I had a very nice Sunday. We spent a nice chunk of the afternoon at the pool. The water was initially cold but I got used to it. Rob challenged me to a race across the pool. Ready, set, GO! I swam as fast as I could, kicking my feet and paddling my arms. I looked up and Rob was right next to me, the wall not more than a foot away, suddenly I heard my Mom’s voice, “Donna, let the boys win sometimes!” It was too late. I reached for the wall and Rob said, “You win!”
“No, we tied.” And I am pretty sure we did come in at the same time.
We went back to the donnavilla and I steamed dumplings and rice. I was about to put out my regular plates when Rob said, “You have those nice Japanese dishes, let’s use those!”
“No, I’m keeping those good.”
“Keeping them good for what?”
“Oh, uh, a nice occasion.”
“This isn’t a nice occasion? What are you waiting for? Let’s use them!”
He is so right! I save things for some unknown future occasion that may never arrive missing tons of present enjoyment. We broke out the Japanese plates and it was really nice.

After dinner I put in Diabolik with John Phillip Law. It’s really kitschy 60’s which I loved but I had a hard time accepting the character. Diabolik is a thief, a murderer, a terrorist– not a hero. I was hoping the police would get him. Regardless, it was wonderful eye candy even if the morals were really off.

Rob came over last night. My intention was to watch one of the movies that arrived from Netflix: Diabolik or A Death at a Funeral. Instead, we watched Ultimate Fighting. And then Rob put on CBS and we watched more Ultimate Fighting. Kimbo Slice was the headliner. His challenger was this big galoot with a huge cauliflower ear that looked a bit like a testicle. It was in the third round, right when I said, “I think Kimbo is beat,” that Kimbo swung hard and hit the guy right in the cauliflower ear. The darn thing popped! The commentators screamed as the ear burst open and pieces of flesh and blood sprayed across the ring. Kimbo punched and jabbed a few times and the big galoot stumbled backwards and the ref stopped the fight. The big galoot was not happy that the ref stopped the fight and so he PUNCHED the ref! During the after-fight interview, Kimbo said had they not stopped the fight he would have kept going after the ear. Yeah, I have a feeling that CBS will be holding matches like this more often.

My favorite movie theater sends out a quarterly magazine listing all the art house movies that they will feature. You won’t guess what movie was in their list of upcoming releases! BRIDESHEAD REVISITED! I honestly can’t believe it. I never thought it would get remade. Charles Ryder is being portrayed by Matthew Goode who played the brother in the movie Match Point. He seems to be a perfect choice. Ben Whishaw is Lord Sebastian Flyte. He is the right age but he doesn’t quite look like Sebastian to me. It’s going to be hard not seeing Anthony Andrews as Sebastian. Watching the trailer, the movie seems a bit dark and Lady Marchmain’s role seems beefed up while Julia seems to have been injected into earlier scenes where she doesn’t belong. I didn’t see Anthony Blanche in the trailer, I hope his character wasn’t cut.

I will be the first person in line when Brideshead Revisted Revisited is released.

Here’s the trailer via Youtube:

And here’s some scenes from the original:

Last night I went to Erin and Pete’s Memorial Sunday BBQ. It was so nice seeing everyone. Time flies it seems. How else can it be months and months since I last saw everyone? Regardless, it was a lovely evening– the weather was fantastic. Her friends, Sharon and Preston were in attendence. I told Preston how I had such nice memories of hearing him perform at John and Peter’s Open Mike in New Hope, back so many years ago. It’s amazing I have such nice memories considering the pitchers of Black and Tan Erin and I would put away. I told him that Rob is a musician too but his genre leans more toward Heavy Metal. Preston said he used to play Heavy Metal in the 60’s. Of course that got me excited and I started to ask about what he did in the 60’s and it turns out he had a semi-famous band called The River Styx Blues Emporium. A couple years ago some label reissued one of their old albums. He said it gets played more in Europe than here. I searched for it this morning and found an album cover and some song snippets.

