Listsaurus

Just Float

2011-10-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

[This was originally posted in my other Blog the Little Things but I am certain no one follows it as that I never really update it. I figured the few people that have actually followed Listsaurus might be able to take a moment to read this. Miranda and I will certainly return to our fervent listing after things sort of level out in my day to day.]

This is not a blog I tend to update on a regular basis. In fact, I don't recall the last time I posted. And I am simply too lazy to check at the moment. Lazy. Or indifferent. I am too lazy to debate. Too lazy. Or indifferent.

When you share the news of a loved one passing, there is no way to ease the blow. There is no weighing if we are to remove the band aid slowly, or to rip it away quickly.

There is a wound that needs healing either way.

My young friend passed away last month. When I say last month, the timing seems skewed. Was that last month? I suppose so. It is only the first week of October. My friend passed in September.

On September 19th 2011 my young friend, Jeffery Brian Wise II committed suicide.

I did not intend to reflect on this last few weeks today. In fact, I'm sort of forcing myself to do this for my big sister's sake. She was very close to little Jeff. We call him little Jeff, though he was over a foot taller than the both of us. A tall, handsome young man. I miss him. We all do. My big sister moved to South Korea recently to teach English. She could not make it to Jeffy's memorial service. I fear that she wept alone. Perhaps that is how he felt for a while. And I live right next door. I'd rather not do this now. But now is as good a time as any. And here it goes.

The memorial service was held at Haven of Rest in Gig Harbor, Wa.

I rode in the backseat of my car. My boyfriend, Blake drove and my kid sister sat up front. My dog, Hiro, sat above my head in the rear window where he watches the world go by. The sun was shining, which was odd. I recall the forecast boasting showers and cold weather. Now, my dog is very self centered but I think even he sensed the gloom in the car as we rode closer to our destination. His tail wagged less. He became less fidgety. He even sat still for a morose picture. Good boy.

Upon our arrival there were dozens of teenagers and fresh graduates standing outside of the building. It looked like the outside of a school dance.

With a lot more crying.

We parked in the back. There were a lot more cars than I anticipated. My kid sister Jenne was crying quietly between singing and fretting over her make up the whole ride there. She still looked beautiful. Even through the sadness. We stepped out of the car and held to each other for strength and moved toward the building. Jenne's old friends Mimi and Jessa seemed to appear from no where. At least to me, it seemed as if they appeared from no where. I was too busy watching the ground through watery eyes. I could not bring myself to make eye contact with anyone. I could not bring myself to step forward. I stood by while they embraced and cried. Quiet whimpers of "I'm sorry." and "I can't go in there."

The last open casket viewing I attended was for my grandfather. He lived a long life. Died in his 70's. It was painful, but natural. It was sad, but touching. Little Jeffy just graduated high school this year. This was something else. This was broken. Abrupt. I would say it was like a story without an ending, but Jeff barely had his first few chapters down. It was more like a sentence without punctuation. Not even an ellipsis.

I felt bitter and confused. His big sister, Christine, is like family of my own. We grew up together. They're close like family. Like cousins. No, like siblings. Watching her stand over his grave stone stirred something in me that I never wanted touched. Not this. Not now. When we finally gathered ourselves enough to step into the building, we saw more young crying teens. Teachers. Concerned parents. I almost didn't recognized my own parents. My tears fell freely. I felt alone among strangers. Even if my sister stood by my side and Blake held me close, I felt oddly alone. Maybe I wanted to be alone. This just felt like too much. We stepped forward to the room with his table of memories. The images blurred with more tears. There stood Christine. Beautiful, broken Christine. With the sad smile of a defeated guardian angel. She and Jenne embraced immediately. More "I'm sorry's" more sobbing. Even after she has lost her baby brother, she rocks us in her arms like her own. She tells us to be strong. Can you imagine? There is a song. The perfect song for this. In it the artist says,

"We're all born into this river without knowing how to swim and eventually we learn how to keep the water under our chins. Sometimes this river's so cold to be in, freezing my soul, solidifying my skin."

The strength she summons to move through these rapids is beyond me.

Since I had gotten the news that Jeff had passed away, I haven't quite been myself. I feel absent. Distracted. The night before this memorial I had gone to the fair. My dear friend Jesse along with his brother and another friend, Brandon, invited me along. I agreed in hopes to lift my spirits. It was an enjoyable night for the most part. Mostly, I enjoyed the distraction and just wanted to get out of my neighborhood. I smiled. I laughed. I got on rides. We joked. I ate awful food. I even threw it up and laughed at the results of my carelessness.

Still I felt empty.

For a few weeks before Jeff passed away, he and I had been texting fairly regularly. He always seemed so troubled. He asked for advice, for solace, for company. I offered what I could. I should have offered more. But there's no sense in thinking those things now. All I could think about was how much I wanted to help him. How close I was getting to showing him that life gets better. Many of his friends told him this. I wonder why he never believed it?

