Nine Old Men

Walt Disney had a group of men that worked for him. Their job for the Disney company was in the animation department. Walt called this group of dudes "Nine Old Men". They were involved from the first animated movie ever, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and were some of the most talented people on the planet.

I know the names of all of them, but I only know facts about my favorites so if you care, you will have to research on your own.

Marc Davis-My all time favorite animator. He was just a little bit of wonderful. Of course, I think his greatest achievement was Maleficent. She is beautiful, graceful, and willowy and she is pure EVIL!!! And dressed in purple and black. I adore her. Marc also served as a Disney Imagineer and this work lives on in the theme parks...The Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Carousel of Progress and the Haunted Mansion.

Ollie Johnson-My second favorite of the nine. He did Prince John in my second favorite Disney film, Robin Hood. Casey at Bat is one of the coolest stories ever, yeah it was drawn by Ollie. He was short and adorable himself. Ollie was the last of the 9 to die (2008) and was featured in the Incredibles!!! He worked a lot with my third favorite...

Frank Thomas--The Queen of Hearts and Madam Mim belong to Frank. He and Ollie did a wonderful book called the Illusion of Life.

others....they don't thrill me as much...

Wolfgang Reitherman--he should thrill me since he worked on Maleficent as a dragon, but he does not.
Les Clark--mainly drew Mickey
John Lounsberry-great work on Fantasia, I do love that film
Milt Kahl--He was my villain animator and did Allan a dale from Robin Hood
Eric Larson--can't remember any of his characters..how terrible is that?


Ward Kimball--Mad Hatter, Jiminy Cricket and Three Caballeros (I love this number) all were penned by Ward. I think he's greatest was World of Motion for EPCOT. You know how I feel about EPCOT.

Uncovered Goodies

So I am going through my cassette tapes and I found some jewels that I have not heard in years. you are not really going to care anything about these precious things UNLESS you like Disney. You see, Michelle is OBSESSED with Disney. Especially Classic Disney (those teeny shows stink, IMO). I am very much into music. Every time I can get to the parks or Downtown Disney the first thing I do it try to find music that I DON'T have.

Much of my older collection is on cassette tapes, just because John and I did not get our first cd player until 2000!!! That is right, and you know really the reason we did was that I found one cheap at Kmart in Little Rock.

Here are some gems that I uncovered:

God Help the Outcasts-The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Talespin (one of my all time favorites) from Talespin the tv show
Fathoms below-the Little Mermaid (I have this as a ringtone)
Step in Time--Mary Poppins
Candle on the Water--Pete's Dragon
Topsy Turvy--Hunchback
Casey Junior-Dumbo
The Tiki Tiki Tiki room---old school version
the Parent Trap--I love Annette
Mr Piano Man--again Annette
Golden Dreams-the original version
Carousel of Progress from the 70's

I shall leave you alone while I finish listening to my Disney music

Cheeseburger

I have an addiction to cheeseburgers. Honestly, I think that I could eat them every day. I could eat them with tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard. With guacamole, bacon, and mayo. With onions, pickles, and lettuce. Maybe some mustard, pickles, and cheese. I am getting hungry just typing about this...yummy.

There are many days at work when I crave one so badly that I can't stand it. Yes, that is how bad the addiction is. I will dump out the entire contents of my purse scouring for money to pay for a $1 burger. Yes, it is that bad.

A friend of mine realized that the addiction has gotten out of hand...mainly because I walked around singing "you are his cheeseburger" from veggie tales ALL THE TIME!!! So she went to Clay Chameleon and made me a cheeseburger. A cheeseburger with no fat, no calories and will help me save for a cheeseburger. Oh yes, it is a bank. I am now putting all my change into the cheeseburger so that one day I can shake out all the coin and buy a Red Robin cheeseburger.

Red Robin, YUM!! Thanks Jennifer for the wonderful present!

My letter to Tim Holtz

Dear Tim,
I must tell you that I am in love with you. I have never in my life seen someone so creative or inventive. You inspire me to be more instinctive in my work and create what I feel...NOT what other people think I should create. You can take the "strangest" of household items and turn them into beautiful works of art.

I have yet to see any of your products that does not make me stop and think. The usage of keys, door knobs, and inks to create things that look old but have a new flair to them. I have been following your blog for a while too and I was sooooo inspired by the Twelve Tags of Christmas. My Christmas cards had a new flair thanks to one Tim Holtz.

I have learned how to be a better stamper, an embosser, a distresser, and I think a better scrapbooker. One day, I hope to meet you or even take one of your classes.

thank you, Tim, for all you do and all that you create.

Words with Friends

I would like to thank my dear little darling Wesley Morgan for this habit. He walked into work one day and said, "you should try words with friends". Well, I did...and now thank you, Wesley, I am addicted.

