DLR LotD 05/29/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Sunday, May 29, 2011


"All Ariel, all the time." -- Cindy, on Main Street

Red 5, Standing By

Rockapella Cruise

Day 4 -- Cozumel

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Liz and I got up for the Sunrise Stretch, then went to breakfast in the Platinum Room.  Liz was a bit dismayed to see that her chicken sausage was not the correct color.  Perhaps they should have burnt them or something.  

We arrived at our first port: Cozumel, Mexico.  We brought our shopping pass to the shops there and got a free charm bracelet and a charm.  Jenn bought something at the jewelry store which matched a piece of jewelry she had at home.  I bought a pretty silver hair clip.

We met up with the rest of Team Pella and went to the excursion meeting area for The Amazing Cozumel Race.  This was an excursion that I had been excited about ever since we had signed up for the cruise, and I had organized our team and we all agreed to wear our red Rockapella shirts (or just a red shirt if we didn't have one).  Liz couldn't find hers, and Jenn didn't have one, but we were all still wearing red, and we looked great!  We had 5 members on our team (like the Pella!), and we also ended up being Team #5.  This is Wendy's favorite number, so she was already happy.  I was already happy because we were doing The Amazing Cozumel Race!  We were also wearing red, so we were Red 5.  If you don't know the significance of this, I refuse to help you, because this means that you are not a geek like me.  I can't remember how many teams were playing but we were all very excited.  We were given badges which would have to be returned, so we didn't get to write "Team Pella" on them.  While we were waiting, we took tourist-y pictures on huge furniture.  

Seriously, I almost fell down.

All of the teams took shuttles to a shopping center, where we were given a map and clues about our quest.  It had something to do with a serpent.  While planning for the cruise, Jenn had already agreed to be the designated snorkel swimmer, so she was ready with her equipment.   We walked along the beach and found our clue, which led us to a henna tattoo stand.  Wendy volunteered to get the tattoo, which was of the aforementioned serpent.  

Happy Sher, staying on the boat

We were then given a clue which led us to a boat with other racers.  It was snorkel time for Jenn!  The captain took us pretty far out onto the water, and we were told that there was a sunken pirate ship with a clue for our diver to find.  Our boat had a partial glass bottom, but we couldn't see the sunken ship, even though the water was quite clear...and a beautiful, beautiful blue. 

Not-so-happy Jenn

Not all of the teams had people brave enough to dive, which was OK because we were given the clue while Jenn and the other guy dove.  I won't say how we were given the clue, but we were.  Jenn came up for air and said that she couldn't read the clue, and she was really tired from swimming down to the ship.   The guy from the other team did read the clue, and when he came up for air, he tried to calm down a now-hysterical Jenn.  She was yelling to us, "I'm not kidding, you guys, I'm really tired!!!"  The dude kept telling Jenn to relax.  She eventually yelled at him, "YOU RELAX!"  Our captain finally let Jenn out of her misery, and we picked them up.  Jenn  swore that she almost drowned.  Poor Jenn.  She was so happy until that point.  

We then got off the boat, and went to the Scuba Divers sculpture, where words needed to be counted and unscrambled.  This led us to a museum about the coral reefs, where we had to fill in blanks for our clues and such.  Then we had to go to a miniature golf course.  I do not enjoy mini-golf as much as my friends do, but I still did a stroke for the team.  The course we got was really difficult, so we switched courses, in which Liz got a hole-in-one!  Once we were done, we were told to go to a nearby store, where we had to husk an ear of corn to find the clue inside.  This clue told us where to go for the finish line, which was at a thatch-covered Mexican restaurant .  We ended up in 5th place.  Yes, FIVE AGAIN.  Whoa. We were hungry, so we ordered food, which was less than yummy.  I bought a white polo shirt with the race logo on it before we took a shuttle back to the port.  The race was just way fun (well, maybe not so much for Jenn, whom was exhausted and decided then and there that she was not yet cut out for the real Amazing Race).  

Team Pella/Red Five

Who should appear when we got in line to board the ship but Geo and Sandra!  He totally lied to us about going windsurfing and stuff.  Sandra straightened him out and said that they actually did a bunch of shopping.  APPARENTLY, Sandra is quite the haggler, and Geo was impressed with her bargaining skills, as well as her Spanish-language skills.  Liz and I want her to come with us when we go shopping.

Since we were still hungry after the non-yummy food, Liz and I ordered room service, and I had a BLT.  We took our showers and got ready for the first Rockapella show of the cruise, which took place in the Ebony Cabaret Lounge.  (There will be a separate post about the show).  Jenn had bought me the picture of the two of us that we took together at the Port of Miami, and placed it in a fancy leather folding frame, so I had 4 out of the 5 guys sign it after the show.  Scott was not liking a dude's Red Sox shirt.  Afterward, we went to the picture gallery and I bought a bunch of pictures.  We would have tried out the sushi bar, but the selection was limited and boring.  

