Bordering on brilliance…
There you have it!Archive for August, 2006
Words to live by…
Mandy sent this to me today…
“I hate a Roman named Status Quo. Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in 10 seconds. See the world. Ask for no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day, every day, sleeping it’s life away. To hell with that. Shake the tree and knock that giant sloth down”
Do you believe what you think you see?
Carey sent me a link to this website that shows the covergirl before and after “touch ups”. Although this whole discussion of body image, whether realistic or not, has been debated for what now seems like an eternity, it never seems to get resolved.
Keven and I were watching the original of the Pink Panther last night and I pointed out to him that back in the 60’s, the women were “full figured”. That term now refers to women who are plus-sized (aka significantly overweight) but back then it was desirable for women to have curves. What was considered acceptable weight then would now be considered overweight. The sizes many actresses were back then, including Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, and Claudia Cardinale, to name just a few, we’d now consider “fat” or bordering on plus sized. And yet these women were sexy as hell…I say this in an observation, not in a lesbonic sort of way…
I find it disturbing that our culture now considers near anorexia to be attractive and something to aspire to in spite of the fact that the pictures in print ie: magazines, billboards, etc., are all touched up anyway.
As a kid and throughout my teens, I was always tall and skinny, ate anything and everything without repercussion. Since then I’ve been many different sizes, lost 76lbs about 5 years ago and was down to a size 2. Others were commenting on how good I looked or that I’d lost too much weight, but when I looked in the mirror, I still saw myself as flawed and fat. My trainer/nutritionist, Lee, called it “visual dyslexia”, and apparently it’s quite common.
I talk to many different people, but this morning I was chatting with another gym rat and she was talking about her weight, how she’d gained 5 pounds and felt so fat, but I thought she looked great.
Why is it we see ourselves differently than how others see us? And why is it when someone gives us a compliment, we have such a hard time believing it? I think it’s funny too when we look back in time, and possibly old pictures, we realize in hindsight how good we looked and were in such great shape then, and yet didn’t see it at the time. Like looking back at pictures and thinking how young or happy we looked…
We, and I’m taking you down with me…you know who YOU are, and I’m not naming any names…Keven, Kim, Carey, Mandy, Bob, Sonya, Bryan, my list includes just about everyone I know…are always talking about what we don’t like and want to change about ourselves, that we want to either lose weight, tone up, get rid of this “X” right here, whatever. But I wonder if we fast forwarded into the future, would we look back on ourselves now and think we’re doing pretty damn good, and maybe worrying over nothing?
Ok people, don’t be shy, bring it on!
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The following was the email from Carey.
Note from Carey: For all of the grrrlz who compare themselves to magazine pictures or know grrrlz that do, here is a GREAT website to show how a photo is retouched to look like something it’s not. Granted it’s of a 14 year old girl, but it’s pretty amazing how much they change even HER.
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels & Stuff
Ok well I thought Keven was going to be on the ball and write this baby up. I thought wrong…
We booked tickets for the Broadway Across America tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels weeks ago, but it seemed longer than that!
Saturday finally rolled around, Keven & I arrived at this restaurant his mom wanted to try, which incidentally, online had gotten rave reviews on the atmosphere, food, service, the whole nine yards. The review also specified that reservations were not necessary. Boy were they wrong! We got there at a little after 5 and the hostess informed us they were booked until after 9 (and it might’ve been closer to 9:30), but we were welcome to eat in the bar, which was about the size of a large closet and had one oddly placed tight booth/*table*. The table was barely wide enough for one regular sized plate and long enough for maybe 2 or 3. Kind of. Needless to say it was a tight squeeze and it was interesting trying to fit drinks in too. It was a cute place and could be considered romantic if it wasn’t so damn hot in there (Yeah, air conditioning au naturel aka open front door and maybe a window), and it didn’t take so long to get drinks and even food. I’m not sure which waiter was ours but one of them did the ultimate fakeout by arriving at our table with plates of food in hand, removed the dirty appetizer/salad plates, then turned around and delivered the plates of food to another table. Other servers came by at various points, removed dishes and delivered checks through the plants that surrounded our *booth* rather than the typical manner, which really seemed odd to me. The food was tasty, if overpriced.
The real entertainment though was watching the interaction between Keven and his mom, whom I really like. Initially, the two of them were talking to each other simultaneously about two totally different things, yet I think they both heard each other. I don’t have to worry about holding up my end of the conversation with those two, I’m lucky if I get a word in edgewise! Ü At one point Keven had his Niacin flush, which if you haven’t been to lunch with us when he’s had one, is a bit distracting. He turns bright red, and in the heat of the restaurant, looked like he was about to have a heart attack or punch somebody out.
I think it was about an hour & a half later that we all piled in the car to head toward the Paramount, only nobody could remember exactly where it was, none of us brought the address, and of course it wasn’t on the tickets. Amazingly, we found it in pretty much a straight shot, found good & affordable parking close by, and went powershopping at Nordy’s before heading over.
Wow! I haven’t been to the Paramount Theatre in years and forgot how impressive that place really is.
I’m sure Keven will blog an extensive summary of the basic storyline and the history behind this performance in particular.
In a nutshell, this rendition is a Broadway musical comedy which opened in Seattle. We had great seats and the sets were very well done. It’s references and jokes were much racier than the movie with Steve Martin and Michael Caine. The primary actor, Norbert Butz (it’s definitely a family name), was as almost as good as Steve Martin (love Steve). In spite of the creative additions, there were few strays from the movie, which I liked.
Overall it was very well done and highly enjoyable. I’d recommend seeing it if you get the chance!
Enlightenment, Erik Style…
I just watched a movie on the plane that had this quote in it. Of course it was Hollywood, so the cut the quote off at the question mark before God is mentioned:
Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine,
we consciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.
Ponder this…
The great woman (or man) is not the one who makes others feel small, but is the one who builds others up and makes them feel great.
I look forward to your comments. Carey, do your usual mutilation.
Bobbo’s Daily Quote
People say you can’t but you know you can; let the fear inside you turn into great motivation.
My reaction: I think often times it’s not what other people say, but one’s own inner demons hard at work. And it’s not always fear of success or failure, but of the unknown or unexpected.
Happy Birthday, Carey!
It truly is amazing that I actually have friends as old as you! Ü <<just be glad I’m not singing!>>
For you, dear Leo, my birthday wish for you is that this year brings you only good things. May your romance bloom as you wish it to, continue to see improvements on the family front, and be surrounded by many true friends. May you the find inner peace, confidence and courage to carry out all of your dreams and ambitions through the upcoming year.
You deserve only the best, my dear old friend. May this year shower you with many, many blessings and tons of birthday presents!! And an awesome party too! Ü
Miami Vice
I’m going to target this to the ladies, as well as the guys who ‘think’ like us ladies.
Let’s face it, there really is no story here. Honestly ladies, you’re going for 2+ hours of face time with the guys, Jamie Foxx’s shower scene and his ‘fake out’ (Mandy, you’d love this part!).
It’s your typical action movie that includes high speed cigarette boats, a couple bedroom scenes, a few annoyingly long shootouts, while they’re fighting out a whole drug ring thing. Original storyline, huh?
What I did like was that the women weren’t dumbed down and made to look wimpy. They were all strong women. In one particular hostage scene, the female shooter told the bad guy what she was going to do to him and then did it. I thought for sure, they’d make her hesitate or they’d let one of the men do it for her, but she did it!
So I’d recommend it from the feminist standpoint, the eye-candy factor, and the popcorn. What can I say…a woman’s gotta have priorities.
