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I guess I love New York

Statue of LibertyDespite what the ubiquitous t-shirts proclaim, I never expected to love New York. I moved here from Chicago, a city that I did love, whole-heartedly and unconditionally, and I just couldn’t imagine New York even holding a candle to Chicago. I considered myself fair in my assessment, noting that New York had some advantages over Chicago, the most important being the public transportation system that was both more comprehensive and without the constant threat of shutting down my bus route. In my personal calculus, though, Chicago always emerged on top.

For one, Chicago doesn’t have the sheer crush of people that New York does. Perhaps even more importantly, in Chicago, tourists are generally confined to the Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, and the museum campus. Chicagoans are fairly free to roam the remainder of the city without tripping over tourists. This is not so in New York. The tourists are everywhere, in every part of the city. When I first moved to New York, a double-decker tour bus rolled past my apartment no less than twenty times an hour.

For another, Chicago is more neat and orderly. An upside of the Great Chicago Fire that wiped out the city in 1871 was that it allowed for better city planning, and everything else has seemed to follow suit. Traffic moves in an orderly manner, people walk in an orderly manner, even the pigeons in Chicago seem to bob their heads in an orderly manner. Everything is more chaotic in New York: people zig-zag down the sidewalks, trash piles interrupt your path.

Regardless, New York has grown on me. It happened in a stealthy manner, sneaking up and winning me over before I even realized what was happening. It hit home just recently, shortly after I returned from a vacation abroad. I met some of my girlfriends for drinks near Times Square – a location dictated by the placement of their offices and the inclement weather. As I dodged the throngs of tourists and side-stepped the guys trying to sell me a comedy show, I found myself smiling. I had missed the bright lights and the city’s frenetic pace. I had missed riding the train over the bridge. I had missed the billboards and the scent of meat being cooked on the street. I had missed just walking through the crowds, sharing this little stretch of land with thousands of other people.

New York will never replace Chicago in my heart, but it’s managed to carve out a section all its own. I guess I love New York.

Read more from Katie on her blog, Perky to a Fault.

What I will miss when the world comes to an end

A few weeks ago I wrote about what I wouldn’t miss when the world comes to an end. That Glenn Beck’s Fox show got dropped leads me to believe that I have some power. And I won’t abuse it … Sean Hannity – you are getting very tired.

Someone suggested (thanks DB) I write about what I will miss when the world comes to an end. Good point. I have to say this list might be harder to fill since I am not always feeling the love. And I mean that about myself and the world.  OMG – I am a coach and I just admitted to being human. Hot damn. I just might be able to fill up this list.

1.) Not getting to spend time with my long list of interesting men. And by spending time, I don’t necessarily mean reading by the fireplace. Javier – call me. I hear the end is near.

2.) The possibility of …

3.) Watching kittens get their walking papers. And puppies who ice stake down the hall with wobbly legs.

4.) Putting words in a certain order that makes people laugh or think. Or think about laughing.

5.) Real passionate kisses from men who know how to kiss and don’t look at kissing as a way to wipe off a feature or two off your face. Call me old-fashioned.

6.) The chance to get back into that crocheted dress from the 1970s that I used to be able to wear without a bra. TMI?  Perhaps.

7.) Being able to talk to my darling friend David who left us in 1997. I just think about him and he is all around me – messing with my hair. Hmmmm … maybe we will see each other again? That would be just lovely. Remember David – Karma means never having to miss you ever again.

8.) Linguine and clam sauce.

9.) The ocean. One of the few places where people aren’t staring at me and wondering how I forgot to exercise over the last few years. It happened, people, it just happened.

10.) Yelling at the Tea Party members. Who needs therapy with this crowd around?

11.) The chance to own a closet full Christian Louboutin heels.

12.) Seeing the people of the world living in peace. We didn’t even get close.

13.) Friends who keep secrets. On second thought, they will have to go with me. I don’t think I can trust anyone that much.

14.) My VHS and DVD copy of ‘The Way We Were.” Robert Redford in bed.

15.) Good wine. Bad wine. Any kind of wine.

16.) Giving Donald Trump a Mohawk and telling him “You’re fired.”

17.) Manhattan. You can keep the Bronx and Staten Island, too.

18.) Hearing the late Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

19.) Concealer. Not that I ever needed it.

20.) Laughing so hard.

So what are you going to miss?

