"All children must grow up, except one."

I love Peter Pan. My mother read it to me when I was small. How can someone not get lost in a world of fairies and pirates, indians and mermaids? And you never never grow up. Ever.

I was always particularly taken with Wendy. She is straightforward, and a bit bossy. I suppose when she had grown up people might have called her a bitch, but she was really just assertive. Take, for example, her first meeting with Peter. Here is this unknown person flying around her room. She doesn't scream, or run away. She sit up in bed and says:

"Hello, boy."

Right now I am watching "Hook." One of my favorites. A reminder that everyone has to hang on to childhood, at least a little bit. Somewhere deep down you have to remember. Best line:

"So Peter, you've become a pirate."

Maybe I am regressing. I still have the urge to climb trees and spend my weekends playing softball. Adulthood is way less fun than previously anticipated. On campus I walk along the curb like it is a balance beam, and I pick flowers. Today I laid on my back and watched the sky. People look at me like I am nuts.

At least I am whimsical. I probably have a more active imagination than most 6 year olds. I watch people walk by everyday. I make up stories for them. My stories are probably more interesting than their actual lives.

My interior life is super rich. Things always sound better in my head. I don't much care what the real lyrics to songs are. I like mine better.

Right after high school I cut off all my hair into a super cute pixie cut. I want to do it again, actually, but Cass doesn't like short hair. Anyway, I had dyed it really really red. I went to Disneyland with my family and some friends, and my mom had secured a spot for us to watch Fantasmic while the rest of us got food or something. As I picked my way through the crowd to my mother, a little girl turned and whispered, "look mom, its Peter Pan!!"

It might have been the cutest thing I ever heard.

Hook has some of the most amazing cameos, BTW. Next time you watch it, see if you can spot:

Glenn Close (as a man!)

George Lucas and Carrie Fisher (hard to tell, you kind of have to know)

Jimmy Buffet

Steven Spielberg director cameo

Phil Collins (and the rest of Genesis, actually)

David Crosby

Also: "Bangarang" is Jamaican slang for disorder or disturbance.

"To him, make-believe and true were exactly the same thing."

--J.M. Barrie