May MUNSTER Madness

This post will give you a little insight into how my brain works. Last week I was brainstorming some blog ideas for this monster blog hop. My mind kept saying that word over and over again: monster, monster, monster, monster, monster. Until it turned into the word: munster, munster, munster, munster, munster.

The Munsters! They're a fun monster family. I wonder what they're up to these days.

So I Googled them and discovered they actually have an official website. Then I saw that you can book Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster) for events, and I thought that would be great for a Halloween party.

www.munsters.com

Then I thought about that time in the 90s when Ben Stiller had his own sketch comedy show for a hot minute and one of the first episodes had a sketch where he played a grown up Eddie Munster who was pissed that his show got canceled. Remember that? Anyone? No? I was the only one watching The Ben Stiller Show? Well lucky for you I found the clip. Actually it's the full first episode, so you have to scroll to 4:40 for the Eddie Munster sketch. Click here to watch.

Okay, so it wasn't as funny as I remembered. But it's pretty funny to watch the rest of the show. I think Ben Stiller has since gotten his teeth fixed. I also don't remember all those other actors on the show--Janeane Garafalo, Andy Dick, Bob Odenkirk. That's the best part! God, I miss the 90s. Anyway, who knew you could start with "Monster" and end with "Ben Stiller's comedy show that got canceled after like 12 episodes."

More Monster Madness blogs below!

House of Monsters

Creepy L.A. just posted this link today on Facebook. How cute is this? A monster stop motion short film. Let's donate!



Remember to check out these other monster bloggers:

May Monster Mother's Day Madness

We have monster fangs. Rawwwrrrrr!

I spent a lovely day with my mom on this Mother's Day. At dinner tonight we were talking about monsters (she's the one who inspired my love for Halloween), and I asked her to name her favorite monster mom. She said Morticia Addams, followed by Lily Munster. Then it occurred to us that we couldn't really think of any other monster moms. If you can think of others, please tell us in a comment. We were seriously racking our brains. Of course, part of the issue is defining monster moms. I would accept any mom that's spooky or supernatural. Also, don't Google "Monster Moms." It just gives you a list of stories of real life awful moms.

Don't forget to check out these other awesome blogs!

May Monster Madness!

I'm stoked for the May Monster Madness blog hop! In case you haven't heard, it's a week-long blogging extravaganza with a monsters theme. Lots of awesome bloggers will be taking part so check them out. I just hope I have a enough material to cover a week's worth of monster posts. I'm up for the challenge.

As you know, I love, love, love Halloween. The timing of this is great because I keep meaning to write a post about my recent revelation that I can enjoy Halloween type stuff throughout the year. Why wait till October? My list of stuff to do includes: take a tour of Hollywood Forever Cemetery, sign up for a Dearly Departed tour, attend ScareLA in August and organize a spooky movie night (but not too spooky).

Have I done any of these things yet? No. But I will eventually! I love the idea of doing this stuff in the summer instead of trying to cram it all into October. Putting together a costume and scouting around for epic Halloween parties is enough work to fill an entire month. I will keep you posted on my Summer of Halloween adventures. In the meantime, check back all week for Monster posts. OoooOOoooOOOOoOOooooohhhhhh! (thats me being spooky)

Sincerely,

 

NOTE: If you like this digital print, please don't steal it. I bought it from Hope Photo Art, and she has many amazing prints for sale. Check out her Etsy store and support your fellow artists.

And remember to check out all the other May Monster Madness bloggers!

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Sammy and I went on a very blustery walk today.

On our walk, we came across this lovely lemon tree.

We saw this lemon in the middle of the sidewalk that must have fallen from the tree. I immediately started thinking of that old adage. When life gives you lemons...

But before I could finish my thought Sam pissed on the lemon. I wish I had a picture of it. I couldn't help but smile because, let's be honest, sometimes you're tired of making the damn lemonade. Sometimes you just want to piss on life's lemons.

A little further down we found a condom in the middle of the sidewalk. 

I don't think there's a saying for when life gives you condoms, but you're welcome to come up with your own. Or maybe it could be mixed in with the lemon mantra.

Don't forget to tune in May 11th for May Monster Madness!

