This is from Face Book sorry...Sharing anyway.
As I have crowned myself the Unofficial Queen of Random, this should be easy enough...Although, I don't think you all care to know THIS much about me.
1. I have an unGodly amount of lipgloss. Embarrassed really to even ATTEMPT to tell you how many. Suffice to say that I could apply lipgloss one hundred times a day to myself and a few friends (odd visual, but whatever) every day for the rest of my life and still have enough left over to shine the lips of a professional cheer squad or the Pussy Dolls,a bevy of exotic dancers or a team of Drag Queens (all eerily related somehow) for the rest of theirs...
2. I am not sure if it is the retired cheerleader in me still needing to take the stage every now and then, or what...but I adore "singing" karaoke-loudly and badly. Some of my favorite songs to lovingly butcher with my tone deaf renderings are ...These Boot Are Made For Walkin', One Way or Another, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and anything by Brittany Spears...because REALLY hard to do any damage to "I'm a Slave For You" ...
3. On the same note as number two (teehee number two) I can dance a mean bar or table if the moon is right and I haven't been out in many months...it works in my favor if I am not wearing heels in these situations-I am just not THAT coordinated. Did I mention my beloved sister in law Amber (who needs to get on fb already) accompanied me to Coyote Ugly for my birthday to do just that? I am not ashamed.
4. In high school I got a sultry peck from Jamie Walters, the "How Do I Talk to an Angel" guy that dated Kelly on 90210...heehee...sure I am one random girl on a long unsophisticated list. On second thought, it was just a kiss-who am I kidding? I am not on any list... I am not bragging here...:0)
5. On my last day of high school Barry Bonds decided to whack me in the forehead with a foul ball. LOVELY! If you have met me, you know that A-Of course I didn't have a glove and B-Catching it would have not been an option if I had-so why bother with A. I have awards banquet pictures where my eye is purple to match my dress to prove it. Tried to tone it down with purple shadow like it was intentional...but it is an eyeshadow brush, not a wand.
6. I will not share milk products or anything with pulp. Not even with Chris (my husband), or the kiddos...I will share-but then I pull a Becky Shrepple and say "Oh just keep it." And I don't like to sit down right after someone else gets up. Butt Warmth is creepy.
7. As if I need to S-P-E-L-L it out...did I mention I have a touch of OCD (informally diagnosed of course)...kind of like having a tiny bit of a deadly virus...:0). Mostly I have weird idiosyncrasies and phobias-I don't wash my hair fifty times a day, or make my kids change into clean clothes in the closet when they get home...I just have a million lip glosses, need to have doors and cabinets shut when not in use and have an odd fixation with the number seven and its' multiples...(blushing-it's okay I know it's weird).
8. I know all the words (or 92.95%) to atleast fivemusicals: Grease, Rent , Cabaret, Evita and Chicago and about 70% of five or so more. LOVE musicals! Saw Producers on Broadway...(of course Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane were on sabbatical as my "luck" would have it). However the charming Steven Weber from Wings and now Brothers and Sisters was in it-and I met him...he is lovely.
9. I have an autographed picture of Harry Connick Junior because I mailed a cheesy poem to his fan club...this was YEARS ago, but don't let it kid you-I'd do it again tomorrow.
10. I LOVE red.
11. I ADORE New York City.
12. I am determined to make a pilgrimage to Graceland before I die.
13. Coca-Cola is my beverage of choice...or Cherry Coke. Please don't offer me Pepsi-it could get ugly. My RIGHT to choose and I get hostile when I don't have options.:0)
14. I get emotionally involved in Broncos football-even though I don't get to watch it much these days and we have season tickets. Was teary for days when Mike Shanahan got booted. Boo!
15. I have had a stuffed dog named Toto since my mom received him at my baby shower. I don't sleep with him (anymore), but just can't give him up...
16. "Man can not live on bread alone" but I COULD live on chips and salsa.
17. I am gloriously non-domestic...just how I am wired.
18. I would love to travel more. In the United States and abroad. Greece, Italy and Spain top my list...although I am currently making no real efforts to get to any of them.
19. If I watch a show loyally, it is likely to be cancelled. Here is my shout out to October Road and What About Brian...whoop whoop
20. I am ridiculously loyal. This does not just apply to friends and family...but to the New Kids on the Block, Harry Connick Junior, 90210 and anything and anyone else I have devoted any real time to.
21. I talk to strangers. Candy or no..
22. I too sing random songs throughout the day and put my kids names in them.
23. I have two published poems and was written up in a optometry book for being one of the earliest cases to be treated with contact lenses...I was two...impressive, I know (;0) )
24. I can't find my way out of a paper bag...but I can find any item in my delightedly disorganized home.
25. I am distracted by shiny things...like Edward Cullen..and jewelry...who am I kidding? blinking lights, glitter...
Your turn. Shoot!
February 28, 2009
What I Have Learned So Far
A few years have passed and we are all grownups (kind of) and have a few life experiences chalked up. I thought we could share things that we have learned up to this point. Have a bit of fun with it-no need to be too serious. You know, BALANCE-that thing we are all striving for...in our free time.
So here it goes, it is not quite as much as I would have hoped-but this is what I have learned so far.
1. I have learned that the older we get, the crazier we all become. You don’t get to this point without a little bit of mental and emotional baggage. If you have made it unscathed, you may not be doing it right and you probably didn't go to high school. That whole “nothing ventured, nothing gained” bit. There is a line in RENT I like where two young lovers meet and Roger tries to use his “baggage” as an excuse as to why he and Mimi should not be together. Her response is “Life’s too short babe, time is flyin’, I’m lookin’ for baggage that goes with mine.”
One more thought on this one. I strongly believe that the “normal” ones are to be feared.-or at least handled with extreme caution. Life is often unkind. We all should be watchful of those who have deeply repressed the tiny cuts and bruises that living incurs-buried those unpleasant feelings way down inside their souls. Those emotional fractures that heal when dealt with as they come, will fester and rot when ignored and denied. One day, someone is going to cut them off in traffic or look at them the wrong way in the line at Chipotle and they are going to erupt. Then all their emotional infection is going to bubble over the surface. You don’t want to be there when that happens.
2. That high school never ends. Those Bowling for Soup kids have a valid point. Although the combined scent of leather and Polo just don’t have the same effect on me that they once did. Oh- and I don’t spend nearly as much on hairspray. Scratch that, spend MORE on hairspray-just don’t go through a can a week… consider this as my effort to make it up to the Ozone.
3. I have learned and please don’t hold your breath-this is not at all original…that we are all flawed. Wait! There’s more. I read somewhere this theory that everyone you will come across will have three serious flaws. (I have more than three, but let’s go with that for now)…Your job is to decide when choosing those you allow to stand closest to you in your life. What three flaws you can live with-every day, forever and ever, amen. Keep in mind, that they must do the same. This only applies to the selection of your spouse and your friends. We all know that we don’t choose our family. They are entitled to our love by birthright and by the same right we are born into theirs. Bubblegum for thought, anyway…
4. I have learned that a little bit of imagination can turn an error into an opportunity; a problem into a solution, a flaw into character, restlessness into rediscovery, confusion into mystery, frustration into inspiration, infuriation (yeah I said infuriation-look it up. On second thought don’t) into intrigue. Imagination can transform a failure to an experience, clothes into an outfit and me into a Domestic Goddess. No sorry, not even imagination can successfully paint that picture! Got imagination? If not, do yourself (your friends, family, coworkers, spouse and especially your children) a favor and beg, borrow or steal some
5. I have learned that brevity is not my strong suit. If you are looking for a friend to keep it simple and give you a single, concise, black and white answer-don’t stop here. If however, you want to stay up all night pouring your heart out over some Cabernet and Counting Crows-I’m your girl. I can’t even do bulleted points properly. At those key moments when few words are best-I just shut my mouth tightly and shake my head yes. It is honestly easier for me to walk away than to bite my tongue.
6. I have learned that parenthood magnifies every single one of my insecurities and shortcomings. Think this is because every word and deed COUNTS when you are a parent. My children are the most precious earthly gifts I have ever received and I keep praying God doesn’t realize how unworthy I am of them.
7. I learned that “Handsome IS as Handsome DOES.” My mom has always said this and it is not a great saying-but the meaning is good. Think of all the pretty outside-ugly inside people you have come across in your life. True beauty comes from inside and never fades. That is a beauty I aspire to.
8. I have learned that laughing at oneself is a valuable asset and something I wish that I was better at.
9. I have learned firsthand that the most helpless feeling on earth is watching your child struggle. At those moments I am reminded of the power and comfort of prayer.
10. I learned the value of first kisses and first dances. First betrayals and first heartbreaks are all necessary so there can be first steps, first smiles and first words. If it had not been for all the goodbyes-we wouldn’t recognize forever when it walked in…or something.
11. I have learned that girls are often mean and hold grudges…but we feel deeper, laugh harder and give more. Not a terrible trade off.
12. I have learned that next to God our complexities are all vain pretense. That said. I have learned that my flair for the dramatic is both entertaining and exhausting to my friends and family and that although I am emotionally and intellectually needy-I despise these aspects of my character and refuse to ask for help.
13. I have learned that I need to be a better listener and a better student of life.
14. I have learned that God is much more capable than Scott Baio when it comes to being in charge of me. Sorry-it had to be done.
15. That I have control issues. Issues giving up control, taking control, maintaining control- you name it.
16. I learned that I have a hard time living in the moment. I look forward to things and then when they arrive, I dread their being over…don’t really get that part of myself. I guess I always want what I can’t have, even when I have it. That makes great sense! Admit it! heehee Makes no sense at all.
17. I have learned that “happily ever after” only refers to heaven because as human beings we are predisposed to messing things up with our insatiability.
18. I have learned that I care too much what people think and hate that I do.
19. I have learned that I am not as smart as I think I am, but I am not as dumb as I think I am either.
20. I have learned that nature and nurture are so closely related that sometimes you can’t tell them apart. In the end though, we are responsible for our own actions.
21. I have learned that my inherited family loves me as much as my birth family and may know me better.
22. I have learned that I allow for things in others that I do not permit in myself and vice versa.
23. I have learned that attending a New Kids concert today, is like being sprinkled with pixie dust and entering the gates of Never land. Don’t ask me to explain it-it defies logic…guess we have that in common;0).
24. I have learned that the Golden Rule pretty much never fails…along with the rest of it of course.
25. I have learned that considering the time I have spent here thus far, I haven’t learned nearly enough.
Share your lessons with me.
So here it goes, it is not quite as much as I would have hoped-but this is what I have learned so far.
1. I have learned that the older we get, the crazier we all become. You don’t get to this point without a little bit of mental and emotional baggage. If you have made it unscathed, you may not be doing it right and you probably didn't go to high school. That whole “nothing ventured, nothing gained” bit. There is a line in RENT I like where two young lovers meet and Roger tries to use his “baggage” as an excuse as to why he and Mimi should not be together. Her response is “Life’s too short babe, time is flyin’, I’m lookin’ for baggage that goes with mine.”
One more thought on this one. I strongly believe that the “normal” ones are to be feared.-or at least handled with extreme caution. Life is often unkind. We all should be watchful of those who have deeply repressed the tiny cuts and bruises that living incurs-buried those unpleasant feelings way down inside their souls. Those emotional fractures that heal when dealt with as they come, will fester and rot when ignored and denied. One day, someone is going to cut them off in traffic or look at them the wrong way in the line at Chipotle and they are going to erupt. Then all their emotional infection is going to bubble over the surface. You don’t want to be there when that happens.
2. That high school never ends. Those Bowling for Soup kids have a valid point. Although the combined scent of leather and Polo just don’t have the same effect on me that they once did. Oh- and I don’t spend nearly as much on hairspray. Scratch that, spend MORE on hairspray-just don’t go through a can a week… consider this as my effort to make it up to the Ozone.
3. I have learned and please don’t hold your breath-this is not at all original…that we are all flawed. Wait! There’s more. I read somewhere this theory that everyone you will come across will have three serious flaws. (I have more than three, but let’s go with that for now)…Your job is to decide when choosing those you allow to stand closest to you in your life. What three flaws you can live with-every day, forever and ever, amen. Keep in mind, that they must do the same. This only applies to the selection of your spouse and your friends. We all know that we don’t choose our family. They are entitled to our love by birthright and by the same right we are born into theirs. Bubblegum for thought, anyway…
4. I have learned that a little bit of imagination can turn an error into an opportunity; a problem into a solution, a flaw into character, restlessness into rediscovery, confusion into mystery, frustration into inspiration, infuriation (yeah I said infuriation-look it up. On second thought don’t) into intrigue. Imagination can transform a failure to an experience, clothes into an outfit and me into a Domestic Goddess. No sorry, not even imagination can successfully paint that picture! Got imagination? If not, do yourself (your friends, family, coworkers, spouse and especially your children) a favor and beg, borrow or steal some
5. I have learned that brevity is not my strong suit. If you are looking for a friend to keep it simple and give you a single, concise, black and white answer-don’t stop here. If however, you want to stay up all night pouring your heart out over some Cabernet and Counting Crows-I’m your girl. I can’t even do bulleted points properly. At those key moments when few words are best-I just shut my mouth tightly and shake my head yes. It is honestly easier for me to walk away than to bite my tongue.
6. I have learned that parenthood magnifies every single one of my insecurities and shortcomings. Think this is because every word and deed COUNTS when you are a parent. My children are the most precious earthly gifts I have ever received and I keep praying God doesn’t realize how unworthy I am of them.
7. I learned that “Handsome IS as Handsome DOES.” My mom has always said this and it is not a great saying-but the meaning is good. Think of all the pretty outside-ugly inside people you have come across in your life. True beauty comes from inside and never fades. That is a beauty I aspire to.
8. I have learned that laughing at oneself is a valuable asset and something I wish that I was better at.
9. I have learned firsthand that the most helpless feeling on earth is watching your child struggle. At those moments I am reminded of the power and comfort of prayer.
10. I learned the value of first kisses and first dances. First betrayals and first heartbreaks are all necessary so there can be first steps, first smiles and first words. If it had not been for all the goodbyes-we wouldn’t recognize forever when it walked in…or something.
11. I have learned that girls are often mean and hold grudges…but we feel deeper, laugh harder and give more. Not a terrible trade off.
12. I have learned that next to God our complexities are all vain pretense. That said. I have learned that my flair for the dramatic is both entertaining and exhausting to my friends and family and that although I am emotionally and intellectually needy-I despise these aspects of my character and refuse to ask for help.
13. I have learned that I need to be a better listener and a better student of life.
14. I have learned that God is much more capable than Scott Baio when it comes to being in charge of me. Sorry-it had to be done.
15. That I have control issues. Issues giving up control, taking control, maintaining control- you name it.
16. I learned that I have a hard time living in the moment. I look forward to things and then when they arrive, I dread their being over…don’t really get that part of myself. I guess I always want what I can’t have, even when I have it. That makes great sense! Admit it! heehee Makes no sense at all.
17. I have learned that “happily ever after” only refers to heaven because as human beings we are predisposed to messing things up with our insatiability.
18. I have learned that I care too much what people think and hate that I do.
19. I have learned that I am not as smart as I think I am, but I am not as dumb as I think I am either.
20. I have learned that nature and nurture are so closely related that sometimes you can’t tell them apart. In the end though, we are responsible for our own actions.
21. I have learned that my inherited family loves me as much as my birth family and may know me better.
22. I have learned that I allow for things in others that I do not permit in myself and vice versa.
23. I have learned that attending a New Kids concert today, is like being sprinkled with pixie dust and entering the gates of Never land. Don’t ask me to explain it-it defies logic…guess we have that in common;0).
24. I have learned that the Golden Rule pretty much never fails…along with the rest of it of course.
25. I have learned that considering the time I have spent here thus far, I haven’t learned nearly enough.
Share your lessons with me.
Over the Rainbow
The Wizard of Oz
I have adored this movie since I was five or so. Complex in its simplistic disguise, it is so much more poignant to me in adulthood. Judy Garland is so gloriously and prophetically tragic.
This was the first color movie and can you possibly imagine the reaction of the audience? Living life in color, watching it in sepia tones and then Dorothy exits her house after crashing down in Oz and she opens the door, entering a whole new world (literally and metaphorically). Opening the farmhouse door to pure magic with its kaleidoscope of colors? Must have been like Christmas! In life experience too, how often do we collide with our situation, only to awaken to suddenly see “reality” in all of its techno-color glory?
Are you familiar with the Heroes Journey? I suppose it would be classified as a literary process. Anyway...in our life’s journey, each of us is on the yellow brick road. We are running away, having adventures, overcoming obstacles, fulfilling dreams, learning valuable skills and lessons and discovering we are stronger than we thought we were. Perhaps the most valuable acquisition is the people that fulfill us,that ease the struggles and enhance our journey and we, better theirs. Eventually we return to the home we have been so desperately seeking. The return home of course, is physical, spiritual and intellectual (all out prodigal son style and magnitude). Then for further exploration, is the revelation that Dorothy had within herself the ability to get home all along. Had it not been for her friends and her all encompassing journey, she would never have found her way. Dorothy would never have developed and practiced the balance of courage, thoughtfulness and heart and come to fruition. Not to mention all the cursed apple throwing trees, flying monkeys and wicked witches we have to battle along the way.
I want Over the Rainbow played at my funeral. Eternally relevant as well as temporally. You may have noticed that my ruby slippers are not often planted on the yellow brick road. My mind is usually cozied up somewhere over the rainbow. More lovely there. Heehee . Speaking of ruby slippers I am going to get some. Possibly plant some poppies. I am fearful however, that the fantasy will die with the flowers.
I have adored this movie since I was five or so. Complex in its simplistic disguise, it is so much more poignant to me in adulthood. Judy Garland is so gloriously and prophetically tragic.
This was the first color movie and can you possibly imagine the reaction of the audience? Living life in color, watching it in sepia tones and then Dorothy exits her house after crashing down in Oz and she opens the door, entering a whole new world (literally and metaphorically). Opening the farmhouse door to pure magic with its kaleidoscope of colors? Must have been like Christmas! In life experience too, how often do we collide with our situation, only to awaken to suddenly see “reality” in all of its techno-color glory?
