FLASHBACK 1986

"those days are all gone now but one thing is true...when i look and i find i still love you"
so, i move to the carolina's. and one of the first people i meet is rodney. he is a very dear friend's partner. rodney and i will have a love/hate relationship that lasts 3 years. "you really should be wearing a different shade of eyeshadow, trust me".  why should i trust you rodney? you have never worn eyeshadow...ugh. "let's go christmas shopping for our men! we'll have christmas cocktails, and buy presents, and gossip! it'll be fun!". omg!! i have had the best day, rodney!! let's do it again tomorrow?!! "i really think you should go with more of a pine stain over that walnut. uh huh.". nothing in this house is 'pine' rodney. that would look stupid. "you are just the sweetest person. everybody that crosses your path is a better person for it." (tear drop) rodney, that is the sweetest thing ANYBODY has ever said to me. but i could really say the same about you... "you probably shouldn't be holding your baby that way...give him here, let me show you the proper way...gimme gimme." if you had an ovary, i would punch you in it. 
6 months after we meet, we get devastating news. rodney has aids. we don't know how long he's had the virus that causes aids. but, it's not just HIV. it's full blown aids. we're all he has (me and his partner). his family disowned him when he told them he was gay. and we don't know anything about this disease. we know that rock hudson died of it and that we were all shocked to find out he was gay. we know that everybody that gets it dies. and I know that the only reason people are talking about it is because it started affecting "straight" people. it doesn't take long for prejudice to rear it's ugly head...even from family members. "why are you letting him come around? you'll get sick, too, you know?". actually, unless maybe he zombie bites me or full on sexually attacks me, i won't. "i wouldn't eat that! *whispers* rodney cooked it". so? he used tomato sauce, not O+ sauce. weirdo. "you SHOULD NOT be letting him hold your baby!!". why? he loves the baby, he won't drop him or anything. "he might kiss him!". OMG!!! i am so over it!!
FLASH FORWARD 1989
i move to texas. i'm not happy. i want to be there for rodney. he calls me everyday (2p eastern/1p central)...we watch "another world" and talk about our day. the calls stop coming. rodney is in the hospital. his parents finally came around. they are with him day and night.  he passes, peacefully, in his sleep.
FLASH FORWARD today
we all are far more educated than we were in 1986. we all know how the virus is passed and how to protect ourselves. there isn't exactly a cure, but people are surviving. magic johnson was diagnosed in 1991 and is still alive and well. the numbers are still not good: 50,000 people contract HIV (the virus that causes aids), in the us, each year. approximately 17,000 people in the us die, each year, due to an aids related illness. and i have noticed, that in the 26 years since rodney's diagnosis (and the 23 years since his death), people have stopped talking about the disease. you hear about it once a year, on world aids day, and then people forget again. i, for one, will never forget. i will never forget that fragile man that was both my best friend and worst enemy.

^rodney was always behind the camera, and he shoulda been more^ 

worried about my hair than my eyeshadow!

                     

ps rodney...i finally listened to you about that hideous eyeshadow ;)

FLASHBACK 1980ish

"baby baby please let me hold him...i wanna make him stay up all night..."
the neighbors have a brand new baby and they need a sitter. i get volunteered. i don't mind. i really could use the extra cash for hanging at saturn 3...it's a cake job. the baby is asleep when i get there. and he's still asleep when i leave. cable. small dominos cheese pizza. cake job.
FLASH FORWARD 1982ish
now all the neighbors want me to babysit. all within walking distance. the kids are not infants, but they're a lot of fun. candyland. chutes and ladders. go fish. slapjack. we play them all and the kids are off to bed. i'm watching a movie. everything is perfect. until i remember that i'm scared of michael myers. and my neighborhood is eerily similar to lori strode's. awwwwwww hell no! now i'm scared and the kids are in bed. the stupid, bratty kids are in bed!! they aren't really bratty...but they are for feeling the need to be in bed and not sit up and protect the babysitter. ugh. so i call the dog up on my lap. cuz we all know how fearsome weimaraners are. she sits there all night...until the parents get home. then i begin the long walk home...it's 3 houses. 
FLASH FORWARD today
i'm a much better babysitter today. i have new tricks up my sleeve. a little "fairly odd parents". a little skype with grandma. order dominos and bet the boys they can't get their homework done before the little guy on the computer tells us the pizza is on it's way. BAM!! homework's done! a little uno. and, most importantly, no...and i do mean NO...scary movies.

                      

 

FLASHBACK 1975

"roller coaster...of love...say what?"
a woman is murdered while the ohio players record "love roller coaster". you can hear her terrified scream just before the second verse.
FLASH FORWARD that same year
"light as a feather stiff as a board" aimee lays on her back, folding her arms across her chest. we surround her and begin chanting. we are able to lift her with only our finger tips**. no. it really works. we are 10 year old witches.

FLASH FORWARD 1977

"bloody mary bloody mary bloody mary" we told her not to say it in the mirror. she didn't listen. now she's dead. we saw it happen with our own eyes!!! okay...maybe we didn't...but you've heard the stories, you know its the truth.

FLASH FORWARD 1979

"give it to mikey, he'll eat anything!" then, somebody gave him a coke and some pop rocks. and, just like that, mikey was dead!
alright...with the exception of "light of a feather stiff as a board", these things never happened. nobody was murdered while recording a song...in fact, that was the keyboardist (a man), and it was just an effect to mimic the sound of people on a roller coaster. mikey is alive and well and working behind the camera in some of your favorite movies. and bloody mary? well...if the legend was true, who would be around to tell it? these are urban legends: a form of modern folklore. basically, someone told the story to two friends...and they told two friends...and they told two friends...and so on and so on and so on...
it's that creepy, spooky, time of year where the urban legends come to life. what are some of your favorites?

                       

**and what about "light as a feather stiff as a board"? it's a game played at slumber parties. and, although i can't explain how a bunch of 10 year olds were able to lift aimee with their finger tips, i was there...i participated...and she levitated....and you will never be able to tell me i'm not a magical, mystical, little witch**

FLASHBACK 2010

"rollin down the street, smokin endo, sippin on gin and juice...laid back [with my mind on my money and my money on my mind..."
jcc and bets have a fall party every year. this year she is  making pudding shots and calls on us to assist.  recipes can be found by clicking here...we experiment with a lot of different flavors. none of us actually DO a shot...but we get a little tipsy from licking the bowl. 

FLASH FORWARD 2012

i need the perfect cocktail for the fall party. so, i found a recipe on pinterest for a drink called witches brew. it had all the ingredients, but not the parts. and where oh where do you find black sugar? we went on the hunt for all the makings and came home to experiment with the concoction. 

ingredients:

bacardi dragonberry rum

creme de banana

blue curacao

fresh lime juice

black sugar

after a bit of experimenting we found that 1 part each is perfect....we did not use fresh lime juice, so a bottle that is equal to 1/2 part is perfect (we made a punch bowl full for a party). the black sugar was located at the baking section of party city. that's also where we found our "punch bowl", ladel, and cocktail cups.

remember to drink responsibly! :)

a gallery of fall party's past:

 

^forcing down pudding shots^