It's "I want to be She-Ra" Thursday, MKF!

[magickalbear]

Ok, I've been large with the childhood nostalgia here lately, so it's got me to thinkin'... was I the only girl on my block that wanted to be She-Ra when she was a little girl (other than the fact that (at age 6) I was dreaming of ways for She-Ra and Wonder Woman to get together and date.. Ahh.. youth )? So, what superhero did you want to be? And who do you think Willow and Tara wanted to be? Don't mind me.. just woke up, so large with the non-making sense as well

[VampiraJen]

I grew up in what i think was a brilliant time for cartoons.

The transformers: <robot voice> Robots in disguise </robot voice>

he-man:i had all the toys, and i remember dad had to come into my room one night and take one of them away cause it was scaring me

she-ra:I had a she-re t-shirt when i was a lass

the turtles: I came home from school one day and dad gave me a wee note that had a clue on it that took me to another clue and so on and so one which took me round our home several times until i came right back to where i started, my dad's desk, and in the bottom drawer was donatello! Finally i had one of the turtles, screw the rest of the school who would never let me play with theirs, i had donotello!

the thundercats: Coolest theme tune ever. Thunder cats are on the move, thundercats are loose, feel the magic, hear the roar, thundercats are loose, thunder thunder thunder thunder cats! (Cue cool electric guitar) Mum-ra was spooky. Spookier than skelator.

bucky o'hare (<sings> he goes where no ordinary rabbit would dare...<stops singing>). This was the cartoon that me and my budy loved the most. I would be Captain bucky O'Hare and he would be Dead-Eye, the gunner. think it's cause i liked bucky's uniform...

Ah...memories...When i turned 18 a year and a bit ago, i went all nostalgic and downloaded all the theme tunes to all my favorite catoons. i think i'll give them a listen...

[BytrSuite]

Yeah, so last night I realized that today is the day that 2 years ago my grandma died. I was feeling sad and thought that it was just me being overtired and letting all this Buffy stuff get me down like it sometimes does. But it was weird because nothing new had happened, no new articles, no new reminders of how hated we are some places. So it made me start thinking to figure out what could be making me sad. I noticed a calendar and realized that this was the month that she had died, and not only the month but the date too. Sucked. She was more of a mother to me than my mom is, really, and it was really hard to lose her. I know I should try to remember the good things, but that is hard because most of them happened when I was younger. The last years of her life she just kept getting sicker and sicker and it was really hard to watch. At first it wasn't too bad, she just needed help walking, so I'd make sure I was home to help her from the car when she got home from work. Then I started helping to drive her to dialysis. Then it was setting up the home dialysis thing every night. Being home for those deliveries of medical supplies, getting the ramp to the front of our house put in. Then other family crap happens and you have to try and deal with that at the same time. Her work finally wanted to try letting her work from home and it was a bunch of computer stuff she had never used before, so I sat in on that too so I could explain things to her when she forgot. (Heh, she had never used a mouse before.) But soon after that she couldn't even work from home anymore. She fell more often, needed help getting in and out of the wheelchair. Or trying to get to the bathroom. It's scary when you can't get someone back up and need to call the paramedics/firemen to do it for you. She was in so, so much pain. Tons of different kinds of medications. And of course I wasn't doing this alone. My mom, 2 of my aunts and my uncles were doing most of the work near the end, but 4 of these people were losing their mom and that's fucking hard to be around too. And then she died, in a hospital bed that was where hers used to be. A few hours later the coroner came and got her. And I watched her being wheeled out in a black bag. And I can still remember this and more even 2 years later.

God this is depressing. I'm wondering if I should even post this. Eh, it was probably good for me to write some of this down and I can always come back and edit it out if I need to.

Sigh, I think I'm going to go take a nap or something. Stupid rain keeps flooding things here.

[tommo]

Oh Kathy, I'm sorry. I was a little maudlin yesterday too, for personal reasons. Just remember that she's not in any pain anymore and she's probably keeping an eye on you right now.

I know that's really not helpful, but there you go.

[Dumbsaint]

Yeah, what's the daily thread for really but to say any old thing that's cluttering up your heart or head? I say have at it.

