Deliciously Tickled

Last night, I watched A Ticklish Affair with Shirley Jones. Released in 1963, it was filmed in San Diego, land my childhood and most of my adulthood (thus far).

The movie was actually pretty funny. Shirley Jones was adorable and I wanted to wear the super-short pink shorts she word and look that good! You can see her wearing them in this trailer...



But my favorite part of the movie was checking out what San Diego was like in 1963, a full 10 years before I was born and 17 years before my family landed there. There was actually open space! I recognized road and landmarks, though, and was so excited to see what the Cortez Hotel looked like before it was ramshackling and scummy. Downtown was so cute then! Not now. Eew. (That is, unless there's been dramatic revitalization in the eight years since I've left. In that case, my apologies to the city.)

Did it make me miss the home of my childhood? Not a bit. I'm continually relieved that I don't have to look at palm trees (high five, Amanda!), park more than a mile away from the beach and that I'm not stranded in my neighborhood for all but three or four hours in the middle of the day. (Yes, traffic is so bad that you don't even want to go near a freeway!)

I adored the Midwest and miss it every single day. The Pacific Northwest? I don't really care about it. Our town has no personality and I'm not weird enough for Portland, so I could take or leave the whole area.

Except that we're not leaving! Despite a recent offer that's come up, we're not moving!!!! (Mom, I'm talkin' to you!)