In general, I would say that I don’t care much for making small talk. It’s awkward and when you get stuck having to do it longer than you expected, it can be excruciatingly boring. There seem to be certain situations where it seems to naturally take place. I think of elevators and waiting rooms or just small spaces where you end up grouped with strangers. I guess there is always the hope that you will come across someone really interesting, but that’s rare. The worst is being stuck next to a chatterbox on a long flight.
Then there are the situations where small talk is needed to take attention off of other things, like flight delays. I also find that making small talk to your hair stylist is a good thing. I find that I do it with doctors too, especially the “girl” doctors. The people that I have to deal with that I need something from, I am more likely to encourage small talk.
So what the heck are you going to talk about? There’s always the weather. Amazing how many conversations begin over an observation of what’s going on outside, or what’s coming, or what just left. While I sit in airports, I often end up in conversations about airports and travel in general. There comes a point in the conversation where it is either going to end naturally or it’s going to morph into an interview. I guess it depends on who is asking the questions, but I generally try to avoid the interview.
So let’s see, today I made small talk with at least 4 people today: my doctor, my pedicurist, my skin care therapist, and the UPS guy. Now since these are all people I see on a regular basis, it’s a little bit beyond small talk reserved for strangers. Although I did have a weird conversation with the UPS guy last week. I went to go and send my expense receipts in as usual and walked in the door just as they were getting ready to close. He saw it was me and let me in. We chatted for a few minutes while taking care of the mailing business I had and then he asked if it was supposed to be hot for the weekend. I looked at him with a puzzled look on my face and asked him if that was a trick question. (I mean it’s July in the desert!) He realized what he asked and seemed a little embarrassed by it. I let it go although I did laugh and say that Yes, I did think it was supposed to be quite hot for the weekend. Man, it’s bad when you unleash your go-to small talk topic and it’s totally inappropriate.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Missing my Exit on the Road to Nowhere
What’s your vector, Victor?
Do you give good driving directions? Do you have a preference in terms of the type of directions you are given? For instance, my Dad prefers to give directions in terms of miles and compass points. Personally, I think it is his firm belief in the failure of the education system as a whole that causes him to punish me with these directions. ”Head west on Smith Road for about 6 miles then turn south on Johnson Ave. Drive 12 miles until you get to the Shopping Center. The building you are looking for will be on the Northwest corner of the intersection.” I keep waiting to get longitude and latitude coordinates.
You Can’t Get There From Here
Then there are those who apparently don’t know the name of a single street or landmark in the town they have lived in since birth. The directions are so vague you don’t have a prayer. You simply nod and move on and ask someone else. I had someone today "help me" by offering these helpful directions. “When you leave here, you are going to come to a light and then go left for a little bit and turn left at the light. You’ll see a Dunkin Donuts and then you’ll be near the Mall. Oh, and there’s some construction along the way.” Yeah, right. I just looked at her not saying anything for a minute and then just nodded and said, “Ok, thanks.” The translation of those directions was amazing. "Little bit" apparently means about 10 miles through road construction, lane closures, walking a plank, swinging from a vine, and a high ropes course. And THEN I saw the Dunkin Donuts.
Where’s the Sun?
As a personal preference, I like directions that use landmarks and street names. I like to know whether I am coming to a stop sign or a traffic light and how many of each I can expect. The GPS systems in the rental cars or things like Mapquest are generally fine, but they don’t always give the best routes, and they certainly have no idea about construction or detours.
Getting lost can be a bonding experience. It can also cause a lot of friction. It depends on what you’re doing and who your wingman is, I guess. Some really funny adventures happened to me when I was lost. And for some reason, 3 incidents in particular involved Marienne as a witness. The first time was the first project we were on together. Somehow I got roped into driving to the hotel. I was using the GPS system and still managing to make wrong turns. I swear the voice got snippy with me. At one point she told me to just make a legal U-turn anywhere. She stopped calculating my route. Bitch.
The other 2 incidents I am thinking of spawned sayings that we still use today. The first incident had a conversation that went a little something like this:
“Was that our exit?”
“No, I think ours is coming up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, we have to take the North exit.”
“But, isn’t that downtown over here?”
“Yeah, well sometimes you have to go North to go South.”
“Uh huh.”
The other saying is me asking, “where’s the sun?” I can’t remember the context of our conversation, but it was once again while we were in the car and I was behind the wheel. It makes me sound like a total idiot, I know. Honestly, I really don’t get lost that often (as long as it isn't cloudy). And I’m convinced that if nothing else, I give fantastic directions.
Do you give good driving directions? Do you have a preference in terms of the type of directions you are given? For instance, my Dad prefers to give directions in terms of miles and compass points. Personally, I think it is his firm belief in the failure of the education system as a whole that causes him to punish me with these directions. ”Head west on Smith Road for about 6 miles then turn south on Johnson Ave. Drive 12 miles until you get to the Shopping Center. The building you are looking for will be on the Northwest corner of the intersection.” I keep waiting to get longitude and latitude coordinates.
You Can’t Get There From Here
Then there are those who apparently don’t know the name of a single street or landmark in the town they have lived in since birth. The directions are so vague you don’t have a prayer. You simply nod and move on and ask someone else. I had someone today "help me" by offering these helpful directions. “When you leave here, you are going to come to a light and then go left for a little bit and turn left at the light. You’ll see a Dunkin Donuts and then you’ll be near the Mall. Oh, and there’s some construction along the way.” Yeah, right. I just looked at her not saying anything for a minute and then just nodded and said, “Ok, thanks.” The translation of those directions was amazing. "Little bit" apparently means about 10 miles through road construction, lane closures, walking a plank, swinging from a vine, and a high ropes course. And THEN I saw the Dunkin Donuts.
Where’s the Sun?
As a personal preference, I like directions that use landmarks and street names. I like to know whether I am coming to a stop sign or a traffic light and how many of each I can expect. The GPS systems in the rental cars or things like Mapquest are generally fine, but they don’t always give the best routes, and they certainly have no idea about construction or detours.
Getting lost can be a bonding experience. It can also cause a lot of friction. It depends on what you’re doing and who your wingman is, I guess. Some really funny adventures happened to me when I was lost. And for some reason, 3 incidents in particular involved Marienne as a witness. The first time was the first project we were on together. Somehow I got roped into driving to the hotel. I was using the GPS system and still managing to make wrong turns. I swear the voice got snippy with me. At one point she told me to just make a legal U-turn anywhere. She stopped calculating my route. Bitch.
The other 2 incidents I am thinking of spawned sayings that we still use today. The first incident had a conversation that went a little something like this:
“Was that our exit?”
“No, I think ours is coming up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, we have to take the North exit.”
“But, isn’t that downtown over here?”
“Yeah, well sometimes you have to go North to go South.”
“Uh huh.”
The other saying is me asking, “where’s the sun?” I can’t remember the context of our conversation, but it was once again while we were in the car and I was behind the wheel. It makes me sound like a total idiot, I know. Honestly, I really don’t get lost that often (as long as it isn't cloudy). And I’m convinced that if nothing else, I give fantastic directions.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
The Road to Recovery- Celebrating the Quitter in Me
Every Breath I Take
I quit smoking. I feel pretty confident about it, so I hope it's really for the last time. It hasn't been as difficult as some of the other times I've quit. I think there have been a couple of key things that make this effort different and hopefully, more successful.
Picking the Right Holiday
First of all, I didn't try to do it for New Year's. I think the biggest jinx I could put on something is to try and tie it to a resolution. I wanted to quit before my birthday, but I didn't really have a day in mind. Things just worked out that it happened to fall on Father's Day. I was cutting it close to the birthday, but close still counts. It also helps being away from home since I don't typically smoke when I'm traveling. Having been on the road for several weeks before "the day" helped get me into a good routine and get used to not smoking for several days at a time.
Triggers
My biggest triggers for smoking, aside from working from home are stress related. If I were ever going to crack, it would have been today. Long hours, technology problems, and just minor irritations that kept building on each other all day long, would generally have driven me chain-smoke. I thought about it. I really did. But I thought about it more from the perspective of "that's what I used to do" rather than what I was going to do.
The other typical trigger would be alcohol. So far, that hasn't been an issue either. It's a heck of a lot harder though. I'm not a heavy drinker, but even one drink is enough to make me feel like I should be holding a cigarette. I miss it. I mostly liked it. If it wasn't going to kill me or bankrupt me I'd be hard-pressed to find a good reason to quit. It's just as well that I don't drink often, I suppose. I guess if I get to a milestone where I feel like celebrating this, I'd better stick to my new addiction: coffee. I'm definitely not ready to give that one up.
Salem and Carpet Fresh
One of the changes that my sisters are going to need to get used to is the different smell. I typically send boxes of various things to them throughout the year. On more than one occasion, I have heard remarks about how the things in the box seem to smell like a mix of cigarette smoke and my carpet freshener. Yuck. I'm still addicted to the carpet freshener, but at least now it should only be competing with my fabric softener and not my ashtray.
I quit smoking. I feel pretty confident about it, so I hope it's really for the last time. It hasn't been as difficult as some of the other times I've quit. I think there have been a couple of key things that make this effort different and hopefully, more successful.
Picking the Right Holiday
First of all, I didn't try to do it for New Year's. I think the biggest jinx I could put on something is to try and tie it to a resolution. I wanted to quit before my birthday, but I didn't really have a day in mind. Things just worked out that it happened to fall on Father's Day. I was cutting it close to the birthday, but close still counts. It also helps being away from home since I don't typically smoke when I'm traveling. Having been on the road for several weeks before "the day" helped get me into a good routine and get used to not smoking for several days at a time.
Triggers
My biggest triggers for smoking, aside from working from home are stress related. If I were ever going to crack, it would have been today. Long hours, technology problems, and just minor irritations that kept building on each other all day long, would generally have driven me chain-smoke. I thought about it. I really did. But I thought about it more from the perspective of "that's what I used to do" rather than what I was going to do.
The other typical trigger would be alcohol. So far, that hasn't been an issue either. It's a heck of a lot harder though. I'm not a heavy drinker, but even one drink is enough to make me feel like I should be holding a cigarette. I miss it. I mostly liked it. If it wasn't going to kill me or bankrupt me I'd be hard-pressed to find a good reason to quit. It's just as well that I don't drink often, I suppose. I guess if I get to a milestone where I feel like celebrating this, I'd better stick to my new addiction: coffee. I'm definitely not ready to give that one up.
Salem and Carpet Fresh
One of the changes that my sisters are going to need to get used to is the different smell. I typically send boxes of various things to them throughout the year. On more than one occasion, I have heard remarks about how the things in the box seem to smell like a mix of cigarette smoke and my carpet freshener. Yuck. I'm still addicted to the carpet freshener, but at least now it should only be competing with my fabric softener and not my ashtray.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Fruit N Fiber Weekends- Maintaining Your Regularity
You have to be able to multi-task in this world. Some people are better at it than others. For a girl on the go, I have precious little free time between flights to try and squeeze in “normal” activities. In my overly scheduled and spontaneity-free life, I find that weekends are just as choreographed, just in a different way. I want to be able to do some fun things, but I know that I have to get my version of “chores” done as well. While I was in the midst of completing what I am calling my “fruit and fiber” tasks, I made a quick list of all the tasks I try to lump together in an attempt to fool myself into thinking I have some sort of normalcy right now. So here we go.
Cranberries and Comet
I have been completing yet another organization project the last couple of weeks. This time with my CD’s. It’s a space issue, as always. Since I was knee-deep in CD’s anyway, I decided to go through them and make sure I had everything I wanted on my iPod. As I came across CD’s that needed to be added to the library, I realized that I couldn’t just sit there waiting. So, time to go clean the bathrooms. And sort laundry. Luckily, none of these things are overly labor-intensive. So, once the bathrooms were clean, the laundry is going, and yet another CD is being added to iTunes, I find I need something else to do as well.
Pulp Fiction and Cascade
I love to read. I read a lot and I read fast. I am always at bookstores looking for more things to read. I came home this weekend to find not one, but 2 packages from Amazon loaded with books I have been looking for, but can’t find in my bookstores. Woo!! New books call to me. When I know they are in the house, I find I am likely to sit and read to the exclusion of everything else, food and sleep being the primary sacrifices. So, knowing that I have these temptations so close is killing me because I really have too many other things to do. So, I start the dishwasher. Then pop another CD in. Then do another load of laundry. All the while, the books are calling to me. Who am I kidding here? I grab a book and plant myself in front of my laptop so I can still deal with the music project. I tell myself I can certainly spare a couple of hours for this. So I do it. And now here I sit, listening to some song on my iPod wondering, why did I download this song? This song sucks.
Omelets and Junk Mail
As you can imagine, I am probably not my postman’s favorite person. My mailbox fills up pretty fast during the week. Of course, it’s mostly crap. The flyers they put together out here are maddening and just ridiculous. It would be one thing if they appeared once a week but instead they appear almost every day. What I end up yanking out of my mailbox at the end of the week looks like the weekend edition of a large newspaper that has been crumpled and stuffed into my mailbox page by page. I hate going through my mail. So, I try to pair up this task with something I love: breakfast. This is great because it gives me something to do at the restaurant while I am waiting for my food. And before some of you freak out on me, no, I don’t leave anything there that might have my name or address on it. I take it home with me and pitch it in the dumpster on my way in. I find that this system seems to work for me since the junk mail never makes it into the house.
