The Most Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

Fits me to a T.

My Life in T-Shirts

When I was in college, my sister bought me a real cool Tigger shirt. I won't describe the front as you should be looking right at it. But the back had the Tigger song printed on the back: You know the one . . .

The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers

Is Tiggers are wonderful Things

Their Tops are made out of Rubber

Their Bottoms are made out of Springs

They're Bouncy, Trouncy, Flouncy, Pouncy Fun Fun Fun Fun Fun!

But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is, I'm the only one.

It continues (although I'm not sure it continues on the shirt)

Tiggers are wonderful fellas

Tiggers are awfully sweet

Everyone ellis is jealous! That's why I repeat repeat

I loved that shirt. That shirt got through college, made it through 2 years in Russia. There's a picture of me wearing it in my yearbook from seminary. My wife wore it on a missions trip to Turkey in 2000. Sometime after that it came up missing. It had a long and storied life so I didn't grieve too much for it, but I sure do miss it. It would have made quite the adult t-shirt turned kid's pajamas.

This post is one in a series of remembrances of t-shirts past. Some people may wonder why I'm so nostalgic about t-shirts. The truth is, I'm nostalgic about everything. I'm nostalgic about the future. Here is a quick ditty I just composed to the Tigger tune that may explain my love for t-shirts.

The most wonderful thing about t-shirts

Is t-shirts are quite fun to wear

They're great to roll up your sleeves in

They help you let down your hair

They're cool, they're stylish, some think they're childish and while I will not bicker

the most wonderful thing about t-shirts is they're frontwards bumper stickers!

Well that's it for me for today. I like t-shirts. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Head on over to Half Past Kissin' time for more fragmented Friday fun.

Next Time: Pictures

A Few Thoughts About Movies

I went to the movies twice this week and Amy is out seeing one now. I decided to take the Friday Fragment/Freewrite section to tell you a few things I like about movies.



I like watching movies with groups of people.

There is a dynamic of watching a movie with lots of people. The jokes seem funnier when you hear other people laughing at them. If it is an especially powerful film, watching the movie together adds an extra amount of poignancy to it.

I like watching movies I enjoy with people who have not seen it before.

On Monday I biked about 16 miles round trip to watch a movie at a neighboring town's library. It was the original version of 12 Angry Men. There were between 20-40 people there and about a third of them had not seen it before. It was very interesting for me to hear some of the other's watching it for the first time. They seemed to enjoy all the moments that I love about the film which enhanced my experience. At an important part of the film when they are doing a roll call of guilty or not guilty. I was counting the not guilty votes as they were being given, when all 12 had responded and before the foreman gave the result, a member of the audience whispered with anticipation in her voice "hey it's 6 to 6!" It felt so good to know that I wasn't the only one counting.

I like watching movies that are older than me.

While many of my favorite films have been made in the past 45 years I really love when I find a good film made earlier than that. Marty is a film that Amy and I have fell in love with since we've been married. It may well be my favorite love story movie of all time. Four of my top 10 movies of all time are pre-1964 (another one was made in 1965).

I sometimes prefer going to the movies alone.

While many people do not like going to see a movie by themselves. I actually quite enjoy it. I think I always have. The first film I remember going to the theatre alone for was Breaking Away when I was in High School. I walked the 4 blocks to our local theatre saw the movie and went home. I had such a spring in my step as I came home. I really like thinking about movies and the best time to think about them is often on the way home.

I seem to have more thoughts about movies than I anticipated. I think I will share more on another occasion. I also would like to do a few movie reviews here in the future. For now let me leave you with a Lucyism and head off to bed.

Tonight when I was putting Lucy's pajamas on I was doing so rather distractedly. Lucy noticed I did not seem happy so she put her face right up to mine and said "You should smile like Me! and gave me the cutest smile you could possibly imagine and I really had no choice but to smile back at her.

For more fragments and free writes head over to Half Past Kissing Time and Ordinary and Awesome.

Next Time: The new school year approacheth!

Trying New Things

Today I am jumping in feet first to a couple of meme's I have been seeing around recently. Merely click on the buttons to see the fine blogs at Half Past Kissing Time and Ordinary and Awesome.


In the spirit of trying these blogs let me tell you about some things me and mine have tried this summer either for the first time or the first time in a long time. I will also throw in a lucyism for good measure.

I am 44 years old, I'll be 45 in September and for the first time in my life I am doing flips off the diving board. I have always been a diving board guy but was always afraid to put the flip in my repertoire. So I'd do a dive, or cannon ball that sort of thing. Now The diving board is basically a 14 and below area at our pool. But for whatever reason kids treat me like a peer at the pool. Three year olds I have never met, star conversations with me without the slightest encouragement by me. K-2nd graders recruit me to assist on their sand crations and tweeners give me dive suggestions. So earlier this year, after I did an especially wicked can opener this kid said "hey, you should do a flip." I was like no way. But the kid would not relent. So I tried one. A flip is ridiculously easy to do, just bend your head down when exiting the board. My flips are not pretty, but I have only back flopped once. I enjoy doing them, and wonder why I didn't take the plunge long ago.

Speaking of which, our pool has an awesome tube slide. All manner of parents take their toddlers and up on double and triple tubes. Amy and I love tubing but one of us has to be with the kids so we don't ever get to go together. cannot get any of my kids to go with me so I usually just have to ride the single tubes. That is until Yesterday. I decided to just go on the body slide with Emma a few times, since that is something she enjoys. We couldn't go down together but we walked up the stairs together and took turns as to who would go down first. After we went up and down a few times Emma decided she wanted to go down the tubes. We went separately a couple times and then we went together. Emma loved it. She went on about 25 more times before we left. The Mom of a 3 year old even asked her to take her daughter with her. On the way home, she was like "I love going on the tubes" and I was like "I thought you would that's why I've been trying to get you on them the past 6 years." She then said something telling, she said she'd spent most of that time trying to get the courage to go on. It was a happy time at the father daughter bonding society, that's for sure.

Charlie and I discovered at a father child camp out that we both love archery. He tried it a few years ago and didn't fair too well. But was a quick study to it, this time around. It had been 23 years since I had done any archery, and I could have shot arrows all day long.

Lucyism: While Emma, Charlie and I were camping on Saturday, Lucy kept on repeating to Amy that when she was done being home schooled she wanted to be gone schooled.

So that's it for my first foray into Fragmented Free writing on Fridays. To see how it's really done click on the buttons above. You may want to try something new and participate.

Next Time: A weekend of longing.