Whimsieville

Sep 29 2013

DO YOU LIKE MY HAT?

tillredwinter tillwinter2 Since this was my idea, Tessie and Trixie insisted I go first. The hat I chose to premiere our new website feature is a winter woolen in my favorite color…red!!

I love the ear flaps and ties, so you can pull everything tight, for snuggliness, when needed in cold weather…or, you can leave the flaps hanging, for a more fashionable look.

Yes, I know it’s only September and not nearly cold enough yet for a hat like this, but I LOVE Winter, so I’m looking forward to being able to wear this hat in a couple of months from now. What do you think?

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Categories: Do You Like My Hat?, Weather & Seasons

Sep 28 2013

GO, DOG, GO

By Tessie 0 comments (comments closed)

tessieglasses godog Jeez! I can’t believe I’m writing something with the title Go, Dog, Go! But Tillie convinced me and and Trixie to read this book, so here we are. I wasn’t really on board with this idea at first, but when I saw that it was a picture book for CHILDREN, and there weren’t any REAL dogs in the book, I decided maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

Since this is a book for children, it’s sort of silly, with sayings like “The blue dog is in. The red dog is out.” Of course dogs are not red and blue, so that makes it even sillier. I wasn’t really frightened of the dogs in this book at all.

Well…except for two parts.

godogawake First, towards the end of the book, all the dogs go to bed in this HUGE bed. I’ve never seen a bed that big before! And near one end of the bed, there’s this one little dog who’s not sleeping. His eyes are wide open and…and I’m not really sure, but I think he looks…afraid. I don’t like to think of what a dog might have to be afraid of. Maybe wolves? Maybe he’s afraid if he goes to sleep the wolves will come in and get him?
That whole page is just a little creepy.

Then next, when the dogs wake up in the morning, they jump out of bed and get in their little red cars and race to this huge tree. Why? What’s going on at the tree? Well, when they all climb up the ladder, at the top of the tree there’s this big dog party!

Now, I like a party as much as anyone else, maybe even more, but seeing all those dogs having a party did not really seem like a party to me at all. If I were to have a party, I would not be inviting any dogs. This dog party reminded me of that line in The Avengers (which we all party recently sat down and watched while The People were away for the day) when Iron Man says “I’m bringing the party to you,” and Black Widow sees the huge alien monsters coming in the sky and says, “I fail to see how this is a party.” Well, I kind of felt the same way.

I fail to see how so many dogs together in one place can be a party.

But most of the book was actually pretty fun and funny, and there was even this one bit that kept happening about a lady dog who has a different hat each time, and she keeps asking one of the other dogs if he likes her hat, and he keeps saying he doesn’t, until the very end, when she’s wearing this crazy hat with a flower pot in it, and candy canes and spiders and dog bones and fish and flags and pinwheels and all kinds of things. THEN he says he likes her hat!

Hattie Scooter reading1 This is the part of the book Tillie really liked, and she wants us to do something like this. Miss Chrissy has been buying us a lot of clothes, and she’s bought us a bunch of hats, and some of them are really cute, and some are pretty. So we’d like to show you our hats, and we’re going to call this “Do You Like My Hat?” Look for it on the side of the page, coming soon.

But in conclusion, Go, Dog, Go! was actually a pretty good book. Like I said, it’s for CHILDREN, and we can all read a lot more complicated books than this, but still, I think we all liked it. Despite the fact that it was filled with so many dogs.

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Categories: Book Reviews, Groovy Things

Sep 25 2013

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION #1: MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD, PILOT

By Chrissy 0 comments (comments closed)

Last night the Whimsies put on their footie pajammies and snuggled up with us to watch the premiere episode of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD As big fans of Comics, they have been looking forward to this for some time. I felt certain they would all have a lot ot say, and I was right. Afterwards, I heard them having a Round Table Discussion about the show. Here are a few of the highlights:

Tessie. Well! I’m so glad we finally got to see the show! Didn’t it feel like we were waiting for this forever?

Trixie. Yeah! It sure did! We’ve been waiting for this at least since we watched The Avengers, on Our People’s Blue Ray Machine. That was when I got really excited to see SHIELD

Tillie. Yeah, Trix, but you were excited because you thought THOR was going to be on the show. But like we told you, he wasn’t.

Trixie. Well, there was a commercial for his new movie. That was good enough for me!

Tessie. Yeah! And somebody made a joke about Thor, about how you know he’s a superhero because of his arms.

Trixie (giggles)

Tillie. I think it was when somebody said Thor isn’t really a god, and then someone else said, “Have you seen his arms?”