Are you familiar with the Heroes Journey? I suppose it would be classified as a literary process. Anyway...in our life’s journey, each of us is on the yellow brick road. We are running away, having adventures, overcoming obstacles, fulfilling dreams, learning valuable skills and lessons and discovering we are stronger than we thought we were. Perhaps the most valuable acquisition is the people that fulfill us,that ease the struggles and enhance our journey and we, better theirs. Eventually we return to the home we have been so desperately seeking. The return home of course, is physical, spiritual and intellectual (all out prodigal son style and magnitude). Then for further exploration, is the revelation that Dorothy had within herself the ability to get home all along. Had it not been for her friends and her all encompassing journey, she would never have found her way. Dorothy would never have developed and practiced the balance of courage, thoughtfulness and heart and come to fruition. Not to mention all the cursed apple throwing trees, flying monkeys and wicked witches we have to battle along the way.
I want Over the Rainbow played at my funeral. Eternally relevant as well as temporally. You may have noticed that my ruby slippers are not often planted on the yellow brick road. My mind is usually cozied up somewhere over the rainbow. More lovely there. Heehee . Speaking of ruby slippers I am going to get some. Possibly plant some poppies. I am fearful however, that the fantasy will die with the flowers.
Color Me Crabby
I am not sure that I have ever been so happy to see Saturday, as I am today. Hello Handsome- Would you like to come in for a drink? Teehee... Ah! The sun is shining, I have limited obligations and...I am the least crabby I have been all week.
Let me touch on that. I have been less than joyful for a week or two now. It could be that I have been caught up in a web of emails, phone call and complaints. I really DO love my job and am thankful to have it, but the transitions have my head spinning. It could be that the uncharacteristic sunny February weather has poisoned me with an unquenchable thirst for Spring because the snow will return, with a vengeance and I need to be prepared. Maybe it's that Shmoops has been especially uncommunicative and we had a tiff over which shelf my FRIENDS box set should be placed on...seriously, this somehow seemed worthy of five minutes of "conversation"- The longest communication we have shared all week. OR perhaps it is that I have been feeling lonely.
Do you know that hopeless, inexplicable kind of alone you feel when you are in a room full of people you love? Isolation of the mind can be devastating if left unchecked. I have decided personally it is because my heart governs my head...so if my Head...the nearly imperceptible voice of reason is silenced-I may very well be COMPLETELY and utterly hopeless. On top of that, when I feel isolated and misunderstood, unattended or maybe just unappreciated-I am convinced that I have no one to talk to about it that could possibly understand. Although there may is a degree of truth to that. The topic of isolation and emotional abandonment may be a bit deep for the sweet minds of a three and five year old. Can you imagine? Let's not-it would never happen.
Unfortunately, I am a selectively social being and am currently frozen in a position where I am not free to cultivate adult relationships.Of course my husband and I are friends...but we are also roommates. Neither of us is easy to live with. This truth causes strain on the "sharing" area of the relationship regularly. We share what we think often, but rarely what we feel.
My kids are just getting to the age where they are doing organized activities, but we don't have any real bonds there yet.Sounds like I am searching for friendship under rocks-I am new at this. I have never really struggled in the friend department. I of course have friendships- from the past (BC-before children), but they are check-in friends...(they are as busy as I am with their own families and jobs)not everyday friends. Then the one Everyday Friend I have- at any given time has as much on her plates as I do, or more...so there is no need to torture her with with my emotional cutting. I work from home-which again I adore, but that means no office friendships...which I had a lot of when I had an office. Friends that I played with. Often...
When I am not working I am thrilled to dedicate my energies to my family. Seemingly when either of the two facets (home/work) of my simply complicated life get overly challenging or out of balance...I feel a little lost. OOOhhh...and even though I am a little needy at the moment, I detest feeling needy. A Big Girl Pride Thing.- a self preservation/defense mechanism thing..vicious, hateful cycle! I try to BE a friend...so I can HAVE more friends...but once I have made the effort on my end to "be a friend"-I throw in the towel if not immediately reciprocated. Maybe if I had less dignity or was less selective-I could have more friends. That is not worth the sacrifice to me. Friendship is a two sided game.
Well there it is! The source of my crabbiness. Way to clear it up for myself!..just no solution in site.
Sorry for the self indulgent post...This too shall pass. For now I will pretend to be That Girl...smile, bounce my hair, twinkle and shake it off...Fake it til you make it. Or something. Feel it til' you heal it? That makes no sense. Whatever...
Maybe Saturday will buy it. I AM oh so happy to see him:0)
Can I cuddle with a Day of the Week? Think he would hold me "without an ounce of selfishness?" from The Waitress...Doubtful- being that Saturday is of the male persuasion...heehee
How sad I am!-In the pathetic kind of way. The worst way.
At least I can admit it.
Although that it is of little consolation.Hee Hee...boo hoo-hee-boo...hee?
Let me touch on that. I have been less than joyful for a week or two now. It could be that I have been caught up in a web of emails, phone call and complaints. I really DO love my job and am thankful to have it, but the transitions have my head spinning. It could be that the uncharacteristic sunny February weather has poisoned me with an unquenchable thirst for Spring because the snow will return, with a vengeance and I need to be prepared. Maybe it's that Shmoops has been especially uncommunicative and we had a tiff over which shelf my FRIENDS box set should be placed on...seriously, this somehow seemed worthy of five minutes of "conversation"- The longest communication we have shared all week. OR perhaps it is that I have been feeling lonely.
Do you know that hopeless, inexplicable kind of alone you feel when you are in a room full of people you love? Isolation of the mind can be devastating if left unchecked. I have decided personally it is because my heart governs my head...so if my Head...the nearly imperceptible voice of reason is silenced-I may very well be COMPLETELY and utterly hopeless. On top of that, when I feel isolated and misunderstood, unattended or maybe just unappreciated-I am convinced that I have no one to talk to about it that could possibly understand. Although there may is a degree of truth to that. The topic of isolation and emotional abandonment may be a bit deep for the sweet minds of a three and five year old. Can you imagine? Let's not-it would never happen.
Unfortunately, I am a selectively social being and am currently frozen in a position where I am not free to cultivate adult relationships.Of course my husband and I are friends...but we are also roommates. Neither of us is easy to live with. This truth causes strain on the "sharing" area of the relationship regularly. We share what we think often, but rarely what we feel.
My kids are just getting to the age where they are doing organized activities, but we don't have any real bonds there yet.Sounds like I am searching for friendship under rocks-I am new at this. I have never really struggled in the friend department. I of course have friendships- from the past (BC-before children), but they are check-in friends...(they are as busy as I am with their own families and jobs)not everyday friends. Then the one Everyday Friend I have- at any given time has as much on her plates as I do, or more...so there is no need to torture her with with my emotional cutting. I work from home-which again I adore, but that means no office friendships...which I had a lot of when I had an office. Friends that I played with. Often...
When I am not working I am thrilled to dedicate my energies to my family. Seemingly when either of the two facets (home/work) of my simply complicated life get overly challenging or out of balance...I feel a little lost. OOOhhh...and even though I am a little needy at the moment, I detest feeling needy. A Big Girl Pride Thing.- a self preservation/defense mechanism thing..vicious, hateful cycle! I try to BE a friend...so I can HAVE more friends...but once I have made the effort on my end to "be a friend"-I throw in the towel if not immediately reciprocated. Maybe if I had less dignity or was less selective-I could have more friends. That is not worth the sacrifice to me. Friendship is a two sided game.
Well there it is! The source of my crabbiness. Way to clear it up for myself!..just no solution in site.
Sorry for the self indulgent post...This too shall pass. For now I will pretend to be That Girl...smile, bounce my hair, twinkle and shake it off...Fake it til you make it. Or something. Feel it til' you heal it? That makes no sense. Whatever...
Maybe Saturday will buy it. I AM oh so happy to see him:0)
Can I cuddle with a Day of the Week? Think he would hold me "without an ounce of selfishness?" from The Waitress...Doubtful- being that Saturday is of the male persuasion...heehee
How sad I am!-In the pathetic kind of way. The worst way.
At least I can admit it.
Although that it is of little consolation.Hee Hee...boo hoo-hee-boo...hee?
February 24, 2009
My Hair Affair
Today I found a Harry Connick Junior cd I had forgotten about...better than dark chocolate!
So I am working (on spreadsheets...) and making calls and spending a bit of time with Oh So Dreamy Boy-and my mind wanders...just a bit, as creative (because that sounds better than flighty) minds are prone to do. So I am thinking about Harry Connick Junior and how he has famously great hair (except when he cuts it shaggy because he decides to recreate himself as a boy from my senior class. Perhaps I can bore you with that another time...oh and explore the possibility of a federal mandate that would require him and any other man of my choosing to wear mob-style suspenders) Focus! Oh right, my Harry has Definitive Crooner ,Leader of the Band Hair...and sometimes wears suspenders...on those days I feed him treats-with my teeth. Okay, stopping now...
Naturally, I then reminisce about all the frivolous crushes I have had throughout my lifetime (not to be confused with my love for Harry- that's the real deal...we are going on eighteen years or so. Heehee.)Let me begin with those of the celebrity persuasion. Gradually, a coif commonality is identified. Elvis-Fifties Rock Star Hair, James Dean-Fifties Bad Boy Hair, Danny Zuko-More Fifties Bad Boy Hair, Michael Jackson (Thriller days)-Curly Tenril Hair, Eric Estrada- Cop Helmet Hair, Jamie Walters-haha Fifties Bad Boy Hair -although it was the early nineties. Luke Perry-more Fifties Bad Boy hair,Jason Priestly-Indulgent Nineties Big Man Hair/Fifties Jock Boy Hair,Johnny Depp (Chocolat Pirate Hair and *blush* 21 Jump Street Hair) Bill Bouillion- Beach Volleyball Boy Hair, Jordan Knight (Slick Boy Band Hair. In fact the New Kids redefined Boy Band Hair-Jordan just did it best) , Patrick Dempsey-McDreamy, Scream 3, Will and Grace Hair not Can't Buy Me Love Hair (that was...kinda like a chocolate poodle) , John Mayer (Sulky Grungy Musician Hair), Edward Cullen (More James Dean Hair-which he chopped. But it will be back, oh yes...it will be back! So glad it is not up to him.) Each object of my shameless, school girl celebrity crushes is in manly possession of serious hair flair. Career making hair...empire building hair...swooning and crooning hair...heart breaker hair...Independently, I have noticed each of their locks...but never made the group connection. I have had a secret hair obsession...me and obsessions. Go figure!
This leads to my thinking through my real live boyfriends and flirtations of the past...A virtual cornucopia of hair fascination.
Shannon-toddlerhood-shaggy sandy hair,straight up nursery school style.
Shayne kindergarten-blonde waivy hair-think Ricky Schroeder
Roman-third grade-raven hair-tail. Right-I said tail...and it went all the way down his back-like a skunk tail. Clear why that was so alluring...heeheehee
Steen- white blonde hair-fifth and sixth grade. I remember when he discovered product. Happy day!;0) Oh and he came to my costume/birthday party dressed as Billy Idol..Yay him!
Seventh grade-Tim, sandy beach hair that fell in his eyes and a toothpaste commercial smile..we used to chat it up between classes...I had plans, but was distracted by a muscley freshman.
ninth grade/tenth grade=David...dark curly hair that I used to loosen into big waves in the back...just for fun.
Heath- straggly devil may care hair...I know because the day I visited his school with my bf...we ditched and I tousled it while we smooched all day leaning against an alley wall. Very West Side Story...7
...Eleventh grade-Steve...rebel boy hair(not my boyfriend-but he has to make the hair list).
Brook-muscle jock boy boy hair...another interesting story that will I will spare you for now.
Bob-Sport caster hair...oh and he was an absolute giant-Like Anthony Robbins.
Mark-Kurt Cobain hair.
The list goes on-until I get to Shmoops...he has always had hair attitude...has been Emilio Estevez-esque and more recently Rascal Flatt-ish...trying to get him to go...short, chic and tufty. I am a suckor for burns though...not the huge lamb chop style or dagger ones.
Hair Affair...aptly named? Shake your head "yes" here.
Using my extensive Psychology background that I have mentioned previously, (i.e. Freshman year of college, back row) I tried to find some deeper reason for my hidden hair addiction-get to the root (more hair humor)...Certainly this attraction is not an outward manifestation of my personal hair obsession. My own hair is nothing but another accessory to me...it has been really long, fairly short, curly, straight...highlighted, lowlighted...every feasible color of the rainbow...let's not get crazy-er! You name it. My hair is subject to my every whim. Nothing exceptional about it...Not sure where the hair affinity came from. Not even reserved for the opposite sex. I am obsessed with 90's Supermodel hair. I think I am going to grow mine back out and try to bring back big glam hair. ... Btw courtesy of my sister's stylist Jody...my adopted hair philosophy is that once a woman reaches her late twenties...if she is not an exotic dancer or a cheerleader...her hair should not exceed the middle of her back. Beyond that, I miss bombshell hair...Claudia, Cindy, Elle...the list goes on... Hair Fascination may not be all that odd, I mean America is obsessed with Julia Robert's hair...so I guess I am not the only freaky deak in the house. Coiffure, fluff, fringe, mane, mop, tress, shocks, sideburns, shaggy....HAIR!!!... To be clear, facial or head...body hair should be sparing.
Cool hair...apparently yet ANOTHER obsession of mine. Guess I will just continue to go with the flow...Get it? Flowing locks...sorry, that was bad. I am aware-couldn't help myself.
Regardless, there is no denying it...I go all mushy over a great head of hair and it took me um..twenty nine years (wink, wink), to figure it out. Doesn't change anything, I suppose. In fact it explains a lot. The long and the short of it...(pun intended) is subconsciously, I have had a life long affair with hair. (Although bald is beautiful on Vin Diesel, Taye Diggs, Tyson Beckford and Bruce Willis...shout out-whoop, whoop!)
Who knew? Now I do and so do you...sorry about that.
Felt the need to share. Share how much I care about hair flair...okay time to say goodnight! Goodnight.
Be good to your hair...apparently it is hugely important.
So I am working (on spreadsheets...) and making calls and spending a bit of time with Oh So Dreamy Boy-and my mind wanders...just a bit, as creative (because that sounds better than flighty) minds are prone to do. So I am thinking about Harry Connick Junior and how he has famously great hair (except when he cuts it shaggy because he decides to recreate himself as a boy from my senior class. Perhaps I can bore you with that another time...oh and explore the possibility of a federal mandate that would require him and any other man of my choosing to wear mob-style suspenders) Focus! Oh right, my Harry has Definitive Crooner ,Leader of the Band Hair...and sometimes wears suspenders...on those days I feed him treats-with my teeth. Okay, stopping now...
Naturally, I then reminisce about all the frivolous crushes I have had throughout my lifetime (not to be confused with my love for Harry- that's the real deal...we are going on eighteen years or so. Heehee.)Let me begin with those of the celebrity persuasion. Gradually, a coif commonality is identified. Elvis-Fifties Rock Star Hair, James Dean-Fifties Bad Boy Hair, Danny Zuko-More Fifties Bad Boy Hair, Michael Jackson (Thriller days)-Curly Tenril Hair, Eric Estrada- Cop Helmet Hair, Jamie Walters-haha Fifties Bad Boy Hair -although it was the early nineties. Luke Perry-more Fifties Bad Boy hair,Jason Priestly-Indulgent Nineties Big Man Hair/Fifties Jock Boy Hair,Johnny Depp (Chocolat Pirate Hair and *blush* 21 Jump Street Hair) Bill Bouillion- Beach Volleyball Boy Hair, Jordan Knight (Slick Boy Band Hair. In fact the New Kids redefined Boy Band Hair-Jordan just did it best) , Patrick Dempsey-McDreamy, Scream 3, Will and Grace Hair not Can't Buy Me Love Hair (that was...kinda like a chocolate poodle) , John Mayer (Sulky Grungy Musician Hair), Edward Cullen (More James Dean Hair-which he chopped. But it will be back, oh yes...it will be back! So glad it is not up to him.) Each object of my shameless, school girl celebrity crushes is in manly possession of serious hair flair. Career making hair...empire building hair...swooning and crooning hair...heart breaker hair...Independently, I have noticed each of their locks...but never made the group connection. I have had a secret hair obsession...me and obsessions. Go figure!
This leads to my thinking through my real live boyfriends and flirtations of the past...A virtual cornucopia of hair fascination.
Shannon-toddlerhood-shaggy sandy hair,straight up nursery school style.
Shayne kindergarten-blonde waivy hair-think Ricky Schroeder
Roman-third grade-raven hair-tail. Right-I said tail...and it went all the way down his back-like a skunk tail. Clear why that was so alluring...heeheehee
Steen- white blonde hair-fifth and sixth grade. I remember when he discovered product. Happy day!;0) Oh and he came to my costume/birthday party dressed as Billy Idol..Yay him!
Seventh grade-Tim, sandy beach hair that fell in his eyes and a toothpaste commercial smile..we used to chat it up between classes...I had plans, but was distracted by a muscley freshman.
ninth grade/tenth grade=David...dark curly hair that I used to loosen into big waves in the back...just for fun.
Heath- straggly devil may care hair...I know because the day I visited his school with my bf...we ditched and I tousled it while we smooched all day leaning against an alley wall. Very West Side Story...7
...Eleventh grade-Steve...rebel boy hair(not my boyfriend-but he has to make the hair list).
Brook-muscle jock boy boy hair...another interesting story that will I will spare you for now.
Bob-Sport caster hair...oh and he was an absolute giant-Like Anthony Robbins.
Mark-Kurt Cobain hair.
The list goes on-until I get to Shmoops...he has always had hair attitude...has been Emilio Estevez-esque and more recently Rascal Flatt-ish...trying to get him to go...short, chic and tufty. I am a suckor for burns though...not the huge lamb chop style or dagger ones.
