movies

Over the weekend, my fella and I were on YouTube looking at all the upcoming movie trailers. After about 15 minutes, I realized that 90% of them were remakes and sequels. It really is hard to believe that Hollywood just can't understand why people aren't going to the movies like they use to. Honestly? I'm not a big movie goer but I could venture to guess......maybe it's the lack of creativity?!?!?!

Mean Girls - a movie version of the Broadway play

Dune - part 2

Road House - a remake of the Patrick Swayze hit

Ghostbusters - I don't know, 5th or 6 sequel

Godzilla x Kong - 250th version?!

The Fall Guy - from TV series

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - this might be number 10

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Ballerina - a John Wick spin off

Bad Boys 4

Inside Out 2

A Quiet Place: Day One - a prequel

Beverly Hills Cop

Twisters - you know, about storm chasers

Deadpool 3

Alien: Romulus - oh come on!

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Joker: Folie a Deux - about the Joker's girlfriend

Venom 3

Pirates of the Caribbean

Gladiator 2

Wicked - the movie version of the play

To be fair, there are a handful of original movies. After looking at this list though, why bother? I love a good movie franchise but good grief.

Purses vs wallets

Historically, how did women end up with purses and men got wallets? Didn't men ever want to carry stuff around? Besides a club? Seriously. I was curious so I looked it up :-)

Handbags actually started out as man's accessory. The history of purses dates back more than 5000 years! Clothing didn't have pockets, so pouches served a function. The first modern day puse was envisioned by a man named Samuel Parkinson in 1841. He felt bad for his wife, having to lug around all that luggage when they traveled. So he had someone make some small bags for her that should could carry around. By the 1930's, handbags evolved significantly. Many of the designs today were invented during this time period.

Reader's Digest says "at any given moment, she will own 17, adding around 3 to her collection each year." Umm, I don't think that's true. Seventeen? Personally, I don't even own a dozen and if I did, that would be too many. I have favorites and switch them out sometimes. A handbag is a personal thing so not all women like the same things. I like compartments in my purse. When I a was a teenager, I just wanted a big bag that I could fit a change of clothes and a six pack in. LOL. I needed compartments later so I could store my things and find them easily. 

Sometime in the last decade or so, business men started thinking, hey! I have things I want to carry around that won't fit in my briefcase. I'll use a backpack. Now they could carry their laptops and gym clothes and a water bottle all together. Then, women thought - I want to be like a man so I'm going to carry a backpack too, but mine will be pretty. Ha!

Anyway, I use to love carrying around things I might need. I didn't buy my first pretty backpack until about 5 years ago. I just got tired of carrying a purse. Now, I'm tired of carrying anything! I can't remember where I was going but I didn't want to bring my backpack, so I put a few things I thought I'd need in a wristlet, (which is just a small clutch). My ID, phone, debit card, cash, car key. When I was done, I just put it in my backpack. It's become an abbreviated version of my wallet. Now, I pretty much only carry that! I thought it might be my age, but now I notice that a lot of young people really only carry their phone around, with a credit card holder stuck to the back of it. You know, because they always have their phones with them.

Live Entertainment Update;

I feel like I need to update my list :-)

It's getting pretty long! I hope it gets even longer when I'm retired!

1971 - Bobby Sherman @ Clowes Hall - my very first concert 

1972 - Liberace @ Starlight theater. I was 13, he was awesome :-)

3/19/1972 - Sonny and Cher @ The Coliseum/state fairgrounds

5/18/1972 - Sammy Davis Jr @ the Convention Center

1974 - Andy Williams w/foster Brooks @ Starlight. Andy Williams was dud

1974 - Paul Anka @ Starlight. He was so delightful!

06/1974 - The Guess Who @ The Coliseum. My 1st concert w/out a grownup!

8/3/1974 - Blue Oyster Cult @ the Convention Center/Indpls.

10/30/1974 - Odysseus w/Yul Brenner @ The Kennedy Center

10/31/1974 - J. Geils, Golden Earring, Johnny Winter @ the Coliseum

3/10/1975 - Yes, Doobie Brothers @ Market Square Arena/Indpls

12/5/1975 - Black Sabbath @ the Convention Center. I don't remember 1 lick of this concert

1975 - Edgar Winter w/Peter Frampton @ the Coliseum

1/25/1975 - Led Zeppelin @ Market Square Arena. I paid a scalper $20 for this ticket!!

