On one hand I don’t want to DELUGE you with contests, especially since there’s going to be a steady stream of them on the review blog, and a steady stream of “last day!” reminders, and pretty soon it’s going to seem like all! contests! all! the time!—but on the other hand, meh, free stuff around the holidays, that’s not so bad, and besides, I like to.
I’ve been doing a good job clearing out my gigantic, packed Gift Closet, but it still needs significant work. I can get rid of some toys in one of the toy drives around the holidays, but I don’t think The Little Children want cloth napkins, stationery, cute notepads, dishtowels, mugs, measuring cups, Elvis fridge magnets, etc. This is where you come in, because I need someone to send a box of clutter to (or, if you’re outside the U.S., a flat-rate envelope of clutter to).
And it seemed lame to have a “Win My Gift Closet Clutter!” contest, but as it turns out I had another guessing game to play ANYWAY, so let’s put them together.
Among my late mother-in-law’s possessions, Paul found three rolls of undeveloped film. The rolls don’t match—that is, they’re all Kodak, but they’re different film speeds and different exposures so they probably aren’t three rolls of the same event, they’re probably three separate purchases. We are having them developed; I’m mailing them off today (YES I am too lazy to bring them to Walmart WHAT OF IT).
The pictures could be of her second wedding, which occurred nearly 10 years ago (the second husband died a few years later). They could be of the dog the new couple took in, which has since died. They could be of the cats, past or present. They could be of a child’s graduation, or of a church event, or of holiday celebrations with the second husband’s grown children. They could be of one of her visits to us, or they could even be of the one time we went to visit her as newlyweds. They could be photos of things she meant to sell, or photos of her new car, or photos of her daughter’s new haircut. They could be of her trip to see her parents for their 70th wedding anniversary (I kid you not: 70 YEARS). They could be a bunch of pictures of clouds or sunsets or of the destruction caused to her town one year by a tornado.
The contest, which will be open until I get the email saying they’re available to view online, is this: WHAT IS ON THOSE ROLLS OF FILM?
I’m going to guess visits with you guys. Also, I can’t wait to find out!
Kinky sex pictures. ;)
An October Wife – Oh please no. Please, please, no.
1. Something with your children
2. A family reunion
3. A vacation
I think they will be something that will make you go WTF?? Random photos that make no sense.
At least one roll dedicated to photos of her craft work – if she did anything beyond knitting it will be there as well – otherwise various shots of her handiwork. She seems the type to want to record her own achievements…
*pout* I just want cloth napkins.
I was thinking it’d be funny if it was kinky sex pictures too but I see someone beat me to that.
I think it’s visits with you. You will find things you didn’t even know happened! Also, pictures of her cats and a really bad picture of a sunset and maybe a picture of some random trip she went to like the cider mill in her town or something.
The film will contain at least one picture of a cat, at least one picture of one or more of your kids, and at least one taken not in her home town or yours.
Well, whatever the pictures are, they would all be self-serving… taken to show of “her” cute grandkids, or “her” lovely daughter or “her” Samaritan trip to visit you guys. If she’s anything like my kooky grandma (not to be confused w/ my cool gma), she’s got pics in there of OTHER people’s dogs/cats, and then she would corner you with her stack of photos of people and pets that YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW and have to listen to her regale story upon story of how CUTE! that dog was. And SMART! Never a smarter dog.
So I’m guessing it’s mainly a bunch of stuff you won’t be able to identify- like WHO’S garden is that? WHO’S new camper? Taken by MIL because there was some long and self-stroking story behind it.
I predict that all 3 rolls will be of things you didn’t suggest. Maybe dishes of salty, spicy food! :-p Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Three different film speeds (right?) suggests three different cameras, so these could be years apart. I’ll bet at least one is a holiday gathering with family, maybe one will have baby pictures of one of your children, and maybe one roll will be of the time she went on a yen to take artistic nature photos.
I think that they are hiding a hidden part of your mother in law that will be revealed and you will be shocked and astounded.
one roll of artsy farty stuff (tree? bridge? flower?)
one roll of a vacation (black socks and short shorts on the males involved)
one roll of a randon high school graduation (who is that kid that keeps popping up in these pictures?)
I don’t know, but I just hope it’s nothing…personal.
I’m guessing one holiday gathering, one vacation, and one of your kids.
I am going to go with
1. vacation with husband #2
2. pictures of her house and yard
3. the oldest roll will be unable to develop
I thought I was so clever with pictures of the HONEYMOON, wink wink, and dang if I didn’t get beat out!
So, I will say there will be pictures from a zoo or carnival type thing.
I say all really boring, none having to do with your children.
I sincerely hope for kinkies though.
