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One thing I remember very vividly from my childhood was playing board games with my siblings & cousins. We were all pretty close in age, so we enjoyed spending time together. We loved playing games & making home movies (which would be a good topic for a separate post).
I look back now & realize that I sucked at playing games. I never read the instructions. I never wanted to follow the game rules. My older brother was super patient & nice, always offering to teach me how to play one of his more grown-up board games (like Risk, Monopoly, & Stratego). I never realized back then that he would cheat a little by not teaching me all the rules, but I also just plain sucked at playing games. I never had a sharp mind for strategy & was easily impulsive when it was my turn.
Even though I wasn’t very good at playing games (board games, card games, puzzle games, & video games especially), I enjoyed playing them. There were a few that I really liked to play, & it took me quite a while to think far back in my old memories to come up with this shortened list.
One of the very first board games that I learned to play & really liked was the iconic game Candyland. Even though I didn’t eat a lot of candy when I was a little kid, I still loved to play this sugary, candy-coated, confectionery themed board game. I think one of the reasons why I liked to play this game so much was: 1. it reminded me a lot of my favorite cartoon character of the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake, & 2. the game was easy to play due to the simple instructions.
I thought the illustrations on the board game were cute, & I’d examine all the candies & sweets. My mom wouldn’t really let me eat sugary treats that often when I was a kid. Well, I never really was interested in eating candies & sweets anyway, but I still enjoyed playing a colorful game centered around them.
I remember there was a girl who lived on my street, & we were in the same grade together. We became fast friends, & I would spend nearly every day at her house after school, listening to her mom’s classic vinyl records from the 1960s & playing tons of board games. This girl had a really fun geography game called Where In The World?, & when we played the game, we would never really follow the instructions.
When we played this game together, we’d just take the geography cards & use them to guess each country the other person was describing. There were of course many other pieces & game boards that came along with the game, along with 2 variations on how to play the game, but my school friend & I would just make up our own guessing game with the geography cards. We just had so much childish fun making up our own games & playing together after school.
Another board game I like to play when I was a little kid was Clue. It wasn’t until I became a teenager when I finally saw the Clue movie starring actor Tim Curry, but I still had fun playing this mystery, who-done-it game. I had hours of fun playing this board game, & of course every kid loved to use the secret passages on the board to move from room to room on their turns.
My school friend once let me borrow her Clue board game, which had the original packaging from 1963 (the pea green box with the big fingerprint & characters lined up on the box top), but after borrowing the game, she had moved away without giving her new address, & we both had totally forgotten that I had borrowed the board game from her. It wasn’t until a long time later, when my parents were cleaning out a storage closet, when they stumbled upon it & asked me if I still wanted to keep it. I had no way to return this board game back to this schoolmate, as we had not only lost contact, but also had grown apart & our friendship was broken up (to a point of unsalvageable, but I’ll save that for another post). I think playing this board game played a part in my future interest in solving logic puzzles (you know the ones from those cheap $1.99 magazines at the grocery store).
Ok, so I didn’t learn about this murder-myster party game until I was a much older teenager, but when I first saw this game at the toy store, I knew it would be so much fun to play. I loved dressing up in costumes back then, & I thought it would be fun to play a role-playing mystery game with all of my high school friends.
I even planned my sweet 16th birthday around one of these party games. I tried to decorate my house in the theme of the game, & sent out invitations to all my friends asking them to dress up in costume (but none of them decided to dress up, which I didn’t mind). We had a great time guessing the mystery of the game’s story & having fun snacks. It made my birthday quite fun & memorable.
As I’m writing this blog post I’m also simultaneously watching the movie Pirate Radio again for the umpteenth time. I think I’ve already watched this movie three times in the past month or so. This movie is one of my favorites, & I’ll never get tired of watching it. It’s gotten to the point where I can practically recite parts of the movie’s dialogue right along with the movie.
Jian, of course, finds my movie watching habits boring (& sometimes predictable), but I don’t mind one bit. I like rewatching my favorite movies over & over & over…without any shame or embarassment. As a matter of fact, I’m going to end this post & finish watching the end of this movie (which is one of my favorite scenes). Until next time, cheers, mates!
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graphic art courtesy of: http://www.ryderdoty.com
Continuing on my year of lists, my “99 Things That Bring Me Joy” journal brings us to the list of my most treasured childhood books. I remember when I was younger, my dad used to be a hardcore member of the Book-of-The-Month club. He really wanted me to get into the habit of reading, more than watching TV like my older siblings (& cousins), so he signed me up for the Childrens-Book-of-The-Month club. We’d get a catalog in the post, & we would select up to three books each month. I was a slow reader (reading was so boring for me back then), but my dad could read at least two books every month.