As for the daily question, I think Willow would have wanted to be Wonder Woman. Perhaps Sheila would have let her have the costume with the gauntlets and the cool belt on account of WW being such a strong role model for young women (and the prompting of reading a handful of papers on the value of the fantasy lives of children). And Tara, I believe, would have fancied herself a Greek goddess, perhaps wise Athena, or Diana traipsing about through the forest with her entourage of nymphs- only without all the Lord of the Flies-esque chasing of Bambi's mom through the woods with bows and arrows.

Me? I had Punky power.

[oneyedchicklet]

Hey Kathy,
I can relate completely. We lived with my grandmother for the last 20 years of her life. I was always closer with her then my brothers were as they were both spoiled rotten by both my dads parents. I remember coming home from school one day and my dog was pacing back and forth in front of her in her chair. I was volunteering for the local First Aid Squad and panicked when I found her. She was having a stroke. I called the ambulance and they took her to the hospital and as they left, I sat on the floor in front of her chair and cried. Here I am, an EMT and I couldn't do anything to help her. She had to go for physical therapy and everything. She came home 3 months later and she was for the most part in a wheelchair. The doctors told us to keep her bedroom upstairs so she was forced to go up and down the stairs. She did great. She would yell for me every morning to come and help her get dressed as her right arm was completely paralyzed and then I would have to walk down the stairs in front of her. She was quite the trooper. I quit college and stayed at home to help care for her. She made sure she would make lunch for us everyday. Her favorite day of the year where I was forced to get up at the butt crack of dawn was the first day of school. She wanted to be dressed, downstairs and sitting out on the porch in her wheelchair so she could wave to all the kids going to school. (Every kid in the neighborhood called her Grams).
One afternoon, she told me she was going to lie on my parents bed and take a nap. I told her that I was going to take a shower and I would wake her up in about an hour. When I came back down and tried to wake her, once again, the dog was pacing. I found her in respiratory arrest. This time I wasn't just going to sit there. I called 911 and began CPR on her myself. When the police came in, they were trying to get me to stop so they could continue. I wouldn't give up. Finally, they pulled me off of her and they were fighting just as hard as I was. You see, when my grandfather died, he was Chief of Police and a lot of the police officers would come and visit with her throughout the years. Anyway, they took her to the hospital and she was pronounced dead about an hour later. When my mom called me at home, I knew but I wouldn't accept it. I wasn't going to go to the funeral or the wake but I did. She was even given an honor guard of Police and EMT's at the funeral home. The out pouring of people was unbelievable. This woman was truely loved by many. A couple of months after she passed away, my dog passed away from a brain tumor. I had him cremated and sprayed his ashes at my grandparents grave. After all, he was there when she needed him so I just wanted him to be with her always.

Ok, sorry for the long babblefest, but I actually feel better sharing that part of my life. And Kathy, thanks for making me think about her again. I really do miss her. And I know she is still there as long as I keep her alive in my heart.

With Love,
Barb

[Zahir al Daoud]

Wow those are amazing stories. I personally wasn't around for one grandmother's death, and the other was a vicious bitch (I still maintain my own mother might still be alive today if--while her mother had been around--she'd slapped that horrid woman across the face a few times, really hard--as it was, her rage had nowhere to go). So I can only feel envy. How wonderful to have memories of love, of admiration, and to be able to share those feelings with others! Yeah, it sucks to lose them--but without them, it must be like living in a world that lacks a couple of colors. We accept the red of blood and gore, because its also the color of cherries and sunsets and birds and roses.

Yeah, I can see Willow a She-Ra fan. Maybe the She-Hulk as well. My own suspicion is that Tara adored the Thundercats (well, who wouldn't).

Me? I wanted to be Dr. Strange.

[pikachu1060]

Hey Kathy,

I'm so sorry for you. I lost my grandmother last year in July, and yeahm this year, it was hard when i realised that a whole year had past since it happened. So, i think i can understand how you're feeling...

About the topic here, i grown up feeding with cartoons. I'm part of that generation who spent the wednesday afternoon in front of the tv (yeah, here we have a half day off on wednesday). The bad thing is that i don't know the englkish names of those cartoons... *sigh*
Anyway, there was this sentai, bioman that i loved so much. I wanted to be the yellow bioman. She was my hero. But this is not really a cartoon, so i guess it doesn't count.