I think it must be something that she doesn’t really care about, since she never developed it. So I’m guessing garden pictures or car accident pictures or home insurance repair photos or something else that seemed important at the time, but then resolved itself before she needed the pics.
I think that these photos will only be partially identifiable because they will contain her finger in the majority of the frames. I think the photos will not have many people in them, rather a bunch of objects. (Here’s one of a tree, a hill in the background, a flower up close, etc.)
As long as it’s not sex pictures or something, I think we’re ALL winners. I think that they will be of something she made/accomplished, with a few vacation photos on one roll.
Don’t old rolls of film have expiration dates on them? That may help to date the events in question.
Christy- Oh! Maybe so! I didn’t think to check before putting them in the mail.
1 – honeymoon/vacation with last husband.
2 – pictures of Paul and the kids from one of her visits.
3 – random craft, zoo, house pics.
I bet they are…unidentified scenic photos. And at least one roll will include various family pictures.
Unidentified because you will have no idea when they were taken.
1. Random landscape photos.
2. Visits with her grandchildren
3. Some event she went to, like a lecture or a concert or somesuch.
Hmm, new husband, new pets, precious grandkids, crafts….I think whatever it is you will enjoy “seeing” the past through her eyes.
Three different types of film makes this very interesting. One is a roll of someone else’s pictures (i.e. a friend gave her the film to develop). Another is a roll from a holiday family event. The third roll is blank.
I was going to guess “Anything but sex pictures, God please.”
Because my ex and I accidentally found some like that in a gun case his dad gave to him and neither of us will ever be the same after that.
Ooh, a mystery! I like it!!
I’m going to go with random photos, of many different events, but let’s say primarily of her parents’ 70th (!) wedding anniversary.
Can’t wait to find out!!
I’m going to go with lots of random landscape shots, at least two of her thumb over the lens, and a tour of the house. I also think that none of the rolls is entirely devoted to one “event” and all are a hodgepodge of stuff. How will you even judge the contest with such all-over-the-place responses, though!
Also, re: expiration dates. I once had a roll of film developed after ten years. The pictures were washed out and they all had a pinkish hue, but that was all.
I hope that whatever the pictures are of they portray her in a positive light. You know, to show that somewhere deep, deep, DEEP down she was a warm, friendly, giving person. Or not.
My guesses? Pictures of kitchen appliances and/or the 70th (yeesh) anniversary extravaganza.
Either porn or pictures of her secert second family.
I am thinking the majority of the photos will comprise (1) garden/flower shots; (2) her craft/knitting projects; (3) a family gathering (probably the 70th anniversary).
Well, now I am positively DYING to know what is on those rolls.
For some reason, I am imagining that they came out of one of those rectangular Kodak cameras from the 80s — you know, it was the size of a small brick and had a wrist-strap and you had to put one of those tall flash bulbs on the top that only had a certain number of exposures on it? Anyone?
Double exposed christmas along with summer play on the same roll of film (reusing the roll she didn’t know was done), church outing, vacation
My guess is that it is going to be something boring, like friends you don’t know, or a vacation to somewhere you can’t figure out.
I say that at least one of the rolls contains too many pictures of random flowers. Another roll will have a lot of pictures of people (perhaps distant relatives) you don’t know. And the third roll will have at least one terribly unflattering picture of you. That’s what it would be if it were my MIL.
1- somebody’s wedding (probably since divorced)
2-at least one compromising sex photo..
3-Random unfocused shots taken by a child!
The fact that they’re undeveloped leads me to believe that they were possibly important events, but not of the “I must see these pictures right away” type, like wedding or honeymoon pictures are.
I’m going to guess a graduation, along with random shots of the house, newly planted gardening, pets and grandchildren.
Whatever it was, it was something that was important to her. Kind of wild that you get this one last glimpse into her life. With people doing so much more online, there won’t be clues like this laying around when we die, unless we left our passwords written down somewhere or let the computer remember them.
man, blogger keeps eating my comment!! gah!! grr! hopefully these are not ALL showing up after the fact, but: i think it will be totally boring stuff. like repetitive pictures of furniture in her house, or poor quality pictures of the shrubs outside her house, etc.
My guess is nature type photos, flowers and whatnot. Then, pictures of the grandchildren and at least some of an outing she took that you can’t identify the place and the people in it are strangers to you.
This is most interesting! I hope you post a couple of them.
I think there will be pictures of your kids, and a few pics of random things that are of no consiquence to you… but! you must post a few when you get them back!
Oooh! Fun! So exciting! OK, let’s see. I’m going to guess that some will be those blurry, distant photos from a trip to the zoo where you think oh the animals are so cute! Must take photos! And then you realize that the photos suck and are boring and you should really just look at professional photos of tiger cubs and whatnot to get your cute wild animal fix.
