Instead of doing anything remotely useful or productive, I'm going to ramble about Disneyland in this space. Because, you know. I cannot resist the allure of Disneyland, nor the allure of...rambling about Disneyland. Or how much I want to be there.
(This post brought to you by: Taylor's potential vacation, a visit to my Disney-loving grandmother's house, and my constant and almost freakish need to be in Disneyland.)
Guys, I just plain adore Disneyland. And I've tried to explain that adoration to people before, and it inevitably ends badly, mostly because I'm horrible at putting this particular obsession into words. I can explain my love for the Mariners, or politics, or musicals (if pushed, but it's tough, because mostly that explanation consists of: songs! dances! the necessity of overacting! did I mention the songs? songs!), but for some reason I have a hard time making myself clear about Disneyland. So here's what I'll do: I'll list common reasons most people love Disneyland that aren't my reasons. And we'll see what we can see. Okay? Okay. :]
1. I definitely do not love Disneyland because of the rides. It must be something else. I know this because when I was eight and visited Disneyland for the first time, I loved it. But I was terrified of rollercoasters, I hated half the dark rides, and I had little to no patience for waiting in line. I found maybe two rides I loved: Peter Pan (still love it, by the way) and the teacups (which have been slowed down and made harder to spin, which I hate-- someone, somewhere, decided to regulate the teacups, and, in the process, crushed some small part of my very soul).
2. My Disneyland love does not spring from a generalized Disney love. It's actually the other way around. Sure, I enjoy a good Disney movie as much as the next person (mostly I love them for the music, so the ones from the 90s have a special place in my Alan Menken-admiring heart), but the vague Disney fanaticism I sometimes display is because I love Disneyland. As in, I visited Disneyland for the first time and then had the sudden urge to consume all things Disney, Disney-related, and Disney-endorsed.
3. It's not California. I love California, but again, that's because Disneyland is in it. Southern California, actually is, objectively, a little frightening. Some of those people are a little crazy, and the weather is wa-a-ay too hot for my tastes. Northern California is cool-- it's got mountains! and vineyards!-- but I don't like it as much for the simple reason that it hasn't got Disneyland in it.
4. It's not the people. Ohhhh, it's definitely not the people. The people are brash, loud, pushy, and self-entitled (the locals), or sunburned, tired, lost, and well, pushy (the tourists), and by in large they are not the sort of people I would want to know outside of Disneyland. There are exceptions, of course, there always are, but honestly I would not want to be friends with most of the people I see at Disneyland on any given trip. But that doesn't matter, because while I'm in Disneyland, those people are my people, and I like them. I give them directions to Splash Mountain, I let them shove in front of me in line, I even find their screeching children cute. Yeah. Cute. Take that, All Other Places Which Are Not Disneyland.
I think it may just have something to do with that indefinable Disneyland aura. And yes, this is the part where I get into trouble with people, usually for one of three reasons: a) I get all incoherent and start throwing around parts of sentences in my attempt to explain, b) people are bored at this point and just stop paying attention, or c) people think I'm a freak because I used the word "aura."
But! Back to Disneyland, and its aura, and away from "Reasons People Don't Want to Listen to Me Ramble."
Somehow, the atmosphere of Disneyland-- its unnatural cleanliness, its cheesy themed restaurants and giftshops, its slogan which it seems to naively and earnestly believe in (Happiest Place on Earth-- it is the truth) creates this place where it is impossible for me to be sad. I actually had a meltdown on my last trip to Disneyland (not the Commoner trip, but my last family trip) because I had buckets of homework (yes, I carry my homework around in buckets) and I thought my mom hated me. But honestly, that didn't really matter. Because five minutes later I was screaming for fun on Big Thunder Mountain, and then rushing across the park to get to Peter Pan before the line was too long, neatly dodging small children and dropped cotton candy along the way, feeling perfectly at home and deliriously happy. Disneyland makes me want to do cartwheels. Something you should understand: I cannot actually do cartwheels. This has been a source of some trauma in my life. Yet in Disneyland, the thought of cartwheels brings me no pain, because in Disneyland, that is just the way things work.
(A note: I have a ridiculous amount of paranthesis in the first part of that paragraph. See what I mean about getting incoherent?)
Or at least, that is just the way things work for me. I have been made aware that Disneyland does not do this to everyone. Some people find it hot, and sticky, and unpleasant, and they do not think the small, squalling children are endearing in the slightest. To these people I say: jeez, I hope you find your Disneyland somewhere. Everyone should have that place. Even if it's, like, a goat farm in the Appalachians, or some sort of biannual regional ping-pong tournament. Not that I have anything against either of those places. If you like it there, find an excuse to be there. As often as possible. No exceptions.
In conclusion, have some Utterly Unrelated Facts:
1. I'm glad Christine Gregoire won the governor's race, because I definitely don't want Dino Rossi as my governor, but as I explained to Sam, Camille, Phil, and Colin the other day, she always looks angry! She looks up at my from newspapers like she hates my soul.
2. My mom made cinnamon rolls on the rain day. Mmm. :]
3. Some days, I feel like it's possible the world is a little overfull of hate, and I get sort of depressed about all kinds of craptastic things that, really, should not be happening. And then I think, yeah, but there's: play-do, walruses, the Muppets, Douglas Adams' books, fudge-oat bars, and Aretha Franklin. I'm sorry, but any world with walruses and fudge-oat bars in it is not a world I'm going to give up on yet.
4. I'm really fond of italics.
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