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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

Has anyone ever seen this movie? I watched it a few years ago. I don't think it was any sort of blockbuster, but having grown up in Ohio, I was intrigued by the title.

Julianne Moore plays a mom with a zillion kids and a drunkard husband (Woody Harrelson) and she has to end up supporting the family by entering contests and writing jingles. It's just a good story--no car chases, gun battles or anything like that.

But recently I was thinking it's a good thing my family doesn't rely on me to write jingles and win contests to support us because...we'd starve. When I see contests on the Internet, sometimes I enter (and they don't even require me to write a jingle). Usually they're on the Pioneer Woman's site. I don't know why I keep trying to win a Kitchen Aid stand mixer on her contests. I have an amazing Bosch mixer that could do handstands around that Kitchen Aid, I'm sure. And yet, I want that shiny red, yellow, black, whatever color it is this week, mixer.

And the knives. Why would I want to win knives? We recieved Cutco knives for our wedding. Those knives will outlive me, and yet I enter contests for knives.

The other day I was desperately trying to win a new Cooking Light cookbook. Because apparently the two I have don't suffice.

I never win, so it clearly makes no difference anyway.

Once, in the late 80s, I won something. My friend, Andrea, and I went to the Festival of Trees in Columbus, and we bought raffle tickets for two round trip airfares to anywhere in the continental U.S. on American Airlines.

I won.

I never used them. I gave them to Andrea. Even though they weren't transferrable. And the story of her trying to use these tickets as me is hilarious and never could have actually happened in a post 9/11 world.

I won Bingo once in 7th grade.

My point here is that I'm totally negative on contests. Before Christmas, Finn entered some contest through Lego whereby he would win thousands of dollars worth of Lego. In his head, he was going to win. It's hard to know--do you let them have hope that they might win or do you crush their tiny spirits with the speech about how it's more likely that he'll be struck by lightening than win that contest?

It's a hard call. I think I gave the lightening speech.

Killjoy.

I'll need to remember that the next time I enter a contest for anything on PW's site.

5 comments:

Cook My Book said...

I rarely win things either - but I entered a PW contest a few years ago - and won that pretty red Kitchenaid mixer! That was when there were only a few thousand of us reading her and entering the contests. Now there's 20k or more!! I entered the contest even though I already had the mixer, and took the mixer that I got from PW to Williams Sonoma - had myself a little kitchen shopping spree!! Wooo! It was VERY fun. :)

Leeann said...

I'm with you, Natalie. I'm not a lucky winner either. In fact, I am damn tired of losing every possible category in Bunco, like I did again last night! :-)

Kristie said...

I agree with Jess .... the contests on PW's site are so huge now I don't even bother to enter anymore. I still can't believe that just two years ago, *she* got ahold of *me* and offered me a chance to visit the ranch. Nowadays, she has so many people enter her contests I'm surprised Price-Waterhouse doesn't have to come in and choose a winner. I don't even bother anymore. But I did buy raffle tickets for tickets to a pro basketball game the other day. I figure local odds are much more in my favor. And if I don't win, I still support the charity. :)

Elizabeth said...

I won a raffle for Delta plane tickets anywhere in the WORLD. I never used them - not even to fly to Atlanta. I'm pretty stupid.

deb8able said...

I used to enter PW contests but don't bother anymore. I have a mixer, the food looks wonderful, but is really a heart attack on a plate, I have more knives than I could use, but I was still entering those damn contests lol I've never been lucky in contests - I did win a football pool once, but that's about it. Maybe now that my zodiac sign has changed it will change my luck :)