Trixie. (gasps) How could anyone accuse Thor of not being a god? Haven’t they read the Comics?

Tessie. Well, let’s not get off track. Let’s talk about the show we just saw, okay? There will be plenty of time to talk about Thor later.

Trixie. And besides, he might make a guest appearance on a future episode!

Tillie. I wouldn’t hold my breath, Trix. Thor’s going to be busy enough doing movies. But what about this show? It’s really about a whole ‘nother side of the same world all those superheroes live in. It’s like…more about the real people.

Tessie. Yeah, real people who don’t have superpowers, but who have…MAD SKILLS!!! may

Tillie. You mean the agents? Yeah, they got some skills, and some gadgets too.

Trixie. You know I’m no good with names, but I really liked the Asian girl. I liked how she fought. Those were some good skills.

Tessie. I liked the two British people. I love their accents!

Tillie. (giggling) You would! You always like those British accents!

Tessie. What about the other guy, the one with the dark hair? I thought his name was…Ward?

Tillie. What about him?

Tessie. Well, did anyone think he was…cute?

Trixie and Tillie roll their eyes.

Tessie. Well, he was! Sort of…

Trixie. I don’t know if he was. I just kind of feel like a lot of the people looked like each other. It was hard to tell them apart sometimes. I guess as the show goes on we’ll get used to them. I just wish they’d put in a girl with a different color hair. Oh…say…a girl with PINK hair!

Tillie. You’re thinking about yourself!

Trixie. I wouldn’t mind being an agent for SHIELD

Tessie. Yeah, but have you got any mad skills?

Trixie (shrugs) My braids can bend without anyone holding them up? Is that a skill?

Tessie. Sure! But not good enough for SHIELD! CLARK GREGG

Tillie. Let’s get back to the show, you guys. What did you think about Agent Coulson?

Tessie. Oh, I think he’s so cute!

Tillie. Tess, you think everybody is cute.

Tessie. Well, he is.

Tillie. I mean, what do you think about him still being alive?

Trixie. Yeah! How did that happen?

Tillie. And why did he keep talking about Tahiti, and about it being a magical place?

Tessie. Do you think he really went to Tahiti? Do you think it is a magical place?

Tillie. I don’t know what’s going on there. I mean, he certainly does still seem to be alive. I guess maybe we’ll find out more about him in the next episodes.

Trixie. I loved his car!! It flies!!!

Tessie (nods) And it’s named Lola.

Trixie. Do you think it’s weird to name your car?

Tessie. I don’t know. Miss Chrissy calls her cars “Red” and “Old Goldie.” Is that weird?

Tillie. About the show, guys….

Trixie. Well, I totally enjoyed it. It was a little hard for me to follow sometimes, but I liked the stuff I could understand. And you know what else I really liked? Seeing all those actors from those other shows we’ve watched!

Tessie. Yeah, that was Gunn!! From Angel!

Trixie. And the Shepherd! From Firefly.

Tessie. I guess we might get a lot of that in SHIELD Cos that director, Joss Whedon, he likes to use the same actors over and over again.

Tillie. And why not? If they’re good actors, he should use them!

Trixie. I hope we see Captain Reynolds on SHIELD. I like him.

Tillie. I think he’s doing another show now. So I don’t know if we’ll see him. Don’t get your hopes up, Trix.

Tillie. But Miss Chrissy and The Man said if we might expect to see ANYONE on this show, maybe…just maybe….Nick Fury will stop by.

RASPUTIN Trixie. Ooh! Ooh! I would love to see Nick Fury!

Tilile. Me too!

Tessie. Me too!

Trixie. Then I think it’s agreed…we’re all Fury Girls?

Tillie and Tessie (in unison) YES!!!

They all laugh. Then sigh. Then…

Tessie. Well, you guys, what about the jokes?

Tillie. What jokes? Were there jokes?

Tessie. Well, there was lots of funny stuff. Like when that agent, Ward, said, “I’ve got Level Six clearance, and I happen to know for a fact Agent Coulson died in the line of duty.” Then Agent Coulson comes out of the shadows and says, “Welcome to Level Seven.”

Tillie. Yeah! That was cool!

Trixie. Or what about this? Somebody asks that new agent….the one you called Ward…they ask him what SHIELD stands for, and he says it.

Tessie. Yeah, it’s like…strategic…homeland…

Trixie. Imagination…?

Tessie. No! it’s like Intervening, and then Enforcing and something something division…

Trixie. Yeah, it’s all crazy. So they ask him, ‘What does that mean to you?’ and he says, “Somebody really wanted those initials to spell out SHIELD!’

