Many of you have heard this story from me before, but…
I love the concept of the “happy accident.” Though I didn’t know the term, I remember an early manifestation of it in my life. In one of several elementary schools I attended, we did a Christmas gift exchange. Each child brought a gift labeled “girl” or “boy.” One child’s mother didn’t understand the concept, so we ended up with one less “girl” toy than we should have had, and since I was ridiculously shy and timid and so went last, that ended up as my toy.
It was a set of really, really cheap plastic cars. Cars that kids today would think were so NOT fun that you can’t even find any like them on eBay, or in dollar stores, or even in those packs of party favors with the cheapest toys ever. The cars were all one color plastic–blue, yellow, green, red–including the wheels, which were just part of the plastic mold for the car and didn’t move.
I LOVED them. My brother was older and had long since outgrown toys, which were so scarce in our tightly budgeted household that it had never occurred to anyone that I might like to play with toys that were traditionally considered for boys. They were easy to pack up and take anywhere and required only a little space and some imagination to entertain me for hours.
Even now, Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars, or even cheap cars like those pictured above, make me silly happy, and I’ll drive them around a while before I pass them on to the real kids in the family.
Today, baby, you can drive my car right into the HAPPY books by commenting with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25. Sorry, kids, the Misery book is closed.
500, 12, please. :o)
“Colleen Moore’s dollhouse, Chicago’s Science and Industry Museum”
Thought you might enjoy a link to this one.
Oh that’s a good one! I’ve see that one live and in person!
Great link! If I was Colleen Moore I’d have had a dollshouse like that… :o)
Okay first, why is Misery closed? I happen to know Misery LOVES company.
2ndly, seriously? Someone beat me to this? dash and I have been waiting for HOURS…
okay I want 513 number 25
Dash will have 425 number 3
Well, you know, Mark’s in Europe and probably much more alert than you at this point.
For you:
“hot fudge cake”
and for Dash:
“extravagant lawn parties”
As for Misery, though I know you’re her biggest fan, her creators failed to number her pages and I’m not counting.
I loved them too. And I had so much fun with an old green truck, I used to load up my plastic farm animals and drive them around. G collects a lot of model cars and some are quite valuable these days.
No 159, 18 please!
You just reminded me of another set of cheap toys I got–some little farm animals. The only thing I remember about them is that I took the silver lining of a discarded blush container of my sister’s and turned it into the duck pond. (I guess the duck didn’t need a very large pond.)
From the book:
“planting raspberries”
How about page 22, #9 in honor of the season?
Love this season! From the book:
“fern gardens”
…it had never occurred to anyone that I might like to play with toys that were traditionally considered for boys.”
Happy accident, indeed!
Okay, I’ll “happily” have another go – 259 and 16.
And the book will happily give you:
“plates of lettuce, peppergrass and chives, interspersed with white and red radishes and balls of buttermilk cheese”
(It cracks me up that she’s so specific sometimes, as if she were out to lunch, this was served, and she quickly jotted it down because everyone was complimenting it.)
Well, as a vegetarian, it sounds absolutely scrumptious . . . glad I asked!! 🙂
It definitely made me hungry.
Great story, Becky! I still have a case of cars, both Hotwheels and Matchbox. Yes, even gay boys played with cars, although I liked Matchbox better because Hotwheels were so domestic.
And I’ll take p. 492, #4 please.
You earned gay points because of being so discerning in your automobilery. 😉
From the book:
“broad purple pools of shadow lying in every hollow”
109 and 12, please? 🙂
(Speaking of toys, how far did you get with your Lego portrayals of the Fool stories? Not that I’m being demanding, I just want to make sure I saw everything you did.)
And from the book:
“elegant tea services”
Ooh! Awesome happiness, and a kick in the pants to do something. You are an Aries!
Aren’t you glad you don’t live on The Compound?
Might I have page 219 # 21 please?
Thanks and Happy Hump Day!
Thanks! And from the book:
“the value of a hug from a loved one”
page 482, number 18 please!
The book says:
“snowball lights for a romantic glow”
That doesn’t mean SNOW, I swear! Just picture them glowing in a lovely, warm garden at night.
Page 513, #13 please! I need one of these today. 🙂
Someone has gotten one of these before. In case it was you, I’ll give you that number from both books. Who can’t use a double shot of happiness?
“a sunken garden”
AND
“cucumber sandwiches sliced like a dream, brown boiled eggs, strawberry ice, lemonade”
Page 183, # 8 please!
And for you, the book has:
“candlelight processions”
For some reason, the traditional ending of a fortune cookie fortune just popped into my head, only I think after the Emmys, we should change it to “with Neil Patrick Harris.” So really, I’m sure the book means “candlelight processions with Neil Patrick Harris.”
Which traditional ending are you referring too? The one I’ve always heard/used is “in bed,” as in “candlelight processions in bed.” (Although I’ll take NPH any day. I hope he likes Chinese food.)
Yes, “in bed” was the one I meant. And you have to watch those candlelight processions in bed, because sometimes setting the sheets on fire is not a good thing.
Oh, also? At The Compound, we changed the fortune cookie ending to “for no apparent reason,” in honor of that one SLY review.
It’s 11pm on the east coast– barely made it. Can I please have page 60, item # 4? : )
You could have done this on Sunday, and I’d STILL have considered it the middle of your week if that’s what it took to give you some happiness. And the book speaketh:
“not peeking into a cannon”
Seems like sound advice, but is it anything to throw a party about? Let me look at the first edition of this book:
“platters of good things to eat”
Much better. And so Southern sounding. I’ll bet there’s okra. We just passed our okra anniversary, you know.
Thank you for the happy. As for the other thing you mention, well. The anniversary that dare not speak its name. haha
No matter how old and forgetful I become, I will remember that you LIKED the okra.
You can prove NOTHING.
I have corroborating witnesses.