After the fair I asked if we could eat. I did, after all, vomit everything I had eaten that day after going on too many spinning rides. We stopped by Blake's work place, a bar & grill I had never been to. It was within 3 minutes of where we had all parked our cars to meet up for the fair. My old friend Samantha was there. Why tonight, of all nights? The world is a strange place. Timing is everything. We chatted. About loss. About the past. About the present. Mostly about loss. We drank. Why did I drink? I was to meet my kid sister at home. I couldn't bring up an answer. I felt numb. I drank. and I cried. I sobbed, really. We became drunk and belligerent together. Our emotions couldn't be contained, especially with whatever it was that I drank. I thought maybe I could get it all out then. The crying and freaking out, that is. That my young friend was gone forever. That I never got a chance to help him. That I could've done more. That I should've done more. That I could never do a thing to change it. I cried and cried and strangers stared and grew concerned. I was in a bathroom at a bar shouting and crying with an old friend I had never shared an intimate moment with in my life. Never in my life have I ever felt this way. Never did I think it would happen. Then again, I never thought I'd lose my young friend this way. The world is sad and strange.

I digress.

Jeffy's memory table was set up in a room with a partition wall separating us from his lifeless body. There was a line of people with stone cold faces going into the room with with his casket and a line of people hurrying out sniffling and shaking their heads. Why do we take turns to stare at what we've lost? That is all I could wonder. My mother asked me to bring these flowers from her garden. I don't even recall where I placed them. The table itself was enough to make me break down. A plate of his favorite foods, grown cold. A small memory box with pages filled out by those who saw him before me. Some of his old belongings. Trading cards, his zip up sweatshirt, an old Spongebob Squarepants wallet, pictures of he and his parents and two sisters. It was sad to me to see how the table of his belongings only showed just how truly young he was. A few steps more, past the partition wall were more pictures on large posters of our young lost friend and his body. Were we to expect closure from seeing his body? I wasn't sure. I was too busy crying.

My sister Jenne was very close to Jeffery. She was his unreachable, beautiful girl next door. He's always admired and loved her and watching her grieve for him was almost too much for me. My father held Jenne and urged her to see Jeffy one last time. My father on one side, Christine on the other, they practically carried Jenne to his casket to say "Goodbye." I stood off to the side, staring at the ground. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Beside his casket, I hadn't noticed until much later, his parents and his other sister sat. Everyone surrounded Jenne as she cried for her dear friend. The boy who always found her beautiful. Who always found her amazing. Jeffy looked strange. Unreal. He didn't look like himself. But who else could it be? All I could think was that he'd be embarrassed to be laying there like that, with his hair fashioned in such a strange way, in a suit he didn't pick, make up on his young face... All I could think about was how he would've hated how he looked. And I felt angry with myself for considering this. I stood to the side and cried, feeling alone. I think Blake held me. I sobbed into his chest. At one point, their sister Gina touched my arm. I didn't recognize her at first through my tears. But her touch warmed me. I've never really spoken to her. She didn't grow up next door to us like Christine and little Jeff did. She even hugged me. It's strange to me that the loss of Jeffery's life is what it took for me to share such intimate moments with people I consider near strangers.

Everyone was crying. Those who weren't crying looked nothing but lost and distant. I can't remember much after that. We sat on a couch for a while. Quietly crying. Speaking of memories with Jeffy. Sometime after was when Christine led a small group of us to the spot where they would bury Jeffery. When we approached the gravesite, all I could do was stare at the dates and names on the stones all around me. Lives so long. Souls so old. Maybe he'd find that comforting. Blake held my hand on the way there. When I wasn't sobbing into his chest, Blake spent most of the viewing wandering the graveyard with Hiro. We trailed behind Christine and a handful of others towards Jeff's new home. When we arrived, all I could think was that Jeff would think this is a cool place to hang out if he were still here. He had a strange sense of humor, that kid. He would've really liked to just sit and smoke and brood right in this spot. I couldn't help but smirk at the thought. Even in his absence, he makes me chuckle.

There is not much more to say about what happened that day. The viewing was scheduled from 3pm-4pm but I think it ran an extra hour. It was hard to tell, it seemed indecent to watch the clock. I wished very much that my big sister, Ethelyn could be there with us to mourn, to remember, to embrace each other and cherish the simple feeling of having a sibling to hold. My heart still aches deeply when I think about the loss Christine and her family has suffered. I don't even dare to venture that option in my own mind and heart. I cannot lose a sibling so soon. I will not. Losing Jeffy, who is close like a sibling has hurt this much. I cannot venture that thought. I will not.

Just before we left the memorial, we went back inside to pay our respects and say goodbye to his family. It was the first time I had actually looked at his parents. I didn't know what to say. We took the time to write on a few pages to place in his memory box. I blanked. All I could think of were the times I spent with him as a small child. So eager and hopeful. So goofy and strange. I used to baby sit him. I watched he and my kid sister play together. I pulled them on a little red wagon he liked to topple over with the other neighbor kids. Birthday parties. Trips to the park down the street. His father scared me to look at. I'm not sure what I was afraid of. I just knew I felt fear and sadness. Nervousness. They urged us to look into the small wallet on the table of his belongings. Jenne recognized the wallet to be hers from long ago. Apparently she gave it to him. Inside the wallet was a small sticker with what looked like a picture of his sister on it. Within the wallet was also another trading card-it may have been Dragon Ball if I recall correctly- and alongside was a picture of my sister Jenne. A small picture of Jenne in 7th grade as a cheerleader. Behind that was a picture of myself, my big sister and Jenne. I cried and his mother held me. Jenne broke down again. We all had to leave. It was too much. The way home felt like a blur. I don't even remember what I did after. I just needed to go. Jenne took off with her friends to reminisce. I took off with Blake and Hiro. I felt so strange and numb. And yet, the sun kept shining.

