Thursday, October 8, 2015
A few days ago, I went into the bathroom. I was wearing a very full long caftan and over it a large bulky also long cape/shawl sweater thingy. I gathered it all up in front of me so it wouldn't dunk in the water, with great difficulty, because the cape was long in the back and both sides, with fringes. I sat down and did my thing, and it was awfully .... wet. I had forgotten to pull my panties down.
I suddenly felt very old.
I've never done that before. I mentioned it to Daughter, and she blushed and confessed that she had occasionally done the same thing. So, maybe it's not old. Just distraction?
On the other hand, I've been watching a lot of BBC historical documentaries. Two of them involved Queen Victoria. I'm noticing a distressing similarity in the mirror to post-Albert Victoria.
Oh dear.
(She was a few inches taller than I and only a few pounds heavier - but I don't look that big, do I? I've GOT to change my hairstyle! And stop wearing the damn crown!)
I am reminded of something a wise man told me once about how a man feels about a woman:
- he is attracted to the way she looks,
- intrigued by the way she thinks,
- charmed by the way she acts,
- and falls in love with the way she makes him feel.
Forty years later, when she's wrinkled, jowly, thickened, and saggy, well, three out of four ain't bad.
.
Showing posts with label appearance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label appearance. Show all posts
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
1194 Back Again, Again
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
[Edit - fixed the date.]
I'm back from a visit with Daughter and Hercules, and I'm so tired at this point I literally can't see straight. I occasionally pull all-nighters, and they don't seem to affect me too badly, so I don't know why I'm so tired. Maybe it was from thinking a lot as opposed to doing a lot.
It was a very good visit. A lot of very good things happened. Rather than attempt to compose an entry tonight, I'm going to simply paste in an email I wrote earlier this evening.
A few explanatory notes:
The person to whom I am writing the note, a family member, had sent me one of those "going around the internet things". The text was about how you can tell that summer's coming when young women start displaying their belly buttons, followed by a photo of a very heavy woman sitting on a park bench. The skirt of the woman's dress reaches to her knees, and hanging down from under the hem, between her spread knees, is a fold of drooping belly, complete with belly button.
And I hope the woman who sent me the sculpture park photos will not be offended. The outrage at the deterioration of morality upon which I comment was not hers, but that of the person who sent it to her.
I have edited to remove real names and insert the usual [aliases].
------------start of email-----------
I opened the "spring belly button" on the ancient desktop, and so the photo "revealed" very slowly, a line at a time. It crept down and I thought, "yes, not a belly button I'd want to see", and then it got to the skirt hem, then below, and then I almost fell off the chair! OMG!!
My second thought was "the poor woman". She probably didn't realize what was showing. I think we can be pretty certain that even if she knew her picture was being taken, she wouldn't want to be broadcast looking like that all over the internet! I worry that somehow, someone, some way, maybe someone who knows her, will send it to her. Of course, the photo may have been "shopped", and she didn't really look like that at all, but she's still a real person, and that might even be worse.
I guess I'm a prude. Am I strange to worry about the feelings of a stranger?
I got a broadcast from a woman in a retirement community in Miami, a blogging-buddy, complaining about how "this sculpture park" (in Denmark, I think) proves the erosion of morality today. Included were about 30 photos of anatomically correct statues, mostly couples in XXX-rated positions.
Now, I have to wonder, why would someone who is so concerned about the erosion of morals send those photos to 70 of their closest friends?
Ok, yeah, I'm a prude, and proud of it.
---------------------------------------
I was amazed at the latest photos of [niece]'s tummy. Now THAT's a belly button to be proud of! I can't believe how perfectly round she is. I also can't believe there's still so long to go. This is the first tummy I've seen where the word "burst" is the first thought. "Twins" is the second.
-----------------------------------------
I was visiting [Daughter] and [Hercules] Monday and Tuesday. [Daughter] and I went out with her realtor and looked at some houses. It was interesting and fun.
[Daughter] is very easily swayed by propinquity to woods. She's in love with, and they have a (too low) bid in on, a house that's more than they can afford, and very tiny, but that backs on woods and a creek. I pointed out that she and [Hercules] often need to have space between them. This house has the rooms arranged all around the center, so that no matter where they are in the house, they'd never be more than just around the corner from each other. She agreed that could be a problem.