As for willow and tara... i have a lots of idea of who was their super hero, but again... in french. Grrr Arghhh, feeling really frustrated here not being able to share...

[mollyig]

Totally empathise with you Kathy. Anniversaries of the ones we love are hard to struggle through. June is my bad month, I have my Grandmother's, an uncle and my Dad's to cope with, so I understand how down you must feel.

And thank you magickalbear for making me feel old. [img:3fede903f7]http://homepage.eircom.net/~mollyig/winkgreen.gif[/img:3fede903f7] I'm a little bit (and more) too old to have been into She-Ra. My kid brother wanted to be he-man.

[oneyedchicklet]

Ok coming from Mickey Mouses biggest fan, I am a cartoon fanatic. Everyone tells me I'm obsessed with Mickey. [i:0b7c9a6490] Barb looks around her apartment and loses count of all things Mickey[/i:0b7c9a6490] Alright maybe just a little obsessed. I happen to love the classic cartoons. Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, Jetsons and Flintstones. Now those are cartoons.

However, I can see Willow watching Dexter's Laboratory and Tara watching the PowerPuff Girls. But didn't Tara say that her and Willow once watched SpongeBob SquarePants? I really dislike that show. It is quite annoying

Love to All,
Barb

[SJ]

I think Willow and Tara watched a lot of cartoons too so maybe one of the characters from the Battle Of The Planets cartoon.

[tommo]

Didn't one of them have like, green hair or something? I could never understand why they got so excited about G-Force. Seemed a bit odd to me.

But I loved [b:4991daf001] Thundercats[/b:4991daf001]. Cheetarah was really sexy. Ahem. I'm sorry. But she was.

I also have a very emotional attachment to [b:4991daf001] The Simpsons[/b:4991daf001], as it always reminds me of someone special. Not the characters, just the show.

[theatremouse]

i was totally totally totally a punky person. OB-sessed. still am-ish. i'm soooooo into the cartoons nostalgia no-i-suppose-i-am-not-going-to-get-over-my-childhood-tv-obsessions. rainbow brite, david the gnome, littlest koala, wuzzles, 'eh, i'm gonna stop cuz i could come up with about 40 things....
however, when i was wee, other than embodying punky in [i:80115866aa] every[/i:80115866aa] way i could (oddly enough i was the only mimic i knew, dressed like her, etc) i really wanted to be spiderman, but the OLD spiderman, like the tv show from the sixties, not the newer stuff. i disliked that. and i enjoyed the incredible hulk.
i had this thing, i wanted to be on punky, play her new best friend or something, same thing with clarissa explains it all..... i always wanted to get cast on some show as the <insert new character to freshen show up here> person, even though i know and knew that [i:80115866aa] usually[/i:80115866aa] that happening is a sign of the show dying.....but still i wouldve killed to have done that..... alas. it never happened.
mope.

peace out.

[VampiraJen]

I must have missed something, cause you're all talking about loosing grandparents and how sad it is, and i'm not sure i get it really. The only grandparent who died and i was aware of it was my mums dad. Now, don't get me wrong, i loved him and he was a lovely man, but his death didn't rip me to shreds. I was eight, and i remember being really confused because i didn't cry. It got to the point where i was trying to force tears, but they just wouldn't come, not even at the funeral. My mum's mum died when i was a baby, so i never knew her. from what my dad has told me, his father (who also died when i was a baby) was a right bastard and while i'm not glad he's dead (i couldn't think that about anyone) i'm not sorry i never knew him. My only living grand parent is my dad's mum and she's going senile. She's all confused and doesn't remember who we are. We live a good bit away from her and i haven't seen her in years. I think she's pop her cloggs soon enough. I know i wont be gutted by it. That sounds horrible, i know, but it's the harsh truth. I've probably inherited the crazy gene from her. Fifty years from now --- "I remember something about a kitty board...but that's silly...you don't get kitten shaped wooden boards...do you...?"

I'm not saying all this to upset you guys or to prove to you i can really be horrible at the best of times, i think it's really great that you guys had this great relationship with the grandparents, like i said, i must have missed something.

jen.

ps, i liked Cheetarah too...