Has it really been over 2 weeks? Life is strange. Strange and sad. It feels like he's still next door. For a few days I still expected to receive a text from him around 3 am, asking questions about dreams, about girls, about friendship and pain. It is strange to me that life carries on so quickly. The river keeps flowing. And we all just float along.

I miss you, little Jeff. Wish we could've spent more time together. I'll visit you at your new home sometime, my friend. I wrote you something. I'll leave it for you, maybe with a cigarette or a drink since I think you'd like that better than flowers.

10-4-11
there is change in the air
i'm not yet ready to fly
is the wind so different from the water?
the ocean and the sky
i am neither
has anyone ever drowned
while learning to fly?
the wind on my back
waves in my face
i feel neither
there is change in the air
must i follow?
i'm not yet ready to fly
and the water, it rises
am i to drown in this mess?
the water, it rises
and before me lays the horizon
when one can neither
swim nor fly
can one simply float?
i hope
in the wind and the water you do both
in the air, in the ocean you are both
in the sky and the sea
you just float

-jackisfloating

Brief postponement

2011-09-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

This week I have an early update to let everyone know that Jacki and I will be postponing our updates until next week. Some personal situations have arisen and the blog needs to go on the back burner for a bit. I'll keep everyone posted in case anything changes.

-Miranda

This week's theme...

2011-09-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

This week's theme was suggested by Miranda's bigger half. I would've said better, but. Well. I love Miranda. And Andrew is in fact, bigger than Miranda. And while he is awesome, I don't think he's necessarily better. And...And well here's to trying to avoid awkward moments.

...

Yes anyhow. Andrew of Drawing with Andrew and more recently developed, Eating with Andrew suggested to Miranda, his darling sweetheart, that we make a list of the many things our boyfriends are good at. And if my dear Blake had a blog I would shamelessly throw links in all directions to promote it as well.

At first the suggestion was made by saying we list the top ten things our boyfriends are good at, not including "doing it."

WHAaaaaat?! Then what would our #1's be?

We're still deciding on whether or not Miranda is feeling particularly bashful.

Regardless.

There you have it. This week's list theme is:
Top Ten Things our Boyfriends are Good at!

SEX.

-jackisnotasbashful

Snacki's new listsaurus approach...

2011-09-15T04:05:00.000-07:00

So I got home at 1:30 am. And I have been working on my new listsaurus approach since then (Mind you, I spent some time between now and then making and eating some gourmet ramen). As I recall, Miranda was excited at the idea of listing her least favorite items of clothing. I spent most of today thinking hard about articles of clothing and the styles in which most normal items of clothing are worn in a fashion that irritates me. I thought of shoulder pads and leotards and sweatpants with print across the bottom and tube tops that give people quad boobs, and and....all I could thinks was, "WHY?!" Now I'm perfectly aware that I dislike many items simply because I don't understand how to wear them. I don't understand where or how on earth it's supposed to be flattering. Either way, I hope the following doesn't offend too many folks. I spent a good portion of my time working in retail locations where I had to shamefully pedal this kind of gear and at one point thought it was ok to wear it myself. Whoof.

-jackisLOLingintheDERP

If you like these things then I apologize.

2011-09-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

Since this week's list is things that we don't like, I'm sure that we'll come into conflict with at least a few of our readers! I had a difficult time with this list, it turns out that I don't dislike a lot of kinds of clothing. Even though I stick to relatively simple fashions myself, it remains that I have little opinion about what other people are wearing.

Do you like my coat hangers?

For number one, allow me to explain. If other people want to wear flip flops, then fine! But I truly hate them for myself. I think that they're intensely uncomfortable (and yes I have tried on so called "comfortable" ones, no luck) and they just bother me. Every person close to me wears them regularly and loves them. But I just can't do it.

Image found here

Now tube tops may seem like a silly thing to add, but really it seems that they're not flattering on anyone. Anyone! I believe that there are exceptions, maybe. I'm not so crazy in my opinion that I'd refuse to acknowledge if someone looked good. But really on the whole, tube tops are just bad. And please note that when I say tube top I'm not including strapless long tops!

I'm positive that my mom had at least two of these outfits.

Image found here

I am fairly certain that no one wears anything with shoulder pads anymore. Do they make tops with shoulder pads? Who knows. I do recall my mother wearing them everyday when I was younger though, and even as a small child I had an intense disliking for them. I thought they were just so silly! My mother has nice, feminine shoulders; why decide to man them up?! Maybe I'll understand someday.

This was supposed to be a photo of an offensive shirt, but they all made

me so angry that I couldn't bring myself to post one here. Enjoy this

incredibly adorable corgi puppy instead! Image found here

The last two are the only ones that I really hate and also judge people just a bit for wearing them. OK, whoever is wearing a crude or distasteful shirt I judge them a lot. I want to be honest! Why would you want to walk around with something offensive proudly displayed? Everyone has their own unsavory thoughts, but is it necessary to constantly broadcast them to everyone you pass? Bleagh. And as for the leggings as pants, I suppose I don't so much judge those people as I do feel incredibly confused over why they didn't put on real pants. I mean, if the shirt/top is long enough to cover their butts then fine, but I'm fairly certain that anything shorter than that isn't wearing the clothing correctly. Maybe? Perhaps I'm the one that is wrong!

