That's It, Just One Line: Lust for Life

"I'm worth a million in prizes."

I missed this, so I brought it back. 

The Fifth Beatle: The Muses, Phase One

Fan clip art, L-R: Mo, Pattie, Cynthia, Jane

I had made a New Year's resolution to not post about The Beatles in 2025; I will have to look back and see how I did (four passing references but no posts!) But a whole year without The Beatles? Perish the thought! 

While they were often referred to as the "four-headed beast" by their contemporaries, they would be nothing without the support of the many people who can lay claim to being the Fifth Beatle. 

First up are, for better or worse, the muses who were their emotional support and compelled them to write and sing: 

Cynthia, Pattie, Maureen, and Jane with their men

Cynthia

A friend of John's is quoted as saying, "Cynthia was beautiful, physically, and on the inside. Although she knew he was apt to find love on the road, she was totally dedicated to his success... and extremely influential. He was insecure, and Cynthia was there to pump him up, to buttress, sort of, his weak side."  

She was a nurturing presence, both at art college and with the band; John desperately loved her, pursuing, serenading, and ultimately marrying her. How unfortunate was Aunt Mimi's treatment of her, and how badly she was abused by the fans. John's neglect was heartbreaking, and Cyn deserved better than to be the inspiration for the confessional Norwegian Wood; she earned his devotion on those early love songs, both the remakes and the ones penned by him and Paul. I acknowledge he is a complex and flawed human being, but his harsh treatment of her prevents him from ever being my favorite Beatle. 

Jane

Pretty red-headed Jane Asher was the inspiration behind And I Love Her, We Can Work It Out, For No One, and my favorite, Here There and Everywhere. They couldn't work it out and broke their engagement in 1968. What happened? Diverging careers, diverging interests, Jane's concern over Paul's increasing drug use, and Paul's continued infidelities.

To her credit, Jane never wrote a sleazy tell-all book. She went on to have a happily ever after in her personal and private life, with a long career in British TV and film. Her brother Peter is still great friends with Paul and is a DJ on Sirius/XM. 

Pattie

Pattie Boyd inspired many of George's love songs, like I Need You, If I Needed Someone, and Something. And that was just George. Her story continues with post-divorce dalliances with Ronnie Wood and Eric Clapton. And it's a family affair, as her sister was married to Mick Fleetwood for a time. George should have treated her better, but he was a surprising gentleman when the press hounded them about babies and shielded Pattie by not sharing the news of her infertility. 

I cannot believe there are still fans spewing vitriol against her, thinking she should have put up and shut up; then again, these types of fans were pissed she married him in the first place. You didn't have a shot, drab Ruth from Sussex. 

Maureen

She was an early fan and started dating "her Ritchie" before they were famous, taking the brunt of abuse from Liverpool fans once Ringo replaced Pete, and again when they hit the big time. She sang backup on Bungalow Bill, and can be heard cheering on the Let It Be album, with a quick "thanks, Mo" on record from Paul. Frank Sinatra sang The Lady is a Champ to her on her birthday. Her jamming on the shitty couch in the Abbey Road studio in the Get Back documentary is all of us. 

She was also the queen of reinvention. Born Mary Cox, she decided at 14 that she'd rather be Maureen. Mo had the best, funky style: she was remembered by her friends for making over their school uniform and was always on the cutting edge of 60s fashion; I covet her suede boots and miniskirted velvet suit. As a former hairdresser, she was ahead of the curve in experimenting with any and all shades of hair color - in her limited time in the spotlight, she was brunette, blonde, redhead, chesnut, black, and in the Something video, did two-tone dirty biker blonde with black roots and dead eye stare.

As her marriage to Ringo broke down, she did too. She recovered to stand on her own two feet and called him out in court for his poor treatment of her and the children, his behavior akin to cartoon character Andy Capp. Sadly, he agreed. 

Her second act was as the wife of Hard Rock Cafe founder Isaac Tigrett, who fondly called her "the ultimate collectible." Sadly, she died at the age of 48 of leukemia, with everyone at her side. Paul dedicated the song Little Willow to her. 

Lipstick on the Mic: Tina Turner

She never did things nice... and easy. 

This woman was EPIC. She had hits when my parents were young, and she continued to have hits well into my teen years. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER HEROOOOO! 

Her story is well-known, from books to movies to jukebox musicals. 

My friend's dad, Dale, was in love with her. 

She blurred the lines between soul, rock, and R&B so that she pretty much ruled wherever she landed.

What can I say about her that hasn't already been said? 

Her music is the dividing line when I went from being a participating skater to becoming a competitor. I was struggling with an overly complicated concept for a skating program when Proud Mary came on VH-1 while I was making dinner. Like a laser, the song cut through any ill-conceived ideas I had, and I was just going to skate with the energy of Tina Turner. It was my first decisive win, coming in first out of seven at the Grand Rapids Open, second at Wyandotte, second at sectionals, and just outside the medals in sixth at nationals. 

She invites you to tap into her energy. Love to you, Anna Mae. 

YA Book Club: The Phantom Tollbooth

Milo and Tock

Laura is my GOAT, but what inspired me after she threw on her black wedding dress and took the road north to the little gray house with her handsome farmer boy? 

