ragani: (SP tongue)
Ragani ([personal profile] ragani) wrote2004-06-09 10:20 am

Pink balloon

One of my readers, Elizabeth Whitsage, told me a story of when she was working at Disneyland selling mouse-eared balloons. Every so often a mother, father, and young son would come up to her, the parents asking in enthusiastic voices "What color do you want?" and the son answering "Pink!" One parent, usually the father, would recoil in horror and say something like, "No, son, don't you want red or blue?" But before the child could reply, Elizabeth would whip a pink balloon out of the bunch and wrap its string around his wrist. Then she'd smile and say to the dad, "That'll be one dollar, please." Keep this story uppermost in mind during the week ahead, Taurus. Make sure that you always get and always give your personal equivalent of the pink balloon. Taurus

I like this story.
OK. Now to figure out what the pink balloons are out there. Where did I put that pink balloon radar...?

What is your pink balloon?

[identity profile] devonapple.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 12:14 pm (UTC)(link)
In the context of the story, I suppose it would be ABBA. : )

I think overall, my gaming hobby would be my pink balloon.

Dancing Queen

[identity profile] ragani.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
I was recently thinking of you dancing around our apartment when ever I would put ABBA on. It always made me smile. There was an ABBA tune playing in the car (via my iPod), and [livejournal.com profile] abditus asked me what movie it was from. It took me a moment to recall that, of the movies he has seen, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was what he was remembering.

As for your gaming, I am not sure I see that, in the greater social circle that you orbit in, as being a Pink Balloon. I suppose one could argue that it is not mainstream, but for a guy like you to be into gaming does not seem all that strange.

Re: Dancing Queen

[identity profile] devonapple.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately, it's beginning to become a pink balloon in my home life. Partially my own fault for spending more time on it lately than before.

Gaming

[identity profile] ragani.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 02:58 pm (UTC)(link)
It seems (to me) like a periodic obsession, not an all consuming one. I imagine as long as it only happens like this, in spurts, and is tempered with enough balance with the rest of your live, things should settle down. Hey, it's not like her passion for horses and riding can be shared with you, and is something that does not take time. Just as long as her riding and your gaming are balanced with the rest of your needs in the relationship, there is room for both.

[identity profile] ailurodragon.livejournal.com 2004-06-10 02:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Amusingly, the Everquest addicts in my former office looked down on pen-and-paper gaming. What the heck?

[identity profile] emberleo.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 01:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Pink Balloon == Something I like which, according to social roles, I shouldn't want?

Crap, there are so many conflicting social roles in my life... maybe that's why I ignore them most of the time...

--Ember--

[identity profile] ragani.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 02:01 pm (UTC)(link)
That's because you are an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, packaged.... oh wait, that's someone else.

Sure, you have a lot of things about you that "social roles" dictate you should not. That is so much a part of who you are, that it would be difficult to narrow it down. Can you think of a specific pink balloon to go with a specific social role that you find yourself noticing about yourself?

Usually I think girls have it easier for some of these kinds of things.

[identity profile] brian1789.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 02:12 pm (UTC)(link)
At home? Some overt evidence of polyness. In poly circles? Something overtly Christian (I'm Episcopalian ;).

[identity profile] ragani.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
So, depending on the venue, your pink balloon changes.

I imagine many people are defined by their pink balloons, and discover that the definition changes depending on where they are. At, say, a scifi convention, I feel almost mundane and main-stream compared to all the rabid fans that frequent these types of events (hey, you are not the only one). At work, I am far more fannish than most of my coworkers, to even attend a con in the first place.