It's Kind of Fun to Do the Impossible

It's Kind of Fun to Do the Impossible

Today is a "let's celebrate the man behind the curtain" kind of day. Because Mondays are just fantastic like that. 

First, some fun facts about Walt Disney:

1. At 16, Disney dropped out of high school to join the army.

2. Unfortunately, that didn't do much for him either seeing as he was rejected for being underage. So then he joined the Red Cross and drove an ambulance for a year in France.

3. He was fired from one of his first jobs at the Kansas City Star because his editor felt that he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas." (I bet that editor later felt like an idiot)

4. He had an animation studio called Laugh-O-Gram before he made it big in Hollywood. Unfortunately, he drove that one into bankruptcy - which is why he then left for California. 

5. He was a chain smoker his entire life and later died of lung cancer at a pretty "young" age of 65 (although it has been said that he made sure to never be seen smoking around children). 

If you really want to know: sources for the above content can be found here, here and here. 

As you may have noticed - these aren't exactly the "happiest" Walt Disney facts ever. But aren't they FANTASTIC?! 

Okay, you're probably thinking that I'm pretty crazy right now. Let me clear up my crazy brain.

I didn't put these up because I don't like Disney and I want everyone to know that he was a chain-smoker, high-school-drop-out. I LOVE Walt Disney. He's one of my favorite people ever. And that's why I put these facts up. Because he was a pretty average guy when you think about it. He had "school troubles." He got fired. He made mistakes. He and his wife had trouble having children. But look at the difference he made in the world. 

I mean, talk about putting your mark on the world!   

One of the things I like most about Disney are his quotes. I think he has some of the best quotes ever. And I really love the one here. It IS kind of fun turning No Way into Why Not?! It IS kind of fun finding out how capable you really are by doing something that scares you. Probably very few people thought that Walt Disney's dream was even close to possible. And look what he did with the impossible.

What are you going to do?

It's kind of fun doing the impossible

~Walt Disney   

Guess What Today Is....

Guess what today is.......

It's my UNbirthday!!!

And I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that it's YOUR unbirthday too!

Way to make it through another fabulous day, you wonderful person you!

(If it is indeed NOT your unbirthday today - I apologize for all the celebration here that doesn't apply to you. However, I happen to know that if you forgo reading the rest of this post for another 24 hours, this problem will be solved. So come back later!)   

Hopefully you all know where this holiday comes from. If not, short history lesson time: the word originally comes from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass but was also later used in Disney's 1951 film Alice In Wonderland. "Unbirthday" even has its own Wikipedia page (so you know it's legit) which can be conveniently found here in the event that you want to read up on it more. 

Maybe Mr. Carroll was onto something. I mean, yes, we all get "our special day" once a year. And that's cool and fantastic and makes a lot of sense. But having characters celebrate the day simply for the sake of celebrating - there's something there. 

Not every unbirthday is going to be completely awesome with no worries. 

But most people know that not every birthday is completely awesome with no worries. What makes a day great or not great is not the calendar. It's our attitude toward it. And if you've never celebrated a day for no other reason than to have something to celebrate - than you're missing out. 

Me and my roommate are pretty cool. And we have this thing that we do. It's silly, but it's one of the most fantastic things ever. It just so happens that we're exactly six months apart - with both of our birthdays falling on the eighth day of the month. It just started out with us celebrating one person's "half birthday" on the other's birthday. But then we decided we needed more celebration in our lives. So on every eighth day of the month, we celebrate a whatever-fraction-birthday (for example March 8th was my 7/12 birthday and her 1/12 birthday). Yes. It is just an excuse to buy myself chocolate and feel like a boss. But isn't that the point? A day is however special YOU think it is. 

So celebrate! For a real reason; for a made up reason; or for no reason at all.

Because it's fantastic.

We finally discuss my favorite Disney movie, yo!

I know you've all been dying to know. So I shall reveal the (not so giant) secret:

 

It's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

 

 

It'll always be Beauty and the Beast.

 

 

I can't even really tell you why I'm in love with it so much. There are obviously reasons but they aren't necessarily restricted to only this show. So, although it may not make sense to the masses - Beauty and the Beast is just my comfort movie. It's my choice of Disney movie when I've been depressed and need to remember that life's going to be okay. Or when it's too cold to play outside. Or really any time at all.

Reasons why Beauty and the Beast gets to be #1:

1. It was released in 1991 by Walt Disney pictures. 1991 is a good year. 

 

2. I've been told a few times, usually by random people, that I look somewhat like the heroin. And, even though I'm pretty sure hair and eye color are the only things we share in common - I'll take that compliment gladly anytime. 

 

3. A lot of the extras in the show are walking, talking objects - which is just fun to watch.

 

4. Belle is totally awesome! Like really - let's look at this, shall we? She is not Miss Popularity. She's a book worm, which is fantastic. She knows how to use her curiosity well. Does it get her in a bit of trouble? Yes. But were it not for that trouble, the spell would never have been broken. [Curiosity didn't kill the cat. It just let it know it was alive.] Being a Disney princess, she's of course sweet and kind; but she's also got a backbone. I mean, she stands up to a BEAST. Looks him straight in the eye - and then waits for him to look away (which of course he does). And let us not forget that she totally saves the Beast! For some unknown reason, she's not tough enough to withstand Gaston throwing her into a cellar. But once she sees the Beast almost fall off the castle to his death - she summons the almighty power of Hercules and PULLS HIM UP!

Like a boss.

And finally,

5. This story shows that it's really not what's on the outside. Cheesy - I know, but stick with me. Another reason why Belle is awesome is because she doesn't fall for the guy that everyone else is in love with. Because she knows his most prized possession is a mirror. And that's it. That's as far down as he goes. And, to be fair, she's not the biggest fan of the Beast at first either - cause let's face it - he's kind of a bully. But she's willing to take the chance to get to know him which makes her able to look past the scary outward appearance to what's really inside. And that's what she falls in love with. Is he the most gorgeous prince ever (even after changing back to human)? I don't personally think so. But that's never bothered me one bit. I'd still be perfectly happy having a love story like that. Because it's real. 

It's more than skin deep.