To comment on a comment, I have no problem having this turn into Bill's Blog Book Bonanza. Although I think Michael Landon may have to decline being as how he's dead and all. And, speaking of dead (oh that was almost as bad as Tom's 1984 joke or Susiezy's hair joke) Ruth Warrick died. Now, I know most of who have no idea who she is, but she was the reiging matriarch of All My Children. Yes, a soap opera. Oddly enough, although it doesn't happen very often anymore, but soap operas seem to respect the elder generation. Now, I didn't watch All My Children, but I had seen enough articles in Soap Opera Digest to know who she was and how much she meant to the show. On my own shows, Anna Lee was a cornerstone for General Hospital for many many years until she passed on early in 2004. And, Frances Reid has been on Days so long, I'm not even sure if she remembers when she started. These women (and in most cases their now deceased on-screen husbands) formed the basis for a genre that, although shrinking, still manages to draw millions upon millions of viewers each and every day. And, I'd be more than happy to put up their talent against some of the morons that are considered Hollywood's up and coming. No real end to this rant, just another sad passing of one a genre's legends.
My parent's babysat Gage yesterday since his daycare was closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and both Terri and I had to work. So, Terri went down after she got off work to pick him up and bring him home. That meant that I had no reason to rush home, since the house would be empty, so I headed straight to Rite-Aid to print out pictures from the latest disc from my digital camera.
Most of the pictures were from Christmas and other assorted-related activities. I have a shot of an adult (though I use that term loosely) receiving a child's toy that she requested. I also have a shot of me putting on my new (and I use that term loosely as well) license plate. So, I placed the order, about 150 pictures in all, and the saleswoman asked if I was going to wait. They've got a new souped-up machine and big orders like that only take 15 or so minutes now. So, I decided to browse around the store.
I picked up some random items; candy bars that were on sale, a Vanity Fair with a Star Wars article, some disposable bibs for Gage. Then I started to walk around the big selection of Valentine's Day candy. I wasn't feeling like I needed to rant about it since it is now less than one month away. I'm sure they've had it up since New Year's, but that's a different story. Anyway, I walked around to the other side of the aisle to more candy, bears, etc. I saw something that scared me pretty badly. It was a huge chocolate heart with a big 24 stamped right into the middle of it. Yes, apparently Jeff Gordon and Nascar want you to be their valentine. They also had Tony Stewart and several other drivers. So, I'm standing there shaking my head and that's when I noticed the "adult" section. They had fuzzy dice that had "kiss" on one side, "rub" on another side...you get the picture. Spencer's has always had a selection of stuff like this. Things you might pick up as a gag gift for a bachelor/bachelorette party. Now, these dice weren't quite as explicit as the ones in Spencer's, but I was in a Rite-Aid. Then I noticed the "love-cuffs". Yup, cheap as hell tiny red plastic handcuffs. I couldn't help it. I started laughing. Thankfully my pictures were done and I was able to get out of the store with most of my dignity intact. And, I got a nice bonus. The cashier, a younger girl...most likely high school, rang in the coupon wrong. So, instead of getting my first 5 pictures for one dollar, I get each set of 5 pictures for one dollar. Yes, she rang in the coupon 30 times. So, I saved a crap load on my picture developing yesterday evening. Almost enough to make me go back and buy the "love-cuffs".