What The Hell Is That Thing In Your Avatar?

Since I'm waiting for some cool stuff to be ready for my next blog entry (it won't be in my hands until Monday), I figured I'd kill a bit of time. Not sure if anybody's figured it out yet, but that thing in my avatar is a teddy bear. A REALLY OLD teddy bear. The image that you see is what it's face looked like when I put it on my scanner.

Anyway, I'd like you to see the whole teddy bear. Meet Nennie (click to enlarge):



Nennie is approximately 40-50 years old and has gone through about three or four children, including myself. At least, that's to the best of my knowledge. She got her name from the sound she makes when you shake her, as there's a bell sewn into her right ear (nennienennienennie). She is also the only surviving toy from my childhood, and here's the story why:

My significant other had told me about this old, beat up bear that she had when she was a kid. She finally got it back from her dad who was holding it hostage. I looked at it and said, "that's nothing, wait until I show you my old bear!" So, I retrieved it from my parents' house (where all my childhood things were stored). Of course, Nennie was the winner in the "old and beat up" category. A couple of months later, my parents' house burned down, taking all of my other childhood toys with it.

Nennie will not be a toy for my own child. I have retired her from being a toy. She now sits on my dresser, enjoying a well-earned retirement from a long life of being played with.

Prank Caller Learns to Speak

While we're on the subject of recorded phone calls...

A recording like this is typically thought of as "dysfunctional", but for me, this was a break from dysfunction. It was one of those rare moments in my childhood where we had fun as a family.

Way back in 1988, my dad bought a new phone. This wasn't your average phone, it was a speaker-phone! It also stored 13 numbers in memory. This was also in the day before caller ID was invented, so prank phone calls were easy to keep private, and we recieved our fair share of them. This was one of those instances - a prank phone caller who would call and say nothing at the other end. My dad, my mom, my mom's friend Leona, and a 10 year old me amused ourselves by entertaining this caller. The person on the other end didn't speak one word to us, but couldn't contain their laughter! But when my Uncle Bill (who was visiting from Thompson) walked into the house and began talking to the caller, things changed.

Warning: this edited version is over 22 minutes long, but it's definately worth listening to! The original version is around 45 minutes long.

Click Here To Listen!