Grocery Nirvana
I think we all have certain chores we just hate to do and will put off doing as long as possible. Mine is grocery shopping. I hate it. One perk about being gone so much is that I rarely have to do it. But, when I am home for a while, I do what I can to make this task a little less tedious. First, it’s all about location. I have a nice grocery store near me with a Starbucks in it. Yeah, so I have to go and fortify myself with caffeine first. Then, it’s the music. You’d better believe I have that iPod charged and ready to go. I find that shopping for food and whatnot with a soundtrack and a latte makes this gypsy a happy girl.
Fashion Shows and Movie Stars
Every week I stand at my closet and wonder what in the world I am going to throw together this week for work. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I pick a color and then run with it. I don’t like wearing the same things week after week, so I have to mix things up. Granted, it would be a much simpler process if I didn’t insist on this, but I don’t care. So there is always a mini-fashion show going on as I try to find something to wear and generally destroy my closet in the process. I find this is also a good time to get caught up on my movie rentals. I really need to hook up my other DVD player in my bedroom, but it hasn’t made it high enough on whatever list I have for that kind of thing. So, I have a VCR and a bunch of old movies. This weekend was Apollo 13 and The Cutting Edge. These are movies I have seen a number of times, but it’s still nice to have something on in the background.
Taking Things Too Far
The only time I really resent multi-tasking is when I am asleep. Last night, for example, I was dreaming about work. I hate it when I do that. It generally is an indication of a deadline of some sort coming up. This normally happens before I have to train something for the first time. In this case, I think it’s more wishful thinking. This is supposed to be my last week on my project, but I think it’s going to get extended. In the meantime, I have been working extra hard to try and wrap up as much as I can by the end of this week anyway.
One of the people I am working with here mentioned something last week about their Dentist contemplating adding some additional services. Namely, manicures. Can you imagine getting your teeth cleaned, filled, or whatever, while getting a manicure? I think some tasks should be left alone.
Cranberries and Comet
I have been completing yet another organization project the last couple of weeks. This time with my CD’s. It’s a space issue, as always. Since I was knee-deep in CD’s anyway, I decided to go through them and make sure I had everything I wanted on my iPod. As I came across CD’s that needed to be added to the library, I realized that I couldn’t just sit there waiting. So, time to go clean the bathrooms. And sort laundry. Luckily, none of these things are overly labor-intensive. So, once the bathrooms were clean, the laundry is going, and yet another CD is being added to iTunes, I find I need something else to do as well.
Pulp Fiction and Cascade
I love to read. I read a lot and I read fast. I am always at bookstores looking for more things to read. I came home this weekend to find not one, but 2 packages from Amazon loaded with books I have been looking for, but can’t find in my bookstores. Woo!! New books call to me. When I know they are in the house, I find I am likely to sit and read to the exclusion of everything else, food and sleep being the primary sacrifices. So, knowing that I have these temptations so close is killing me because I really have too many other things to do. So, I start the dishwasher. Then pop another CD in. Then do another load of laundry. All the while, the books are calling to me. Who am I kidding here? I grab a book and plant myself in front of my laptop so I can still deal with the music project. I tell myself I can certainly spare a couple of hours for this. So I do it. And now here I sit, listening to some song on my iPod wondering, why did I download this song? This song sucks.
Omelets and Junk Mail
As you can imagine, I am probably not my postman’s favorite person. My mailbox fills up pretty fast during the week. Of course, it’s mostly crap. The flyers they put together out here are maddening and just ridiculous. It would be one thing if they appeared once a week but instead they appear almost every day. What I end up yanking out of my mailbox at the end of the week looks like the weekend edition of a large newspaper that has been crumpled and stuffed into my mailbox page by page. I hate going through my mail. So, I try to pair up this task with something I love: breakfast. This is great because it gives me something to do at the restaurant while I am waiting for my food. And before some of you freak out on me, no, I don’t leave anything there that might have my name or address on it. I take it home with me and pitch it in the dumpster on my way in. I find that this system seems to work for me since the junk mail never makes it into the house.
Grocery Nirvana
I think we all have certain chores we just hate to do and will put off doing as long as possible. Mine is grocery shopping. I hate it. One perk about being gone so much is that I rarely have to do it. But, when I am home for a while, I do what I can to make this task a little less tedious. First, it’s all about location. I have a nice grocery store near me with a Starbucks in it. Yeah, so I have to go and fortify myself with caffeine first. Then, it’s the music. You’d better believe I have that iPod charged and ready to go. I find that shopping for food and whatnot with a soundtrack and a latte makes this gypsy a happy girl.
Fashion Shows and Movie Stars
Every week I stand at my closet and wonder what in the world I am going to throw together this week for work. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I pick a color and then run with it. I don’t like wearing the same things week after week, so I have to mix things up. Granted, it would be a much simpler process if I didn’t insist on this, but I don’t care. So there is always a mini-fashion show going on as I try to find something to wear and generally destroy my closet in the process. I find this is also a good time to get caught up on my movie rentals. I really need to hook up my other DVD player in my bedroom, but it hasn’t made it high enough on whatever list I have for that kind of thing. So, I have a VCR and a bunch of old movies. This weekend was Apollo 13 and The Cutting Edge. These are movies I have seen a number of times, but it’s still nice to have something on in the background.
Taking Things Too Far
The only time I really resent multi-tasking is when I am asleep. Last night, for example, I was dreaming about work. I hate it when I do that. It generally is an indication of a deadline of some sort coming up. This normally happens before I have to train something for the first time. In this case, I think it’s more wishful thinking. This is supposed to be my last week on my project, but I think it’s going to get extended. In the meantime, I have been working extra hard to try and wrap up as much as I can by the end of this week anyway.
One of the people I am working with here mentioned something last week about their Dentist contemplating adding some additional services. Namely, manicures. Can you imagine getting your teeth cleaned, filled, or whatever, while getting a manicure? I think some tasks should be left alone.
Friday, July 21, 2006
My Love/Hate Relationship with Orange
What do you think of when you hear the word Orange? Food, like oranges and pumpkins? Colors, ranging anywhere from palest peaches to deep tomato? Holidays, like Halloween or Thanksgiving? Or maybe places like New Jersey or Florida and California? As usual, something insignificant happened that led me down this path of thinking. Today, it was Starbucks. I was enjoying a pumpkin scone this morning and started thinking about pumpkins. I won’t go through the scary stream of consciousness that took off from there, but I will strive to put the highlights into some sort of coherent order for you.
Food
Ever try to sit and think about what kind of orange food you might consume on a regular basis? It might be a bit easier for the vegetarians out there, but being a meat-eater, I don’t know that I pay that much attention aside from carrots. Besides, all the publicity seems to go to the green vegetables. Where would we be without oranges and other citrus foods? Riddled with scurvy, no doubt.
So, orange food that I can stomach would lean more toward the fruit side as opposed to the vegetable side of things. Oranges, peaches, nectarines and mangos. Not real high on my list of orange foods is pumpkin and yams. I can eat pumpkin as an ingredient in pastry like pumpkin bread or scones, but not as pumpkin pie. Although I do make an attempt each Thanksgiving to try to hated orange foods. I’m sorry, but yams, candied or otherwise are just gross.
Color
Of all the bright colors I surround myself with, the glaring omission in my rainbow is orange. I never really cared for the color. It makes my skin look a little on the green side, and why would I want that? I tried giving peach a shot, especially in the 80’s. And frosted peach, at that. It was awful. My other aversion to orange comes from my hair and “when highlights go wrong” episodes. One wrong step and I have orange hair, which is just no way to live. It makes me feel like a clown. Yeah, and clowns are scary. And clowns wear orange. Ergo, orange is scary. Must stay away from orange. And clowns. (Another good reason to learn how to make my own balloon animals.) Now, just for entertainment value, I am also including a link to a website to let you all know what orange says about you if it shows up in your aura. Oh, and here is a picture of me dressed as a clown. Note the orange hair. If this doesn’t turn you off to clowns, I don’t know what will.
Other things not doing wonders for the image of orange: Halloween and Stanley Kubrick. Why is orange associated to Halloween? Is it the pumpkins? Is it supposed to represent the moon? I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere. One good thing about orange and Halloween is candy corn. Yummy. I like circus peanuts too, which I know are gross. Plus that whole circus/clown connection is there.
One movie that I simply cannot watch is A Clockwork Orange. I can’t do it. Even understanding what it is about and being a psychology major and all that crap couldn’t convince me to sit through it. (So I guess in terms of aversion therapy, I say Bravo!) Maybe I was too young at the time, but I have no desire to see if I could sit through it now either. It also makes me a little hesitant to watch any movies with Malcolm McDowell.
Nicknames
Well, let’s just end this thing on a positive note for the weekend, shall we? A couple of other orange related items to share with you deal with nicknames. My Dad still calls me “pumpkin” to this day and my grandma used to call me “peachy”, so there you go. As an added bonus, here is a picture of me incorporating so much of my orange discussion. It represents the color, a holiday, a food, one of my nicknames and the picture was even taken by my grandma. I think the only thing missing is Malcolm McDowell dressed as a clown and eating circus peanuts.
Food
Ever try to sit and think about what kind of orange food you might consume on a regular basis? It might be a bit easier for the vegetarians out there, but being a meat-eater, I don’t know that I pay that much attention aside from carrots. Besides, all the publicity seems to go to the green vegetables. Where would we be without oranges and other citrus foods? Riddled with scurvy, no doubt.
So, orange food that I can stomach would lean more toward the fruit side as opposed to the vegetable side of things. Oranges, peaches, nectarines and mangos. Not real high on my list of orange foods is pumpkin and yams. I can eat pumpkin as an ingredient in pastry like pumpkin bread or scones, but not as pumpkin pie. Although I do make an attempt each Thanksgiving to try to hated orange foods. I’m sorry, but yams, candied or otherwise are just gross.
Color
Of all the bright colors I surround myself with, the glaring omission in my rainbow is orange. I never really cared for the color. It makes my skin look a little on the green side, and why would I want that? I tried giving peach a shot, especially in the 80’s. And frosted peach, at that. It was awful. My other aversion to orange comes from my hair and “when highlights go wrong” episodes. One wrong step and I have orange hair, which is just no way to live. It makes me feel like a clown. Yeah, and clowns are scary. And clowns wear orange. Ergo, orange is scary. Must stay away from orange. And clowns. (Another good reason to learn how to make my own balloon animals.) Now, just for entertainment value, I am also including a link to a website to let you all know what orange says about you if it shows up in your aura. Oh, and here is a picture of me dressed as a clown. Note the orange hair. If this doesn’t turn you off to clowns, I don’t know what will.
Other things not doing wonders for the image of orange: Halloween and Stanley Kubrick. Why is orange associated to Halloween? Is it the pumpkins? Is it supposed to represent the moon? I’m sure the answer is out there somewhere. One good thing about orange and Halloween is candy corn. Yummy. I like circus peanuts too, which I know are gross. Plus that whole circus/clown connection is there.
One movie that I simply cannot watch is A Clockwork Orange. I can’t do it. Even understanding what it is about and being a psychology major and all that crap couldn’t convince me to sit through it. (So I guess in terms of aversion therapy, I say Bravo!) Maybe I was too young at the time, but I have no desire to see if I could sit through it now either. It also makes me a little hesitant to watch any movies with Malcolm McDowell.
Nicknames
Well, let’s just end this thing on a positive note for the weekend, shall we? A couple of other orange related items to share with you deal with nicknames. My Dad still calls me “pumpkin” to this day and my grandma used to call me “peachy”, so there you go. As an added bonus, here is a picture of me incorporating so much of my orange discussion. It represents the color, a holiday, a food, one of my nicknames and the picture was even taken by my grandma. I think the only thing missing is Malcolm McDowell dressed as a clown and eating circus peanuts.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
I Don’t Remember Seeing This in my Job Description
We all have routines. Sometimes those routines are comforting. They help reestablish order after chaos, they reassure us with their familiarity. And some routines just bore us to tears. Commuting to work, doing housework, grocery shopping, packing and unpacking, and so on. I was thinking about all of this as I was going through my morning routine at the office, namely crawling around under my desk plugging things in. At last count, I need 3 outlets to “begin” my day: 2 laptops and the charger for my iPod. As I was completing this very graceful morning ritual, it made me think about my job in general and all the things my job description leaves unsaid.
I’m sure you’ve thought about it and probably even complained about it. Granted, there is no way any job description is going to present you with an itemized list of all the things you “could” be asked to do in the line of duty. I understand that. This is really more of a humorous look at some of the things we end up doing for the job. And when I say “we” I mean me. Let’s face it; it’s always about me here….
