2011, adios!

Here we are at the close of 2011, which means, it's time to reflect on all that has happened this year. As I think of the year in general, I'm leaning towards it being good, though the stressful parts were REALLY stressful.

As usual, good things are in green and bad in red.

January

• After having reviewed every episode of Bewitched since the 40th anniversary of the premiere on September 17, 2004 for HarpiesBizarre.com, and at the prompting of my readers, I submitted the idea to Bear Manor Media and they said I may have to edit it, however, that indicated they were interested:)


• Mr. Sniffles, my parent's cat, came in one day from outside very ill and later my mom let him out again and he never came back. It's so very sad.

February

• I got almost $3,000 for my yearly bonus which I used to pay off RC Willey and pay off my car!!! I also got a laptop.

March

• Because I was going to meet Barbara Eden (Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie) next month, I decided I wanted a Jeannie bottle and found one for about 3/4 of the price! When it arrived, it was horribly painted but the seller sent me another one that was much better.


• Mayson celebrated his 5th birthday at Boondock's. Everyone was there except Jody, who wasn't invited. It was so much fun. We played laser tag and also went in the go-carts.

April

• I went to Los Angeles by myself so I could meet Barbara Eden at her book signing. I was going to meet some of my Bewitched friends there but it was so lonely and dumb being by myself. I did go to Disneyland by myself which was interesting. But Barbara was so awesome and beautiful!

May

• Mom passed her final and only has one more class to go to finally be out of school!


• Tracey introduced me to "Ultimate Dog Tease" which truly made me happy and still does. Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/nGeKSiCQkPw

• Had a candle light vigil for the 16th anniversary of Elizabeth Montgomery's passing. Tracey, Jenn, and her new awesome boyfriend Zack were there. We watched her Twilight Zone and Johnny Staccato episode. We also watched "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble."


• That same day was also HIV Awareness Day that Paula Abdul was always mentioning on her site. So I posted about how fitting that it also fell on Liz's death anniversary as Liz was a champion for AIDS rights and Paula responded, "@davidp what an AWESOME post about Elizabeth Montgomery. She was right we need to get educated about HIVE and AIDS and STOP STOP STOP w/the ignorance and prejudice." It made me happy that Paula mentioned Liz:)


• I also started on a new team at work. My supervisor is Laura Holden, who was rumored to be a horrible person, but I really like her. She has made me loyalty champ.


• Saw Pirates of the Carribean III with Tracey, Ian, Mackenzie and Jack. It was way awesome because it has mermaids in it.


• I had to get a new cell phone as the speaker on my Palm Pre Plus blew out so I got an awesome HTC Incredible 2.


• I also showed Mayson the "Ultimate Dog Tease" video and he was laughing so hard, he was slapping his knees, and said, "Dave! We have got to show this to someone!" Man, he's so funny!

June

• Attended the Best in State awards with Michelle, Michael, Jenn, Tracey, and Jason Roundy as Michelle's Utah Events by Design was receiving an award. We rented tuxes and the girls bought dresses. It felt very much like the Academy Awards.


• Jenn and I spent a Sunday going to various little known parks around the city, particularly the Peace Gardens so I could finally see the Little Mermaid statue. That night Tracey, Michelle, Michael and I went up the canyons to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. It was a great day.


• I spoke to one of the relatives of the Von Trapp family at work which spawned many emails with my team quoting the songs from the movie. It was hilarious!


• I went to the zoo with my mom and Mayson and we had a really fun time. Mayson was so cute saying, "Let me see the map. I know where to go."


• I hadn't heard from Ben Ohmart of Bear Manor Media in over a month since submitting the edited book so I asked him how it was going and he replied, "It's a good piece of work, so let's go for it!" WOO-HOO!!!! I had started pursuing the book also because last September Paula Abdul had challenged everyone to make goals and that was one of mine so I tweeted her that it was going to be published and she responded, "DON'T MAKE ME CRY! If i start cyring this early team mystery glam will find you and they'll HURT YOU! I'M ECSTATIC FOR YOU! xoP" Awesome!!