I decided it would be too mean to find a sneaky photo of someone

wearing leggings as pants, so instead you get this kitten. Image found here

My goal is not to offend, for certain. I'd love to hear the opinions of others! What do you dislike? Do you like any of the things that I've listed? Let's hear it! :)

-Miranda

Grade School Shopping?

2011-09-12T18:22:00.001-07:00

Whoooof... Long week. Sorry for the delay! Here is my back to school stopping top 5:

I realized after I already sent the image to my email that there are a lot of typo(write-o)'s?

Errors. I guess.

The most critical moments of my back to school shopping history involved choosing the right writing utensils.... When we got to the cash wrap and mom was eyeing me suspiciously for having grabbed too many items that (GASP) weren't even on my supply list...I undoubtedly sacrificed the quality for all other items but NEVER the pens/pencils/markers!

Even though Ticonderogas were a worthy adversary... the Black Mirado warriors always won me over... ;)

So much rested on the quality of my ink and graphite. Of course the next logical step was how to contain my most treasured assets. The sheath to my swords! Now I'm not sure at what point I thought it'd be a good idea to stop buying any and all Sanrio themed items, but I truly am a little disheartened that I stopped. hahahah...sure it's a little childish, but I can't get over how cute it all is!

how did I go from
this: ...to this: ?

No matter. Their purposes were served well and they were always my favorite things to shop for. Dividers played beautifully into my obsession with constantly flipping through my binder and organizing, reorganizing and labeling all items that found their homes within the warm embrace of my trapper keeper. I had a very particular order for all subjects and loved to buy the cleanest looking dividers with the most tabs and created the labels for each plastic tab by hand. What a dork. Folders of course were always classic...as long as they didn't involve those damn boring Pee-Chee styles...........................Sorry if anyone likes those. I was never into them. I always wanted high glossy colorful action happening on my folders. Lisa Frank ruled my universe for a short period of time but I quickly realized how harassing those images actually were. Sanrio was a safer and less obnoxious bet. Plus little Asian girls are expected to get Sanrio gear...It was practically on my required supplies list.... >.> whatever. haters gonna hate.

And of course I was almost as picky with my college ruled single spaced loose leaf paper. Miranda. This is a big, "DUH." I couldn't go a year in junior high and high school without filling out an entire notebook. After 9th grade I discovered that these were the most comfortable, portable and durable bookies for me. (I clearly hadn't been introduced to the moleskine variety...but alas that was after grade school). These Comp books were my world for a good 3-4 years. I almost ran out of things that I thought were dire to place on my list...Erasers were fun but I never got that into them. My mom refused to buy any eraser that looked like a toy or food, much to my dismay.

But... Speaking of food. My lunch pail and backpack combo was pretty important. :D
Can I get another, "DUH!" preaseeee? hehhhehhh. Even though I absolutely loved carrying my little plastic lunch pails around, and drinking from the equally awesome matching thermos...They started to smell funny after a while. And boy was I forgetful. I always forgot mine at school. Doh. Anyhow. Sorry again for the delay but I've been out of school for a little while longer than I'd like to admit and deadlines escape me often. That's no good! Let's work on that :)

-jackiwantstogobacktoschool

Clothing!

2011-09-11T15:04:00.001-07:00

This was meant to go up on friday! I am sorry! Been a funny couple of days :)

Anywho, this week's list is our five least favorite types of clothing! I imagine jacki and I will share a few distastes, but for the most part I am quite curious to see her list!

-Miranda

I miss back to school shopping!

2011-09-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

I was practically pee-my-pants-excited when Jacki suggested this week's list. An absolutely brilliant idea for our saunter into autumn!

If only I had some crayons to really spruce this up.

There's just something about binders. I love them! Searching for the perfect binder at the beginning of each school year was a treasure hunt. Sometimes I wanted a fat one, sometimes thin. Some binders didn't have the clear sleeve aspect, and I needed that for personalization purposes! I occasionally wanted a binder that had the additional 'protective' clip so that the three rings wouldn't... I don't know... suddenly pop open...?

The pen aisle is still draws my attention whenever I go past it, and I have to be careful to not go into stores likes Staples or Office Max too often. I pore over the pens, wondering with open-mouthed curiosity how they write, and how bold the color of the ink will be, and if it'll be smooth and if it'll become my new favorite. I remember in junior high some company came out with new pens that had clear ink inside the body of the pen, but when you wrote the ink would become COLORED! They still sell them, actually, but I can't remember what they're called. Oh well.

M-effin erasers, mirite? (image found here, I do not own it)

Sweet, sweet Lisa Frank. I was up to my eye balls in the stuff. Pens, pencils, erasers, stationary sets, you name it. My sister and I loved us some Lisa Frank. I still light up a bit whenever I happen to see a Lisa Frank folder in the school supplies center of Target or something. Those garish, happy colors and the demented looking animals really tug on my heartstrings.

