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Archive for October, 2012

Style Guru

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , , , on October 7, 2012| 4 Comments »

Bob and I were in Starbucks the other day, and as I waited for my pumpkin spice latte I picked up the Washington Post, Style section. Imagine my surprise to find its front page article was featuring my favorite co-host of “What Not to Wear” Stacy London. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/stacy-london-fashion-guru-discusses-insecurity-in-new-book/2012/10/03/5aeaeb6e-0be4-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_story.html

Photo Joseph, TWPost

One of my first articles for the Berkshire Eagle back in the ’80s was about fashion. Believe me, I’m no expert on fashion. But the editor liked it so much, she actually posed some models to illustrate my tongue-in-cheek points. There was the “Native,” who usually wore jeans and flannel. There was the “Big City Tourist,” the visitor from NY or Boston to ski or take in Tanglewood in the summer. These women usually wore black, and had their nails done. And then there was this sub-species of “Transplants,” like me. We needed help. We were trying to fit in, we bought homes and cross country skis and dressed in strange outfits. We needed our own style, and I proposed a fashion hot line.

Today, we have Apps and bloggers and reality TV. We can watch Stacy on TLC’s popular fashion show where she ambushes poor, unsuspecting fashion-challenged women and in one hour transforms them body and soul. Really. Well, it actually takes a week in NYC but the final show is a magical hour and how she does it without psychotherapy is beyond me. Needless to say, I adore her and tune in whenever I am home alone for lunch. It is my guilty pleasure and we’ve become lunch buddies. But we have one other thing in common – we both have Psoriasis. http://www.psoriasis.org/about-psoriasisStewart+Brown wearing

Stacy delves into her childhood diagnosis in her new book, “The Truth About Style” and she has also started a website “Style for Hire.” http://www.styleforhire.com She was extremely insecure as a kid, never knowing when her skin could break out in debilitating, red scaly patches. Then, when she started woking at Vogue, an eating disorder kicked in, leaving her ripe for reinvention. Three years ago, my dermatologist told me that normally 30 year olds experience Guttate Psoriasis. Guttate means small rain drops of eruptions, instead of full scale patches…so I was unusual…my arms and legs looked like pepperoni pizzas. I felt pretty unusual. I was told however, that small doses of sunshine would help this auto-immune disease and I declined taking any strong, cancer fighting drugs. These steroids had been approved for skin treatments, but I’m just not a pill person.

So unlike Stacy, I had always felt pretty comfortable in my own skin. Getting all pimply in my late-middle-old age was just God having a good laugh at my expense. “OK now, let’s see what you can do with spots!” A famous Stacy quote is: “Style is the quickest shorthand to who you are.” I guess I’m now a sun-loving, nana? And I’d say I’m an Eileen Fisher, organic Stewart+Brown wearing, yoga pants comfortable type? Stacy was speaking this weekend at a synagogue in DC, and I almost drove up there to see her. After all, she saved me from wearing pedal pushers (aka capri pants) since they shorten the leg, and who needs shorter legs right? Because if change can really occur from the outside-in, a What Not to Wear mantra, I’m ready to tackle this transplanted nana, Southern-style.

And no, I didn’t save everything I ever wrote. But I’m glad I saved this one:

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Flip Flops vs Fleece

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , on October 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

No, I’m not referring to the Presidential debate last night. In fact, I’d just as soon forget it.

Kabuki theatre at its best, stylized and predictable; one character claims the other’s ideas as his own, while the other looks down and then lectures the audience. The problem is, running a country isn’t like performing in a play. Leadership depends on character and commitment. We Dems know who to believe, we know who we can trust. The GOP also thinks they have the man for the job. The guy who thinks of healthcare as an entitlement program, and 47% of American citizens as freeloaders.

“What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.”

The point that rattled me in the debate was when the topic turned to healthcare. Listening to Mitt, one might think he did a splendid job in MA, crossing the aisle and actually “working” with Dems to get his version of affordable care passed. You know that version, the almost identical one to Obamacare, which thanks very much for not meaning any disrespect by using the term…which was the point at which I really started wondering who was in Mitt’s body. Shapeshifters beware, this guy is a natural, he even takes on Big Bird.