We returned to the Platinum Dining Room for dinner, and Jeff T sat at our table.  At first, he sat by Karla, but then June told him where to sit.  I ended up sitting between him and Wendy.  Scott was a no-show again.  I had the Tiger Shrimp Cocktail, Short Ribs with Rice, and Molten Chocolate Cake.  The rice had a lot of ginger in it, which I did not enjoy.  Fred, who was seated at our table again, ordered the sherbet, but he was given the cake.  He didn't mind, though, because he said "It's Destiny."  We talked about the race, and Jenn told everyone about her "near-death experience".  She's funny.  Jenn talked to JT about her awesome cooking, and I told him that I thought about him when we were eating roasted garlic with our bread back at our hotel in Miami.  He loves the stuff.  Jenn asked him how it feels for us to know everything about him.  He responded, "They don't know EVERYTHING."  Jenn said, "Good for you."  Clearly, Jenn has forgotten how to be a stalker.  ;)  JT left for Bingo as the rest of us decided who was going to do the "Thriller" dance.  The boy loves the Bingo, I guess.  

A much happier Jenn, with Jeff T

Karla, MJ, Liz and I went to the White Heat room to learn the "Thriller" dance.  Well, Liz went to watch us and take pictures.  I had a mango martini, which was REALLY strong, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I had during the Martini Tasting.  We learned the dance, did it for real, felt silly, and left.  Liz and I sat in the lounge area of the corridor.  Fred came by, so we invited him to sit with us.  He talked about the comedian/juggler that he had just seen at the Ebony Cabaret.  JT and Tim passed by on their way to the comedy club to see Steve's bro.  MJ and Ross came by and said hi. Sandra and Geo came by and I finally got the 5th Pella to sign the frame that Jenn gave me.  Steve waved to us as he passed by.  It was a happening scene, man!

Karla, Sher and MJ Zombies (courtesy of Amy K)

After all of the socializing, we returned to our room, where we found our towel creation of the day:  elephant!  :)

Next up:  Grand Cayman

Messed Up in Asiatic Town

Yesterday, I took a walk to my local movie theater to see "The Hangover: Part 2".  I watch the first one almost every time it plays on HBO, so I was looking forward to seeing this one, too.

• I think the monkey is the same on as was shown in "The Big Bang Theory", because he smokes cigarettes, too.
• The monkey has a banana on his helmet.  Awesome.
• Funny to see Stu covering his drinks so that he doesn't get rufied again.  You'd think that he'd learn not to accept *anything* from Alan.
• Really glad that my tattoo did not look like that (not the design or the placement, but the aftermath of it).
• "I'm confused.  Is this a magic trick?"
• Why were the guys portrayed by kids in Alan's memory of the previous day?
• Love that they borrowed from the "Chess" soundtrack, although it wasn't sung well, not that I'm surprised given the singer.
• Even with the hangover, Bradley Cooper is gorgeous.
• Stu's song is funny again, but I wish it had been one of his original works, and not a cover.  Still, the lyrics are funny.
• Wow, the scenery around the wedding area was beautiful.

This one was funny, too, but not as hilarious as the original.  Lots of laughter in the audience, and not just from me.  :)

DLR LotD 05/24/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day


Tuesday, May 24, 2011


"Prepare to be boarded." -- Darth Vader, at Star Tours

Da Plane! Da Plane!

We now live in a world where this has happened:

That's right, my friends.  My mid-life crisis is in full swing, and I've acquired a tattoo.  Call me a rebel, call me brave, call me insane;  I've already done that to myself.  But let's talk some background, shall we?


A month or so ago, my best co-worker friend, June, said that she was thinking of getting a tattoo in honor of her wedding anniversary, because her husband has asked her to get one on multiple occasions.  She's still not sure if he was joking all of those times, but now it's too late.  Anyway, I think that she mentioned it to me because I'm the only one of her friends that would come close to even consider joining her.  It didn't take me more than 30 seconds to say, "I would get one with you!"  Um, Sher?  Where are you, lost in all of that spontaneity?  Well, I was still there, because we thought about it, thought about our designs, thought about when to do it, and decided to invite another friend of ours to get one to celebrate her upcoming retirement.  We went to dinner with her and she was apprehensive, but did start to think about getting a monkey on her back.  Yes, I'm aware that most people try to get monkeys *off* of their backs, but Marilee is not most people.  


As time passed, I decided that my design would be something about music, and so did the friends who offered suggestions, not really knowing whether or not I'd actually do this.  I wanted to make sure of the design I wanted before actually getting drunk and then choosing something insane.  The only real block for me was the whole church gig thing.  I had originally thought of getting inked on my ankle, but when I was in church one weekend, I figured that I wouldn't be able to hide the tattoo from anyone that might possibly be offended, because I walk back and forth in front of the altar as part of my cantor duties.  So I decided to get it done in a place that's hidden. 