Preston brought out his guitar and sang some songs. And then another one of Erin’s guests did the same. After his performance, Preston and this other guy played together. One of the songs they performed was, “I got the ICU Blues.” I figure it makes sense. When you are in your 20’s you write songs about girls, in your 30’s and 40’s the songs become a bit more existential, and then when you are in your 60’s, you write about your hospital visits. 😉

I had a night terror last night. It’s the first one I’ve had in YEARS! At least I think it’s been years. Let’s just say it was very normal for me to have a night terror once a week. I think it was about 2 years ago I made a real concerted effort to halt them. The real concerted effort consisted of me deciding not to have them any more and avoiding caffeine after dinner.

Last night, just before I closed my eyes to sleep, I remembered that I couldn’t remember locking my front door. I was so tired that I decided to let it go and risk the boogeyman. Little did I realize that by allowing myself that simple thought I would open myself up to a night terror. As is typical, within an hour of falling asleep, I opened my eyes to see a dark cloaked figure standing in front of me. I screamed and charged right through the ghost and ran smack into my bureau. It always pleases me when I attack. When my night terrors first started to occur, I’d stay in bed and scream. After a few years, I started running, trying to escape. One day something happened. I stopped running away and I started running toward the terror. I like to think it’s me confronting my demons– but who knows. Maybe it’s just the different phases of night terrors. You’d think that after having a night terror so real and so terribly frightening occur, I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. Ha! I went back to sleep and I slept like a baby.

Usually my terrors are all the same. It’s either a dark cloaked figure who has the apparent intention of hurting me or its bugs, or a floating, swirling clown with dark wings. In my vast arsenal of night terror stories, there are two episodes that scared the crap out of me but didn’t quite fit the night terror mold. The first one occurred about 5 years ago. I was in bed and I was aware I was close to sleep. My eyes were shut and I felt very warm and comfortable. Suddenly I felt two small points of pressure on my chest. I wondered if it could be Mr Cocoa, pressing his paws on me trying to wake me up to put him out. Nope. The little points of pressure turned out to be two little hands that grabbed my nightgown and pulled me up and thrashed me down upon my pillow. Over and over. When it stopped, I opened my eyes. Standing atop me was a little boy. I could see through him but he was still visible. He smiled at me. I tried to grab him. My hands went right through him as he turned and ran away. It was almost like he exploded into light. I can’t say “and then I then woke up” because I was awake. I remember sitting there, trying to figure it out. Maybe this wasn’t a night terror but rather hallucinatory sleep.

I had another similar episode. I was in Las Vegas at a trade show and I was sharing my room with a roommate. I was awakened by pressure on my chest. I opened my eyes to see a white cat perched atop me. I couldn’t move– I was paralytic! The cat stared at me. I whimpered and tried to scream. I tried to move but I couldn’t. Fear gripped me and I prayed to God: Help me! The cat jumped off and walked away, disappearing into the darkness of the hotel room. There was no waking up since I was awake. Night terror or hallucinatory sleep disorder? Who knows. Thank goodness it doesn’t happen often. Regardless, I blame caffeine.

Have you seen the advertisements for Armstrong Laminate Flooring? I saw my first one a few weeks ago. It was of Lucille Ball— I was really knocked out by the beauty of the photograph and how much the woman looked like Lucille Ball. Now, here’s the coolest thing, I looked at the flooring in the picture and I thought, wow, that’s a nice floor! (I’ve been struggling with Marketing at my company, they simply can’t seem to illicit any reaction at all so when I see something like this I just get a little giddy).

Just yesterday I was going through another magazine and I saw another advertisement. This time it is a Dean Martin impersonator. I must have stared at the image for a good 15 minutes. I can’t get over how much this man looks like Dean AND how much the floor looks like real hardwood.

This morning I went searching and I found the rest of the adverstisements. They have James Dean and Marlon Brando ads. What a great campaign! I really love it. And I am thinking I need to look at Armstrong Laminate flooring. I’ve been talking about replacing my carpet for ages! I think the reason I haven’t done it is that I just simply haven’t found the floor I LOVE. Until I find it, my money is staying in my pocket.

So what do you think they are? Are they impersonators? (The classiest impersonators ever?) Or are they exceptionally beautiful artists’ renderings? I am so curious!

Today is the last wedding on my calendar for quite sometime. Joe and Janet are tying the knot. The wedding is taking place at a Methodist Church. I don’t think I’ve ever been to one of those before. I am sure it will be interesting but I am hoping it won’t be a long ceremony.