[relativegirl]

Hey Kathy. [i:21a69e4aa0] *big kitten hug*[/i:21a69e4aa0] I just wanted to say I understand how those anniversaries can completely knock you sideways. Tuesday was the one year anniversary of my mom dying. I was fine Monday. I was fine Wednesday. Tuesday, not so fine.

After my dad died I started working on the official monday holidays, like president's day, labor day etc., so that I could take vacation days on the days that really matter more to me personally -- my parent's birthdays and the anniversaries of the days they died. I make a point of doing at least one thing that I used to do with them, I make a special meal, and I usually end up taking a book to the beach and just sitting and watching the ocean and remembering.

It sounds depressing as hell, but it's really not b/c I'm taking time out from my usual day to day rat race life and giving myself the time to deal with stuff. It's been a really positive thing for me. And I feel like I'm paying my respects to them and what they meant to me by not working or doing my usually daily stuff. Which I guess is what all the memorial holidays are supposed to be about in the first place.

But I didn't do it Tuesday, which was stupid, and it made the day just that much harder.

Anyways Kathy, my point is just to encourage you to set aside today for yourself and your memories of your grandma.

[Hugin]

I used to fight with my grandmother all the time, she was demanding and cantakerous, I was moody and..teen-agery..when she died I didn't feel much of anything besides surprise, because while she was quite elderly and had several health problems, her death was quite unexpected.

Then..oh, about a week later, sitting in a car with one of my uncles, it all hit. Not her ordering me around, not the squabbling. Instead, the memories of watching wrestling (or as she said it "wrasslin") with her, watching her get all excited about the good guys and the bad guys theatrically duking it out. Watching tennis with her, and how cute I thought it was that she had this little old lady crush on Jimmy Conners. Her unimaginably sweet iced tea. Her determined feigning of extreme sleepiness Christmas morning (we couldn't open presents till everyone was up, and she's drive me crazy with a whole elaborate "Yaaawnn, oh, I don't know Lonny (my childhood pet name), maybe I'll sleep in today till 11:00 or noon..."(this being a woman who generally got up at the crack of dawn))

And of course, the last time i'd seen her we had gotten into a stupid pointless fight over...whatever. Stupid. I miss her.

As for She Ra...you know I've heard that they're coming out with a revival of the He-Man cartoon, with all the old characters, maybe they'll bring back She-Ra too.

-len

[BBOvenGuy]

I lost one grandmother to lymphoma in 1978, when I was not quite 14. I was born on her birthday and I only saw her a couple of times a year because she lived far from me. My other grandmother lived close by, and I think in my younger days I took her a bit for granted. Fortunately, in later years I learned to appreciate her a lot more. She passed away in 1996, but left behind 100 pages of an autobiography she was working on and a very thick binder of geneological research. I have copies of both sitting on my bookshelf, and in fact I used part of her autobiography as the foundation for my second book, [i:daecb17114] Hoosier Girl[/i:daecb17114], which I'm now shopping around. So although she's gone from me, in a way she's still here.

And now to change gears completely (an appropriate metaphor in this case), here's some news from The Indianapolis Star, another in my updates about the career of Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher:

[quote:daecb17114][b:daecb17114][i:daecb17114]Quote:[/i:daecb17114][/b:daecb17114]

---

[b:daecb17114] IRL driver Sarah Fisher to endorse TAG Heuer[/b:daecb17114]

Associated Press
August 22, 2002

INDIANAPOLIS -- Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer has signed race driver Sarah Fisher to a longterm endorsement contract.

Fisher, the third woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500 and the only woman currently competing in the Indy Racing League, became the first woman to start from the pole in any major racing series two weeks ago at Kentucky.

TAG Heuer is the official timekeeper for the Formula One series and will introduce a new piece, the "F1 Micrograph," with Fisher at the U.S. Grand Prix next month at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"If one woman will ever make it to Formula One, it will be Sarah Fisher," TAG Heuer president and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin said Wednesday. "She's so talented, determined and young but still so experienced that, without a doubt, she will grow to become a great champion."

Fisher made her IRL debut in 1999 at age 19.

