The New Poor?

I Feel So Poor Without My Tiara

I recently read an article on Yahoo! that really rubbed me the wrong way...  How to Earn $100,000 and Still Feel Poor. It's a topic I've been thinking about for quite some time, and frankly, I can no longer remain silent on it. My ire concerns the way Americans define the term, poor.  Heck, it even concerns the definition my computer New Oxford American Dictionary gives: poor means "lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society."

When it comes to our society I'm all for throwing that definition out the window. Why? Because when it comes to defining what poor means we are messed up. Our view of comfortable or normal equates to what other countries consider champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Poor doesn't mean not having a cell phone complete with sparkly case, it means not having a place to live. It doesn't mean you have to cut your cable package and miss out on 1000 Ways to Die, it means your electricity was just shut off. It doesn't mean having to eat out less, it means wondering where your next meal is coming from. I hear people complaining about the economy while talking on cell phones, which more than likely cost a lot of moola to maintain every month (I seriously do not understand how so many people can afford these things when our economy is so terrible - does it make any sense to you?). At any rate, if you're eating three meals a day and have a roof over your head, you're not poor!

Over the last couple of years, while voting for the town and school budget, I have heard many people invoke the term, "tough economic times" as a reason for voting down basic needs for our town and school.  I'm not challenging that phrase...what I am challenging is the number of people who claim to be suffering during these tough economic times, yet their kids (and themselves) have all the latest gadgets (my kids are always telling me about how most kids in their classes have cell phones, gameboys, DS's or whatever's the latest and greatest), the biggest cable package (not to mention flat screen TVs) you can get, the nicest clothes and most expensive brands, and who obviously are getting enough to eat (this is not a slight on people struggling with their weight - it's saying, you aren't poor if you're getting plenty to eat), and so on.  It's an insult to the people who really are suffering...those who have lost their jobs, those on fixed incomes, those whose communities have been hit by natural disaster, those who can't take necessary medications because they can't afford them (type I diabetics will often go without insulin because it's hugely expensive), and those who are literally starving, especially children.

Homemade Shirt and Bad Haircut Does Not Equal Poor

I grew up on reduced price school lunches, hand-me-downs - sometimes holey, oftentimes too big - and at one point shared a bedroom with 2 sisters (I slept on a couch).  We rarely got the latest fad (unless it was cheap, like beaded friendship pins), my mother made a lot of our birthday and Christmas gifts or got them from yard sales, and we pretty much never ate out.  Were we poor?  No way!  And my mom, who had it worse than me by a fair amount and who grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood, didn't consider herself poor, either. She had food, a roof over her head, and clothes to wear.

What's my point? Well, maybe people should start looking at what they do have instead of complaining about what they don't (I will include myself in this, as well, cause I can get whiny, too).  It's a simple idea and I can't take credit for it, because it's been around for a long time.  Just because you don't have everything you want or aren't living the lifestyle you'd like to live doesn't qualify you as poor.  Poor hurts. Are you really hurting if you can't have steak twice a week or had to put off your family vacation for a year? Does cutting your cable package or dumping your cell phone really cut deep?

If you think so, then I suggest you re-think your priorities.  You may not truly be poor economically, but you're definitely poor in spirit.  And in the long run, that's going to hurt worse.

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Until We Meet Again...

Come Explore Anaedor!

My Top Five Favorite Horror Flicks!

In honor of Halloween, I decided to make a list of my top five favorite horror flicks (yes, I just repeated my title, what’re you gonna do, take a chainsaw to me?). I picked these five because, one way or another, they all really got to me. I saw some of them when I was just a kid and still vividly remember them.

Which might explain a few of my personality glitches…

Now, before you horror movie diehards get too excited, let me say one thing first. I didn’t get to watch too many movies growing up (we were too poor to pay for entertainment), and certainly not many horror ones. And now, well, with having kids, the horror movies today are just too real and gory for me to watch. That means I’m sticking to those horror movies that I remember from childhood and teenagerhood. Though I must say, there are a couple on this list my mother should never have let me watch.

So, without further ado, here is my top-five list…

1. Burnt Offerings. This movie came out in 1976 and was based on a novel written by Robert Marasco. The story centers around a family who moves into a haunted house…but this is no ordinary haunted house. Each time someone dies, the house gets rejuvenated, literally coming back to life. Bette Davis plays an interesting role in this movie and she’s great in it, as usual. There is also a character in the movie that has haunted my dreams for years. I can still remember his face, and I still shudder at the sight of it in my mind. He is Creepy with a capital C. You’ll know right away who I’m talking about when you see him.