Power-hungry
As I mentioned previously, part of my routine regardless of where I am in the world, is the search for power. Whether it’s plugging in one of the many laptops I am sometimes forced to accept, or searching for Internet connections for said laptops, there always seems to be a short supply of power and power-related accoutrements. If they can make those fun little gadgets called stud-finders (great name), why can’t they make something like that for power outlets? My uncle was showing off some gizmo he got for Christmas that locates wireless hotspots. He was over the moon about it. He’s probably camped out in a hotel parking lot right now, surfing the Net for free.
Once you do find them, why are they located in places that require you to be a contortionist or worse, an electrician? Honestly, if they are going to make you navigate through some crawl space that the cleaning crew has never discovered (hey, it’s not in THEIR job description), then they ought to provide one of those miner hats with the light and some kneepads. This is an especially nice image if you happen to be wearing a skirt that day. How often does someone stop by your desk expecting to find you, only to see you emerging from UNDER the desk (possibly giving yourself a concussion in the process) or even worse, with just the back end sticking out while you are fumbling in the semi-darkness for the outlet?
The other end of the spectrum is the hotel outlet. I only mention one because there always seems to be a single outlet in the one area you need at least 2: the desk. In the hotel where I have been living, the outlet under the desk has one of those accessories added to it that gives it another 4 outlets. Yeah, and 3 of the 4 are still taken up by the lamp, the modem, and sometimes even the damn coffee pot. Meanwhile, on the other 3 walls, too far away from the modem to be of any use, are outlets galore. So, then I get in to decorator mode and rearrange the room fixtures, trying to get just one more outlet I can use. I don’t move the furniture any more than I have to. I do NOT want to know what lives under anything in there. And then housekeeping changes everything back again. It’s like my own version of Groundhog Day.
The ole Soft Shoe- When Puttin’ on the Ritz turns into Stayin’ Alive
As an instructor, you know that not every class is going to be perfect. You understand that unexpected things happen that are beyond your control. Assuming you are using some sort of media or teaching aid that requires you to rely on a power source other than the sound of your voice, you definitely need a backup plan. You should set your mind at ease now and realize that things are going to go wrong.
How you decide to handle life’s little interruptions to your militantly organized and timed training event (that is already trying to squeeze 8 hours of content into 6) separates the facilitators from the imitators. Time to dust off the tap shoes, hat and cane. Initially, I think the minor inconveniences (a blown bulb in a projector, the temperature in the room, thin walls, weird system bugs that have suddenly chosen today to make an appearance.) can be easily worked around and should have been addressed as part of your backup plan. If not, easiest thing in the world is to send them on break. Deal with your issues without an audience, if possible. Like it or not, you are the authority in the room, so don’t blow your cover on something small.
Even with the bigger problems (system crash, the class from Hell, last minute changes to materials that you haven’t prepared for that are still warm from the printer), you still should attempt to give the illusion of control. Again, when things start to fall apart, take a break. Find whatever support you can for the issues you can’t put a band-aid on and then start looking at your agenda for things to condense or skip. I think the key point again here is to keep your cool. Your audience (contrary to what you may be thinking) is not stupid and can sense your fear and even worse, your escalating frustration. Treat them like adults, whether they deserve it or not, and just get through it. I think this also calls for a (mental) costume change. For the really bad moments, tap shoes and a cane aren’t going to get it done. Your choreographed soft shoe routine will backfire on you at this point. It’s time now for the sweatband, the kneepads, and extra-sassy fingerless gloves. This routine may not be as polished as you’d like, but you are still in charge, and you still have an agenda to get through. You rock and you know it, and your evaluations will reflect that when all the other areas get trashed.
Then again, maybe it’s a good thing job descriptions are so broad. Could you imagine what the interview process would be like? New Hire training? More like Welcome to Boot Camp. I can just picture a certain trainer from my past dressed in camouflage saying "Ok people, I'm holding a grenade. This WILL be on the test." Frightening!
I’m sure you’ve thought about it and probably even complained about it. Granted, there is no way any job description is going to present you with an itemized list of all the things you “could” be asked to do in the line of duty. I understand that. This is really more of a humorous look at some of the things we end up doing for the job. And when I say “we” I mean me. Let’s face it; it’s always about me here….
Power-hungry
As I mentioned previously, part of my routine regardless of where I am in the world, is the search for power. Whether it’s plugging in one of the many laptops I am sometimes forced to accept, or searching for Internet connections for said laptops, there always seems to be a short supply of power and power-related accoutrements. If they can make those fun little gadgets called stud-finders (great name), why can’t they make something like that for power outlets? My uncle was showing off some gizmo he got for Christmas that locates wireless hotspots. He was over the moon about it. He’s probably camped out in a hotel parking lot right now, surfing the Net for free.
Once you do find them, why are they located in places that require you to be a contortionist or worse, an electrician? Honestly, if they are going to make you navigate through some crawl space that the cleaning crew has never discovered (hey, it’s not in THEIR job description), then they ought to provide one of those miner hats with the light and some kneepads. This is an especially nice image if you happen to be wearing a skirt that day. How often does someone stop by your desk expecting to find you, only to see you emerging from UNDER the desk (possibly giving yourself a concussion in the process) or even worse, with just the back end sticking out while you are fumbling in the semi-darkness for the outlet?
The other end of the spectrum is the hotel outlet. I only mention one because there always seems to be a single outlet in the one area you need at least 2: the desk. In the hotel where I have been living, the outlet under the desk has one of those accessories added to it that gives it another 4 outlets. Yeah, and 3 of the 4 are still taken up by the lamp, the modem, and sometimes even the damn coffee pot. Meanwhile, on the other 3 walls, too far away from the modem to be of any use, are outlets galore. So, then I get in to decorator mode and rearrange the room fixtures, trying to get just one more outlet I can use. I don’t move the furniture any more than I have to. I do NOT want to know what lives under anything in there. And then housekeeping changes everything back again. It’s like my own version of Groundhog Day.
The ole Soft Shoe- When Puttin’ on the Ritz turns into Stayin’ Alive
As an instructor, you know that not every class is going to be perfect. You understand that unexpected things happen that are beyond your control. Assuming you are using some sort of media or teaching aid that requires you to rely on a power source other than the sound of your voice, you definitely need a backup plan. You should set your mind at ease now and realize that things are going to go wrong.
How you decide to handle life’s little interruptions to your militantly organized and timed training event (that is already trying to squeeze 8 hours of content into 6) separates the facilitators from the imitators. Time to dust off the tap shoes, hat and cane. Initially, I think the minor inconveniences (a blown bulb in a projector, the temperature in the room, thin walls, weird system bugs that have suddenly chosen today to make an appearance.) can be easily worked around and should have been addressed as part of your backup plan. If not, easiest thing in the world is to send them on break. Deal with your issues without an audience, if possible. Like it or not, you are the authority in the room, so don’t blow your cover on something small.
Even with the bigger problems (system crash, the class from Hell, last minute changes to materials that you haven’t prepared for that are still warm from the printer), you still should attempt to give the illusion of control. Again, when things start to fall apart, take a break. Find whatever support you can for the issues you can’t put a band-aid on and then start looking at your agenda for things to condense or skip. I think the key point again here is to keep your cool. Your audience (contrary to what you may be thinking) is not stupid and can sense your fear and even worse, your escalating frustration. Treat them like adults, whether they deserve it or not, and just get through it. I think this also calls for a (mental) costume change. For the really bad moments, tap shoes and a cane aren’t going to get it done. Your choreographed soft shoe routine will backfire on you at this point. It’s time now for the sweatband, the kneepads, and extra-sassy fingerless gloves. This routine may not be as polished as you’d like, but you are still in charge, and you still have an agenda to get through. You rock and you know it, and your evaluations will reflect that when all the other areas get trashed.
Then again, maybe it’s a good thing job descriptions are so broad. Could you imagine what the interview process would be like? New Hire training? More like Welcome to Boot Camp. I can just picture a certain trainer from my past dressed in camouflage saying "Ok people, I'm holding a grenade. This WILL be on the test." Frightening!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Unexpected Turbulence
I was sitting on a plane reading a book. My hair had fallen into my face and I went to move it out of the way. As I ran my fingers through my hair to push it off my face, it triggered a memory. I was reminded of a trip to see my Mom. I had come to town to go with her to a family reunion. Her side of the family gets together every couple of years and I invited myself to go with her. I had never met any of these people and naturally, I was curious about them.
Before we were to make the drive to the reunion site, we were sitting on the couch together and she was showing me family photos and family tree type documents for her family. As I sat there reading, she reached out and touched the back of my head, running her fingers through my hair. It surprised me. It was a seemingly spontaneous gesture that I didn’t have to initiate. I should have been pleased. Perhaps for a moment I was. I think I was so focused on the fact that it happened that I didn’t really stay “present” and enjoy it. Does that make sense?
It was sad for me to think that moment was going to stick with me for no better reason than its blatant uniqueness. And then I was angry for the same reason. It almost made me wish it hadn’t happened. Almost.
Sometimes simple gestures are complicated.
Before we were to make the drive to the reunion site, we were sitting on the couch together and she was showing me family photos and family tree type documents for her family. As I sat there reading, she reached out and touched the back of my head, running her fingers through my hair. It surprised me. It was a seemingly spontaneous gesture that I didn’t have to initiate. I should have been pleased. Perhaps for a moment I was. I think I was so focused on the fact that it happened that I didn’t really stay “present” and enjoy it. Does that make sense?
It was sad for me to think that moment was going to stick with me for no better reason than its blatant uniqueness. And then I was angry for the same reason. It almost made me wish it hadn’t happened. Almost.
Sometimes simple gestures are complicated.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
One Step Closer to the Edge- The Control Freak is Freaking Out
I’m gonna blow a gasket. I can feel it. I am the volcano that buried Pompeii. I am the San Francisco earthquake and the Asian tsunami. I am seriously pissed. I am seriously over-reacting. That’s why I’m typing instead of screaming and throwing chairs like a guest on Springer. I want to wear sunglasses all day today. I need to hide the Death rays shooting out of my eyes. The glare that wants to pin you to the wall and scream at you about your incompetence while performing Three Stooges-type abuse to your body.
Driving in to work today, I wanted to listen to Linkin Park. (It should be Enya) I wanted to listen to Guns N Roses. (It should be Sade) I wanted to listen to Queensryche. (It should be…well, ok have you heard Silent Lucidity? Geesh.)
Incompetence. That’s what’s eating me today. Things that are beyond my control. My “judging light” is not only on; it could power the state of Pennsylvania today. (Thank God for all the Amish.) Some of this is directed at myself, of course. I know better than to hold other people to the same standard I hold for myself. It leads to disappointment more often than not. I know it, and it still gets to me. I can’t stand to have to work with people who don’t share the same work ethic. People with no concept of deadlines, no understanding of the importance of sharing communication or the impact of not sharing them, and no insight at all when it comes to setting expectations and then resetting expectations when warranted. But as much as working side-by-side with someone like this can get on my nerves, I am really tortured by being managed by such an individual.
X’s and O’s- Remembering to Breathe
I understand that everyone is different. In order to get along, you have to be able to go with the idea that being different doesn’t translate into being wrong or bad. Sometimes a different perspective can bring things to light you have overlooked or missed altogether.
I seem to recall some little nugget of information from my past about recognizing that the traits/habits/idiosyncrasies we seemingly despise about other people can be traced back to things we ultimately recognize and possibly dislike about ourselves. So let me run with that for a minute.
I’m a detail person. I’m a perfectionist and a control freak. More so on the job than outside, but probably still your classic Type A personality. If you have ever taken a personality test, you are probably familiar with the names Myers-Briggs or Keirsey. I like those classifications a little better than the more general Type A/Type B distinctions. When I hear Type A, I picture some straight commission sales guy “making deals” and generally working himself into a heart attack. If you have ever seen the movie Glengary Glen Ross, you’ll know the type I mean. Since I don’t feel I identify with that type of person, I tend to prefer some different measurements and interpretations. Personality tests are very subjective. I think they can provide insight into your behaviors in various situations, but they are not the sum total or final say in who you are. According to Keirsey, I am an ESFJ. This translates into Extroversion/Sensing/Feeling/Judging. Here is a link to the page. I would recommend taking the test just to see where you fall. I thought maybe I could find a site that offered it for free, but no go on my initial search.
It does bother me sometimes that I can’t be a little more laid-back, a little more forgiving, and a little less judgmental. However, if I really wanted to change I would, so apparently I am fine to just think about being different rather than actually practicing it. So, continuing with this topic, the people that drive me nuts, especially at work are the people I mentioned above who don’t worry about the fire because they are oblivious to the flames. While I may envy their Zen-like attitudes outside of the work environment, I have a hard time dealing with them at work. And I must say that my methods of “dealing” can be a little childish. The same people that are oblivious to the flames are surely also going to be oblivious to the death rays coming from my eyes. They may even try to be helpful and offer me Visine.
