The Romance Quotient

Why do women need romance more than men? I am still not sure whether it's need or rather want but whatever it is it's more than men. Don't get me wrong. Men like romance and not just because it might lead to sex! What's not to like? Someone showing you that yeah, they really think you're all that is all good.

For me romance has nothing to do with candlelight or flowers. To each his own right? So what do I think is romantic? When you're both in the kitchen and he grabs you to slow dance with and it's not even" your song" playing. Buying you a silly nothing gift just because he thought of you. It could be a pair of socks! Well I really need to buy some socks so that's what came to mind. A note on Facebook in lieu of a loveletter. Love letters are a lost art. Holding hands when you're just watching TV. A kiss. I mean a slow last for days make you weak in the knees with his hands holding your face kind of a kiss.

Oh I could go on but you get it right? It's the unexpected and for no reason things that I find romantic. Anniversaries and birthdays are good for romance but if they are the only days then forget about it. Not romantic. It's why I don't get all excited about Valentines Day. Do people really like romance on cue?

Probably the most romantic thing is that moment when he looks at you and you know he's really seeing *you*. It's so nice to be seen. We always run the risk in a long term relationship of becoming really good roommates or friends with benefits as opposed to lovers. Don't let that happen even if it starts to feel as comfy as the ripped sweatpants we know you have. You deserve to have what I call Hollywood moments as much as any character in a movie. Life imitating art?

I don't know why women need/want romance more than men but I think they, or rather we, do. Now romance is a definite two way street. So go out there, and kiss him long and slow. You might be surprised at what you get in return.

The Lipstick Gang

As you all know I'm a big fan of the Twitter. Oh, I know it's not *the* twitter. I say that only to annoy smug, very hip barely twenty year olds! Somebody's got to do it and I obviously can't trust you guys! Do you see how easily I digress?

Someone described Facebook as your home because you let in people that you know and Twitter as the street which is open to everybody! Sometimes you need to get out of your house. Interesting shit is happening in the street! For instance, I now have the answer to a question that cosmetic companies have been asking well, since there were cosmetics! The question is simply, "can the right shade of lipstick solve life's little problems?" I found the answer on twitter.

I don't know the when and I'm not sure of who did it first, but one of my twitter followers tweeted the shade of lipstick she was wearing. Then another one did the same. Inspired by these two women who I know to have a high creative/fabulous quotient, I too joined in and tweeted about my lips as only I could. I was at the time wearing Blistex Lip Relief Cream! Their response was immediate. They would have to take me shopping! I redeemed myself by then wearing Nude Lustre and Pink Gloss but I also went with naked lips, the poor things! Somewhere in the midst of our tweets I added the hashtag #lipstickgang and put a name to our endeavor.

Then came my question to the members of the gang "Can the right shade of lipstick solve life's little problems? " Cosmetic companies have been trying to sell us on that idea so they would answer "Yes Yes Yes!". We know better. It really won't make you thinner or that hot guy like you. It won't get you a better paying job either. But wait, don't give up hope!

Talking about our lipstick choices gave us a certain amount of camaraderie and that can get you through almost anything. It also encouraged creativity. You don't just wear Oxford Street without dressing like a Brit. Nude Lustre is of course when you're in a bare bones kind of mood. Pink can be adventurous or sweet depending on the wearer. Red is, well I don't need to spell it out for you, do I? We don't just talk about the color but we define it or rather we are defining who we are that day. We define our day before it defines us and let's face it, most of us are always letting outside sources define our day. At least this is an outside source of your choosing. Mostly though, it's about some wonderful women who are cheering you on. "You go girl!" Be sexy or fun loving or serious and be fabulous at it! Lipstick in a shade of Girl Power! That's really the essence of our gang.

Look in the mirror and decide something about your day. Then color it in but please stay within the lines! So pucker up ladies and choose your color!