Gratitude Wrap-up and Halloween Talk

Today is the last day of April! Wowsa. That went by fast. I survived a whole month dedicated to gratitude, and here are my final thoughts:

- Sometimes being grateful is exhausting. It often felt like a lot of work to force myself to make a gratitude list each day. It's starting to get easier though. It's slowly becoming more of a habit. I'd like to see how I feel in six months or a year from now if I keep up the gratitude habit. Isn't it sad how easy it is to forget about the awesomeness in our lives?

- As I said in my last post, I struggle to connect how the gratitude habit can help someone going through a real tragedy. Oddly enough, the marathon bombings happened the next day. So devastating for so many people. I definitely found myself more grateful for my life and my legs and arms and the ability to run and jump and dance and enjoy life. Then I immediately felt guilty. It just seems wrong to be grateful in light of someone else's misfortune or tragedy. I don't know. This one is still a toughie for me.

- I think the biggest change for me is that I'm better able to look for the good in a negative situation. When I'm feeling super angry or stressed about something, I'm able to step back and ask, "What's good about this situation? What can I be grateful for?" NOTE: This doesn't happen every time. Sometimes I just stay pissed. But I'm getting better at asking myself these questions.

There you have it, folks. I hope April was a month filled with gratitude for you. It was fun getting emails/texts/phone calls from friends and family telling me about how gratitude has affected their own lives. Let's stick with it!

Speaking of things I'm grateful for, I found another opportunity to blog about Halloween (as if I needed a reason). I'll be joining my fellow Halloween bloggers for May Monster Madness. It's a week-long blog hop in May dedicated to monsters. MwuuUuuaaaHHhhaAAHAaaa. I have some ideas up my sleeve, but if you have any monster topics you want to hear about, let me know.  

Also, we have six months until Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!

April Gratitude Project - Week 2

I'm grateful the front lawn outside my apt is starting to look pretty.

I am now two weeks into this month of gratitude, and I have to say, I think it is having a very positive effect on my mood. I find myself feeling more joyful. More and more I find myself in a state of gratitude without having to force myself to think of stuff. It's becoming more natural. All in all, it's a pretty cool exercise. And it's so simple. You just have to think of things you're grateful for and write them down. It really doesn't require much time or energy.

I was going to write a whole post about ideas that will help cultivate an attitude of gratitude, but it started sounding like those stupid articles with titles like "10 Ways To Fall Asleep" or "How To Have More Energy." You know the ones I'm talking about. They have a catchy title, but then you read it and quickly realize it's all bullshit you've heard before like "listen to soothing music"  or "eat nuts" and you wonder how it's possible for the same articles to get recycled over and over again every year.

So instead of writing a whole post about it, I figured I'd just summarize some easy ways to help you feel grateful. It's nothing new. Just some good reminders. You can: 

-Tell your loved ones you're grateful for them via email/letter/card/text/chat or in person.

-Put gratitude reminders up around your house--inspirational sayings and what not.

-Write a Yelp review for a business that gives you amazing customer service.

-If you're into photography, take a picture of the things you're grateful for each day.

-When a crappy situation occurs, try to look for the good in it.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but it's pretty amazing how much lighter I feel after these two weeks. I had a situation last weekend where I locked myself out of my apartment early in the morning and didn't have my phone with me and had to borrow a neighbor's phone and call the locksmith, blah blah blah. It was crappy, and while I was waiting for the locksmith I was starting to get really angry at the situation. It was already ruining my whole day and the day had barely begun. So I started focusing on the good things in the situation: glad my neighbor was awake and loaned me her phone, glad this didn't happen when I got home late the night before, glad there's a number posted out front so I knew who to call, etc etc. I literally felt my mood shift from frustration to contentment within a matter of seconds. I've never experienced that before. I find myself ruminating less and gratitude-ing more. It's bizarre and awesome.

My only struggle is figuring out how all this could apply to a real tragedy. I think of the Sandy Hook shootings and I can't imagine ever suggesting those parents try to live a life of gratitude. Do you know what I mean? It's such a terrible, terrible loss. I just can't fathom finding any good in the world after that, other than maybe being grateful for the love and support of family and friends. I don't know. I've been wrestling with this all week. 

If you've been practicing gratitude this month, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Let me know how it's going or if you've learned anything new about yourself.