Embracing My Passive-Aggressive Tendencies
So, I decided to get online and look up passive aggressive behavior. Perhaps shame myself into realizing what a waste of time and energy it is, and a generally cowardly and ineffective thing to boot. Now obviously, I don’t end up holding back as often as I probably should, but really, I bite back a lot more than you might think. (And somewhere out there, Lionel still deserves an apology from me.) Still, in a business situation, you really don’t want to be the person that flies off the handle a lot. People get angry, so if it happens, just realize that it happens to everyone. But, getting angry all the time is probably not a good thing, especially if you don’t learn to deal with it constructively, if at all.
I’m a list maker. Maybe that’s just how I choose to deal with chaos. I can’t tell you the number of times I have written out every word of a difficult conversation I knew was coming. Not that I was planning on reading a script, I just wanted to figure out where my mind was going to go if it really had free-reign. It’s cleansing and helps me to calm down. I may still be upset, but I generally feel like I won’t suddenly start frothing at the mouth. It also helps me organize my thoughts a little better, so that when it is time to have the discussion, I give the appearance of rational thought rather than knee-jerk, drama queen hysterics.
Whew. And just like that, the situation has been diffused somewhat and I am now back on simmer. Not a great place to be, but also not in imminent danger of committing career suicide either. Now, time for more coffee. I have a meeting coming up…
Driving in to work today, I wanted to listen to Linkin Park. (It should be Enya) I wanted to listen to Guns N Roses. (It should be Sade) I wanted to listen to Queensryche. (It should be…well, ok have you heard Silent Lucidity? Geesh.)
Incompetence. That’s what’s eating me today. Things that are beyond my control. My “judging light” is not only on; it could power the state of Pennsylvania today. (Thank God for all the Amish.) Some of this is directed at myself, of course. I know better than to hold other people to the same standard I hold for myself. It leads to disappointment more often than not. I know it, and it still gets to me. I can’t stand to have to work with people who don’t share the same work ethic. People with no concept of deadlines, no understanding of the importance of sharing communication or the impact of not sharing them, and no insight at all when it comes to setting expectations and then resetting expectations when warranted. But as much as working side-by-side with someone like this can get on my nerves, I am really tortured by being managed by such an individual.
X’s and O’s- Remembering to Breathe
I understand that everyone is different. In order to get along, you have to be able to go with the idea that being different doesn’t translate into being wrong or bad. Sometimes a different perspective can bring things to light you have overlooked or missed altogether.
I seem to recall some little nugget of information from my past about recognizing that the traits/habits/idiosyncrasies we seemingly despise about other people can be traced back to things we ultimately recognize and possibly dislike about ourselves. So let me run with that for a minute.
I’m a detail person. I’m a perfectionist and a control freak. More so on the job than outside, but probably still your classic Type A personality. If you have ever taken a personality test, you are probably familiar with the names Myers-Briggs or Keirsey. I like those classifications a little better than the more general Type A/Type B distinctions. When I hear Type A, I picture some straight commission sales guy “making deals” and generally working himself into a heart attack. If you have ever seen the movie Glengary Glen Ross, you’ll know the type I mean. Since I don’t feel I identify with that type of person, I tend to prefer some different measurements and interpretations. Personality tests are very subjective. I think they can provide insight into your behaviors in various situations, but they are not the sum total or final say in who you are. According to Keirsey, I am an ESFJ. This translates into Extroversion/Sensing/Feeling/Judging. Here is a link to the page. I would recommend taking the test just to see where you fall. I thought maybe I could find a site that offered it for free, but no go on my initial search.
It does bother me sometimes that I can’t be a little more laid-back, a little more forgiving, and a little less judgmental. However, if I really wanted to change I would, so apparently I am fine to just think about being different rather than actually practicing it. So, continuing with this topic, the people that drive me nuts, especially at work are the people I mentioned above who don’t worry about the fire because they are oblivious to the flames. While I may envy their Zen-like attitudes outside of the work environment, I have a hard time dealing with them at work. And I must say that my methods of “dealing” can be a little childish. The same people that are oblivious to the flames are surely also going to be oblivious to the death rays coming from my eyes. They may even try to be helpful and offer me Visine.
Embracing My Passive-Aggressive Tendencies
So, I decided to get online and look up passive aggressive behavior. Perhaps shame myself into realizing what a waste of time and energy it is, and a generally cowardly and ineffective thing to boot. Now obviously, I don’t end up holding back as often as I probably should, but really, I bite back a lot more than you might think. (And somewhere out there, Lionel still deserves an apology from me.) Still, in a business situation, you really don’t want to be the person that flies off the handle a lot. People get angry, so if it happens, just realize that it happens to everyone. But, getting angry all the time is probably not a good thing, especially if you don’t learn to deal with it constructively, if at all.
I’m a list maker. Maybe that’s just how I choose to deal with chaos. I can’t tell you the number of times I have written out every word of a difficult conversation I knew was coming. Not that I was planning on reading a script, I just wanted to figure out where my mind was going to go if it really had free-reign. It’s cleansing and helps me to calm down. I may still be upset, but I generally feel like I won’t suddenly start frothing at the mouth. It also helps me organize my thoughts a little better, so that when it is time to have the discussion, I give the appearance of rational thought rather than knee-jerk, drama queen hysterics.
Whew. And just like that, the situation has been diffused somewhat and I am now back on simmer. Not a great place to be, but also not in imminent danger of committing career suicide either. Now, time for more coffee. I have a meeting coming up…
Monday, July 17, 2006
Malapropisms and Mondegreens
Sounds like a mouthful, doesn’t it? The funny thing about mispronouncing either of these terms is that both are related to mispronunciation or misinterpretation of words. You would think that alone would warrant some simpler monikers. Nevertheless, I have been accumulating a list of these for a while and thought it would be amusing to share. For more examples of both, check out this website.
Pronunciation, Enunciation, Articulation
I think we all know people who butcher the pronunciation of certain words, or that just make up words altogether. While it is generally easy enough to figure out what it is they meant to say, not enunciating clearly can generate a poor impression. While in certain casual situations this can be pretty entertaining, in other, more professional situations it is highly embarrassing and possibly detrimental to long-term success. People who are considered to be articulate are generally perceived as being more intelligent (whether it’s true or not). While none of us are perfect, learning to pronounce words correctly and enunciate clearly shouldn’t be about seeking perfection. It should be a conscious decision to not sound like an idiot. Is that clear enough for you?
Several years ago, I worked with someone who was guilty of making up words. Unfortunately, he was making up business terms. The idea that he could be using these terms with customers was appalling. (And secretly hilarious.) The hardest part was keeping a straight face if one of these words appeared in casual conversation, or especially in group meetings. One of these verbal bombshells would drop and suddenly everyone was ducking for cover to avoid catching someone else’s eye and exploding with laughter. Ah, those were good times. So here is an example for you.
“Why is this group making demandments on my people?” The first time I heard him say this, my brain just stopped processing the rest of the conversation. I was just stuck on the word. Did I hear it correctly? Am I supposed to correct him? What if I laugh? Oh God, don’t think about laughing. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Think about dead puppies. Keep nodding like you are paying attention.
It may not have been that word specifically (or pacifically, if you prefer) that started the list, but it sure held a prominent place. Here are examples of some of the others that I have heard or have been told to me by family and friends. If you can’t spot the offending word, please let me know so I can make fun of you.
- “Your point is mute.”
- “I started talking about one thing, but then I went off on a tandem.”
- “I was so angry, I was vivid.”
- “Irregardless of what you think, you can’t have too many pairs of shoes.”
“Worms, Roxanne! I was afraid of Worms!”
Recognize the line? Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah ring any bells? When I was looking into the malapropisms site, I came across the term mondegreens. The site describes it as an aural malapropism. Simple, huh? Basically, instead of saying something incorrectly, you are hearing something incorrectly.
The easiest example of this is song lyrics. I think we are all guilty of thinking we hear one lyric only to find out later (sometimes years later) what the actual lyric is. I don’t know about you, but even after hearing the correct lyric, I have a hard time using it initially because I am so used to the other. I also find that there are particular singers I am more likely to mishear as well. Elton John has always been a tough one for me.
There are a couple of books floating around out there that deal with this subject. One is called “When a Man Loves a Walnut” and the other is “’Scuse me while I kiss this guy”. Some of the lyrics they identify are really funny. Some of them I think are a real stretch. They also like to single out Elton John. Seriously, Benny and the Jets is a disaster. I looked up the lyrics and I didn’t recognize most of them.
One really funny movie moment (I’ll commit to the moment, although I really do like the movie too.) was Whoopi Goldberg in Jumping Jack Flash. She was trying to figure out the song lyrics to the Rolling Stones song Jumping Jack Flash. Some of the stuff she was coming up with was pretty funny.
One last thing, and this is all the space I am going to dedicate to it. Also contained in the website I referenced as part of famous malapropisms is a section on George Bush and a list (A list! As in more than one!) of his own malapropisms. It even bears his name: Bushisms. The fact this thing not only exists, but carries it’s own name is seriously embarrassing.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Pack Your Bags…Part Two
So, now that you are properly educated on the necessity of travel size sundries, let’s move on, shall we? There is a lot to cover and I fear once again that I will run out of room long before I run out of words. That being said, I’m going to skip make up for now and go straight to your wardrobe. Chances are you have been unable to escape the constant bombardment of TV shows, books, magazines, and other media regarding fashion and helpful tips on why everything you are buying and wearing is wrong. I myself am guilty of owning such media. Not only do I have the books Color Me Beautiful and What Not to Wear, I even went so far as to buy my color palette so I had small swatches of the colors I should be wearing (I’m a Winter). And STILL I can stand at the door of my overstuffed closet on any given day and bemoan the fact that I have “nothing to wear” and that I hate everything that I own.
Well, I wish I could tell you that I had the answers to all your burning questions on fashion, but I don’t. Like the supposed experts and the general laymen, all I have are opinions. Lucky for you, I’m not even going to charge you for them. As I face yet another week of business casual/airport chic, I thought I would share more thoughts on what in the Hell runs through my head when trying to pack my suitcase. Again, take it or leave it, you’ve all seen the way I dress.
A General Thought on the 4 C’s of Fashion (which I have just now made up)
So, this could be it’s own topic, but I have a thought on the different categories of fashion to keep in mind when out for a day of retail therapy. Just like the 4 C’s of diamond shopping (color, cut, clarity and carat) I think we can apply something similar to clothes shopping. My thought is something like Color, Cut, Cost and Changeability. (Really stretching for the fourth C. I had to use a thesaurus for “versatile”) That fourth C could also have been coffee, since it’s not uncommon for me to shop while drinking a cup. However, when you have suitcase real estate to think about, versatility becomes a very attractive quality in the clothes you are packing and therefore buying.
What Color is your week?
One very easy way to pack for a trip is to just pick a color. Starting with your preferred neutral, pick another color to go with it and coordinate from there. I’ll give you an example. This week was red, black, and white week for me. Not a very tough thing to pull together for a 4-day trip. A couple of black skirts (which save space and are good for summer anyway) white Oxford, red tank top, lightweight black cardigan and another red tank, and so on. You get the idea. I even made it with a single pair of shoes. Red sling backs, baby. Throw in a red belt and my red purse, and I was done. (Actually, I decided on this for my color scheme this week because of the new red purse I bought last week, but the accessories talk will come later.)
So based on the neutral colors of Navy, Brown, Black and White I have a few color weeks that rotate through. I don’t like wearing the same things every week for work, so I need the variety. If that’s not your thing, so be it. I am also going to make a leap of faith here (or if I can borrow a phrase from a friend and “Press the I Believe button”) and assume that you have neutral shoes, belts, and purses to match. Although, these are also areas where your accent colors can really help you spice things up.
Airport Chic (or another dinner at a chain restaurant)
Now, I don’t know about you, but there is no way I could pack just my business clothes and be done packing. Unless you have to step off the plane and go straight to a meeting (which sucks), then you are probably going to wear something more comfortable and casual when you travel. This is not the time to be in denial about what size you actually wear. I think the length of your flight should help you determine what kind of outfit to wear. The longer the flight, the more toward the “pajama” end of the spectrum you should be. Let’s just say that for my 5-hour flight (one way) on Sunday mornings, I am not going to make anyone’s Best Dressed list.
Packing some casual clothes also makes sense for when you are done with your business day and finally on your own time. Unless you like wearing that stuff all day, then by all means disregard. So, in addition to the business clothes, I also pack a couple of items that are more casual and yet still coordinate with the business clothes I packed, so I don’t have to pack a second set of clothes. Apparently right now I am in an Old Navy frame of mind, because I am loving the Capri-length jeans and the uber-thin hoodies that are good for the plane, as a cover up for whatever tank top I’m wearing that day, and general lounge wear. Throw in a sensible pair of airport-friendly shoes and you’re done. I recommend the $3 white canvas tennis shoes from Wal-Mart or I must admit I have finally come around to the ballet flat. I resisted, really. But when they made a pair with cherries on them…what was I to do? I think the slip-on shoe in general is good for the airport and specifically, getting through security hassle-free.
Finally, rounding out the last odds and ends of the wardrobe are some miscellaneous things. This is not a discussion on underwear, I assure you. Although your mother might be very concerned with the state of yours, I for one am not. I was thinking more along the lines of pajamas. Or some people take clothes to…wait, what is the term they use…oh yeah, work out. That’s it. Yeah, some people do that too.
