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April 30, 2008

Hello Yellow

It happened twice in the last month. I showed up to meet a friend (two different women on different days) and we were both dressed almost identically--in dark jeans and a bright yellow sweater. What is it about yellow this year? Has anyone else noticed that it's everywhere?

I think yellow has gotten a bad wrap over the years, and I guess I have contributed to this notion. Being olive-skinned, I always thought yellow was wrong wrong wrong for me, particularly the lighter shades. But this year, I decided to give it a shot, and went for this Cotton Rib Detail Scoop Neck Sweater from Ann Taylor Loft. So far, many people have told me I look good in it. And I may soon snap up this Garden Tote from Three Potato Four, for even a bit more yellow in my closet. It seems I am not the only one giving yellow my attention this season. Check out these features on the Web, celebrating the newfound popularity of yellow in fashion circles:

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April 28, 2008

Goodbye Baby Boy


My Golden Retriever died of cancer at 2 p.m. today.
Goodbye Dylan. Rest in peace. (1999-2008)

rings


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Filed under: General 40ish | Health | Parenting

April 22, 2008

Do Reps Matter Anymore?

I've been thinking a lot about reputations lately. My thoughts were prompted by the news last week that a local high school teacher was arrested for his inappropriate relationship with a student. Then later that week, a boy I know got into some hot water because he (allegedly) had a little too much fun over spring break, while his girlfriend was back home.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking with dd (who's 18) about reputations and she said it's quite difficult to get a "bad reputation" in high school these days because no one really cares what you do. I don't really buy this argument, but what do I know? I graduated from high school almost 26 years ago. Perhaps times have really changed. Can a teenage boy who has a lovely girlfriend cheat on her and really have no one think badly of him? I doubt it. And after the teen years, reputation is more complicated. If it all turns out to be true, and who knows at this point, can a teacher who cheats on his wife and has a sexual relationship with a student really ever get his good name back?

I once had a boss who told me my biggest flaw was that I "wanted to be liked and have people think well of me." I looked at her and said, "who doesn't want to be liked? Who would choose to have people think badly of them?" When she turned and flew off on her broom (get it?) I suddenly got it: reputation is a concept that means different things to different people. When I worked for a large corporation, I did want to be liked, and also respected. My old boss didn't care about those things, and as a result, was quite disliked and not respected at all.

According to wikipedia:

Reputation is the opinion (more technically, a social evaluation) of the public toward a person, a group of people, or an organization.

wikipedia also states:

Reputation is known to be a ubiquitous, spontaneous and highly efficient mechanism of social control in natural societies.

Whoa. Social control? I hadn't ever thought of it like that, but it makes sense to me. Either way, I will continue to tell my kids that reputation does matter. Because I still believe that it's tough out there, and sometimes, your good reputation is all you have.

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Filed under: General 40ish | Meaningless Gab | Parenting

April 18, 2008

Rules of Order

The other day, I was speaking with a friend who is going through a hard time. A relative is very ill, and might not make it. This is causing a lot of stress and disruption in her family's lives, of course, but something she said really stuck with me. When speaking of her situation, she said "and what makes it worse is that my house is a mess. And when my house is out of order, I feel like my life is out of control." I could have said these very same words, and I'll bet there are plenty of people who feel the same way. In times of stress or change or other events, I can often be found straightening, organizing, and cleaning. I learned this about myself just after my mother had her first stroke, and I spent a week at her home scrubbing it down and tossing things out. And even in low-stress times, you know that feeling you get, just after you've cleaned your home and filed away all your bills and organized your closet? Well for me, that's one of the best feelings ever.

So I went in search of support for my "organized is always better" theory and did find plenty of articles, but was also surprised to find some experts saying the very opposite. In Time's Messy is the New Neat, I read that some people argue that spending lots of time organizing can be counterproductive. And in CBS News' Being Messy Has Its Perks, I learned something I didn't know: that really messy people do actually know where their stuff is, so perhaps to them, the disorder (as we see it) is quite orderly.

So, am I convinced that being neat is a waste of time? No way. Perhaps it's my nature or just my preference, but I'll take a nice, neat room with shoes lined up in a closet and books organized by height over a messy one any day. It just makes me feel better. Life is hard enough, and I always like to know exactly where my new Justin boots, favorite University of Florida pen, and my favorite scissors with the pink handle are, just in case I need them.

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Filed under: General 40ish | Meaningless Gab | Reviews

April 17, 2008

An Important Announcement...

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Filed under: News/Media/Studies

April 09, 2008

In the News--Focus on Kids

I haven't done an In the News roundup lately, so I thought it was about time. As I searched the starred items in my Google Reader, I noticed several had something to do with children, so here there are, news stories that focus on kids:

  • For Little Children, Grown-Up Labels As Sexual Harassers--Washington Post: Children as young as four years old are being labeled as sexual harassers in some states.
  • Toddlers can no longer get hitched in Arkansas--msnbc.com: No matter how in love they may be, toddlers are no longer permitted to marry in a U.S. state.
  • Miss Bimbo game--CNN: Lots of people are up in arms about a Web site targeting young girls with some unhealthy (or at least unbecoming) behaviors.
  • Marching into the mommy wars--Salon: YES I HAVE been on both sides of the fence (WAHM and WOHM at different times) and YES I DO GET IT. So I am dying to see how talented novelist Meg Wolitzer tackles this touchy topic.
  • My beautiful, drug-addicted boy--Salon: RIght after I finish Wolitzer's book, I am running out to get this one. A journalist chronicles his struggle as the father of an addict. It sounds heartbreaking and brilliant.

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Filed under: News/Media/Studies | Parenting

April 02, 2008

Bitter is Back in Style

ringsImagine getting laid off from a glamorous, six-figure job, having to change your entire lifestyle drastically, getting screwed out of one new prospect after the next, then really sticking-it-to-the-man by getting your memoir about the whole ordeal published. Apparently, that's what happened to Bitter is the New Black author Jen Lancaster. The result: a hilarious book (if you like sarcasm and mean people) that I am really glad I picked up when I was in the middle of bum-fu**-Georgia looking at colleges in January with my daughter. Anyhoo, I loved loved loved this book. It's chick-lit-ish, but if you're not crazy about that genre, you might like it anyway. It's one of the few books that almost all of my friends have read, and we all agreed it was fab.

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Filed under: Reviews