1975 - Mac Davis @ the Coliseum

1975 - Doug Henning @ Clowes Hall/Butler University

10/31/1975 - Hall and Oats w/Shawn Phillips @ the Convention Center

7/21/1976 - Elton John @ MSA

2/17/1976 - Cat Stevens @ MSA

7/27/1976 - Jethro Tull @ Market Square Arena. I don't even like Jethro Tull, but it was a date

1/20/1976 - Bachman Turner Override @ MSA

4/23 & 24/1976 - Neil Diamond @MSA. SO gooood!

11/22/1976 - The Eagles @ MSA

8/30/1976 - Yes w/Kansas @ MSA

7/4/1977 - Aerosmith w/REO Speedwagon 

4/21/1978 - Aerosmith w/REO Speedwagon

7/7/1979 - The Bee Gees @ Dodger Stadium. How lucky was I ?!?!?!

4/15/1980 - The Pretenders @ UCSB

1/26/1982 - Joan Armatrading @ the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara

10/19/1985 - Kenny Loggins @ Irvine Amphitheater

1986 - Kenny Rogers w/Sayer Brown and Lee Greenwood @ Los Angeles Forum

1986? - Smothers Brothers in Las Vegas

1987 - Alabama @ LA Forum

08/1995 - Brooks and Dunn w/Lonestar @ the State Fair Indy

8/3/1997 - Alan Jackson @ the State Fair Indy

12/1998 - Jesus Christ Superstar w/Ted Neeley @ The Murat Theater Indy. My dream!

07/2000 - Alan Jackson @ Verizon Indy. I went to this by myself.

08/2001 - Brooks and Dunn Neon Circus w/Toby Keith, Keith Urban, Montgomery Gentry and  Cledus T Judd @ Verizon

2004? - Neal McCoy @ 8 Second Saloon. What a ham he is!

10/1/2005 - Brooks and Dunn w/Big $ Rich @ Verizon Amphitheater

2005 - Lord Of the Dance @ The Murat Theater

9/15/2006 - Foreigner, Styx and David Lee Roth @ the State Fair Indy

3/14/07 - Harry Connick Jr. @ The Murat Theater

6/2/2007 - Brook and Dunn w/Alan Jackson and Jake Owen @ Chicago. Best show!

11/14/2007 - Garth Brooks in Kansas City

03/2008 - Menopause the Musical @ The Cabaret Theater 

10/2/2008 - Robin Williams @ Purdue University

01/2009 - Harry Connick Jr. @ The Murat Theater

7/20/2009 - Brooks and Dunn w/Rodney Atkins and James Otto @ Verizon

08/2009 - Brad Paisley w/Dierks Bently @ Verizon

11/22/09 - Chicago the Musical @ Clowes Hall Front row! w/Angela :-)

10/2/2010 - Guitar Masters - Eric Johnson, Andy McKee and Peppino D'Agostino @ Clowes Hall

9/2/2010 - Brooks and Dunn's last concert @ Bridgestone Arena in Nashville TN

2011 - Marvin Hamlish @ The Palladium in Carmel IN. This was part of the American Songbook series.

2011 - Debby Boone @ The Palladium in Carmel IN. This was part of the American Songbook series

3/2/2011 - Lord Of the Dance @ Clowes Hall. This show is so fantastic, I would see it every time it came here!! 

6/4/2011 - Glen Campbell @ The Palladium in Carmel IN

9/16/2011 - Earl Scruggs @ The Palladium in Carmel IN 

2011 - River Dance @ Clowes Hall. I enjoyed this but Lord of Dance is a 100 x better

2012 - Michael Feinstein @ The Palladium. This was part of the American Songbook series

1/13/2012 - Sam Bush (bluegrass) @ The Palladium

03/2012 - Lee Ritenour @ The Murat

4/15/2012 - Bill Cosby @ The Palladium w/mom.

9/26/2012 - Earth Wind and Fire @ The Murat. This was the first concert my fella has ever been to where the audience never sat down, from start to finish. It was amazing!