Wardrobe Woobies
It occurs to me, that no matter how much I enjoy the variety of my wardrobe, there are certain items that seem to always come with me. I wonder if this is the same for you? I actually mentioned a couple of mine earlier with the Old Navy stuff I have. I love it. I also have a pair of black pants that I love to travel with because they just don’t wrinkle, and they are a terrific cut. If there was ever a last minute meeting/dinner/gallery opening that I had to get ready for, these are the go-to pants to wear.
So much I still haven’t covered, but I think this is probably enough for now. Time to go make sure all of my “woobies” are clean and ready to go. Plus, its time to decide what color my week is. Maybe the next installment will head back toward the make up/jewelry/accessory discussion (which is much easier to coordinate if you are wearing the same color all week).
Well, I wish I could tell you that I had the answers to all your burning questions on fashion, but I don’t. Like the supposed experts and the general laymen, all I have are opinions. Lucky for you, I’m not even going to charge you for them. As I face yet another week of business casual/airport chic, I thought I would share more thoughts on what in the Hell runs through my head when trying to pack my suitcase. Again, take it or leave it, you’ve all seen the way I dress.
A General Thought on the 4 C’s of Fashion (which I have just now made up)
So, this could be it’s own topic, but I have a thought on the different categories of fashion to keep in mind when out for a day of retail therapy. Just like the 4 C’s of diamond shopping (color, cut, clarity and carat) I think we can apply something similar to clothes shopping. My thought is something like Color, Cut, Cost and Changeability. (Really stretching for the fourth C. I had to use a thesaurus for “versatile”) That fourth C could also have been coffee, since it’s not uncommon for me to shop while drinking a cup. However, when you have suitcase real estate to think about, versatility becomes a very attractive quality in the clothes you are packing and therefore buying.
What Color is your week?
One very easy way to pack for a trip is to just pick a color. Starting with your preferred neutral, pick another color to go with it and coordinate from there. I’ll give you an example. This week was red, black, and white week for me. Not a very tough thing to pull together for a 4-day trip. A couple of black skirts (which save space and are good for summer anyway) white Oxford, red tank top, lightweight black cardigan and another red tank, and so on. You get the idea. I even made it with a single pair of shoes. Red sling backs, baby. Throw in a red belt and my red purse, and I was done. (Actually, I decided on this for my color scheme this week because of the new red purse I bought last week, but the accessories talk will come later.)
So based on the neutral colors of Navy, Brown, Black and White I have a few color weeks that rotate through. I don’t like wearing the same things every week for work, so I need the variety. If that’s not your thing, so be it. I am also going to make a leap of faith here (or if I can borrow a phrase from a friend and “Press the I Believe button”) and assume that you have neutral shoes, belts, and purses to match. Although, these are also areas where your accent colors can really help you spice things up.
Airport Chic (or another dinner at a chain restaurant)
Now, I don’t know about you, but there is no way I could pack just my business clothes and be done packing. Unless you have to step off the plane and go straight to a meeting (which sucks), then you are probably going to wear something more comfortable and casual when you travel. This is not the time to be in denial about what size you actually wear. I think the length of your flight should help you determine what kind of outfit to wear. The longer the flight, the more toward the “pajama” end of the spectrum you should be. Let’s just say that for my 5-hour flight (one way) on Sunday mornings, I am not going to make anyone’s Best Dressed list.
Packing some casual clothes also makes sense for when you are done with your business day and finally on your own time. Unless you like wearing that stuff all day, then by all means disregard. So, in addition to the business clothes, I also pack a couple of items that are more casual and yet still coordinate with the business clothes I packed, so I don’t have to pack a second set of clothes. Apparently right now I am in an Old Navy frame of mind, because I am loving the Capri-length jeans and the uber-thin hoodies that are good for the plane, as a cover up for whatever tank top I’m wearing that day, and general lounge wear. Throw in a sensible pair of airport-friendly shoes and you’re done. I recommend the $3 white canvas tennis shoes from Wal-Mart or I must admit I have finally come around to the ballet flat. I resisted, really. But when they made a pair with cherries on them…what was I to do? I think the slip-on shoe in general is good for the airport and specifically, getting through security hassle-free.
Finally, rounding out the last odds and ends of the wardrobe are some miscellaneous things. This is not a discussion on underwear, I assure you. Although your mother might be very concerned with the state of yours, I for one am not. I was thinking more along the lines of pajamas. Or some people take clothes to…wait, what is the term they use…oh yeah, work out. That’s it. Yeah, some people do that too.
Wardrobe Woobies
It occurs to me, that no matter how much I enjoy the variety of my wardrobe, there are certain items that seem to always come with me. I wonder if this is the same for you? I actually mentioned a couple of mine earlier with the Old Navy stuff I have. I love it. I also have a pair of black pants that I love to travel with because they just don’t wrinkle, and they are a terrific cut. If there was ever a last minute meeting/dinner/gallery opening that I had to get ready for, these are the go-to pants to wear.
So much I still haven’t covered, but I think this is probably enough for now. Time to go make sure all of my “woobies” are clean and ready to go. Plus, its time to decide what color my week is. Maybe the next installment will head back toward the make up/jewelry/accessory discussion (which is much easier to coordinate if you are wearing the same color all week).
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Pack Your Bags without packing your Whole Life – Part One
It occurs to me that a good number of people who read this are going to have their own opinions on how to pack a bag. That’s fine. Topics such as this are totally subjective. What’s important to me may not even register for you and vice versa. (Like hair styling products. I just reread this and realized I made no mention of them since I don’t use any.) Plus, being a girl, I am not even going to try to approach this from a male perspective. Button down shirts, khakis and boring loafer-type shoes, right? No fun there at all. Before I get into specifics, I am reminded of when I started traveling and my ad hoc new hire training that lasted all of 2 days before I had to leave for my first project. Within that small space of time, I went through one of the most ridiculous training sessions of my life. I’ll describe it for you here more as an example of what this topic will NOT cover.
Schlitz-Heineken
For those of you unfamiliar with the nickname I have given this section, ask me off line and I will fill you in. Those that are familiar, let me just say that this person had some really strange ideas on what constituted training. We all had to bring in an empty suitcase and then practice walking with it. I am so not kidding about this. We all went outside and had to practice going up and down the curb, spend time talking about what type of roller bag was less likely to tip over (the ones with the wheels set all the way to the edge of the bag), and even what sort of scary things were kept in her “baggie” that substituted as her drug store. I am going to make an assumption here that those of you reading this have adequate enough motor skills to walk and drag a roller bag at the same time without needing to practice. I feel lucky that I escaped after 2 days. You should feel lucky to escape after 2 paragraphs.
Experience is really the Best Teacher
A lot of what I am going to say is based on things like trial and error (which roughly translates into “things that have exploded in my luggage”) and the hard way. (Which means "packed in my checked luggage") You really can’t plan for everything. However, I urge you to learn from my pain, and if you have other suggestions, please let me know. Let’s start with 2 words you are going to want to remember: trial size. My first suggestion to you is to become familiar with the trial size products found in grocery stores, pharmacies, and chains like Target or Wal-Mart. You can find a lot of items that won’t take up a lot of space in your bag. I would stock up on things like Purell (because germs are EVERYWHERE), Kleenex, band aids, toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash, plastic razors, deodorant, lotion, chap stick, Q-tips, and so on. If you aren’t that picky about your shampoo, then you can find trial sizes of that stuff too.
I would keep items like medications or anything really important (i.e., girl stuff) out of your checked luggage and into whatever carry-on you are taking. Plus, you’ll experience less time and hassle unpacking and repacking your trial size stuff since you can most likely leave it in your suitcase, especially if you are doing the 48-hour turnaround. Also, I would put stuff that is bound to leak, explode or spontaneously combust in a baggie. I took it a step further and found a suitcase I LOVE that has a separate compartment for “wet” items.
Other Potions, Lotions and things that make you look like you
Air travel is bad for your skin. It will dry you out. So in addition to drinking plenty of water, you will probably want to think about some products that will keep your skin hydrated and healthy without causing breakouts (if you are prone to them) or breaking your budget. Again, some trial size things to think about are Visine for dry, irritated eyes, some hand lotion, and Chap Stick. Some other items that are personal favorites of mine include:
- Oil of Olay Cleansing Cloths- These things are awesome. All you need to do is add water. No more packing cleansers, toners, moisturizers, etc for your face. Just grab a couple of these and throw them in your bag. There are other Oil of Olay products that are really good as well. However, unless you can find the trial sizes, the regular products don’t come in very travel friendly containers (pumps).
- L’Oreal Hydra fresh- This is a nice and light face moisturizer that won’t leave you feeling oily and it has a very light scent. The only drawback I can see is that it is a glass container. I wrap it up pretty well, but there is always a chance it won’t make it.
- Lubriderm- I tend to favor a really heavy lotion when it comes to arms and legs. Not that I want to feel greasy, but I just like the heavier cream. I really love the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula lotion. I can’t travel with it though because it only comes with a pump. So, Lubriderm is my fallback.
- One area that really gets abused is my feet. I won’t even go into my shoe choices for travel here, but needless to say, I don’t always make the “comfortable” choice. Which is also why I can highly recommend the best band aids for blisters. (They have these awesome cushions, which totally relieve the pain) Anyway, I go ahead and pack lotion for my feet as well. Sure, I could use the lotion that I already have, but the best creams are REALLY heavy.
You should also consider the changes you need to make based on the season. It seems that most lotions now contain some sort of sunscreen. That’s good, because I never carry it and never think about carrying it. Another product I hear good things about but have never used is blotting papers for your face. Good for removing excess oil and shine. I think you can get them from places like MAC and Sephora. No idea on cost, but you can probably find out on line. One other switch I’ve made after moving to a dry climate is to switch from regular foundation to a tinted moisturizer. It’s the Sephora brand and I absolutely love it. It has sunscreen in it and it moisturizes without causing breakouts.
What the Hell is that smell?
Ok, one last thing and then I’m done talking about the messy things you take with you. Let’s talk perfume. I love it. I tend to prefer the lighter flower scents for summer and daytime (I’m currently mad about several scents by Fresh, available at Sephora). One scent I seem to keep coming across is Dolce and Gabbana’s Light Blue. I love it except for the fact that I smell it on everyone. So, I am boycotting that one for now. Perfume can also be a dicey thing to pack in a suitcase. As long as you are reasonably sure the container is closed tightly, I say go for it. Otherwise, you may also want to think about carrying some travel size Febreeze. (Ah, go ahead and pack that anyway.) And Clorox Wipes. And a Tide stain remover pen. I’m going to stop here, but stay tuned for more girly make up talk before moving on to accessories.
O Christmas Tree!
You know, it’s never too early in the year to start thinking about Christmas. It always seems like I am on the lookout for the perfect gift and the perfect theme for my Christmas tree. For as sentimental as I can be, Christmas tree decorating has never really been about decorating my tree with ornaments I made in school or ornaments passed down through generations in my family. Oh sure, we had our share of handmade items, but they don’t seem to last year to year. One year we even made the tree out of a paper bag. I think the only older ornament I have managed to hang onto is a red cowboy boot with my name on it that I got when I lived in Texas.
The Charlie Brown Years
I believe that since the time I got my first apartment that I have had some sort of different theme for my tree. In the beginning, it was more about budget than imagination. I started with one single color and then used silver ornaments to go with it. I knew I could use the silver ones every year, and then just change the solid color. So that worked for a while, until I was a little better off financially. I refer to this time as the Charlie Brown years, because my poor little tree was pathetically artificial and woefully bald in a few spots. Those things never really look right. But it was the right size for my apartment and my budget, and I was guaranteed not to kill it from too much water (like my cactus), too little water (like everything else I have tried to grow), or just lack of care in general.
The Long and Winding Road to Nashville
A good friend of mine that I used to work with moved to Indiana in the late 90’s. When I would go to visit him, he would take me to this fun little artsy town called Nashville. It was here where my imagination took off in terms of my tree themes. There are a couple of really great stores in town dedicated to Christmas year round. The Holly Shop and Grandma’s come to mind in particular. If you ever get a chance to go, they are definitely worth your time. So here are some of the highlights of the good, bad and bizarre tree themes over the years.
Christmas Pickles?
The first really wild theme I started with came from one of my first trips to Nashville. The store had a bunch of these cardboard cutouts of various things: famous people, people in different occupations, animals, and so on. What caught my eye were the cut outs of Carmen Miranda. Now, if you are like me, the only thing you would know about Carmen Miranda is that she was the lady that wore the big fruit turban on her head. I know she is in some old movies, but I can’t name any of them. Anyway, I saw that they had some ornaments of her and that was it. I had my theme.