Time grew closer.  June asked her daughter where she had hers done.  I checked Yelp for reviews, and they had good ratings.  We had decided to make it a whole Girls' Weekend so that I could get drunk beforehand, and we could take a taxi back and forth to the hotel or whatever.  So we booked a hotel, June told her husband she'd be out of town (it's still a surprise until their actual anniversary -- her challenge is to hide the thing from him), and then...Marilee realized that she was scheduled to be out of state this weekend.  I'm pretty sure that she also chickened out.  But that's OK.  All this past week, June and I asked each other if we were chickening out, and replied "No."  I was actually psyched for it.  This tends to happen a lot to me:  think of trying something new, get excited about it, realize the actual implications, chicken out or flake, and disappointment (from others and myself) ensues.  


Not this time, baby! 


June arrived at my house after I got home from church, and we drove to Pasadena.  I was so psyched up that I decided that I wouldn't even need to drink beforehand.  What?!  We decided to go check out In The Skin, just to see if we could talk to whomever first, and get ideas.  We both had prints of a few images for ourselves, and showed them to the guy who greeted us.  I told him that it was the first time for both of us, and I asked him which of my images he thought would be the least painful.  He said that it would be a max of 45 more seconds of pain if I had the portion of my image filled in.  He consulted the artist that would be working on us, and she told us that she'd be available in about 90 minutes.  So he said that he would work on our designs and we said we'd see him later.  "OK, June.  We've committed to it.  It's happening."  We both looked at each other in disbelief and amazement.


We checked into the hotel, had dinner (June's with wine, mine without), and returned to In The Skin.  The dude had done 2 designs for me, one a combination of the 2 designs I had narrowed my choices down to, and the other a little more like one of the choices.  I chose the combination one.   We signed contracts that included agreeing to not being intoxicated by alcohol or drugs at the moment.  I pointed it out to June and smiled.  It also has a line where you state the image and placement of the tattoo.  We signed.  We breathed.  We looked at each other and smiled.  I had already agreed to go first, back when it was the Tattoo Trio, and I fulfilled my commitment.  


First, I sat down with my back to artist Alisa, and felt rude that I was talking with my back to her.  We told her the reasons for our first tattoos, and she liked both of them.  She said that she went through her mid-life crisis when she was young and got her tattoo at that time.  I told her it was her mid-mid-life crisis.  She laughed and positioned the stencil onto my shoulder where I had shown her that I wanted it to be.  The stencil was kind of like a temporary tattoo from thermal paper.  It was her outline for the work she'd eventually do.  She asked me to look at it with a mirror behind me and a hand mirror in front of me.  All of a sudden, I didn't know how to look in a mirror to see my back.  Have I told you that when I'm nervous, I become an idiot?  So they helped out the idiot in me, and I liked the positioning and everything.  Then I laid down on my stomach on the table, wth a pillow propping up my head.  My body was in kind of diagonal position on the bench, so that the shoulder was closest to her.  Then she got her equipment ready.  Then she was on her cell phone for what seemed like an eternity.  Then she asked if I was ready.

Alisa working on Sher

Deep breath.  OK.  She cleaned the area with rubbing alcohol, then rubbed some kind of gel on the area. She did the linework first.  The feeling is like getting shot with a needle and having the needle scrape across your skin.  You're cringing now, aren't you?  I am.  Anyway, so it's not just one continuous scrape.  She did it in sections, brushing away extra ink between the sections.  She said that the filling-in would be less painful.  I couldn't wait until that happened.  I didn't cry.  I smiled when June came over to check on my face.  All this time, June took pictures, as I had requested.  I just don't want y'all to think that the above shot is a henna tattoo that I'd be touching up for months until the joke got old.  No, no.  This is quite real.  Finally, Alisa was done with the outline, and started to fill in.  The sensation was more like she was rocking an instrument back and forth between the outlines, so it wasn't as scrape-y, but still hurt a little bit.  She also added some white highlights to accentuate the outlined portion a little bit.  Every once in awhile, she would ask if I was OK.  She was very gentle with everything, so much so that even during the process, I thought, "I can see why people keep getting this done, because it doesn't hurt *that* much."  Seriously, that's what I thought.  Alisa finally finished, then June took the picture shown above before Alisa taped the bandage onto me.  

How does this work?!

Then they changed the furniture so that June could be in the position needed for her Tramp Stamp.  Yes, that's where she had it done.  I promised her no pictures on the blog of her for this process, but here's the contraption that had us confused until she was told to sit down.  I watched as Alisa changed the needle out to a new sterilized one (like in the dentist office), and I was glad that I had gone first so that I couldn't imagine with all of the knowledge of what was being done to me.  


Once June was done, Alisa gave us instructions for after-care, and we paid, making sure to give her a nice tip for being so good to us old fogies.  We had 2 hours to kill before taking off our bandages, and I needed a drink.  We drove back to the hotel, and tried to get a drink there, too, but "Mr. Magoo", as June calls him, didn't acknowledge us, so we walked to the Yardhouse for dessert and drinks.  I had a Southern Rum Punch.  It was yummy.  So was the Kona Coffee Sundae.  


By the time we got back to the hotel, it was time to remove our bandages, which did have a couple of spots of blood on them.  As instructed, I gently washed the area with warm water and soft soap and patted it dry.  The area stung just a little bit, and the skin was raised.  It felt like kind of a burn.  