One house she liked was in very bad condition, but much larger and $70,000 less than most of what they'd seen, so maybe they could fix it up. I found some, and I suspect extensive, dry rot. I advised her she'd not be buying a house, but a lot and foundation. This house was meant for someone who wants to tear down and custom-build.
Another house was extremely ugly inside, and the tenants lived like pigs. It was really bad. But the structure looked sound and well-kept, and there was nothing a crowbar, paint, new flooring and new molding wouldn't fix. It had great potential. Best of all, it had three or four bedrooms, an attic that smelled like an attic should, and was big enough that if they were in opposite ends, they'd be completely unaware of each other. Oh, and the roof looked new. Even if they don't go for that house (it's next to a busy road), I hope she at least learned a little bit from my comments. (I had promised myself I would make no persuasive comments at all, but, well, I tried to be quiet, but she asked....)
She and [Hercules] are both frustrated that they can't find something that a) they both agree on, b) they can afford, and c) doesn't sell out from under them. I explained to her my "theory of fate":
I told her that things happen as they should. If they don't find the perfect house now, or what seems to be the perfect house is torn away from them, it's because it's not yet the right time, or not yet the right house. It will all happen as it should.
That doesn't mean that bad things don't happen. Sometimes bad things happen because they should, because there is an experience you are meant to have, or a lesson you need to learn. You might buy the absolute perfect house, and then find it's on a floodplain. Those kinds of bad things you recover from eventually, and you are stronger, smarter, and better for them.
That's only if you have been honest and moral going into something. If you cheat, or do something you know is wrong, then any bad outcome is not a survivable beneficial lesson, but deserved retribution, from which you learn and earn nothing. It's not part of your "path", because you left your path. I really believe this.
[Daughter] was surprised when I said that. "Retribution" sounded like, um, God, religion, which isn't "me". I said it's not necessarily a religious thing. It's not an old man up there meting out punishment. It's just the way things work. Actually, it's probably psychology. Surviving, learning, and strengthening from something you did not cause is easier than from something you know was your own "badness". But that's not all of it. I do believe that some things are "ordained", are meant to happen on your path to enlightenment. I believe that if you do and be "good", stay true to yourself, then things will happen as they should, and even if they seem bad, they are necessary.
-------------------------------------
On the personal front, after many less than satisfactory experiences, I have killed all my online dating profiles. If I ever try that again, I'm going to be a lot more mysterious on paper, and insist on a fast meeting, so that the dashed expectations aren't so painful.
On March 3rd, I met a new man at a weekend Mensa gathering in New Jersey. Absolutely everything is wrong with the whole thing! He lives too far away ([Northern NJ]), he's too tall, too urban, too much into sports, too into pop culture, and much much too young (46). I absolutely cannot see him walking in the woods or going to county fairs with me. But he's nice looking, has a fast and eclectic mind that fascinates me, a backstory I'd like to hear, and he seems to be impressed with something about me. Not sure what, but I'll take it. He had dinner with[Daughter], [Hercules], and me last Monday. [Daughter]'s opinion is that maybe it won't work in the long run, but otherwise she approves and says "Have fun, Mom!"
Well, we'll see. He's certainly very attentive. I haven't had that in a very long time.
------------end of email-----------
When I said "everything is wrong", I am referring to "The Requirements". I sort of had an idea of what I wanted to find in a man. (I'm going to call this guy "The Man".) The Man is nice looking, but appearance wasn't a requirement. Among the requirements were that a candidate for my affections had to be smarter and faster than I, and possess an intricate mind. I think he does. It's the first thing I noticed about him. I suspect that he can not only stand up to me, but is capable of manipulating the "Master Manipulator" (as I have been called, but never believed). He could be very dangerous.
In no other way does he fit any of the other oh-so-important requirements, like age, height, propinquity, retirement (available time), social similarities, etc. It's interesting that I'm beginning to think that maybe those aren't so important after all. He does do volunteer work with autistic kids. A service requirement I hadn't considered.
Dangerous.
Hmmmm.