• I met Jen Gruz on her layover from Alaska on an early Saturday morning. It was good to see her.

July

• Rachel Harris Hill, the girl I dated in 2005, found me on Facebook. I've thought of her every day since we split up and I found she was married but divorced and has a two year old son. We only traded like two messages and she never wrote back to me.


• Pamela and Sydney came up to visit one weekend for Sydney's softball tournament. Tracey and I met her and Janette Clark Belnap and Jill Atwood at the Valley Fair Olive Garden and had the best time. On Sunday, Pam, Sydney and I went to Temple Square and had lunch. It was a fun day.


• The Slack Family Bear Lake trip was fun, even without Evelyn and Bert. My family went up to Preston, Idaho to visit the sites from Napoleon Dynamite. It was awesome! My mom really loved it and so did Mayson.


• Had a fun time at the Pioneer Day celebration at Evelyn's, though it wasn't as fun as last year.


• Amy Winehouse, one of my favorite singers, died of alcohol poisoning. So sad, but not unexpected. That same day Jenn threw a huge summer BBQ at our house that even Paul came to! It was fun.

August

• My mom, Paul, Mayson, Pibby, Jenny, and I went up to Tyler's family's cabin in Kamas with he and Heather and had a great time even though we had to bring water in from the creek for the toilet. It was beautiful up there and I tried riding a motor cycle for the first time and about crashed.


• Tracey and I took Mayson to see the UP house in South Jordan. It was so awesome!


• One Friday I had off and posted on Twitter that I had the day off and Paula Abdul asked "How's your day off? xoP I replied, "Fine as frog hair...I'm going to hang with my 5 year old nephew Mayson. He's awesome! How's your day?" Usually Paula doesn't respond more than once but she responded, "Fine as frog hair? Really?? I see where this #Friday is headded...hairy frogs, guys named Dougie and 'Stanky' legs. lol" based on other comments going on. While I was hanging with Mayson this strange boy came to the door saying the Draper grandkids had told him to come find a drink at our house and I told him to go back there and tell them to be nice. Well, the next day I find out that the kid went and climbed up the Draper's roof and fell down their chimney and got stuck!! The fire department came over and had to break down the walls in the living room to get him out. Crazy!!


• Mayson started kindergarten!! I can't believe he's old enough to go to school! They made him the 'C' expert.

September

• Mayson lost his first tooth!


• We celebrated Paul's birthday at Pat's BBQ and invited Michael and Michelle since it was also Michael's birthday. It was fun.


• Heather's birthday was awesome because I gave her this HUGE Simpsons book that is comprised of the first 20 seasons. She loved it.


• I started taking supervisor calls at work last month, not really wanting to as I had done so for a week in February and hated it. It has been horrible!! People such dumb asses!


• Grandma Pierce stopped eating around Heather's birthday and my dad and I went to go see her the weekend of September 11. She had really labored breathing just like Grandma Slack did before she died. We said our goodbyes and on September 12, Grandma passed away. We had her funeral that weekend and I, Tracey and Troy, Pamela and Natalie, and Matt all gave talks. It's so weird that she actually died.

October

• The weekend of my birthday, Dad had to go to the hospital because two of his toes are totally black and he had red lines going up his leg which indicates infection. So I made my birthday dinner of tacos and mom had made me a chocolate cake. Michelle, Michael, Paul, Mayson, Pibby, Jenny, Tracey, Jenn and Zack were all there. It was a lot of fun and we went bowling too, which I've wanted to do the past five birthdays.


• Paul and Jody FINALLY got divorced! It's sad but good.


• Paul went with me to Reno to stay at Andrea and Robert White's for Halloween. We had a lot of fun with the exception of me choking so bad on some food at the Chinese restaurant in Virginia City that I had to go to the emergency room. I was really scared. But they did a good job. I was King Henry VIII. It was awesome!

