There's Always Tomrrow

Gentle Reader,

What an odd and sad little moment.

I think we're supposed to go away from this feeling optimistic and uplifted, but if you pay attention to the lyrics, the message is much more ambiguous.

Yes, there's always a tomorrow when dreams can come true, so hold onto them.  But the reality is that, when tomorrow comes, we have much to do and get caught up in the affairs of the day.  So, another day goes by with our dreams still unrealized.  This is simply life, and how it will always be.

So what is Clarisse trying to tell Rudolph?  To stop fighting it, and to just let what will happen, happen?  To realize, if only tacitly and subconsciously, that wishing is most often futile?

It really doesn't match up with the cute woodland creatures, but for precisely that reason, I find it poignant and quite beautiful.  Even in the world of adorable puppet people and eternal holiday cheer, life is hard and disappointments are inevitable.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Dear MST3K

Dear Mystery Science Theater 3000,

I still love you.

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

A Glorious Day!

Gentle Reader,

Today the Omaha, Nebraska city council codified workplace protections and legal remedies for gay and transgendered persons.

It's a sad thing that civil rights protections for any person are a matter of controversy, but frankly, if this kind of success can happen in Omaha, then it can, and will, happen everywhere.

This is an extremely proud day in the city's history.  Way to go, Omaha.  Maybe you aren't so bad after all.

Omaha World Herald article

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Give-A-Show Projector

Gentle Reader,

All my life I've had fond memories of the Give-A-Show projector set that I had as a very small child.  I would cry and beg until my dad would put on the projector and supply his own crazy narration to go along with the pictures.  We had slideshows for Scooby-Do, the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, and other classic cartoons.  Each slideshow was only a few panels long, so my poor dad must have been thoroughly sick of them by the time I outgrew the damn thing.

I remember in particular the Peppermint Phantom from one of the Scooby-Do slideshows, which I found absolutely terrifying.  I remember that it reminded me of scary nightmares I'd had while sick with a high fever.  The bizarre stripe pattern was disorienting, as was the lack of a proper head and total absence of a mouth.  The fingertips, red and poised to strike, looked like they'd been dipped in blood.  I tell you, finding the above picture was a freaky experience; I hadn't remembered the Peppermint Phantom in probably 25 years, but the second I saw it, I got this powerful feeling of dread...

Apparently I'm not the only one for whom these slideshows are a lasting memory.  In fact, there's an entire website devoted to them.  I lost several hours on this site, so beware!

Give-A-Show Projector Blog

Ever Yours,
Fauntleroy

Can I get an amen?

Mortality

This beautiful girl didn't want to get old, but she did.

I don't want to get old, but I will.