I distinctly remember reading Harriet The Spy as one of my most treasured childhood memories. This book really shaped my life as an observer of the world, & as a writer. This book was also one of the first Young Adult genre books I ever read in full. I never really had the motivation (or attention span) to read books longer than 50 pages when I was a kid, but this was the first fairly lengthy book I remember reading when I was a kid & really getting swept away by the story.
When I was a young tweenager, I was obsessed with the title character Harriet M. Welsch from the book. (I was not a fan of the 1996 movie at all.) First off, I was so jealous that she lived in such a vibrant city, & her parents let her roam around town unsupervised. I had a couple of close friends that lived on the same street as I did growing up, & my parents wouldn’t let me even walk to their house without asking them. I could not believe this little girl named Harriet was able to galavant around the city all by herself & never got in trouble for it.
I loved Harriet’s curiosity towards everything in life & was always asking questions. My favorite part about this title character was her passion for writing. I feel like her passion for writing inspired my own passion for writing. For a short period of time (let’s just call it a phase in my life, for lack of a better word), I tried to copy &/or imitate this book character. I wore baggy sweatshirts with jeans. I tried to carry a flashlight in my school backpack (but it was a total waste of much needed space). Most importantly, I tried to follow what Harriet had been diligently doing for as long as she could remember: Write. Down. Everything. I tried writing the observations of the environment around me, but things got too frantic, & I couldn’t focus on what to write about. So, I stopped writing observations & transitioned into writing journal entries. I had a couple of Sanrio-themed childrens diaries lying around with pages begging to be filled with my pre-teenage nonsense.
There was one line however I would not cross, one trait that I would not imitate. Under no circumstances would I ever, in my life, eat a ripe tomato & mayonaise sandwich. At that age, I absolutely despised tomatoes. More recently, I have grown to accept eating tomatoes. If they’re in a salad, a hamburger, or in a sauce, I am willing to eat it, but tomoatoes are still not my favorite fruit. That’s where the character Harriet M. Welsch will always differ. There is no way I will ever eat a ripe tomato & mayonaise sandwich, ever.
I don’t know where I got these books, if I chose them from the monthly book subscription, or if someone gifted them to me. All I can remember about reading this series of books as a child was how much of a sense of wonder & imagination these stories brought to life. I would often study the illustrations in the books in great detail, trying to examine every nook & cranny of all the animals’ houses. There was just such vibrant detail in the visual depictions of all the scenes. Oh, & the food illustrations made my mouth water!
I’m not a big fan of mice, but the mice in Jill Barklem’s books are just too adorable to resist. When I was a child reading these books, I would get so immersed in my own wild imagination. I would daydream that I was living in a treehouse just like the ones depicted in all of the books. The stories were so much fun to read, & I would become so engrossed in them that I could also imagine that I was in the story along with all of the woodland animals.
I was sad to learn that, one day, when my parents were cleaning out the storage closet, they found this set of books, but one of the seasons was missing. No matter how hard we searched, we could not find the last book to complete the set. Also, the pages had been severely yellowed & water damaged, so I was not able to salvage this set of books that I cherished so much as a child.
I grouped these two books together even though I hadn’t read them at the same time. These two books are a few of my most memorable & favorite books. They’re not pop-up books, but they are highly interactive. Even as a young child, when I read these books, I was extremely careful when turning the pages & playing with the interactive sections of the books.
I absolutely love the Jolly Postman & his heartwarming story about delivering fun mail all over town, riding his trusty red bicycle. It’s also fun to read about the classic children’s story book characters every child grew up reading at bedtime, recognizing each of the characters as you turn the pages. My most favorite part of these interactive books were the envelopes inside each page. You can open the pocket of each envelope & find a wonderful interactive surprise inside like: a Humpty Dumpty jigsaw puzzle, a letter from Goldilocks to the Three Bears, or a Red Riding Hood board game.
Even though I’ve grown considerably older since I first acquired these lovely books, I still take them out of the closet every now & again, & browse through the pages. These books will never go out of style, & they are still fun to read no matter what age you are. At one point during Christmastime, I was tempted to gift these books to my young nephew & niece, but they are quite rough & careless with their belongings (especially children’s books), so I decided to squirrel them away & keep them for myself. I am so happy that I’ve kept these books for all these years because they bring me such joy.
Well, this is the end of it, my list of favorite childhood books. It took me nearly “forever & a day” (metaphorically speaking) to finish this blog post. So much has gone on in my personal life since I first began writing this post that I had to put this entire blog on the backburner for quite some time. Now I’m back & ready to resume my writing. Until the next time, cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Graphic artist credit embedded in image. Click to enlarge.