Hair Affair...aptly named? Shake your head "yes" here.
Using my extensive Psychology background that I have mentioned previously, (i.e. Freshman year of college, back row) I tried to find some deeper reason for my hidden hair addiction-get to the root (more hair humor)...Certainly this attraction is not an outward manifestation of my personal hair obsession. My own hair is nothing but another accessory to me...it has been really long, fairly short, curly, straight...highlighted, lowlighted...every feasible color of the rainbow...let's not get crazy-er! You name it. My hair is subject to my every whim. Nothing exceptional about it...Not sure where the hair affinity came from. Not even reserved for the opposite sex. I am obsessed with 90's Supermodel hair. I think I am going to grow mine back out and try to bring back big glam hair. ... Btw courtesy of my sister's stylist Jody...my adopted hair philosophy is that once a woman reaches her late twenties...if she is not an exotic dancer or a cheerleader...her hair should not exceed the middle of her back. Beyond that, I miss bombshell hair...Claudia, Cindy, Elle...the list goes on... Hair Fascination may not be all that odd, I mean America is obsessed with Julia Robert's hair...so I guess I am not the only freaky deak in the house. Coiffure, fluff, fringe, mane, mop, tress, shocks, sideburns, shaggy....HAIR!!!... To be clear, facial or head...body hair should be sparing.
Cool hair...apparently yet ANOTHER obsession of mine. Guess I will just continue to go with the flow...Get it? Flowing locks...sorry, that was bad. I am aware-couldn't help myself.
Regardless, there is no denying it...I go all mushy over a great head of hair and it took me um..twenty nine years (wink, wink), to figure it out. Doesn't change anything, I suppose. In fact it explains a lot. The long and the short of it...(pun intended) is subconsciously, I have had a life long affair with hair. (Although bald is beautiful on Vin Diesel, Taye Diggs, Tyson Beckford and Bruce Willis...shout out-whoop, whoop!)
Who knew? Now I do and so do you...sorry about that.
Felt the need to share. Share how much I care about hair flair...okay time to say goodnight! Goodnight.
Be good to your hair...apparently it is hugely important.
February 13, 2009
I Love "U"
I Love” U”!
This is totally lost in translation. No graphics. Boo! So I will add in the play by play.
In an effort to celebrate V-D (Valentine’s Day)…and all things lovey and lovely - AND out of love for one of my fav blogs …”Clever Girl Goes Blog” I am going to participate in Tia’s love by letter challenge. She very graciously assigned me the letter “u” hahaha…thank you Tia!
So here is the task at hand…to list ten things that you love that start with your assigned letter. In my case, the letter (as mentioned above) is “u”
1. Undies. Love, love the matching, pretty, girly, lacy sets…I have to admit though that with two fairly young children-I am lucky to find a bra and panties and clothes that match in time to get my son to preschool. …forget finding the matching set and then making sure it doesn’t show through whatever I have chosen from the Clean Pile to put on. Still- I make an effort to go all out in the lacy thing department every now and again…(which is me-ish for not THAT often). Also believe this is really more for me than my husband. He has only a brief appreciation of it- lingerie makes me feel sexy all day. Sadly, this is not me pictured below…but a girl can dream. Right? In my case, to BE her (atleast in body)-not be WITH her…teehee.
Imagine VS Angel here.
2. United States of America. I am a Patriot (ess?) at heart. YES times are tough. OF COURSE they are tough EVERYWHERE-not just HERE. As a Country, we are often short-sided but we are also optimistic and generous and thankful to live where we live. What a beautiful place to be! Not only geographically, but where we are all free to agree and/or disagree openly-and not have to worry that we will be taken to jail in the night, or fear that our views will put our family’s safety in jeoprady. We still need to work on our behavior/reputation abroad a…but some of that is fulfilling preexisting expectations. Oh! And that debt thingy…
Anyway, God Bless Us-and Everyone around the Globe-but all that doesn’t begin with “u”.
American Flag pic.
3. Unicorns. Who doesn’t love a good unicorn? This is a bit of a stretch, but I like mythical creatures. Zeus, Venus, fairies and Edward Cullen (I mean…vampires)…Magic is well, it’s MAGICAL. I love that faith in the unseen world of childhood that begins to fade as we become mature and realistic. Pfft…realism is over-rated. I choose pixie dust and mermaids and unicorns…
Mythological red and black unicorn here.
4. Ugly Pretty. This is sort of like couture pretty…the whole high fashion thing. I probably got this term from ANTM…In my opinion, Ugly Pretty is the humanity in beauty. The character and intelligence…depth of beauty. The mole above the lip, the small scar against the chiseled chin, the lines in the statue David, the Mona Lisa smirk…the crack in the Grecian vase, . You get the hint. Ugly Pretty is the interesting version of perfection-Lovely’s sister, Sexy.
Juicy Couture perfume ad here.
5. Understanding. Pretty straightforward. We all like to be or feel understood…we also like to feel as if we understand both intellectually and emotionally the people and situations we encounter along our journey. “What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?…:”0).
"No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding." Plato
Painting of Plato.
6. Uniforms. For me this is exclusive to Men in Uniform. Cliché’? Yes. But for good reason. Military dress uniforms are best-so heroic!…Don’t hate baseball uniforms either, or mobsters in tuxes…heehee. Funny though, a man in a McDonald’s uniform does not leave the same impression…
Richard Gere from 'An Officer and a Gentleman"
7. Upgrades. I am techno-impaired…but upgrades are good right? Improved functionality is usually a plus. Although I can’t help but think of ROBOTS, “Why be you, when you can be new”…slogan…Balance is key to healthy upgrading in technology and in life…fine line between being fashionable and fickle.
I-Phone picture, BMW and ROBOT cartoon character...
8. Undiscovered. Life is all about discovery. So whether it be a delicious dive in a non-trendy part of the city or a new love. Seeking out that perfect shade of lip gloss or revealing a hidden talent you never knew you possessed,…Uncovering a fierce pair of shoes hidden away on the sale rack, or discovering the crumpled up twenty that you left in your winter coat. The new truth you learned, even if it was obtained the hard way. What about the best book you fell upon because its’ title captured your interest? Perhaps it is that out of the way break in the meadow where the sun illuminates your Vampire like a diamond-encrusted chandelier (sorry, couldn’t resist)…Anyway, the possibilities are endless. Why do you think so many people watch American Idol, Top Chef and Antique Road show? The road of discovery is kind of like “the hunt”…you know? Or something…kinda’, sorta’ like that and it all begins with the UNDISCOVERED. Otherwise the game is no fun.
Sparkley vampire. Of course!
9. Unique. Mostly I like to hope/think that I am unique. In a precious-memorable way, not a freaky ”Thank the Lord there is no one else like you” –kind of way..Or maybe a mix of the two. Really though, how unique can we REALLY be? Only one of me and only one you…but the human condition has most of us chasing our tails…or working out on the hamster wheel. “Nothing new under the sun” and all… Anyway…uniqueness is an aspiration of mine…but I don’t work too hard at it. Think it is supposed to be effortless-teehee. Challenge nonetheless to stand apart.
Whitworth Miller (different colored eyes), crown jewels and beach castle photos. Atticus Finch.
10. Ultra-glamorous. This one I definitely am not-though I make my feeble attempts. I do greatly admire it in others …not sure I know any real life people who I would consider ultra-glamorous. Young Hollywood has lost most of its’ mystique and with that-it’s glamour. Old Hollywood though…WOW! Ultra glamour was its very essence. Here are a few of my favorites.
Audrey, Jackie, Carey Grant, Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Sopia Loren...
Shwew! I did it.
“U” words that didn’t make the list? Uggs, Umbros, U-2 and Umbrellas…Want a letter?
I hope you enjoyed it. This was my best shot! Sorry for the drab non technicolor version!
May have to revisit with "ultimate" and "unforgetable"...
This is totally lost in translation. No graphics. Boo! So I will add in the play by play.
In an effort to celebrate V-D (Valentine’s Day)…and all things lovey and lovely - AND out of love for one of my fav blogs …”Clever Girl Goes Blog” I am going to participate in Tia’s love by letter challenge. She very graciously assigned me the letter “u” hahaha…thank you Tia!
So here is the task at hand…to list ten things that you love that start with your assigned letter. In my case, the letter (as mentioned above) is “u”
1. Undies. Love, love the matching, pretty, girly, lacy sets…I have to admit though that with two fairly young children-I am lucky to find a bra and panties and clothes that match in time to get my son to preschool. …forget finding the matching set and then making sure it doesn’t show through whatever I have chosen from the Clean Pile to put on. Still- I make an effort to go all out in the lacy thing department every now and again…(which is me-ish for not THAT often). Also believe this is really more for me than my husband. He has only a brief appreciation of it- lingerie makes me feel sexy all day. Sadly, this is not me pictured below…but a girl can dream. Right? In my case, to BE her (atleast in body)-not be WITH her…teehee.
Imagine VS Angel here.
2. United States of America. I am a Patriot (ess?) at heart. YES times are tough. OF COURSE they are tough EVERYWHERE-not just HERE. As a Country, we are often short-sided but we are also optimistic and generous and thankful to live where we live. What a beautiful place to be! Not only geographically, but where we are all free to agree and/or disagree openly-and not have to worry that we will be taken to jail in the night, or fear that our views will put our family’s safety in jeoprady. We still need to work on our behavior/reputation abroad a…but some of that is fulfilling preexisting expectations. Oh! And that debt thingy…
Anyway, God Bless Us-and Everyone around the Globe-but all that doesn’t begin with “u”.
American Flag pic.
3. Unicorns. Who doesn’t love a good unicorn? This is a bit of a stretch, but I like mythical creatures. Zeus, Venus, fairies and Edward Cullen (I mean…vampires)…Magic is well, it’s MAGICAL. I love that faith in the unseen world of childhood that begins to fade as we become mature and realistic. Pfft…realism is over-rated. I choose pixie dust and mermaids and unicorns…
Mythological red and black unicorn here.
4. Ugly Pretty. This is sort of like couture pretty…the whole high fashion thing. I probably got this term from ANTM…In my opinion, Ugly Pretty is the humanity in beauty. The character and intelligence…depth of beauty. The mole above the lip, the small scar against the chiseled chin, the lines in the statue David, the Mona Lisa smirk…the crack in the Grecian vase, . You get the hint. Ugly Pretty is the interesting version of perfection-Lovely’s sister, Sexy.
Juicy Couture perfume ad here.
5. Understanding. Pretty straightforward. We all like to be or feel understood…we also like to feel as if we understand both intellectually and emotionally the people and situations we encounter along our journey. “What’s so funny ‘bout peace, love and understanding?…:”0).
"No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding." Plato
Painting of Plato.
6. Uniforms. For me this is exclusive to Men in Uniform. Cliché’? Yes. But for good reason. Military dress uniforms are best-so heroic!…Don’t hate baseball uniforms either, or mobsters in tuxes…heehee. Funny though, a man in a McDonald’s uniform does not leave the same impression…
Richard Gere from 'An Officer and a Gentleman"
7. Upgrades. I am techno-impaired…but upgrades are good right? Improved functionality is usually a plus. Although I can’t help but think of ROBOTS, “Why be you, when you can be new”…slogan…Balance is key to healthy upgrading in technology and in life…fine line between being fashionable and fickle.
I-Phone picture, BMW and ROBOT cartoon character...
8. Undiscovered. Life is all about discovery. So whether it be a delicious dive in a non-trendy part of the city or a new love. Seeking out that perfect shade of lip gloss or revealing a hidden talent you never knew you possessed,…Uncovering a fierce pair of shoes hidden away on the sale rack, or discovering the crumpled up twenty that you left in your winter coat. The new truth you learned, even if it was obtained the hard way. What about the best book you fell upon because its’ title captured your interest? Perhaps it is that out of the way break in the meadow where the sun illuminates your Vampire like a diamond-encrusted chandelier (sorry, couldn’t resist)…Anyway, the possibilities are endless. Why do you think so many people watch American Idol, Top Chef and Antique Road show? The road of discovery is kind of like “the hunt”…you know? Or something…kinda’, sorta’ like that and it all begins with the UNDISCOVERED. Otherwise the game is no fun.
Sparkley vampire. Of course!
9. Unique. Mostly I like to hope/think that I am unique. In a precious-memorable way, not a freaky ”Thank the Lord there is no one else like you” –kind of way..Or maybe a mix of the two. Really though, how unique can we REALLY be? Only one of me and only one you…but the human condition has most of us chasing our tails…or working out on the hamster wheel. “Nothing new under the sun” and all… Anyway…uniqueness is an aspiration of mine…but I don’t work too hard at it. Think it is supposed to be effortless-teehee. Challenge nonetheless to stand apart.
Whitworth Miller (different colored eyes), crown jewels and beach castle photos. Atticus Finch.
10. Ultra-glamorous. This one I definitely am not-though I make my feeble attempts. I do greatly admire it in others …not sure I know any real life people who I would consider ultra-glamorous. Young Hollywood has lost most of its’ mystique and with that-it’s glamour. Old Hollywood though…WOW! Ultra glamour was its very essence. Here are a few of my favorites.
Audrey, Jackie, Carey Grant, Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh, Sopia Loren...
Shwew! I did it.
“U” words that didn’t make the list? Uggs, Umbros, U-2 and Umbrellas…Want a letter?
I hope you enjoyed it. This was my best shot! Sorry for the drab non technicolor version!
May have to revisit with "ultimate" and "unforgetable"...
February 1, 2009
New in Town- A Harry Situation
New in Town-A Harry (hairy-get it?) SituationShare
Today at 1:00pm | Edit Note | Delete
New in Town ...review-with a few little detours.
I am going to start this out by filling you all in on my years of holding a groupie school girl flame for Harry Connick Junior. If you have been living under a sad Harry-free little rock...Harry Connick Junior is an amazing musician. He is a crooner/band leader- but does his own musical arrangements and is from New Orleans and so logically, he is a jazz pianist as well. He did the soundtrack from When Harry Met Sally, as well as numerous big band and solo cds. He also acts. He has been in a bunch of stuff: Little Man Tate, Memphis Belle, Hope Floats, The Serial Killer Movie I can't Currently Recall the Name of...(Copycat-thanks Imbd!), Independence Day, My Dog Skip, P.S. I Love You, and more. Most recently people know him from his role as Leo on Will and Grace. He also starred on broadway in a sold out run of "The Pajama Game" ( a musical starring Harry! Would have been a highlight in life-but I allowed the lack of available tickets to stand in my way). He is ultra charming, boyishly good looking, goofy- funny and crazy talented. Because of all these brilliant qualities, I try not to miss anything he does. New in Town was no exception.
New in Town stars Harry Connick Junior and Renée Zellweger (sure she needs no introduction-JIC-Chicago, Bridget Jones, Jerry McGuire, etc). Anyway, Renee plays Lucy Hill, an aspiring CEO from Miami who is sent (by default) to New Ulm Minnesota to do some restructuring of a plant there. She takes the move as an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Predictably, she is the big city girl who all the small town people detest because she represents Big Business and all its' unfavorable characteristics (i.e. greed, monopolization, etc). Needless to say, there are numerous adjustments to be made. She must run all the major changes she has been sent to make by the conveniently widowed, overly-protective single father and Union Rep, Ted Mitchell (dreamily portrayed by Harry Connick Junior). She insults and later argues with him over a meatloaf dinner on her first day in town before she realizes that he is the Union Rep-this initial meeting helps form some of the "conflict" that later occurs in the film..
So- I am going to stop here...don't want to give the movie away. This movie is not poorly acted. It is however, trite and unremarkable. If you (like me) have to see it NOW due to your unbreakable one-sided commitment to Harry-do so...If not-wait and get it from Red Box for a dollar. Because while there are some funny moments: red underwear antenna, "sexy man-outloud" part , "I didn't realize He (Jesus) was missing) ", a ultra-chic Burberry trench, and a heart warming Christmas carolling scene that brought a tiny tear-the leads don't have believable chemistry (he is WAY too cute for her) the laughs are not that funny and the tempo seems off. Something about it seems half cooked, like the aftermath of whatever attempts I make at cooking dinner.
Facial Hair Harry is nice though. They tried, unsuccessfully to make him small towny and ordinary...but his laughing eyes, winning smile and irrepressible charm make this an impossibility. HE is also a fire man in the movie...Need I say more? (N0, no I don't)
What goes without saying-is that I will continue to be the first in line for whatever Harry does. The only error he made with regards to New in Town is that of poor judgement (choosing an underdeveloped script with poorly developed characters).
Of course I am willing to personally deal with the Union on this matter;0).
Today at 1:00pm | Edit Note | Delete
New in Town ...review-with a few little detours.
I am going to start this out by filling you all in on my years of holding a groupie school girl flame for Harry Connick Junior. If you have been living under a sad Harry-free little rock...Harry Connick Junior is an amazing musician. He is a crooner/band leader- but does his own musical arrangements and is from New Orleans and so logically, he is a jazz pianist as well. He did the soundtrack from When Harry Met Sally, as well as numerous big band and solo cds. He also acts. He has been in a bunch of stuff: Little Man Tate, Memphis Belle, Hope Floats, The Serial Killer Movie I can't Currently Recall the Name of...(Copycat-thanks Imbd!), Independence Day, My Dog Skip, P.S. I Love You, and more. Most recently people know him from his role as Leo on Will and Grace. He also starred on broadway in a sold out run of "The Pajama Game" ( a musical starring Harry! Would have been a highlight in life-but I allowed the lack of available tickets to stand in my way). He is ultra charming, boyishly good looking, goofy- funny and crazy talented. Because of all these brilliant qualities, I try not to miss anything he does. New in Town was no exception.