Next I just had to find the filler to go with them. Do you know how hard it is to find tropical fruit Christmas ornaments? Oh sure, you can find things like apples and pears and grapes, but pineapples? Bananas? Watermelon? It’s harder than you might think if you don’t happen to live in a warm climate. So, I found what I could (including giving in and buying those weird Christmas pickles. Can someone explain that to me???) I also found some bird ornaments and a multi colored garland. For the tree topper? I found this giant ball ornament meant for a giant tree that was a bunch of smaller multi-colored balls all stuck to a center ball with a gold bow on top. (Think of a multi-colored popcorn ball and you’ll get the idea.) One of the nice things about the artificial tree is that you can manipulate the branches a little easier. So, it was a bit of a balancing act, but I made it work. Once I pulled that off, there was no stopping me. Throughout the years, I have been able to find some other fruit ornaments, which is nice. I think Carmen may need to make another appearance soon.
Marabou, Sling-backs and Beads: Oh My!
One of the nicest Christmas presents I received was from a friend of my parents. One year, much to my surprise I opened my gift to find Christmas ornaments. And not just any ornaments. These were guaranteed to make me squeal like the girl I am. They were shoes and matching handbags. Now I know I haven’t written yet about my accessory fetish, but these things take time. I know I will get there eventually. In the meantime, I was VERY EXCITED about the ornaments. He mentioned that there were other sets available. So, I asked where he got them (is that a faux pas?) and then went to go find the rest. I then went home, stripped my tree and re-decorated with my new ornaments just to see how things would look next year. In a strange twist, I received another set of shoe ornaments from ThreeL that same year. Very cool. So, needless to say, the shoes and purses theme was a very good theme year. I think it may also be the only one I have repeated.
Decapitated Barbie
One idea that I just couldn’t get to work was the Pez tree. The idea came to me from an article I saw in a USA Today newspaper. They were running a story on some interesting personalized gifts. One was to have a customized Pez dispenser made. So, I thought that perhaps a Christmas tree with Pez dispensers might be fun. I went to the website and ordered a bunch from their Christmas collection. The challenge of course was going to be the tree topper. Sure, I could have gone with the star that I usually have when I can’t find something specific to my theme, but I really thought I could do something with this. Pez didn’t really make something large enough for my tree, so I tried to think of some alternatives.
One thought was to find a Barbie head (like I used to have when I was little, although I think it may have been Farah Fawcett. God, I’m old.) Then I thought maybe I could find some sort of mannequin head or maybe get a mask when Halloween rolled around. I started to lose steam for the idea when I thought about how I was going to impale this head on my tree and how I was going to simulate a brick of sugar coming out of the neck. Or should it come out of the mouth? Either way, it was probably going to scare small children or look like I had some sort of bondage fetish, or a death wish against Barbie. (Or Farah Fawcett for that matter.) So, I gave up on that one. I may still have the dispensers although I think I probably gave them away or tied them to Christmas gifts for my family and friends.
Honorable Mention
Other themes worthy of mention were:
The Memory Tree: Included tiny picture frames gathered over the course of a year with pictures of family and friends. This tree made an appearance after 9/11 and a personal illness.
Vegas/Showgirl Tree: My first Christmas in Vegas of course warranted a special theme. It was mostly a showgirl theme, but with some Vegas touches to it to round it out.
No ideas yet for this year, which freaks me out a little since it’s already July. I keep thinking that in a moment of panic I am going to end up buying Halloween decorations on clearance and then throw them on my tree. I just don’t know if I am ready to embrace spiders and bats on my tree. Although a candy corn garland has possibilities. Hmm…a decapitated Barbie would fit nicely, don’t you think?
The Charlie Brown Years
I believe that since the time I got my first apartment that I have had some sort of different theme for my tree. In the beginning, it was more about budget than imagination. I started with one single color and then used silver ornaments to go with it. I knew I could use the silver ones every year, and then just change the solid color. So that worked for a while, until I was a little better off financially. I refer to this time as the Charlie Brown years, because my poor little tree was pathetically artificial and woefully bald in a few spots. Those things never really look right. But it was the right size for my apartment and my budget, and I was guaranteed not to kill it from too much water (like my cactus), too little water (like everything else I have tried to grow), or just lack of care in general.
The Long and Winding Road to Nashville
A good friend of mine that I used to work with moved to Indiana in the late 90’s. When I would go to visit him, he would take me to this fun little artsy town called Nashville. It was here where my imagination took off in terms of my tree themes. There are a couple of really great stores in town dedicated to Christmas year round. The Holly Shop and Grandma’s come to mind in particular. If you ever get a chance to go, they are definitely worth your time. So here are some of the highlights of the good, bad and bizarre tree themes over the years.
Christmas Pickles?
The first really wild theme I started with came from one of my first trips to Nashville. The store had a bunch of these cardboard cutouts of various things: famous people, people in different occupations, animals, and so on. What caught my eye were the cut outs of Carmen Miranda. Now, if you are like me, the only thing you would know about Carmen Miranda is that she was the lady that wore the big fruit turban on her head. I know she is in some old movies, but I can’t name any of them. Anyway, I saw that they had some ornaments of her and that was it. I had my theme.
Next I just had to find the filler to go with them. Do you know how hard it is to find tropical fruit Christmas ornaments? Oh sure, you can find things like apples and pears and grapes, but pineapples? Bananas? Watermelon? It’s harder than you might think if you don’t happen to live in a warm climate. So, I found what I could (including giving in and buying those weird Christmas pickles. Can someone explain that to me???) I also found some bird ornaments and a multi colored garland. For the tree topper? I found this giant ball ornament meant for a giant tree that was a bunch of smaller multi-colored balls all stuck to a center ball with a gold bow on top. (Think of a multi-colored popcorn ball and you’ll get the idea.) One of the nice things about the artificial tree is that you can manipulate the branches a little easier. So, it was a bit of a balancing act, but I made it work. Once I pulled that off, there was no stopping me. Throughout the years, I have been able to find some other fruit ornaments, which is nice. I think Carmen may need to make another appearance soon.
Marabou, Sling-backs and Beads: Oh My!
One of the nicest Christmas presents I received was from a friend of my parents. One year, much to my surprise I opened my gift to find Christmas ornaments. And not just any ornaments. These were guaranteed to make me squeal like the girl I am. They were shoes and matching handbags. Now I know I haven’t written yet about my accessory fetish, but these things take time. I know I will get there eventually. In the meantime, I was VERY EXCITED about the ornaments. He mentioned that there were other sets available. So, I asked where he got them (is that a faux pas?) and then went to go find the rest. I then went home, stripped my tree and re-decorated with my new ornaments just to see how things would look next year. In a strange twist, I received another set of shoe ornaments from ThreeL that same year. Very cool. So, needless to say, the shoes and purses theme was a very good theme year. I think it may also be the only one I have repeated.
Decapitated Barbie
One idea that I just couldn’t get to work was the Pez tree. The idea came to me from an article I saw in a USA Today newspaper. They were running a story on some interesting personalized gifts. One was to have a customized Pez dispenser made. So, I thought that perhaps a Christmas tree with Pez dispensers might be fun. I went to the website and ordered a bunch from their Christmas collection. The challenge of course was going to be the tree topper. Sure, I could have gone with the star that I usually have when I can’t find something specific to my theme, but I really thought I could do something with this. Pez didn’t really make something large enough for my tree, so I tried to think of some alternatives.
One thought was to find a Barbie head (like I used to have when I was little, although I think it may have been Farah Fawcett. God, I’m old.) Then I thought maybe I could find some sort of mannequin head or maybe get a mask when Halloween rolled around. I started to lose steam for the idea when I thought about how I was going to impale this head on my tree and how I was going to simulate a brick of sugar coming out of the neck. Or should it come out of the mouth? Either way, it was probably going to scare small children or look like I had some sort of bondage fetish, or a death wish against Barbie. (Or Farah Fawcett for that matter.) So, I gave up on that one. I may still have the dispensers although I think I probably gave them away or tied them to Christmas gifts for my family and friends.
Honorable Mention
Other themes worthy of mention were:
The Memory Tree: Included tiny picture frames gathered over the course of a year with pictures of family and friends. This tree made an appearance after 9/11 and a personal illness.
Vegas/Showgirl Tree: My first Christmas in Vegas of course warranted a special theme. It was mostly a showgirl theme, but with some Vegas touches to it to round it out.
No ideas yet for this year, which freaks me out a little since it’s already July. I keep thinking that in a moment of panic I am going to end up buying Halloween decorations on clearance and then throw them on my tree. I just don’t know if I am ready to embrace spiders and bats on my tree. Although a candy corn garland has possibilities. Hmm…a decapitated Barbie would fit nicely, don’t you think?
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Through the Looking Glass- Part Two
Tickling the Ivories…and my Sinuses?
I decided to go ahead and have Lasik surgery. I had been thinking about it for years, but other things kept coming up. I had my eye exam last week and then the surgery on Friday. Once I went through the exams, I was finally able to see the doctor. He seemed like a decent sort of guy. He reminded me of the actor who plays the scary preacher from the HBO series Carnivale. This guy wasn’t scary though. So, he is looking over my charts and he says to me that I am an excellent candidate for the surgery and that he thought I would be able to see clearly without glasses or contacts. Without missing a beat I asked him “But will I ever play the piano?” He laughed (although I’m pretty sure it was fake) and said he wasn’t going to fall for that one. He then started to explain the procedure to me. He said that on the day of the surgery they would offer me a Benadryl to help me relax. A Benadryl? I must have had a puzzled look on my face because he stopped talking and asked me if I had a question. So I asked him if I heard him correctly about the Benadryl. He said yes and said it was a mild sedative to help me relax. And I said “And to relieve my seasonal allergies?” Honestly, I wasn’t trying to be a smartass, but it seemed like a weird thing to offer as a sedative.
Argh! Pirates don’t have Allergies!
Now I am not the squeamish sort. I was telling my Dad just the other day that during the surgery, I was thinking about him and Mom and how neither of them are squeamish when it comes to medical stuff and neither of them are likely to panic in an emergency. I think that is probably one of the best things they could have passed on to us kids. I was reminded of the time when I was young and was roller-skating and tripped over some kid and bust my chin open. I had to go and get stitches. (So in addition to the eye patch, I also had a beard. Honestly, all I was missing was a parrot and a peg leg.) Anyway, I remember the doctor telling my mother to come and hold me down while he put the stitches in. My mother, without moving from her chair, simply said, “she isn’t going to move.” And I didn’t. I remember gripping the bottom of my shorts with both hands while it was going on, but by God, I didn’t move a muscle. I bring this up because prior to surgery, the nurse again offered me a Benadryl. After turning it down yet again, they asked if I was sure. I assured them that unless they were growing ragweed in the OR or had a serious mold problem, I would be fine. So, no sedative.
The procedure itself was painless. It was freaky as hell, but painless. The eye clamp was the worst part. It made me think of A Clockwork Orange. (I still can’t watch that movie.) I could feel my adrenaline pulsing into every pore in my body, but I didn’t move a muscle. Have you ever felt that? When you know your adrenaline has just spiked and then you start to come down from it? It is the weirdest feeling. So after a couple of minutes, they put some sunglasses on me, handed me a couple of prescriptions, and out the door I went.
Heidi is my Hero
I need to take a moment here and talk about the kindness of strangers. It may seem at odds with the normal ranting I do about humanity in general, but even I can be surprised by the thoughtful gestures of others. My case in point here is my designated driver through all of this. Now I know I have mentioned that it’s been hard to meet people here, especially since I am gone so much. Well, one thing that I have done consistently since moving is to head to my friendly local spa for a pedicure. In fact, I am such a fixture there that my pedicurist has become my de facto BFF. (She really had no choice in the matter.) So, about a month ago I made the very awkward request for her to be my designated driver should I decide to pursue the surgery. Much to my delight she agreed. What neither of us saw coming was that the appointment would come up so soon. And that it would occur the same weekend she was moving from her apartment into her first house. I still can’t believe she agreed. It turned out that in addition to hauling me to and from the doctor, she also waited with me to get my prescriptions filled, and she came back the next day to run shuttle service for me again for my 24 hour follow-up visit. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have come across someone so accommodating and generous as Heidi. She gives a darn good pedicure too. Come visit and I will take you to meet her.
Puff Liddy- You were NEVER my Boyfriend!
Now then, I don’t consider myself to be a wuss when it comes to pain. I don’t go looking for it (no daring you to punch me in the stomach or seeing me crush beer cans on my forehead), but I also don’t think I launch into hysterics over a splinter or a paper cut. That being said, I have not experienced pain like this in quite some time. I am not ashamed to say there was much whimpering involved as I lay in bed over the next 2 days. My eyes were pretty much swollen shut and it felt as though sand had been poured into them. I described this to a friend who then dubbed me “puff liddy.” I said it looked as though I had just broken up with my boyfriend and spent the weekend crying about it.
Today: Partly Cloudy, Tomorrow??
My solution, at least for the first day, was to stay asleep as much as possible. For my follow up visit the next day, Heidi had to actually help me down my stairs since I couldn’t open my eyes enough to see. Luckily things improved rapidly after that. As of Monday my eyes were no longer puffy and my vision was mostly clear. Yeah, driving to the airport was fun. As part of the surgery, they put contacts in as sort of a bandage to help the healing process. I have to leave these things in for a week. I can’t wait for Friday to get here so I can get these things out.
