You may have heard that Doug Fieger, singer and songwriter for THE KNACK, died Feb. 14 at age 57 at his home in Woodland Hills, CA of lung cancer.  Even if you weren’t around in 1979 you’re probably familiar with the monster #1 ditty Fieger sang and wrote called “My Sharona.” Yeah, I don’t know what it means either, but it was a cool song.

So what does this have to do with skin cancer? Well, I recently had a bit of skin cancer removed from my lower abdomen. A little growth that has been there for FOUR YEARS! because instead of going to a dermatologist as I should have, I asked my gynecologist about it. I mean, I figured since it was C-section adjacent, he was the doc to see, right?  WRONG! My GYN said it was nothing. Well, guess what? It was something! And lucky for me, it was only a basal cell carcinoma which is a slow-growing, easy to cut off cancer that doesn’t get into your system and not a melanoma which can kill you and which recently ended the life of a good friend of my brother RICHARD. The young man was only 29.

Winona Ryder for skin cancer awareness

I know, you’re still wondering what this has to do with The Knack. Well, since Feiger died of cancer and I had Basal Cell Carcinoma which rhymes with My Sharona, well… naturally, I had to retool the lyrics to the Knack’s classic song to get across my point to…

CHECK YOUR SKIN REGULARLY FOR ANY ABNORMALITIES!

Or better yet, have a dermatologist take a look. If like me you grew up in the sun worshipping era where one used Coppertone instead of Banana Boat, it’s important that you know that sun damage is cumulative. And what you did to your skin as a kid can come back with a vengeance in adulthood.

So… to help encourage you to check your skin… and as an homage to Doug Fieger who wrote a really cool song and who passed at way too young an age… may I present…

BASAL CELL CARCINOMA

(sung to the tune of MY SHARONA)

Ooh my little ugly one, ugly one.
You creepy li’l basal cell carcinoma
Ooh you best go on the run, too much sun,
Gonna be comin’ off carcinoma
Never gonna stop, cut you off
Such unhealthy thing.. Always lop you off, sew it up
So I’m clean again. My my my i yi woo. B-B-Basal Cell Carcinoma

 
When you getting too much sun, too much sun
Just a matter of time for a carcinoma
Is it destiny, or a lack of the sunny screen
Really glad it wasn’t a melanoma
Never gonna stop, cut you off
Such unhealthy thing.. Always lop you off, sew it up
So I’m clean again. My my my i yi woo. B-B-Basal Cell Carcinoma

And if the brilliance of my Weird Al-esque turn or Winona Ryder in the near buff doesn’t send you running to the dermatologist, think of your kids. I know that will do it.

For more info on skin cancer, check out the following websites.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/skin-cancer/DS00190/DSECTION=symptoms

www.CancerResearch.org 

As legend has it, every February a little groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil peeks his little furry head out of his hole and determines if spring is coming early or if we get another 6 weeks of winter.

Now I don’t exactly recall HOW he tells this. It’s to do with his shadow. But I can never keep straight if the appearance of his shadow means early spring or more winter.  In any case, it doesn’t matter. Because that little rodent is almost always WRONG!

Know what’s not wrong? My toes. More specifically, my shaved toes.

Uh-huh. You read that right. The first day after a long winter that my furry toes feel the need to emerge from the deep recesses of my close-toed shoes and I shave them to make them presentable to the world is the true harbinger that spring is just around the corner.  And I’ll tell you why…(after I explain how I am half-Italian and, yes, have a few dark sproutlings here and there which I cannot help and if you’re of the tow-headed ilk thus rendering your body hair practically invisible, well, la-dee-dah and goodie for you!) 

Anyway… I am a very sensitive creature, highly in tune to my surroundings. Randy the perfekt husband calls me a “delicate flower” (not necessarily in the loving way that the selection of words might imply – but that’s for another post about sarcasm in marriage and how to blow it off). 

I have mentioned before on this very website how I am able to detect the slightest shift of the sun and the most subtle changes in sound quality that signal the onset of Fall. Even while other people are still in their bikinis and board shorts, I’m getting out the sweaters and Uggs. And I’m always right.

Well, these talents are evident even as winter turns to spring, but in a slightly different way. Because a day comes where something deep within me stirs. Actually the feeling comes from deep within my fleece-lined shoes. The ones that, along with thick wool socks, have covered my feet daily throughout the winter months. The stirring is a longing- a longing from my toes to be freed from enclosure, from a dormancy and darkness that are akin to hibernation. And so, I step into the shower. And after I shave my armpits and legs, I move, for the first time in months, to my toes. 

Now, as I have no built-in bench in my shower nor the ability to lean against one wall while propping my leg up against the other wall because the shower is too big –  this is no small feat (no pun intended). But I do it. Because, good grooming is essential and my feet say it’s time. Time to break out the sandals, to slip on the flip flops, to let my toes hang out baby!

And so I run my Lady Bic across the tops of my toes and deftly remove the two or three barely noticable (except to me and that woman I can’t understand at the the nail place) hairs from the tops of my big toes. And my toes are ready to announce to the world that spring is here! Well, if they could talk they would. (Actually, if they could talk they’d probably bitch about how disgusting the ground is - but they can’t have it all, can they? Freedom AND hygiene both. No siree.)

My point is… My toes have NEVER BEEN WRONG. Once I begin the shaving, I don’t stop again until fall when nature’s cycle begins yet again.