"Have fun, Mom!"
.
[Edit - fixed the date.]
I'm back from a visit with Daughter and Hercules, and I'm so tired at this point I literally can't see straight. I occasionally pull all-nighters, and they don't seem to affect me too badly, so I don't know why I'm so tired. Maybe it was from thinking a lot as opposed to doing a lot.
It was a very good visit. A lot of very good things happened. Rather than attempt to compose an entry tonight, I'm going to simply paste in an email I wrote earlier this evening.
A few explanatory notes:
The person to whom I am writing the note, a family member, had sent me one of those "going around the internet things". The text was about how you can tell that summer's coming when young women start displaying their belly buttons, followed by a photo of a very heavy woman sitting on a park bench. The skirt of the woman's dress reaches to her knees, and hanging down from under the hem, between her spread knees, is a fold of drooping belly, complete with belly button.
And I hope the woman who sent me the sculpture park photos will not be offended. The outrage at the deterioration of morality upon which I comment was not hers, but that of the person who sent it to her.
I have edited to remove real names and insert the usual [aliases].
------------start of email-----------
I opened the "spring belly button" on the ancient desktop, and so the photo "revealed" very slowly, a line at a time. It crept down and I thought, "yes, not a belly button I'd want to see", and then it got to the skirt hem, then below, and then I almost fell off the chair! OMG!!
My second thought was "the poor woman". She probably didn't realize what was showing. I think we can be pretty certain that even if she knew her picture was being taken, she wouldn't want to be broadcast looking like that all over the internet! I worry that somehow, someone, some way, maybe someone who knows her, will send it to her. Of course, the photo may have been "shopped", and she didn't really look like that at all, but she's still a real person, and that might even be worse.
I guess I'm a prude. Am I strange to worry about the feelings of a stranger?
I got a broadcast from a woman in a retirement community in Miami, a blogging-buddy, complaining about how "this sculpture park" (in Denmark, I think) proves the erosion of morality today. Included were about 30 photos of anatomically correct statues, mostly couples in XXX-rated positions.
Now, I have to wonder, why would someone who is so concerned about the erosion of morals send those photos to 70 of their closest friends?
Ok, yeah, I'm a prude, and proud of it.
---------------------------------------
I was amazed at the latest photos of [niece]'s tummy. Now THAT's a belly button to be proud of! I can't believe how perfectly round she is. I also can't believe there's still so long to go. This is the first tummy I've seen where the word "burst" is the first thought. "Twins" is the second.
-----------------------------------------
I was visiting [Daughter] and [Hercules] Monday and Tuesday. [Daughter] and I went out with her realtor and looked at some houses. It was interesting and fun.
[Daughter] is very easily swayed by propinquity to woods. She's in love with, and they have a (too low) bid in on, a house that's more than they can afford, and very tiny, but that backs on woods and a creek. I pointed out that she and [Hercules] often need to have space between them. This house has the rooms arranged all around the center, so that no matter where they are in the house, they'd never be more than just around the corner from each other. She agreed that could be a problem.
One house she liked was in very bad condition, but much larger and $70,000 less than most of what they'd seen, so maybe they could fix it up. I found some, and I suspect extensive, dry rot. I advised her she'd not be buying a house, but a lot and foundation. This house was meant for someone who wants to tear down and custom-build.
Another house was extremely ugly inside, and the tenants lived like pigs. It was really bad. But the structure looked sound and well-kept, and there was nothing a crowbar, paint, new flooring and new molding wouldn't fix. It had great potential. Best of all, it had three or four bedrooms, an attic that smelled like an attic should, and was big enough that if they were in opposite ends, they'd be completely unaware of each other. Oh, and the roof looked new. Even if they don't go for that house (it's next to a busy road), I hope she at least learned a little bit from my comments. (I had promised myself I would make no persuasive comments at all, but, well, I tried to be quiet, but she asked....)
She and [Hercules] are both frustrated that they can't find something that a) they both agree on, b) they can afford, and c) doesn't sell out from under them. I explained to her my "theory of fate":
I told her that things happen as they should. If they don't find the perfect house now, or what seems to be the perfect house is torn away from them, it's because it's not yet the right time, or not yet the right house. It will all happen as it should.
