"Male circumcision has long been an operation in search of a disease," wrote members of the group Doctors Opposing Circumcision in the May 12th edition of The Lancet.
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New Jersey is famous for potholes. The Man has replaced a few tires and rims wrecked in potholes, and Hercules actually totaled a car, breaking an axle.
When I started doing a lot of local driving here, I didn't see that many, but as the winter progresses, they're starting to scare me. Some of them are HUGE and DEEP! I don't want to think about how much rims for Hal cost. Lately I'm driving slow enough and with enough space between me and the car ahead so that I can see them in enough time to veer around them.
I also noticed something else - they plow right down to the blacktop here. The plows are set low. After a snowplow goes by, the road looks like it's been swept. And I think that's what's causing the potholes!
If there's the slightest uneven spot in the road, like a seam (most of the potholes are on seams) or a pothole patch, the edge of the low-set plow blade catches it and rips it. Once started, subsequent plowings, traffic, and freezing and thawing enlarges it.
I wonder how soon into the winter more accidents are caused by perpetual potholes than by occasional snow on the road.
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Out of nowhere - I absolutely hated the way "Carrie Bradshaw" (Sex and the City) dressed. Her clothes were stupid, and I despised the way she ignored her bra - like the back of the bra showing across the back of a backless dress.
Which reminds me of Princess Diana's bridal gown, which of course is all over the place again with the wedding fever in England, and the fact that Diana's wardrobe is currently touring the US. I have never understood all the people who swooned over how beautiful it was.
Huh? With the dense fabric, ruffled neckline, poofy sleeves ending in ruffles, and poor fit, it looked like something Queen Victoria would have worn to bed. A Victorian nightgown. I mean, go to the link above and look at it. Tell me I'm wrong. Snort.
I suspect the stuffiness of it was on purpose, to draw a parallel to queens past and present. But that didn't make it "beautiful", folks. Note that even the swooners didn't copy it.
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Eh. Maybe I just have rotten taste. I didn't like Jackie Kennedy's dress, either. I thought it looked like it was made from a colonial bedspread.
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I made an effort to get out and meet some people today.
A Meetup group was "mall walking" at Bridgewater Commons Mall this afternoon. The mall was described as a "large upscale shopping Mecca". It was ok, but having been used to the malls in the Albany area, I was underwhelmed. One difference I did notice - most of the stores, even the big name stores (except for the three anchors) were tiny shops. I don't think I've ever seen such a small Victoria's Secret. That tells me the rents must be much higher than anywhere else.
Another odd thing was that the movie theater advertised "dining in". You get a menu with your movie ticket. I'd love to know how that works.
The group was supposed to meet by 2:30, at the back of the food court, near the restrooms. I found the restrooms at 2:20. Never found the group. Apparently there were two sets of restrooms by the food court, although the mall map showed only one. So I ended up wandering the mall alone.
Yeah. "Upscale." Not necessarily in the quality of goods offered, but definitely in the price tags.
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I'm still amazed at the variety of stores to be found here, after 25+ years in the Mid-Hudson Valley. (I remember the excitement when the first Pizza Hut arrived in the Valley, and then the hysteria surrounding the arrival of Barnes & Noble and Starbucks.) I couldn't help but think of the people (well, actually one particular guy in Mensa) who puts on an air of sophistication by name-dropping. Not famous people, though. Stores. He's always talking about the wonders to be found in stores not available in the Valley, like Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods, for example. Places he, of course, shops all the time. Snork.
You'd think with so much competition, the prices around here would be lower. They're not.
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5 comments:
I agree with you 100% with regard to Diana's dress. I hated the monstrosity. I never understood why anyone thought it was ok unless it was based on sheer volume. Something like if it has a 25 foot train it must be beautiful.
Z
I signed up for the Meet Up thing a few weeks ago and have been highly disappointed with it. Members only want to do some thing if it involves drinking. I've posted at least 3 events and nobody will come to them. I've also noticed a lot of what you experienced, people being in the same place but the exact spot wasn't specified, or in the case of a place to eat that had two seating areas, some people would be seated in one and some would be seated in another, neither group more the wiser about. I'll give it a little more time, but I think I'm heading towards leaving this particular group. I joined three all together, this one that I just stated, which is a socializing group, one that decided to dissolve at the end of this month if nobody else stepped up to take it over, which is a metaphysical/spiritual group, and one that only has two people showing up each event, which is a beading/crafting group. I just don't seem to have luck with joining groups. How about you? Was this just a fluke type thing or does stuff like this usually not work out for you?
Meetup is absolutely an iffy thing. I organized two groups at the old place, and the people who signed up drove me flat out crazy. I gave it up after 6 months.
But I joined several - some based south of where I lived, and some north. The southern ones were crazy. The northern ones (two dinner groups and two movie groups) were really good. Good bunch of people, no craziness.
What happens depends on the organizer and the people involved.
I agree that Diana's dress is very matronly. Not flatering or fashion forward, as you'd expect a royal princess to be wearing. However, I very much like Jackie Kennedy's dress. I think that is beautiful. But alas, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's tearing from the weight of the fabric, indeed!
Malls, schmalls. I haven't been inside the mall in months and I don't miss it. Probably since just after Halloween. I almost bought an $8 bar of hand-made soap, based on the most delicious scent it had. Then the sales person went to help another customer and I put the soap down and walked away. $8 for a bar of soap? Please!
There was this amazing mall in Florida when I was there back in March to visit my dad. You would have been impressed with this one. Every store was an upscale store. Sephora, Michael Kors, Lucky Jeans, all top name stores, and no discount stores. It was 2 floors, beautifully decorated and very expensive. I was in awe just walking around. There was nothing there for me to buy. Just way too expensive all around. I'm surprised they didn't charge for parking.
Short Hills Mall has valet parking. Plus some swanky stores and lots of pencil-thin Asian ladies walking around burdened by Van Cleef and Arpel bags.
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