The Race for Cleanliness
It also seems like since the surgery I have more eyewear than ever. I’m walking around looking super cool (or like a total poser) with my sunglasses (restrooms, airplanes, Starbucks). They also gave me these really fun eye shields that they wanted me to tape to my face for the first three nights. Yeah, like that was going to happen. And then there are the shower goggles. Makes me feel like I am gettng ready for a swim meet. I keep waiting for the starter gun and my shower time is considerably shorter. I guess I should be glad the goggles are the only head gear they are forcing on me. (If I had a crash helmet and a piece of cork stuck to the end of my fork, we would be dealing with that whole “window licker” business again.)
I decided to go ahead and have Lasik surgery. I had been thinking about it for years, but other things kept coming up. I had my eye exam last week and then the surgery on Friday. Once I went through the exams, I was finally able to see the doctor. He seemed like a decent sort of guy. He reminded me of the actor who plays the scary preacher from the HBO series Carnivale. This guy wasn’t scary though. So, he is looking over my charts and he says to me that I am an excellent candidate for the surgery and that he thought I would be able to see clearly without glasses or contacts. Without missing a beat I asked him “But will I ever play the piano?” He laughed (although I’m pretty sure it was fake) and said he wasn’t going to fall for that one. He then started to explain the procedure to me. He said that on the day of the surgery they would offer me a Benadryl to help me relax. A Benadryl? I must have had a puzzled look on my face because he stopped talking and asked me if I had a question. So I asked him if I heard him correctly about the Benadryl. He said yes and said it was a mild sedative to help me relax. And I said “And to relieve my seasonal allergies?” Honestly, I wasn’t trying to be a smartass, but it seemed like a weird thing to offer as a sedative.
Argh! Pirates don’t have Allergies!
Now I am not the squeamish sort. I was telling my Dad just the other day that during the surgery, I was thinking about him and Mom and how neither of them are squeamish when it comes to medical stuff and neither of them are likely to panic in an emergency. I think that is probably one of the best things they could have passed on to us kids. I was reminded of the time when I was young and was roller-skating and tripped over some kid and bust my chin open. I had to go and get stitches. (So in addition to the eye patch, I also had a beard. Honestly, all I was missing was a parrot and a peg leg.) Anyway, I remember the doctor telling my mother to come and hold me down while he put the stitches in. My mother, without moving from her chair, simply said, “she isn’t going to move.” And I didn’t. I remember gripping the bottom of my shorts with both hands while it was going on, but by God, I didn’t move a muscle. I bring this up because prior to surgery, the nurse again offered me a Benadryl. After turning it down yet again, they asked if I was sure. I assured them that unless they were growing ragweed in the OR or had a serious mold problem, I would be fine. So, no sedative.
The procedure itself was painless. It was freaky as hell, but painless. The eye clamp was the worst part. It made me think of A Clockwork Orange. (I still can’t watch that movie.) I could feel my adrenaline pulsing into every pore in my body, but I didn’t move a muscle. Have you ever felt that? When you know your adrenaline has just spiked and then you start to come down from it? It is the weirdest feeling. So after a couple of minutes, they put some sunglasses on me, handed me a couple of prescriptions, and out the door I went.
Heidi is my Hero
I need to take a moment here and talk about the kindness of strangers. It may seem at odds with the normal ranting I do about humanity in general, but even I can be surprised by the thoughtful gestures of others. My case in point here is my designated driver through all of this. Now I know I have mentioned that it’s been hard to meet people here, especially since I am gone so much. Well, one thing that I have done consistently since moving is to head to my friendly local spa for a pedicure. In fact, I am such a fixture there that my pedicurist has become my de facto BFF. (She really had no choice in the matter.) So, about a month ago I made the very awkward request for her to be my designated driver should I decide to pursue the surgery. Much to my delight she agreed. What neither of us saw coming was that the appointment would come up so soon. And that it would occur the same weekend she was moving from her apartment into her first house. I still can’t believe she agreed. It turned out that in addition to hauling me to and from the doctor, she also waited with me to get my prescriptions filled, and she came back the next day to run shuttle service for me again for my 24 hour follow-up visit. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have come across someone so accommodating and generous as Heidi. She gives a darn good pedicure too. Come visit and I will take you to meet her.
Puff Liddy- You were NEVER my Boyfriend!
Now then, I don’t consider myself to be a wuss when it comes to pain. I don’t go looking for it (no daring you to punch me in the stomach or seeing me crush beer cans on my forehead), but I also don’t think I launch into hysterics over a splinter or a paper cut. That being said, I have not experienced pain like this in quite some time. I am not ashamed to say there was much whimpering involved as I lay in bed over the next 2 days. My eyes were pretty much swollen shut and it felt as though sand had been poured into them. I described this to a friend who then dubbed me “puff liddy.” I said it looked as though I had just broken up with my boyfriend and spent the weekend crying about it.
Today: Partly Cloudy, Tomorrow??
My solution, at least for the first day, was to stay asleep as much as possible. For my follow up visit the next day, Heidi had to actually help me down my stairs since I couldn’t open my eyes enough to see. Luckily things improved rapidly after that. As of Monday my eyes were no longer puffy and my vision was mostly clear. Yeah, driving to the airport was fun. As part of the surgery, they put contacts in as sort of a bandage to help the healing process. I have to leave these things in for a week. I can’t wait for Friday to get here so I can get these things out.
The Race for Cleanliness
It also seems like since the surgery I have more eyewear than ever. I’m walking around looking super cool (or like a total poser) with my sunglasses (restrooms, airplanes, Starbucks). They also gave me these really fun eye shields that they wanted me to tape to my face for the first three nights. Yeah, like that was going to happen. And then there are the shower goggles. Makes me feel like I am gettng ready for a swim meet. I keep waiting for the starter gun and my shower time is considerably shorter. I guess I should be glad the goggles are the only head gear they are forcing on me. (If I had a crash helmet and a piece of cork stuck to the end of my fork, we would be dealing with that whole “window licker” business again.)
Monday, July 10, 2006
Through the Looking Glass- Part One
I have been wearing glasses of some sort since I was in the 3rd grade. I found a single picture of my first pair of glasses. I thought they were terribly cool, of course. They were this weird iridescent color so they would be pink, and then blue and so on as I moved my head. They also had Pink Panther heads on the sides. Now this would have been fine, except for the fact that I had a lazy eye. So, in addition to these super cool glasses, I also was lucky enough to wear an eye patch. (Luckily it appears to be missing from the picture) This did not help me in the popularity department, as you might imagine. It might also explain in part why I was such a bully. I only wore the stupid thing for the school year. Aside from my father calling me “Ace”, that’s about all I can recall about that first pair.
Sally Jesse is a wannabe
I quit wearing my glasses after that year too. Not really sure why aside from the “uncool” factor. I don’t believe I had another pair until I hit high school. Ah, the 80’s. Now for this, I do have pictures. Lots of them. For some reason, and maybe it was just the fashion at the time, my glasses seemed to take up half of my face. Giant hoot-owl things. I hated having to wear them. Finally, my senior year of high school I was able to buy my first pair of contacts. I was overjoyed. My vanity was alive and well and headed to college.
The Pink Panther Returns?
I went through that phase where I wouldn’t leave my room unless I had my contacts in. Suddenly my less than perfect vision had become some sort of dirty little secret. Eventually, I switched from my daily wear contacts to disposables since they didn’t require as much maintenance. They were fantastic. Until I started to travel for work. Then even they became a nuisance. I know I have gone on and on about air travel already, but I learned pretty quickly that it is better to be comfortable than fashionable on the airplane. That meant glasses instead of contacts. Vanity bedamned. After awhile, it just became easier to travel without them altogether. Once I moved to the desert, I gave up completely. Between the dry air in the airplane and the dry air in the desert, I was tired of sticking my fingers into my already tired, dry eyes and scraping the contacts off of them. But, I was also not loving the fact that I was giving up all of my cool sunglasses for a creepy, nerdy clip-on pair for my glasses. I could not slide backward into that world. Yuck. So, on to the next option- surgery.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Hobbies- Building Life’s Resume
I looked up the definition of the word “hobby” not long ago. I was doing a bit of research for my Possession Obsession topic. Anyway, that topic didn’t really go in that direction, but I want to come back to it now. So the definition I found said “An activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.” Given that scope, I realize I don’t actually have many hobbies. I’m good until we get to the part about pleasure. I find that most of the things mentioned below that I tried to adopt as hobbies were not all that fun.
Don’t Call Me Shirley
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hate to exercise. Well, once upon a time, in an effort to get some much-needed circulation to my extremities, I decided to take up ballroom dancing. I went on a friend’s recommendation and ended up taking lessons from a very sweet man who had recently lost his wife. They used to teach together, and now Jerry was soldiering on alone.
There were a couple of things that were a bit on the creepy side of this hobby of mine. First of all, the lessons were conducted in Jerry’s basement. It had been remade into a dance studio of sorts with wall-to-wall mirrors. It wasn’t a scary place so much as it was just weird to trudge out to this man’s house in the suburbs and then down to his basement once a week. Next was Jerry himself. He was easily in his 70’s. Quite spry actually for a man his age and he was a beautiful dancer. However, between the polyester pants starting under his armpits and the comb over that started on one side of his head (with white roots) to the other side of his head (coal black- just like Dick Clark), there was definitely no “cool” factor at work here. The weirdest thing was dancing the Tango with him and “crawling” up his leg. I was afraid I was going to break his hip. So, between all that and the fact that I essentially had no one else to dance with (I hate the fact that I now have Whitney Houston singing in my head), we eventually parted company. An interesting note about Jerry is that his daughter is Julie Hagerty, the actress who played Elaine in Airplane. And that brings me thismuch closer to Kevin Bacon!
This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef
I am impulsive. I understand this. I get an idea and at the time it is the greatest idea in the history of ideas. I am completely consumed by it. The good news is that my “must act now” mentality is good for about 2 weeks and then I’m done. My bookshelves are filled with damning evidence to support this. Some titles that are glaring at me right now: Learning Spanish, Playing Guitar, Fung Shui, Speed Reading, Body Language, Handwriting Analysis, Palmistry, and then of course things like car repair and assorted decorating books. That doesn’t even begin to cover the self-help section. When learning something new, I am very likely to go buy a book on it first. I’m either really curious about things, or I am gearing up for my next career as a secret agent or really strange psychic/musician/decorator that can tune up your car.
Well, then there was juggling. One of my sisters taught herself to juggle while she was babysitting her hot tub booth at the State Fair one summer. In fact, it seems a lot of people I know can juggle (right, Mimi?). Well, not me. Why not me? Surely it can’t be that hard. So off I went to buy a book. I ended up with some kit that had a book and three beanbag balls. And I practiced and practiced and practiced. And then I broke my toe. I wish I could say it happened because I got so good that I decided to forego the beanbag balls and “kick it up a notch” and juggle bowling balls, or chain saws, or midgets. No. Instead, the only thing I managed to “kick” was one of the legs of my coffee table as I was chasing one of the damn midg..er, beanbag balls. Once it was clear that juggling would soon turn into a blood sport, I decided it was time to step away. So, I still have the kit and the memories. (And sometimes I think my toe can predict the weather.) Other than that, no juggling. What really chaps my ass? The illustrations they have in the book are all of kids juggling.
I should have stuck to Airplanes
Who knows what was going on when I decided to try origami? I remember not wanting to go the traditional route as a kid with a lemonade stand and instead recruited my sisters and brother to help me with my revolutionary paper airplane stand. Can’t understand why that didn’t take off (groan). Anyway, back to origami. I’ll bet I just caught sight of a kit while in a bookstore. That’s how it generally happens. Regardless, I decided to give it a shot. Aside from making a lot of swans that resembled pterodactyls, that so-called hobby had a pretty short life span. Not one to waste the pretty origami paper, I had quite the snowflake collection on my walls come Christmas. I don’t even think I kept the book for that one. Wow.
When Overachievers Underachieve- Am I Being Graded on This?
So I am not an expert at any of this stuff. It sure does make for some interesting stories, doesn’t it? One more shining example of how failure is good for you, I suppose. Other stuff I tried and then ditched: crocheting Afghans (thank God my family has stopped multiplying), creating a web site, (creating it is no problem. I still have it; I just never do anything with it.), gardening (yeah, for like a second), and writing children’s books (haven’t given up on that one yet). Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother me to not be perfect at these things (except juggling). I figure that as long as these things don't tarnish my role as "coolest Aunt ever" then who am I to complain?
My latest kit is on balloon animals. That should be fun, right? I swear if everything I make looks like an “earthworm” I am going to be very upset. The kit says it’s for ages 8 and up. The gauntlet has been thrown…
Don’t Call Me Shirley
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I hate to exercise. Well, once upon a time, in an effort to get some much-needed circulation to my extremities, I decided to take up ballroom dancing. I went on a friend’s recommendation and ended up taking lessons from a very sweet man who had recently lost his wife. They used to teach together, and now Jerry was soldiering on alone.