We watched "You've Got Mail" on TNT because it's a chick flick, laughed ourselves to sleep, which wasn't very restful because our room was right next to the elevators.  This morning, we had a yummy breakfast at Green Street and went to Target to buy the Curel lotion recommended for us, which is to be applied twice a day for the next 10 days.  The tattoo is not to be exposed to sun for a month, so I'll be fine wearing my tank tops for all of the DCI and other summer events.  The area is still a little bit sore, in an irritated-skin kind of way.


I'm quite happy with the design.  It shows my devotion to both God and the music He brought to my life.  I just talked the BFF, because I couldn't wait until I saw her to tell her about it.  She already has one, but is going to get another one within a year.  I will not be getting a second one so soon, but we'll see what craziness I feel after that.  Stay tuned.  

Skeletons and Mermaids and Zombies! Oh, my!

Last night, I had some time before going to the El Capitan, so I had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe at Hollywood and Highland, and did some shopping, too.  I didn't find much more than one piece of jewelry for a gift.  I found some other stuff that was either too expensive or didn't fit me, but that wasn't the main point of the evening anyway.

Hollywood & Highland

The main point:  seeing "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" with my friends.

Part of the pre-show

• Pre-show was pretty cool, complete with skeletons in cages and fire and, of course, confetti with doubloon design to match the little doubloons we received in a little pirate booty bag.
• I bought a marquee pin as I always do when I see a movie at the El Cap, and also got a button that said "Mermaid's Tear" before I knew what it was about.  They also had a pin of Mickey being dragged by the King's guards, which I bought after seeing the movie.
• I love me a good sword fight, especially on top of rafters.
• Did Jack Sparrow get highlights?
• Cindy and I could not stop laughing because we kept thinking of "The King's Speech" every time Geoffrey Rush said "The King".
• Nice cameos by Keith Richards and Judi Dench!  "Is that it?!"  So, with Judi and Geoffrey in this movie, they couldn't sneak in a cameo by Joseph and Gwyneth?  I would have sooo loved that.  ;)
• Mermaids are awesome.  I've loved mermaids since I was a little girl.  I used to play "mermaid" in the bathtub with my friend Jenn.  It is no accident that Ariel is my favorite Disney character.  These mermaids, evil, with fangs and Spider-man-like skills with kelp, are the coolest mermaids ever.   They've taken the place of the baby cheetahs on my desktop background.
• Jack and company were LOST.  I'm just saying.
• "He's even more annoying in miniature."
• "Zombie Jamboree" was not sung.  Disappointing.  Not that it would have fit into the movie, really, but still.
• Johnny Depp continues his perpetual wonderfulness in this role.  He's got the best lines, he has the best moves, there's even a voodoo doll of him.  I love him.  Savvy?

Jack Sparrow Voodoo Doll

• Ponce De Leon!!!  (Don't Touch The Map)
• So was I the only one that thought of "The Princess Bride" when a) the crew had not seen Blackbeard (like The Dread Pirate Roberts) and b) the 2 chalices, one with something extra, one without?  No? Just me then.G
• Great music by Hans Zimmer, and Eric Whitacre conducted some of the choir.  Yay!  Guitarist Rodrigo y Gabriela was awesome as well.  

Mermaids notwithswimming, this is my favorite POTC of them all.  I may need to see it in the theater again.

Cheers!

Rockapella Cruise

Day 3 -- Monday, January 24, 2011

Fun Day at Sea

The alarm sounded at 6am, and Liz and I actually woke up with it.  Surprising, considering how tired we were when we went to bed.  Liz said that she thinks that the rocking of the boat made us sleep more soundly, like babies.  Aw, Pella should have sang lullabies to us in our room.  OK, starting that early in the morning, Sher!  Anyway, we called the Fitness Center because we were confused about what time the Sunrise Stretch was supposed to take place, due to conflicting information from 2 different documents.  Alas, it was too early in the morning, so nobody was at the center to answer the phone.  So we just walked over there for the earlier time, which ended up being the Abs workout, which I didn't want to do because I was already signed up for Yoga.  I overheard some people talking about drum corps.  I turned around, and saw that they were wearing shirts for the Reading Buccaneers.  I approached them and found out that they were on a drum corps cruise!  I was hoping that they would tell me that they'd be performing somewhere, but no.  It was just a vacation for them.  We talked a little bit of drum corps, and I was happy.  After they left, I looked out the window while Liz did the Abs class.  The fitness center is at the bow of the ship, so I got to see where we were headed.  I then joined Liz for the Sunrise Stretch, which was energizing.   