New in Town stars Harry Connick Junior and Renée Zellweger (sure she needs no introduction-JIC-Chicago, Bridget Jones, Jerry McGuire, etc). Anyway, Renee plays Lucy Hill, an aspiring CEO from Miami who is sent (by default) to New Ulm Minnesota to do some restructuring of a plant there. She takes the move as an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Predictably, she is the big city girl who all the small town people detest because she represents Big Business and all its' unfavorable characteristics (i.e. greed, monopolization, etc). Needless to say, there are numerous adjustments to be made. She must run all the major changes she has been sent to make by the conveniently widowed, overly-protective single father and Union Rep, Ted Mitchell (dreamily portrayed by Harry Connick Junior). She insults and later argues with him over a meatloaf dinner on her first day in town before she realizes that he is the Union Rep-this initial meeting helps form some of the "conflict" that later occurs in the film..
So- I am going to stop here...don't want to give the movie away. This movie is not poorly acted. It is however, trite and unremarkable. If you (like me) have to see it NOW due to your unbreakable one-sided commitment to Harry-do so...If not-wait and get it from Red Box for a dollar. Because while there are some funny moments: red underwear antenna, "sexy man-outloud" part , "I didn't realize He (Jesus) was missing) ", a ultra-chic Burberry trench, and a heart warming Christmas carolling scene that brought a tiny tear-the leads don't have believable chemistry (he is WAY too cute for her) the laughs are not that funny and the tempo seems off. Something about it seems half cooked, like the aftermath of whatever attempts I make at cooking dinner.
Facial Hair Harry is nice though. They tried, unsuccessfully to make him small towny and ordinary...but his laughing eyes, winning smile and irrepressible charm make this an impossibility. HE is also a fire man in the movie...Need I say more? (N0, no I don't)
What goes without saying-is that I will continue to be the first in line for whatever Harry does. The only error he made with regards to New in Town is that of poor judgement (choosing an underdeveloped script with poorly developed characters).
Of course I am willing to personally deal with the Union on this matter;0).
January 25, 2009
Not Original-but 25 Random Things About ME
25 Random Things About Me
As I have crowned myself the Unofficial Queen of Random, this should be easy enough...Although, I don't think you all care to know THIS much about me.
1. I have an unGodly amount of lipgloss. Embarrassed really to even ATTEMPT to tell you how many. Suffice to say that I could apply lipgloss one hundred times a day to myself and a few friends (odd visual, but whatever) every day for the rest of my life and still have enough left over to shine the lips of a professional cheer squad or the Pussy Dolls,a bevy of exotic dancers or a team of Drag Queens (all eerily related somehow) for the rest of theirs...
2. I am not sure if it is the retired cheerleader in me still needing to take the stage every now and then, or what...but I adore "singing" karaoke-loudly and badly. Some of my favorite songs to lovingly butcher with my tone deaf renderings are ...These Boot Are Made For Walkin', One Way or Another, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and anything by Brittany Spears...because REALLY hard to do any damage to "I'm a Slave For You" ...
3. On the same note as number two (teehee number two) I can dance a mean bar or table if the moon is right and I haven't been out in many months...it works in my favor if I am not wearing heels in these situations-I am just not THAT coordinated. Did I mention my beloved sister in law Amber (who needs to get on fb already) accompanied me to Coyote Ugly for my birthday to do just that? I am not ashamed.
4. In high school I got a sultry peck from Jamie Walters, the "How Do I Talk to an Angel" guy that dated Kelly on 90210...heehee...sure I am one random girl on a long unsophisticated list. On second thought, it was just a kiss-who am I kidding? I am not on any list... I am not bragging here...:0)
5. On my last day of high school Barry Bonds decided to whack me in the forehead with a foul ball. LOVELY! If you have met me, you know that A-Of course I didn't have a glove and B-Catching it would have not been an option if I had-so why bother with A. I have awards banquet pictures where my eye is purple to match my dress to prove it. Tried to tone it down with purple shadow like it was intentional...but it is an eyeshadow brush, not a wand.
6. I will not share milk products or anything with pulp. Not even with Chris (my husband), or the kiddos...I will share-but then I pull a Becky Shrepple and say "Oh just keep it." And I don't like to sit down right after someone else gets up. Butt Warmth is creepy.
7. As if I need to S-P-E-L-L it out...did I mention I have a touch of OCD (informally diagnosed of course)...kind of like having a tiny bit of a deadly virus...:0). Mostly I have weird idiosyncrasies and phobias-I don't wash my hair fifty times a day, or make my kids change into clean clothes in the closet when they get home...I just have a million lip glosses, need to have doors and cabinets shut when not in use and have an odd fixation with the number seven and its' multiples...(blushing-it's okay I know it's weird).
8. I know all the words (or 92.95%) to atleast five musicals: Grease, Rent , Cabaret, Evita and Chicago and about 70% of five or so more. LOVE musicals! Saw Producers on Broadway...(of course Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane were on sabbatical as my "luck" would have it). However the charming Steven Weber from Wings and now Brothers and Sisters was in it-and I met him...he is lovely.
9. I have an autographed picture of Harry Connick Junior because I mailed a cheesy poem to his fan club...this was YEARS ago, but don't let it kid you-I'd do it again tomorrow.
10. I LOVE red.
11. I ADORE New York City.
12. I am determined to make a pilgrimage to Graceland before I die.
13. Coca-Cola is my beverage of choice...or Cherry Coke. Please don't offer me Pepsi-it could get ugly. My RIGHT to choose and I get hostile when I don't have options.:0)
14. I get emotionally involved in Broncos football-even though I don't get to watch it much these days and we have season tickets. Was teary for days when Mike Shanahan got booted. Boo!
15. I have had a stuffed dog named Toto since my mom received him at my baby shower. I don't sleep with him (anymore), but just can't give him up...
16. "Man can not live on bread alone" but I COULD live on chips and salsa.
17. I am gloriously non-domestic...just how I am wired.
18. I would love to travel more. In the United States and abroad. Greece, Italy and Spain top my list...although I am currently making no real efforts to get to any of them.
19. If I watch a show loyally, it is likely to be cancelled. Here is my shout out to October Road and What About Brian...whoop whoop
20. I am ridiculously loyal. This does not just apply to friends and family...but to the New Kids on the Block, Harry Connick Junior, 90210 and anything and anyone else I have devoted any real time to.
21. I talk to strangers. Candy or no..
22. I too sing random songs throughout the day and put my kids names in them.
23. I have two published poems and was written up in a optometry book for being one of the earliest cases to be treated with contact lenses...I was two...impressive, I know (;0) )
24. I can't find my way out of a paper bag...but I can find any item in my delightedly disorganized home.
25. I am distracted by shiny things...like Edward Cullen..and jewelry...who am I kidding? blinking lights, glitter...
Your turn. Shoot
As I have crowned myself the Unofficial Queen of Random, this should be easy enough...Although, I don't think you all care to know THIS much about me.
1. I have an unGodly amount of lipgloss. Embarrassed really to even ATTEMPT to tell you how many. Suffice to say that I could apply lipgloss one hundred times a day to myself and a few friends (odd visual, but whatever) every day for the rest of my life and still have enough left over to shine the lips of a professional cheer squad or the Pussy Dolls,a bevy of exotic dancers or a team of Drag Queens (all eerily related somehow) for the rest of theirs...
2. I am not sure if it is the retired cheerleader in me still needing to take the stage every now and then, or what...but I adore "singing" karaoke-loudly and badly. Some of my favorite songs to lovingly butcher with my tone deaf renderings are ...These Boot Are Made For Walkin', One Way or Another, Hit Me With Your Best Shot and anything by Brittany Spears...because REALLY hard to do any damage to "I'm a Slave For You" ...
3. On the same note as number two (teehee number two) I can dance a mean bar or table if the moon is right and I haven't been out in many months...it works in my favor if I am not wearing heels in these situations-I am just not THAT coordinated. Did I mention my beloved sister in law Amber (who needs to get on fb already) accompanied me to Coyote Ugly for my birthday to do just that? I am not ashamed.
4. In high school I got a sultry peck from Jamie Walters, the "How Do I Talk to an Angel" guy that dated Kelly on 90210...heehee...sure I am one random girl on a long unsophisticated list. On second thought, it was just a kiss-who am I kidding? I am not on any list... I am not bragging here...:0)
5. On my last day of high school Barry Bonds decided to whack me in the forehead with a foul ball. LOVELY! If you have met me, you know that A-Of course I didn't have a glove and B-Catching it would have not been an option if I had-so why bother with A. I have awards banquet pictures where my eye is purple to match my dress to prove it. Tried to tone it down with purple shadow like it was intentional...but it is an eyeshadow brush, not a wand.
6. I will not share milk products or anything with pulp. Not even with Chris (my husband), or the kiddos...I will share-but then I pull a Becky Shrepple and say "Oh just keep it." And I don't like to sit down right after someone else gets up. Butt Warmth is creepy.
7. As if I need to S-P-E-L-L it out...did I mention I have a touch of OCD (informally diagnosed of course)...kind of like having a tiny bit of a deadly virus...:0). Mostly I have weird idiosyncrasies and phobias-I don't wash my hair fifty times a day, or make my kids change into clean clothes in the closet when they get home...I just have a million lip glosses, need to have doors and cabinets shut when not in use and have an odd fixation with the number seven and its' multiples...(blushing-it's okay I know it's weird).
8. I know all the words (or 92.95%) to atleast five musicals: Grease, Rent , Cabaret, Evita and Chicago and about 70% of five or so more. LOVE musicals! Saw Producers on Broadway...(of course Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane were on sabbatical as my "luck" would have it). However the charming Steven Weber from Wings and now Brothers and Sisters was in it-and I met him...he is lovely.
9. I have an autographed picture of Harry Connick Junior because I mailed a cheesy poem to his fan club...this was YEARS ago, but don't let it kid you-I'd do it again tomorrow.
10. I LOVE red.
11. I ADORE New York City.
12. I am determined to make a pilgrimage to Graceland before I die.
13. Coca-Cola is my beverage of choice...or Cherry Coke. Please don't offer me Pepsi-it could get ugly. My RIGHT to choose and I get hostile when I don't have options.:0)
14. I get emotionally involved in Broncos football-even though I don't get to watch it much these days and we have season tickets. Was teary for days when Mike Shanahan got booted. Boo!
15. I have had a stuffed dog named Toto since my mom received him at my baby shower. I don't sleep with him (anymore), but just can't give him up...
16. "Man can not live on bread alone" but I COULD live on chips and salsa.
17. I am gloriously non-domestic...just how I am wired.
18. I would love to travel more. In the United States and abroad. Greece, Italy and Spain top my list...although I am currently making no real efforts to get to any of them.
19. If I watch a show loyally, it is likely to be cancelled. Here is my shout out to October Road and What About Brian...whoop whoop
20. I am ridiculously loyal. This does not just apply to friends and family...but to the New Kids on the Block, Harry Connick Junior, 90210 and anything and anyone else I have devoted any real time to.
21. I talk to strangers. Candy or no..
22. I too sing random songs throughout the day and put my kids names in them.
23. I have two published poems and was written up in a optometry book for being one of the earliest cases to be treated with contact lenses...I was two...impressive, I know (;0) )
24. I can't find my way out of a paper bag...but I can find any item in my delightedly disorganized home.
25. I am distracted by shiny things...like Edward Cullen..and jewelry...who am I kidding? blinking lights, glitter...
Your turn. Shoot
January 20, 2009
Kids- Smarter Than You Think
Okay so I mentioned before that I have two kids. Mentioned in my last post that they don't always play nice. They are adorable and sweet...they are funny, dramatic, imaginative, playful and smart. Very SMART...like little mischievous Master Minds. They could be Batman Villains-except MUCH too cute and THANKFULLY no bizarre disfiguring experiences! (i.e. Joker, Two Face, etc.)
So I mentioned in the Playing Nice...? blog-that my son will be like a quiet little storm and then break lose like Hurricane Jasper (are the Js next?) when I get on the phone for business. Well this was a bit like that-with a twist.
So this is how it went down-
Me: Mommy needs to get on the phone for a minute and I am going in the other room, so you two need to play nice (just like the last blog) and keep it down. okay?
Little Evil Genius'/ Cherubs: Okay Mommy (chattering about super heroes and playing tea party on the step stool in the bathroom)
I go into the kitchen and dial the phone. I am in the middle of leaving a message when I hear my daughter sobbing in the other room. So I cover the mouth piece and end my call...running into the bathroom as fast as I can.
Me: Freaking Out a Bit: WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?
Little Girl Evil Genius (holding face, still sobbing): He hit me on my head, ears and face.
I kiss the Sweet Crying Baby and turn to the Offending Offspring.
Me: Why did you do that to your sister?
LEG: I don't know.
Me: Yes you do, Why did you smack your sister down?
LEG: I don't know...(this time with less certainty)
Me sensing that the Bad Mommy Cop act is working and I have him where I want him, continue...
Me: YES YOU DO- She didn't do ANYTHING to you...WHY DID YOU HIT YOUR SISTER?
LEG: (Looks at me and then at his sister and then mumbles)...Because I wanted you to get off the phone.
Enough said.
Something I always suspected...figured I was using my Freshman Year Psychoanalyzing Skills-Had absolutely NO idea that he was fully aware of the reasoning behind his actions...
He is five.
Adorable Evil Geniuses...I tell you.
*Thanks to Tia of CGGB for giving me a format idea for the conversation aspect of this blog -Hope she doesn't mind...
So I mentioned in the Playing Nice...? blog-that my son will be like a quiet little storm and then break lose like Hurricane Jasper (are the Js next?) when I get on the phone for business. Well this was a bit like that-with a twist.
So this is how it went down-
Me: Mommy needs to get on the phone for a minute and I am going in the other room, so you two need to play nice (just like the last blog) and keep it down. okay?
Little Evil Genius'/ Cherubs: Okay Mommy (chattering about super heroes and playing tea party on the step stool in the bathroom)
I go into the kitchen and dial the phone. I am in the middle of leaving a message when I hear my daughter sobbing in the other room. So I cover the mouth piece and end my call...running into the bathroom as fast as I can.
Me: Freaking Out a Bit: WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?
Little Girl Evil Genius (holding face, still sobbing): He hit me on my head, ears and face.
I kiss the Sweet Crying Baby and turn to the Offending Offspring.
Me: Why did you do that to your sister?
LEG: I don't know.
Me: Yes you do, Why did you smack your sister down?
LEG: I don't know...(this time with less certainty)
Me sensing that the Bad Mommy Cop act is working and I have him where I want him, continue...
Me: YES YOU DO- She didn't do ANYTHING to you...WHY DID YOU HIT YOUR SISTER?
LEG: (Looks at me and then at his sister and then mumbles)...Because I wanted you to get off the phone.
Enough said.
Something I always suspected...figured I was using my Freshman Year Psychoanalyzing Skills-Had absolutely NO idea that he was fully aware of the reasoning behind his actions...
He is five.
Adorable Evil Geniuses...I tell you.
*Thanks to Tia of CGGB for giving me a format idea for the conversation aspect of this blog -Hope she doesn't mind...
January 7, 2009
Playing Nice...?
"And you had BETTER play nice"
How many times has this command been directed at each of us in our lifetime...and how many times have we imposed this impossible expectation on those to whom we are closest?
As a mom-I say this ALL the time. My son (especially) and my daughter (often) do NOT play nice...not with each other, not with my husband and I, and sometimes not with other people's kids...or um...ANYONE-it seems.
My son does not share well...unless it is completely of his own accord and in these cases he is actually (tearing up) VERY sweet and thoughtful...(to be continued...)HOWEVER-if he is forced to share (that doesn't sound right)against his will-for example, another child takes something he is playing with or his sister has something that belongs to him...LOOK OUT-for the wrath of my reactive Little Johnny (SO NOT his name-so no worries). His wrath, which includes, but is not limited to: screaming and hitting, biting, kicking, swearing to loathe the other individual for all eternity)is not reserved for the occasion when he is put upon to share. Let's call it JW for Johnny's wrath-and JW can be unleashed at the drop of the hat (and by drop of the hat I mean primarily when I am on the phone with my boss-sad but true). JW comes out when Little Johnny can't get to the next level on his Wii game, when he gets in trouble, when his Little Sister does anything he doesn't like (as you can probably imagine-this occurs numerous times daily)...you name it. He actually has a bit of a unique situation that makes his explosiveness easier to understand, but not any easier to live with. On a good day, he can "play nice" for 80% of the day, maybe 85%...I think that is pretty typical for kids in general. Those days however, are few and far between...maybe one in seven.
Back to the lloonngg drawn out point-My son does not play nice. if given a choice...heehee...
On to the three year old and her limited understanding of preschooler etiquette (Does Emily Post do board books?)...My daughter is very sweet MOSTLY- but she has hit her tiresome threes in stride...so she instigates her brother (other than THAT she is extremely bright ;0) )...she also has my flair for the dramatic and her vocabulary consists mostly of "no, never and forever"...She (let's call her Tiny June) is more of a trouble maker. Outside of her instigating, she gets into ALL of my stuff. Sadly there is a lot of tempting girlie items to entice Little June...so on a daily basis, she is using my pink shampoo on her dry hair at the sink...getting into mommy's powder glitter liners and sampling the plethora of lip glosses, lotions and potions beckoning to her from my bedroom and every bathroom...Not fair really-like leaving safety pins and metal nail files around for a cutter...(sorry-bad analogy)...Little Judy also-"Does Not Play Well With Others"-she just adds her own flair to the label...maybe she will have a career in fashion at least...teehee
Blah, blah, blah- Time to be brief...Shmoops and I are both emotional and vocal and a bit dramatic. If a day passes that we do not have a some sort of trivial, yet somewhat unpleasant verbal exchange-it is only because he left the house before I woke up and I went to bed before he got home...Otherwise he surprised me with jewelry or other shiny distraction. So I suppose we may not always set the GREATEST example for the munchkins...I am sure we are not the ONLY flawed, human parents...teehee...Although our friends would have you believe they are the Cosby's...or Stepfords-take your pick.
Under closer scrutiny, I think that as we all get older and more set in our ways-After we have had more years to perfect our idiosyncrasies and to fully develop our narcissism...we actually become less capable or willing to see past or to deal with the things we deem as shortcomings in those around us. Be it our spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend,children, friends, siblings, parents, colleagues, neighbors-baristas...let's face it-the more moments we have spent on this conflict fraught earth-the less likely most of us are to take the abandoned, selfless high road. And-if we ALL feel this way...the ongoing battles of day to day life become increasingly more explicable and predictable...and well...hopeless...
