My Heroes Have Always Been Villains

“Now you see that evil will always triumph — because good is dumb.” Dark Helmet in Spaceballs

I admit it. I root for the bad guys.

They’re just cooler!

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of villains. Star Wars was one of my earliest obsessions, with Darth Vader clearly my favorite character. When the Batman craze hit during my teen years, I became an expert in all things Joker.

Bad guys look cooler (Vader), have more awesome powers (Force lightning), have a better vocabulary (”You imbecile!”), and they have snappier catch phrases (”Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?”)

So while it doesn’t necessarily fit with the overall mood I’m trying to set with this blog, if I’m going to honestly tell you about my favorite things I must admit to you that I prefer the bad guys. So as part of my favorite things giveaway, I am including a figurine of my favorite Disney villain, Captain Hook.

The favorite things giveaway continues until the end of this week, so be sure to get your entries in now. I’ll be telling you about the other items in the coming days.

 

Favorite Things: Halloween

Since I’m a theatre teacher, I shouldn’t have a costume phobia. But I do. If my dad weren’t a smoker, I probably wouldn’t have this problem.

When I was six, Halloween was like an amazing dream come true. I was going to get to dress up as Frankenstein, complete with a cool plastic mask that I’d purchased weeks before. (I had been rehearsing my Frankenstein arms-out-in-front-of-me walk ever since.) I’d get to go around to the neighbors’ houses to get candy, and then we’d go uptown to see the parade. I’ve already established that I love a parade.

When Halloween came, it lived up to my expectations. In my Frankenstein costume, I impressed the neighbors into giving me lots of candy… I even scored a few Reese’s. My parents packed me and my Halloween loot into the car to head up to the parade.

My dad needed to stop off at the corner grocery store for some cigarettes. Let me mention that the store is right across the street from a cemetery. On the hundreds of other times we’d visited this store, this never really had an impact on me. But on Halloween, the cemetery took on added significance. As I peered out the window into the graveyard, my little first-grade mind reeled at the thought of the many animated corpses that would no doubt be rising later that evening. As a child of the 80’s, Thriller influenced my imaginings and led me to believe that they would no doubt engage in some awesome choreography. Just as I was wondering if Michael Jackson’s girlfriend would emerge unharmed….

A huge, growling werewolf face filled the car window! I screamed and began fumbling for the door lock, then flung myself across the back seat, locking the other door and cowering in the floorboard. The werewolf stopped growling and now seemed to be laughing. Then the werewolf face was peeled away to reveal the owner of the little grocery store. He and my dad had decided it would be cute to scare little me for a bit of Halloween fun.

Thanks to them, I still have a little bit of trouble with masks. At Disney World, I’m even a little leery of Mickey when he signs my autograph album. Nevertheless Halloween is still one of my favorite things, and as such I would love to give you this cute little door decoration. Let it be a reminder that when it comes to the little people in your neighborhood, you should focus more on giving them treats rather than tricks.

Check out my other favorite things.

Favorite Things: Blank Books

“The blank page gives the right to dream.” - Gaston Bachelard

I get a little bit too excited about buying any new “office supplies,” but I’m particularly giddy when it comes to new notebooks. To me, a blank notebook holds so much great promise and is essentially begging for someone to come along and be creative with it.

My favorite type of notebook is the Mead Composition book. I love the “old school” feel with its stiff covers and sewn binding instead of the spiral wire. I have chosen the classic black and white cover for you since that is the most iconic version. I hope that you will be inspired by its potential.

I also love a blank calendar, particularly of the new year. I always make grand goals for what I am going to achieve and gaze at all of those months stretched out before me just waiting for me to fill them with tackled projects. Now if only I can get as good at achieving goals as I am at setting them…

Nonetheless, I hope that you will enjoy this blank planner. It’s an academic year calendar so there are plenty of months ahead for you.

The first thing I did when I started this blog was go out an buy a planner. I’ve been putting it to good use tracking the progress of this blog, indicating daily traffic and subscription totals. I’ve also used it to plan my upcoming posts and am thrilled about what’s coming up for this blog. October is going to be a very exciting month around here with our Desiderata series. Stay tuned!

If you’d like to win this notebook and planner along with some of my other favorite things, just enter the contest!

So far, we have two entrants in the contest: Laura and Sam.

Check out my other favorite things.

Favorite Things: Snacks

I’m a “comfort food” kind of person. An emotional eater. I know it’s bad and I fully embrace that. But when I’m down, having a food that I really enjoy lifts my spirits. I am particularly fond of snack foods, and two are at the top of that list.

The first is Reese’s. I have fond memories of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups dating back to my elementary school days. My mom used to buy those packs of eight individually wrapped cups and we kept them in the produce drawer of our refrigerator. When I’d come home from school, I would enjoy one with a cold glass of milk while I sat on the carpet in front of the TV watching cartoons. Does that make my mom a bad mother since she let me eat candy and watch TV at the same time?

I loved the “there’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s” slogan that the company used for a while. I have enjoyed nibbling the edges off all the way around the cup, I like eating them bite at a time, and sometimes I just stick the whole thing in my mouth. Any way you figure it, that’s good eats!

I like pretty much anything that comes under the Reese’s label. I love the Fast Break bar, as well as Reese’s Pieces. But can we get one thing straight? It’s pronounced “REE-siz,” not “REE-seez.” Thank you. (I’ve even heard some people say “REE-seez PEE-seez.” What’s up with that?)

My second favorite snack is peanut butter and crackers. There isn’t really a store brand that I enjoy. I prefer the kind I make myself!

Peanut butter and crackers must be enjoyed with a glass of milk. I prefer to eat mine as a “late night snack,” usually while browsing blogs just before bedtime.

I recommend Ritz (or, if you’re short on funds like me, your favorite Ritz-style store brand) and Peter Pan peanut butter. This is the ideal combination. When I was little, I remember my mom making them for me with saltine crackers. If I’m feeling nostalgic, I’ll indulge in those from time to time.

These snacks can be won as part of my Favorite Things Giveaway. Don’t worry, I’ll enjoy these that I photographed and buy you some fresh snacks just before I send the fabulous prize pack your way!

Want To Win a Few of My Favorite Things?

We’re having ourselves a contest! Want to play?

I went on a shopping spree, gathering up some of my “favorite things.” I’ve put together a little prize pack, and now I want to give it away!

What’s in the prize pack? Stay tuned, dear readers. I will let you know. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be using the items as springboards to tell you more about some of the things that I enjoy. What I can tell you is…

(Cue “The Price is Right” style music and voice-over here)

It’s a fabulous prize package with a retail value of…. $10.57!

So, it’s no Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, but who doesn’t like getting a box of stuff in the mail? Am I right?

Here’s how you play:

• To be eligible for the drawing, please link to this post on your blog.
• After that, each time you post a comment on this blog, you will receive an additional entry in the drawing.
• If you do a MyTurn/YourTurn post on your blog and link back, you will receive five bonus entries!
• The contest ends at midnight central time on Friday, September 27.
• Make sure you read about My Favorite Things to see what you could win.

Thanks for playing! And if you aren’t already, I’d love to have you as a regular reader:

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Special thanks to these sites for the promotion: The Prize Blog, Laura Williams’ Musings, and Link Right Contests.