Ninja of Love

It's nearly Christmastime. 

P.L. is anxiously anticipating the season. It isn't just about the presents anymore. It's the feeling she experiences when she sees twinkling lights, smells the scent of evergreen, hears the refrains of familiar holiday music. 
The tradition of Christmas season has created a comfort zone for the soul.

New ideas, symbols, and practices always make their way into the world. Sometimes they become part of our traditions, whether public or personal. 
One new program will definitely become part of our family holiday celebrations. P.L. has fallen in love with the Disney television program "Phineas and Ferb," and we have followed her into this divine madness.

The cartoon show is a combination family sitcom and spy thriller, with teenage romance, fantasy, science fiction, and lots of fun music thrown in.

We follow the Flynn/Fletcher blended family throughout the course of a summer in Danville, a town somewhere in the US. Parents Linda and Lawrence operate an antique shop. Linda also participates in several community activities. 

The ten year old stepbrothers use their creativity to fill their time in the back yard. Teen sister Candace is a bit bossy at times, trying to keep her younger brothers from doing things she thinks their parents would disapprove of, if they only knew. But Linda never catches the boys doing the absolutely impossible things we have come to expect from them. Some mysterious twist of fate usually causes the fantastic projects to vanish before Mom gets to see them. 

This isn't a show only for kids. There are a lot of in-joke nuggets for older viewers. For instance, the music that so often accompanies Candace's indignant attempts to follow and "bust" her brothers is a snippet of the Wicked Witch of the West theme from "The Wizard of Oz." Pop culture references, witty dialog, and interesting cartoon art contribute to the entertainment.

The family owns a most unusual pet -- a duck-billed platypus named Perry. He is turquoise, a color most probably never seen in marsupials in the wild. The family know that Perry frequently disappears for periods of time, but they generally see no reason for concern. They are completely unaware that their pet is an undercover agent known as Agent P, who periodically wrests the fate of Danville and, indeed, the entire Tri-State Area (again, no clue which three states) from the evil clutches of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, his personal nemesis. Their adventures usually manage to destroy or in some way cancel out the boys' masterpieces of creative technology, but not before most of the kids in town (and frequently many of the adults) have enjoyed or otherwise benefited from them.

This year, there is a Christmas special about our favorite suburban family and friends. Apparently, Doofenshmirtz has caused the town of Danville to be declared a Naughty area. It's up to the boys to think of a way to save everyone's Christmas spirit, while Perry attempts to foil his nemesis. We're sure they'll have help from not only the very cute and smart Isabella (who crushes on Phineas), but also from brainy Baljeet, bully Buford, the entire troop of Fireside Girls, and even Candace. Candace often obsesses over making her brothers behave, but she really has a heart of gold, and she loves her weird family. (We do too!) 

Which all brings me to this design. A couple of months ago, I got the first Phineas and Ferb soundtrack CD. It contains 26 songs, all of which I at least like very much, and several of which I love. The final song is from an episode celebrating Linda and Lawrences's anniversary with a tribute to the concert where they first kissed. The band, Love Händel (got to love that name!), must be reunited by Phineas and Ferb. The band plays their big hit, "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart." One of the lines in the song refers to the "you" of the title as being like a ninja of love, an image that made me laugh out loud. 

Why not? We hear that all is fair in love and war, that love is a battlefield. So why not use the ancient martial arts to attain the prize of true love? The idea of creating a cute ninja of love was even appealing to P.L. 

So now we are getting the jump on a future holiday, too. After all, it's only two months until St. Valentine's Day will be here. 
Arm yourself to go after your heart's desire!

The Ninja of Love design is available now, in the Just for Fun section of Lorilei's Artist at Work. You can find our lovable ninja on hats, t-shirts, coffee mugs, tile keepsake boxes, tote bags, babywear, and a variety of other products. 
Wear the ninja yourself, or send it to someone who needs a smile. You might just sneak your way into their heart.

Parking Wars and other games -- you're addicted to WHAT???

P.L. is not yet the owner of a car. She doesn't even have her driver's license. But she routinely parks vehicles of varying shapes, sizes, and colors in streets -- often illegally -- and then attempts to move them before they are ticketed or impounded. Even stranger, she takes delight in writing tickets on her own friends' cars!

What madness is this? It's Parking Wars, an online game she plays through the social networking site Facebook. The game was inspired by the A&E television series by the same name. P.L. has several friends and a few unknown neighbors who compete to get badges and higher scores by outwitting each other. (They also help each other, as P.L.'s best friend Emily could tell you!)

Of course, P.L. has now adopted Pet Pupz and Cute Catz, and the Hatchery Eggs which turn into funny little monsters when she and others nurture them.
She has planted a Lil' Green Patch so she can tend environmentally-friendly plants and help friends with their own virtual gardens. She sends hugs, wild animals, and SuperPokes to others, so she always has a lot to keep her busy when she gets online.

But probably the most annoying thing she has done with all these social networking games is to infect me with the darned things. Weren't Solitaire and Bejeweled II Deluxe enough? Now I have to check my account, even before I open my email, to see if someone's parked in an illegal zone on Lorilei Street. Worse yet, I have to worry that the parking signs will have changed while I was away, and someone may have ticketed one of my cars. Oh, no! Another violation!




What can be done? I'm sure the fever for the game will cool after a while. In the meantime, it's all good fun that keeps us off the streets -- so to speak.








I'm making a new mousepad for P.L.'s computer desk with the Addiction to Online Games design on it. In fact, she's getting a t-shirt like this, too. You can get one to remind yourself (or your roommate) to get back to work! You can check your cars after a few hours, as a reward for keeping on task.
(That's right. It's only a game....)

RAH, RAH, school sports!

Forget the fact that it's 90+ degrees outside, and that the football field turf is a lovely shade of brown. Time to return to school! We are so excited.

In this great land of ours, team sports have always been a popular form of entertainment. Millions of dollars are spent on football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, and other competitive pastimes each year.
Teams with names like Warriors, Tigers, Indians, Lions, Vikings, Dragons, Senators, and various other scary people or animals, meet on a field or court to knock the stuffing out of each other.

But all good things must come to an end.
There is a new trend toward instilling in our youth the idea that good competition is clean, wholesome, and non-violent. Certain war-like names are quickly dropping out of vogue.

One of the first new teams is Daisy Meadows High School's Butterflies.
P.L. is pleased to show her support of this team this year. You, too, can support non-violent contact sports (and other pastimes) by wearing , carrying, or giving away (as gifts) these mementos of these courageous folks.
Makes your heart swell up with pride, doesn't it?