November

• My parents were supposed to work for Thanksgiving and Pibby and Jenny and Heather and Tyler were going elsewhere so Michelle invited Paul and I. We had a really good dinner and just hung out most of the day until the evening when Paul went and picked up Mayson and we all went to see the new Muppet movie. I loved it! But I seemed to be the only one, other than Mackenzie, who was with us with Ian and Jack.

December

• My mom failed her final which means she cannot get her RN. Her teacher was the biggest bitch and pretty much made all the tests impassable. There were many that didn't pass. Mom is currently trying to appeal it.


• I was finally taken off taking supervisor calls. So glad!! I hated it so much!


• Christmas was good with the traditional Christmas breakfast. Jenny had my name and she got me Liz Montgomery's The Black Widow Murders.


• I also decided I have to have another job so I applied at Altius on the advice of Paul because his friend works there and I got it! So now I have to quit Verizon which is going to be difficult, but necessary.


• My book has also gone to the typesetter and so I feel that it's going to be published in the spring.

I'm really excited for 2012 - new job, first book published, and hopefully many more great things!

The Return of The Muppets

I have been a fan of the Muppets ever since I can remember. In fact, I have more Muppety memories from childhood than I ever did of Bewitched. The Muppet Show premiered the same year I did and I do remember watching it when I was younger, most likely in reruns. I don't remember when I first saw my favorite Muppet movie, The Great Muppet Caper, however, I do remember that every time my dad would go to rent videos and a VCR I would always request it. For my eighth birthday, I went with my parents and my friend Shantel to see The Muppets Take Manhattan and for my tenth birthday the traveling exhibit The Art of the Muppets came to town so my mom paid for me and about 10 of my friends to go see it. Up to that point it was the best day of my life as the actual Muppets were there, albeit in cases, but still! Even Big Bird, my favorite Sesame Street Muppet was there! My bedroom was filled with Muppet posters that I got at the store or out of the Muppet Magazine (which I totally regret destroying as they are highly collectible).

What did I love about the Muppets? I loved that they were full of dreams and ambitions that they achieved, that they tried to be very professional even amid Fozzie's terrible jokes and Gonzo's crazy attempts at feats of daring like jumping through a hoop of fire while his chickens clucked the William Tell overture. Most of all I loved the outrageous zaniness of the resident band, the Electric Mayhem, particularly Dr. Teeth and his far out way of talking and Animal, the crazed drummer who could lose control at any moment.

My career goal was to work for Jim Henson and in fact, for career day in about fifth grade, I dressed up like a hippie and brought my babysitter Vanessa's Animal puppet so I could demonstrate how I was going to be a Muppeteer. Of course, every other boy was a fireman or doctor, so I stood out like a sore thumb, and I was told that it wasn't a very good career goal, which I didn't agree with at all.

In September 1990, Jim Henson (Muppet creator) sadly passed away and the world wondered if the Muppets would continue, no one more than myself. Shortly after his death the newest big screen Muppet movie A Muppet Christmas Carol was released and was also the unveiling of the new Kermit's voice. I was apprehensive, but it was OK, though I felt something was a bit off. Piggy was hardly in the movie and the Electric Mayhem, who had seemed to be a big part of every other Muppet movie, was a mere blip.

In 1996 Muppet Treasure Island was released and I have to admit I forced myself to like it, but it mainly just sucked. There was something missing! That year also saw the release of a new Muppet TV show - Muppets Tonight - which was all right, but it was certainly no Muppet Show, though it did introduce a new favorite Muppet, Pepe the Prawn.

The last big screen Muppet vehicle was Muppets from Space (1999) which was not that great at all. My Muppets were known for their great songs and all this movie had was musical montages to 70s songs.

A little after that Palisades began releasing Muppet action figures which literally was a dream come true. For years I've had dreams of going into what looked like the old Crossroads Mall into a shop in a deserted corner to find Muppet action figures everywhere and when these were released, I literally bounced a check at Toys R Us to buy Kermit, Piggy, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Dr. Teeth. That last one made me smile as big as he did as there was never any Dr. Teeth toys before! But soon, Palisades stopped their productions and the Muppets came out with a few TV specials that were far from special. It truly seemed that any Muppet magic was a thing of the past.