Last night, Lisa and I went to Willow Grove Mall. We had a nice little dinner and then we went to Macy’s with her Macy’s Card and an additional 20% off coupon and we just went BERZERK! I saw a dress on a mannequin that I just LOVED! I couldn’t find the dress anywhere so I got one of the saleswomen to help me take it off the mannequin . Before the woman agreed to help she said, “What’s the dress size?”
“6”
She looked me up and down, trying to determine if I was a 6. I must have passed the test (hopefully it was, yes she’s skinny enough rather than, yep, you’re a fat ass!) because she removed the mannequin’s arms and pulled off the dress.
Let me tell you, the dress fits me perfectly! I LOVE IT! Here’s a picture:

I also got some very pretty necklaces that were marked down to an inch of their value. Gosh, I love MACY’S!

Today after the wedding, no more excuses– I MUST CLEAN MY HOUSE! I let it go too long and the place is cluttered and thus my mind is absolutely cluttered. I’ve been complaining of being tired and strained and drained oh my but I really think the issue is that my house is a mess and it’s sucking me dry. SO, JUST DO IT!

ADMISSION #1,378
I place two spaces after my periods. I always thought that was proper. It’s how Mrs Falconella taught me in her typing class back in 1986. Now I am hearing that it is WRONG WRONG WRONG. Here’s the thing, I CAN’T STOP! Rather than fighting it, I am going to continue to place two spaces after my periods just as a nod to all things past. I’m a retro girl through and through– as evidenced by the two spaces after my period.

I am absolutely thrilled to have received this email! Rosemonsters are stepping up and want to save our school! Even if you are not a Rosemonster, please send an email to rremick@rosemont.edu, shirsh@rosemont.edu, and strategicplan@rosemont.edu letting them know there is a place in this world for Woman’s Only Education! (I will try to create a template that people can use as a starting point– I will post that later)

Here is the email:

Dear Alumni and Friends of Rosemont College:

Rosemont College needs your help. On May 30th, the Board will meet to decide whether Rosemont College Undergraduate Women’s College will remain an all-women’s college. The only thing preventing the Rosemont UWC from becoming co-educational is your efforts in the next week.

The Save Rosemont Coalition, a group of concerned alumnae and friends of the college, embraces the idea of “meeting the wants of the age” but not at the cost of compromising the mission and identity of the undergraduate women’s college. We believe that colleges achieve success through the fulfillment of their academic commitment to their students, based on the quality of faculty, academic offerings, and their reputation within the community, and especially based on their adherence to the distinctive educational, cultural and spiritual philosophies which set them apart.

The Save Rosemont Coalition argues that this decision by the Board needs to be delayed until the following has occurred:

A legitimate opportunity for all Alumnae to contribute to the strategic plan process in the form of a town meeting. The alumni were kept at a distance during the entire strategic initiative. Town meetings were scheduled at 4:30 PM on week nights. Additionally, alumnae were not given the results of the Alumni survey until after the recommendation by the Strategic Agenda to turn Rosemont co-ed.

A chance to sit down and have exploratory talks with Villanova University. The option of merging or having a closer relationship with Villanova University was never fully realized during the Strategic Initiative. Alumnae were told half-way through the process that this was no longer an option.

A financial accounting of any investment that the college will make as the result of this decision by the Board of Trustees.

The Strategic Plan estimates that it will cost $4.6 million to renovate the college in order to make it ready for male students. Rosemont College does not have $4.6 million to invest in the college. Where is this money coming from? If we have access to these types of funds, what could $4.6 million do to reinvigorate the women’s undergraduate college?

Please email Ron Remick, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sharon Hirsh, Rosemont’s President, and the Board of Trustees to consider reinvesting in the future of the Undergraduate Women’s College. TAKE ACTION NOW by emailing rremick@rosemont.edu, shirsh@rosemont.edu, and strategicplan@rosemont.edu, or by calling the College at 610-527-0200 ext. 2805.

Let us be emboldened by the words of Rosemont College’s founder, Cornelia Connelly: “We never know what we can do until we try. Perseverance gains the crown.” Please pass this letter on to any of our classmates, parents, or friends. We welcome any questions, suggestions or words of support at saverosemont@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Save Rosemont Coalition