I have always been a word game friend, and even though I am NOT that good at the games, I am having a BLAST!!! I have played over 20 games in 3 days and have about 10 going right now. I do notice a severe drop in Droid X battery life, but that's fine, I always carry a power cord with me anyway. You know, this may be a good excuse to get that Droid X external battery that I have been wanting...mmmmmm

Well, thank you, Wesley, for my new habit.

They did that in school?

My first experience with school was in the middle (to me, I don't know about geographically) of NOWHERE!!! Our school seemed old to me and served 1st-12th grade. There was a kindergarten, but it was half day and across the street in a Baptist church. The high school kids were so crazy. Did you know that there was an area next to the cafeteria and before the classrooms where high schoolers could take a smoke break? Oh yes, they could smoke at school right next to my first-grade eyes!!! I was shocked!!! And the sad thing was one of the high schoolers that I saw smoking was my dear little baby sitter. I was devastated that she would smoke. The only person that I knew that smoked was my grandmother's sister.

The next thing that might shock you was that high schoolers were allowed to sit on the bus with small children (like myself). I learned many grown-up words and "actions" on the school bus. I even saw a few and was mortified by the stuff that I saw. Oh yeah, it goes on...

We kids had COKE BREAK every day. We were allowed to bring money from home and buy a bottle of coke to drink at school. These were glass bottles and full sized. I remember that my mom let me sometimes by an orange crush. If I did not get to buy a drink I went towards the baseball fields. Here you could see high schoolers kissing their boyfriends and girlfriends.

It was a different time. I remember one "kid" (he was in high school) saying that he would turn 16 next month and he could not wait because he was quitting school and joining "daddy on the farm". Wonder what happened to that kid. I don't know if he ever got an education or not.

I remember the high schoolers pulling pranks on high school girls in the halls, and they were not nice at all. I remember walking into the bathroom and seeing high schoolers smoking in the bathroom. I remember seeing them making out in the bathrooms, oh yes, you know what I am talking about.

I know times have changed at schools now (thank goodness), but this was the 70's. These kids were loving life and glad not to be in the military. The girls didn't always wear bras to school and wore the largest bell bottoms that I have ever seen in my life. They wore those candies wooden bottom shoes (that I NOW wear), carried a cigarette behind the ear, wore long gold chains and had massive afro hair. I bet many of them knew how to disco too! Times have changed and today you kids have your own weird styles and someday there will be a person blogging about the crazy things they saw YOU doing in school. Make good choices kids, somebody's watching you.

Why I love cruising

1. The Ships---Big beautiful floating cities. And they are gorgeous!! Especially those newer ones.
2. Food---I love to eat! Love to try new foods and my family doesn't...a perfect chance for me to try stuff and not lose any money if I don't like it. Man, if I don't like it, they will bring me a replacement for free.
3. Formal or not so formal---I love to dress up for a 5-course meal! I love portraits. Well, there are also times when I want to slum it and a cruise will allow me to do that too.
4. Location---you go to bed in one country and wake up in another and no extra travel or hotel fees.
5. Ocean (At sea days)---Look out around you and all you see are waves, dolphins and if you are lucky whales. (and you might see Cuban guard boats if you sail in the right area of the world)
6. Broadway (or better) styled shows---We have seen people use the silks, ice skate and blow us away with their vocal talent. Once we even saw "The Beatles".
7. Floating shopping malls---I love the shops!! Sales on watches, scarves, trinkets, ammolite, tanzanite, rhodolite, and sterling silver. Discounts on designer bags and most ships seem to have a $10 store.
8. Empty bars/lounges---places that are secluded and quiet during the day, a great place to read or sketch. I love this part of my day!
9. Classes---Craft classes, scrapbook sessions, napkin folding, name that tune, TRIVIA (I shall win here)....yep, I am there!!!
10. Chocolates on my pillow---that part needs no more added to the description, but I get equally excited by tomorrows capers newspaper.
11. Naturalist---I have only had these on my Alaskan cruises but they are so wonderful, so informative, and willing to answer my questions.
12. Included---I love that after I pay the ticket price and other than the shopping, really I am out no more money except tips. Especially when I got to Alaska and book my excursions from home through the same company the cruise ships use. Saved a ton of money.
13. Midnight buffets---yeah, if I can stay up, I love them. However, they don't come every night like they used to :(
14. Artwork---I love looking at the various artworks on the ships. some have millions of dollars worth of art on board.
15. Photographic moments---there are usually so many that I can fill up an entire 8gb card
16. Omelet stations---one of my favorite parts of getting out of bed early. A fresh cooked, made to order an omelet. I like the one with tomatoes, cheese, mushrooms, onions, peppers, and bacon. YUMMY!!!
17. Vanilla---gotta go to Mexico to get the vanilla for my famous cookies.
18. 12 hours in a fjord---yep, I will sit there the entire 12 hours just to see those great glaciers.
19. Cruise Directors/Shopping Experts---they make me laugh, they are crazy, and often highly entertaining.
20. Hot tubs---oh yeah, love me some hot tub, especially when the air is 39 degrees outside. AHHHHHHH!!!