That doesn't mean that bad things don't happen. Sometimes bad things happen because they should, because there is an experience you are meant to have, or a lesson you need to learn. You might buy the absolute perfect house, and then find it's on a floodplain. Those kinds of bad things you recover from eventually, and you are stronger, smarter, and better for them.
That's only if you have been honest and moral going into something. If you cheat, or do something you know is wrong, then any bad outcome is not a survivable beneficial lesson, but deserved retribution, from which you learn and earn nothing. It's not part of your "path", because you left your path. I really believe this.
[Daughter] was surprised when I said that. "Retribution" sounded like, um, God, religion, which isn't "me". I said it's not necessarily a religious thing. It's not an old man up there meting out punishment. It's just the way things work. Actually, it's probably psychology. Surviving, learning, and strengthening from something you did not cause is easier than from something you know was your own "badness". But that's not all of it. I do believe that some things are "ordained", are meant to happen on your path to enlightenment. I believe that if you do and be "good", stay true to yourself, then things will happen as they should, and even if they seem bad, they are necessary.
-------------------------------------
On the personal front, after many less than satisfactory experiences, I have killed all my online dating profiles. If I ever try that again, I'm going to be a lot more mysterious on paper, and insist on a fast meeting, so that the dashed expectations aren't so painful.
On March 3rd, I met a new man at a weekend Mensa gathering in New Jersey. Absolutely everything is wrong with the whole thing! He lives too far away ([Northern NJ]), he's too tall, too urban, too much into sports, too into pop culture, and much much too young (46). I absolutely cannot see him walking in the woods or going to county fairs with me. But he's nice looking, has a fast and eclectic mind that fascinates me, a backstory I'd like to hear, and he seems to be impressed with something about me. Not sure what, but I'll take it. He had dinner with[Daughter], [Hercules], and me last Monday. [Daughter]'s opinion is that maybe it won't work in the long run, but otherwise she approves and says "Have fun, Mom!"
Well, we'll see. He's certainly very attentive. I haven't had that in a very long time.
------------end of email-----------
When I said "everything is wrong", I am referring to "The Requirements". I sort of had an idea of what I wanted to find in a man. (I'm going to call this guy "The Man".) The Man is nice looking, but appearance wasn't a requirement. Among the requirements were that a candidate for my affections had to be smarter and faster than I, and possess an intricate mind. I think he does. It's the first thing I noticed about him. I suspect that he can not only stand up to me, but is capable of manipulating the "Master Manipulator" (as I have been called, but never believed). He could be very dangerous.
In no other way does he fit any of the other oh-so-important requirements, like age, height, propinquity, retirement (available time), social similarities, etc. It's interesting that I'm beginning to think that maybe those aren't so important after all. He does do volunteer work with autistic kids. A service requirement I hadn't considered.
Dangerous.
Hmmmm.
"Have fun, Mom!"
.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
#591 Question 17 thru 17c
The weather is iffy again - one forecaster says 1 to 3 inches of snow, another says 4 to 8 inches. Gak!
There's a lot I want to say, but it's not the right time (not that it's ever the right time, but I'm getting superstitious). It's this silly roller coaster. The view from the top is wonderful, but the low stretches go through swamps. I was pretty much in the swamps yesterday, then I got a phone call late last night that zipped me right to the top again.
I probably won't be posting again until perhaps Sunday night. I'll be attending a Mensa Regional Gathering this weekend.
----------------------------------------
Continuing with questions from The Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D., Workman Publishing Company, Inc., $6.95. (If you like the idea, you should buy the book. Get yourself all the questions at once.)
17. Would you be willing to become extremely ugly physically if it meant you would live for 1,000 years at any physical age you chose?
No, but not to the physically ugly part, "no" to the "live 1,000 years" part. I don't want to live that long. I especially wouldn't want to live that long at the same age all the time. It would get terribly boring. The thing I've enjoyed most about the 61 years I've already lived has been the way I've so obviously grown and learned and changed, as a function of age and increased maturity. After the first 150 years, I think I might stop changing, or else I'd turn into a walking saint, or ignored sage, any of which would be pretty boring. I'd rather just die in the proper time, and get on to the next step. (Whisper - Although, to be honest, I wouldn't mind a guarantee of another 40 years at this age....)