It’s lovely actually, when you think of it. Nature’s little toe cycle. So pure. So real. Sheryl Crow should write a song about it. I mean, I’d fork over the 99 cents to download it off iTunes.

FYI. For you Southern Californians, spring is here as of three days ago. For those of you still buried beneath of blanket of snow, hang in there, according to my toes, spring is just around the corner. You’re welcome.

I know this has been around a while. But as with many things in life, I am the last to know. In case you’re like me and you missed the first go around…. check out this absolutely brilliant video palindrome.

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward. Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite.

This 1 minute, 44 second video was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old. The contest was titled “u @ 50″ by AARP. This video won second place.

Wow, huh? First place must have been awesome!

Kudos to the parents who raised this young person. You should be proud not only for the brilliance of their mind, but also for the sentiment in their soul.

Well, the party took place last Saturday. I haven’t posted since then because it has taken me that long to recuperate from the weekend. But in my defense, we had out-of-town guests and the partying went on through Sunday as it was my birthday that day.

We’ll start with the decorations. Our garage was turned into the Grand Hall of Hogwarts. I don’t know how “grand” it was given its low ceiling. But it did look cool. Thanks to hours of help from fellow MAMMAKAZES – Zadrina and Angelica. Thank you both so much. I couldn’t have done it without you. Plus you made me help Randy the Perfekt husband realize that I’m not the only mom who gets into these things.

We set up 4 tables, one for each house and hung house flags over them. We used fishing line so that the flags looked like they were magically hanging. We did the same for the candles (thanks Z for figuring that out). We hung white Christmas lights for ambiance.

Upon entering through red curtains we used to separate the house area from the garage, the kids were met with the Ollivanders table. This is where they selected their wands… or rather, their wands selected them.

Notice the dry ice in the cauldron. Nice touch Uncle John. Also, I downloaded a photo of The Fat Lady and framed her in one of my frames.

I bought the cake from Costco (an excellent cake for the price) and had the edible art made at a local cake shop from a picture I had of Julia as Hermione at Halloween. I added the words on my computer.

In addition to keeping their wands and the prizes they won from the Cauldron of prizes, the kids also got goodie bags filled with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, the Hogwarts School of Magic Pens and Harry Potter stickers.

Also, though it’s not visible in these pictures, we had a sound system set up in one corner for music and microphones. You need a mike when trying to talk above 25 kids and countless adults! And the front of the hall had a white screen upon which was projected Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Julia’s favorite of the films). And we also used it for the game of Harry Potter Scene It, which was one of the competitions between the houses.

CONTINUE TO NEXT POST FOR THE COSTUME PICS!

Well, I have to say I was totally touched by how all-out the adults got into character and the spirit of the Harry Potter Books.  Thank you guys. You are wonderful, wonderful friends. You made the day extra magical and I love you all.

Following are some pictures. Other than Julia, I am not posting pictures of the other children (although there were 25 in attendance). This is for privacy reasons. Cuz believe it or not, not everyone is driven to plaster photos of their private lives across the internet.  Go figure.

What is Hogwarts without the professors?

My bro John as Severus Snape. Me as Prof. Sybil Trelawney. Randy the perfekt husband as Sirius Black (post Azkaban). Jennie as Professor Delores Umbridge. Jennie’s mom Sue as Mrs. Molly Weasley.  Mark H. as Hagrid. Zadrina E. as Prof. Minerva McGonagall. Notice the screen in the b.g. for the movie and Scene-It.

Cheri W. as Luna Lovegood. Cathy H. as Prof. Quirrell. Umbridge. Wayne W. as Albus Dumbeldore. McGonagall. Hagrid.

Randy the perfekt Husband as Sirius Black. Me as Prof. Trelawney. And B-Day girl Julia as Hermione Granger.

Hermione and Severus Snape

Blowing out the candles on age 7. Bringing in age 8. Where did the time go?

Two more days until the Harry Potter party. And now my main concern is if I have enough stuff to do to keep all those kids occupied for 2 1/2 hours.

We have things planned, natch. We’ll start with a banquet feast that includes mini tacos (Julia’s not into treacle) and the Harry Potter theme as background music. Then the presentation of the wands. Then there’s Silly Divinations during which I, dressed as Trelawney, will be reading the future of each of the kids. Julia and I had a ball coming up with the most ridiculous futures. They’re printed on parchment in Harry Potter font. Then a game of Pass the Basilisk, ala hot potato. When the music stops, whoever has the Basilisk is petrified and OUT! A game of Harry Potter Scene It projected on the castle wall – the kids will divide up in 4 teams and we’ll make sure each team has a Potter expert, as not all kids are as well versed in Potter as a certain handful I know.

Finally,  there’s the Yule Ball Petrificus Totalus Dance. Snape (my brother John in costume and character) will oversee this. It’s like a freeze dance, only when the music stops, he will pertify them and those still moving will be out. The kids LOVE the freeze dance and we do a thematically appropriate version at every party.

I will have a cauldron of prizes and we always make sure that every kid wins a prize.

We might throw in a dementor attack or two. Just to give us an excuse to eat chocolate. Not that I need any.

Here are some more homemade decorations. I’m doing the actual decorating tomorrow and will post photos of the finished product then.

Every Grand Hall must have house flags. I’m hanging 4 over each of 4 tables representing each of the Houses of Hogwarts.  And also the Hogwarts Crest which will hang at the front of the Hall (aka my garage).  Made with felt and photos of the crests.

We also did an Ollivanders sign to hang up over the basket of wands. Just for ambiance.

More in coming days. Wish me luck!