10/3/2012 -  Ricky Skaggs @ The Palladium. He's a great story teller

01/2013 - The Jersey Boys @ The Murat w/mom

4/16/2013 - All For the Hall; Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, Hank  

Williams Jr., Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Eric Church, Rosanne Cash, 

Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, Kris Kristofferson, Jesse Colter, Brantley Gilbert

5/10/2013 - Brad Paisley w/Brantly Gilbert @ Verizon

11/2013 - Wicked @ The Murat

1/26/2014 - Rock of Ages @ The Murat This was SO much better than the movie! 

3/4/2014 - All For the Hall; Vince Gill, Keith Urban, Brantley Gilbert, Brett Eldredge, Carrie 

Underwood, David Nail, Deanna Carter, Kacey Musgraves, Kip Moore, Lee Ann Womack, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Reba, Ronnie Milsap, Darius Rucker @ Nashville

2/6/2014 - Cats @ Beef and Boards w/mom

6/28/2014 - Journey, Steve Miller, Tower of Power @ Verizon

10/15/2014 - Jay Leno @ Clowes Hall

11/2014 - Menopause the Musical @ The Murat w/a big group of women in tow. Fun, fun night

01/2015 - The Illusionists @ The Murat w/mom and my guy

5/1/2015 - Vince Gill @ The Palladium

4/9/2016 - Garth Brooks @ KFC Center in Louisville

12/2016 - Trans Siberian Orchestra @ the Fieldhouse

4/28/2017 - The Time Jumpers w/Vince Gill @ The Palladium

8/31/2017 - Alan Jackson in Vincennes

10/7/2017 - Garth Brooks @ The Fieldhouse 

10/8/2017 - Garth Brooks @ The Fieldhouse

12/2017 - Rudolph, the Musical @ Clowes Hall man was that dorky! :-)

12/2017 - Trans Siberian Orchestra @ the Fieldhouse

4/13/2018 - Robin Trower @ The Egyptian Room at the Murat

5/18/2018 - Dennis Miller @ The Palladium

9/26/2018 - The Lion King @ The Murat. Hands down the best stage production ever. It was 

so visually stunning that I teared up!

10/20/2018 - Garth Brooks @ Notre Dame, the first ever concert there. It rained, hailed and      snowed. It was cold. It was outdoor. Whoa! It was epic!!!

12/2018 - Trans Siberian Orchestra @ the Fieldhouse

3/8/2019 - The King and I @ Clowes Hall, w/Mom. It was a nice local production :-)

10/2019 - Earth Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion @ The Palladium...SUCKED! I don't think we 

even stayed to the end. Just awful. I mean, if you're going to do cover songs of EWF, you don't have to be great like them but you better at least be good.

11/21/2019 - We Will Rock You @ The Murat. Also SUCKED!! Ok, so the music was alright 

 but the story was so lame, OMG!! I can't believe we sat through the whole thing.

12/18/2019 - Hamilton @ The Murat. Wow!

1/20/2022 - Jesus Christ Superstar @ Clowes Hall. I love this musical so much. It's my favorite. Unfortunately, the performers in this production were pretty lackluster.

10/8/2022 - Sawyer Brown @ Brown County Music Center; SO much fun!

10/19/2022 - Anastasia @ the Murat

10/23/2022 - Joe Satriani @ Brown County Music Center

11/16/2022 - Aladdin @ Clowes Hall; My fella's 1st musical play! He didn't hate it :-)

12/11/2022 - Trans Siberian Orchestra @ the Fieldhouse

2/22/23 - Hairspray @ the Murat/Old National

3/15/23 - Les Miserable @ Clowe's Hall

4/26/23 - Hamilton @ The Murat With Chuck's Daughter, in the front row! Amazing!!!

6/7/23 - Ain't Too Proud @ Clowes Hall

6/24/23 - Jeff Foxworthy @ Clowes Hall

9/9/23 - Jim Gaffigan @ the Allen County Coliseum in Fort Wayne

10/6/23 - Brian Regan @ The Paramount Theatre in Anderson IN

11/26/23 - Frozen @ The Murat; This production was just meh.