2. The Hand (1981). This movie stars Michael Caine, whom I love. In the movie, he plays a famous comic book artist who loses his hand in a car wreck. Unfortunately, the hand cannot be found. That is, until it starts stalking people and rubbing them out. I can still remember that hand crawling all over the place. The worst part? Not long after we saw the movie, my older sister played a horrible trick on me. Scene: I was lying in bed, innocent and nearly asleep, when I heard a noise. I turned my head slightly to the right only to see a hand, and it wasn’t one of my own. I was so scared I nearly peed the bed (maybe I did, I don’t actually remember). Anyway, after some silent panicking, I started talking to the hand, trying to get on its good side. "This is my pet hand," I would say in a quavering voice. "I like my pet hand and my pet hand likes me, right hand?" My sister must have been dying under that bed. I hate her.

3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). This is the worst kind of horror I can imagine. You can’t fall asleep or a child murderer will kill you? That’s just warped. After watching this movie, I had a hard time sleeping, for a long time. Robert Englund was perfect as Freddy Krueger. Johnny Depp is even in the movie, if you’re interested in him. Most women aren’t, I’ve heard. Certainly not me. But anyhoo, the premise of this movie is the perfect horror story. Don’t fall asleep or you will die. But if you don’t sleep, you will die, or at the very least, go crazy. There are no options here. That’s good stuff!

4. The Shining. Both Stephen King’s novel and the 1980 movie starring Jack Nicholson, are scary scary. The psychological elements, the woman in the bathtub, the two little girls, the creepy bartender, and the isolated setting, are all perfect for messing with the false sense of safety we all carry around. Plus, you just can’t beat Jack Nicholson in that role or the fact that the movie was directed by Stanley Kubrick (who directed A Clockwork Orange, which is another scary movie, but in an entirely different way). There were so many great scenes, so many memorable lines in this work, that I don’t think you can get much better than this. I guess that’s why it’s a classic. Stephen King wasn’t happy about Kubrik’s take on his book, but I like both for different reasons. It’s okay to love both…that’s what my therapist tells me, anyway.

5. The Birds (1963). This work of art is an oldie but a goodie, directed by the incomparable Alfred Hitchcock. The movie was based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier, one of my favorite authors, and is about birds who attack people. Admit it, after seeing this movie, who cannot help but cringe whenever a flock of birds passes overhead? People today may think the movie is too old-fashioned, not enough action or blood, but that’s the beauty of Hitchcock. He can scare you without using all those special effects. Just big beaks pecking your eyes out. That’s all he needed…and he didn’t even show that. You just imagined it. That, my friends, is good theater.

Well, that’s my list. Feel free to share your favorite horror movies. I’m interested to know what modern horror movies people like, or if you agree with any of my choices. And remember, don’t move into a haunted house, lose your hand, fall asleep, be a caretaker for a hotel, or get involved with birds.

Happy Horrors!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Going the Whole Hog! - Part Two

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

In Part One of our adventure to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, I talked about riding the roller coasters, picking out wands, and drinking Butterbeer.  Now onto the second half of our story...

The Three Broomsticks

Eating a Turkey Drumstick

After a busy morning, we decided to eat lunch at The Three Broomsticks.  In Part One I wrote that the shortest wait was about 40 minutes, but I'm going to have to take that back.  We only waited about 5 minutes to place our order (there's a glass showcase where you can view all your culinary choices).  We ordered, paid, then waited another few minutes to get our food.  It came very fast...and that worried me.  Surely food made that quickly wouldn't taste very good.  I imagined everything being lukewarm, dry, stringy, or all of the above.  But, in fact, it was reasonably palatable.  We were escorted to a nice table by a window (you can also eat on the patio and if you look over the wall, you'll see carp swimming in the pond below).  I ordered the chicken and corn on the cob and ate up pretty much everything on my plate.  Maybe I have low standards, maybe I was hungry, but I actually liked the food.  It was simple, yet tasty.  My husband and the kids ordered the turkey drumstick and/or fish and chips and all seemed happy with their choices.  We tried the pumpkin juice, which tastes just like what you'd imagine the juice of a pumpkin would taste like.  Nobody really liked it, but I'm glad we gave it a go anyway (I suggest buying only one mug of it - you can always get more later if you are strange and actually like it).  Personally I think they should mix the PJ with lots of apple juice and spice it with cinnamon and nutmeg.  You know, make it more like pumpkin pie than pumpkin squeezings.  I could drink that...and they could dollop the same cream they use for the Butterbeer on top.  Perfect!
 

