Apolo Anton Ohno - GOLD!

YEA!!!!!!!!!!

Dark Ages

I was shopping in the shoe department today and walked by a mother with her daughter. The daughter was telling the mother to stop and look at the shoes she was looking at, and saying how much she liked them. The mother's reply was, Well those are boys shoes! The girl said, Well I like them anyway! The mother said, That's too bad, those are boys shoes!

I was very upset, and took a peak at what these 2 looked like. An average looking mother and a girl with giant bows in her hair. I walked on, but some day, when I am older and gray haired, I will stop to tell people like this not to put limits on people. Isn't this what we as women have been fighting since Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony took up the battle for sufferage! Where would we be if women didn't refuse to limit themselves to what was considered their role. There would be no women doctors, lawyers, presidents, oh yeah, there isn't one of these yet.

Refusing to even consider the boys shoes is comparable to limiting this girl. I can remember when women shocked the conventional world by wearing slacks, even to church! Well, the world got over it. Doors and opportunites opened up for women, but these were won not given. We can not forget there is still a battle going on. This should be obvious when women earn only a percentage of what men earn for the same jobs. So I say, sisters, DO NOT RELAX and sit back and rest, the fight must continue or we will lose any gains we have made. You don't hear much these days of the struggle, I hope that will change and young women will regain a concern and awareness, I see far too much acceptance of letting themselves be taken care of, instead of carving their own place in the world. Maybe it starts with shoes!

Birch Trees

Sometimes we pass by things every day without really seeing them. Today, while I was driving down the streets of my neighborhood, in the search for something not brown to look at, the only bright spots were the white trunks of birch trees. Taking the time to notice, I concluded that my neighborhood reflects the time period the homes were built. About 1 in 3 homes have a decorative birch tree planted in the front yard. This clearly must have been the landscaping style of the time, we, by the way also have one. The funny thing is, I never really noticed it before, and we have lived here 24 years! So much for being unique! I really like birch trees, but I think they look best when you find them in a clump of many of them.
I guess I will have to start seeing things with a more critical eye. Still birch trees are special, no matter how many people have them in their front yard!

Senior Special?

I finally found time to see Brokeback Mountain. As you know, I like going to weekday matinees, so I got to the theater for the 3pm show. This theater has Senior Specials for matinees Tues-Fri with a discount for the show and specials on popcorn and soda. There were an unusual number of seniors in line to purchase tickets, so I got in the queue. The girl selling the tickets handed me my ticket without really looking up at me and said $3.00. So, I handed her my $3.00 and took my ticket. Now for this theater I am 4 years away from being a senior, still I saved a few dollars, so I guess I'm OK with it. I didn't try to get the discounted popcorn and drink, I didn't want to push my luck, the gentleman behind this counter looked a little more discerning. It didn't really matter anyway, I pretty much always order the kiddy tray!

Wardrobe Malfunction

No, not that kind.

I have fallen into a bad habit of waiting until morning to prepare my wardrobe selection for the day. Before, I would hang in my closet a few choices of slacks, sweaters, tops that had been ironed as needed and placed together into a coordinated "outfit" to choose from as the weather or my mood indicated.

Lately, due mostly to "gaming" I put off this task until morning, set my alarm 5 min. earlier and grab random selections and prepare them as needed in that 5 min. time allowance. Because it is still dark in the morning, I have discovered I made a faux pas one day. The slacks I thought I had selected were brown which I paired with a coral sweater and brown shoes which would be quite acceptable. However, when I removed my coat at work, I discovered the slacks were not the brown ones, but were a dark maroon instead. Truthfully, they looked brown when I ironed them. Well, it was too late to do anything about it at this point, and I can wear a white lab coat most of the day if I wish to, so I thought lets see if I can tell if anyone notices. I made it through to the last hour of the day thinking if anyone had noticed they didn't think too much of it as I didn't get any prolonged stares from anyone and no comments.

I decided to come clean and asked a friend what she thought of my outfit, and to her credit she hesitated and said, well...... I stopped her discomfort and told her the error in color I had made and she laughed and said, I wondered what you were thinking, you usually look so nice.We laughed and I left feeling lucky I had escaped with so little embarrassment. I vowed to be more careful in the future.

Now, today again I was making my selection at the last minute and thought I would pair khaki slacks with a navy top, perfectly safe. With this I put on navy shoes and went out the door, up the road in my car. I got to the corner 2 blocks away and stopped to look at the shoes. You see, when I find clothing I like, I often buy more than one, but in another color, so I have 2 tops, and 2 pairs of shoes the same, but different colors, in this case navy and black. So, you guessed it, I had on the black top and the navy shoes. I'll bet you were thinking I had on one of each color shoe, didn't you! Well, that did happen once too, but I realized it before I left the house.

So I turned around, changed shoes and avoided disaster for the day. Will this stop my last minute dressing? Not for a while, my new game is too much fun, but I better get better lighting, and do a check before I head out. Of course, I could get a new wardrobe for Spring... all neutral!

Ok, now I feel like a Freak!

So, I'm driving home from work today, after stopping at Starbucks, feeling very happy with my Gingerbread Latte, and with the fact that I found a parking spot right in front of the door, when I notice a giant billboard that has a picture of a child with a large line over his head that says, 4'9" That's the Rule. I look again and think it's for a theme park ride or something and I see that is the required height for children to ride in a car without a booster seat.

Well now, at 5'1", I am only 4" away from being required to have a booster seat in my car! Do you think that applies to drivers? Can you imagine drivers in booster seats?

I think perhaps they better start designing cars built for people of smaller stature. What do real "Little People" do? I wonder what age I was when I passed the height requirement, and reached 4'10"? Could I have been 14 and still in a booster seat? What happens if you're 16 and go to take your drivers' road test and haven't quite passed the height requirement? It's too horrible to imagine! I think I'll go sip my latte now and relax. I hope it doesn't stunt my growth!

Life Imitates Art?

I often find myself pondering a situation trying to reason things out. More often than not, my mind won't rest until I reach some conclusion that lets me make sense of it. Then I can set it aside for a time and see what develops next. Either things will resolve on their own, or new information may change the situation, sometimes requiring a re-evaluation. This is the weird way my mind works. I think about things a lot.

The funny thing is that much of the time, the way I am able to reach some conclusion about a situation, is by recalling a similar situation I've seen in a movie. You know I really love good movies, and there are some I especially relate to. Maybe it has something to do with how the characters deal with their concerns that makes me so fond of them, that makes me recall them so often, that makes me apply their actions to my own.

Just today I was sorting out something, I've been thinking about it for 3 days, and couldn't let go of it. Then it came to me! George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life! Well OK then, I don't necessarily agree with the situation, but that does explain it enough for me to understand. It isn't exactly resolved, but I can live with it for now, and see what develops.

I've decided I'd like to devote some of my blogging to movies I love and what it is about them that explains why I love them. It many cases there are lots of contributing factors, but in some it is a quite simple element. I'll try to start soon, but it would probably be best to watch them and then write the review, so it could be a while. It will depend on my mood, which determines what I watch, but I'll get there eventually. Stay Posted!