A few more cast members

Well, I had a quiet, but fun, birthday. I slept in a bit Thursday morning and spent a good portion of the day lying in bed in my pajamas reading a book. In the afternoon, my dad brought over a bouquet of flowers for me, and I watched Singin' in the Rain.

Then while I was at belly dance class that evening, my sister put up streamers to decorate the apartment, and my parents and brother brought over cake, ice cream and presents.

One of the "presents" my mom gave me was an ice cream bucket filled with my old Legos from when I was a kid. There's nothing quite like receiving something as a present that was already mine, and we all had a good laugh about it. (My sister said she is going to start doing this; I told her I have a bunch of DVDs I've never opened that she could literally "regift.") But it was fun to have them and compare the different pieces then and now. I think one of the things that's changed the most with Legos is the people. I had forgotten, but they used to be large round heads attached to a small piece that also had jointed arms. The hands were small circles that could be attached to the knobs on the other Legos. That's it; no bodies.

I had three people in my old bucket o' Legos. I had to build bodies for them, which was interesting. They're about twice the size of my other Lego characters, so I'm not sure how I'll incorporate them into any future stories. Maybe they'll be stricken with gigantism. Or they'll be the last three ancestors of a Martian colony that crashed into Earth two hundred years ago. Who knows.

But without further ado, here are the new members of my cast:

Lucas (in white) is the self-proclaimed Biggest Star Wars Fan Ever. He has all of the movies memorized, and he even made his own light saber (it's hard to see in the picture).

Sally (in blue) is a vigilante, The Exasperator. She tracks down robbers and then tells them bad jokes until they agree to give back what they stole.

 Cy, the cyborg, has one regular hand and and one magnetic bar. It's handy for picking up the screws he drops when doing self-repairs, but it makes rolling through the refrigerator aisle at Sears a challenge.

The two detectives, Clive (magnifying glass in the right hand) and Basil just opened their own locksmith business, Sure-Lock Homes. They are hobby sleuths and discuss their cases everyday over high tea.

The guards, McCartney and Harrison, are in a Beatles cover band on the weekend. They are talented singers and musicians, but they consistently get reviews that they are too stiff on stage.

Cleo and Patty have their own Vegas-based snake-charming show. Currently they are on hiatus after an unfortunate incident with an escaped python.

Jean is the understudy for Pebbles Flintstone in an off-off-Broadway production of The Flintstones: Their Hip-Hop Caveman Life. She believes in fully immersing herself in her roles.

Mac lives in Antarctica with a colony of emperor penguins. He is mastering the intricacies of waddling and hopes to someday be able to catch fish without a fishing pole.

Li'l Pete is Paul's ultra-rich cousin (see A cast of characters) and the styling director for Paul's fashion shows.

Rocky wants to be a movie director and is making money throwing boxing matches so he can pay for film school.

So there you have it. I'll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite shows, The Big Bang Theory: "It's not enough to make the Legos move; they also have to capture your heart." -Howard Wolowitz