I’m Not a Poet, and My Feet Don’t Show it! °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

(Haiku: an unrhymed verse form of Japanese origin having three lines containing usually five, seven, and five syllables respectively.)

I am not much of a poet, and to be honest I was never able to follow a lot of poetry-sometimes it’s a bit like Shakespeare to me.  But I have discovered that haiku is a form of poetry that can keep my attention.  It’s poetry in 17 syllables.

While other forms of poetry can go on for pages, haiku is short and compact.  What this does is forces the poet to focus on only those words that mean the most to the poem. For several years, off and on, I have been writing haiku to entertain myself, to encapsulate a feeling or as a means to say “up yours” to the subject of the writing.  It’s a fun, sometimes challenging alternative to straight journal writing.  Generally, I prefer humorous, witty or subjects that reinforce positive morale.  I get just as jaded, or pissed off as the next person, so I can use all the positive reinforcement I can get my hands on. 

I started writing Disney haiku with the grand idea of trying to get a collection published. I don’t really know the first thing about that, so those pursuits never went anywhere, but I still keep the collection going.

There are so many Disney related subjects that I love (all the movie-both animated and live action, the “lands” at Disney, rides, characters, pin trading, parades, etc.), so I keep a list of them going, and when I have a spare half hour or so, I’ll pick one and write a quick haiku.  As I brainstorm the 5 and 7 syllable lines, it usually leads me a couple of haikus about the same subject.  I am posting a few here and plan to post them as a series.  If you love Disney haiku yourself, or even the regular old stuffy poetry type (Disney themed, of course), please feel free to send yours on and I will post them here for all the world to see.  Let’s really start a collection!  (Don’t worry, I’ll give you credit where credit is due).

The five haikus below are ones I’ve written in the past couple of years.  The 6^th one is brand new, written just for this blog and YOU!

Main Street U.S.A.

From a time I never knew

The place I miss most

Three grim, grinning ghosts

That I cannot wait to see

-Materialize

Elliot is green

And flies with tiny pink wings

-If you can see him

Disney trading pins

Can I look at your lanyard?

I have a rare one

Winnie and Piglet

Are the cutest versions of

A bear and a swine

… and a new one written just for the “Living a Disney Life” blog:

We are Ken and Mark

Moving to Florida soon

Who wants to join us?

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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On the Hunt for InspEARation °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

I recently stumbled across a website/blog called www.thedisneydrivenlife.com, a site driven by people who feel the need to be near Disney.  In one of the one-hour “webisodes” the 3 hosts chat with guests and each other about their experiences of “moving to Disney”, some having already made the trip, others in the planning stages, others still dreaming away.

The Disney Driven Life

This site was a great source of inspiration and motivation; there are other people out there who are just like me.  It begins to boggle the mind when I think about how often I have visited Disneyland in California and assumed that every single guest was like me; visiting from another state or even country.  How many of the thousands of people live less than 30 minutes away and can drive over for a few hours any time they want?

When I was in my early 20’s I was on a Disneyland vacation, and I remember sitting alone along the curb on Main Street saving a spot for my friends to sit and watch the parade that was scheduled to start in about 45 minutes.  I think the parade that year was the Light Magic “Streetacular” (quick research shows that it was actually Summer 1997, when I was in my very late 20’s, not my early), a spectacle which was to replace the iconic Main Street Electrical Parade.  A woman came up with her 8-year-old son and asked if there was room for them as well as my group.  Of course I made room, and we struck up a conversation. She told me about how cute the show was.  I asked her if it was the end of her visit to Disney (again, assuming that she had travelled here from some very long distance) and she said, “Oh, no. I live here.  I just brought my son to see the show because he hasn’t seen it yet.  I come 2 or 3 times a week.”  She must have seen my eyes bugging out of my head before I got it back together and asked her what that was like, to be an annual pass holder.  Her answer could not have better formed the foundation of my yet-to-be-formed “Move to Disney” philosophy.  She replied, “I love it.  Sometimes I will come and sit on a bench for lunch and then go home to pick up my son from school, or we will come in the evening, just to see the parade.”  Can you imagine having the opportunity to just drop by the happiest place on earth just for lunch or to see a show?!?  I want that life.

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken

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Mission SLIMpossible! °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

Just a few months ago, around the end of the year, I was taking my lunch break, sitting outside on a bench where I am often alone for the entire half hour.  Left to my own thoughts, I was repeating in my head again and again; “I have to get out of here”.  Of course, at the time I am thinking about my mundane, mental-stimulation-free job, but it applies to other things as well-not the least of all the city I live in, but also the body that I occupy as well.