There were a couple of things that were a bit on the creepy side of this hobby of mine. First of all, the lessons were conducted in Jerry’s basement. It had been remade into a dance studio of sorts with wall-to-wall mirrors. It wasn’t a scary place so much as it was just weird to trudge out to this man’s house in the suburbs and then down to his basement once a week. Next was Jerry himself. He was easily in his 70’s. Quite spry actually for a man his age and he was a beautiful dancer. However, between the polyester pants starting under his armpits and the comb over that started on one side of his head (with white roots) to the other side of his head (coal black- just like Dick Clark), there was definitely no “cool” factor at work here. The weirdest thing was dancing the Tango with him and “crawling” up his leg. I was afraid I was going to break his hip. So, between all that and the fact that I essentially had no one else to dance with (I hate the fact that I now have Whitney Houston singing in my head), we eventually parted company. An interesting note about Jerry is that his daughter is Julie Hagerty, the actress who played Elaine in Airplane. And that brings me thismuch closer to Kevin Bacon!
This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef
I am impulsive. I understand this. I get an idea and at the time it is the greatest idea in the history of ideas. I am completely consumed by it. The good news is that my “must act now” mentality is good for about 2 weeks and then I’m done. My bookshelves are filled with damning evidence to support this. Some titles that are glaring at me right now: Learning Spanish, Playing Guitar, Fung Shui, Speed Reading, Body Language, Handwriting Analysis, Palmistry, and then of course things like car repair and assorted decorating books. That doesn’t even begin to cover the self-help section. When learning something new, I am very likely to go buy a book on it first. I’m either really curious about things, or I am gearing up for my next career as a secret agent or really strange psychic/musician/decorator that can tune up your car.
Well, then there was juggling. One of my sisters taught herself to juggle while she was babysitting her hot tub booth at the State Fair one summer. In fact, it seems a lot of people I know can juggle (right, Mimi?). Well, not me. Why not me? Surely it can’t be that hard. So off I went to buy a book. I ended up with some kit that had a book and three beanbag balls. And I practiced and practiced and practiced. And then I broke my toe. I wish I could say it happened because I got so good that I decided to forego the beanbag balls and “kick it up a notch” and juggle bowling balls, or chain saws, or midgets. No. Instead, the only thing I managed to “kick” was one of the legs of my coffee table as I was chasing one of the damn midg..er, beanbag balls. Once it was clear that juggling would soon turn into a blood sport, I decided it was time to step away. So, I still have the kit and the memories. (And sometimes I think my toe can predict the weather.) Other than that, no juggling. What really chaps my ass? The illustrations they have in the book are all of kids juggling.
I should have stuck to Airplanes
Who knows what was going on when I decided to try origami? I remember not wanting to go the traditional route as a kid with a lemonade stand and instead recruited my sisters and brother to help me with my revolutionary paper airplane stand. Can’t understand why that didn’t take off (groan). Anyway, back to origami. I’ll bet I just caught sight of a kit while in a bookstore. That’s how it generally happens. Regardless, I decided to give it a shot. Aside from making a lot of swans that resembled pterodactyls, that so-called hobby had a pretty short life span. Not one to waste the pretty origami paper, I had quite the snowflake collection on my walls come Christmas. I don’t even think I kept the book for that one. Wow.
When Overachievers Underachieve- Am I Being Graded on This?
So I am not an expert at any of this stuff. It sure does make for some interesting stories, doesn’t it? One more shining example of how failure is good for you, I suppose. Other stuff I tried and then ditched: crocheting Afghans (thank God my family has stopped multiplying), creating a web site, (creating it is no problem. I still have it; I just never do anything with it.), gardening (yeah, for like a second), and writing children’s books (haven’t given up on that one yet). Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother me to not be perfect at these things (except juggling). I figure that as long as these things don't tarnish my role as "coolest Aunt ever" then who am I to complain?
My latest kit is on balloon animals. That should be fun, right? I swear if everything I make looks like an “earthworm” I am going to be very upset. The kit says it’s for ages 8 and up. The gauntlet has been thrown…
Nature’s Fireworks- Soundtrack of a Thunderstorm
6:13 am. It seemed awfully early to be awake. I was trying to figure out what woke me up, when I heard it again. Thunder. Oh goody. As if I didn’t get enough rain through my last 2 weeks in Philly, I apparently brought the weather home with me. I decided to go ahead and get up because thunderstorms in the desert are really something to see.
Here Comes the Rain Again
So I threw on some clothes (cut offs and tie dye seemed reasonably clean from the pile in the chair. Better than the pile from the floor, anyway), went to go make some coffee and then sit out on my balcony and watch the show. It seemed pretty cool outside for once. The temperatures out here in July aren’t for the faint hearted- dry heat or not. 107 degrees is still like standing in a hair dryer. So I checked the temperature and sure enough it was about 82 degrees. Awesome. Once the coffee was done, I decided to go ahead and stick with the Holiday theme and used my Christmas tree mug (or as Marienne might refer to it- the Chrysler Building mug). Now fortified with my drug of choice (since I am now closing in on 3 weeks strong for not smoking- thank you Jesus), I sat outside and watched the rain come down across the valley.
The Sound of Silence
Aside from the sound of the rain hitting my carport, things seemed pretty quiet. Now that may not sound unusual for about 6:30 in the morning, but I assure you, there is generally some noise going on at all hours here. I realized what I wasn’t hearing were airplanes. I don’t live in a flight path, but I do still hear the planes taking off from McCarran since they tend to take off in my direction before turning south. After a few minutes, I realized they had changed the takeoff pattern. How lucky am I to be so intimately familiar with the flight patterns at my airport? So, I decided that the thunderstorm needed a soundtrack to make it a little more interesting. Generally, rain is rain no matter where you are. The differences between the rain here and in the Midwest is that it doesn’t take much to flood the streets here and it doesn’t rain constantly, all day, for days on end. Thank God.
The 1812 Overture or perhaps a nice Sousa March?
So I started going through the iPod and trying out some music that I thought might be appropriate accompaniment for a Thunderstorm. Just to make it more interesting, I also threw in the Holiday slant to it as well. Can you believe how exciting it is to be me? Here are some of my top picks. And by top I mean until I got bored.
- America- Horse with No Name- How cool is this? I get America and a desert all in the same song. There is even talk of a flood at some point.
- Billy Joel- Goodnight Saigon- The song is way too long and way too sad, but I thought it was suitable for the violence of the weather and the holiday.
- Bob Marley and the Wailers- Redemption Songs
- Creedence Clearwater Revival- Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
- Diana Krall- Garden in the Rain
- Ben Folds Five- Missing the War
- Beatles- Here Comes the Sun
- Barbra Streisand- On a Clear Day
- Enya- Exile
- Eva Cassidy- Early Morning Rain
- Green Day- Wake Me Up When September Ends
- Hollies- The Air that I Breathe
Yeah, so I got about as far as “H” in my iPod before it was too hot outside, my coffee was gone, and the storm had essentially moved on. Good start to an otherwise uneventful day. The other highlights included organizing my CD’s into albums and finally getting rid of those jewel cases. And then reorganizing my DVD’s in the space created by my CD’s. But wait, it got even better than that. Throw in some lemon sorbet and an Eddie Izzard DVD and you have a pretty complete picture of my 4th of July. I think I looked out my kitchen window at some point and saw some fireworks, but Eddie’s dialogue about the Death Star canteen was more entertaining. And the very funny observation that America always seems to win the “World” Series in baseball.
Hope you all had a nice holiday.
Monday, July 03, 2006
Possession Obsession - The Search for Stuff
Why do people collect things? In trying to better understand what possesses people to actively seek out various items, I found way too much information on the Internet. I had a feeling that would happen. I could spend a very long time researching this topic. I started down that road and then decided that I didn’t really need to look so deeply. After all, this isn’t a thesis I’m writing, is it? So, aside from adding some interesting links for you, I figure you can do more exploring yourself. Now that I have backed away from the more cerebral aspect of collecting, this might be a more enjoyable blog to write (and read).
Say “When”
I love people that collect things. It makes gift giving so much easier. You also learn by trial and error that collectors can be picky about the objects they collect. For example, my mother collects lions, but only ones that have closed mouths. (I could go on for a while about the symbolism of what that means, but that’s not for this topic either.) Anyway, it makes finding a suitable gift slightly more challenging. One of my sisters collects teapots. For the most part, she isn’t too picky about them (as long as it isn’t Mary Englebright). I have also tried to mix it up a bit with things like teapot Christmas ornaments. As long as you aren’t collecting things like Faberge eggs, I’ll probably do my best to find something suitable for your collection. And, you can pretty much count on me continuing down that path until you say otherwise.
Sex and the Samurai
As for me, you could say I collect a number of things. (And no, I don’t count shoes and purses as collectibles.) I would define collections as things that people generally put on display. So, that being said, I have a collection of masks and fans. My passion though, is cherries. In my research for this topic, I looked at various sources for everything from symbolism to dream interpretation. For the dream interpretation, I actually found a positive message for once. (Of course, I have never had a dream about cherries, which figures.) I tried finding some sort of psychological profile for either cherries specifically, or collectors in general, but didn’t find much that was useful.
Picking Cherries
As for my collection, it has expanded into a number of different areas. It was shoes and purses. It’s now dishes, towels, and other kitchen items, clothes, jewelry, and other accessories. Even my car hasn’t escaped. I love my cherry antenna topper for my car. It makes it so much easier to find the darn thing in a parking lot (Thanks, Mimi!). I even have a bowling bag with cherries on it (and an iPod cover!). The only thing I am really on the lookout for at this point is sheets. I have seen some, but apparently, I can be picky about my collection as well. I prefer the designs to be clean and simple. I find a lot of baby blue, which is just awful. It’s also not uncommon to find a gingham pattern with cherries. Very retro, which isn’t a bad thing. Again, baby blue = BAD.
How much is enough?
Is is possible to reach a saturation point with your collection? I find that I don’t go out of my way to look for fans anymore. Perhaps you just outgrow things over time. Unless you are a serious collector, you probably gave up the Barbies or the Star Wars figures a long time ago. In any case, I think collecting things is fun. I like the idea of being on the lookout for new things when I travel. It turns the world into one big scavenger hunt. My greatest cherry find? A whole town. I went to the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, MI one year. It was fantastic. The strangest thing I saw (besides seeing Loverboy perform) was a chery pit-spitting contest. I practiced for it, but never entered. (insert awful pun here about being pit-iful.) No matter. I was still lovin every minute of it….ok, I’ll stop now.
Say “When”
I love people that collect things. It makes gift giving so much easier. You also learn by trial and error that collectors can be picky about the objects they collect. For example, my mother collects lions, but only ones that have closed mouths. (I could go on for a while about the symbolism of what that means, but that’s not for this topic either.) Anyway, it makes finding a suitable gift slightly more challenging. One of my sisters collects teapots. For the most part, she isn’t too picky about them (as long as it isn’t Mary Englebright). I have also tried to mix it up a bit with things like teapot Christmas ornaments. As long as you aren’t collecting things like Faberge eggs, I’ll probably do my best to find something suitable for your collection. And, you can pretty much count on me continuing down that path until you say otherwise.
Sex and the Samurai
As for me, you could say I collect a number of things. (And no, I don’t count shoes and purses as collectibles.) I would define collections as things that people generally put on display. So, that being said, I have a collection of masks and fans. My passion though, is cherries. In my research for this topic, I looked at various sources for everything from symbolism to dream interpretation. For the dream interpretation, I actually found a positive message for once. (Of course, I have never had a dream about cherries, which figures.) I tried finding some sort of psychological profile for either cherries specifically, or collectors in general, but didn’t find much that was useful.
Picking Cherries
As for my collection, it has expanded into a number of different areas. It was shoes and purses. It’s now dishes, towels, and other kitchen items, clothes, jewelry, and other accessories. Even my car hasn’t escaped. I love my cherry antenna topper for my car. It makes it so much easier to find the darn thing in a parking lot (Thanks, Mimi!). I even have a bowling bag with cherries on it (and an iPod cover!). The only thing I am really on the lookout for at this point is sheets. I have seen some, but apparently, I can be picky about my collection as well. I prefer the designs to be clean and simple. I find a lot of baby blue, which is just awful. It’s also not uncommon to find a gingham pattern with cherries. Very retro, which isn’t a bad thing. Again, baby blue = BAD.
How much is enough?
Is is possible to reach a saturation point with your collection? I find that I don’t go out of my way to look for fans anymore. Perhaps you just outgrow things over time. Unless you are a serious collector, you probably gave up the Barbies or the Star Wars figures a long time ago. In any case, I think collecting things is fun. I like the idea of being on the lookout for new things when I travel. It turns the world into one big scavenger hunt. My greatest cherry find? A whole town. I went to the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, MI one year. It was fantastic. The strangest thing I saw (besides seeing Loverboy perform) was a chery pit-spitting contest. I practiced for it, but never entered. (insert awful pun here about being pit-iful.) No matter. I was still lovin every minute of it….ok, I’ll stop now.
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