Will and Kate

They are charming, intelligent, poised, seemingly down-to earth and beautiful. They are the prince and princess of our childhood fairytales come to life. There is no Evil Queen; no Evil Stepmother just a voracious, insatiable press digging into them and photographing their every move. They are Will and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

(I’ve written previously about my feelings toward this couple and all British Royalty. So I will sidestep all the benefits and costs associated with their positions and attendant to their roles in British society.)

Last summer, when photos were released of Kate sunbathing topless, the press, along with social media, went nuts. That’s not lazy word choice on my part, they were freakin’ insane. At the time, all I posted was: “The important point about Will and Kate sunbathing topless is that they were using SunScreen! #SkinCancerAwareness ;o)” Privately, I thought it was a little naive of them to be so visible to the public, but really, who cares? Soon after, I was sitting in a dentist’s office waiting for Chuck, thumbing through a People Magazine. The magazine had published a photo of where the photographer was standing when they snapped the pictures. (Here is a comparable image.) My jaw dropped. The point on the road was about a half a mile away from where Will and Kate were on the private balcony. One half mile! That’s the length of nearly nine football fields placed end to end - or nearly two Empire State Buildings or two and a half Eiffel Towers! For most anyone else in the world that would have been plenty private and plenty reasonable.

Now it has been announced that Kate is pregnant with their first child. Unfortunately she has been hospitalized with a medical complication known as hyperemesis gravidarum. This isn’t “just morning sickness” nor is it “just acute” or “intense morning sickness”. This is unrelenting vomiting. Since we’re talking about a member of the Royal Family, I have to assume that if Kate’s symptoms had fallen along the typical mild to dreadful morning (or all day) sickness continuum she would be at home. It’s also clear from the timing of the announcement (Kate is still early in her first trimester) that the situation was serious enough that The Palace broke the news early. But the press - and most particularly social media - is having a field day with the story. And it’s been more than snarky, it’s been decidedly ugly.

What have I learned? Well, the other day I decided I don’t have a thick enough hide to run for political office. Today I confirmed that it is a very good thing that I didn’t follow those two of six degrees of separation to meet and marry Prince Albert of Monaco, because I could not live in the roiling waters of that sort of fishbowl.

So here’s to Will and Kate and their child. May they all soon be well and strong and happy.

Six More Degrees

On Thursday, we went to our dentist for our twice a year visit with our dental hygienist. Let me start by saying that ever since I was a kid I’ve had a fear of dentists and all the attendant drills and discomfort. My first dentist was not destined to win any awards or honors in dentistry and it was no fun for my first 14 years. Then I began going to a great dentist. Unfortunately, it fell to him to repair what had not been done properly by the first quack guy. So even with a great doc it was still tough going.

Chuck has been going to the same dentist office for over thirty years. Not long after we were married I switched to his. We always had our teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist named P. She was very understanding and sympathetic. The dentist, Dr. W., was also a good guy and very skilled. But when he first tried to work on my teeth to repair a tooth which had previously had a root canal and was now snapped in two, he found the tears streaming down my cheeks and my constant trembling somewhat disconcerting! He immediately wrote me a prescription for Valium/Diazepam, which I took faithfully in advance of all future dental appointments. But as the years went by, I was able to stop medicating in advance and became pretty comfortable on my twice a year visits to see P. for a cleaning.

Then P. retired. I’ll admit I was scared. But I managed to show up for my first appointment with the new dental hygienist N. sans medication. (Yes I am patting myself on the back.) Turns out both Chuck and I had been very happy with P., but N. was a revelation. She was terrific - pain free, friendly, outgoing, gentle and extremely knowledgeable. And she was perfectly happy to continue the practice begun with P. where Chuck would stay in the room with me while I was in the chair. In fact, N. invited me to stay in the room while Chuck was in the chair. It works out great because while the patient has dental tools in their mouth the “guest” can continue the conversation with N.!