We then went up to the Sports Deck so that we could do some walking on the track.  I walked a mile with Liz, then left her to run at her own pace so that I could attend my Yoga class.  There were several other women in the class, and I think I did pretty well, considering that I hadn't done Yoga in a while.  At one point, one of the women said, "I don't think this is a beginner's class."  While Yoga is not the time to be competitive, I understood how she felt:  one of the women next to me was quite limber and was sitting on her head at one point, which I've never done.  It turns out that she's a Yoga Instructor herself, and while she was talking to our instructor, she asked if they did any Zumba.  None of the instructors on the cruise have been trained in it, and the guest offered to do one for free if there was available space and time, and the instructor was very open to it.  I never saw one announced though, so that was a bummer.  I heart me the Zumba.  :)  It's just as well, though.  The ship rocked a little bit while we were doing Yoga, which is why we didn't do a lot of balancing positions on our feet.  Zumba might have us falling down all over the place.  I found Liz and ate some breakfast before we walked around and  found Dan, whom was at a table for the Rockapella Group people to check in and find out what was going on for the day.  He asked how they should market for the next cruise, so we gave him some ideas, like posting pictures of this cruise on their website and on Rockapella's website, to show what a great time we're having.  We also gave ideas as to where we'd like to go for future cruises.   We then returned to the room to get ready for the rest of the day.

Liz and I met our cabin steward, Nelson.  He told us that he picked up the clothes that we had put out, and said they would be ready tomorrow.  Um, no.  They were only supposed to be pressed, not dry-cleaned, so they shouldn't take a full day.  He said that he would talk to the laundry people.  Liz and I freaked out a little bit, because our formal dresses were there, and tonight was formal night.

The Food

I went to Jenn's cabin to get her for the Food and Wine Pairing, and we walked up to the Emerald Room.  We had arrived earlier than most of the people, so we had a table front row center.  We each had five glasses, on top of a placemat which had circles on it that were labeled for each kind of wine that we'd be tasting.  There was also a plate for each of us, with little food samples.  I stress the word "little".  They told us to come hungry, and this was it?  We thought that maybe it was just for the first glass and they'd bring out more, but no.  The glasses, however, were more than just one sip's worth, so I guess we paid more for the wine than for the food.  That's fine, and to be expected, but then please don't tell me to come hungry.  The food, by the way, was made up of steak, fruit, salmon, cracker and cheese.  For each glass of wine, Silvilla, the sommelier, talked about the wine and the types of food that would go with it.  

Bananaman and the Wines

The wines:

• Val de Loire Vouvray (France)
• Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand)
• Beringer Chardonnay (USA -- Napa)
• Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais Villages (France)
• Yellow Label Cabernet Sauvignon (Australia)

Of course, the wine snob in me felt that the decision to provide, of all the wines in Napa, a Chardonnay from Beringer was far too pedestrian, but I'm from CA and I know that there were a lot of other options for Chardonnay, and this was probably just the most reasonably-priced one they could find.  But maybe they could have found a different type of wine somewhere in Napa and found a Chardonnay from somewhere else...or just not have Chardonnay.  Whatevs.  I enjoyed all of the wines, but I mostly enjoyed, of course, the Nobilo and the Val de Loire.  I didn't always agree with Silvilla about what wine tasted better with the different food samplings, but that's probably just due to our having different palates.  Jenn had signed up for a tournament at the casino, so she left and I stayed to finish up my wine (except for the Chardonnay).   So, let's see: that 4 wines + not much food = Sherry is a goner.  I needed something to eat.  So I went to the Red Sail Restaurant and got myself...dessert.   It was an almond napoleon.  It was yummy.  It was not, however, filling, but I needed to be somewhere.

I somehow found my way to Bar Blue for the Rockapella Trivia contest.  I saw Karla sitting with MJ and Stacey, sat down next to them, and announced, "I'M DRUNK!"  I'm pretty sure that they weren't the only ones that heard that, but I was too busy giggling to notice.  I got comfortable and we were told to number our papers.  Yes, I messed that up quickly, but I was writing in pencil, so it was OK.  Don't judge.  I was actually so drunk that I, the PellaPusher, blanked out on the names of the guys in Rockapella.  Yes, the former members.  Yes, the current members.  I couldn't believe it:  I was staring at 2 of them and couldn't remember their damn names!  That concept, of course, made me giggle more.  Spelling counted, which didn't worry me, but JT offered some help:  "Scott has 2 Ts and no K."  June told us that Steve's mom used to dress him like Little Lord Fountleroy.  (I don't remember if this had anything to do with the questions, but June was not at the wine pairing with me).  Out of 52 questions, I got 15 right.  One of these days, maybe I'll see if I could have answered them better had I been sober.  But the questions were not all that easy.  Karla won the contest with 32.  Pella Posse in da house!!!  She won a signed Carnival Cruise t-shirt.  Stacey took 2nd place with 26, and won a Carnival towel.  MJ came in 3rd place with 25, winning a Carnival pen set.  I'm so proud of my friends!  

Ross and Drunk Sher

JT, Bananaman and Drunk Sher

We were advised that our trip to Belize was changed to Costa Maya because there was a problem with the tenders that would have provided us transportation from the boat to Belize.  Robert told us that it was OK because Costa Maya is 100% better than Belize in terms of beautiful beaches, restaurants, and shopping.  Well, OK, but now I don't get to go horseback riding, and the others don't get to go tubing.  Bummer.

