Keep the spirit of TOTORO in my heart forever

Thanks to abosco, I’ve found that there are toy totoros out there – not just the plush ones but wind-up, bouncing ones! I’m on a quest! I purchased a DVD of My Neighbor Totoro here in China and am able to pop it in whenever the day is feeling a little un-totoro!

I’m Southern. I’m from Alabama, and holy CRAP, I love Free Bird. What’s happened is this: KEXP, that bastion of indie rock, is freaking playing a live cover of Skynard’s FREE BIRD. Yes, Seattle, you love Free Bird too. Smart Seattle. Mmmmmmm-wa!

PS – Free Bird and Totoro are one and the same. If you need an explanation, then you haven’t fully “gotten” Totoro. I’m sorry.

What have I done that exudes totoro recently? NOTHING! I’m thinking this calls for a midnight stroll through the glistening streets with an umbrella looking for totoro and his leaf hat. Last night while I waited for a bus in the dark, I thought of totoro and the rain and the night and the magic. Too bad when my bus finally came it didn’t have yellow eyes and furry seats.

I watched TOTORO with my Dad’s stepchildren and with my teenage cousins this weekend. Twice. That movie never gets old. I LOVE totoro!!!!!!!

I lived in Japan for one year when I was in fourth grade. If you can raise your child/ren in a foreign country – DO IT. I will never forget that experience. My Neighbor Totoro is a movie by MIYAZAKI and it is a wonderful story of two sisters in northern Japan who meet a spirit in charge of a huge Camphor tree. The spirit protects the girls and takes them on flying adventures. I watched this movie without subtitles and adored it – I swear it is one of the reasons I adore Penguins. There is a similarity between them and TOTOROs. Spirited Away is another of Miyazaki’s wonderful movies.