And maybe some of the others will be of a parade. Like a 4th of July parade or maybe a Thanksgiving/Christmas parade.
I just hope for your sake they’re not like the pictures we found in an old camera belonging to my father-in-law. The less said about that, the better.
Definitely the 70th anniversary on one. (Booo-ring.)
And probably some vacation pics. People lined up saying “cheese,” most likely. I don’t imagine your dear departed MIL as much of a photog…
will be interesting to find out!
I imagine some really uneventful shots of cats and boring things llike that.
A holiday gathering- Thanksgiving and/or Christmas!
I bet it is a bunch of people that you have NO idea who they are. And you and Paul are starting to think she had another family out there that you guys didn’t even know about.
Yeah.
Pictures of flowers? I don’t know, I can’t figure that woman out!
i bet they are pictures of her house, etc. you know, for insurance purposes. but she never got them developed because, who thinks they’ll need that? it isn’t exactly a priority…
There are three rolls so I have three guesses:
1. A Christmas celebration involving grandchildren and thus children.
2. A wedding, not hers.
3. Pets. You can never have too many pet pictures.
(Have not read other comments, want to guess first)
Something naughty! From her second honeymoon!
HA, I kid.
I think it will be of family events, maybe at the holidays or at a wedding, etc.
I also meant to say that I don’t think the 3 different speeds is any indicator. I think old people just see film and grab it right? Unless you meant 3 different formats?
1. Her wedding
2. A family holiday (like Christmas)
3. A trip somewhere
1. Her daily life stuff – house, pets, husband, garden.
2. Her trip to see her grandkids. Or somewhere else. A trip away.
3. The tornado destruction in her town.
I think she’ll be showing her artistic side with glam shots of pets and colorful sunsets.
Porn?
Hey, so, um. Please remove the “superjulesnude” comment? That’s my ex posting naked pix of me (and many extra bonus dirty ones that ARE NOT ME). Thanks…..
Jewels,
That is SO awful! What a hateful ex!!
Swistle,
Is it wrong that I’d actually LOVE the rolls of film over the box of clutter? I once found a disposable camera in the Albuquerque airport and had it developed just to see what other people photographed. I am so nosy, I know.
I’m going to guess that at least one of the rolls has something to do with her work–maybe pictures of clients she liked working with, or a Halloween party, or something like that. Something endearing, I hope.
I think they will be a bunch of random things and people that none of you recognize – thus causing you to realize that your MIL led a double life. <3
Children – grandchildren to be precise, ‘touristy’ photos and um, lets see, old people home?
i’m guessing that there will be pictures of her in front of somewhat notable/touristy things and/or pictures of her with children and one or more of the people in the picture will have a forced smile.
i’m guessing there will also be a shot of a piece of furniture the purpose of which is not immediately identifiable.
i’m also picturing a church-basement-party type picture.
i can guarantee there will be a gross misuse of the flash in nearly every shot.
I guess pictures during the time of the late husband. Fingers crossed there’s nothing you don’t want to see in there!!
1. her pets
2. honeymoon with second husband (sorry Swistle!)
3. her flowers
1. Sex (gross, but you NEVER KNOW – you have seen Parenthood, right? RIGHT?
2. Animals – cats, dogs – older people love them some animals.
3. Nature – pictures of THINGS that nobody has much interest in.
top secret spy photos from the Cold War era
I’m going with…
1. pictures of holidays
2. outdoorsy stuff (gardens, flowers, crap)
3. random wedding she attended in which you know nobody
I’m going to guess random pictures of gatherings of people you don’t know. Like a Bunco party or something. Also some holiday pictures.
I am thinking that she took annoying pictures of things that you will be left tortured to know what the hell the point was. Things that are totally random like a potted plant on the counter, or a tree she once saw on a walk. I am thinking it won’t be anything good or fun. Sorry. I HOPE it is something fun like old old pictures of your kids or something but I am not holding my breath.
Dani
1. Pictures of only your two oldest children.
2. A family celebration for a niece, nephew, cousin, etc. that you heard about but didn’t attend.
3. Something that in light of her passing seems premonitory.
Pictures of nice flowers and shrubberies from around her town, but in places you don’t specifically recognize. One photo of a pet, probably a cat, and a couple photos from a holiday visit with relatives.
I think one roll will be double exposed.
One will be photos of her garden/yard
One will be photos of you and your family.
Had to put you in my giveaway roundup linky, because this is too funny.
I’m thinking #1 garden gnomes, #2 real gnomes + Bigfoot, and #3 a bunch of self-timed shots of herself.
1. Christmas
2. Family Reunion
3. Grandkids and random things.
Dude! The film! Where is the film post! Inquiring minds want to know!
I’m so curious too…. did you get the pictures back yet?!