Thoughts On Style

I’ve always worn my hair long. Well, except for one disastrous home “trim” my mother gave me in fourth grade, which required an emergency trip to a hairdresser for salvage work. Then I made a rash decision in the early 1980s which also involved a complete and equally disastrous dye job. Back in 1979, when I turned twenty-one, my mother told me it was time for me to get my hair cut. I was unaware of the you-must-get-a-short-haircut-at-age-twenty-one-rule and “declined”. Now I am 51, turning 52 in May. I continue to wear my hair long enough to pull it back in a braid. The older I get, the more I recognize that my female peers have short haircuts. And it seems that the older women get, the shorter their hair gets. Sitting at a large meeting several weeks ago, attended by many folks in their 70s and 80s, the vast majority of women around me had hair nearly as short as the men. No thank you.

As I grew up, my personal style was somewhere between preppie and hippie. When Midi-skirts made their appearance, I was an early adopter. As a result, some younger kids in my high school thought I was a student teacher! In college I wore farmer overalls with shitkickers, long skirts with Frye boots and business suits with pumps. As the years have gone by I now wear Birkenstocks and Smartwool striped socks whenever possible. I’m happy in quarter zip sweatshirts and henleys. I carry vintage purses by Walborg, JR and Margaret Smith or an L.L. Bean Healthy Back bag. And I always have a folding Asian fan in those purses. I wear the same gold jewelry nearly every single day, along with a mans Timex Expedition watch. But I sometimes like to add a vintage and over the top Eisenberg pin.

For many years, I have been taken with Jenny Joseph’s poem “Warning” which begins: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple; With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.” However, I am decidedly not taken with its commercial corruption into the Red Hat Society and their over boa-ed tea parties. Ms. Joseph’s 1961 poem deserves better than that. Written when she was 29, published when she was 42, the poem imagines the freedom of the future compared to the responsibilities of the present. It ends on a wistful note of the possibility of being just a wee bit less sober now.

It is said that as we age we become more like ourselves. O.K. But I am committed to becoming more of the better parts of myself. I wish to become braver, kinder, freer, more generous, less worried. When I look ahead - ten, twenty years and beyond - I do not wish to look in the mirror only to find I have morphed into one of those cookie cutter women I sat with at that recent meeting. No thank you. I would rather grab onto the pendulum and fling myself out to the opposite side of the spectrum, to fall in among folks who look more like this - all verve and flair and most decidedly free!


Thanks to Ricë of the Voodoo Cafe for alerting me to “Advanced Style”.

Well Deserved

Jim Rice, 56, and Rickey Henderson, 50, were both inducted today into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. Both men were veterans of the Boston Red Sox, Rice having spent his entire career there. Both come across as good guys, were great players and are deserving of this honor. Congratulations to them both!

Where Are My Virtual Push Pins?

Do you remember “my quest”? About nine months before my 50th birthday I began looking for contemporaries. Because I have very few people in my life who are close to my age, I wanted to find some role models in the wider world, who were born between 1953 and 1963. I was specifically trying to find folks with qualities or personality traits or actions I admired. At the time, I mentioned Keith Olbermann, Kathy Griffin and Rickey Henderson.

Well, I can happily add another: Jon Stewart. I’ll gladly pin him up on my virtual bulletin board under “Intelligence”, “Courage”, “Humor” and after his recent call out of CNBC, “Chutzpah”! Did you see it? Sweet Mother it was a thing of beauty! Here’s the link to the entire March 12th episode where he went one on one with Jim Cramer. (You can view the episodes which led up to this by heading to The Daily Show.) I loved how well prepared Jon was. I loved how he spoke for all the investors who have been battered and bruised and worse by the financial crisis. And despite admitting at the end that it was uncomfortable for him, he never faltered, never backed down and never resorted to the childish tantrums and red faced sputterings we see on some networks which shall remain nameless here.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Intro - Brawl Street: Get Ready to Buy Low! And Sell Die

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

Thanks to Morgan I was able to find the correct page to get the embed code for the above video!

Smile!

Anne Taintor’s creativity and artistic sense makes me smile (as my sisters Karen and Gail will attest). I am particularly taken with this image and now have the magnetic version on our refrigerator. I also have my eye on this image (bottom row, #37161), but am reluctant to buy it as set of a dozen note cards. But boy howdy, I like that sentiment:

“Honey, you couldn't pay me to be twenty!”

I believe I’ll adopt that as the slogan for “My Quest”!

49 Up On The Board

49 Up is another in the series of ongoing British documentaries following the same group of children. The films began when the children were seven and then checked in with them every seven years at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and now 49. It was originally designed to look at class structure in England, coupled with the idea that by the age of seven each child’s future had pretty much been locked in. I had heard of the films, but had never viewed any of them until we watched 49 Up the other day. It was riveting and thought provoking. I highly recommend it.

