<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P7080016.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6554" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P7080016-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>Look at what I picked up at my playdate on Day ?

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Did you light sparklers as a kid?  If not, you were deprived, but fret not – there is hope.  Get thee to Google and order some.  Your inner child is begging.

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We used to play with sparklers every summer at the beach house when I was a child.  Since my beach house memories are my most shiny, sparkly, heartfelt memories, I am drawn to sparklers like a moth to a light.  Or timelier in my fair city these days, like a cicada to a light.  Ewww.

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Anywho, I’m can’t recall the last time that I saw sparklers in a store.  Have I been missing something?  I couldn't pass them by.

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Until I saw that they were 15 buckaroos for the package.

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Whoa.  Come on, sparkler peeps.  Really?

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A single woman needs only a single sparkler, so I parted with the 5 bucks for ONE SPARKLER in the spirit of Carpe Diem and this blog.

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I chose the numeral 8 (instead of Bri's suggestion of “4” for the upcoming 4<sup>th</sup> of July) because I recently learned that 8 is a highly auspicious number in Asian cultures, and even though I say that I’m not superstitious, I do wacky stuff like this all the time.

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I didn’t realize until the cashier asked, “Is your child having an 8<sup>th</sup> birthday” that my sparkler was meant for a child’s birthday cake.

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“No. Why do you … oh … yes, it’s for my inner 8 year-old.”

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Since I was in a “hipster” part of town, the guy appreciated my offbeat answer and thought I was really cool for doing this.

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For 8 seconds, I reveled in my hipster street cred.

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On the 8<sup>th</sup> of July, I lit Lucky 8.  With my recent discovery of the “fireworks” setting on my camera, I set the camera to “timer” and rehearsed a few practice runs.

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Can you believe it?  This former point-and-shooter has now advanced to fancy settings and self-timers!

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I was briefly interrupted by Little Miss B crunching on yet <em>another </em>cicada (double Ewww!), but after the screeching (me), the exposing of the belly (her), and the toilet disposal (the cicada), I resumed shooting and captured this:

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<img class="size-medium wp-image-6531 alignnone" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P7080032-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />

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Oooooo.   Ahhhhh.

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What is one of your most magical memories from childhood?  Is there a way for you to rediscover the magic today?

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