The Wonder Years List

For me the Wonder Years start around the 6th grade and go on to High School. Basically the preteen years to full fledged teenhood. These are the years where everything is out of control. You have to live by school rules and your parents rules and you aren't sure why anymore. Yet you can see a future where anything is possible just out of your reach. I started thinking of things from that era in my life and of course it caused me to jump from one thing to another in a series of "oh remember" moments that made me smile at my younger self.

FASHION-
Saddle shoes- when everything old became new again. They made a comeback back in the day!
Fishnet stockings and windowpane stockings-Thank God I had skinny legs back then!
Gogo boots-What to wear while watching Shindig,Hullabaloo and of course American Bandstand! You can't do The Pony without them
Construction Worker boots-Not sure how we got from there to here but we did!
CPO jackets-might have been a NYC thing
Bell Bottoms- Once upon a time they were new! I got my first pair in Greenish Village at a store owned by Davy Jones of the Monkeee's fame. After that I got them at Joe's Army Navy where we took them home and tapered them!
Hip Huggers- low cut jeans without the ass crack showing!
Dr Scholl's Exercise Sandals- doesn't everyone want curvy calves.
Earth Shoes- Cute and chunky. They were Birkenstocks before there was Birkenstocks!

BEAUTY
Yardley- I loved those little circles of eyeshadow. Remember when you could wear blue eyeshadow and get away with it!
Clairol's Herbal Essence Shampoo- no not the one sitting on the shelves today with the S at the end (Herbal EssenceS) That's a remake. I'm talking about the little dark green bottle( rather the shampoo was dark green) that smelled like a forest and flowers. You could actually smell it on your hair after you washed it. Move over Breck girl! Perfect for your long straight hair parted down the middle!
Love's Baby Soft- smells like teen (girl) spirit! After that we moved up in the world to Charlie! Guys were wearing English Leather and probably too much of it!

MISCELLANEOUS
Which did you like better 16 or Tiger Beat for the best pictures of David Cassidy?
Sealing Wax-Once upon a time we had to write letters and so you needed pretty stationary and a seal to keep out the nosey buddies!
Gidget- She grew up to become Nora Walker but she will always be Gidget tp me! "Not short and not a midget..a Gidget!" I wanted to be her! I still do!

I was so young when the Kennedy assassination occurred. I remember being upset that TV shows were cancelled. It was all news all the time. Now we get news instantly. There's hardly any time to separate fact from fiction and everyone has an opinion before the dust even settles.I think people are probably more informed, I'm just not sure they are better informed.

We were lucky in that we could be in awe of things. Any space flight was a cause to stop what you were doing to watch the countdown and take off. People clapped as if they had just watched a great drama. Well actually they had!

No this isn't a definitive list. I never do anything definitively! It's just the ramblings of my mind when it's in a nostalgic mood. It all started when I had an urge for a candy lipstick! Penny candy at it's finest! Now that I think of it this could all be the result of low blood sugar!

If You Had A Gazillion Dollars

What would you do? Forget the usual charitable works and helping your family. I mean I think you should do both but lets think outside of the box. What are the crazy things you might do?

I had a friend who always said if she won the lotto instead of calling in sick she would call in rich! I of course had a more devilish plan. I would tell no one at first and wait for the inevitable moment my supervisor acted like an ass and then I would smile and tell her to fuck off! It isn't a wonder why the forces in the universe never gave me a winning ticket!

In my defense I would also do good in a fun way. Have you ever been at the mall and seen a teenage girl longing for an outfit that she can't afford? I would pay for it anonymously. In fact I could randomly pay for the next 20 customers. How's that for having a nice day! I could go to the electric company and pay the bills for families I will never meet who are in need. When you have a gaziliion dollars you can pretty much just look around you to find people in need. I get the personal fun of doing it and they get the reward. If I was in New York I'd pay for everyone's subway ticket during the morning rush hour. Hey I've got a gazillion dollars! The best part is that people wouldn't know where or when I would strike! They couldn't because they would never know it was me!

There are some less altruistic things I would do. You can bet that I will be having a dinner with the members of every Chicago Bulls championship team. Michael on my right and Scottie sitting to my left! I also want to be a judge on American Idol. I hope the new judges work out but in my season I would bring back all the old ones!