But then came along Jason Segal (How I Met Your Mother).

About four years ago it was made known that Jason wanted to head a new Muppet movie as he was a huge Muppet fan and in fact, had his own puppets he made. I wasn't sure about how all this would go down considering the most recent Muppet projects were ill-making to say the least, aimed towards pre-schoolers.

Then, starting last year, photos from the set and promotions started happening and it looked like maybe there was hope that someone had finally realized that us Muppet fans love ALL the Muppets like Thog, Sweetums, the Newsman, etc, because those Muppets were showing up in pictures and then in the previews.

Fastforward to this past week, Thanksgiving evening to be precise, I saw the new movie (simply called The Muppets) with my brother, my nephew Mayson (who I've indoctrinated with the Gospel of Muppet via the Muppet Show DVDs and the movies) and some of my friends.

So what did I think?

I LOVED it!! In the very first few moments the title of the movie came up and THANKFULLY not in the font with the M looking like a contorted Kermit, but with the old school Muppet Show looking font. I had the biggest chills when Gary (Jason Segal) and Walter (his Muppet brother) were shown watching The Muppet Show back in the 70s where Walter realizes there are others like him. When his room was shown with tons of Muppet stuff, I heard my brother tell Mayson, "That's Uncle Dave right there!"

I thought the songs were kinda cheesy, however, I can't get "Life's a Happy Song" out of my head. And I totally related to "Man or Muppet" where Gary tries to decide how much of a man or a Muppet he is and finally comes to the conclusion that he's a Muppet of a man.

The best part of the movie, though, was when Kermit and the reunited gang, put on a show harkening back to The Muppet Show, and when Kermit announced through the O of what was now the word "Telethon" the special guest star, I thought I would pass out...it was AWESOME!! Especially seeing all the Muppets in the archways.

I also really liked the inclusion of Uncle Deadly, a little known Muppet, but an awesome one.

Of course, the movie did have it's faults like the over all depression of Kermit, the Electric Mayhem not having a musical number and Beaker and Bunsen hardly being in the movie, however, those were minor gripes.

I loved the movie so much I went and saw it again and hope to see it at least once more before it's out of theaters. I really feel like MY Muppets are back, the ones that had an adult sensibility but who could also play to children a like, and not just be focused solely to kids.

What I really like is that my nephew, who is five years old, is about the same age as I was when I really began to begin my love for the Muppets, and now it seems that he's going to be able to have the same opportunity.

I hope the success of this movie means even more movies and maybe, just maybe, a new Muppet Show utilizing the old set.

RIP Grandma Pierce!

Tonight, around 9 PM, my Grandma Pierce passed away after dodging Death's scythe for many years. In fact, she stopped eating last Wednesday and went into some sort of coma state, though she could still hear us. My dad (her only son and first child) and I went down to see her on Saturday. She was having heavy breathing followed by periods of no breath for about twenty seconds or so. I grasped her hand and said, "Grandma, it's David. Me and my dad came to visit." Her breathing immediately went to a slow rhythm. I had watched my Grandma Slack pass away and the way Grandma Pierce was breathing was the same way. I was sure we would witness her death, especially since the nurses said it would be within the next twelve hours.

However, Saturday came and went, Sunday came and went, and today I had resigned myself to the fact that maybe she was again going to pull through.

Today I received the Complete Series of M*A*S*H on DVD. That series is a Pierce family favorite. In fact, every time I think of it I think of being down at Grandma's, getting ready for bed in our sleeping bags on the living room floor (us kids were too scared to sleep down stairs in the basement), and the adults getting ready to watch the show right after the 10 o'clock news. Everyone laughed and it was cool that the main character, Captain 'Hawkeye' Pierce, shared our name and looked like my dad. Anyway, my cousin Tracey from that side of the family, who is also my roommate, and I were watching the extras discs from the set when she passed. How fitting.

It's also a full moon which I think is great.

