Lovin' the shiny and the retro
So I dropped by my blog today to check something and noticed my headline from yesterday: “It’s never to early to think about Christmas.”
To?
TO?
Did I really commit one of the most annoying grammar errors ever?
I flog myself even as I write this. I should know better than to write a post when my two boys are chasing each other around the house, one wielding a Star Wars light saber and the other screaming, “Give it back to me! It’s miiiiiiiiiine!”
It happens every fall. Just as the leaves start turning and falling off the trees, and the landscape begins to look a little more sparse, I start thinking about Christmas.
I will freely admit that fall and winter are my favorite seasons. Fall I love for the cooler weather and beautiful colors, and winter I love for the excuse to stay cozy inside and being able to enjoy the occasional snow day. True enough, after Christmas hits, winter tends to grow old very, very quickly. I suppose I love winter partially for the rush of being able to decorate another tree and capture that homey Christmas spirit once again.
Each year my tree gets a little more retro. I haven’t yet gone the way of the aluminum or flocked tree, but it seems that each year my vision pushes me to go with more retro color schemes. Last year it was blue lights and silver and white ornaments, which would have looked superb on a flocked tree, but still looked cool nonetheless.
And then a few months ago I discovered Bronner’s. Oh my . . . talk about a gigantic playground for Christmas decorating enthusiasts! I become even more hooked when I started noticing some of their awesome retro ornaments.
Case in point:
Silvery goodness with a classic starburst design. It also comes in green, gold, and blue. Get it here!
Oh my, how I love this thing. It’s called a pine star ornament, and it’s about as retro as they get. it also comes in gold:
They’re shatterproof, too, which is even better news for those of us with small, hyper, and sometimes violent boys who think that Christmas ornaments make good baseballs. Or weapons.
Here’s a true starburst ornament, hence its name:
I am in love. Truly, madly in love. Is it taboo to feel love for a shatterproof ornament that sort of resembles a sea urchin?
I am not kidding when I say that these ornaments are just a tiny sampling of what this store has to offer. There are ornaments for every hobby, every era, every nationality, and every quirk. They also carry lights (amazing how many different types they have!), outdoor decor, stockings, hats, and pretty much every other item that has a direct or vague association with Christmas. Go there. Get lost. You won’t be sorry.
I don’t know why I just titled this “old movies” when the movie I’m watching at the moment (or using as background noise) is Peggy Sue Got Married. Yes, it’s set in the past, but since it’s an 80s movie, it doesn’t qualify as an old movie. Does it? If so, it’s going to make ME old, because I grew up on these movies.
This is one of my comfort movies, really. Nic Cage and that cartoonish voice are perfect for the part — all claims of nepotism aside. Kathleen Turner has always fascinated me. She always seemed like such a talented actress, and then she just seemed to fall off the planet. I saw her at some celeb event lately (I mean on TV, of course . . . not in person, as I’m sure that most of you would assume that I hung out regularly with the Hollywood crowd) and was shocked at how . . . well, middle-aged she looked. Ok, beyond middle age. Kind of just-passed-menopause-and-ready-to-be-a-grandmother stage. I love almost all the movies with her in it.
I don’t know what it is about this movie, but I watch it whenever it’s on TV. Currently I’m streaming it to my Roku player from Netflix. I think it’s interesting how Peggy Sue got the chance to relive high school (in a sense) and did all the things that she thought she should have done back then — including dating the deep thinkin’ poet — and then she figures out in the end that she probably made the right decisions all along.
I started on an old movie kick when I had the opportunity to teach a cinema class at our school. I was thrilled beyond words to be able to teach the class. I had it for two years (four total semesters) and then it was transferred to another teacher after it wouldn’t fit in this year’s schedule. I hope that I was able to share some cinema appreciation to my students, but I’m also impressed at how teaching the class affected me. Until I taught the class, I had no idea that the AFI (American Film Institute) had rated the top 100 movies of all time. Until I taught the class, I had never seen Casablanca. Until I taught the class, I had never appreciated Charlie Chaplin or the wonders of early cinematography.
And now? I’m hooked. I have been busy devouring the Top 100 list for the past two years. I have seen Casablanca so many times that I could quote large parts of the movie. Humphrey Bogart is the “Ahnold” of the ’40s, without the machine gun and robots.
Thanks to the great influence of my parents, I had been introduced to some of the great classics earlier in life. My dad showed me One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and I believe I watched The Graduate with them too, although I’ve blocked out the uncomfortable silence that must have occurred when Ben took Elaine to the strip club and the tassels turned. My parents also introduced me to Rear Window and the wonder of Jimmy Stewart. I have discovered many other classics since then — the original King Kong, while cheesy, is fascinating just because of its age and what filmmakers with a vision could achieve; It Happened One Night is hilarious and relevant still today, all while providing the modern age a treasured glimpse into life in the 1930s. I fell in love with It’s a Wonderful Life and its idyllic portrayal of everyday life, while still appreciating the underlying message of love and hope.
Netflix has given me a quick and easy way of accessing the Top 100, and I hope to work my way through the rest of it soon. At last count, I think I was about halfway through the list. Being the kind of person I am, however, I want to see it ALL.
Still swamped with the beginning of school madness. Haven’t yet adjusted to the pile of papers covering both my desks in two separate buildings. Someday they’ll be clean. Like in June.
In the meantime, however, I just had to share a lovely little glimmer of hope in the world of really boring product packaging. I’d love to kiss whoever thought of this one:
And yes, I will confess: I bought this bag of candy mostly for the packaging. I’m a sick, sick woman.