Most days begin with a fresh perspective and a morning full of ideals. At that glistening moment after the first french vanilla'd and splenda'd to perfection cup of coffee- before reality sets in, living the golden rule seems completely accessible. Just a bit later, after Shmoops and I have bickered over who is preparing the Bagels. Little Johnny has melted down because he has decided he prefers Fruity Pebbles after the bagel is already toasted,schmeared and on the table. Tiny June has successfully emptied my latest cosmetic purchase on the new rug and the Puggle is in the backyard verbally harassing and equally offending all the neighbors within a five mile radius. At the moment that I have both the Monkeys dressed, coiffed and coated and we are hustling out the door for the second time in two minutes (I forgot the keys), the phone rings and it is a solicitor...
Playing nice is no longer in my repertoire...Did I mention that it is only ten a.m.?
At long last, there it is-my point!
"Playing Well With Others", is it a rule we have been oppressed by and as a result inflict on others? Or...something to aspire to...if we didn't have utopia as an ultimate (although impossible) goal...imagine where we would be then...Never mind...you need your sleep.
How many times has this command been directed at each of us in our lifetime...and how many times have we imposed this impossible expectation on those to whom we are closest?
As a mom-I say this ALL the time. My son (especially) and my daughter (often) do NOT play nice...not with each other, not with my husband and I, and sometimes not with other people's kids...or um...ANYONE-it seems.
My son does not share well...unless it is completely of his own accord and in these cases he is actually (tearing up) VERY sweet and thoughtful...(to be continued...)HOWEVER-if he is forced to share (that doesn't sound right)against his will-for example, another child takes something he is playing with or his sister has something that belongs to him...LOOK OUT-for the wrath of my reactive Little Johnny (SO NOT his name-so no worries). His wrath, which includes, but is not limited to: screaming and hitting, biting, kicking, swearing to loathe the other individual for all eternity)is not reserved for the occasion when he is put upon to share. Let's call it JW for Johnny's wrath-and JW can be unleashed at the drop of the hat (and by drop of the hat I mean primarily when I am on the phone with my boss-sad but true). JW comes out when Little Johnny can't get to the next level on his Wii game, when he gets in trouble, when his Little Sister does anything he doesn't like (as you can probably imagine-this occurs numerous times daily)...you name it. He actually has a bit of a unique situation that makes his explosiveness easier to understand, but not any easier to live with. On a good day, he can "play nice" for 80% of the day, maybe 85%...I think that is pretty typical for kids in general. Those days however, are few and far between...maybe one in seven.
Back to the lloonngg drawn out point-My son does not play nice. if given a choice...heehee...
On to the three year old and her limited understanding of preschooler etiquette (Does Emily Post do board books?)...My daughter is very sweet MOSTLY- but she has hit her tiresome threes in stride...so she instigates her brother (other than THAT she is extremely bright ;0) )...she also has my flair for the dramatic and her vocabulary consists mostly of "no, never and forever"...She (let's call her Tiny June) is more of a trouble maker. Outside of her instigating, she gets into ALL of my stuff. Sadly there is a lot of tempting girlie items to entice Little June...so on a daily basis, she is using my pink shampoo on her dry hair at the sink...getting into mommy's powder glitter liners and sampling the plethora of lip glosses, lotions and potions beckoning to her from my bedroom and every bathroom...Not fair really-like leaving safety pins and metal nail files around for a cutter...(sorry-bad analogy)...Little Judy also-"Does Not Play Well With Others"-she just adds her own flair to the label...maybe she will have a career in fashion at least...teehee
Blah, blah, blah- Time to be brief...Shmoops and I are both emotional and vocal and a bit dramatic. If a day passes that we do not have a some sort of trivial, yet somewhat unpleasant verbal exchange-it is only because he left the house before I woke up and I went to bed before he got home...Otherwise he surprised me with jewelry or other shiny distraction. So I suppose we may not always set the GREATEST example for the munchkins...I am sure we are not the ONLY flawed, human parents...teehee...Although our friends would have you believe they are the Cosby's...or Stepfords-take your pick.
Under closer scrutiny, I think that as we all get older and more set in our ways-After we have had more years to perfect our idiosyncrasies and to fully develop our narcissism...we actually become less capable or willing to see past or to deal with the things we deem as shortcomings in those around us. Be it our spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend,children, friends, siblings, parents, colleagues, neighbors-baristas...let's face it-the more moments we have spent on this conflict fraught earth-the less likely most of us are to take the abandoned, selfless high road. And-if we ALL feel this way...the ongoing battles of day to day life become increasingly more explicable and predictable...and well...hopeless...
Most days begin with a fresh perspective and a morning full of ideals. At that glistening moment after the first french vanilla'd and splenda'd to perfection cup of coffee- before reality sets in, living the golden rule seems completely accessible. Just a bit later, after Shmoops and I have bickered over who is preparing the Bagels. Little Johnny has melted down because he has decided he prefers Fruity Pebbles after the bagel is already toasted,schmeared and on the table. Tiny June has successfully emptied my latest cosmetic purchase on the new rug and the Puggle is in the backyard verbally harassing and equally offending all the neighbors within a five mile radius. At the moment that I have both the Monkeys dressed, coiffed and coated and we are hustling out the door for the second time in two minutes (I forgot the keys), the phone rings and it is a solicitor...
Playing nice is no longer in my repertoire...Did I mention that it is only ten a.m.?
At long last, there it is-my point!
"Playing Well With Others", is it a rule we have been oppressed by and as a result inflict on others? Or...something to aspire to...if we didn't have utopia as an ultimate (although impossible) goal...imagine where we would be then...Never mind...you need your sleep.
January 2, 2009
Getting Over Myself
So as I mentioned before, my family had a wedding reception to attend on New Years Eve. Seems lately as though everything takes more effort than it should. Packing in particular, I avoid like the plague...(let's say bubonic- cause it is the only one I know by name).Does not matter how far in advance I know about a trip and begin the packing process...I inevitably am up all night before a trip-choosing accessories and bagging liquids. Due to the fact that this was an overnight trip and was nestled between holidays...I successfully procrastinated until the last possible second...
Wednesday morning was insane. I was attempting to tie up some last minute work things...feed and dress my Little Monkeys...did I mention that I am utterly Domestically Challenged...and completely disorganized? On top of that, I have been ripping my currently uncoifed hair out trying to get my email synced on my new I Phone. The IT Department at Apple, nor the IT Boy at the office seem to know the dealie-o...so now I have no Blackberry...and essentially no I Phone...I am beginning to lose my calm collection. Oh also-my nearly three year old daughter is nearly potty trained...but piddled on the rug and my five year old son was melting down because he wanted me to get off the phone with Apple and call his Daddy to find out how to achieve the next level on Batman Legos for Wii. So my morning is frantic and exasperating, and Shmoops (My Husband) comes home at the tail end of this. It is nearly one o'clock and we are all still in our pajamas and not yet packed...I will spare you any predictable morsels from that interaction...
Okay- so that is the back story. In another hour we are all thrown together and in the car for an hour and a half trip-...equipped with happy meals and v-smiles...on the way to the hotel where the reception is to be held. We promised the kids pool time-so we get there...rush out of our clothes, into our suits, back to the room-into out wedding-wear and down for the festivities...Needless to say that after sitting through speeches, pictures and a wedding video-waiting for our turn at the taco bar and a few stereo typical wedding dances...my five and three year old were fried and ready to head back to the room (that was after the cupcakes of course)...Here is where I begin to feel a bit self absorbed.
Call me Crazy (I like it and will answer back...No, REALLY!)- but I actually adore dancing at weddings. Because of its silly, over the top-devil may care abandon and the Electric Slide (I said it!)...I rarely miss a beat-at least, that is how I see it! Teehee...Anyway, Shmoops "doesn't know how to put the kids to bed" (meaning they prefer me..Of course they do. Teehee...)...so he claims. I guess I have been a bit of an enabler in that department...but he uses that as a crutch as well. There it is- our friends, family and my Husband are downstairs welcoming in the wee hours of 2009 with cheezy dj commentary, silly hats and lots of holiday elixir- I am pouting because I was sent up at 9:30...and spent the next two hours trying to get the Munchkins to stop battling and giggling and go to sleep. Sometime shortly before midnight, I am sandwiched on a full sized hotel room bed between my son and daughter sleeping restlessly. I had long since surrendered trying to watch the Phantom of the Opera (with Gerard Butler-HUGE sacrifice)...because the Babies felt the need to watch with me and give the witty and profound criticism possessed only by Toddlers and Preschoolers. My second complimentary beverage untouched on the nightstand. Shmoops staggered clumsily in sometime around 2 a.m.
After a short night's sleep-kids are up at 7:45...and of course my husband rolls over and goes back to sleep. After my daughter and I take a bath and I get us both and my son dressed...Shmoops has the audacity to lumber out of bed and throw on a hat and scold and scowl at me for not being ready to go down to breakfast...Let me throw in that after we drive home...he proceeds to lay down on the couch for a two hour snooze and when I get a moment to shut my eyes after getting my daughter down for a nap...he makes a rukus doing Lord knows what...and I get an unacceptable twenty five minutes of beauty rest-which at this point...I need DESPERATELY! It pretty much goes on like that...we get into a tiff later because he is miffed that our daughter opted to defecate on the bathroom floor, rather than the potty. This of course was on his clock and I refused to clean up...into every life a little doodie must fall...right?
FINALLY- I arrive at my point. I love my children very much and am feeling a bit guilty and self absorbed about mourning the loss of fun from the New Year's Eve (Just)Past. I intentionally zoned out during the recaps of the previous evenings' antics while bitterly choking down my Complimentary Continental Breakfast (sounds delicious, right?) Not happy with my reaction. I consider my Bebe's company a blessing and that should have been plenty for me. Admittedly, my funk is aimed at Shmoops because it often feels to me as if I make more personal sacrifices than he does. Another position I wallow in far too often and admit in spite of myself...Know it is not a contest.
Sorry, that is five minutes of your life you will never get back. I do appreciate the free therapy however.
Here is to being less Self Centered In the New Year...and maybe getting out a bit more as well!;0)
Wednesday morning was insane. I was attempting to tie up some last minute work things...feed and dress my Little Monkeys...did I mention that I am utterly Domestically Challenged...and completely disorganized? On top of that, I have been ripping my currently uncoifed hair out trying to get my email synced on my new I Phone. The IT Department at Apple, nor the IT Boy at the office seem to know the dealie-o...so now I have no Blackberry...and essentially no I Phone...I am beginning to lose my calm collection. Oh also-my nearly three year old daughter is nearly potty trained...but piddled on the rug and my five year old son was melting down because he wanted me to get off the phone with Apple and call his Daddy to find out how to achieve the next level on Batman Legos for Wii. So my morning is frantic and exasperating, and Shmoops (My Husband) comes home at the tail end of this. It is nearly one o'clock and we are all still in our pajamas and not yet packed...I will spare you any predictable morsels from that interaction...
Okay- so that is the back story. In another hour we are all thrown together and in the car for an hour and a half trip-...equipped with happy meals and v-smiles...on the way to the hotel where the reception is to be held. We promised the kids pool time-so we get there...rush out of our clothes, into our suits, back to the room-into out wedding-wear and down for the festivities...Needless to say that after sitting through speeches, pictures and a wedding video-waiting for our turn at the taco bar and a few stereo typical wedding dances...my five and three year old were fried and ready to head back to the room (that was after the cupcakes of course)...Here is where I begin to feel a bit self absorbed.
Call me Crazy (I like it and will answer back...No, REALLY!)- but I actually adore dancing at weddings. Because of its silly, over the top-devil may care abandon and the Electric Slide (I said it!)...I rarely miss a beat-at least, that is how I see it! Teehee...Anyway, Shmoops "doesn't know how to put the kids to bed" (meaning they prefer me..Of course they do. Teehee...)...so he claims. I guess I have been a bit of an enabler in that department...but he uses that as a crutch as well. There it is- our friends, family and my Husband are downstairs welcoming in the wee hours of 2009 with cheezy dj commentary, silly hats and lots of holiday elixir- I am pouting because I was sent up at 9:30...and spent the next two hours trying to get the Munchkins to stop battling and giggling and go to sleep. Sometime shortly before midnight, I am sandwiched on a full sized hotel room bed between my son and daughter sleeping restlessly. I had long since surrendered trying to watch the Phantom of the Opera (with Gerard Butler-HUGE sacrifice)...because the Babies felt the need to watch with me and give the witty and profound criticism possessed only by Toddlers and Preschoolers. My second complimentary beverage untouched on the nightstand. Shmoops staggered clumsily in sometime around 2 a.m.
After a short night's sleep-kids are up at 7:45...and of course my husband rolls over and goes back to sleep. After my daughter and I take a bath and I get us both and my son dressed...Shmoops has the audacity to lumber out of bed and throw on a hat and scold and scowl at me for not being ready to go down to breakfast...Let me throw in that after we drive home...he proceeds to lay down on the couch for a two hour snooze and when I get a moment to shut my eyes after getting my daughter down for a nap...he makes a rukus doing Lord knows what...and I get an unacceptable twenty five minutes of beauty rest-which at this point...I need DESPERATELY! It pretty much goes on like that...we get into a tiff later because he is miffed that our daughter opted to defecate on the bathroom floor, rather than the potty. This of course was on his clock and I refused to clean up...into every life a little doodie must fall...right?
FINALLY- I arrive at my point. I love my children very much and am feeling a bit guilty and self absorbed about mourning the loss of fun from the New Year's Eve (Just)Past. I intentionally zoned out during the recaps of the previous evenings' antics while bitterly choking down my Complimentary Continental Breakfast (sounds delicious, right?) Not happy with my reaction. I consider my Bebe's company a blessing and that should have been plenty for me. Admittedly, my funk is aimed at Shmoops because it often feels to me as if I make more personal sacrifices than he does. Another position I wallow in far too often and admit in spite of myself...Know it is not a contest.
Sorry, that is five minutes of your life you will never get back. I do appreciate the free therapy however.
Here is to being less Self Centered In the New Year...and maybe getting out a bit more as well!;0)
December 29, 2008
Finding My Motivation
Not sure if it is the end of the year hum drums, or what...but as I mentioned in my last blog...having a difficult time finding motivation to do ANYTHING. Even to get off the couch to make myself a cup of coffee aka-Hot Steamy Liquid Ambition...or HSLA for short. Sad state of affairs...
Have Two Little Munchkins and as it is the holiday season, their social calendar (preschool, play dates and nanny) is all clear, so sitting on the couch all day and watching all the one name female hosted talk shows...you know, Tyra, Ellen, Oprah... (which I have not devoted any real time to since bebe' number two) is not an options...teehee...Not that I would do that anyway. In a Do Nothing of My Choice World...I would read Twilight (because I decided to relive my middle school years and cave to the peer pressure) and polish off disc 2, season 1 of Army Wives that I have had on loan from Netflix for a month, maybe two. Sorry if it is on your queue and it is out...expect it by...shalll we say February?
Did I mention I have a full time job and lots of calls to make today?...Booo...
Anyway...hoping to kick the funk. However...feeling a bit paralyzed by the messier than usual state of my home that I have no interest in cleaning...and the fact that my husband...we shall call him...Shmoops (because that is all that I can come up with in my lump-ish state) is in an Argumentative Slump. Today he wanted to know why I put a picture(that apparently he did not recognize as being the one that hung on our bedroom wall for the last year until...last night when I decided to change it) in his closet...How long does he have to know me to know that my actions are very rarely supported by an actual plan...teehee. I put it in there because I removed it from the wall and he had available space...Why else? Hardly seemed worthy of an inquisition...especially before I had consumed a single drop of the afore mentioned HSLA...aka-Liquid Patience...
Alas...(that's right, I can't make a cup of coffee- but I can channel my inner-Billy Shakespeare. He loves it when I call him that..)the end of these unfascinating, uncolorful doldrums is not in sight...
Perhaps my shortsightedness is to FINALLY earn its keep...Here's hoping...
Have Two Little Munchkins and as it is the holiday season, their social calendar (preschool, play dates and nanny) is all clear, so sitting on the couch all day and watching all the one name female hosted talk shows...you know, Tyra, Ellen, Oprah... (which I have not devoted any real time to since bebe' number two) is not an options...teehee...Not that I would do that anyway. In a Do Nothing of My Choice World...I would read Twilight (because I decided to relive my middle school years and cave to the peer pressure) and polish off disc 2, season 1 of Army Wives that I have had on loan from Netflix for a month, maybe two. Sorry if it is on your queue and it is out...expect it by...shalll we say February?
Did I mention I have a full time job and lots of calls to make today?...Booo...
Anyway...hoping to kick the funk. However...feeling a bit paralyzed by the messier than usual state of my home that I have no interest in cleaning...and the fact that my husband...we shall call him...Shmoops (because that is all that I can come up with in my lump-ish state) is in an Argumentative Slump. Today he wanted to know why I put a picture(that apparently he did not recognize as being the one that hung on our bedroom wall for the last year until...last night when I decided to change it) in his closet...How long does he have to know me to know that my actions are very rarely supported by an actual plan...teehee. I put it in there because I removed it from the wall and he had available space...Why else? Hardly seemed worthy of an inquisition...especially before I had consumed a single drop of the afore mentioned HSLA...aka-Liquid Patience...
Alas...(that's right, I can't make a cup of coffee- but I can channel my inner-Billy Shakespeare. He loves it when I call him that..)the end of these unfascinating, uncolorful doldrums is not in sight...
Perhaps my shortsightedness is to FINALLY earn its keep...Here's hoping...
December 27, 2008
Christmas Hang over
So I love Christmas as much as the next girl. And I have Little Ones, so that makes it THAT much better. I thought I got excited! The shopping, the sparkly decorations, the twinkle lights, the pretty packages, the magic, the cheesy-yet lovely music (my Christmas music library is ridiculous ranging from the Rat Pack to Kenny Chesney...), the family and friends, the magic...and the shopping...(I may have to look into retail rehab).
