and gas fumes that is. (isn't' that always the case with men? sorry, couldn't help myself)

A small price to pay to see people enjoying the California car culture. Boy do we love our cars.

But there is something refreshingly simple and heartwarming about seeing families out on a warm Friday night, enjoying a burger and the beautiful lines of a classic Cadillac or Camaro.

It was so crowded, you could barely move between the cars and the people. Every table was taken, some eating, some observing.

For a moment, it was like stepping back in time. Thoughts of carhops running around taking orders from teens pretending, even if for one evening, that they were totally in charge of their lives.

I couldn't help but laugh when I looked over to the far side of this historical landmark...

only to spy a Starbucks.

Old
and
new
colliding.

OFF

Well, that's it for Adam Carolla...even my votes couldn't save him.

But, he went out with class, hilarity, and on a uni-cycle.

Yep, you heard me right...

ballroom dancing on a uni-cycle.

And here is what he said at the end, referring to his dancing partner Julianne Hough:
“I lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 105 pounds of angel,”

Coincidentally, that's just what Mr. Cruisin said to me the day we got married.

Oh yeah, that's me...the "angel".

"You are the example of everything that's wrong with t.v. today"

Those are the words my son uttered (with shame and distain, I might add) to me last week...

...after making the announcement that I called in my votes to Dancing with the Stars...not once, not twice, but 12 times. (did I just say that out loud?)

I couldn't help it. I felt compelled. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this.

Really...

I swear.

No, REALLY...I'm not that kind of girl.

But I was possessed. I had to vote. I didn't think I could live with myself had my favorite been voted off, and I didn't even vote.

It's no secret I love American Idol. But this season of Dancing with the Stars has captured my heart (and my funny bone). Yeah, that's right, MY HEART.

I love Adam Carolla. He's hysterical. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley. He grew up very close to where I did, but even closer to where Mr. Cruisin did.

His haunts were Mr. Cruisin's haunts as a kid. In fact, he is practically my husband's clone, if my husband was Italian, had his own radio show, was on Dancing with the Stars, had a new movie out, was best buddies with Jimmy Kimmel and Dr. Drew Pinsky, and about 13 years younger.

Okay, so maybe not his clone. But Carolla cracks me up.
Mr. Cruisin cracks me up.

Daily life is not always easy. Laughter pulls us through, don't you think?

So, this season of Dancing with the Stars is providing me with the best medicine...dancing, laughter, and the chance to unwind on my couch without having to think.

And thanks to Adam Carolla...I have done the unthinkable...

I VOTED on a reality show.

(did I just say that out loud?)

Jumping the shark

The term jumping the shark alludes to a specific scene in a 1977 episode of the TV series Happy Days when the popular character Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli literally jumps over a shark while water skiing. The scene was so preposterous that many believed it to be an ill-conceived attempt at reviving the declining ratings of the flagging show. Since then, the phrase has become a colloquialism used by U.S. TV critics and fans to denote the point at which the characters or plot of a TV series veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Such a show is typically deemed to have passed its peak. Once a show has "jumped the shark" fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm. "Wikipedia"
Post inspired by Neil

I love this term. What a perfect way to describe what's happened to much of television.

All of reality t.v. has jumped the shark (except, of course, American Idol)

So, I'll leave it at this...because I'm too lazy to figure it out myself...

which of your favorite shows, past or present, jumped the shark? and why?

"You look just like a friend of mine"

Awhile ago, I wrote this post about being told twice in my life that I look like Carrie Fisher.

I suppose if pushed, we could all come up with someone, at least one person, that we resemble.

But for me, it has been quite odd lately. Over the last several months, I have been stopped, no less than twice a week, by someone who just has to let me know I look exactly like someone they know.

People have actually confused me, albeit for a moment, with their friends. "Oh my gosh, you look just like my brother's ex-wife's sister-in-law".

Last week, the guy making sandwiches at Bristol Farm's Market, was positive I was his regular customer that comes in weekly...I have never set foot in that market before.

Just tonight, while paying for Big Hunk candy bars (for my "big hunk" of a husband on Valentine's day...yep, I'm a real sport), a lady in line looked at me and said, "wow, I thought you were my friend, who lives across town...I was wondering what you were doing all the way over here!!!!". And she laughed hysterically. (I'm so glad I could provide her with Valentine's day entertainment.)

This has really got me thinking...

What is it about my face that actually has people stopping me several times a week to say that I look just like someone they know?

I must be the most ordinary looking person on earth, who just looks like...EVERYONE.

Or, perhaps, I have a comforting, friendly face, that doesn't intimidate people, so they think I'm their friend.

Christ, maybe I'm so ugly that people tell me I look like their friend, hoping I won't feel too badly when I have to go home and look at myself in the mirror.

Maybe I'm one of those X-Men characters, Morph-ine...I morph into people's friends, right before their eyes.

Whatever the reason, it has been a very strange phenomenon...

I love trivia, maybe you do too

Apparently, only Val has a great sense of humor, and understood that my last post was a JOKE people...even my husband didn't get it...OY...

So, moving right along...

Who are the writers of the following songs?:

UH, uh, UH, oh no you don't...do not Google :)

1.Daydream Believer sung by the Monkees

2.The First Cut is the Deepest (Rod Stewart and Cheryl Crow did covers)

3.Smile (though your heart is aching)sung by Nat King Cole

4.Red Rubber Ball sung by the Cyrkle