I'm so glad she's not suffering anymore. I felt bad that I didn't go to see her more often. I would usually go once per season because it was such a long drive, and then just really depressing when you'd get there because she was so miserable.

I lived with her while going to college and we had many discussions, laughed some, argued some, and just had nice time. I felt a special bond with her as she loved to paint and so did I.

While I was on my mission about three months in, I woke up horribly ill with a splitting headache and quite nauceous. In fact, I fell into a coma and awoke in the evening thinking it was still morning. As I lay in bed not able to get up because my head hurt so bad, the phone rang. My companion answered and said, "No ma'am, there is no Pamela Reddington here." !!!!! Pamela is my cousin so I told him to give me the phone. When I got on, it was Grandma!! Nobody had my phone number as I wasn't allowed to call home. She was quite surprised and said she didn't know how she got my number. I told I was glad because I was feeling so sick, which made me homesick so we spoke for awhile. She was glad to speak to me. She also wrote me quite often, which I greatly appreciated.

Grandpa Pierce has been dead 20 years this Thanksgiving so it's about time she joined him.

All though I am sad, I'm more grateful and happy that she won't suffer anymore, that she'll finally be with Grandpa again, that she'll get to see her parents whom she lost when she was just a teen or younger, and her younger sister who died when she was quite young. I know I'll see her again and I'm so thankful for the testimony I have of eternal life and that the Savior, Jesus Christ, has made it possible for all of us to be with our loved ones again throughout Eternity.

My Dreams of Jeannie Come True!

All though my heart lies with Samantha and the witches and warlocks of Bewitched, I have a place in my heart for Major Nelson and the beautiful Jeannie he released from her bottle imprisonment of 2,000 years on I Dream of Jeannie. In fact, I would say that when I was little, Jeannie was more my favorite than Samantha because she was half naked (for the 60s) plus the bottle was so cool and her smoking in/out of it was even more cool!

Late last year, Barbara Eden (Jeannie) announced that she was writing her auto-biography. I knew that meant she most likely would be having a book signing and wouldn't you know it, she did! So I purchased my trip and flew out last Thursday to Los Angeles for the book signing at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove. I met up with some friends that I had met at the Bewitched Fanfare and after going to lunch, we got in line about 15 people from the front due to Lindsay being an employee of B&N getting us wristbands for the front.

A couple weeks before I had bought a replica Second Season bottle that Barbara could sign however the B&N people had all these dumb rules about "No Memorabilia" and "No Posed Photography." I brought it anyway.

At 2PM Barbara showed up. She is very tiny and though she is pushing 80, she looks like she is pushing 60! She asked if we wanted a Q&A or just start signing. We all opted for the former. She did about five questions and then the signing started. When it was my turn, I was so thrilled! She is so beautiful and kind! I had all ready read the book and told her how much I loved it and how she has brought me so much joy through her talents. She thanked me and while Lisa was taking our picture, Lisa said outloud, "No don't you dare pose! But smile!" Barbara laughed and we looked at Lisa and then when the rest of my friends had gone through the line we all told her goodbye at the same time and I blew her a kiss.

I was going to stay until after the line had died and see if I could get the bottle signed but Lisa invited me to go with her and our other friends to a Hollywood Starbucks where the stars always go so I opted for that as Lisa seems to attract an extraordinary amount of stars to her. Well, we ended up visiting with Zsa Zsa Gabor's crazy husband, Prince Frederick!!

When I went back to the Grove for a dinner party that my friend Gina had set up with the possibility of Barbara joining us, I found that the book signing ended early and Barbara had actually been signing memorabilia as well as went to the place where we were having dinner. She had left just before I got there. Oh well! The dinner was fun as I was with other IDOJ fans.

The next day I made my way up to Westward Beach in Malibu, CA where the pilot episode of the show was shot. It was so cool seeing it as it hasn't changed. I also got to be part of some more magic as I was asked to film a proposal of a guy to his girlfriend without her knowing under the cover of them building a sandcastle and her digging up a bottle with the proposal message inside.

All in all, a dream come true and I shall always dream of Jeannie, er, Barbara!