(All laugh. Then sigh. Then…)

Trixie. Yeah, so, there’s so much stuff about the Comics and the Movies, so I almost felt like we were back in one of the movies.

Tillie. It’s a totally integrated world, all integrated with Marvel Comics.

Tessie. I liked the way the show started, with flipping through the Comics, just like they always do in all the movies. That made me know right away that we were in for a treat!

Tillie. Yeah, it was a treat. Not exactly like the Comics, and not exactly like the Movies, but it’s like something….new. Something different, but still exciting.

Trixie. I guess this one is a keeper, then? We’ll be watching it every week?

Tessie. As long as Our People are watching it, we’ll be watching it too.

Tillie. And that should probably be a long time, because Our People are big fans of Marvel Comics. They even have some websites about them.

Tessie. You mean like we have our website about Whimsieville?

Tillie. Yeah, exactly like that!

Trixie. Well…not exactly. Nothing is every EXACTLY like something else. I mean, look at us! We’re all Whimsies, but we’re all so different from each other.

Tessie. We’re different, but in some ways, we’re all the same.

Trixie. Yeah. Like we all like Comics, but I like Thor, and you like Spider-Man.

Tillie. And I like Iron Man!!

Trixie. Well, you should talk about that here on the website, Till.

Tillie. I think I will! But next time, soon, we’re going to be reading that book together. You know the one I told you about?

Tessie. (alarmed) The one about the dogs??

Tillie. Yes, that one. And don’t worry about it, Tess. It will be fine.

Trixie. I’m starting to feel tired now. It’s been a big day. Good thing we’re all in our PJ’s already, right?

Tessie. The dogs are just cartoon dogs, right? greeneye

Tillie. Yes, they are. And don’t worry. We’ve got Mr. Squee here to protect us, remember?

Tessie. (giggles) He didn’t really care for SHIELD, did he?

Tillie. I think he’s the only one of us that didn’t. Everyone else here in Whimsieville thought it was just grand, and can’t wait for the next episode. Right, Trix? ….Trix?

Tessie. (whispering) I think she’s sleeping, Till.

Tillie (smiling) I bet she’s dreaming about Thor.

Tessie. I guess we should get some sleep too…

(After all that, the Whimsies all went to sleep in their footie-pajamas, dreaming of superheroes and hummingbirds, and flowers, and of all the fun adventures they hope to continue to have, here in Whimsieville.)

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Categories: Marvel

Sep 23 2013

MR. SQUEE, THE DOG CATCHER

By Tillie 0 comments (comments closed)

tilicon Hi, everyone! This is Tillie. Now it’s my turn! I have so many things to say about our lives here in Whimsieville, but I would be remiss if I didn’t start by telling you all about Mr. Squee the Dog Catcher.

Whimsieville is a very small town, and we don’t need any government officials. We don’t really need a Mayor (though Miss Chrissy sometimes like to think of herself as Mayor, but most of the time, there’s really nothing for her to do as Mayor). We don’t need a mailman, since no one writes to us (though anybody who visits us here on The Computer is more than welcome to write to us by leaving A Comment). We don’t need a garbage man, because we Whimsies are very clean and don’t create any garbage. At first we thought it would be nice to have a Librarian, because all of us love to read, but when we got to Whimsieville we found Miss Chrissy and The Man already had a good selection of books and movies, and they generously allow us access to their extensive collection, trusting us to return items to the shelf when we are done. (Which we do.)

So all these positions are not needed in Whimsieville. So why then, do we need a Dog Catcher?

Well, it all starts with my friend Tessie. If you’ve read her story, you know the horrible truth that years ago she was abducted by dogs (or wolves!) and ever since then she has had an overwhelming and paralyzing fear of dogs (and wolves). She doesn’t even like to look at pictures of them in books. She can barely stand to hear anyone even say the word “dog” so a lot of times we spell it out for her, instead of saying it.

But it’s best not to talk to Tessie about dogs at all. And Trixie is not much better. Back when we were all living in The Hoard, and Tessie told her story to me and Trixie, poor Trixie was so absorbed by the tale, and so sympathetic, that she ALSO has now developed a paralyzing fear of dogs. Trixie is such a good friend, that if you hate something, then she hates it too.

I don’t particularly care for dogs, either, but I would have to say I am not PARALYZED with fear. I respect that dogs can be dangerous, and I certainly don’t want any in Whimsieville, but I am still willing to read lazy books that have dogs in them. (In fact, I have an upcoming feature for this Website that has a little something to do with dogs, and I’m hoping to get that going in just a few days now.)

