The Big DumpTruck

I promised I'd post a picture. Go to my flckr page to see a full-length (okay, 5/8) shot.

I'm all about the accessories, so I have that little temporary spiderweb tattoo, and a bouquet of black roses. Niiiiiiice!

Almost time for NaNoWriMo to begin! Pencils sharpened? Rootbeer chilling in the fridge?

Hello everyone, and a hearty "Happy The Aunt" day to you all! Feel free to celebrate The Aunt Day by handing out candy to costumed children.

Today is the birthday of The Aunt, who is a friend of the Dump, by the way. So you can wish her a happy The Aunt Day, or you can share stories of your own aunt(s), who in no way will ever be as awesome as mine.

Don't forget, you have to buy some unscented candles to burn in your fireplace to officially celebrate "The Aunt" day tomorrow!

Wooo! Mini candy bars for everyone!

I wrote this over at my Nano blog because it was related to a local "meetup" for Nano participants. I think the important thing to note about this post is that is literally goes against EVERYTHING I wrote about yesterday related to curling up in my cave on a rainy day.


I planned all day to attend [a meeting up local nanoers at the Moose Tracks in Leominster] and on the way home from a meeting a spectacular accident happened directly in front of us in the pouring rain on 495, so I ran out of the car and supplied my Spongebob blanket to one of the drivers and stayed with her because she was freaking out. So I gave her a hug and held my umbrella over her and just stayed with her until the ambulance showed up (her neck hurt and her eyes were burning from the airbag). The kid whose SUV flipped and slid was okay (God knows how) but was bleeding. The whole thing could have been AWFUL but they'll both be okay. (She ran into him because she couldn't avoid him. I'm not sure what made him flip.) Anyway, I stood out in the rain at the accident scene for a good 30-40 minutes, soaked through, so I didn't intend to stay at the 4pm meeting. But once I got there I really wanted to stay so I did. I finally just got home and into try clothes. I think three hours soaking well guarantees that I'll be sleeping in tomorrow morning. Man, what a miserable day.

So on this rainy Saturday, the decision has been made to have bagels for breakfast even Junior, who has been eating them on the sly at beforecare without telling us. He eats his with jelly, for the record.

I don't know if I can trust a man who doesn't use bagels as an excuse to eat cream cheese.

This is going to sound silly, but I'm kind of looking forward to tomorrow's icky weather. When it's nice in the fall, I have this uncontrollable urge to go to things. That means for weeks I don't get anything done in the house. Things like napping, playing Toontown, catching up on all the stuff on the Tivo, napping. You know, the important things that you earn by putting in 40 long ones every week.

So instead of going on apple cider runs and pretending I can take decent foliage photos with my crappy camera (yes, I've decided my camera is crappy, but I'm stuck with it, so we'll just agree to not talk about it), I'm going to be trapped in the house.

If I had bothered to find a chimney sweep, maybe we could crank open a fake log. But I'm a little nervous about setting my house on fire. I am a poor judge of creosote, you see. Plus, in the past none of the chimney sweep companies would even return my calls. That totally sucks. Well, maybe we'll light a candle and just put it in the fireplace. Would that work?

Only a couple of days until we start writing the NaNoWriMo novel. Still time for you to join us over at Http://nanowrimo.bigbadwords.com. You want to write a novel, don't you?

I think I finally fixed my broken template(s) and have Big Bad Words up and running at http://www.bigbadwords.com. There isn't much content there, but hey, I got the broken templates fixed, you ingrates!

Also, the NaNoWriMo 2006 blog is in full swing, and we even have guest contributors!
http://nanowrimo.bigbadwords.com is the place to be.

If you are Nano-ing and meet the following criteria, you can sign on as a site contributor and get your own page for your novel! Criteria - you must be at least one of the following:

• Someone I know in real life
• An invisible friend who lives in my computer (Hi Reid and Christine!)
• Someone from the Leominster area
• Someone who sends me presents

Easy? Easy! See you there! (Oh, and you can blogroll the nano site so you know when someone has updated it. There's also an option to add a Yahoo notification, which is cool.)

Okay, I can't take a break from talking about Whalom Park without pointing out that my aunt is the best aunt on the planet. I'm sorry that you all will be crying yourselves to sleep tonight, but that's just the way the buggy bounces.