The subjects of the films were all born in 1956. That puts every single one of them into the category of my contemporaries for the purposes of My Quest. As a result I found myself watching 49 Up through two minds. From the point of view of my quest I have to say it was wildly therapeutic. Watching these fourteen people in video snapshots at seven year intervals, showed both the enormous breadth of emotional and physical change, as well as how very recognizable everyone was. The “real” person shone through, throughout all of their adulthood. I found myself thinking of myself and wondering what sort of report would I have given of my own life at each age (and cringing at a few!). Watching the evolution of these individuals, helped me to focus on the solid core that is me and will continue to be me, even as I move through that-which-shall-not-be-named and beyond.

Thanks to all the kids, now tipped over into their second half century, for their participation, candor and generosity with their lives. They’re all now pinned up on my virtual bulletin board.


: : Red Sox Update - October 26th, 12:11 a.m. :
The Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 2 - 1 in Game Two of The World Series!
Next stop: Denver!
So good, so good so good!!!

Seasons & Symbols

The weather has been crazy. So hazy, hot, and humid that it feels more like August than October. It has also been very dry. A lot of the leaves on the trees seem to be simply fading rather than beginning to sparkle with color. But there are isolated locations where there is no doubt this is truly autumn.

Before we started our walk today we strolled around and snapped some pictures. (Chuck caught this beauty.) By the time we finished our “stroll”, I felt like a limp dishrag. The air was completely still and unpleasantly thick. The dewpoint had to be approaching 70. But we stowed the camera and began our “real” walk. It wasn’t fun. We weren’t smiling much. I thought about Rickey Henderson. I still wasn’t smiling, but we were still walking. For today, that was enough.

Grabbing Another Virtual Push Pin

My quest continues. I’ve added another individual to my virtual bulletin board: Rickey Henderson. Rickey started playing baseball in the Major Leagues in 1979. His last MLB game was in 2003 and he’s just a few months younger than I am. Even after he “unofficially retired”, Henderson continued to play professional baseball, just not in the Majors. Henderson played for a number of ball clubs, including the Boston Red Sox. In the season he was with us, I was always impressed with his determination, athleticism and sheer physicality.

So when I don’t want to lace up my sneaks and head over to the track, or I want to slow down and stop a little early, I’ll be thinking of Rickey. I never was, nor ever will be the athlete Mr. Henderson was and continues to be (my success in Team Handball notwithstanding!) But I sure as heck can suck it up and do another lap. Maybe, just maybe I can even enjoy it!


: : Red Sox UPDATE Saturday, 12:47 a.m. :
The Boston Red Sox beat the Angels 6 - 3, in Game Two!!!
So good, so good so good!!! !!!

This Is My Quest

I’m involved in a quest. (Cue music from “Man of La Mancha”, please.) I live in a bit of a time warp (Please do not cue “Rocky Horror Picture Show” music.) and I need to find some contemporaries. You see my sisters are eight and eleven years older than I am and Chuck is fifteen years older than I am. My best friend here in my home town is Marion and she’s thirty-three years my senior. Do you see the trend? On the flip side, most of my younger family members are about two decades my junior. (It’s up to you if you want to hum “One Is The Loneliest Number”.)

In addition to the quest, I am also approaching a milestone birthday. Yes, it isn’t until next spring, but my Dad always said he was in his fill-in-the-blank year on the day after his birthday. So, with a nod to my Dad, I am, technically, (play sound effects of feet dragging mightily.) in my fiftieth year. Can you tell I am not going gently toward the half century mark? And, since apparently truth serum was in my drinking water today, as a female of a “certain age”, I am approaching that-which-shall-not-be-named. Yup. Just like Voldermort - actually I am much more comfortable speaking his name than the other thing. Seriously. I did buy a book on the topic. It’s hardcover and was in the mark down bin. The spine of the massive tome has never been cracked. I call it the doorstop. Issues? What’s it to ya?!

So I’m looking around to see who in the wider world is around my age - give or take five years in either direction. I’ve found several. Today I present two: comedian Kathy Griffin (two years younger) and newsman Keith Olbermann (less than a year younger). I chose them for their courage. (I’m thinking the “Wizard of Oz” music would be best now.) Both Ms. Griffin and Mr. Olbermann are intelligent, funny and seem to have courage in abundance. Chutzpah might be a better word. And, yes, putting it rather indelicately, they probably do clang together as they walk. But for the purposes of this quest, that is a good thing. I don’t feel as courageous as those two seem to be. So I’ll tack their photos up on my virtual wall of contemporary role models under Chutzpah.

Stay tuned to see who else I nominate to my virtual bulletin board. Of course, feel free to contribute your suggestions...


: : Red Sox Notes:

I can’t shake the images and sounds. Only in Boston would there be a rally for the Red Sox at City Hall Plaza. Only in Boston would the Dropkick Murphys (very loud website!) be playing with a gaggle of little ringleted Irish Step Dancers stepping and twirling, poker straight, behind them. All this because the Red Sox are the American League East Division Champions.
Ya gotta love how crazed all of us in Red Sox Nation are!