Life in Beta

Yesterday my friend Erica and I were talking about television programs that we watched as children in the 80s. There are the obvious ones: Smurfs, Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, He-Man and She-Ra, etc.

But Erica brought this one up — do you all remember The Letter People? To be fair, it was a 70s show, but those Letter People taught us our ABCs and long/short-vowel sounds well into the 1980s in our elementary school classrooms.

That show got me thinking about some others that I remember from my childhood, that are sort of “forgotten” these days. Strangely enough, it appears most of them were produced in Canada for TVOntario. (Apparently I had a love for Canadians even back then, without knowing it…)

Hariet’s Magic Hats (1980-1986)

This used to come on our local PBS station (WQLN in Erie, PA) at some strange hour of the day because I remember I rarely managed to catch it, but I loved it. I was a super-imaginative child and the idea that a trunk full of old hats could take you all different places … heck ya, sign me up! I remember the puppet-parrot on the show very distinctly too.

The Polka Dot Door (1971-1993)

I don’t remember too much about this show except that I really, really liked it. (Um, WHY, I don’t know. Because it seems kind of lame now…)

Today’s Special (1982-1987)

I loved-loved-LOVED this show. I distinctly remember one episode where they were going to tear down the department store but Muffy (the little puppet-mouse) found a block in one of the walls that showed the date the building was erected, and it was declared a historical landmark so they couldn’t tear it down. (Strange the things that you remember…)

Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Elephant Show (1984-1988)

Again, I adored this show. I remember that Sharon, Lois and Bram would always go out on tours with a stage version of “The Elephant Show” and I always wanted to go to it. Never did though. Hmph. But dude, I can still do the “Skinnamarink-a-dinky-dink, skinnamarink-a-doo, I love YOU!” song (complete with hand gestures). But I’ll refrain.

So… what obscure (or not-so-obscure) shows do you recall fondly from your childhood?? Comment-away!

Ya’ll… it’s Monday and I’m feeling completely brain-dead.

I spent my weekend mostly covered in paint. As I think I’ve mentioned before, I had to paint our bathroom. I always seem to get temporary amnesia and think, Oh painting isn’t so bad.

No. It freaking SUCKS. You know why!? Because I can’t seem to ever paint a room without stepping in the effing paint!!

I’m not joking. I had paint covering the bottoms of both feet (thankfully I was barefoot). I also had it in my hair (despite having worn a bandanna), covering my entire left shoulder (because I backed into a wet wall on accident) and of course all over my hands.

At least it’s pretty much DONE.

I spent my evenings knitting and finishing my February Lady Sweater, which I’ve had on the needles for over a year and haven’t touched since last winter.

I’m really excited to get to wear it! If you want to read more about this sweater and my other knitting projects, have a look at my other blog: Mandi Knits.

When I wasn’t painting or knitting this weekend, I was watching marathons of Forensic Files, Snapped, Haunting Evidence, and some special on the Zodiac Killer. I don’t know WTF was up with that, but needless to say I had myself scared stupid all weekend. So last night before bedtime I threw in some good ol’ Iron Chef America to balance it out.