Old enough to know better, but I'll always like fun. I write fanfic, mostly Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers (ShieldShock OTP). GlynnisIsta8 at Ao3. I'm a Liberal, open-minded Ally, Dem, Christian, Het/Monog. Mod @shieldshockfanfic. Member, Darcyland Network.
I always heard stuffing was stuffed in the bird and dressing was a side dish to dress it up, too. And, later I heard that stuffing the bird makes it harder to get it to cook through and increases chances of food poisoning. :P
My sister's dressing recipe is great & is my go-to. She'll make it for our family meal and I'll make it for feasting w my husband's fam.
Someone... I guess she was tired? Offered some Barbie clothes in a Facebook Barbie group for $20 because they needed TLC and she just didn't feel up to it... and I spent the day doing little Barbie laundry and have recovered them up to a value of at least $200, so far. One of the outfits was only made 1969-1970 for Barbie friend "Julia" and was the whole reason I jumped on the deal and it's easily worth $65 even though it's missing the hat. I love good luck. :)
Things I've Learned Since I Went Insane & Started Collecting Barbies
There are about a bazillion Barbies in the world.
They can be expensive & addictive & most are super pretty. Except poor Scooter, who is so homely I saw a video where the owner only displays her with a mask on. And I don't WANT poor Scooter in my collection. I don't much want Tutti, either... her eyes kind of scare me sometimes.
African American dolls from the 60's and 70's are rare because fewer of them were made then (Christies & Julias, mostly). They're gorgeous. The original "Black Francie" goes for like $5k now. No African American doll was named "Barbie" until 1980.
"Titan" in place of "Titian" is the "lose/loose" dilemma of Barbie EBay when people try to describe red hair.
It's almost impossible to get smoke smell out of vinyl, not so hard to get it out of cloth.
Barbie dolls & fashions were super well made up until they booted Ruth Handler out of the company (mid 70's). Today's Barbie clothes are trash in comparison.
When they gave up quality as #1 product driver, Mattel got super innovative and tried all sorts of gimmicks. Walking dolls, talking dolls, dolls with sleepy eyes, dolls whose hair grew, dolls whose bust expanded & waists stretched taller, and many many shaving/beardy/hairy Ken variations.
Vintage Francie fashions cost a fortune. Julia clothes cost a fortune. Vintage Francie can wear some of the newest fashions, like the dresses from the Barbie movie. Vintage Barbie cannot because she's bustier.
Oxiclean really works & Vinegar cold wash sets colors.
Barbie hair was super durable, especially given all kids put it through. Original styles hold well and can be restored by novices.
The first Barbie was a knock off of a German sex doll from a newspaper comic.
The original Barbie earring posts were made of copper. Green Ear is horrific, but over a long time may respond to CLR or Zit cream treatment.
1970s Barbie dolls broke a hip about 10x more easily than the ones made in Japan in the 60's.
It's incredibly hard to dress Vintage (1961-67) Ken. I have a lot more sympathy for the time my sister broke off her Ken's thumb now. There were no Kens in 1968 and he got beefier in 1969. Poor new Ken has few really good clothes, most are tragically loud.
It was much easier to dress dolls when I was a kid because I had tiny, nimble fingers and no notion that the green shoes with the little pearls on them could sell for $120 on EBay in 2023 (since they came with a $3 outfit in 1964). I just jammed them on unforgiving high heel feet without a care in the world.
I keep seeing this commercial where the smiling lady's standing next to the smiling guy and saying she had 8 UTIs in one year.
And I'm like... uh... maybe use the toilet after sex? Drink some cranberry juice? Wash up Mr. Smiley's Mr. Smiley before sex? Switch your birth control? ???
The choice of having the 2 people standing there smiling through the voice over just... well, it's a choice... :O
I do. I got derailed AGAIN when Mom died earlier this year. But, I do go back to my private stories again, time to time. And, I'm getting to "better" stages of grief. I hope to get back to more writing after the holidays.
I'm sorry I don't have Halloween ShieldShock to share this year.