Visit Elizabeth’s site,  My Views from the Edge at: My Views from the Edge

What I won’t miss when the world comes to an end


I can’t help but think that this little planet earth might not be around for much longer. I don’t stay up at night shaking in my bed sheets, but I believe Mother Nature has grown bored with our inability to get along, to exercise regularly and to share the TV remote. You got to admit that the frisky Mamma has been working overtime lately.

The other day I was getting so overwhelmed by the news of the world that it got me thinking. What would I not miss if the world comes to an end? I have to say it was this first time in weeks that a smile graced my face.

Think about it. When we become tiny little particles floating around the Milky Way, there will be no more:

Taxes
Boxed wine
Glenn Back
Fat free food
Water retention
Knock knock jokes
Charlie Sheen (ahhh…I just want to stay here for a minute)
Scales that lie
Paper cuts
Computer hackers (there is a special place in hell for them).
Songs about women and trucks
Certain shades of pink
A generation who feels they are just entitled to it all (while not doing a damn thing)
Snakes
Vomit of any kind – not that there is good vomit, but my cats like to leave it so I can find it with my bare feet.
Car repairs that you have to sell an organ to finance
Men who say they will call, but never do. Hey Hackers – please make some room.
Public bathrooms
Dressing rooms lighting
Making lists

So I have done my job with making the end sound a little sweeter.

What’s on your list?

Just for a week

by brendahallowes on FlickrThe snow is melting. Spring is in the air. Yet here I am, on my computer. Working, networking, blogging, writing – doing what so many people are doing right at this very moment.

I love it. I love technology. I love blogging. I love being able to hop on the computer and find something I need to know in an instant. I love networking with people across the country. I love having a tiny little device in my pocket at all times to be able to reach my kids. I love being connected.

But this past weekend as I watched my son texting, my husband on his laptop, my daughter with her iPod, and myself on Twitter,  I wished the world were what it was just fifteen years ago … 1995. Back in 1995 I worked for an Internet company. Not many people had the ability to connect in their houses, but I did.  I had the internet for when I needed it. But that was all. When I needed it. I used it to connect to work and have to admit thought it was really awesome being able to view videos and see things that were unimaginable just years before. It was fun. But that was all it was.

It was supplemental. Now it is required. It was rare. Now it is everywhere. At work, at home, in our cars, on airplanes, in coffee shops, in our pockets. We can’t live without it. We are now a world that cannot go without a constant connection to the entire rest of the world.

I have no problem admitting I am someone who needs my internet access. I need that ability. I mean, what would I do if I couldn’t in an instant look up what temperature to cook a roast? There was a time when you may have to call a neighbor. What would I do during that heated discussion about what year the last tsunami really was – get out an encyclopedia - a what?

However, I also think it would be nice and basically somewhat relieving to go back to 1995 for just a week – especially with my kids the ages they are now. To have them go back to that day with absolutely no knowledge of today. To have them live in a world where Facebook or texting never was. Where they could live life without the digital world nearby. Where they could concentrate fully on what is going on around them, family, and the simple life … not the little electronic device in their pocket. Where there is no such thing as the Internet or smartphones. Where they could appreciate what real life is. Where I too could honestly focus completely on life, real life.

How about you?  Would you go back for a week?

Visit Gen X Mom’s blog here.

How Can I Get Old If I Refuse To Grow Up?

I have been saying for years that growing up, getting old and slipping into sensible shoes is someone else’s future. Not mine. No levelheaded hair styles for me, and while I am at it, lose the “can I help you ma’am?” attitude. If I needed help, I would call upon any one of my admirers once those silly restraining orders against me have been lifted.

So the other day, I am going about my fantasy life and this little ditty shows up in my email box. I asked if the sender wanted to be identified and she foolishly said, “I don’t care.” So, this is Esme, my oldest friend. We have known each other since we were three when I came flying out of my parent’s house to inform Esme and her mother to stay off my property. The police report noted that I spat at Esme, but I think that was a gross exaggeration. At that age, I was still drooling on myself.

“You know what else I hate? Getting ready for bed. Between the going to the bathroom, brushing my teeth, using the water pic, going to the bathroom, removing the makeup- without which I can’t leave the house anymore- cleansing my face, going to the bathroom, applying numerous anti aging moisturizers, layer by layer because I figure if one doesn’t work, there are 10 more on top to cover for it, going to the bathroom, taking all my various medications and constipation remedies, checking the door and going to the bathroom, it takes me an hour and I’m already tired when I started. There is nothing good that I can think of about getting old.


