Where Am I When I'm Not Here?

Well hello there! I was away from Up Popped A Fox most of yesterday because it was "Fosters Tuesday!" You might be wondering what "Fosters Tuesday!" is and I'm going to tell you right this very second. Wait. That second passed. Oops. There went another one. Maybe I should just tell you but not provide a definite time frame. Yeah, let's go with that. On Tuesdays, I do two things: 1) I watch the TV show The Fosters on the ABCFamily website. For those who don't know, it's a show about two lesbians and their gaggle of children. 2) I write a recap of the show for Autostraddle and those recaps are usually between 2000 and 3000 words which a lot of words. So, I'm dubbing Tuesdays "Fosters Tuesday!" because I can barely do anything else - except write my VillageQ posts.

Why are Tuesdays ganging up on me?

Why am I telling you this?

Basically, I'm making excuses for the simple post yesterday and pre-emptive excuses for all the skimpy posts on Tuesdays until The Fosters is over. It's also a chance to tell you where else my writing shows up.

So, you can read my recap of The Fosters at Autostraddle: "The Fosters" Episode 114 Recap: We Could All Use Some Jesus Time.

You can also find me on VillageQ today where I tell you what to say to your kid if they find a little something something that vibrates in your bedside table? Ya know what I mean? Ahem. So, head over there for my vlog: VQ Sex Ed: The one about the vibrators.

I have absolutely no idea what I'll write tomorrow but I'll be here…because I set a goal to blog every day in 2014…and it's only Feburary…so I have to keep blogging...

Writing Research

Writers often need to do research to support their writing. This research varies in intensity and I often thank the writing gods that I am not drawn to write historical fiction because 1) I barely remember anything from History class and 2) I don't have the attention span for that type of research. I do research for my online writing because sometimes I have random thoughts I want to include in posts and need to confirm that they have a connection to real things in the real world or fake things in the real world and aren't something from Vikki world. <whispered aside>Have you ever been absolutely convinced that something really happened and then you talk to your partner about it and she's like, "No. That didn't really happen." and then she launches into a long explanation with dates and exhibit A's and corroborating testimony that shows that it didn't happen and it was just something you planned/thought/talked about but it never actually came to fruition? I've heard of that happening.</whispered aside>

The point is that I research things, mostly pop culture references that I want to confirm. Sometimes, you need to know what color eyes a Monchichi has. Sometimes, you need to know when Sonny Bono wore the faux fur vest. And sometimes, you need to know about Godzilla.

I was working on a recap for The Fosters for Autostraddle and I wanted to make a reference to a character shooting laser's from her eyes like Godzilla but needed to make sure that Godzilla did, in fact, shoot lasers from his eyes.

Spoiler Alert: He didn't.

So, I turned to the Encyclopedia Britannica and by that I mean Google. I am not the only person with questions about Godzilla.

The great thing about such searches is that you get to peek into the consciousness of the general population. You also come away with questions you didn't even know you needed the answers to like, "Why did Godzilla have a meltdown?"

Maybe Godzilla was upset that his baby had laser eyes so he broke up with his girlfriend and that's why he had a meltdown. That is my hypothesis.

This is how I research my posts and I do this approximately a million times a day. Other things I searched while writing the recap? "Toilet paper icebreaker game", "Magic 8 Ball responses", "Ghosts of Harry Potter" and, yes, "Missionary position". You can see what references made it in here.

Or, just sit back and enjoy some Godzilla...

7 Causes for Worry in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Last night, our family settled onto the couch to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving as we do every year. It's a tradition that I keep thinking the kids will outgrow, though I haven't outgrown it yet.

We all got some movie candy and sat down and watched everyone walk all over Charlie Brown and then watched Snoopy make a terrible Thanksgiving dinner. We laughed and pointed out things that made no sense and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Mostly.

There were some things I noticed in this viewing that were cause for concern and I thought I'd share them all with you so that you too could worry about the health and well-being of the Peanuts gang.

1. Linus has pronounced bumps on his head. No other character has these so I am worried that someone jumped him in the pumpkin patch when he was waiting for the Great Pumpkin and now his brain is swelling and no one is taking him to the neurologist to have this checked out!

2. Peppermint Patty really shouldn't be wearing sandals in late November. We know it snows wherever they live (Exhibit A: A Charlie Brown Christmas) so it must also be cold at Thanksgiving. I worry she'll get frost bite and both feet will have to be amputated which will impact her chances of getting a softball scholarship to some all girls college.

3. We never once see a parent - not while Snoopy and the gang are making all that toast and popcorn, not when they are removing everything from the garage, not even when all the guests show up. It also seems that the parents should have spoken with grandma about being late, not Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown wasn't late all on his own! He needed a ride, yo.

4. Woodstock eats turkey. Woodstock is a bird. A bird eats another bird. So, I'm concerned that Woodstock might be an albino crow or the world's most adorable vulture. Is there a Duty to Warn in regard to bird on bird violence?

5. I'm thinking Snoopy is a hoarder and has a clutter house. He's got a table and chairs in there and a table saw and a fully cooked turkey (which may have been left out and could be carrying a foodborne illness) and costumes and a million other things. Who will intervene? Who will save Snoopy from himself?

6. Woodstock puts Snoopy's ear in the toaster and burns it and then puts butter on it. This is an inappropriate approach to treating a burn. I worry that Snoopy's ear will be permanently disfigured  which will make him much less attractive to the Peanuts gang and also affect his modeling/merchandising career.

7. Lastly, the children pile into the back of the station wagon without seat belts which I know was the practice in the 1970's. However, we never see who's driving the car. It could be the Grim Reaper or Lucy - neither of which should be responsible for a group of children.

So, maybe today, we should all just be thankful that we are not Peanuts characters because our chances of survival without some type of disfiguring injury seem much lower!

Give thanks that you will get to keep your ears and both your feet!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and buckle your seat belts and don't sleep with a table saw near your head and don't be a cannibal!

PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA