[ My responses to the other half of last week's writing prompts from Purple Ink, an eList for Journallers. If you keep an online (or offline) journal, consider joining Purple Ink. ]
Cartoon Characters
List your favorite cartoon characters.
Personality Trait
Name the personality trait you have tried hardest to change in yourself.
Childhood Books
Name your favorite book from childhood.
Cartoon Characters
When I was little, I watched Speed Racer and The Thuderbirds (the
latter isn't actually a cartoon). I enjoyed the Hana Barbera cartoons a lot –
Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Booboo, Snaglepuss (Exit! Stage Left!),
Quick Draw McGraw, and the rest. I had a pair of toy mice I named Pixie and
Dixie.
Spouse and self prefer the Disney Toon family to those of Warner Bros. We've
discussed this often and have come to the conclusion that most of the Warner
Bros. Toons are.. naughty. I may enjoy watching Bugs tweak Daffy on TV but I
would never invite either of them into my house! (Just look at what they did
to Michael Jordan's house in Space Jam ;-). Most of the Disney troupe, I
think, would be polite house guests (even Donald Duck).
Of the Disney group, I love the Pooh Family best of all. I have large numbers
of Pooh Family embroidered apparel. Within the Pooh Family, my all-time
favorite is Tigger. Many years ago (at least 10), Spouse and self visited
Southern CA with my parents in tow; they'd never been to Disneyland. (Note
that I was at least 30 at this time 🙂 There was Tigger, walking about,
shaking hands, getting his picture taken. I walked over but he was so
surrounded by small children. I walked back to my folks, disappointed. "I
can't even get close enough to say Hello", I began when… a furry mitten
landed on my shoulder and there was Tigger. We got a photo and I had a good
day.
Personality Trait
Name the personality trait you have tried hardest to change in yourself.
The personality trait I've been working most diligently to expunge is
my tendency to react emotionally to everything. I get upset; I cry. I get
annoyed; I get angry. I argue; I blow up. Calm, cool, think it through, lower
the stress, nothing is that important. Steady. Better.
Childhood Books
Name my favorite book from childhood… Impossible! You're asking a
Reader. I spent hours in the library; I always brought home the maximum
allowable number of books.
I remember my delight on the days that the Scholastic Books flyer would be
handed out at school; I'd rush home to go through it with my parents,
deciding which books to order. I recall my anticipation a few weeks later
when the box of books would arrive and the teacher would call my name. All
those wonderful new books to read!
There are too many favorites to list. Here are a very few that bubble to the
top of my mind:
"My Father's Dragon", "A Wrinkle in Time", The Moffats, Elizabeth Enright
("The Four-story Mistake", "Gone-Away Lake",…), The Boxcar Children, Edward
Eager ("Half Magic", "Magic by the Lake",…"The Ghost of Opalina", "Winnie
The Pooh", Beverley Cleary (I read about Homer and beezus; my sister read
about Ramona), "Rocket Mouse", the Uncle Wiggly tales, "Honey Bear (a book
from my _mother's_ childhood), "Samantha's Secret Room", "The Phantom
Tollbooth", "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler", "Junior
Jamboree for Boys"…
I had a wonderful set of hardcover books we called simply "the Red books";
each volume was filled with stories, or poetry; each volume had a theme. I wish I had these with me, but my mother insists on keeping them (and using them!)
Slightly Off KIlter 