12/9/23 - Cirque Dreams Holidaze @ The Murat w/my mom :-) It was very fun

12/22/23 - Straight No Chaser @ The Murat

1/24/24 - To Kill A Mockingbird @ Clowes Hall; This was our 2st non-musical!

2/25/24 - Lord Of The Dance @ Clowes Hall

2/28/24 - Mama Mia @ clowes Hall

4/3/24 - Hades Town @ Clowes Hall

5/1/24 - Tina @ the Murat

I've seen all the best comedians. I'd still like to see Seinfeld though.

I've seen all the best plays too, thanks to Chuck's daughter!

And some other great stuff too!

Eating

With all the eating going on during the holidays and this month, let's talk about a TRUE eater!!

Joey Chestnut. Seriously, how does this man do it??? He competes in 20+ events each year and holds 55 WORLD records!

* Nathan's hot dogs: 76 dogs and buns in 10 minutes

* Hard-boiled eggs: 141 in 8 minutes

* Glazed donuts: 55 in 8 minutes

* Pulled pork sandwiches: 45 in 10 minutes

* Taco Bell softshell beef tacos: 53 in 10 minutes

* Krystal hamburgers: 103 in 8 minutes

* Big Mac sandwiches: 32 in 38 minutes

* Tamales: 102 in 12 minutes

* Grilled cheese sandwiches: 47 in 10 minutes

* Ice cream sandwiches: 25.5 in 6 minutes

* Pepperoni rolls: 43 in 10 minutes

* Chicken wings: 182 in 30 minutes

* Shrimp Cocktail @ St. Elmo's: 18lb 90z in 8 minutes

* Twinkies: 121 in 6 minutes

He's a god. Also, he lives just north of my hometown! I didn't know that until today. He just turned 40. 6' 1'', 230lb. He should stop eating like that. I wonder what else he could do? He says the most unpleasant eating competition was ice cream...brain freeze was only secondary to the freezer burns on his hands and inside his mouth. Dang. 

Welcome to the new year....

 ...filled with things that have never been.

Last year wasn't really a great one. Some great things happened but as a whole, the year was kind of, meh.

That's just the way it goes I guess. It's hard to say, I'm hoping for a better year because every year is better than the one before. So I guess my my wish for the new year is, more of the things that make you happy. That's a good wish 😊

This year is going to be chock full of things that have never been! I made the decision to retire this year. Holy moly! First, it's just unbelievable that I'm old enough to do that. I'm old. OMG!! Some days I'm super excited about the idea. Some days, it's super scary! I've never NOT had a job. I've been working since I was 15. That's FIFTY years!!! Ugh.I've had 22 jobs in the last 50 years. But I've been at this last one for 15 yrs. That seem like a long time and not very long at all. 

The next 6 weeks are going to fly by, and then BOOM! I'll be unemployed forever! Hmmm. 

There are definitely things I won't miss. My alarm clock for one. I wonder what my regular 'get out of bed' time will be if I don't go by the clock? Also, not gonna miss that commute every day, or driving in the winter on bad roads! I won't miss shoes. And I love cute shoes and comfy shoes and clunky shoes and slippers. But I'm going to love not wearing them.

I don't know if it's retiring or the new year, but I'm kind of in a downsizing mood. I stand in my closet and I look at all the clothes I won't be wearing again. Of course I'm going to keep some things, but most of my work clothes can go to GoodWill. I've even got a collection of kitchen things that can go to GoodWill!   

There will be some things I'll miss. Some of the people I work with are a pleasure to be around. I'll miss jewelry! I have tons of it! I don't wear it outside of work though. Maybe when not working becomes permanent in my head, I'll still make a point to wear it though. Mostly I'm afraid I'm just going to look like a homeless person all the time. Hanging out in leggins and t-shirts, barefoot, with my hair in a bun.

What if I get bored? What if I don't ever leave the house? What if, what if, what if??!! This is going to be so weird. 

Or what if I just spend all my days, working puzzles, quilling, doing needlepoint, coloring, doodling, paint by numbers, sewing, building my miniature house. OR, learning how to crochet, or how to do calligraphy, or how to do embroidery, or embossing, or resin crafts, or wood carving, or etching, or going on road trips, or bicycle riding! 

Oh man!! It is going to be scary but I can hardly wait to discover what my life will be like!!