Memo Musings

Every January I look at the little memo I keep on my phone of random thoughts that I jot down for possible blog fodder. Every year I am left with several unused ideas. Maybe I should submit them to some language arts teacher as writing prompts. Some are self-explanatory. Some, I can't even recall the exact context for. Anyway, it's become somewhat of a tradition for me to publish these little snippets from the previous year. This time I thought I'd reproduce exactly what I wrote in my memo and then tell the short story that goes with it. It's an interesting way to recap a year.



Suicidal Baby Bunnies (see, great writing prompt, right?)
I remember writing this down after going to visit a friend on a Spring evening. It was really foggy, the kind that hugs the ground and looks really eerie as you drive through it, like ghostly fingers reaching out to grab your tires and pull you off course. To add to the eerie feeling there were rabbits running across the road everywhere. You could only see them when they were hopping up and their little head would pop out of the fog. I felt as though I was playing some strange video game where you had to avoid zombie rabbits or something. I'm happy to report no baby bunnies were harmed on my drive that evening despite their best efforts to jump in front of my wheels.

111 Motorcycles in 15 Miles
This one is from our drive back to North Dakota from Utah last summer. We drove through Sturgis, South Dakota during their annual motorcycle. I've never seen so many bikes in my life. The boys were getting antsy so we started a game to count how many motorcycles we would pass before we got to our next stop. We did indeed pass 111 motorcycles on 15 miles of highway. The boys were over the moon. We should have taken the opportunity to do some extra math practice. How many leather jackets? Tattoos? Bandanas? Helmets? Hulk Hogan mustaches?

Do all French novels end in death? *spoiler alert*
For book club last year we read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. It was a lovely book, with robust characters and thought-provoking dialogue. I really enjoyed it.... until the end. The main characters tell the whole story in first person in the form of diary entries. Then, somehow, magically one of the main characters narrates her own death! In her diary! What? It completely negated the feel and believe-ability of the book! It made no sense! Why? The only logical conclusion is that there must be some sort of legal statute in France that all books penned there must include the death of at least one beloved character. That's the only explanation. Boo, France! Boo!

Boy Binders are Heavy-Duty
When I was doing my back to school shopping I was looking for 3-ring binders in certain boyish colors that had been requested. You know, blue, red, black, green. I noticed that binders came in either "Durable" or "Heavy-Duty". "Durable" was significantly cheaper so I decided to go with that option. The only problem was apparently none of the durable binders came in boyish colors. They were all pink, purple, teal etc. At first I thought I just must not be looking hard enough, but then I realized that the "Heavy-Duty" binders ONLY came in boyish colors. No pink, purple or teal to be found. I guess boys would trash a durable binder. They're only allowed to have the heavy-duty ones. I'm not sure if I should be offended or not. I mean, in the case of my boys the stereo-type that boys tear up things is probably true but it still kind of hurts that I can't buy my boys a durable binder even if I wanted to. This seems like discrimination. Maybe I should talk to a lawyer....

Toilet Wrangler
So, we have this crazy thing in our bathroom where the counter top extends over the toilet tank. Now, there is enough of a gap between the top of the tank and the counter that you can slide the lid off the tank. That's great if you just want to put a toilet cleaner thing in there, but if there's actually a problem then it means you only have a few inches to get your hand and arm in there and you can't see anything. One day, the unthinkable happened. The toilet handle became disconnected and it wouldn't flush. I took the lid off, plunged my hand into the freezing water and felt around. Now, this thing is really old so the chain and other parts weren't exactly the same as other toilet innards I had seen but I figured out! Without seeing anything! I was feeling like a toilet super-hero. It was cold and slimy and kind of gross but also awesome. Toilet wrangler, that's me.