From The Sublime To The Ridiculous

There's something missing in the evolution of Barbie it would seem.  There is a wonderfully nonsensical debate going on as to whether or not there should be a plus size Barbie.

The purists say absolutely not.  I must agree to the extent that Barbie is an iconic figure in the world of children's make believe and should be left as such.

On the other hand, an argument is being made that the perfectly proportioned, coiffed and dressed Barbie is representative of all things evil in this world.  A perfectly proportioned, coiffed and dressed doll.

I wish I had some young girls around to grill.  Even if I did, however, I think they'd wonder what the heck I was talking about.  Their mothers might be another story.  After all, they are the ones who don't match up to that image of perfection so why should a doll have it to give their kids a false sense of what's really important.

Well, like what?  Character?  The intelligence to differentiate between a toy and reality? Who knows. I was beyond dolls when the Barbie trend hit but couldn't help but know of her existence and her multitude of incarnations.  None of which most little girls nor their mothers will ever achieve.  Isn't that at least part of the point?  It's play time.  Fantasy.  Imagination. Glamor.

If the Pro Pluses win, however, they really shouldn't morph her so drastically all at one time.  After all, we women don't go from point A to point Z over night.  At least I didn't.  It was a more gradual, sneaky occurrence.  Even at my worst, though, before tipping over into the official category of elderly  did I ever look quite like the proposed Barbie Plus.  I didn't have nearly as many chins and my thighs were thinner.  I also wouldn't have been caught dead dressed as my younger, more svelte counterpart.  Some things are best left alone.  Just check your mirror.

Then too, we elderly shouldn't be left out.  Gray her hair, add a few crows feet around the eyes and lighten up on the make up.  Those high heels would kill us, so lower them along with the hem line.  The inevitable varicose veins should be covered, probably best with support hose.

One thing you could add to Barbie and Barbie Plus that would probably not be out of step with the times.  Tattoos and piercings.  Other than the fact my parents would have killed me if I had gone that route, I'm glad I've passed the age of temptation.  I've enough sagging and drooping and patches of various colors without tattoos and various pieces of metal inserted through my paper thin skin adding to the problem.

Actually the Elderly Barbie might be the best of the lot.  Think about going from sex pot to the paragon of excess to the dignity of old age.  Of course we came first.  Perhaps that's why we'd be the best of the lot!

Over Too Soon ~ Back Too Soon

It all begins sometime mid-summer.  The decorations and lights begin to appear in the stores and you think, oh, please!  The intensity builds for months.  Once it had been merely weeks but no more.  By the time Christmas day actually arrives it's almost anticlimactic.

Yet I hate to let it go.  Yesterday was as near perfect as a lazy day can get.  Hub had kitchen duties though being a magnanimous soul, I did help with all the clean up.  In between, however, I got to laze in my chair, listen to Christmas music or watch schmaltzy movies on the tube.  No headlines, no real news, not even bad weather in these parts.  Nearly perfect.

Today I'm dragging my feet.  I came out to scan the headlines but wish I hadn't.  They didn't miss a beat.  More Obamacare problems, more death and destruction and man showing his inhumanity to his fellow man.  It just never stops!

It's too bad.  Yesterday I was actually in a great mood.  I even sang along to some of the music and there was no dog howling in protest. It's the only good reason for there not being a dog.  The presence of one would have changed near perfect to perfect.  No matter. At times you accept that you can't have it all and thoroughly enjoy that which you do.

Why couldn't the world stop and take a breath? The greeting in my previous post was a compilation of how different countries wish one another a Merry Christmas.  There are so many of them you realize we are not alone in this holiday though I doubt many other countries fight the same inane wars against it that we do.

But it's over.   When the radio alarm came on this morning there was no more Christmas music. Over.  Done.  All with the passing of one day.  Sigh.

I may well drag my feet this last week of the year.  Unless of course the headlines reach fever pitch and beg to be addressed.  For now, however, the mellow feeling lingers. I need to run to the store and get some eggs.  How ordinary and simple and real.

No worry though.  Building toward Christmas once again is but a few short months away - mid-summer.  How droll is that? I'll be there, out and about, and thinking, oh, please!

What A Difference A Day Makes!

Merry Christmas

Symbolism At Its Worst

What's the point?  I admit I didn't expect Obama to sign up for the ACA and he didn't disappoint me though he'd have you believe otherwise. He did tell us he was going to do so knowing full well he wasn't.  Just what did he sign up for?

He didn't go through the long wait, his staffers did.  And you can be sure none of his sensitive information was shared with the site anyway.  But what did they actually do?  Other than log on to the site?  So why the charade?

He gets his health care through the military as commander in chief.  He will continue to do so.

The gesture was an empty one which has become the norm with this President.  In fact the whole law is an empty gesture at this point since he has changed it so many times.

What's the point of passing legislation, even bad legislation with the support of only one party, if the President can continually change it on a whim without consulting Congress?  When is it no longer the law that was passed therefore null and void? With all the exemptions and delays and tweaks does any one know what exactly it says anymore? I'll bet even the "Secretary" doesn't - if she ever did. The law suits will be coming.  Bet on it.

To me this is about as low as it can go.  This is the President's signature legislation and he won't even be enrolled in it.  Why?  Could he not drop the military coverage for the one of his own creation?  He can do what he wants - he has already shown that so my guess is he could. It's just another obfuscation.

I think it's an unconscionable slap in the face of every American citizen who is being forced to make changes they neither need nor want while he goes blithly on his way untouched by it. 

Here's to You A&E! Braaaak!

Why, oh why,  does everything have to become an issue?  Duck Dynasty is meant to be entertainment, pure and simple.  And that's what it is.  Simple. Goofy. Redneck. Entertaining.

A show that has propelled a family to fame and fortune because they produced a great duck call.  Man, if that isn't living the American dream, what is?

With that fame and fortune come things that aren't quite so innocent.  A magazine interview becomes an expose on politically incorrect thinking which is seized upon by extremists for a cause - that everyone must view them as they view themselves.  Acceptable. Well, tough.  Not everyone feels the same.

So who are these bearded wonders?  I don't know. A family of Louisiana Rednecks who make no apology for who they are nor should they.  Certainly not to a cable channel that programs questionable content all the time if you choose to look at it that way.

It reminds me of the Paula Deen flap over having used the "n" word 30 some years ago.  Who growing up in the same environment didn't?  In this case you have a family deeply steeped in the teachings of the bible.  They don't fool around with other women.  They're a tight family unit.  They care for their kids and each other. They end their programs gathered around a table and thank the Lord for their blessings.

That the patriarch doesn't see homosexuality as normal,  but as a sin along with other oddities such as bestiality shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Why did it even have to come up in an interview?  These people are not and don't pretend to be the social arbiters of the nation or even of their fans.  They're just having fun and making oodles of money while they're at it.

If you find them offensive watch something else. For heaven's sake don't suspend one of them for having voiced an opinion after having been asked.  You might as well bench all of them because they probably all think the same thing.  And so do many who watch them.  What are you going to do to the fans?

Watch it or not.  I do and I will even knowing, gasp, how Phil thinks. Stuff your duck with political correctness and let the rest of us enjoy the show for what it is.  Entertainment.  Pure and simple.  And clean.  And reverent toward the big duck hunter in the sky who they have to thank for their success. We could do a whole lot worse.