Anyway-there is so much anticipation for me at Christmas time...mostly in buying all the gifts and being literally "like a kid on Christmas" waiting to see all the happy faces...so after our SIX Christmases (Vince Vaughn got off easy) and the toys are assembled...the front room looks like it was massacred by gift gremlins...I always feel a bit hung over. Meaning that while it all is very rewarding, it is a bit sad when it all has to come to an end. The last couple days I have felt excessively mopey and blue. I couldn't even muster the energy to participate in the sale mecca of day after Christmas shopping. Not to mention that I have not a single space for anything. I didn't even set up the new I Phone I got (and am absolutely thrilled about!)
By the way it was an utter surprise and I wept because I was touched mostly by the surprise of his surprise...and a little bit because I felt like a creep. My Husband has been known to do this little thing where he is very adamant and "Man in Charge-ish" about a budget for one anther's Christmas gifts.Then I fall for it and he goes all out...buying me jewelry (something else not in the budget)... or anything else that will make me tear up. This is endearing and romantic (he is pretty good at the grand gestures) but I have this short term memory and go by the Budget Rule and then feel like a She-Grinch when he gets Jelly Bellies and Season Three of Always Sunny, a horror movie and some random stocking stuffers...and I get an I-Phone...ooohhhh and Pretty Woman Anniversary Edition (only had on vhs) and Season 4 of Grey's from the kids...Not bad, right? It IS better to give, than to receive -without a doubt. Honestly though, can't say I hate receiving...affection,thoughtful gifts,lip gloss, compliments (so long as sincere)...all good things to receive
Anyway got to get over my post Christmas Hang Over and figure out what the Bebe's and I are going to wear to the New Year's Eve Wedding Reception we have to attend...More shopping and twinkly lights...hmmm...just may be what the Store Whore ordered.
Anyway-there is so much anticipation for me at Christmas time...mostly in buying all the gifts and being literally "like a kid on Christmas" waiting to see all the happy faces...so after our SIX Christmases (Vince Vaughn got off easy) and the toys are assembled...the front room looks like it was massacred by gift gremlins...I always feel a bit hung over. Meaning that while it all is very rewarding, it is a bit sad when it all has to come to an end. The last couple days I have felt excessively mopey and blue. I couldn't even muster the energy to participate in the sale mecca of day after Christmas shopping. Not to mention that I have not a single space for anything. I didn't even set up the new I Phone I got (and am absolutely thrilled about!)
By the way it was an utter surprise and I wept because I was touched mostly by the surprise of his surprise...and a little bit because I felt like a creep. My Husband has been known to do this little thing where he is very adamant and "Man in Charge-ish" about a budget for one anther's Christmas gifts.Then I fall for it and he goes all out...buying me jewelry (something else not in the budget)... or anything else that will make me tear up. This is endearing and romantic (he is pretty good at the grand gestures) but I have this short term memory and go by the Budget Rule and then feel like a She-Grinch when he gets Jelly Bellies and Season Three of Always Sunny, a horror movie and some random stocking stuffers...and I get an I-Phone...ooohhhh and Pretty Woman Anniversary Edition (only had on vhs) and Season 4 of Grey's from the kids...Not bad, right? It IS better to give, than to receive -without a doubt. Honestly though, can't say I hate receiving...affection,thoughtful gifts,lip gloss, compliments (so long as sincere)...all good things to receive
Anyway got to get over my post Christmas Hang Over and figure out what the Bebe's and I are going to wear to the New Year's Eve Wedding Reception we have to attend...More shopping and twinkly lights...hmmm...just may be what the Store Whore ordered.
December 12, 2008
Red Wine, Roller Derby and Dancing on the Bar. Did I mention Chocolate cake?
So...I had a birthday about a week ago. And I am at the age where I am not sure if I should celebrate birthdays anymore.
However I AM "A"- Spoiled and "B"- Born the Baby in my family...(are those REALLY separate items?) Anyway...I am not sure I will ever stop celebrating MY BIRTHDAY for my own sake...I mean someone has to, right? That whole "You teach people how to treat you" Doctor Phil ( or Doctor Feel-that allusion killed with the Sesame Street crowd) -ism. I do not consider myself the most vivacious girl. I do not take a lot of risk...no bungee jumping...driving at high speeds...tonguing strangers. I do (unfortunately for my lack of budgeting abilities) get a bit crazy shopping at times...but that is not exactly off the charts- out of control. So this year-I planned my own "party".
Two days before, my husband sweetly did the obligatory dinner, movie and drinks...and that was very nice too. I DO OF COURSE appreciate his efforts...But I work from home, have little rug rats and don't out out much...As i mentioned before, I like to have a good time (by my own definition of course)-so I invited what few friends I currently have to join me...Really about the Going OUT- the birthday thing merely gave me an excuse.
Party is in quotations above, as it wasn't exactly a bash...but I DID have FUN! First we went to see Roller Derby...and although it was my second time and I do not get all of the rules...it is fun and fairly easy to follow...and AWESOME people watching. We THEN went out for dinner and more cocktails and then three of us went on to Coyote Ugly. I have only been in Vegas and had a good time. Knew this one would not truly compete...but a Girl Has to Dance on the Bar Every Now and Again...right? My Sister in Law was sweet enough to be my Partner in Crime and my husband stood by as if he was waiting for that cough test men rant about so often. (How bad could it REALLY have been? Young girls, small clothes...body shots...? THOSE things much more fascinating to him of course. Never will understand how every new set of boobies is like seeing them for the first time). Truly the only bad thing about the night for me was that I lost the new MAC holiday lip palette that my Babies gave me for my birthday...booo! Out of my OCD will HAVE to replace so long as they are still in stock. Blah, blah, blah...
Anyway-"To celebrate, not to celebrate birthday debate" ...think the CELEBRATES have it...each one may be the last...may as well live it up anyway you see fit. Within reason of course...
So Happy Birthday to Me!
However I AM "A"- Spoiled and "B"- Born the Baby in my family...(are those REALLY separate items?) Anyway...I am not sure I will ever stop celebrating MY BIRTHDAY for my own sake...I mean someone has to, right? That whole "You teach people how to treat you" Doctor Phil ( or Doctor Feel-that allusion killed with the Sesame Street crowd) -ism. I do not consider myself the most vivacious girl. I do not take a lot of risk...no bungee jumping...driving at high speeds...tonguing strangers. I do (unfortunately for my lack of budgeting abilities) get a bit crazy shopping at times...but that is not exactly off the charts- out of control. So this year-I planned my own "party".
Two days before, my husband sweetly did the obligatory dinner, movie and drinks...and that was very nice too. I DO OF COURSE appreciate his efforts...But I work from home, have little rug rats and don't out out much...As i mentioned before, I like to have a good time (by my own definition of course)-so I invited what few friends I currently have to join me...Really about the Going OUT- the birthday thing merely gave me an excuse.
Party is in quotations above, as it wasn't exactly a bash...but I DID have FUN! First we went to see Roller Derby...and although it was my second time and I do not get all of the rules...it is fun and fairly easy to follow...and AWESOME people watching. We THEN went out for dinner and more cocktails and then three of us went on to Coyote Ugly. I have only been in Vegas and had a good time. Knew this one would not truly compete...but a Girl Has to Dance on the Bar Every Now and Again...right? My Sister in Law was sweet enough to be my Partner in Crime and my husband stood by as if he was waiting for that cough test men rant about so often. (How bad could it REALLY have been? Young girls, small clothes...body shots...? THOSE things much more fascinating to him of course. Never will understand how every new set of boobies is like seeing them for the first time). Truly the only bad thing about the night for me was that I lost the new MAC holiday lip palette that my Babies gave me for my birthday...booo! Out of my OCD will HAVE to replace so long as they are still in stock. Blah, blah, blah...
Anyway-"To celebrate, not to celebrate birthday debate" ...think the CELEBRATES have it...each one may be the last...may as well live it up anyway you see fit. Within reason of course...
So Happy Birthday to Me!
December 4, 2008
Snow Sweet Snow
Today is Thursday. I have always loved Thursday because it is filled with the optimism and promise of the weekend. Beyond that,I live in a cold weather state. The best kind- where the sun comes out most days and melts it away so that we can have a fresh dusting. The glittery pure blanket covers the trees and brings the mountains to life. Come March-however...when we are on our fifth month of snow, it loses some of its loveliness. I choose to be short sided and glass half full-ish now-because in THIS moment it is ABSOLUTELY enchanted.
The snow has come to us later than usual this year. Typically our first snow comes to us in late October-often Halloween...So costumes are tainted by turtlenecks, Ugg boots and winter coats. Hated that as a child-still do! Planning a costume is hard work and a North Face coat is not the finishing touch most of us have in mind. Oh and the spring snows (the ones I am not thinking about) make Easter a challenge. You try wearing a sleeveless dress and strappy sandals while hunting Easter eggs in the snow! Teehe..Those that dream of snow dream of a White Christmas, like in the cheesy movies of which I partake. We often have a dry cold Christmas and soggy Easter...teehee..Such is life!
Anyway! I do RELISH the snow-especially when I can be curled up in front of a good movie, favorite book, or even my computer... Depending what time of the day a steaming cup of java with flavored creamer and Splenda or a glass of Pinot are amongst my favorite winter month companions...
My Babies-NATURALLY want to go out in it. I pacify them enduring the cold every other day or so. Sunday- we built a little snow girl that we had to literally CONSTRUCT. For those of you who do not know snow-there are different types. The wet heavy type is ideal for snow forts and snow people bad on the roads. The light flaky picturesque kind-while breath taking as it dances to the earth-is nearly useless for anything but viewing and maybe boarding or skiing...neither of which I do, so I can't be sure-easy to drive in and only slows down the snow driving newbies to ten miles an hour...haha!
Regardless-The snow has arrived! Snow always brings with it cold weather delights...Fluffy sweaters...Tall boots, long colorful scarves and HATS! Love hats-own more than I wear because whenever I go to wear one-my hair turns out...Again one of those "such is life" things...Starbucks winter coffees, Bath and Body Works Christmas scents-yummy Twisted Peppermint!(Which they removed the glitter from-hooray! not as pretty in the bottle. I greatly appreciate it though because I love the scent, but am not fourteen or a cheerleader/stripper...so time to lay off the body glitter.) Christmas time means concocting all the homemade favorites I had as a child. Think I will ACTUALLY do that this year. Time to start building family traditions as the Bebes are getting old enough to partake and appreciate them. This Christmas season promises to be a DELIGHTFUL one.
So-Welcome Snow Sweet Snow!
...still blocking out the prior knowledge I have ascertained of May snow. Teehee! Guess all relationships bring both ecstasy and detest...otherwise our hearts aren't in them...Right?
The snow has come to us later than usual this year. Typically our first snow comes to us in late October-often Halloween...So costumes are tainted by turtlenecks, Ugg boots and winter coats. Hated that as a child-still do! Planning a costume is hard work and a North Face coat is not the finishing touch most of us have in mind. Oh and the spring snows (the ones I am not thinking about) make Easter a challenge. You try wearing a sleeveless dress and strappy sandals while hunting Easter eggs in the snow! Teehe..Those that dream of snow dream of a White Christmas, like in the cheesy movies of which I partake. We often have a dry cold Christmas and soggy Easter...teehee..Such is life!
Anyway! I do RELISH the snow-especially when I can be curled up in front of a good movie, favorite book, or even my computer... Depending what time of the day a steaming cup of java with flavored creamer and Splenda or a glass of Pinot are amongst my favorite winter month companions...
My Babies-NATURALLY want to go out in it. I pacify them enduring the cold every other day or so. Sunday- we built a little snow girl that we had to literally CONSTRUCT. For those of you who do not know snow-there are different types. The wet heavy type is ideal for snow forts and snow people bad on the roads. The light flaky picturesque kind-while breath taking as it dances to the earth-is nearly useless for anything but viewing and maybe boarding or skiing...neither of which I do, so I can't be sure-easy to drive in and only slows down the snow driving newbies to ten miles an hour...haha!
Regardless-The snow has arrived! Snow always brings with it cold weather delights...Fluffy sweaters...Tall boots, long colorful scarves and HATS! Love hats-own more than I wear because whenever I go to wear one-my hair turns out...Again one of those "such is life" things...Starbucks winter coffees, Bath and Body Works Christmas scents-yummy Twisted Peppermint!(Which they removed the glitter from-hooray! not as pretty in the bottle. I greatly appreciate it though because I love the scent, but am not fourteen or a cheerleader/stripper...so time to lay off the body glitter.) Christmas time means concocting all the homemade favorites I had as a child. Think I will ACTUALLY do that this year. Time to start building family traditions as the Bebes are getting old enough to partake and appreciate them. This Christmas season promises to be a DELIGHTFUL one.
So-Welcome Snow Sweet Snow!
...still blocking out the prior knowledge I have ascertained of May snow. Teehee! Guess all relationships bring both ecstasy and detest...otherwise our hearts aren't in them...Right?
November 30, 2008
Danny Zuko Does Drag
There are things in life that turn out to be far less than they promise. Typically that first relationship falls far short of the glass slipper image we may have formed as children. That pedicure with the perfect shade of red you bought in the interest of saving money on pedicures. Our first cars were far less (for most of us) than the Porsche we may have dreamed of...prom...Need I say more...? Now that macho leather jacketed, slick haired crooning Danny Zuko of our childhood days is STILL in musicals-but is now sporting drag...? Really?
Seriously! I kid you not! For those of you who grew up under a pop culture isolated rock- or in a non penetrable bubble robbed of such cult classics as "Summer Lovin'" and "You're the One That I Want", " "Greased Lightening"...Danny Zuko is John Travolta's character in Grease. Long before Pulp Fiction and an eternity before the High School Musical phenomenon...(? )which he is not in-but is seemingly a Disney-Grease rip off.
Here's the scoop or shall I call it a fall from grace?...So I consumed spicy chicken wings after eight-bad plan number one. My stomach is boycotting. So after I finish off half a bottle of Tums , Grey's Anatomy and an episode of Desperate Housewives off the DVR-I decide to watch Hairspray on On Demand (which I saw years ago in the Ricki Lake-John Waters variety, but other than the basic premise-remembered very little of). I KNEW that John Travolta was in the film-playing a LARGE woman and other than thinking that was an odd casting choice did not fully realize the long term emotional scarring actually SEEING this might cause.
His performance wasn't BAD. Other than that he played the wife of Christopher Walkin-weird enough all on its own...let it sink in...You threw up a bit in your mouth-right? We are talking JOHN TRAVOLTA here...may not be Girard Butler...but other than Girard- HAS to be one of the most macho males to grace movies of the musical variety. Grease, Urban Cowboy, Staying Alive, Saturday Night Fever...and then non musicals like Michael, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty...even Wild Hogs- but surely you can see the inconsistency!
He had a bouffant and a moo moo...instead of a biker jacket, cowboy hat (albeit rhinestone encrusted), trench coat(insert other masculine wardrobe item here)...sang a romantic-ish ballad while waltzing with creepy Christopher Walkin...This MAY be lost on all of you...but as a (YOUNG) child of the 80's-I am quite possibly marred for my remaining years.
If you are in my dreamy Pink Lady boat and have not yet made the image shattering error of watching John Travolta in Hairspray...PLEASE turn back! See the error of MY ways (and in my opinion-John Travolta''s as well) The T-Birds would not approve and neither do I.
I leave you now to try to erase the image of the fat suited, fake eye lashed, lip stick wearing John Travolta for the hip thrusting, greasy hair slicking heart stealing Danny Zuko of old. I pray it's not too late. Out with the bad-in with the good...out with the bad, in with the good...
" I got Chills- they're MULTIPLYIN" and I'm LOS-In" con-trol...cause' the power you're supplyin' it's electrifyin'!"
Damned chicken wings!
Revisited this one because I am so very sad for John Travolta and his family and the loss of their son. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. I have friends and family who have lost children and it is something no parent should have to endure. No greater loss in all the world.
Seriously! I kid you not! For those of you who grew up under a pop culture isolated rock- or in a non penetrable bubble robbed of such cult classics as "Summer Lovin'" and "You're the One That I Want", " "Greased Lightening"...Danny Zuko is John Travolta's character in Grease. Long before Pulp Fiction and an eternity before the High School Musical phenomenon...(? )which he is not in-but is seemingly a Disney-Grease rip off.
Here's the scoop or shall I call it a fall from grace?...So I consumed spicy chicken wings after eight-bad plan number one. My stomach is boycotting. So after I finish off half a bottle of Tums , Grey's Anatomy and an episode of Desperate Housewives off the DVR-I decide to watch Hairspray on On Demand (which I saw years ago in the Ricki Lake-John Waters variety, but other than the basic premise-remembered very little of). I KNEW that John Travolta was in the film-playing a LARGE woman and other than thinking that was an odd casting choice did not fully realize the long term emotional scarring actually SEEING this might cause.
His performance wasn't BAD. Other than that he played the wife of Christopher Walkin-weird enough all on its own...let it sink in...You threw up a bit in your mouth-right? We are talking JOHN TRAVOLTA here...may not be Girard Butler...but other than Girard- HAS to be one of the most macho males to grace movies of the musical variety. Grease, Urban Cowboy, Staying Alive, Saturday Night Fever...and then non musicals like Michael, Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty...even Wild Hogs- but surely you can see the inconsistency!
He had a bouffant and a moo moo...instead of a biker jacket, cowboy hat (albeit rhinestone encrusted), trench coat(insert other masculine wardrobe item here)...sang a romantic-ish ballad while waltzing with creepy Christopher Walkin...This MAY be lost on all of you...but as a (YOUNG) child of the 80's-I am quite possibly marred for my remaining years.
If you are in my dreamy Pink Lady boat and have not yet made the image shattering error of watching John Travolta in Hairspray...PLEASE turn back! See the error of MY ways (and in my opinion-John Travolta''s as well) The T-Birds would not approve and neither do I.