Continuing on in my journal, I bring you my list of most beloved childhood movies. Well, I wouldn’t exactly say these movies are my most “beloved”, but they are truly memorable. A few of these movies even represent a few small milestones that occurred in my life. Let me cut to the chase & just get on with it then.
[DISCLAIMER: ALL PHOTOS LISTED BELOW ARE COURTESY OF PINTEREST OR GOOGLE IMAGES.]
Image represents the 3 good faeries.
I believe Sleeping Beauty was the very first Disney princess animated film I ever watched. Out of all of the Disney princess movies I’ve seen, Sleeping Beauty is my most favorite princess. When I was a little girl, I daydreamed that I lived in a beautiful, secluded cottage with my three best friends, who also happen to have magical powers, & that I could communicate with animals, & meet a handsome man to come & sweep me off my feet.
Out of all the elements from this movie, my favorites were the three good faeries. They were always my all-time favorite characters in the movie (along with Prince Philip’s horse Samson). I loved the way Flora & Merryweather would argue back & forth over taking care of Princess Aurora (a.k.a. Briar Rose), especially bickering over who gets to sew Aurora’s birthday dress (& choose which color it will be). Fauna just quietly steps back to bake the important birthday cake. When I was a child, I really wished I had three special faeries that could wave their magic wands & help me along the way.
I loved this Disney animated movie when I was growing up. I loved to fantasize about falling in love with a Prince Philip-type guy of my own, where we would bump into each other accidentally & fall in love with each other at first sight. Of course like most young girls, I dreamed that this mystery guy would slay dragons & move heaven & earth just to kiss me. I wanted to live on my own with my three best friends & go on adventures. I didn’t necessarily want to be a princess per se, but I wanted that fairytale of falling in love at first sight with a hot, hunky guy who would fight to be with me.
I didn’t watch this movie when it first released. I was too young then. I watched this movie a few years later when I was a bit older, & my older siblings convinced my parents to get the fancier cable TV package with the HBO movie channel. This was one of the first times I ever realized I started liking boys in a romance-y kind of way. I saw the actor Ralph Macchio in The Karate Kid, & I pretty much had heart-shaped stars in my eyes.
First off, I was barely 7 or 8 years old & hardly even knew what a “crush” was, but I knew that I thought this actor was cute. That was the first time I ever experienced a celebrity crush on an actor. I was in total awe of the main character’s school costume in the movie (a person taking a shower, but instead of wearing a cheesy bathrobe & shower cap, he actually rigged up a fully functioning shower curtain so it looked like he was in a real shower). I thought it was so cool that he could do karate. I kind of wished back then that I could perform a few karate tricks so I could impress my relatives back in Japan. Watching this movie made me want to visit Japan again.
I was such a weird kid growing up. When I watched TV shows or movies, I would focus on the most random or inconsequential things, like how I wanted to paint a fence just so I could say “wax on, wax off”. At least my older cousin who was living with us at the time tried to copy the scene when the character Mr. Miyagi caught a fly with only a pair of chopsticks. He actually succeeded in recreating that scene, but only after like, 15 tries…& we had to trap a fly & bring it into the house so he could try the trick.
This movie will always be hailed as my most favorite Disney film of all-time! Hands down. Oh man, I watched this movie so many times that I memorized all of the songs. I wanted so badly to have Julie Andrews come to my house & be my babysitter/nanny/governess. I would daydream that she would float down from the sky wit her talking umbrella & take me on awesome adventures, except for dancing on rooftops & walking on staircases made of chimney smoke because I have been afraid of heights my entire life. Seeing those chimney sweeps dancing & leaping between buildings mad me so nervous when I watched Mary Poppins as a child. I was always anxious/scared that one of them would slip & fall off the ledge of the building, even though I knew this was only a fairytale movie.
Even to this very day, I still love this movie & will watch it over & over again. I want to laugh so hard that I float up to the ceiling & tell funny jokes with the likes of Uncle Albert (who looks suspiciously like Benjamin Franklin) while sipping on cups of tea. I want to jump inside a sidewalk chalk drawing & have lovely tea & cakes served to me by smiling, dancing penguins. I want to invent the longest word you’ve ever heard & song a catchy song about it. However, I DO NOT want to live next door to an over-zealous ex naval captain with a penchant for daily reenactments. It would be incredibly annoying to have to rearrange/realign my furniture & hanging picture frames everyday. My OCD personality wouldn’t know how to deal with that kind of situation.