Anyway, when we all got to Whimsieville, we were of course delighted to find that there are no dogs here! Yea! But that wasn’t good enough for Tessie. She still kept thinking that maybe somehow dogs would be able to INTO Whimsieville. And she made Trixie be afraid of that too. So we all put our heads together and tried to think up some way to stop being afraid of dogs.

So here’s what we came up with:

In Whimsieville, there is a Cat. His name is Mr. Squee. He is a big black cat with beautiful green eyes, but it seemed to us that Mr. Squee does not really do much all day except lay around resting and relaxing. So we thought maybe we could persuade him to take on the position of Whimsieville Dog Catcher. We talked to Miss Chrissy about it, and she said it would do Mr. Squee some good to have a job, so he catnip wouldn’t just lay around like a lump on a log all the time. She also told us that Mr. Squee is exceptionally fond of CATNIP, so we worked out a plan with Mr. Squee that if he keeps his eyes open for dogs and protects us in case any get into Whimsieville, we will make sure that he gets at least one serving of catnip per day.

That sounded like a good deal to Mr. Squee, and he accepted our proposal. Right way, Tessie and Trixie felt a lot better. In fact, they felt so perimeter good, that soon they began to believe that the reason why there are no dogs in Whimsieville is BECAUSE Mr. Squee is doing such a grand job as Dog Catcher.

I was not so sure about that. It seemed to me there are probably not any dogs in or around Whimsieville, so Mr. Squee didn’t really have to do a lot for his Daily Catnip. Sure, he sometimes patrols the perimeter of Whimsieville, looking for all the world like he is on the lookout for dogs, but I watch him very carefully sometimes, and I’m convinced he’s not looking for dogs at all, he’s just looking for grass to eat (BLEAH!!!), and warm spots of sunshine to lay down in. So…huh!! Seems this lazy old cat has just landed himself the cush-iest job in existence!

But then one day, something happened that made me completely change my mind about Mr. Squee. It happened one night when Trixie was getting a Beauty Treatment, and Tess and I were just hanging around, protect jabbering. All of the sudden we heard something that sounded like a…a HOWLING!! It could have been a dog! It could have been a WOLF!!! ARGGGH!!! Oh no, not a wolf!!

I was scared, and Tessie was petrified! But Mr. Squee was NOT. He jumped right up to protect us. Turns out, there was nothng there, just a noise from outside the borders of Whimsieville, but our protector was not taking any chances! Mr. Squee leapt to our defense, shielding us from potential danger.

I’m so glad he was there with us that day! And ever since, I do not begrudge him his Daily Catnip. I have decided Mr. Squee is worth his WEIGHT in catnip! And as you can see, that translates out to A LOT of catnip! Because our Dog Catcher Mr. Squee is one HUGE and intimidating fellow!

Since that horrible incident, we have not heard anything else that sounds like dogs (or wolves). Everyone is calming down and going about their business. We feel very comfortable and SAFE here in Whimsieville.

In fact, I feel so safe here, but so concerned about my friends, that I think maybe it is time to do something to help both Tessie and Trixie get over their fear of dogs. I’m not saying they’ll ever want to go to the Pet Store and buy a puppy, but I would like to see them at least be able to read a book with dogs in it, without getting all nervous and crazy.

godogbook2 So I’ve searched the bookshelves of Our People, and have found this wonderful little book called Go, Dog, Go. It’s all about dogs, but it’s a CHILDREN’S book, so it is not scary. I’m hoping that some time soon I can get Tess and Trix to sit down with me and we all read this book together.

But that may have to wait a few days, because coming up very soon…there is going to be a very special show on TV that we have all been waiting to see: Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!!! As Trixie explained to you last time, she is a big fan of Comics, and her enthusiasm has rubbed off on the rest of us, so now we are all excited about seeing this new show, which is sort of about the world of Comics. Trixie is hoping Thor will make an appearance. I don’t know about that…but I do know we will all have something to say after we see the new S.H.I.E.L.D. show. So the next time you hear from us, it will be for a Round Table Discussion of… S.H.I.E.L.D.!!!

Can’t wait! See you then!!

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Categories: Dog Catcher

Sep 21 2013

MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO

By Trixie 0 comments (comments closed)

TRIXIEICON Hi, everyone! This is Trixie. I’ve been considering what I most want to talk about here, to let you all know who I am, and I guess if you really want to know me, the first thing you’ve got to understand is how much I appreciate it when other people do nice things. Miss Chrissy has been so very nice to me. I’m so glad she took me in and let me have a home here in Whimsieville. Not only that, but she’s also been taking very good care of me, giving me all sorts of beauty treatments so I can look and feel my very best. I really appreciate that—especially since I haven’t always looked and felt my best. So this has been a real blessing.