I’m big on mantras and affirmations, even though they are not always warm and fuzzy or Confucius-like, they still work for me and they keep me motivated during moments of weakness.  I will often make up post-it notes with short phrases like, “Give that chicken fat BACK to the chicken” (referencing an old exercise song I used to listen to when I was a kid), or “You can always eat dessert LATER”, and “Don’t quit until you puke, faint, or die!”.  One of my favorite post-its is “Commit the crime… do the time”. All of these reminders serve to help me to keep my eye on my past, as I look toward the future.

Right around Christmas, I wrote a journal entry that I just found.  It reads, "I don't want to go to Florida this overweight.  This move is meant to be a new start to a new life.  I need to commit myself 100% to making the result something positive and uplifting for me and my future.  This means I really can't bring bad habits or other previous obstacles along for the ride.  Overcome them NOW, so that the new life is just that, a NEW LIFE!"

I made those words into a banner and posted it on the door next to my treadmill.  I see it every day now, and it is the ultimate motivation for me.  I have lost weight before, and quit after a few months.  This is my last chance to commit to the process fully before I get involved in the distractions of moving, something I know will be time consuming and mentally draining.   

As of January 1^st, 2012, I weighed in officially at 275 pounds, and I began my journey. As of this posting, I am 15 weeks into the journey and I have lost 23 pounds. All from hiking, signing up for “boot camp” classes, and keeping a diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts and lean meats. More on that later.

Mentally, I am in a good place right now to make these changes.  I have been feeling motivated on a daily basis to make changes in my life.  I am clearing out unused or unwanted belongings from the house more than a year in advance of moving.  This “purging” if you will applies to my efforts to lose weight.  I am getting rid of things, obstacles, which are getting in the way of exercising. 

I am envisioning the changes that will come; a leaner, more energetic body, fewer material things, fewer bills or payments because of a reduced need to consume, more TIME available because I am cutting back on my television watching.  I’m even planning on changing my email address because the one I have been using for 15 years has always been too confusing for people to spell!

This post marks the first steps into my new life as a thinner future Central Floridian and potential Orlandonian!  I will update weekly, but it is now recorded at 252 pounds and countiung dowwwwwwwn.

Previous weigh in: 275

Current weigh in: 252 (April 16th, 2012)

Total pounds lost: 23

Comments are welcome. Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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How did we come up with the great idea to move to Florida? (PART 2) °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

– Walt Disney

HOW DID WE COME UP WITH THE GREAT IDEA TO MOVE TO FLORIDA?

Part 2

The idea to “move to Disney” came the next weekend, but it felt like a real “duh” moment.  For a solid year Mark and I had been talking about Colorado being the place to relocate to because we both want a change of scenery and a fresh start in a new location. We are both “done” with Phoenix, Arizona, as it were.  I have a life-long friend who lives near Colorado Springs who loves the area and was willing to show us the town so she suggested we visit sometime when the winter snow had cleared away.

I was looking forward to seeing my friend.  However, the next day at work I was sitting idle at my desk before the busy part of the day was to begin. As I have done in the past, I was fantasizing about the notion of being able to go to the park every day if I so chose. Sigh...  if only I lived near the park.

It didn't come yet. 

On my lunch break that afternoon, I was web surfing through a very informative website called www.city-data.com.  This site compiles a great deal of information about whatever city you might be interested in researching.  I decided to research a bit about Denver, Colorado, since Mark and I were considering it as a place to live, and compare the stats to Phoenix.  While I was clicking through various links, it occurred to me to look up the area of Florida that Disney World is in just for fun.  Click. Click. Click.  Pause.

Duh.  There was my moment.  Can you smell the wood burning?

Suddenly everything on my mind was Orlando, Orlando, Orlando, and a key thought continued to play in my head like the Small World theme song: “If we are going to start over by moving to a new state, why are we not moving closer to Disney? Denver looks nice, but moving there would be like moving to Phoenix all over again."

And the thought that sealed the deal was that if we moved to Colorado Springs, we would be no closer to realizing the life-long fantasy of being a Disney World annual pass holder!

Comments are welcome.  Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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How Did We Come Up With the Great Idea to Move to Florida? (PART 1) °o° *•._.•* '

The drawing that I posted yesterday (Sleeping Beauty's Castle) was one that I finished in September of 2011.  I am a pen and pencil artist, and Disney art is my favorite to create. It was drawn with pen and ink, in a style called "stippling" or "pointilism"; and if you look close, you will see that it was drawn in thousands of tiny dots.  Nothing but dots.  Lots and lots and LOTS of DOTS!

Part 1

One lazy weekend afternoon just about a year ago I was wondering how many residents of Orlando or Florida had moved there just to be near Disney.  It lead me to also wonder about those lucky people who also purchased annual passes to the Disney Parks and how often they take advantage of them.  Friends have told me that if I lived close enough to Disney, it would get very old, very fast.  But I never agreed.  I certainly don’t think that I would go every day, but I know how much I love the parks, and how many times I had taken 10 minutes to sit on a bench and just people- and park-watch, really longing for the chance to “get to know” the park like an old friend that I see just once or twice a year.  I want to familiarize myself with its operations, the architecture, the landscaping, the hidden area not meant for my eyes as a “guest”, and I want to find all of the tiny, artful details that the Disney Artists and Imagineers have left hidden for me to find like so many Easter Eggs.