---

[/quote:daecb17114]

Yay Sarah!

[roamin]

I didn't get the grandparent thing until I met my partner's grandmother. My grandparents didn't live near by so I was never close to them.

My partner was very close to her grandmother - in fact she was one of the most important people in her life, when her health declined and she later died it was very hard and sad for both of us. One of my biggest regrets is that she died before our daughter (her namesake) was born.

One of my great joys is seeing the relationship our daughter has with her grandparents, especially her grandmothers. It is truly magical and wonderful. While I know it will be hard on our daughter to watch her grandparents age and die - I know that the relationships she has with them will stay with her all of her life and that her life will be richer for knowing them.

[BytrSuite]

Ack! It didn't occur to me till a little while ago that I might have killed the daily thread with my post. So glad I didn't.

Love and hugs to Ruth, Barb, Chris, mollyig and relativegirl. Thanks everyone.

RG, that is a good idea. I don't think I could set the whole day aside but finding an old book she liked to read or watching some show we used to watch together would probably be a nice thing to do. I'm gonna have to go find a tape or something of "Touched By An Angel" and it's all your fault.

Love you guys.

As for the topic of the off-topic daily thread:
I don't think I ever wanted to be whatever fictional character, I just always wanted to be around them. I think, anyway, I can't really remember.

Anyone remember The Secret of the Sword? I used to love watching it. Ooh, Adora was bad because Hordak kidnapped and brainwashed her. Then everyone's memory got erased so they wouldn't have to suffer the pain of having lost a child, damn convenient. Then Adora starts thinking for herself, starts doubting Hordak and become She-Ra. And then they all live happily ever after, for about a week. Sigh.

Here's an 80s site. I cannot hear about He-Man and She-Ra and [i:d569b7b670] not[/i:d569b7b670] think 80's.

I'm happy the stupid flood-causing rain did not interrupt my soaps.
At least it's cooler now.

[Elianna]

I wanted to be Diana Berry.

Mainly because I had a crush on Anne.

-Elianna

[relativegirl]

Touched by an Angel? Really? Oh I do owe you one, Kathy, I really do. Maybe you could just watch the one with Aly over and over and over.

[BytrSuite]

Hee, RG, I keep meaning to look for that one, or at least try to download it. Alas, I guess I'll settle for the one where Nancy McKeon has a brain tumor.

[Puff]

Juat wanted to say hi as I am back from vacation, I think it was renamed as never take the kids on a plane until they are older though. Anyway I am still dead to the world due to little sleep and I'm trying to catch up on fanfic etc.

[oneyedchicklet]

Hey Kathy,
I've been thinking about Grams all day. Thank you so much. And by the way, a hug right back to you. Oh yeah, thats what friends are for.
By the way, the Nancy McKeon is one of my favorite eps of TBAA along with the Aly ep.
Enjoy it!!!

With Love,
Barb

[alyamber4ever]

Ok, well...I wanted to be Xena. I remember when that show first started, I thought she was soooooo cool. And the best part about being Xena?? GABRIELLE!!! Renee O' Connor is such a cutie. I wouldn't mind having her as my sidekick/soulmate.

I'm not sure who Willow and Tara wanted to be. Maybe Willow could be Xena and Tara could be Gabrielle. hehehe....Willow: Warrior Princess

[WiccansIllusion]

I know I'm a little late on the thread, computer problems among other things.

I've lost all my grandparents. My dads mother was to suicide, my grandfather and grandmother on my moms side both to cancer. I can understand how hard loosing someone is. And I can't help feeling guilty about all of them. I never said thank you to my grandfather, who basiclly saved my life by paying for open heart surgery I had when I was 6 months old, or my other grandmother who I didn't call enough, or see enough.

Anyways along with cartoons and such on a happier note:
I'll never forget Willow's line "She couldn't have been Xena?"

But I think Tara liked Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite. Willow on the other hand loved Small Wonder ( the show about a robot living as a human ) and Punky Brewester, since they both had red hair.

[La]

I just saw this thread and I had to say that I so wanted to be She-ra. I dreamt I was her. And, I was She-ra for halloween one year. And my little brother was He-man.

I was also Punky Brewster once.