So on Thursday, at some point during the nearly two hours of dental attention and conversation, we got to chatting about Law & Order. All three of us are fans and we all agreed we liked the late Jerry Orbach in his character as Lennie Briscoe best of all. That was when N. told us her husband had once cooked for Jerry Orbach. Now, just to prove I must still have some residual dental anxiety, it wasn’t until much later, when Chuck and I were in the car, that the penny dropped and I realized that thanks to N., I’m just three degrees of separation away from Jerry Orbach!

Please Excuse My Yawning

All’s well, except for my falling asleep on my feet.

Thank you for the good wishes about Cassie. She and I both appreciate it, although she does seem to be preening a wee bit more today! What have I wrought?

Please check out Sue’s amazing, multiple Six Degrees of Separation in the comments section of Tuesday’s “This & That” post below. I’m pretty sure she has single handedly tied the whole world up with a bow!

And for a chuckle, please read Papamoka’s own unique twist on Six Degrees in the comments section of Sunday’s original post.

Remember, as I stated in Sunday’s post: “a mutual blog association counts as one degree, even if we’ve never met in person”. So, via Barbie2Be we’re connected to Bing Crosby and George Clooney; and via my niece Kate we’re connected to Bono!

As is always true, Pink Granite Readers Rock!!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with my own brand new - as of just today - Six Degrees connection.

Night all...

This & That

Today was a much better day. There were no mysterious glue spills, no gremlins, no earthquakes, no full moon and no more disappointing hoaxes!

I worked on my third graphic arts project for a local non-profit. I’m strictly a volunteer and it has been satisfying because it’s nice to contribute to an organization doing good work. But the bonus has been how pleased they have been with my finished projects. Remarkably it has approached the happy dance level. Which in turn has left me doing an enthusiastic happy dance as well.

Two quick updates:
1. My Mom went to a Trader Joe’s all by herself for the first time today. She was a little overwhelmed but I think she’ll go back. Perhaps it would have been easier if she had that nice theme music by Antonio Carlos Jobim playing in her head!

2. The top vote getter in the Favorite Law & Order Partners survey was Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) & Mike Logan (Chris Noth) with 40% of the votes. My favorite was Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) & Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), but I’ll happily watch any of the combinations. Thanks for voting!

One Question:
1. Doesn’t anybody else want to play Six Degrees of Separation? I thought for sure we would knit the whole world together in the comments section!

Six Degrees

You’re probably familiar with the concept of six degrees of separation. It’s a way of thinking about connections and relationships. I’m one degree of separation away from anyone I know and two degrees away from anyone those folks know and so on. The larger idea is that within six degrees, anyone can be connected to any other person on earth. It’s a fun idea which has a certain amount of scientific research behind it, as well as a modicum of controversy.

I thought it would be fun to see how many degrees I am - and you are - from some famous folks. For today, let’s say that a mutual blog association counts as one degree, even if we’ve never met in person. And I’ll further say that a connection need not be a friendship, it can be an acquaintance; as simple as a handshake and an introduction.

If you need help seeing who a famous person might be connected to check out the Notable Names DataBase and their nifty Mapper!

O.K. I’ll start.
I am two degrees of separation from Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco. (A good friend of mine from high school went to college with Albert and lived in the same house with him.) Therefore, I am three degrees of separation from Grace Kelly, the late Princess of Monaco. That puts me just four degrees of separation away from all of Grace Kelly’s film costars, directors and so on. For instance: Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, William Holden, Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Celeste Holm, Frank Sinatra, etc. Via Princess Grace’s post Hollywood life, I am four degrees of separation away from any and all world leaders and royalty she may have met.

Let me try politics.
I’m one degree of separation from my State Senator Steve Brewer. Senator Brewer puts me two degrees of separation away from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who is friends with our new President Barack Obama. Therefore, I am just three degrees of separation from Barack Obama. That was quick! The only problem with this connection is that it means I’m only four degrees of separation away from former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney!

O.K. Now it’s your turn. Leave your six degree connections in the comments or post them on your own blog and leave me a link. Have fun!