YA - Young Adult - books are a classification for writing based on themes appropriate for tween to teen readers. And I ate it up, often found lying on the couch of my parents' front porch, reading deep into the night, drinking ice water, and listening to the crickets. 

One of the trippiest books in my collection was The Phantom Tollbooth by Norman Juster. It is the story of Milo, who owns far too many toys and yet is always bored and complaining. One day in his playroom he notices a new gift, a cardboard tollbooth. He puts it together, pays the supplied token in the payment slot, and, riding in his toy car, travels to The Kingdom of Wisdom. 

He finds a watchdog named Tock, the Humbug, and feuding brothers, King Azaz and the Mathemagician, who fight over the importance of words vs. numbers. He shops for letters, eats light, orchestrates a day, meets the largest midget, the smallest giant, the thinnest fat man, and the fattest skinny man - all who is one ordinary man. 

Milo almost loses his way in the mountains of Ignorance, where the Terrible Trivium sidetracks the travelers into digging a hole with a pin, moving a pile of sand with tweezers, and filling a bucket with an eye dropper. 

He and Tock save the day by rescuing the princesses Rhyme and Reason from their prison, a castle in the air, because time - and therefore Tock - flies. 

The word play is delicious, and the internal visualization makes the imagination run wild. 

Celebrated as a hero, Milo drives home, thinking his parents must be worried as he has been gone for weeks, to discover only an hour had passed. Eager to revisit Wisdom the next day, he was disappointed to discover a note that the tollbooth had been delivered to a new child who needed to learn the way. While sad he can no longer visit this fantastical land, Milo concludes there is so much for him to learn and live back home. 

Project 3867: Christmas Eve Shop

So I know who the first employee will be

My mother-in-law is a professional Mrs. Claus, so a Christmas specialty store should be a given.

Use one of the bays as a photo op with Santa in his sleigh, which is "under repair," and use it as a fun activity where the kids can "help" Santa fix his sleigh. 

Borrow ideas from Bronners with a breadth and depth of items for sale. 

To keep it fresh and relevant, "find some Christmas in every day," and create this as a destination shop for Christmas, even in the middle of summer. 

Christmas in July celebration! 

Quirky events every 25th! 

A $1 stocking spot, with buckets of fun items to fill a sock to take home and hang on the mantel. 

Note: the property is now a garage, so 3867's shingle is now hung. This was a fun, creative series to work on and imagine the fun on a weird little triangular lot. 

Typing Out Loud: Retirement Careers

At the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. I could do museum work... 

At the tender age of 56, I have an eye on September 15, 2034, as my last day of everyday career employment, but not necessarily my last day of work. Funny that I would be writing this on the last day of work before the winter holiday break!

So what will I do with my free time? Dave and I, in addition to our old-people affection for porches, house projects, and whatnot, have started to discuss what we are going to do with ourselves once we hand in our keys. 

The simplest one for me is judging will probably occupy most of my free time, from test sessions to finally making it to those high school events in the Detroit area that I can't do during the week. Maybe that will compel me to travel more and actually allow clubs to put me up in hotels so I can take my time in areas I'm visiting instead of rushing back home. 

I also look to my mother-in-law for inspiration. She is a volunteer docent at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, working once a week. She enjoys the kids and educating them on things like fossils, vintage toys, and plants. I would love to be a docent at the GRAM, talk about abstract expressionism or take people through craft projects.

Or maybe like my mom, who, after retiring, went to work at the library to catalog books and teach genealogy. While that is not my bag, I would love to be involved in story time, maybe take on an elder Laura Ingalls persona, teach kids old-timey skills, and let them dream about adventure. 

Or take an easy-pay, low-risk, couple of hours a day job, prepping and feeding kids at lunch at the high school. I can't believe I didn't put working at a thrift store on this list initially!

It's going to be interesting to explore retirement "careers" in the next few years. I don't see either one of us idly sitting on our hands watching TV. But slowing down does seem like a dream come true. 

The Cereal Project: Bowl and Spoon

We have a Cardinals bowl just like this, easily adapted to fit our movie promo

In our kitchen, we have promotional bowls from Spartan Stores, Kellogg's, the Whitecaps, and Spaghettios. We also have collectible Star Wars spoons that change color in cold milk.

We have to tie the movie back to the cereal. I mean, it's all about finding the prize IN a box of cereal after all. 

I want a set - a bowl and a spoon. Logically, a spoon is smaller than a bowl. How about you get the spoon free in a box of cereal, but in a classic additional promo, you send away for the bowl? 

Cam's morning.

People can choose from various movie quotes or designs to submit for their bowl.  

----

That's a wrap on the Cereal Project! I don't know what I enjoyed more, creating the prizes or imagining the movie for the promotion. To be honest, I'm surprised no one has greenlit sequels of movies featuring Hughes' teenagers all grown up.  Bender, Claire, and Allison from The Breakfast Club; the Baker family, Farmer Ted, Long Duck Dong, and Jake in 16 Candles; Lisa, Gary, and Wyatt in Weird Science; Keith, Watts, and Amanda in Some Kind of Wonderful; Andie, Duckie, and Iona in Pretty in Pink; they all still lovingly exist for fans in his quirky universe.