I guess you could say Miss Chrissy is my hero. She rescued me. For the person who needs it, nothing feels better that being rescued. You see, at one point in my life, someone was not very nice to me,someone tried to be mean to me…very mean, thor1 indeed. I would even say…tried to kill me. Yes, I know it’s a horrible thing. I try not to think about it too much, but I feel like I’m getting better all the time. Every day I feel stronger and stronger. Miss Chrissy says I’m a SURVIVOR.

So anyway, the point of telling you all this is to explain why I love superheroes so much. When I was in The Hoard, there were lots and lots of things around me that I could have put my attention to — all kinds of toys and games, and some books like the Complete Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and even some kitchen appliances. But I didn’t want to play, or cook, or visit with Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Instead, my attention was completely absorbed by this huge box of old Comics.

In this box I found many colorful tales of SUPERHEROES who always do everything they can to help other people and save the world. These “costumed characters” (as Mr. Stan Lee called them) grew to be such an inspiration to me, such a reminder that even though there is a lot of evil in the world, there is also a lot of good. And there is always HOPE—hope that things can get better.

Those messages came to me at a time when I really needed to hear them.

In the Hoard, Tessie, Tillie and I would often sit down together and read Comics, and each of us has our own feelings and impressions about superheroes. I know Tess and Till have their own personal favorites, but I’m here to tell you about mine.

I like Thor.

thor2 Oh, yes! I am a Thor Girl!! He is the best superhero ever!! I mean…just look at him! He’s tall, he’s strong, he’s got all that beautiful blonde hair, and as for “colorful costumed heroes,” can you really beat Thor? He’s got all the colors of the rainbow in his costume. I especially love his shoes. I’ll bet they never fall off his feet!

I like that Thor is a god from another world. He’s not someone who got his powers because of an accident (like the Fantastic Four, or Spider-Man), and he did not INVENT his powers, like Iron Man. Thor did not have to BECOME a hero, because deep down he simply IS and always was and always will be a hero! He could no more decide NOT to be a hero than a butterfly could decide not to be a butterfly. It’s just who he is.

I think you can probably always rely on Thor to do the right thing. And he does the right thing because it IS the right thing. Not just because someone told him to do it, or because he feels like this is what he ought to do. Goodness is deep down in his soul.

I like people like that.

I also like when he becomes Dr. Don Blake, who walks with a cane and loves his nurse, Jane Foster. It’s really funny that whether he is Dr. Blake or the Thunder God Thor, he still always loves Jane Foster. Now, that’s true love.

One thing, though…I don’t know if Jane Foster is GOOD enough for Thor. That box of Comics in The Hoard only went up to a certain date, so I don’t know how any of this is going to turn out for him. Will he finally get to marry Jane Foster? If so, will they be happy?

domestic Oh, I only hope she doesn’t make him stop rescuing people! There was this one very disturbing story where Jane was thinking about how nice it would be to be married to Thor, and in her daydreams, she was cutting off all his beautiful hair. AAARRRGG! I don’t know if Jane Foster GETS IT. I don’t know if she appreciates Thor for who he really is. It looks like she wants to turn him into something he’s NOT. I would never do that to Thor. I would want him to stay just the way he is.

I think Miss Chrissy agrees with me. Since I’ve come to Whimsieville, I’ve discovered that Miss Chrissy and The Man who lives here with her are also both big fans of Comics. Whenever they go away from Whimsieville for the day, leaving us in the capable hands of Mr. Squee the Dog Catcher, we often get a chance to gather around Miss Chrissy’s Computer and read some of the stuff she writes. It seems she likes to write about Comics, at a place called The Marvelous Zone. She also likes Thor, and wants him to stay just the way he is.

What’s that saying? I think it’s saying: Great minds think alike….heehee….

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how I feel about Thor, and why I feel that way. I may have more things to say about Comics from time to time, and Tessie and Tillie will also chime in on this subject now and then, I’m sure.

Thank you for listening to me. I’m glad you’re here, visiting us in Whimsieville.

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Categories: My Favorite Boyfriend

DO YOU LIKE MY HAT?

GO, DOG, GO

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION #1: MARVEL’S AGENTS OF SHIELD, PILOT

MR. SQUEE, THE DOG CATCHER

MY FAVORITE SUPERHERO

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