I miss the age of Sanrio and Keroppi (image found here, I do not own it)

Each year didn't see the purchase of a new pencil box, because sometimes I'd pick out one that was sturdier than others. The pencil box shown above, however, is almost identical to one that I got when I was in late elementary school. I still own it, it's in the garage. I came across it not terribly long ago. I was overjoyed to see that I managed to hang onto it all of these years. I used to be completely Keroppi'd out. I love that little frog!

Colorful dividers. Hell. yes. (image found here, I do not own it)

My new binders had to be paired with some beautiful new dividers. I remember one year I purchased a malleable clear plastic binder, and inside of it I put colorful transparent dividers. The dividers didn't have the little slip-in area for labels, but instead you'd put a page in the back of the binder and you'd write the labels there. I still have this binder as well. Part of it is held together with duct tape. I just can't seem to let go of it! I really loved the feel of the traditional dividers too, though. Writing tiny labels to slide into the primary colored goodness of the pages.

Can't wait to see Jacki's!

-Miranda

In the spirit of all things September-y...

2011-09-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well maybe not all things... but mostly school things! It has been a little while since both Miranda and I have attended school. College doesn't count. It's school but nobody takes you by the hand skipping to the nearest Office Max or Staples with dreams of which new trapper keeper you will be gifted with or how simply functional - yet totally and completely extravagant your pencil holder/sharpener and eraser set will be.

This week, we will be thinking upon the happiest school supply shopping days of our lives. List your top 5 most anticipated purchases during your grade school years of Back-to-School Shopping! From kinder to senior, we all had those particular items on each of our colorful supply lists that we looked forward to above all.

I look forward to a post from dorky little grade school Miranda. And while we all would have loved to be on the Hogwarts Express on the first of this lovely month, I encourage you to refrain from listing items such as owls or robes... ;)

jackimissesschool

My First PAX! :)

2011-08-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

Jacki here with a quick listsaurus update :) Unfortunately this will be a quick post as that my kid sister is waiting behind me to hang out. I have much to say about the great time I had so perhaps I'll go back for an edit but for now here it is:

It was great to see friends, all the cosplay was awesome and the free shirts and videogame previews were great! Battlestar Galactica was a blast and I LOVE my new swag from Sanshee (SO glad we discovered them at PAX) Can't wait for next year!

-jackisinahurry

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

2011-08-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

This week's list has me in a bit of a tough spot. Jacki and I decided that we would do our top five favorite things about PAX, which was a fantastic idea, but tomorrow my geek blog goes up and I'll be doing a full run-down of my bursting-at-the-seams-with-awesome weekend. I don't want to do double posting, but alas, a teeny tiny bit of it is going to happen.

Last week Jacki wished that I would have been more comprehensive in my post, i.e. I would have talked a bit about my favorite toys like she did. I have absolutely no qualms, holds, reservations or hesitations in saying that she was 100% correct and I truly promise that I had every intention of rectifying the situation with this week's post.

However! In light of the first paragraph of this post, I am sorry to say that I will not be adding additional information to my list. I am so incredibly sorry to disappoint. I'll be better next week, I swear! I really want to save up my PAX-memory mojo for the post that'll be going up tomorrow because I can guarantee that it'll be a lengthy one!

So now without further ado, and that introduction out of the way, I present to you my Top 5 Most Fantastic Moments of PAX 2011!

In order to assuage your feelings of remorse for my lack of supplemental information, I will provide you with a few photos of these five favorite things!

Be sure to check out my geek blog tomorrow if you want to hear all about the amazing things that happened, including a lot more information about the five things pictured here! I promise they're pretty good stories :D

-Miranda

Not sure how this one will be possible

2011-08-26T16:11:00.001-07:00

This weekend is PAX, the tremendous and amazing penny arcade expo. I am a veteran attendee, proud and pleased, whereas poor Jacki has never been before! I'm really excited for her to see all that there is to see, and participate in the fun events.

She suggested that we do a video game themed list in honor of PAX, and I posed that we do a "favorites of PAX" list! She doesn't know what to expect, and I love it all, so we'll both have a difficult time creating a top five. Wish us luck!

-Miranda

TOYS ARE AWESOME

2011-08-23T16:24:00.001-07:00

Ok. I had WAY more fun with this than I thought I would. I was excited at first but emotionally distraught over missing my sister. I didn't give myself a chance to really soak in the idea of toys and all the nostalgia it would come with. So here it is:

We decided to keep boardgames and videogames out of it, which I'm glad for since this list was hard enough to come up with as it is.

POLLY POCKETS. My sisters and I could not get enough of them. If we were good during our family outings to the navy exchange, we all got to decide on a brand new polly pocket from the store. THIS WAS MY SHIIIIIIT.
I remember we got a lot of different ones, beach houses, animal related ones that came with tiny puppy figurines to train (I don't remember what brand they were and if I could remember I'd lose my mind with joy) we had off brands of different mansions and stuff that we just mixed together and created an entire city or village or what have you. My absolute favorite was my tree house though. It made me really really want to live in a tree house one day. it had a hammock, and a trap door, cameras and a little creek...AND A WORKING SWING? yesssss. No matter what new awesome mansion or shopping center or pet shop we ended up getting, the treehouse was always my homebase. Everything about this toy has me brimming with joy and my imagination is running away with me. I used to pretend the little magenta bird sitting on top of the tree was my camera security system. YEsssssss...