I leave you now to try to erase the image of the fat suited, fake eye lashed, lip stick wearing John Travolta for the hip thrusting, greasy hair slicking heart stealing Danny Zuko of old. I pray it's not too late. Out with the bad-in with the good...out with the bad, in with the good...
" I got Chills- they're MULTIPLYIN" and I'm LOS-In" con-trol...cause' the power you're supplyin' it's electrifyin'!"
Damned chicken wings!
Revisited this one because I am so very sad for John Travolta and his family and the loss of their son. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. I have friends and family who have lost children and it is something no parent should have to endure. No greater loss in all the world.
November 25, 2008
Settling
This is a topic that I heard being discussed on my favorite radio show.
The DJs were debating the idea that: Everyone settles when it comes to relationships- especially women.
This is the way I see it...The debate truly was not about settling...but about relationship semantics. There is a difference between compromise and settling. In order to make a relationship work, there HAS to be compromise. If there is not-the personality of the one quashes, manipulates, squanders and suffocates that of the other. You have to give of and maybe even give up little bits of yourself to make room for the other person. Otherwise there is no relationship to speak of. That being said, if you sacrifice your dreams and desires completely in the name of love-neither of you will ever be satisfied and will end up resenting each other.
Beyond that...over time people change and passions often cool. Sometimes love fades away, sometimes it grows- Most commonly...it just changes. Relationships that endure any real longevity cannot stay at that initial explosive, smoldering level because most of us do not have that kind of energy or time. Besides familiarity seems to dissolve some of the mystery that caused those fires to rage so uncontrollably. Some settle into a little daily dance that both people find comforting and pleasurable. Some lose all passion and cannot sustain the relationship. From what I have witnessed this is not the loss of the passion that fades the relationship, but the faded relationship that wanes the passion. The lucky ones-I believe find a good balance between the romance novel (minus Fabio of course) and the friendly housemate (Three's Company" style.
Some people do "settle" I guess- in the name of safety and comfort and stability. I do not however, believe that applies to most people. Growing up together can be a mutually beneficial experience-it is the times when one of you experiences a growth spurt and the other doesn't-that can be tricky.Refer to the Missing Piece and the Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein for a simplified commentary with illustrations.
I don't really have any answers. My relationship certainly is imperfect. But we all are. Currently I am in the place where I believe love is as much a decision as it is an emotion.MAybe more. Sometimes there are fireworks, sometimes rainstorms, sometimes draught...but your love, marriage, relationship-is a marathon-not a sprint. I took that from somewhere...
Anyway-Sometimes I "settle"- sometimes he does...think that is as it should be. It is when that balance is skewed to one side or another that extreme dysfunctionality or unlivable sacrifice occurs...
To "settle" or to live alone-that is the question...
The DJs were debating the idea that: Everyone settles when it comes to relationships- especially women.
This is the way I see it...The debate truly was not about settling...but about relationship semantics. There is a difference between compromise and settling. In order to make a relationship work, there HAS to be compromise. If there is not-the personality of the one quashes, manipulates, squanders and suffocates that of the other. You have to give of and maybe even give up little bits of yourself to make room for the other person. Otherwise there is no relationship to speak of. That being said, if you sacrifice your dreams and desires completely in the name of love-neither of you will ever be satisfied and will end up resenting each other.
Beyond that...over time people change and passions often cool. Sometimes love fades away, sometimes it grows- Most commonly...it just changes. Relationships that endure any real longevity cannot stay at that initial explosive, smoldering level because most of us do not have that kind of energy or time. Besides familiarity seems to dissolve some of the mystery that caused those fires to rage so uncontrollably. Some settle into a little daily dance that both people find comforting and pleasurable. Some lose all passion and cannot sustain the relationship. From what I have witnessed this is not the loss of the passion that fades the relationship, but the faded relationship that wanes the passion. The lucky ones-I believe find a good balance between the romance novel (minus Fabio of course) and the friendly housemate (Three's Company" style.
Some people do "settle" I guess- in the name of safety and comfort and stability. I do not however, believe that applies to most people. Growing up together can be a mutually beneficial experience-it is the times when one of you experiences a growth spurt and the other doesn't-that can be tricky.Refer to the Missing Piece and the Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein for a simplified commentary with illustrations.
I don't really have any answers. My relationship certainly is imperfect. But we all are. Currently I am in the place where I believe love is as much a decision as it is an emotion.MAybe more. Sometimes there are fireworks, sometimes rainstorms, sometimes draught...but your love, marriage, relationship-is a marathon-not a sprint. I took that from somewhere...
Anyway-Sometimes I "settle"- sometimes he does...think that is as it should be. It is when that balance is skewed to one side or another that extreme dysfunctionality or unlivable sacrifice occurs...
To "settle" or to live alone-that is the question...
November 21, 2008
I Want My Mermaid Back
When I was a little girl I had this INCREDIBLE imagination. Now that creative way of viewing life comes in small doses. Sadly, I can never suspend disbelief long enough to create that same magic.
Anyway, I lived for (still do) baths and dresses- and climbing trees (but this one I have had to release from my list of talents. I don't heal like I used to and scars are no longer cool to me). I drove my mother crazy because I changed my clothes three times a day-partly due to dressing to suit my mood and partly because trees are not dress friendly. I was always contentedly pretending to be a princess, Annie, Dorothy... a slave girl, a movie star, fairy,cabaret performer, scientist, or whatever self created heroin I had invented...but at the end of the day, when the street lamps came on and I was summoned inside it was bath time. My favorite part of the day.
It was in that enchanted hour, when the moon shone bright and the stars waltzed through the infinite sky- that I would fill the bathtub with steamy, bubbly water, glide in and let my hair fan out around me. I would cross my ankles to make a mermaid tail and "swim" around changing directions and no doubt making a mess on the floor in front of the bath tub. Thank goodness for linoleum...heehee...never thought I would hear myself say that, but it was the 80's and that was mostly what was available.
I created this imaginary, underwater paradise with these intricate story lines. Stories about a glorious mermaid who was being sought after by a handsome fisherman. He caught glimpse of the mermaid and was impossibly charmed by her. He wanted to capture her heart so that she would sacrifice her paradise and he could make her his bride.. She loved the fisherman deeply, but she loved the ocean more and couldn't be torn away from her ocean home-not even in the name of love. There were plot variations, involving princes and other fantastical characters that little girls cherish.
I was five or six and the stories didn't stop at mermaids in bathtubs. I was forever playing out these little scenes-mostly to myself because I was the youngest, with a large gap between my sisters and me. Entertaining myself was my sole purpose in life at that juncture.
Eventually this self created fairyland was stolen away by slumber parties and the discovery of boys and whatever right of passage moments take with them the possibility and fearlessness of girlhood. Freedom to create and dance and sing and escape to hidden places and be secret people and experience everything your brush of imagination can paint. The limitless, mystical kingdoms and perfect princes are shattered by reality and leave behind only the twinkle of possibility. A secret stash of fairy dust reserved for stormy weather.
Now when I have an especially rough day. When my reality does not live up to my fantasies. I pine for the imagination that I once had. An imagination that allowed me to fully commit to being whatever and wherever I wanted to be at any given moment. When I feel as if I am a chameleon that blends unnoticed into my surroundings, I wish for the unaldulterated belief that allowed me to simply change my mind and become an Indian queen, a warrior, a unicorn, ESPECIALLY a mermaid. Unfortunately reality has paralyzed the mermaid with mediocrity. My ability to escape-replaced by the wisdom that living brings. At that time, when the shackles of responibility tighten and obligations of adulthood steal my air- Those are the instances when I want-when I NEED my mermaid to return to me.
By some miracle of fate, or gift from God- there are still those brief, stolen moments where the Mermaid in me breaks free and for a few moments she flits back and forth through the shimmery waters with the sun catching each glimmering joint in her majestically created, jewel toned tail...The most captivating and mystical creature in the sea...too true to her passion, too alive-to sacrifice an ounce of her magnificence. Even in the name of love.
Anyway, I lived for (still do) baths and dresses- and climbing trees (but this one I have had to release from my list of talents. I don't heal like I used to and scars are no longer cool to me). I drove my mother crazy because I changed my clothes three times a day-partly due to dressing to suit my mood and partly because trees are not dress friendly. I was always contentedly pretending to be a princess, Annie, Dorothy... a slave girl, a movie star, fairy,cabaret performer, scientist, or whatever self created heroin I had invented...but at the end of the day, when the street lamps came on and I was summoned inside it was bath time. My favorite part of the day.
It was in that enchanted hour, when the moon shone bright and the stars waltzed through the infinite sky- that I would fill the bathtub with steamy, bubbly water, glide in and let my hair fan out around me. I would cross my ankles to make a mermaid tail and "swim" around changing directions and no doubt making a mess on the floor in front of the bath tub. Thank goodness for linoleum...heehee...never thought I would hear myself say that, but it was the 80's and that was mostly what was available.
I created this imaginary, underwater paradise with these intricate story lines. Stories about a glorious mermaid who was being sought after by a handsome fisherman. He caught glimpse of the mermaid and was impossibly charmed by her. He wanted to capture her heart so that she would sacrifice her paradise and he could make her his bride.. She loved the fisherman deeply, but she loved the ocean more and couldn't be torn away from her ocean home-not even in the name of love. There were plot variations, involving princes and other fantastical characters that little girls cherish.
I was five or six and the stories didn't stop at mermaids in bathtubs. I was forever playing out these little scenes-mostly to myself because I was the youngest, with a large gap between my sisters and me. Entertaining myself was my sole purpose in life at that juncture.
Eventually this self created fairyland was stolen away by slumber parties and the discovery of boys and whatever right of passage moments take with them the possibility and fearlessness of girlhood. Freedom to create and dance and sing and escape to hidden places and be secret people and experience everything your brush of imagination can paint. The limitless, mystical kingdoms and perfect princes are shattered by reality and leave behind only the twinkle of possibility. A secret stash of fairy dust reserved for stormy weather.
Now when I have an especially rough day. When my reality does not live up to my fantasies. I pine for the imagination that I once had. An imagination that allowed me to fully commit to being whatever and wherever I wanted to be at any given moment. When I feel as if I am a chameleon that blends unnoticed into my surroundings, I wish for the unaldulterated belief that allowed me to simply change my mind and become an Indian queen, a warrior, a unicorn, ESPECIALLY a mermaid. Unfortunately reality has paralyzed the mermaid with mediocrity. My ability to escape-replaced by the wisdom that living brings. At that time, when the shackles of responibility tighten and obligations of adulthood steal my air- Those are the instances when I want-when I NEED my mermaid to return to me.
By some miracle of fate, or gift from God- there are still those brief, stolen moments where the Mermaid in me breaks free and for a few moments she flits back and forth through the shimmery waters with the sun catching each glimmering joint in her majestically created, jewel toned tail...The most captivating and mystical creature in the sea...too true to her passion, too alive-to sacrifice an ounce of her magnificence. Even in the name of love.
November 19, 2008
A Little Bit Crazy
I often hear it said that there is no such thing as a little bit. In the sense that you can't be a little bit fat, or kinda' gay, a tad bit hideous or a little bit of a psychopath.
Alright, so I am speaking "crazy" from experience...while everyone is a little off their rocker...I am tottering on the edge- trying to maintain my balance. I say this whimsically of course...I take my insanity lightly. There are no voices in my head. Only a few skeletons in my closet (metaphorically of course).
However- I came into this world with a big scarlet , pounding heart on my sleeve. Not a whole lot I can do about it. Sometimes the beating of that heart fills my ears and takes over my brain. When it doesn't expand so that I can see nothing else in front of me, it makes me a slave to its desires, needs and appetites. My mouth is forever protecting and defending my heart-sort of a protective big sister if you will. My eyes clean it with its tears when it is injured flooding over it in torrents...that are difficult to dam in once the flooding starts. The three of them have developed a sort of dysfunctional union. Blood sisters in the truest sense. And when somebody bumps, bruises or cuts my heart (which is unfortunately easy to do) it- it gushes all over my new black boots and stains the Violator as well.
Passionate, impulsive-predictably unpredictable...It is what it is. And sometimes it makes a mess of things. Including relationships. That is my brand of crazy. Now you know. It chose me. I don't excuse it or use it to excuse me...it is just one of those wisdoms you gain in life. Part self awareness and acceptance and part preventative measure and self preservation.
A long time ago, I read the novel "Girl Interrupted" and one of the themes in the novel is the idea that "Mental Health" is subjective. Because at various points in this messy, backward, dangerous, gloriously beautiful and poignantly memorable journey we complete in life we are all damaged-often irreparably. And if we were to be pulled over by the Crazy Police at these specific junctures of our voyage...we would all be deemed "unstable or crazy". So if we ALL have a fragile grasp on sanity- who is to Judge?
Think we have established that it is not me...
What brand of crazy are you?
November 17, 2008
Face Book-Highschool De Jas Vous
So my husband just got me turned on (wait for it, wait for it...) to Facebook. He kept telling me how all these people I knew from school were on it, yada, yada, yada...So I get on it last night and start setting up my profile and attempting to post photos etc...I say attempting because I am about the most computer illiterate person you could ever hope never to meet. I see lots of people I "know" considering the enrollment of the two high schools that I attended have the combined enrollment of a large high school's graduating class. One school so minuscule that it is not on the list of schools even though there are about fifty graduates represented on Facebook...haha...not at all sure how that works.
Anyway, I requested some friends (waiting on Harry Connick Junior to accept my friend/fantasy boy friend/love slave request) and deliberately not requested some as well. I find it (almost) comical how coming into contact with certain people from high school can give a girl that "does my hair look alright, check that my lip gloss is perfect and please, PLEASE don't trip" feeling all over again. I am now married with two beautiful children.-definitely NOT prowling in the least. So I find it funny how those adolescent butterflies flutter in my now allegedly matured tummy ...Almost like it did when that nameless boy (although I remember his name)smiled crookedly at me from across the English classroom. I don't think I was a dork-pretty sure I wasn't. Private schools are different though. Those often unfairly drawn social lines blurred a bit more...But somehow, I think even the most confident, popular girl in high school (Iwas not that either) had her moments of insecurity. Anyway for me Facebook is High school De Jas Vous.
Difficult to be especially profound on this topic. Just that seeing photos and sending shout outs and Friend Requests into cyber space to people that I haven't seen in ten to fifteen...has this odd, surreal effect on me. Call me crazy (please... I kind of like it;0))...but the whole PRETEND living that communicating through technology has introduced- mixed with my version of the past creates this surreal combination of the glory days (which in retrospect, not all that glorious) and an awareness of who I am now and who I thought that I would become. Not that I gave it a lot of thought at that stage in life. Still a bit gray on the subject of future plans...Memories are powerful though, aren't they? All those firsts...kisses, dances, best friends, loves and consequently heart breaks, disappointments and betrayals. I suppose that highschool did prepare me for real life after all. Although, I don't think Geometry and Home Economics had much to do with it...Thankfully. They held little relevance for me then, as they do now.
Said it before, say it again..."High school NEVER ends"...sad but true. Think there will be prom in heaven? I better start looking for a dress...Right after I fix my hair, touch up my lip gloss and update my status...
Anyway, I requested some friends (waiting on Harry Connick Junior to accept my friend/fantasy boy friend/love slave request) and deliberately not requested some as well. I find it (almost) comical how coming into contact with certain people from high school can give a girl that "does my hair look alright, check that my lip gloss is perfect and please, PLEASE don't trip" feeling all over again. I am now married with two beautiful children.-definitely NOT prowling in the least. So I find it funny how those adolescent butterflies flutter in my now allegedly matured tummy ...Almost like it did when that nameless boy (although I remember his name)smiled crookedly at me from across the English classroom. I don't think I was a dork-pretty sure I wasn't. Private schools are different though. Those often unfairly drawn social lines blurred a bit more...But somehow, I think even the most confident, popular girl in high school (Iwas not that either) had her moments of insecurity. Anyway for me Facebook is High school De Jas Vous.
Difficult to be especially profound on this topic. Just that seeing photos and sending shout outs and Friend Requests into cyber space to people that I haven't seen in ten to fifteen...has this odd, surreal effect on me. Call me crazy (please... I kind of like it;0))...but the whole PRETEND living that communicating through technology has introduced- mixed with my version of the past creates this surreal combination of the glory days (which in retrospect, not all that glorious) and an awareness of who I am now and who I thought that I would become. Not that I gave it a lot of thought at that stage in life. Still a bit gray on the subject of future plans...Memories are powerful though, aren't they? All those firsts...kisses, dances, best friends, loves and consequently heart breaks, disappointments and betrayals. I suppose that highschool did prepare me for real life after all. Although, I don't think Geometry and Home Economics had much to do with it...Thankfully. They held little relevance for me then, as they do now.
Said it before, say it again..."High school NEVER ends"...sad but true. Think there will be prom in heaven? I better start looking for a dress...Right after I fix my hair, touch up my lip gloss and update my status...
November 16, 2008
New Kids Out Rock Diva
I am about to completely date myself.
This week I attended two concerts. Let me add that up to that point, I had only seen two concerts in the past two years. Anyway...my in laws very generously and thoughtfully got me and my sisters in law tickets to see Madonna. She had never before been to our state (which is actually kind of weird in and of itself) seeing as she has been around for twenty five years. We are a BIT of a "one horse town", but most big artists make it here after they hit the BIG venues. So it was a HUGE ticket here. Everyone I talked to wanted to go, but couldn't justify the price of admission...a boat I too would have been in, had the ticket not been a gift. Anyway- the other concert I got a ticket to was the New Kids on the Block, whom I loved intensely in my pre/early teens. And being my obsessive-compulsive self...have never totally let them go... Also-high priced, but about half what Madonna was.