I forgot to mention, I have to wear glasses if I want to see anyone more than 15 feet away from me and even in the last row of the movies, where I have to sit. They’re very stylish- Do you know how freaking old I feel? This is besides the other glasses that I have to wear if I’m interested in reading anything- like the labels on the increasing medications that I take – do you know how freaking old I feel?


Just a thought…….”

My, she does go on, doesn’t she? I have to admit I laughed my butt off and then I had to go the bathroom. The power of suggestion is very strong.

I am not immune when it comes to reaching my next birthday. Several years ago, I had to start to take Synthroid because I have a thyroid that refused to get down and give me 50 sit ups. I asked for how long I would have to take this medication and the doctor said “forever.” I started to cry. So I am not Superwoman. I have to call my doctor out on this one. She told me I would start to lose those stubborn (fill in blank) pounds that were hanging around. Oh, really. Does it say big, fat liar on your diploma?

And I do find it a little insulting when I go to a new doctor and they ask how many meds I am on and say “two.” They look at me as if this poor dear is losing it. How about good genes?

For as long as I have known Esme, and when we are not in a wine induced haze, we are sarcastic, intelligent, humorous, catty and self deprecating. The latter is to keep those aging police from coming to round us up. We kill them all with our charm. Charm doesn’t age. Nor does it get brown spots. And in my world those damn spots are freckles. End of story. Oh, but before I really end it, the two of us can hold our own in a room filled with 30 and 40 year olds. Well, as long as they are men.

I can’t help Esme when it comes to wearing eyeglasses. I just look at them as accessories that keep me from falling down the stairs. Sort of like earrings with radar.

Same goes with constipation remedies. To know my family, is to know that we do not have bodily functions. It was never discussed amongst my people. I see the ads for the whole assortment of things our bodies do or don’t do and wonder who are these people who take such things and why do they not live in my village?

So in closing, I want to say to all…what was I talking about?

Not!

Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.
- – - – Coco Chanel

The photo above was taken before everyone started to use Botox. I do miss the waxed lips days. (we do not dress alike -I was living in NY and Esme was living in Italy so there were enough miles between us.)

Don’t try this at home: Five tips to save your sanity while working at home

When the time comes and you decide to work at home, please follow these fool-proof tips. I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but this fool didn’t and now I wish I had a Fairy God Mama who would have pointed me in the right direction. There is nothing worse than having your clothes hire a SWAT negotiator to get them out of your closet and into a safe house.

Number One with a bullet: For the love of God and everything we hold dear in this world, do not, I repeat, do not buy sweat pants for comfort while working. You can be just as brilliant in your own damn trousers! I fell under the spell of “well, they are kind of cool black sweats and I did not buy them at Wal-Mart and I could even go walking with them on” line of crap. I don’t care if Giorgio Armani designed sweats for his couture line. Do not wear them at home while working. They do have their place – putting laundry in, cleaning out a litter box or 5 but if you sit in front of your computer for 12 to 18 hours a day, you will develop a HUGE butt and don’t get me started on locating the land where small waistlines go. You need to feel the cold, hard metal of a zipper against your flesh each day of your life.

Number Two: Get outside everyday. Regardless of the weather, open the front door, crack open a window and escape. Don’t put it off until later in the day because you know damn well you won’t do it. Don’t wait till the cops show up because the neighbors thought they smelled something funky coming from your house. You don’t need to read your obituary in the paper. They always put a picture of you with in your eyes closed. Take the cat for a walk.

Number Three: Cleanliness is next to impossible if you don’t bathe. I could write a book, but I am in the shower. Finally.

Number Four: If the green mold on the bread starts to bubble, call the Hazardous Materials hotline number. These guys could use a good laugh and who knows maybe you’ll get invited out to lunch. I would just suggest that someone else taste the food.

Number Five:
Oprah’s Final Season. And try as you may, you can’t just unplug your computer and move it to the bedroom to watch Ms. O’s 25th Season. Why don’t I have a lap top? Silly, I work at home now and my 401K just had last rites…again.

So now I will keep on working in heels with a fully made up face and 2 pairs of Spanx. As God as my witness.

The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards and Me: Separated at Birth.

I want to come back as The Stones’ Keith Richards in this lifetime. Just in case I am scheduled to back as a frog in my next life.

I mentioned this to The Husband and he threw up a little in his mouth. He is used to me making proclamations that others would not dare to dream, much less utter, but perhaps he needs to hear me out. So sit back and be ready to be dazzled by the likes of Keith Richards – guitarist to the second best rock and roll band that ever existed. I got to give The Beatles their props. I think Keith will understand that.