Do you know WHY my aunt is the greatest aunt on the planet? Because she reads my blog. And sometimes she comments, although not recently. And then she comes over to my house in the middle of the day to leave me a present. A PRESENT! I LOVE PRESENTS!

And do you know what she gave me? Here is what the note said:
"Jody, I got these in an auction. Thought you should have them."

Inside the bag where goodies from Whalom Park. Two ice cream sundae dishes, a coffee mug celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Flying Comet (1940-2000), a skee-ball coupon and a magnet. I mean, holy cow, can you even think of a more thoughtful gift on the PLANET? I cannot. She rocks. So this year we declare Tuesday October 31st "The Aunt Day". It helps that it's her birthday, of course. So I want you to all make sure you look extra special next Tuesday when we wish her a happy birthday.

Oh, so what was I going to say? Oh, ya, a complaint. Have any of you played the Spyro video games? I think they are fantastic, he's too cute, the games are family friendly, blah blah blah. So Spyro hangs out with a firefly named Sparx. In all the other games Sparx speaks with the dragonfly equivalent of the Charlie Brown Adults. Bzzz bzzzz bzzzzz bzzzzz. Cute.

There's a new Spyro game, and Sparx speaks. And his voice is done by....David Spade. I can't even begin to tell you how awful this decision was.

I know my current obsession will wear off eventually, but right now I am spending a LOT of time looking at web sites that somehow have reference to "Whalom Park." I think this is one of the stages of mourning, isn't it? (The other stage is wondering why my site isn't anywhere near the top 5 results pages if you google for Whalom Park. I'm insulted. No, not really.)

I think he's concerned about me. He probably should be, but what can you do? I may not have mentioned that Junior and I went to the Whalom driving range to hit a bucket of balls on Columbus Day. As always, we drove by the park and I took a mental inventory of how things looked. It appeared to me that there may have been some activity, but nothing specific. Things looked as they had for most of the past year. As we rounded the corner past the roller rink, I looked up at the boarded windows, and told him (again?) that was where I learned to roller skate with my Brownie troop. I can still picture the inside as it was the last time I saw it, probably in high school.

Imagine my shock when I heard that the next day it was torn down. Not weeks later, the next day. I hope my brain had film loaded in it, because that's the last mental picture I get to take. We drove past the building again a few days later and it was 7/8 down. So much for that.

No, I haven't driven by the park since they took down the Roller Coaster. I want to, but I don't want to. You know?

Here are pictures from August 2000, our last trip to the park. Junior (blue shirt) and his cousin hit the kiddie rides. Had I only known it was the last-last trip, I would have taken MANY more pictures.

A news story out of Attleboro quoted a mom with the same last name as me. I proceeded to get email from friends all over the planet who saw the article on CNN and wanted to know if I was related to that mom. http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2006/10/18/features/feature37.txt

The story, about an Attleboro elementary school banning tag at recess, is another one of those "fear of being sued" things. I made sure to tell all my friends I am pro-playground.

Yesterday I got a call from the person in charge of Junior's aftercare program telling me that he'd gotten a gash on his head while...wait for it....playing tag.

The timing and irony of the whole thing could not be creepier. And no, I'm not going to sue. The school is not responsible for making sure my kid looks where he's going. And he's fine, no stitches, but I don't think he'll try to duck under that particular piece of playground equipment again.

Okay, I cannot be held responsible if you watch this and you choke up, okay? It's REALLY well done, and I started blubbering when I got to the end of it. I plan to write to the photographer.
http://wt.us.publicus.com/static/slideshow/WhalomPark/index.html

(I'm in the middle of re-uploading my Whalom Park photo album - the one I took 5 years after the park closed and most of the rides were auctioned off. http://www.bigdumptruck.com/images/Whalom%20Park%20May%202005/)


[Updated 10/20] Also, if you're looking for pictures of the park, Google "Whalom Park" in their images category. Wow, there is some seriously cool stuff out there. I know I saw I was going to make a Whalom Park page here a while ago, but now I really want to do it, even if it's just for me. Also, I am now more determined than ever to find the old pictures (slides?) of me as a toddler on the rides in kiddieland. Is it a bad sign that I have the old Whalom Park (for a whale of a time) radio jingle in my head?

I'm in mourning. I've talked about this before, but to heck with it, I'm talking about it again.