I don’t think that I would ever grow tired of going back because after a 3-day park-hopping vacation I am longing to go back within a week after leaving Disneyland each time.  We had just visited Disneyland (in California) over the Valentine’s Day weekend (in 2011) and just a few weeks later it felt like a year had passed and it was time to get busy planning the next visit.  Its the same way every time.

Another "hobby" of mine is finding the differences in the park from the last time that I was there, or from previous visits in the years' past.  Design, decoration, even slight adjustments entertain me to no end. When I am at home with no Disney visit in my immediate future, I try to fill some of the void by collecting digital photographs from various web sites. A few are dedicated to compiling vintage photos of the California park that show how it was designed in the early years through the 1960’s, 1970’s, and even the 1980’s.  It is a rare treat indeed to look back at photos taken before the internet existed; photos that are not just snapped and uploaded within seconds.  

No, I will never grow tired of visiting the park if I lived near Disney.

My online search into finding outspoken Disney Annual Pass Holders led me to a Discussion Board on the site WDWmagic.com in which the question posed was essentially the same as mine; “Do people who live close to the parks get tired of it? What is it like to be able to just say, ‘I want to go eat dinner at Epcot tonight’ or ‘I’m bored, I’ve got a couple of hours to kill, let’s go to one of the parks for a little while’ and be just a short drive away...  

There were some really great replies:

·         “(I go to the parks) every couple of days” 

·         “I can tell you that the parks do get old after a while, and it is mainly because it becomes routine.”  (This was posted by a person who identified himself as a former cast member who worked there 5 days a week, then would go to the park on his days off for 10 months!)

·         “Going to the parks for a local is different than going to the parks for people on vacation. People on vacation go right around park opening and may stay all day. Locals go whenever they feel like it, and may only go for an hour or so. That's what I do, and I think that helps keep the magic for me. I don't like spending all day in the parks, too much heat and people on a weekly basis would wear out really quick.  You have to change it up.”

·         “I've lived in Orlando all my life, and I can say that after almost two decades I am still not tired of the Disney parks.”

It seems that for some people, Disney has been infused into their DNA as a way of life; a virtual need, like sunlight, hugs, or eye glasses; all things we can live without, but really should not .  On the continuum of Disney Fans it seems like the majority of them reside in the middle; visiting Disneyland is a nice prospect, but not a priority.  I think I live on the right end of the scale-the spot where all things Disney are unequivocally a mental and physical obsession.   You might recognize the scale I have appropriated and adapted here to illustrate my point:

0-----------1-----------2-----------3-----------4----------5-----------6

0 Exclusively apathetic to Disney

1 Predominantly apathetic to Disney, only an incidental Disney Fan

2 Predominantly apathetic to Disney, but more than an incidental Disney Fan

3 Equally apathetic and Fan of Disney

4 Predominantly a Disney Fan, but more than incidentally apathetic to Disney

5 Predominantly a Disney Fan, only incidentally apathetic to Disney

6 Exclusive Disney Fan(atic)

................to be continued in Part 2

Comments are welcome.  Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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Introducing Ken and Mark °o° *•._.•* ' *•._.•* °o°

(Disney Obsessives)

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there, Mouseketeers!

At the beginning of this writing, I (Ken) am 43 years old, not far from 44, and my partner Mark and I have finally made the decision to “move to Disney”.  Of course, we won’t be living on the actual park grounds (something I probably wouldn’t object to even if it were possible), but we will be moving to a zip code even more exciting to me than the notorious and well-known 90210 in Beverly Hills; Orlando, Florida 32830!  This will happen sometime in the foreseeable future; we're predicting within 18 months from now.  It’s time.  

This is the story of our journey as we prepare to relocate from Phoenix, Arizona to The Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.  Although I will be contributing most of the postings to this blog, Mark and I will both share a lot of back story along the way so that there might be some insight into the make-up that drives this ambition for both of us.  I’d like it to be a step-by-step, obstacle-by-obstacle account of what we did to reach each milestone or to overcome each challenge to reach the goal.  I do intend to set long- and short-term goals to help us get there, and I know it will be helpful to see those goals spelled out as we work towards reaching them.  I’m also hoping to have a companion part two to this memoir; the result of reaching my dream-and I already have a title, “365 Days of Disney”, in which we hope to document one full year of living at Disney, the culmination of obtaining a life-long dream.

We hope you will ride along on our virtual Monorail, hopefully we will make a few friends along the way, or will soon be neighbors with you.  

This is the first day of our Disney blog.

Comments are welcome.  Positive feedback encouraged!

Mouseketeer Ken 

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