Buttons and Bows

"Spacelady" is an old nickname, bestowed on me by Carol Hull back when we were college roommates in Texas. It's from an episode of the cartoon "Mindy and Buttons," which used to be a part of the Animaniacs show. In one episode Mindy accidentally stows away on a spaceship, jets off to some planet in the solar system, and of course Buttons has to rescue her and bring her safely back home. While exploring the planet and getting into all sorts of trouble, Mindy encounters a space woman going about her daily space business, does something to annoy said woman, and then leaves off with her signature saying, "Okay, Spacelady, I love you, buh-bye!" For whatever reason it stuck, and Carol has called me Spacelady ever since.

Years later I was for some reason asked to recount how the nickname came about, and in my mind I truly could not remember the name of the show. I could have sworn it was "Buttons and Bows"--I mean, doesn't that make sense? Two sewing-related accoutrements? Plus, it's snappy and flows. Am I wrong? Carol corrected me, saying it was "Mindy and Buttons," and at first I really thought she was wrong. I mean it. "Buttons and Bows" just sounded more....right. And I honestly had no recollection of the precocious little girl in the show having a name at all. So I insisted that no, no, she was wrong and I was right. And Carol insisted no, I was wrong. And so on and so forth for some time.

This argument has been repeated many times over the years, and of course I eventually figured out that Carol was indeed correct. But whenever the issue comes up I still insist anyway that it's "Buttons and Bows," just for kicks. It really gets under Carol's skin, too, which I find hilarious.

Here's to Buttons and what's-her-name!