Whalom Park is gone. Well, it was technically gone when they auctioned off all the rides, but now it's gone because they're flattening the place. I'm one of those stupid blind believers who could drive past the crumbling ruins the past few years and not see the rot and rubble and overgrowth. I could see the train tracks and the Scrambler and hear the sounds of balloons popping from the water game over by the Flying Comet Roller Coaster. I can remember the daily bet on which car of the Octopus would be thrown up in first while I was working cashier at the front of the park. I remember running through the park in the pouring rain because they decided not to open after we were all at work. I remember my parents cramming as many neighborhood kids as possible into our car to drive us all for the Wednesday night two-for-one pricing. I remember actually falling in love for the first time with a guy who didn't love me back, but still making me feel special because he treated me like a princess in front of all the other girls who had mad crushes on him. (I'm talking about you, Mr. Tilt-a-Whirl.) I remember the fun house when it was full of items that you couldn't have in a public place for fear of a million lawsuits - the spinning barrel that the kids would do cartwheels in, and the big disk on the floor where you wanted to sit in the middle because then you might be the last to be spun off by the centrifigal force. I remember the horror when we all heard that there had been a fire and the haunted house was gone forever. I remember how every Easter Sunday I would BEG my parents to take us to Whalom for the Easter Egg Hunt, even though we never went. I remember being REALLY little, maybe 4, and riding on the kiddie roller coaster they used to have, and a fence post had fallen across the track but the kid running the ride couldn't hear us yelling and we were damned lucky the train cars didn't come off the track. I remember taking Junior as a tiny guy, him loving every ride he went on, and me being thrilled that I was bringing my own child to one of my favorite places.

I remember being grateful beyond words when Mark Chester invited me to meet him at the closed park for one last walk around and photo session. I will TREASURE those photos forever. [Note: I just went to look for these and saw that they are not on the server. I will make sure to re-upload them. I have no idea why they aren't available.]

Here's a note from a long ago Dump:

"I didn't make it to Whalom Park again this year. I dread the time
when Junior becomes aware of it because we'll have to find another route to Walmart. Not that I spend a lot of time at Walmart, but I won't want to stop to ride the Merry-Go-Round every time I head off to buy lightbulbs."

I take it back!!!

Man it was coooold this morning. My hands were very unhappy with the temperature of the steering wheel for the first 5 minutes or so this morning. I couldn't really do anything about it, because I'm still in summer mode where of course it's not going to be "cold" out. Except according to the thermometer built into the Jodymobile it wasn't even 40 degrees. Oh. Okay. That's nice.

I got my Halloween costume yesterday. I forget what it's actually called, but it's sort of a death bride thing. Shopping for Halloween costumes is one of my favorite tasks in the universe. We didn't go to nearly as many stores as we did last year, fwiw. Junior wanted a Pokemon-related costume and I can safely say we didn't see a single one, so I'm glad he also had his backup plan of being a "medieval dead woodsman." (I'll have to confirm that this is what he actually told me he wanted to be). I know that all medieval woodsmen are by definition, dead, but we need to know that it had to be in a medieval style, and dead because that implies a level of pale ghostliness as opposed to just a "medieval woodsman" who would be alive. And not just a dead woodsman, because could be a guy who fell out of a tree yesterday. While that would make for an interesting makeup job, it isn't what he was going for.

What was funny is that he apparently inherited my Halloween fascination with accessories, because he thought it would be perfect to dress as this ghoulish person, but get a little Play-Skool chain saw that said happy little things like "I love you!"

He amuses me so!

Joined my sister's family for an outing at Witch's Woods (at the Nashoba Valley Ski Area in Westford) and a fabulous time was had by all. Well, all but Junior (8), who was thoroughly freaked out and finally said he wasn't going to go in the last attraction. (One other girl in our group, who I think is 9, also skipped one of the attractions 9, but not the same one Junior and I did.)

I was a little put off by the price (22 for adults, 20 for kids 12 and under) thinking I'd be giving them hard-earned buckaroonies for 15 minutes of people in makeup and wigs. On the other hand, we were there for 2.5 hours, had the bejeezus scared out of us over and over again, and just really enjoyed the whole party atmosphere. My one complaint is that they sold pretzels and fried dough but didn't sell popcorn. I love me some popcorn.