I have not read Richards’s memoir “Life” (it is sitting in a pile by my bed) but I have seem him being interviewed recently and I want him and his family to come to my house for Easter. Okay, my sister’s house. I don’t cook. I get to make a salad. I am told my salads are legendary. Because I can open a can of black olives? Aim higher, people.

Okay, back to Keith. Each interview I have seen on him leaves me wanting more. My first “ahha” moment with Keith was when he talked about being drug free for 30 years and yet no one will let him move on. Ah, Keith, allow me to introduce you to my family. I did things when I was 16 that they still talk about. I am not going to tell them about the Nobel Peace Prize I won this year. It doesn’t compare to what I did at as a teen. So I get that, Keith, I really do. Ironically, I wrote OD first. Which you are not doing anymore.

So I plan on having a party for all of us poor souls that people determined would die young. Pssst….We are still here.

When asked what his big regret in life was – it wasn’t dancing with heroin or any other self destructive behavior he exhibited. It was not being there when his two month old son, Tara, died. You saw the sadness in his eyes and felt his deep regret. That made me want to put my arms around him. He was a father still mourning a 34 year old loss.

So now at the age of 66, he tends to his garden in CT., grows lemon trees, and comes clean about Mick Jagger being a royal pain in the arse. Based on his findings I withdraw my petition to sleep with Mick. I like it when men remember my name. Yeah, like Mick would forget me.

And finally, what I really like about Keith Richards is this:

He gets to walk around in all his glory. The last time I saw wrinkles like his they were on an elephant.

I think his face is a message to all of us women – show your history – line by line.

Of course, he is not a woman. See you all at the plastic surgeon’s office. I am going for the Keith look.

The six worst passengers

The holiday travel season is about to swing into full-force.  I know it’s trendy to worry about the TSA and their body scanners, but I’m devoting my travel worry quota to worrying about who’s going to be sitting next to me.  Ideally, he or she will keep his or her elbows out of my (limited) personal space, will not be restless, and will spend the flight reading quietly – or, even better, won’t show up, leaving me next to an empty seat.  I know the chances of me getting my ideal seatmate are slim, so I’m just hoping that I don’t end up seated next to one of the following characters:

The screaming child. Nobody wants to sit next to a screaming child.  Even the parents of the child in question want to be somewhere else.

The permissive parent. Although the permissive parent is sometimes found in tandem with the screaming child, it isn’t always.  The permissive parent is much worse than the screaming child: the screaming child is often too young to understand that they are behaving poorly; the permissive parent cannot use that excuse.  I was once on a flight with a child sitting directly behind me who kept yapping like a dog while his mother giggled and encouraged him.  I turned around and politely asked the mother if she could ask her son to dial it down a notch.  She shot me a dirty look, and, when her son (who was clearly too old to be behaving that way) asked what I had said, she told him, “Nothing, honey.  That lady was just being a b*tch.”  That’s the permissive parent at its worst.

The guy eating tuna salad. This should go without saying, but tuna salad has no place on an airplane.  Airplanes are nothing more than enclosed metal tubes with recycled air.  Your fellow travelers would greatly appreciate it if that air didn’t smell like tuna (or garlic, or special sauce, or anything with an overpowering scent) for the duration of the flight.

The non-bather. There are reasons someone might get on a plane smelling less than fresh: it’s the end of a long day of traveling, he or she didn’t want to wake up extra early to shower for an early flight, or there was a sprint during a too-tight connection down a too-long terminal.  Just because there’s an excuse, however, doesn’t mean that it’s pleasant for the person in the next seat.

The chatterbox. I am not interested in having a conversation with the person next to me.  The person in the next seat might be the most interesting person in the world, but they also might be a religious zealot wanting to spend the next three hours trying to convert me.  (Unfortunately, that actually happened to me.)  In addition to wanting to avoid that potential landmine, I find it incredibly awkward to have a conversation with a stranger when you are sitting as close to them as you are on an airplane.

The drunk. It’s happened to the best of us.  There’s a long layover or a delayed flight, and the best place to spend it seems like the airport bar.  Holiday travel brings overbooked airspace and inclement weather, making delayed flights more frequent and airport bars more packed.  Keep an eye on yourself: no one wants to sit beside someone with whiskey emanating from the pores, particularly if you’re the sort who turns into a chatterbox (see above) with libations.

Best of luck in all holiday travels, and please, I’m begging you, try to avoid being one of these passengers.

Sister Wives and Brother Husbands?

