When I was a kid, my little brother and I had this voice we did. It drove people crazy. Especially my step-dad. I don’t know who made it up first, my brother or me, but we could both do it and we sounded identical. We would walk around just saying, “Hi, how are you?” “I’m great.” And then we’d do this “heeheehee” that was particularly annoying to the auditory senses.

(I should add here that I thought about the possibility of making this post a video post, so you could hear the voice. But when I stood in front of the mirror and actually watched myself do the voice, I was embarrassed for myself. Really, Self. It wasn’t good.)

Instructions: In order to do the voice, you have to close off part of your throat. The only way I can instruct you to do this is to put your chin down almost into your chest and then try to talk like you’ve just sucked up a boat-load of helium. Once you kind of get the idea of how your throat needs to feel, you won’t have to put your chin into your chest anymore. As a grown-up, I can do the voice with my head almost completely upright. Almost. But not completely upright, which is why I look like a moron when I do it in the mirror.

Anyway, several years ago a Disney movie came out that shocked the crap out of me. (Not literally, but, you know. Whatever. I like to say “crap”. ) It was a little flick called “Lilo and Stitch”. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. The story centers around a little blue mutant alien who disguises himself as a crazy dog. Oh yeah, and he has a really annoying voice. MY annoying voice! Someone totally ripped off our voice! Are you telling me that one has to travel across thousands of alien galaxies to hear a voice that my brother and I were doing in Cow-Town, Maryland in 1985? If only I knew then that I could trademark it… well, I probably wouldn’t have actually trademarked it. Have I mentioned it’s a tad annoying?

But moving on, my daughter thinks that it is hilarious that I can say “Ohana means family” in a pretty dang good Stitch voice. Then, keeping in irritating character, I will continue: “Sleep means, get your butt in bed, Princess Freaky Toes”. (“Princess Freaky Toes” refers to the freakish dexterity of her toes… but that’s for another post.) And continuing on a la Stitch: “Dream means, drool all over your pillow so your face sticks to it”. She laughs so hard her freaky toes hurt.

Perhaps I will swallow my pride and do a video post. Maybe I’ll do it in a dark closet so you get all of the voice (and metal hangers clanging) and none of the goofy face.

Every once in a while, when I’m browsing the DVDs at Wal-Mart, I’ll come across one of my childhood favorites… and it’s usually in the $4.88 bin. Being compulsive, sentimental, and bad with money, I of course buy them. Every time. My kids have now come to love these movies as well. As I type this, my kids are lying on my bedroom floor watching “The Dark Crystal”. A classic. Zoe is a little scared of it, though. She closes her eyes during the part when Chamberlain has his clothes ripped from his boney puppet body, and then also the part when Augra’s planetarium/house is ravaged by the big Goliath-beetle looking guys. I have to tell her when those parts are over. I remember being scared of the same parts when I was 5 or 6. (I was also scared of the part where the little podling gets her essence sucked out by the essence-sucker-machine, and her little puppet face goes all gaunt and her eyes kind of pop out. Disturbingly, that part doesn’t seem to bother either of my kids.) I also wanted to be Kira when I was little. She was a beautiful, even if she was only a puppet.

I’m glad I have kids so I have an excuse to watch these movies all the time again. Kids make it okay to sit here and laugh and giggle and be amazed and a little scared all over again.

Visit my list blog for a list of movies from my childhood. Did we watch the same ones??

w00t! My first video blog up and live. Check ‘er out:

The words, in case it sounded a bit garbled:

Big Mac, Fillet of Fish,
Quarter-pounder, French Fries,
Icy Coke, Thick Shake
Sundaes, and Apple Pies.

You deserve a break today,
so get up, get out,
and get away
to McDonald’s.

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

–ps: Note the polar bear fleece zip-up pajamas that Zoe decided to wear to bed last night. fyi- It never got below about 78 degrees last night. She woke up not wearing them…