Wendy gave Steve his cape, and he loved it.  He was even wearing it in the lobby after everyone left the Blue Bar.  
















I got to take pictures with Bananaman and Steve in his PellaPosse shirt.  Liz and I shopped for a little while.  I bought an aluminum water bottle and a Fun Ship Freddy pen.  Liz bought 2 purses (they were a deal for 2 of them).  We saw John and Christina in the store, and John graciously took a picture with me and Bananaman (finally!), and I was pleased that he, too, was wearing his PellaPosse shirt.  We returned to our cabin, and there were still no dresses.  Uh-oh.  

Sher, Bananaman and John shopping

We went to the Platinum Dining Room for Tea Time.  We were pretty much sitting with the same people that sit at our table at dinner, which wasn't planned, except for the PellaPosse part of us. We were allowed to choose whatever flavor of tea that they had in bags, and the runners brought dessert carts around for us to choose some goodies.  We were also given a little salmon appetizer.   I chose Chai Tea, a fruit tart with lots of chocolate, and a chocolate filled meringue cookie.  I asked for milk.  So did others at our table.  The waiter brought milk and poured it, but would not leave it on the table so that we could pass it around.  Was there some kind of milk shortage?  Is this not a TEA event?  Do you people not drink milk in your non-herbal tea?  What?!  We giggled every time someone asked for milk and watched as they provided the milk and took it away.  Why didn't they just take the sugar away while they were at it?  OK, I'm hearing you reasonable types providing some explanation like they didn't want the milk to get warm at the table during the course of the afternoon.  But the tea lasted no longer than 90 minutes, and don't you think that, after 3 people at the table ask for milk, MAYBE we'd be able to use most of whatever's in the little carafe-thing?  They weren't huge bottles of milk.  It was ridiculous.  But we survived, and had a good laugh at it, because I'm pretty sure that I was still tipsy at the time.

Jeff choosing his tea.  Note the absence of milk on the table.

After our low-milk tea, we all walked to Guest Services to make our plans for Costa Maya.  I decided to go to the Mayan Ruins, and so did the rest of us, except for Jenn.  There were two excursions to the ruins, and Jeff & Wendy chose the one that took more time, while the rest of us chose the other one.  We went up to the place where they posted all of the professionally-shot photos.  JT had a pic with 2 bags of money, which was really cute.  I ended up buying it on the last evening, since nobody else had done so.  


We decided to try out the sushi bar, which was closed.  WTF?  I need protein, people!  So Liz and I went to Red Sail to get something at the buffet.  While we were walking around, looking for the sandwich station, we saw Fred walking with a plate of pizza.  I asked him if he'd like us to join him, and he said yes.  So we found the sandwich station, and I got a grilled cheese sandwich.  They didn't have cheddar, so I had provolone.  It was weird.  I lamented the non-cheddaryness.  As we walked back to the tables, we saw MJ with Ross, JT and Tim.  I told them that we were joining Fred, and MJ incredulously said, "Fred's OUT?!"  


So we joined Fred at his table outside.  Fred talked to us more than he ever had before, in all of the times combined.  (He's usually talking to Karla after concerts).    Fred used to play guitar and organ for his high school band, The Dudes.  (This was a trivia question earlier in the day).  He showed us an old picture of them.  I don't remember why, but he also talked about a lady almost falling out of her blouse.  (I never think that Fred notices that stuff).  He said that he used to wear Hawaiian shirts before it became "the thing", then switched to plaid when Hawaiian shirts became too popular.   He would not be wearing a tux to dinner, just an Oxford shirt and pants.  APPARENTLY, he only wears tuxes for weddings and funerals, although I wonder if he meant that he wears a suit, because I've never seen anyone wear a tuxedo to a funeral.  Later, JT would tell us that the Oxford shirt is "the dressiest shirt that Fred has".   Fred and his wife, Fran, honeymooned in Cozumel (our destination for the next day), and went to the ruins in Tulum.  Aerosmith happened to be in the movie studio at the time Young Frankenstein was being filmed.  They saw them do the bit of "walk this way" and then they went home and wrote their song "Walk This Way".  No, I do not remember how all of this conversation linked together.  Perhaps we were freely associating.  All I remember is that we were having a good time talking to Fred.

Bananaman and TowelDog

We parted ways with Fred for the time being, and Liz and I searched for a shopping card for the next day.  The desk where we were supposed to get it was closed, so I went back to the cabin while Liz waited.  I was happy to see that our beautiful dresses were hanging there, wonderfully pressed.  Thanks, Nelson!  He had made our towel in the shape of a dog.  I journaled for awhile before getting gussied up for dinner.  






Dressed in our fancy formal wear, Liz and I met up with the others to take pictures.  Yes, you read that right:  Liz voluntarily got into pictures.  The background that we chose had a photographer that didn't know how to get 7 of us into the picture, so that was frustrating, and we just ended up with Wendy & Jeff in one picture, and the rest of us in the other one.  Oh, well.  We walked up to the Upper Platinum Room for dinner.  Wendy wasn't feeling well, but she was a trouper and stayed at dinner for as long as she could.  Scott showed up!  He said, "Sherry, you look beautiful!" and I tried not to fall over.  Karla wanted all of us to get pictures in our formals with the guys, but that didn't happen, which was a bummer.