MCDONALD's AMAZING WILDLIFE PLUSHIES.These toys were a big deal for me and my sisters. One, because we loved animals and making animals have amazing lives with awesome personalities. Before we got super into barbies, our little animal friends were there with their crazy adventures. Two, because my parents never let us buy happy meals...but they finally did so we could get these specific toys! We lost our cute little azn minds over these things! The best part about these little critters was that we created an entire universe, with families and drama and social lives. We just kept adding and adopting to our animal families and creating strange dynamics between each of the creatures. We used to write stories where I would illustrate in a comic book style fashion... Gosh I could go on forever about these critters. We never left the house without them, which worked out well because they were pocket sized! This was my little fella. His name was Brownie. (I think that later I got another happy meal with another koala...she was dubbed Cupcake, Brownie's girlfriend). These little toys later trickled into an obsession with TY beanie babies but let's not go there....

BARBIES were another obsession of ours. We had soooo many barbies. All kinds of accessories. The coolest part was that my mom would often just let us pick and choose from garage sales and we ended up with really ghetto but awesome set ups for our dolls. We'd create dramatic lives for them of course, with adventures and story lines that lead us all around the house and sometimes into the yard (weather permitting). My favorite toy of all my barbies though, was the only toy I ever threw a legitimate tantrum for in a store. My mom was LIVID.....she fooled me into thinking it would never ever happen since I cried in the store for it. BUT...Low and behold, the toy of my 7-8 yr old dreams appeared on my birthday (thanks mom! ;D). I've searched high and low for the correct image of the horse she got me...I'm not sure if it was Tawny or not and honestly I can't even remember what I named her myself. I was just so enamored by her beauty. I literally combed her hair all of the time. I didn't even comb my barbie's hair. Just the horse. hahaha. Of course she couldn't walk on her own for very long like the commercials boasted, and she certainly couldn't trot or hop over fences. Barbie wasn't even able to properly sit on her without them both toppling over. I didn't care. She was mine! I'm certain my love for this horse trickled into my obsession with aimlessly riding Epona when I started playing Ocarina of Time later in life ;)

PLAYDOH. Playdoh. playdoh. PLAYDOH. How can anyone not like this stuff? I used to eat it, I loved it so much. Hahah well, no I didn't EAT it, eat it. I merely tasted it out of curiosity and sometimes the food creations I made out of it just seemed so convincing. I am so thrilled that I was able to find an image online of the exact toy my mom got for us when I was 6. I LOVED this thing. My mom has an adorable video of me, my sisters and my cousins all playing with this stuff and gosh it makes me miss it so much.

And finally, POKEMON CARDS. This one I was hesitant to add to the list cause I wasn't sure if it counted as a boardgame or a toy....I'm just going to go ahead and call it a hybrid. It is everything and anything I ever wanted. Hahahahah. Collecting the cards was a blast, battling was always epic, drawing them and imagining and trading...all of it! :D I wish it were still socially acceptable for me to carry them around and show them off and battle. hahahaha. <3 I'll have to look for where my sisters and I kept our collection...We even had fun japanese versions on some of the pages. And our holographic cards were so awesome! Argh!!! I must look for them 8)

Anyhow. This list theme was VERY FUN. I encourage anyone else to think of their favorite toys from their childhood and maybe look for images of it online to see if their memory of it is still fresh. and just for funzies, I wanted to list a few runners up:

1. POGS
2. Creepy Crawlers
3. Sky Dancer Fairies!!!

I was so stoked to find a picture of the exact Sky Dancer my mom bought me! I used to take her outside and see if I could get her stuck in the trees. Kind of dumb, but hey kids are kind of dumb sometimes. <3

My mom refused to buy me POGS and creepy crawlers (they were boy toys...harumph). But boy was I stoked when I got my own Sky Dancer Fairy. That bitch was awesome. Hahahahah. And with that, I bid you all good day.

-Jackisrollinginthenostalgia

Favorite toys! I just have so many.

2011-08-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

So this list wasn't easy.

Many items popped into my head, it's insane how many toys children have. There were tons that I loved, that I remember being completely enamored with. I attempted to pick the ones that I played with longest and wow, I really enjoyed playing with dolls.

We'll have to do another list for board games and video games. It wasn't easy to exclude those items from this list, but I knew that I had to!

Nothing too flashy, but it gets the job done.

For number five I almost put Puppy Surprise, the dog stuffed animal that had a velcro pouch in its belly that held anywhere from three to five tiny puppies. I also had Kitty Surprise, and probably even a bear one. I remember bringing it to school in second grade and playing with it at recess. I loooooooved it. But then I remembered Skip-it, and how amazingly fun it was and how devastated I was on that fateful day that I left mine in the park and someone took it. Still makes me feel choked up.

I wish I could find a photo of the genie dolls, but I can't seem to find them online anywhere. I forget what they were called exactly, but they were tiny dolls that had a bunch of accessories and they fit inside of lamps. The lamps would open up hinge style and you could set up the room. I had a whole bunch of them and they were awesome.

Just a final note: I absolutely regret getting rid of my Barbies. I had school teacher, doctor, vet, and I miss them so much D:

-Miranda

EDIT!!

After additional research encouraged by Jacki, I managed to find the name of the genie dolls and even some photos!

I had all four dolls AND the magic carpet!