Mitt said Obamacare has, “…killed jobs,” and what he would do is “…craft a plan at the state level that fits the needs of the state.” Sirens started going off in my head, state’s rights and all. OK, so introducing all those little ultrasound bills, and TRAP regulations are just fine with him. What’s really fine with Mitt is taking us back to a clear, third-party payer system – getting government out of the doctor’s office and back into the hands of the health insurance industry with everybody making lots of money. Never mind that every other G8 country has a form of universal health care in place for its citizens, Mitt knows that we Americans take care of our poor.

Remember when Mitt said on “60 Minutes” that we Americans don’t let people die in their apartments – we call the ambulance? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-watson/in-ultimate-display-of-ig_b_1910259.html Emergency Rooms (or Departments, as Bob calls them) are his plan of last resort for fixing the problem of the uninsured. Under EMTALA law http://www.acep.org/content.aspx?id=25936 anyone who presents to an ER must be seen, whether they can pay or not. This was one of those smack yourself in the head moments. Mitt thinks it’s perfectly OK to pass those costs on to taxpayers, who presumably can afford medical insurance, but just barely because those costs are skyrocketing…because we have so many uninsured people who cost hospitals and ERs 4-5 digits worth of care per visit, that gets passed onto taxpayers…and the Catch 22 continues.

Listen carefully over the next few weeks. Listen to their debates in the context of what they have said before, so you can see beyond the Kabuki make-up. And while I was going to talk about the weather, and how one day you’re wearing flip flops, and the next you’re wearing a fleece jacket, I seem to have gotten off track. “It’s not good being poor.”

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A Modern Poll Tax

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , , , , on October 2, 2012| 2 Comments »

A big Thank You to the great state of Pennsylvania! My birth state hasn’t exactly struck down its voter ID law, but a PA Commonwealth Court Judge had the good sense to put it on hold until after the election. It’s such a blatantly racist, and ageist piece of legislation, I had to wonder how it managed to get as far as it has in so many states…oh, yeah, the Tea Party. If foul language offends you, don’t watch Sarah Silverman’s video.

“Supporters of the measure, passed by a Republican state legislature and Republican governor, said it would help prevent electoral fraud. However, the state government conceded that there has never been a known case of in-person voter fraud.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19804500

Now if you live in PA, you may be asked for your valid, state sanctioned photo ID before you vote, just to intimidate you a little more, but have no fear. You can still vote even if you don’t have this particular piece of paper. But if you live in Indiana, Georgia, New Hampshire and possibly South Carolina you will have to comply with these new voter ID laws in order to solve a problem that doesn’t exist in order to get Mitt elected.

Please know your rights this November before you head out to the polls. In VA, we have until October 15th to register to vote…13 days from now. Make sure your name (did you marry or divorce and change your name?) and your address are current. Sarah’s nifty website can help you figure out if you’re good to vote: http://letmypeoplevote2012.com

Let freedom ring people!

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It Takes Two

Posted in Books, Journaling, Wedding, Country, tagged , , , , on October 1, 2012| 13 Comments »

Birthdays can be blissful, or birthdays can be forgotten. When I was approaching 50, I decided to go backwards. So instead of 50, I celebrated my 49th birthday. Reaching 40 never phased me, but I was dreading that half a century mark for some reason. Now I’ve reached the brink; an age that is still too young for Medicare, too old for Twitter (though I do love Instagram) and just right for becoming a Grandmother. I am now the same age as Bob, our birthdays are about a month apart so I can stay younger for exactly 35 days. Because my generation thought we had to make dinner every night, I’m still feeding him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyv3PJs-KBw

When we moved to the Piedmonts of Virginia from the Suburbs of the Jersey Shore, I only had two conditions. We would build our house, a not-so-big house with a view, and we would learn to tango. It wasn’t easy. Our realtor said that she showed us every single thing there was for sale in the county over the course of a year, when I found the right piece of land online. Our dance instructor told me that Bob had to lead, so you can imagine how that worked out. But tango we did and here I sit, in my aviary typing away, watching the mountains turn from dark charcoal and lilac lines into a citrine and burgundy masterpiece every day.

And although the book I want to write about the Flapper is still in pieces on my desk, I do have something else, besides the Love Bug to celebrate this year. A woman I met through a serendipitous route – let’s see, it started with knitting and ended with a new friend who was becoming a grandmother on exactly the same date – has edited a group of essays by bloggers…and asked me to contribute. So when dearest Aunt Bert asked, “Where does your blog go?” I can now answer her, “Why, into a book of course!” And it’s titled, “Tangerine Tango.” I’m thrilled, and hope you like it.

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