There isn't much I can say here to sell you on it that wouldn't spoil it for you, so I won't. I will say that if you are like me, and detest the idea of people popping up out of nowhere, this is probably not the place to spend an evening. (For instance, I hated playing hide and seek as a kid because I hated being startled by the other players when I was "it".) The one section we didn't do was the one with 3D glasses where you can't tell which things are mannequins and which are real people who will pop out of the walls, etc. etc.

There is a "no touch" rule - they will never touch you and you cannot ever touch them - that doesn't stop them from standing as close behind you as humanly possible. If you are last person in your group, don't be surprised to find someone breathing on the back of your neck. Heh.

I give witch's woods 4 out of 4 bats. I would leave the 5 and under kids at home, and maybe anyone under 10 who can't handle haunted houses, ghouls and surprises. Otherwise, have fun!

I am participating again. Christine had better start planning now, because I'm not going to take no for an answer this year. Do you hear me, Christine? Reid, are you out there? I'm talking to you! Plus we can use it as an excuse to have girl's night out at Panera Bread, or someplace like that. Not you, Reid, you live too far away. But you are welcome to join us, if only in spirit.

If you sign on, let me know and I'll add you to my list of friends (or whatever they call it) on the Nanowrimo site.

So all you old school ELO fans should recognize the title of this post is the B-side of a circa for the All Over the World 45. That's right, kidlings, I'm talking about a 45-RPM recorded disk that was issued back around 1980 from the soundtrack to the movie Xanadu. You have seen Xanadu, right? But have you seen it lately? You MST3K-wannabes can have a LOT of fun with this one. I think someone should do Xanadu 2 and show what happened to Sonny Malone when his dream establishment, a roller disco rink, failed in spectacular fashion less than 2 years after it opened. Because we all know how roller disco rinks maintained their cutting-edge popularity over the last 25 years. You can't swing a dead mirror ball without hitting a roller disco rink.

But I digress. Drum Dreams, in this case, actually refers to the Blue Man Group concert we attended last night. Can I just say how much I adore Blue Man Group? This tour, called "How to Be a Megastar" is actually just a slightly updated version of their Complex tour, but I am so hooked on The Complex that I'm okay with that. I didn't get to see The Complex when they originally toured, so last night's concert was FINE with me.

It does make me want to run out and buy some PVC pipe. BMG has a hands-on exhibit at the Children's Museum in Boston and I'm wondering how bad it will look if I pry the kids off of it so that I can take a turn. Sure, they'll cry, but I'm bigger than them, so who cares? We're talking about Blue Man Group!

Wow, how long has it been since I posted one of these!!! As I was telling dump reader (and now my Toontown friend) Beth the other night, one of the first regular features of the original dump 11 years ago was a Lord of the Dance Update.

Because the people need to know.

I got an email this morning from something along the lines of "Broadway Across America" (I think they have my email because I bought some concert tickets (not Broadway show) online. Anyway, it was an announcement that for three shows only, Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance will be in Boston...on my birthday.

So I had to tell Mr. Dump.

Me: Lord of the Dance is being performed on my birthday ("3 shows only!"). At what point is he going to be too old to do this show? I'm impressed that he's maintained his energy - that is, unless he's not actually the Lord of the Dance, he's the grandpa of the dance.

Mr. D: Wow… 3 shows all on your birthday. Talk about energy!!

Me: Well, the 26th and 27th. And on the 28th the Lord rested. BWA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!!!

If anyone is going to go, you have to provide us with details. And if you want to read some of my past Lord of the Dance updates, throw that phrase into the Google search over on the right and search the archives.

I just saw a news report that you people aren't watching Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the brilliant Monday Night show that you are supposed to be watching.

I certainly hope you aren't watching something else. Or worse, not watching television at all? Now I'm the first to not watch things. There are a LOT of shows that I don't watch. But of the handful of "grownup" shows that I do Tivo and actually watch, this is one that I want to survive for at least a season.

So here is your required viewing: Studio 60, My Name is Earl, and The Office. Those are the only three that you are required to watch. If you're smart, you'll also watch E's "The Soup" and the brilliant Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Brilliant brilliant stuff, and if his son Nick isn't huge some day, I'll eat my puppy socks.

A puppy sock
Can really rock
But when your have two
You cannot be blue

They have ears on the side
Which fills me with pride
Don't you wish that you
Had puppy socks too?

By Jody who feels like a kid in her new fluffy puppy socks