My Magic Genie was awesome. Once I got into junior high I stopped playing with them, but I kept them in my room alongside my Garfield books and my nail polish collection.

Just for fun, here's a runner-up toy:

Pretty flower princess!!

I only had one Princess of the Flower doll, but I thought it was so awesome. I'd open it and close it over and over again with the provided toy key. And here's a fun fact; Fun Dip was my favorite candy when I was little and I liked to use the key to scoop up the powder because I didn't like the white sugar sticks. Children are weird.

Yet another impromptu list by Jacki

2011-08-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

I am excited to list my top 5 favorite toys in elementary school, but that just makes me think about who I shared those toys with in my youth. My sisters. Specifically in my thoughts today, is my big sister, Ethelyn. She left for Korea this morning and she is to be gone for a year at the least, with potential for a longer contract depending on how her first year goes. While this is an amazing opportunity for her and I am thrilled for this turn in her life, I am also losing my mind with loneliness and throwing little mini tantrums by myself. I miss my big sister :(. So. Much.

When I told her about our Listsaurus blog, she sort of laughed and called me a dork. But she was also pretty into listing things herself when topics of interest were brought up. When Miranda and I were brainstorming, Ethelyn's first suggestion to me was:

top 5 favorite things about ETHELYN. (i'm shocked. what a goober) And even though I made fun of her, well, I'm such an emotional wreck right now that it's all I can think about. So why not post about it? Here are my Top 5 Favorite things about my big sister, Ethelyn.

What a dork she is. The dorkiest I've ever met, and I love her dearly for it. She always has been. Always will be.

What's with her love for guys like Jesse Eisenberg and Matt Bellamy? Hell if I'll ever figure it out. But hey, maybe guys like that like to hang out in Korea. ;)

I love spending time with her next to my mom. They have the same silly mannerisms and smiley eyes. When I hug my mom I feel like I can just close my eyes and rest for a while and nothing else matters. Oddly enough, when I hug Ethelyn it feels almost exactly the same.

I've never fought with anyone more than I have with Ethelyn, but she's always trying to improve. She's always willing to deal with my headstrong, battering ram approach. She always calms me down even after she's the one who has riled me up to begin with. Sometimes she's fucking awful at it. Sometimes I'm fucking awful at it. But moments after she has stared emotionless at me and shrugged with indifference and I've screamed and thrown things and tried to break down the walls around her, we're hugging and smiling and laughing. Whatta pain-in-the-ass-Libra. Whatta-stubborn-jack-ass-Aries. <3

And when it's all said and done, I have a handful of my very best friends. Talking with Miranda is like talking to myself. It's odd, but I've tried explaining this to a few people and it's the only way I can seem to break it down. I talk to her in the same voice I use to talk to myself, with the same voice I hear in my head. It's like she's my brainwave buddy and the best one anyone could every hope for. But even I tend to put my brave face on for her. Because, well, I can't very well lie and say I've never pretended I was brave to myself. I have to fool myself into feeling that way sometimes. And if talking to her is like talking to myself, it's kind of hard to avoid lol.

With Blake, it's like he's my lover and my friend but he's the most different of anyone I've ever tried being friends/in love with. To some degree I can break down to both he and Miranda. I can cry and thrash and scream and be upset to them both, they've both seen that side of me. But it's like even then I'm doing something different. I'm trying to rationalize and calm down and be strong even if I'm breaking down.

With my little sister Jenne, it's a strange dynamic where I feel like she's one of my favorite people to talk to ever, but I always feel a little on guard or on edge. Something inside me still feels like I've got something to prove. Like, I'm the big sister, keep it together. Something to have to show for myself. A brave face I still have to put on. In some ways, I feel like I've got to do this with Miranda, Jenne and Blake.

But with Ethelyn. She's seen me at my worst. My most scared. My most infantile. Most tragic and pathetic. At some points Miranda and Jenne and Blake have seen bits of this, but with Ethelyn, it's like I feel OK doing that. I feel like that's where it belongs. She's the one I can really truly act like a big blubbering baby to. I've literally known her all of my life and she's seen it all. I can't seem to hide anything from her, and the fact is, I don't feel like I have to. I hide shit from myself all of the time, and everyone around me. But I can let all my ugliness and sadness out with her. I don't have to play brave. I can just be her goofy whiny little sister. And sometimes that's all I need in my day to make it better.

Sorry this post got so serious. I've been having a hard few months and she's been the solid point through this summer. Having her leave for another country so soon after Miranda moved away has been really hard. Miranda, you are welcome to post a response about Ethelyn (which I'm sure she'd be all about :P) OR you can share a post about YOUR big sister... Since I know you're lucky enough to have one of those shining stars in your life.

-Jackisablubberingbabyrightnow

After much brainstorming...

2011-08-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

...we have decided that this week's list is five favorite toys when we were in elementary school!

There were many discussions trying to decide how to make this specific enough to have to think hard about it. We talked about board games, and then dolls, and specific age brackets. After much back and forth we decided that toys (not including board games) from elementary school would be enough of a challenge.

I can think of a few right now, and it'll be super fun to write up a quick list of all the toys that I can remember and then pair it down from there.

Does anyone remember 'Melanie's Mall'? I do!