Fred Sandwich

Flirty Flirty Eyes sat at our table, between Terri and me.  We had a great time talking to him.  His mom is French Canadian, so she speaks French.  Steve's dad makes up words to pretend that he's speaking French.  Steve said that he got Rockapella's call the day before he received a job offer from Norwegian Cruise Lines.  I told him, "We're happy you took this one."  He said, "Me, too."  He told us that he was the first white guy in The Lion King Celebration at Animal Kingdom. I told him about my writing a letter to Disneyland regarding their casting of a white Jasmine.  We also talked about my writing to them about getting rid of the Magic Kingdom Korps.  I told Steve that he looks like Aladdin.  He said that he wants to see the stage show of "Aladdin" because he heard that it was really good.  I told him about Jasmine's new song.  Yes, folks, I somehow managed to stay focused on what Steve was saying to me instead of being mesmerized by his FFE.  

Aren't we a vision of loveliness together?  ;)

We made plans for the next day's race before Wendy needed to leave.  Steve took pictures with us at the table and almost said "I go both ways" when posing with me and then for Terri.  Terri had made cool mini collage postcards for each of the guys.  Karla was very happy to be sitting next to Fred at dinner.There was some confusion about the table seats, because we weren't sure which of the fans, besides the Posse, were supposed to be at our table.  Steve had ordered wine, so he had to sign a receipt to pay for it (alcohol is not included in the all-you-can-drink stuff).  He noticed, though, that he had been given the wrong receipt.  He said out loud, "This is for Room 4210, and I'm in Room 4201."  OK, so now we all know his room number.  ;)

Jill and Sher double-fisting martinis

APPARENTLY, I had not had enough alcohol, because I convinced Jill to join me at the Martini Tasting.  We decided to share, since they provided 4 glasses.  We chose Melontini, Raspberrytini, Mangotini and Chocotini.  The last 2 of those were my favorites, though we drank it all.  We met Carla and Cecilia, whom were hilarious, as well as 2 other women.  Cecilia said that she wants to go to Alaska because they have 8 men to every woman there.  She said that she didn't mind the cold with 8 warm bodies around her.  They talked about some creepy guy that tried to hit on them.  Some other ladies arrived and talked about the same creepy guy that tried to hit on them, describing him as a balding guy with long white hair in the back.  I guess the guy gets around, because the bartender knew exactly who they were describing.  We all laughed and wondered what poor soul was garnering the creepy guy's attention at that moment.  When the tasting was over, I bid adieu to Jill and all of the other entertaining women, and went to bed.  Yes, in my own stateroom.  No, not with the creepy guy.


Next up:  Cozumel

Smallville No More

What?  Two blogs about superheroes in one night?  What has happened to the PellaPusher?!


Well, tonight was the series finale of "Smallville".  Ten seasons long, and I've watched every episode, through all of the excitement of the beginning in Smallville with Chloe and her Wall of Weird, to the friendship between Clark and Lex, to the romance between Lana and Clark, to the different cameos by future superheroes like The Flash, and onward to the introduction of Lois and their lives in Metropolis.


I've seen Clark and his friends grow from their high school days of tracking down Meteor Freaks to their work as adults at the Daily Planet and its environs.  I've been saddened by characters leaving either by death or by growing up and moving away.  But what has touched me the most was watching this kid grow up into the Superman we all know and love.  The at-first reluctant hero who grew into the one that gives us hope and faith in those with the power not only to lead us, but also to protect us from the evil around us.


The series has had its share of awesome cameos, like Teri Hatcher (a former Lois) as Lois' mom, Christopher Reeve (do I really have to tell you who he played?) as a scientist that informed Clark about Krypton, and Terrence Stamp (a former Zod) as none other than Daddy Jor-El himself.  I've been in awe of the "gets" that the series producers have been able to furnish (although I would have loved to see Dean Cain somewhere in there).  Of course, I shouldn't forget between old and new versions was Annette O'Toole, playing Martha Kent, herself a former Lana Lang.  


But those cameos were not anything to me in comparison with the way that the main actors in the show have grown.  All of them have grown in the past 10 years in their roles, and in the early years, I was most impressed with Michael Rosenbaum and his portrayal of Lex Luthor.  He was AWE.  SOME.  No other Lex has been portrayed as well as by MR, and when he left the show, it made the quality decrease for me, and that's probably because the show's creators left, too.  But then Tom Welling really grew from just the hunky model guy to quite the actor, and has directed many episodes as well, and if I recall correctly, they've been my favorite episodes in the last few years.  


