Gidget moments '09

The end is near. Sadly, the beach days of 2009 are dwindling. The days of sunshine and heat, that is. The beach is available year round, of course, but somehow being there with the crowds and sun and the noise and the trash and the endless search for parking . . . wait . . . uh, yeah . . . sometimes THAT part of the beach experience is NOT fun.

The trash. Ugh, it pains me to see when groups of people or kids leave loads of trash. Last time we were there, a day camp visited from L.A. A ton of kids went, and about 5 counselors were there to watch them. I caught on to their carelessness inexperience after a 4 year old came walking from down the coastline, amongst all the people, ALL BY HIMSELF. At the beach. Soaking wet, too, so yeah, he was in the water! I watched as he found his way back to their "camp" sat on his towel and no one cared. They didn't even know he was gone. From that moment on, Frank and I took turns watching out for "Orange Shorts" as we so lovingly named him.

Yet another idiotic strange thing I saw that day: A woman was there with the tiniest of umbrella and smallest of bag for snacks, with her baby. Her very WHITE and FAIR baby, so fair the baby's hair was even white. Guess what she did? She stripped the baby of all her protective clothing and let her sit on the towel, in the sun in only a diaper. That's it! Oh yeah, she put on sunblock, but HELLO? Sunblock does NOT protect a baby's sensitive skin, c'mon, you really don't believe that ONE layer of lotion is going to protect a baby THAT white? She MUST not know that damage to a childs' skin before the age of 7 is the MOST damaging exposure they will get in their life. It is the WORST set up for skin cancer in later life. I was just about to go explain this to her when another mom noticed the same thing. She went to her and said, "Would you like to share our shade?" BRAVO! That was good! Why didn't I think of that? Here I was thinking about all the damage that poor little girl would encounter in later years, that maybe the mom didn't know, that she would suffer cancer as she got older, and on and on. When all I had to do was offer them our umbrella!!! Wow, the things we learn from eavesdropping watching other people!

THEN the camp kids started packing up. And leaving trash. I just couldn't stop myself, I picked up their trash, too, and I wasn't too happy about it, let me tell you! I got tired of Frito bags getting blown into my face! I know I'm supposed to be all Gidgety and nice and sweet and stuff, but wait, Gidget was feisty! SOOO . . . I was about to go over and help the poor counselors assign trash duty and get the kids lined up . . . they were failing miserably. (The teacher in me was all ready to organize the departure.) But I didn't, because my kids were there. They are total Gidget moment killers. They get "embarrassed" whenever I talk to people I "don't even know." Imagine. And all I'm trying to do is educate people and make our world a little bit better!


Things to remember for your last Hoorah at the beach, '09:
Sunblock, sunglasses, umbrella, ice chest filled with water and good snacks, towels, flip flops (yes, people do try to walk all the way to the water from the parking lot without SHOES!).
For older children (pre-teen and up) BEFORE they leave your area, make them aware of their surroundings. Have them point to and identify the number of the nearest lifeguard tower, tell you the color of your umbrella, identify "neighbors" and so on. Set the limit for how deep the water can be on their bodies, waist is safest. My youngest is already 12 and these rules still apply (unless of course Dad is out there boogie boarding with him).

Last, relax, have fun, enjoy (as if!!!!).

Oh, almost forgot, I found another book for The Take A Chance Challenge! At the beach, I saw a woman reading Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (challenge #6:Public Spying. Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it). Yes! The first in the Southern Vampire Mystery series, I haven't read it yet so I can read it AND cross off another challenge! Yay for me! :)

Toodles,
BookLady

I'm Taking my first Reading Challenge!

First, I need to post the answers to the Truth or Lie? quiz that I took with the Unknowm Mami -- fun stuff! Three of the following are true, one is a lie. Keep reading and the lie is revealed at the end of the post!

1. I grabbed Mark McGrath's(Sugar Ray) ass.
2. Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) told me he loved me.
3. I partied with Madonna (yes, Madonna).
4. I was a regular on Wed. nights at the local gay bar.

Second, I entered my first ever reading challenge! It's called The Take A Chance Challenge and it's also Jenners' first time making one at Find Your Next Book Here. Since I'm kinda in a hurry (finally, beach!!!) I'm only copying and pasting the guidelines today . . . um, yeah . . . I DID have some of the books chosen already and written down . . . somewhere . . . I'm SURE the list will show up soon! Anway, here are the specifics of the Challenge. Please visit Find Your Next Book Here and check out the guidelines, sign up, and you may even win the $25 in books from (ugh)Amazon :::forces smile:::.

Random Book Selection. Go to the library. Position yourself in a section such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Children (whatever section you want). Then write down random directions for yourself (for example, third row, second shelf, fifth book from right). Follow your directions and see what book you find. Check that book out of the library, read it and then write about it. (If you prefer, you can do the same at a bookstore and buy the book!)

Random Word. Go to a random word generator (link is there) and generate a random word. Find a book with this word in the title. Read the book and write about it.

Birth Year Book. Find a book that was published or copyrighted in the year of your birth. Read the book and write about it.

Judge A Book By Its Cover. Pick out a book based SOLELY on the cover. First, write about what you expect the book to be about based on the cover art. Then read the book and write about how the book was different from and/or similar to what the cover art led you to expect.


Phoning An Author. Pick a random last name out of the phone book. Find an author with the same last name and read a book by them. Write about it. (I'm flexible ... if the first random name you pick is Xprxyrsss, you can pick again!)


Public Spying. Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.

Random Bestseller. Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2008 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

Lit Riff (inspired by the book Lit Riffs by Matthew Miele.) Choose a song and then write a brief story that is inspired by or further explains the lyrics of the song.

Poetic Review. Write a book review in three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. (You can pick any book you want to write about.)

Movie/Book Comparison. Find a book that you haven't read that has a movie based on it that you haven't seen. Read the book and watch the movie within a few days of each other. Write about your reactions to both the book and the movie and compare the two.

I have already begun the last one, I'm reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. The movie is coming out soon, can't wait to see it! Happy Reading!

answers to Truth or Lie?
The lie? #3, I've never partied with Madonna . . . in real life. Curious about the Truths? Well, I did have a chance to give Mark a nice Wink-Wink at a concert, he nearly fell of the wall he was standing on! At my first concert I was sitting in the 3rd row singing, dancing, and screaming for New Edition. As Ralph began to sing "Lost in Love" I screamed out, "I LOVE YOU RALPH!" He smiled, and looked right at me (I SWEAR!) and said, "I love you, too." And, yes to #4, I went for 80's night and cheap beer, really!