Hogwarts

After fortifying ourselves with hearty English food and emptying our bursting bladders (well mine was bursting, but then again, it is the size of a walnut), we headed for Hogwarts for our tour and the ride, Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey (dunh, dunh, duhhh).  The sign indicated that the wait had gone from 150 minutes down to 90 - hurray!  Since I could no longer see a line snaking out of the castle and back to the Butterbeer cart, I thought,  Hey, maybe it won't be 90 minutes after all, more like a doable 30 or 40.  And so we entered the castle with high hopes, only to discover we had to first store our backpack in a locker.  If you're going on the ride, you can't have anything on you that might fly off and kill somebody.  That means bags, wands, bulky cameras (like ours, so I'm sad to say I don't have any photos inside Hogwarts), and bad attitudes (unfortunately, there was someone behind us in line who didn't follow that rule).  The locker was free, but the catch was that on such a busy day, they were all being used.  So you had to wait for someone to come along and empty their locker before you could get one.  This part was a bit stressful and annoying.  The actual process of getting the recently departed locker (there's a lag-time between a person 'signing' out their stuff and you being able to take the locker) was the worst of it.  The other bad part is that we discovered you can't fit some of the wand boxes into the locker - they're too long.  So we had to take out the wand and store it in the locker, then place the box up on top of the lockers and hope no one saw it.  We also needed two lockers because they're small and our stuff is big.  But like the troopers we are, we rallied and did what needed to be done.

Hogwarts From Another Angle

Once that part was taken care of, we joined the line and actually moved quite quickly through a tunnel-like area.  Yes!  This was going to be easier than I thought.  At one point along the way, you can choose between taking the tour or taking the tour, plus going on the ride.  My six-year-old barely made the ride height requirement (which I made sure to check before we left for Florida), but they don't check you here, they check you at the point just before you get on the ride.  So you could stand in line for a century and get turned away like criminals.  Don't let this happen to you - check heights!

Anyway, we finally entered the true line, but from this perspective it looked rather long.  Crap.  At the particular spot where we met up with the line, a drink cart sat beckoning to thirsty line dwellers.  If it's hot out and your line starts at the cart or even farther back, be sure to keep some cash (I'm not sure if they took credit cards) on you and buy a drink or two.  You'll eventually reach water faucets, but they're a LONG way off (imagine how far back it was for those poor souls who had the 150-minute wait!).  We didn't have any form of money (our wallets were in our backpack), so we settled in to wait.  Fans blew misty water at us, helping to alleviate the heat, and the lines generally kept moving at a reasonably good pace.  As we were walking along, we saw all the lines we were still going to have to go through (think of a giant maze with invisible walls), but we fooled ourselves into thinking, "it's not that long."  And then we reached a certain point in the line and saw that it went back even farther, doubling and doubling again and again.  This particular area was located in the direct sun without a sign of shade or a fan anywhere.  Double crap.  We already knew what we had to go through after this part because our line had already passed by all the other people way ahead of us.  As we passed by them, they would look at us with sympathy mixed with a hint of smugness.  Of course, this is the point at which the guy with the bad attitude started dissing the Harry Potter books, complaining about people cutting in line (they weren't), and talking on his cell phone.  At that point, I wondered, "What would HP do?"  Because that sun was getting hot and the six-year-old was getting cranky.

Finally, after we'd started hallucinating about swimming in mugs of Butterbeer and pumpkin juice, we reached the shaded conservatory area.  It was actually even hotter here, but you could almost smell the magic as we approached the entrance so we tried hard to stay optimistic...and conscious.  When we reached the water fountains, we gulped down mouthfuls of water, splashed some in our face, and hurried along to enter Hogwarts at last.  The moment we entered the cool interior of the castle, I decided that the wait, while VERY long, had been worth it.  Like childbirth, you forget the suffering almost instantly as you take in this wondrous world that you've seen only in the movies and in your feverish imagination.  I won't give away everything that happened, but I will tell you this:  You'll see talking/moving portraits, Dumbledore's chambers (where a holographic Dumbledore speaks to you), and you'll visit the Defense of the Dark Arts classroom, where you'll encounter Harry, Ron and Hermione.  I couldn't believe how realistic the characters looked.  In the Dark Arts classroom, something very awesome happens, so if it's a slow day, be sure to stop and listen to their whole skit and then, wait for it.  I'll only tell you that it was magical.  I have to say that although I didn't like the long lines, they did give you ample time to look around and take everything in.  I loved the tour and kept thinking what a great job it would be to work at Hogwarts.  I doubt the employees get as much free reign as I would like, but still...what fun!

Hogwarts From Yet Another Angle

Soon we approached the line for the ride.  I was excited, but my expectations weren't terribly high.  I'd heard good things, but I wasn't expecting anything spectacular.  Even so, I was in a good mood and ready to go.  On the ride, you sit four to a car so I went with my two oldest and my husband went with our youngest.  FYI:  If you're willing to split up, you can take another line that goes a lot faster.  You just won't ride with families or friends.  You'll get placed with other groups.  If you're okay with that, I'd say go for it.  We had a family so we couldn't split up, but I think it's the way to go if you can.  You can't even see the people next to you anyway.