I can't leave my husband out of this so he would get to dine with any one of his favorite authors such as Chuck Pahlaniuk or some variation on the spelling of his unusual name. The latest Macbook goes without saying, yes?

So that's how I'm starting off this new blogging year, with a gazillion dollars and a wild imagination!

The End of the Year Sale

This year I decided to make it easier for you. I'm going to tell you what you should be doing in the coming year. Call it a resolution if you must. I call it good advice at rock bottom prices. Everything's for free and there is no small print. Since I'm giving it away I thought I should keep it simple. Two categories. One for the body and one for the mind. Hey, what do you want? It's free!

Use your body. That's it. How you use it is up to you. I like to dance and we all know what dancing can lead to! Do yoga, run, skip, aerobics, weights or whatever the latest fad might be in the new year. It's not about losing weight or firming up. It's about feeling good. Watch little kids at play and you'll get the idea. The look of sheer joy on their faces as they simply run around without any real point to it. The older we get the less we use our bodies and the less we use them the older we feel. Use your body!

Do something that scares you just a little bit. Challenge authority. Following people is for twitter not for your life. I probably should have been shot for that one but you get what you pay for people! Do something unexpected. That little adrenalin rush makes it all worth while. That and the look on peoples faces! It's bunjee jumping for your soul!

There are 365 brand new days just waiting for you to use them!

Have A Nice Day

I am in search of an alternative. We all say it and on some level we mean it. Why wouldn't we want someone to have a nice day or evening or week or weekend? Yet when someone who really does care about me says it, it's like fingernails on the proverbial blackboard that is my brain.

I know I know. They just want me to have a nice day which is really nice of them. Would I want my husband to drop " I love you" every time I walk out the door to go to work? No. It would become as meaningless as anything else we say routinely. Besides I prefer love be shown as well as spoken.

I don't think there is any one great alternative. I think if it's someone you care about then you should maybe give it a personal spin. If work is sucking then you can tell me "Don't let the bastards get u down" as I walk out the door. It means you know what's going on in my life. How about "I can't wait till we get back home tonight." It's nice to know someone is looking forward to seeing me. Some days I might like "Don't forget to have fun!" Those are the days I go to work as if I am walking the long green mile!

I guess all my mini rant is saying is pay attention people! Don't talk to people you care about like you're one of the pod people. This goes for me too! So thanks for listening and have a nice day!

And Then There Was Me

Everyone and their mother is on Facebook. Facebook is not the end all of social media. Some of you are now rolling your eyes thinking to yourself "Tell me something I don't know!" Others are like " What? There's more? We can't keep up!" And then there are the rest of you who are thinking "get to the topic already!" Of course, the group known as "the rest of you" would be right.

My involvement in social media has put me face to face with other social mediaites. I now know IRL (in real life) so many of the people I initially knew only virtually. It's fun. Recently at a tweetup, I was talking to someone whom I hadn't met before but "knew"from twitter. We were chatting off to the side and she asked me "How does it feel being with all these people who are so much younger than you?" She was in the vicinity of my age. Could have been more, could have been less. I didn't ask her out right because I wasn't sure if age was a "thing" for her. But it was a good question.

Most of the people at the tweetup were in their thirties. Some, gasp, were in their twenties! And then there's me1 Well me and this other person. It's kind of interesting. Everyone knows my age. Well no one has ever asked me but they know I have grown up kids. Now there's an oxymoron for you, grownup kids! They know I relish the fact that I have my freedom back! I tend to make note of it when the talk turns to the travails of raising young kids. It was fun while it lasted but hallelujah and praise the Lord, I am done with that! I'm pretty sure they're all bright enough to do the math!

So I guess it doesn't really feel like anything. I never thought about it before she asked. I'm okay with being the elder statesman. After all, rank has it's privileges! Hey, sometimes I like to sit at the kids table! Don't let age stop you from having fun. Leave it to other people to worry about it!