Okay so to make a long story longer...Madonna was on a Tuesday night and the concert was to start at eight. We were told as we walked in the door that she would be taking the stage late, so we figured eight thirty, eight forty five...There was no opening act btw...Well Madonna took the stage at nine thirty. Let me say that the choreography, lighting, etc. were AMAZING. Every single song looked like a music video. Do they still make those? If they do, they aren't on MTV anymore...haha...Of course she looks unbelievable and sounds better than I expected. She sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita and it was fab...but here is the thing, her limited interaction with the audience was a bit obnoxious...she told us to clap over our heads that "we needed the exercise"...Let me note that the state I live in is regularly rated the healthiest...so whatever...Anyway, when did she start dressing like Gwen Stefani? So the energy and the music is great...but she sings about five old songs and the rest is off the new cd. Let me say that she made me want the new cd, which certainly is the goal she hoped to achieve-but let's face it, most of us stopped buying Madonna cds after Ray of Light (even that is pushing it). Seems a bit self indulgent that she played mostly new music in a place she has never been. Beyond that, she sang literally a quarter of "Like a Virgin"...Seriously?! She asked an audience member for the request then sang back and forth with the audience and didn't finish it. After performing about an hour and forty five minutes, the screen says Game Over and the light come up. She wastes an hour and a half of our time and doesn't do an encore. REALLY! Oh and t-shirts were $45.00, sweat shirts were $100.00. A bit of a mixed bag...I mean Madonna is Madonna...what she DID perform surpassed expectation, it was what she didn't do that left a bad taste in my mouth. She clearly is not a diva in reputation only. Seemed to have no appreciation for those that spent hundreds of dollars to see her for probably the first and only time in twenty five years.
Okay, okay...So then there is the New Kids on the Block. As I mentioned, not a cheap ticket but about half the price of Madonna. They played to a much smaller venue that was not completely sold out. They have released less than half the cd's Madonna has. Loved them at thirteen and they still hold a pink fluffy cotton candy scented place in my heart. I am loyal to a fault and while the posters are all boxed up, I still follow their careers...from Jordan on Surreal Life, Joey McIntyre's season on Dancing with the Stars, to Donnie Wahlberg's movie career (Sixth Sense, Ransom, Band of Brothers..."So when I saw them on Today Show...I lost it...bought the Greatest Hits and the new cd (most of mine were on cassette...haha) and THEN I heard they were coming hear and rounded up my middle school girlfriends, even dragged my husband, sister in law and cousins! Okay-they have two opening acts, one of which is Natasha Bettingfield (sp?) who was gracious and good...because she knew it made no difference what she did as everyone was waiting for the NKOTB. The other was Lady Gaga who COMPLETELY won me over, how faboo IS she?
They were UNBELIEVABLE. They gave us exactly what we wanted and then some. Think it was better than when I saw their show seventeen years ago. They sang every single old song anyone would have wanted to hear AND their new stuff. They played two and a half hours and did two encores. They updated, but still played into the things we loved...like Jordan's open blowing white shirt (woohoo) and Donnie's gyrations...haha...Plus-Joe is solid through puberty now and much more machismo. My ONLY complaint is the stripper-looking dancers...probably for THEIR entertainment, but no girl wants to see her middle school heartthrob being rubbed down by a hooch. I am sure they are VERY nice girls...but I have to admit (mmrreeoorrr) that I wanted to drag them out by their hair a time or two...I screamed louder than a tweener at a Jonas Brother's Concert...haha! Hoarse and sore the next day-so NOT as young as I used to be. But I SO fell in love all over again! I would see them again when they are sixty...teehee. May be a bit more Tom Jones-ish then. "Hangin' Tough" at eighty means trying not to break a hip...but Whateva...LOYAL. As I said. Walking in and out of that venue was like entering and departing Neverland....I must admit I NEVER wanted to leave Block Land. No apologies. I just didn't...
Any way...two shows-one week, one conclusion. New Kids out Rock the Diva. Is it appreciation, camaraderie? Time out of the limelight, perspective perhaps? Hard to say...Of course music taste is completely subjective-but I think most people would expect Madonna to perform them under the table she is dancing on but they outdid her in every aspect. Most people would consider them fluff and her the real talent. They made their fans feel valued and important and she made us feel as if we were putting her out. Both good performances, but the heart of the matter was universally different...
This week I attended two concerts. Let me add that up to that point, I had only seen two concerts in the past two years. Anyway...my in laws very generously and thoughtfully got me and my sisters in law tickets to see Madonna. She had never before been to our state (which is actually kind of weird in and of itself) seeing as she has been around for twenty five years. We are a BIT of a "one horse town", but most big artists make it here after they hit the BIG venues. So it was a HUGE ticket here. Everyone I talked to wanted to go, but couldn't justify the price of admission...a boat I too would have been in, had the ticket not been a gift. Anyway- the other concert I got a ticket to was the New Kids on the Block, whom I loved intensely in my pre/early teens. And being my obsessive-compulsive self...have never totally let them go... Also-high priced, but about half what Madonna was.
Okay so to make a long story longer...Madonna was on a Tuesday night and the concert was to start at eight. We were told as we walked in the door that she would be taking the stage late, so we figured eight thirty, eight forty five...There was no opening act btw...Well Madonna took the stage at nine thirty. Let me say that the choreography, lighting, etc. were AMAZING. Every single song looked like a music video. Do they still make those? If they do, they aren't on MTV anymore...haha...Of course she looks unbelievable and sounds better than I expected. She sang "You Must Love Me" from Evita and it was fab...but here is the thing, her limited interaction with the audience was a bit obnoxious...she told us to clap over our heads that "we needed the exercise"...Let me note that the state I live in is regularly rated the healthiest...so whatever...Anyway, when did she start dressing like Gwen Stefani? So the energy and the music is great...but she sings about five old songs and the rest is off the new cd. Let me say that she made me want the new cd, which certainly is the goal she hoped to achieve-but let's face it, most of us stopped buying Madonna cds after Ray of Light (even that is pushing it). Seems a bit self indulgent that she played mostly new music in a place she has never been. Beyond that, she sang literally a quarter of "Like a Virgin"...Seriously?! She asked an audience member for the request then sang back and forth with the audience and didn't finish it. After performing about an hour and forty five minutes, the screen says Game Over and the light come up. She wastes an hour and a half of our time and doesn't do an encore. REALLY! Oh and t-shirts were $45.00, sweat shirts were $100.00. A bit of a mixed bag...I mean Madonna is Madonna...what she DID perform surpassed expectation, it was what she didn't do that left a bad taste in my mouth. She clearly is not a diva in reputation only. Seemed to have no appreciation for those that spent hundreds of dollars to see her for probably the first and only time in twenty five years.
Okay, okay...So then there is the New Kids on the Block. As I mentioned, not a cheap ticket but about half the price of Madonna. They played to a much smaller venue that was not completely sold out. They have released less than half the cd's Madonna has. Loved them at thirteen and they still hold a pink fluffy cotton candy scented place in my heart. I am loyal to a fault and while the posters are all boxed up, I still follow their careers...from Jordan on Surreal Life, Joey McIntyre's season on Dancing with the Stars, to Donnie Wahlberg's movie career (Sixth Sense, Ransom, Band of Brothers..."So when I saw them on Today Show...I lost it...bought the Greatest Hits and the new cd (most of mine were on cassette...haha) and THEN I heard they were coming hear and rounded up my middle school girlfriends, even dragged my husband, sister in law and cousins! Okay-they have two opening acts, one of which is Natasha Bettingfield (sp?) who was gracious and good...because she knew it made no difference what she did as everyone was waiting for the NKOTB. The other was Lady Gaga who COMPLETELY won me over, how faboo IS she?
They were UNBELIEVABLE. They gave us exactly what we wanted and then some. Think it was better than when I saw their show seventeen years ago. They sang every single old song anyone would have wanted to hear AND their new stuff. They played two and a half hours and did two encores. They updated, but still played into the things we loved...like Jordan's open blowing white shirt (woohoo) and Donnie's gyrations...haha...Plus-Joe is solid through puberty now and much more machismo. My ONLY complaint is the stripper-looking dancers...probably for THEIR entertainment, but no girl wants to see her middle school heartthrob being rubbed down by a hooch. I am sure they are VERY nice girls...but I have to admit (mmrreeoorrr) that I wanted to drag them out by their hair a time or two...I screamed louder than a tweener at a Jonas Brother's Concert...haha! Hoarse and sore the next day-so NOT as young as I used to be. But I SO fell in love all over again! I would see them again when they are sixty...teehee. May be a bit more Tom Jones-ish then. "Hangin' Tough" at eighty means trying not to break a hip...but Whateva...LOYAL. As I said. Walking in and out of that venue was like entering and departing Neverland....I must admit I NEVER wanted to leave Block Land. No apologies. I just didn't...
Any way...two shows-one week, one conclusion. New Kids out Rock the Diva. Is it appreciation, camaraderie? Time out of the limelight, perspective perhaps? Hard to say...Of course music taste is completely subjective-but I think most people would expect Madonna to perform them under the table she is dancing on but they outdid her in every aspect. Most people would consider them fluff and her the real talent. They made their fans feel valued and important and she made us feel as if we were putting her out. Both good performances, but the heart of the matter was universally different...
October 9, 2008
Does Highschool Ever End?
I just got together with some old Friends from high school. Now I don't want to completely date myself, but I graduated before "Al Gore's Internet" (as my step father in law comically refers to it) was easily accessed from every home in America...so needless to say life has changed a bit since high school. We are all married and most of us have children( plural...that seems crazy). Oddly enough, the dynamics are not that different than they were "x" number of years ago.
Of course this got me thinking about how life is really an exaggerated form of high school. This is not an original notion for a reason-because it rings so true for almost everyone. There are still bullies, cool kids, athletes, drama queens, freaks (and the older I get the more I am convinced that to human is to be a bit freaky deaky) but some wear their freak flags on their chests...anyway.. dorks, eccentrics,...you name it...
And years later, we still care what our friends think. New friends , old friends, would be friends...haha HOPEFULLY what has changed is that we have a stronger sense of who we are and do not reinvent ourselves continuously to become what we think others expect us to be. To be honest though, we still make slight modifications to our SELF to best fit with the company we keep...Smart Self,Competant Self, Business Self, Sexy Self, Sassy Self, Super Mommy Self, Fascinating Self, Good Wife Self...(we will keep the Naughty Selves in the closet for now to be taken out at a later date). A bit of randomness here...because of these little adjustments we make, when different groups that require a different "Self" come together...I call it worlds colliding (thank you Jerry Seinfeld)...but that is my proof for the high school theory...Worlds Colliding always causes me a brief and minor identity crisis.
Anyway, I like most people (I think) I both loved and hated high school. It had a lot of the drama and intrigue I require for living. I was somewhere in the middle of the heap. Not the tip top, nor the bottom...and that is sort of where I still am. ..that seems kind of pathetic...although I have experienced rises and falls within that spectrum.
Really though...I have more or less come to terms with the high school me, that I still am in some ways. I am not a genius or an over-achiever...I make my mistakes regularly and (hopefully) learn from them . Try to always strive to be a kinder, better person...and I have outgrown some of my high school flaws...but some of them just magnified when "real" life set in...still feel as if I am trying to find my way. The issues are modified and the stakes are higher, but the feelings are basically the same-just with new upgraded twists.
Reminiscing I remember how eager I was to get out of high school, little did I know that I never really would.
Of course this got me thinking about how life is really an exaggerated form of high school. This is not an original notion for a reason-because it rings so true for almost everyone. There are still bullies, cool kids, athletes, drama queens, freaks (and the older I get the more I am convinced that to human is to be a bit freaky deaky) but some wear their freak flags on their chests...anyway.. dorks, eccentrics,...you name it...
And years later, we still care what our friends think. New friends , old friends, would be friends...haha HOPEFULLY what has changed is that we have a stronger sense of who we are and do not reinvent ourselves continuously to become what we think others expect us to be. To be honest though, we still make slight modifications to our SELF to best fit with the company we keep...Smart Self,Competant Self, Business Self, Sexy Self, Sassy Self, Super Mommy Self, Fascinating Self, Good Wife Self...(we will keep the Naughty Selves in the closet for now to be taken out at a later date). A bit of randomness here...because of these little adjustments we make, when different groups that require a different "Self" come together...I call it worlds colliding (thank you Jerry Seinfeld)...but that is my proof for the high school theory...Worlds Colliding always causes me a brief and minor identity crisis.
Anyway, I like most people (I think) I both loved and hated high school. It had a lot of the drama and intrigue I require for living. I was somewhere in the middle of the heap. Not the tip top, nor the bottom...and that is sort of where I still am. ..that seems kind of pathetic...although I have experienced rises and falls within that spectrum.
Really though...I have more or less come to terms with the high school me, that I still am in some ways. I am not a genius or an over-achiever...I make my mistakes regularly and (hopefully) learn from them . Try to always strive to be a kinder, better person...and I have outgrown some of my high school flaws...but some of them just magnified when "real" life set in...still feel as if I am trying to find my way. The issues are modified and the stakes are higher, but the feelings are basically the same-just with new upgraded twists.
Reminiscing I remember how eager I was to get out of high school, little did I know that I never really would.
October 2, 2008
Over Oprah...?
Okay. So let me preface this one by stating that I am American and a woman. One who happens to be in her early thirties, which is part of Oprah's target audience. That is a bit of a joke-just wanted to confirm before I go on...should you have any doubt.;0)
In the past year, I have come to the conclusion that I just MAY be Over Oprah.
Respect Oprah's success. Like Madonna, she is a marketing genius...and she doesn't even have to reinvent herself. Every single thing she touches turns to gold. Oprah is iconic. I cannot think of a single person in my lifetime that has had the authority, the grace, the power that Oprah has over the specific (female) population. She has literally been on television almost as far back as I can remember.There is however, a chink in the armor...or stilettos what have you...
Oprah catches criminals, she gets people to read, helps school female youth in Africa. She gives away cars-makes careers, raises money for hurricane victims. Oprah is seemingly flawless. As I see it, to make women love you as a fellow woman-is nearly miraculous. Still with power comes responsibility.
In recent times, Oprah has become much more outspoken on her political, personal and religious views. Tastefully and modestly, almost slyly she has snuck in bits of what she really believes, a glimpse at who she really is. From her first public stance on her show backing Obama...to her discussions on "A New Earth"and "The Secret" as well as her refusal to have Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on her show...she even commented that she believes marriage to one person for life is an antiquated notion, Not about agreeing, or disagreeing with her views. But resenting her abuse of influence. She has always maintained a bit of distance from her guests even though she has the final creative say. No longer.
I have never been a fan of the parade of mindless celebrities who are constantly making public spectacles of themselves. It is amazing that they don't fall on their pretty little faces given the rapid nature with which they leap from one bandwagon to the next. Haha...I am not really that angry...just-how does making out on screen and being self obsessed make a person a political expert? Or an Environmentalist?To me, the equivalent would be for me, someone with a background in English- to give a Biology lecture at Harvard...simply ridiculous. Anyway, for the most part...Oprah has remained above the fray. Has used her power for good.
So many woman blindly follow anything and everything Oprah says. She tells us what to read, who to wear, what to buy, who to listen to, what movies to see. Women take relationship advise, health advise...you name it, from Oprah. Who else has such power over us?
For this reason, it seems deliberate and irresponsible to me that Oprah is presenting her agenda. I personally am not threatened as I am confident in my own ability to maintain my beliefs and decide for myself what to think. I am not that confident that women young and old will step out of their Oprah coma long enough to realize that what Oprah presents is based on her opinion and agenda.
Seems to me that perhaps this new, uninhibited Oprah may be preparing for retirement and therefore is telling it as she believes it to be.
Oprah IS an amazing woman...
She is a thinking woman's resource...to the rest, her word is the only word . I find that disconcerting. Even disturbing.
This is the reason that I just MAY be OVER Oprah.
In the past year, I have come to the conclusion that I just MAY be Over Oprah.
Respect Oprah's success. Like Madonna, she is a marketing genius...and she doesn't even have to reinvent herself. Every single thing she touches turns to gold. Oprah is iconic. I cannot think of a single person in my lifetime that has had the authority, the grace, the power that Oprah has over the specific (female) population. She has literally been on television almost as far back as I can remember.There is however, a chink in the armor...or stilettos what have you...
Oprah catches criminals, she gets people to read, helps school female youth in Africa. She gives away cars-makes careers, raises money for hurricane victims. Oprah is seemingly flawless. As I see it, to make women love you as a fellow woman-is nearly miraculous. Still with power comes responsibility.
In recent times, Oprah has become much more outspoken on her political, personal and religious views. Tastefully and modestly, almost slyly she has snuck in bits of what she really believes, a glimpse at who she really is. From her first public stance on her show backing Obama...to her discussions on "A New Earth"and "The Secret" as well as her refusal to have Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on her show...she even commented that she believes marriage to one person for life is an antiquated notion, Not about agreeing, or disagreeing with her views. But resenting her abuse of influence. She has always maintained a bit of distance from her guests even though she has the final creative say. No longer.
I have never been a fan of the parade of mindless celebrities who are constantly making public spectacles of themselves. It is amazing that they don't fall on their pretty little faces given the rapid nature with which they leap from one bandwagon to the next. Haha...I am not really that angry...just-how does making out on screen and being self obsessed make a person a political expert? Or an Environmentalist?To me, the equivalent would be for me, someone with a background in English- to give a Biology lecture at Harvard...simply ridiculous. Anyway, for the most part...Oprah has remained above the fray. Has used her power for good.
So many woman blindly follow anything and everything Oprah says. She tells us what to read, who to wear, what to buy, who to listen to, what movies to see. Women take relationship advise, health advise...you name it, from Oprah. Who else has such power over us?
For this reason, it seems deliberate and irresponsible to me that Oprah is presenting her agenda. I personally am not threatened as I am confident in my own ability to maintain my beliefs and decide for myself what to think. I am not that confident that women young and old will step out of their Oprah coma long enough to realize that what Oprah presents is based on her opinion and agenda.
Seems to me that perhaps this new, uninhibited Oprah may be preparing for retirement and therefore is telling it as she believes it to be.
Oprah IS an amazing woman...
She is a thinking woman's resource...to the rest, her word is the only word . I find that disconcerting. Even disturbing.
This is the reason that I just MAY be OVER Oprah.
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