Next, they strap you in and off you go on the best ride I've been on...EVER.  Hermione is talking in your ear the whole time - not intrusively, but to warn and guide you.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what she was saying, but it didn't matter, I was flying and dodging and flipping upside down.  I was encountering spitting spiders and raging Dementors and feeling hot dragon's breath right in my face.  I was inside the castle, then flying out of it, down onto the Quidditch field as though I was riding my own Nimbus 2000.  Hermione could have been calling me a Numpty and I wouldn't have cared.  The ride was so realistic that I felt like I was truly doing everything on my own.  I even lifted my feet as we soared down toward the field at breakneck speed.  This ride truly made me feel like I was a part of something bigger, like a heroine in a book come to life.  Of course, unlike Harry Potter, I yelled the entire way.  But I was shouting with joy this time around, not from mindless terror and fear of puking my guts out.

The ride came to an end all too soon.  If the line hadn't been so long, I would have rode it again and again.  I LOVED that ride.  Now, just to keep you from raising your expectations too high, maybe I was experiencing cognitive dissonance.  After waiting in line so long, I HAD to like the ride to make up for all that suffering.  I must admit, by the time we entered Hogwarts, I was muttering something along the lines of, "This better be worth it or else Potter gets it..."  But I don't think it was that.  To me, despite the heat and three wilting children, one of whom decided to be churlish for the second half of the wait (I'm not sure I can blame him), it was definitely worth it.  I hope you think so, too.  I will tell you this...my youngest wasn't too sure about the ride afterwards (it's a LOT for a six-year-old and probably a little scary, too).  When the ride was over, he tumbled off it looking a bit dazed.  One of his sandals fell off as he stumbled along to join the rest of us.  I grabbed his sandal and his dad scooped him up into his safe, strong arms.  And after hearing us rave about it, along with a little recovery time, he decided it had been the best ride EVER. That's my boy.

It was back to reality after that.  We fetched our stuff out of the lockers (the wand box was still there - hurray!), then visited Filch's Emporium, right next door and full of very expensive but fun stuff to look at.  Lots of people were wearing Hogwarts attire (not just the staff), which, in that heat, is true dedication.  After looking around the shop, we headed outdoors to take some photos and decide what to do next.

Here Are the Cauldrons I Bought
to Bring Home (I Wish)

That's Right - Two Wands!

A Nod to the Gate in Anaedor

Beware the Power

Snow-Covered Shops

Every Flavour Beans

Chocolate Frog

We knew we didn't have much more in us, so we decided we wanted to try Honeydukes, the candy shop, as our last stop.  Actually, I was the biggest proponent for it.  I wanted my candy.  I sent my two oldest to check out the wait and they discovered to everyone's delight a very short line (it was quite long earlier in the day).  We got in after about 10 minutes (so I guess I lied again - sorry).  The shop isn't as magical as some of the other places, but I'm not sure it needs to be.  The candy tells its own story.  Two of the boys bought giant lollipops. Two of us bought the chocolate frogs.  Three of the group, including myself, bought the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. At first I thought they would taste like regular jelly beans.  Wrong.  While they do have some good flavors, like marshmallow and tutti-frutti, they have the nasty flavors, too!  Luckily there's a chart labeling the different ones.  They actually have vomit, dirt, rotten egg, earwax and bogies (we've yet to figure out if bogies means boogers, though my son says it's BAD, whatever it is).  My sons bravely tried the nasty flavors and it was quite entertaining watching their expressions.  I told them they could have my nasty ones to share with their friends.  Mom of the Year award, you're in my reach!

The Islands of Adventure

Sadly, that was our last stop.  I was loath to go, but we were tired and it was time.  We really had a great day, though.  Once we made it out of the park (it's a long walk back to the parking lot), we headed out of town and grabbed supper on the way home, all the while discussing our brilliant adventure.  We only had time to visit the Wizarding World (only one small part of the Islands of Adventure), but that was plenty for me.  I can't wait to go back when the crowds are much smaller so I can see everything at a more leisurely pace.  I missed the Flight of the Hippogriff, the Frog Choir (though I did hear "Something wicked this way comes!" in passing), and the Triwizard Spirit Rally.  They are first on the list for next time.

Even though there were difficult moments (intense heat, long lines, fussy kids, fussy mom, not knowing all the rules, losing kids), I don't really remember any of that.  What I remember is an experience that was magical and uplifting - even the bathrooms were interesting (think Moaning Myrtle).  As a writer, I can only hope that some day my work will become a similar inspiration to people around the world...an inspiration to dream big and fly high!  

I Can't Wait to Go Back!

Until we meet again...
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Come Explore Anaedor!