I was so tired today that I actually put aside the things that I should have been doing, just to try to rest for a moment. I turned on the television. Something I rarely get a chance to do and almost never do in the middle of the afternoon. It happened to already by tuned into ABC and the Oprah show was on. She was interviewing a polygamist family, who apparently appears on a Discovery Channel show called “Sister Wives.” It was the first I’d ever heard of it, though I don’t think this is the first season. The show features a Kody Brown and his three, soon to be four, wives. I have to say I don’t know why anyone would find this interesting enough to watch, but that is a personal matter of choice. After all, I spend some part of my afternoon watching the interview about the show. And I began to get my knickers in a twist.

Of course, I took the more common route in my thinking. I looked at the arrangement of these poor women. They were obviously lost and misguided. He had his cake and he was eating it too. How would he like it if one of his wives had decided to bring in several men? Then I stopped to think this through. How would it benefit me to have four husbands, instead of the one that I currently have?

I do not wish to be offensive to anyone. I am sure that many of us have wonderful husbands, but most of the women to whom I speak, well, nice or not, their husbands are not a great deal of help inside the house. They work outside of the house, which is great, but once home they require a bit of guidance to complete tasks on their “honey-do” lists. That is, if they are handy. If you are encumbered by one that is not handy, well, they are good for….Well, okay look. I am now really struggling with reverse polygamy. I can actually see the benefit that a household with multiple women might bring with it, aside from any freaky stuff that might come to mind. What I am referring to are the practical daily things that need to be done in a household. I am not saying that I condone polygamy. What I am really struggling with is this: How ever could the reverse style of it benefit a woman? It is truly mind-boggling. More women, less work. More men, more work. What does it say about men and their roles in society? Marriage?

Race/Culture/Ethnicity: A PSA

The time has come for me to start speaking out about cultural/racial/ethnic awareness on behalf of my two children. It is not an easy topic and it is one that is often met with much resistance. No one likes to talk about it. People feel like they are pointing fingers. Others feel blamed. No one feels good about it. It is the legacy of racism in American history that makes this nearly an impossible subject to rationally discuss. And yet I must try. I must do it for my boys.

A recent Facebook status update:

I’m having a t-shirt printed with the following “Dear Strangers: While I appreciate efforts to be friendly, I must implore that you not make any further attempts to pet my children or stroke their hair. I’ll have to slap your hand to make an example out of you. You’ve been forewarned. **People in Whole Foods: While you might have good culinary taste, you might be creepiest and touchiest of all.** Regards, Their Mom

Sunday at 6:44pm · Like · Comment · Hide Feedback (29)

I hesitated to post this and yet felt compelled. My friends, a diverse group of intelligent people, would certainly offer up interesting feedback. We’d just been to Whole Foods, where a woman, well-meaning I am sure, attempted to touch my youngest child’s hair and then drew me into a conversation about their hair and how it came to be the way that it is. Notice I say “attempted.” We’ve learned to bob and weave extremely well. The direct questioning can be challenging. How compassionate should I be? How disappointed and terse?

My children, two amazing little boys, ages 7 and 2, are of mixed race/ethnicity. When my youngest was born, I was at first hurt by the questions people would have the audacity to ask, from “Are you his mother or his nanny?” to “How did you and your husband meet?” It is 2010. These things happen. There are hundreds and thousands of people of mixed race and ethnicity in the United States. My children are nothing new and should not really be a curiosity to anyone, or at least this is how I feel. I feel it is no great leap to figure out how they came to be or how it is that they have such a different texture of hair than I do or a very different skin color than I do.

I know that some will argue that my understanding of what is happening is skewed. People are being nice and that people only want to touch their hair because it is silky and curly. Perhaps that is true for some. But the touching along with the combination of socially awkward and culturally unaware questions are evidence that there is something more happening under the surface, when it comes to trying to pet my children. So, we will start here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are those children yours?

A. We don’t know you. You are creepy.

Q. How do you get his hair that way?

A. To grow out of the follicles? I’m sorry, I’m confused. We don’t know you. You are creepy.

Q. Are your children mixed?

A. Whoa. Are you with the US Census Bureau? The FBI? An patient from a nearby mental health facility? I don’t know you. You are creepy.

Q. How did you meet your husband?

A. Do you ask all of the other mothers outside of the school these probing questions? I don’t know you. You are creepy.

Okay, I know. I know. This is a racial/ethnic/cultural issue and I should handle it more gently. But all of these well-meaning, friendly, polite, social people are not making this easy.

Photo is the property of the author.

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