So imagine my happiness when it was announced that Mr. Rosenbaum had finally agreed to appear in the final episode of the series.  There he was, my favorite Lex, telling Clark how much the world needed the two of them, because a villain is only as strong as the hero.  Both Clark and Lex had moments in the show where they flashed back to how their lives had been on the show, and I just kind of lost it at that point.  And wow, the prophecy actually came true: Lex was elected President of the US in 2018, with Perry White as the editor of the Planet, and Jimmy Olson as the eager photographer, and of course, with Clark and Lois as the reporters on the beat.  How cute was it that Chloe was reading a "Smallville" comic to her son, whom was wearing pajamas with a drawing of Superman on it?  I loved the touch about the arrows being in his room, since his dad is the Green Arrow.


Oh, the dads.  I've always loved the underlying story of Clark trying to make his fathers proud.  I'm really glad that John Schneider returned in spirit for Clark to know that he had grown into a man that made him proud, and Jor-El was finally ready to tell Clark that he had passed all of his trials as the Chosen One.  The parallel of Lex and Lionel's relationship has been interesting, too, and  here we saw just how much a father would give for the love of his son, twisted as it was.


We also got what all of the Smallville fans had been eagerly awaiting:  Clark, as Clark (and not Bizarro) actually FLYING, cape, tights, and all.  YAY!  That, coupled with the John Williams music, made me smile.  That score is my favorite of all of the John Williams scores, so the little snippet of it playing as my favorite superhero became Superman was icing on a very big cake.  Cool touch at the end to add to that:  the closing credits were current style, mixed with the style from the Christopher Reeve-era Superman movies.  Awww, sweet.


Thank you, Smallville, for allowing us to watch the evolution of Superman in such a great way, and thank you to the CW for allowing the series to tie everything up so that we could actually see it happen.


It's a bird, it's a plane...it's my hero, Superman.

It's Hammer Time

I've been looking forward to seeing "Thor" ever since I saw the hammer at the end of the credits for "Iron Man 2".  I can't believe that I waited a whole week to see it once it was released, but today was the day.  Yay!

• God of Hummina.  My goodness, Chris Hemsworth, what a hunk!
• Great casting of Thor and Loki as kids.  They really did look like younger versions of the adult actors.
• Heh. "Home of the Vikings".
• There is a part of me that can't separate Natalie Portman from the Star Wars movies, so when she was crying, I really thought she was going to say "Anakin".
• Some shots of Tom Hiddleston reminded me of someone I know, right down to the mischievous part.  Not the whole personality, because then I'd be freaking out right about now.
• So did Nick Fury know that Odin started the whole cool eye patch dude thing?  Because Odin's been around a lot longer than Nick Fury.
• I totally love Agent Coulson.  I especially loved the shot of him in the pouring rain, waiting to see if Thor could pick up the hammer.
• BTW, the hammer thing reminded me of the story of King Arthur.
• Loved the little allusions to Stark and his weapons.
• Holy crap, that Destroyer did some damage!  I didn't even see it in 3-D.
• That was an awesome vision, the realm of Asgard.
• The Frost Giant, Laufey, reminded me of Freddy Krueger.
• Nice teaser at the end!  "Well, I guess that's worth a look."

I really enjoyed this movie, a great start to Blockbuster Season.

DLR LotD 05/06/11

Disneyland Resort
Line of the Day
Friday, May 6, 2011


"She's hot." -- Albert, while fanning Sherry, at Catal

Happy Birthday, Mom

Today is my mom's (ahem)th birthday.  Not that she won't tell you her age, but just in case she doesn't want it posted on the 'net, I'll keep that to myself for now.


Anyway, there was a time when I worried that I wouldn't have her around by now, due to her being diagnosed with lung cancer.  Thankfully, she was one of those patients that marveled doctors with her resilience and her treatment went quite well.  She just told me last week that she doesn't have to see the oncologist for 6 months, showing that the doctors are confident about her health at this point.  But back then, it was scary for all of us.   I mean, that's my MOM, you know?  After all of the years that she worked for places dedicated to cancer research and treatment, she was on the other side of the laboratory. 


This past year, I've been growing my hair very long, in plans to donate it through Pantene's Beautiful Lengths.  Unlike other organizations that focus on children, this one focuses on free wigs for adult men and women.  You know me, I just need to be different from all of the other people that I know that have generously donated their hair.  Some of them have done it twice, these generous people that I know.  (Love you, V!)


So I called up my hairdresser and she asked where I'd been.  I told her about the donation, and she was excited that she'd get to cut my hair off.  I picked this very date on purpose, as this gesture is a dedication to my wonderful mother.  She lost her hair, wore a wig (except when the weather was too warm because it made her head too hot), wore a head scarf, and has subsequently given a family friend her paraphernalia and advice when she was recently diagnosed.  She's had a full head of hair for quite a while now, so she doesn't need it for herself, but I hope that some other woman like my mom can use it.  Besides, Mom often used to tell me to cut my hair.  I think she just kept having flashbacks of taking tangles out of my hair as a child, but whatever. 


Happy Birthday, Mom.  I'm proud of your strength, your courage, and your optimism.  If I could be even half of what you always are when faced with adversity, I'd be an honorable woman, indeed.  I love you.

Sher's Back Before

Sher's Front After
(and her 14 inches of hair donation)