Oo-de-lally, golly what a movie! This might’ve been the first movie to introduce to the wonderful world of foxes. I loved this movie so much when I was a little girl. I wanted so badly to be Maid Marian & fall madly in love with Robin Hood, who would use his cunning skills with a bow & arrow to rescue me from the evil clutches of the nasty, yet bumbling villain. My hero would save the entire kingdom, get an official pardon from the real king, & we would run off together in a wildly romantic fairytale ending.
Although I loved the whole story line between Marian & Robin, they weren’t my favorite characters from the movie. Some of my most favorite characters from this Disney movie were, quite literally, the little guys. I loved the little church mice. They were such a lovely & adorable couple living in the church with Friar Tuck. I also really loved the lute-playing rooster. To me the rooster & Lady Kluck, the chicken-in-waiting, were the funniest characters (aside from Little John) who provided just the right amount of humor. However, my most favorite character in this entire movie were the little rabbit children, especially the little girl bunny who was always carrying her stuffed bunny toy with her & minding her manners.
I wasn’t always a fan of Disney movies, but this one (as well as a few others) really captured my attention. I mean, seriously how could you not love a movie with intrigue, secret disguises, action, romance, & epic child-friendly fight scenes. On a related note, I also cannot wait for the new Robin Hood origins-style movie to be released in theaters later this year. The headlining stars of this film are actors Taron Egerton (as Robin Hood) & Jamie Foxx (as Little John, not the rapper)….but most importantly, it also stars Jamie Dornan as Will Scarlett, Robin Hood’s half-brother who is the one actually married to Maid Marion (but Robin Hood steals her love away from him…blah, blah,blah…) It’s going to be super exciting.
When I first watched 101 Dalmatians as a kid, I had a bunch of thoughts racing through my mind that a kid that age would normally never think about.
1. How could one couple take care of so many dogs/puppies? I couldn’t imagine taking care of one let alone 100 (and one). I could barely take care of goldfish let alone a dog.
2. Cruella DeVille, the villain, kind of reminded me of my maternal grandmother. Not in that way. My grandma wasn’t evil or mean, but like Cruella my grandma had an extravagant lifestyle. She owned exotic fur coats & jewelry that could almost rival the collection of Elizabeth Taylor. She was also larger than life, & commanded the presence in any room she walked into.
3. I was such a weirdo back then. I saw the commercial for Canine Cruchies dog food in the animated movie, & like the little puppies, I sort of wanted to try it too.
4. I really wanted a Dalmatian as a pet. I never had a pet as a kid, so seeing all these cute & cuddly puppies made me so envious.
I really loved this movie for all of the adorable, cute, & cuddly puppies. I love how all of the dogs banded together with their owners to defeat the villain & lived happily-ever-after. I’ve always loved feel-good movies like this one!
Oh my gawd! I LOVE spaghetti with meatballs!! Seeing these two lovable dogs sharing a plate of pasta yumminess made me so hungry every time I watched this movie. Of course it’s always been a romantic fantasy of mine to share food with my significant other (or my crush) & then we keep eating until our lips touch. I am getting hungry even as I write this.
I really felt bad for Tramp being stereotyped just because he was a stray. He was a scrappy dog, but he had a good & pure heart. I loved how Lady saw the good in him right away, & gave him a chance. I always thought Lady was the most beautiful dog, but my heart ultimately belonged to Jock, the bull terrier. I instantly fell in love with him when I saw his adorable knit sweater & heard his cute accent. The two characters I didn’t really like (other than Aunt Sarah) were the Siamese twin cats. I thought it was kind of discriminatory to give them Asian-sounding accents & slanted eyes. I also didn’t like them because they were stuck up little brats, & when I was a kid, I was severely allergic & didn’t like cats anyway.
Of course, after watching his movie too, I still wanted a pet dog, but my parents wouldn’t allow it. I have a theory as to why, but that’s a long story for another time. Overall, I found this movie to be super romantic, & I especially loved the happy ending where all of the dogs in the neighborhood got together at Christmastime along with Darling & Tony’s newborn baby & Lady & Tramp’s new puppies.
As you can tell, I’ve always loved feel-good movies with happy endings. I watched a lot of different movies when I was a kid. I wanted to hang out with my older siblings & older cousins, & they were mostly interested in the pop culture of those days (back in the 1980s). As a family, my generation watched a ton of television, movies, & listened to all of the popular music on the newly trendy TV channel MTV. When I spent time by myself, I would watch the same movies over & over again, & some of these movies were on heavy rotation. Writing about these movies s making me want to go back & watch them again. Until next time, cheers!
Today’s song of the day is my new PLAYLIST!
