A routine expedition
Saturday afternoon I checked my mailbox and found a package from a reader named Lindsey full of t-shirts silkscreened with images of the characters from Land of the Lost. I bet half of my readers haven't ever heard of that television show, and if you're one of those people then I am very sorry that your childhood was so unfulfilling. I bet you never owned a My Pretty Pony either. These are surely unresolved issues that you should bring up next time your family gets together for dinner, right after your father turns to your sister and says, "You were always the pretty one."
I was so excited about these shirts that I actually stripped right there in the kitchen to put one on. I gave a cursory glance over my shoulder to see if there were any neighbors passing by the house, and Jon just shook his head because he knows that even if there had been I would have stripped anyway. It's not that I'm trying to tempt the old Mormon up the street, it's just I'd have to walk several feet into another room to find a place that you can't see from the street and that is just too sensible. The part of my brain that would tell me to walk to another room is missing. It's the same part of the brain that would stop me from putting on a pair of five-inch heels when I know I'm going to be walking half a mile uphill. In that situation all my brain says is THAT'S WHY GOD MADE BAND AIDS!
I chose to wear the shirt featuring a portrait of Chaka, a small chimpanzee-like humanoid:
After I pulled it over my head and straightened it out over the top of my shorts Leta took a step back to admire it.
"I love your shirt, Mama," she said. I was waving my outstretched fingers around it like a model on The Price is Right, and before I could thank her she continued, "Is that a picture of Daddy?"
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FM Living
In the Trenches of Mommyhood said:
Sleestak! Will and Holly! I'm sooo with you on this.
06.23.08 - 02:00 PM / 1Shannon said:
4 is such a quotable age. Smart girl she is.
06.23.08 - 02:00 PM / 2Danny said:
In my language we say: "A childs mouth speaks the truth"
But I must admit, it looks like my dad as well.
06.23.08 - 02:00 PM / 3Sarah said:
My favorite part of Land of the Lost was actually the theme song.
06.23.08 - 02:01 PM / 4Liz said:
And Lindsey's lovely tee's can be found where? Before my husband finds out that they exist and then his next thought is "Where was this on Father's Day?"
06.23.08 - 02:02 PM / 5Kristy said:
That show scared the shit out of me when I was a kid, but I watched it religiously. The Chaka shirt is awesome.
06.23.08 - 02:02 PM / 6Angela said:
I totally agree with you about the shoes!
Great shirt!
06.23.08 - 02:02 PM / 7Carrie said:
That's one thing I love about my 4-year-old: Old enough to dispense fashion advice.
06.23.08 - 02:02 PM / 8Amber said:
Sleestaks! I loved that show so much as a kid, but I was totally freaked out by the sleestaks and used to have nightmares so regularly that my mother made me take down a Land of the Lost poster I had hanging across from my bed. Please tell me there is a sleestak shirt as well!
06.23.08 - 02:03 PM / 9Wicked Stepmom said:
OMG!
*jealous*
We have the episodes on DVD! Jealous?
(And thanks for the earworm, BTW.)
06.23.08 - 02:04 PM / 10Madame Queen said:
Sleestak's used to scare the bejeebus out of me -- but I watched anyway!
I loved the themesong, too, though the only part I can really remember is "...in the land of the loooooooost!" followed by that giant t-rex roaring. Good stuff.
06.23.08 - 02:05 PM / 11Tanya said:
Land of the Lost was the BEST SERIES EVAH!
06.23.08 - 02:05 PM / 12Iver Jane said:
I loved this show! Time to Netflix it and inflict my husband.
06.23.08 - 02:05 PM / 13Emilie said:
Oh...what I wouldn't give for a Bugaloo's or Whitchy-Poo shirt...
06.23.08 - 02:05 PM / 14Maria said:
Awesome.
06.23.08 - 02:07 PM / 15Vaguely Urban said:
Chaka is working as a file clerk at a law firm in Los Angeles. Or was as of three years ago. I believe it was a classic Gary Coleman/parent-rip-off-of-child-actor story. Not that that takes anything away from his fine turn as Chaka on LOTL.
06.23.08 - 02:08 PM / 16maarmie said:
The Sleastacks rock! I tried to explain to my British husband exactly what Land of the Lost is and what it meant to me. Turns out, it doesn't translate.
06.23.08 - 02:08 PM / 17Colleeen Schmitt said:
Four year olds are the best!
06.23.08 - 02:08 PM / 18Holly said:
I LOVE THAT SHIRT! I loved the show Land of the Lost! I think I loved it so much because there was a girl in it named Holly, and my name is Holly. When you're in grade school, that was pretty much the same thing as being best friends. Where can I get these shirts??? Now it's a mission for me to find them, so you must help.
06.23.08 - 02:09 PM / 19Laura said:
I can't believe it! I loved Land Of The Lost. I thought it was gone forever.. I kept asking people if they remembered it and everyone I asked just looked at me like I was crazy. I kept telling them, "you KNOW Land Of the Lost" what goof balls. Thank You!!
06.23.08 - 02:09 PM / 20Megan said:
You just try to resist the urge to call Jon 'Chaka' the next time he irks you. Just try.
06.23.08 - 02:09 PM / 21Jessica said:
LMAO! I have never seen that show, but I did have a bunch of My Little Ponies, so I think I'll be OK. :)
06.23.08 - 02:10 PM / 22zeghsy said:
hahaha... "is that daddy?"!!! *wipes away tear. thank you. i needed that today.
06.23.08 - 02:10 PM / 23Ana said:
OMG, I loved that show. My mom said I was not a loser for watching. Cool shirts. Where can we find them?
06.23.08 - 02:11 PM / 24sharon said:
Priceless!
06.23.08 - 02:12 PM / 25Tiaras & tantrums said:
I KEEP WAITING FOR THE RERUNS - This was my all time fav Sat morning show when I was a child!!
06.23.08 - 02:13 PM / 26Heather said:
WOW! Talk about a flash back. Makes me want to make Battle of the Planets Underwear!
06.23.08 - 02:13 PM / 27Lori said:
Love the shirt! Such memories. Now you've got me wanting one (and a My Little Pony).
06.23.08 - 02:13 PM / 28Stacy said:
I'm one of those people that has never heard of Land of the Lost and no, I never owned a Pretty Little Pony either. I couldn't have a real pony, but prefered the company of live ones versus plastic ones when I was around them. Not much has changed. 30 something years later as I still prefer the company of animals than most people. *shrugs*
LOL @ Leta. Did you laugh when she asks you these things? I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face.
06.23.08 - 02:14 PM / 29Amy said:
Too cute!
06.23.08 - 02:14 PM / 30