I have a sneaking suspicion that this'll be on my top ten! I loved the crap out of those little dolls. I even had the escalator piece that took about four C cell batteries. It almost never worked because my mom never had C cell batteries in the house because, well, why would she?

-Miranda

Disney animated classics top 5 - Miranda edition!

2011-08-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking about this for a few days now. It was much harder than I anticipated being! There are so many amazing Disney films, I just started listing ones that I enjoyed. There are a few left off of this list that have a spot in my top ten for sure. Here we go!

Jacki I knew your number one would be Beauty and the Beast, and you were spot on with my number one! :D

I was *this close* to adding The Rescuers Down Under (I didn't realize it was one of your favorites too!) as well as Lion King. They were both beat out by Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood though.

What a great first round of listing! Time to pick next week's. Stay tuned Listsaurusous! That's the name I just came up with for our fans. We'll see if it sticks.

-MirandaiscopyingJackilikeshealwaysdoes<3

p.s. I also forgot 'the' in 'the little mermaid' =O

Jacki's Disney Cartoon Classics Top 5 List!

2011-08-15T03:06:00.000-07:00

Miranda has been MIA, as that she is spending time with her man and family :) I hope you've had a great time friend! I, however, have mostly been working and moping so I got a head start on my Disney list and thought tonight would be a good night to post it. Aaaand...drum roll pleaaaase......... SO!!! Does the list contain the movies you thought it might? hehhhehh...

I'm going to go ahead and take wild guesses as to what might be on your list, just for fun. Here is my guess for Miranda's list:

1. The Little Mermaid - she LOVES sealife!! :D
2. um... Alice in Wonderland?
3. Aristocats..? I have no idea actually, I just said so cause I wanted it on my list and she loves cats.
4. The Rescuers Down Under....again, because I wanted it on my list.
5. The Lion King..? again, related to cats. Big ones.

I hope I got at least two right. hahaha. Can't wait to see your list :D

-Jackisawaresheforgot"the"in"thelittlemermaid"

Impromptu reply!

2011-08-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Here is my list of my favorite shades of green! Styling shamelessly stolen (or at least attempted to be stolen) from Jacki's list of blues. I had to look these up to find their names. Usually I just point to a green and go, 'Oh I really like that color!' So I hope that my dedication to the project is recognized here. I truly went above and beyond.

Also, my favorite shade of blue is cerulean. Just a fun fact for you all!

Disney classics list teaser...

2011-08-12T14:38:00.001-07:00

Mirandaaaaa...the little black sketch pad in the pic is my official "Listsaurus" bookie. Belle & Beast are just providing useful and welcomed inspiration. Hehhehh... I'm going to go for a run then perhaps afterwards you will be back home from the airport.

I think I'll also use the notepad available on my iPhone in case an impromptu list tickles my brain and I just HAVE to show you (and Listsaurus bookie is not immediately available). For example....I'm waiting in line at the grocery store and I am struck with list inspiration. Wouldn't it be fun to log on and notice a quick list uploaded to make you laugh? To kick off that mini idea, here is a quick list to make you smile :D These are just a few shades of blue I happen to really love....There are so many more to choose from! Do you have various shades of green that you prefer over others? What fun names do they have? The weird names people come up with for colors...hahah anyhow, I'm off to run now. I hope you enjoyed this post, friend.

Jackisnowthinkingtoohardaboutthecolorblue

Excellent addendum.

2011-08-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

It looks as though we'll be doing volley replies via posts! I like this idea, as it includes our audience and leaves surprises for one another. That's a win-win, which everyone loves. Also I just figured out that I can add Jacki as an author on this blog, so her posts will be published by her login, not mine. This is the best day ever!

Now to continue with my point. I believe that restricting this week's list to Disney classics only is an excellent idea. Perhaps we'll do a Pixar one later! I haven't started writing mine yet (I'm surprised that you've started already!) but I've been thinking about it a lot! Are we restricting ourselves to only animated, or are we including live action as well? I thought I had picked such a simple topic!

-Miranda

Jack Attack's first post!

2011-08-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

Jacki here. I was told to make a blog post when I came home from work. I didn't want to disappoint.

Mirandafriend! I propose a few stipulations to our Disney-list. Let's keep it non-Pixar (as that Disney-Pixar films could be a whole new list in and of itself!) and might I suggest that we keep it to a Disney classics theme? I've already started on my list. I don't have much else to add to this. I am so interested to see which of our movies will match up. I'm almost certain I know which will be your number 1. I bet you can guess mine :].

P.S.
Mine is colorful! I'm excited to see yours. Are we allowed to post ahead of schedule? hm.

-Jackisgettingartsywithherlist

The origination.

2011-08-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

Miranda here, doing my best to set this blog off on the right foot! Jacki and I will be doing some aesthetic tweaking here and there, but I think we've pretty much got it set. To get the ball rolling I am going to suggest the oh-so-original list topic of top five favorite Disney movies!

Jacki and I are pretty sure that our schedule will be as follows: each Friday we will alternate posting list ideas, and then the following Wednesday we will both post our responses. We will intersperse the lists with general writing topics in order to keep things interesting and varied. I'm sure that if either of us has something spectacularly enthralling to share then we'll pop in and make a new entry.

The blog is new and so I'm jump starting things by a day. Next week we'll have it all squared away and on a regular schedule. Until then!

-Miranda