17a. How much are you affected by a person's physical appearance?
Well, there's two groups here. There's the "beautiful people" versus the not-so-pretty people, and there's the people who make an attempt to look their best versus the people who are, let's face it, slobs.
Beautiful versus not-so-pretty doesn't affect me much, although sometimes when someone is TOO pretty, male or female, I'll expect shallowness at first, and need a little more proof of their niceness before I'll let them in. As proof that I easily go the other way, beyond beauty, I offer that I've had many mild or major crushes on men who were physically mud-puddle ugly by any standard. I think many nerdy guys are cute.
I have more trouble with the people who try (they might fail, but at least they tried) versus the slobs. People who don't take care of their appearance, who don't make the slightest effort to look at least decent, will get an instant cringe from me. I'll have a lot of trouble getting past their appearance. There's a woman I know now, that I know to be nice (if a bit ditzy and an attention hog) and I know if I gave her a chance I might be able to overlook her faults and enjoy her craziness, but she's a SLOB! Bad posture, grossly overweight, mismatched clashing clothing, bad messy hairdo, no makeup. She always looks like she should crawl back under the rock, and she defiantly doesn't care. I hate to admit it, but I just can't get past the cringes. Even considering that, by comparison, I'd look absolutely terrific standing next to her, I don't want to stand next to her. I'd keep trying to tuck her blouse in.
17b. How would it change your life if something happened to make you much less attractive than you are now?
On the one hand, it would make it harder to attract friendly interest. On the other hand, any interest I attracted would be truer. Other than that, I don't think I would be otherwise affected. I have a fairly good self-image, only partly based on appearance.
17c. Do you find anything disturbing about immortality? What age seems ideal to you?
See 17. Believing in reincarnation makes it a lot easier to reject boring immortality. Thirty-seven was a nice age, but I kinda like where I am now, too. I'm a lot smarter, and the body hasn't started falling apart yet.
There's a lot I want to say, but it's not the right time (not that it's ever the right time, but I'm getting superstitious). It's this silly roller coaster. The view from the top is wonderful, but the low stretches go through swamps. I was pretty much in the swamps yesterday, then I got a phone call late last night that zipped me right to the top again.
I probably won't be posting again until perhaps Sunday night. I'll be attending a Mensa Regional Gathering this weekend.
----------------------------------------
Continuing with questions from The Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D., Workman Publishing Company, Inc., $6.95. (If you like the idea, you should buy the book. Get yourself all the questions at once.)
17. Would you be willing to become extremely ugly physically if it meant you would live for 1,000 years at any physical age you chose?
No, but not to the physically ugly part, "no" to the "live 1,000 years" part. I don't want to live that long. I especially wouldn't want to live that long at the same age all the time. It would get terribly boring. The thing I've enjoyed most about the 61 years I've already lived has been the way I've so obviously grown and learned and changed, as a function of age and increased maturity. After the first 150 years, I think I might stop changing, or else I'd turn into a walking saint, or ignored sage, any of which would be pretty boring. I'd rather just die in the proper time, and get on to the next step. (Whisper - Although, to be honest, I wouldn't mind a guarantee of another 40 years at this age....)
17a. How much are you affected by a person's physical appearance?
Well, there's two groups here. There's the "beautiful people" versus the not-so-pretty people, and there's the people who make an attempt to look their best versus the people who are, let's face it, slobs.
Beautiful versus not-so-pretty doesn't affect me much, although sometimes when someone is TOO pretty, male or female, I'll expect shallowness at first, and need a little more proof of their niceness before I'll let them in. As proof that I easily go the other way, beyond beauty, I offer that I've had many mild or major crushes on men who were physically mud-puddle ugly by any standard. I think many nerdy guys are cute.
I have more trouble with the people who try (they might fail, but at least they tried) versus the slobs. People who don't take care of their appearance, who don't make the slightest effort to look at least decent, will get an instant cringe from me. I'll have a lot of trouble getting past their appearance. There's a woman I know now, that I know to be nice (if a bit ditzy and an attention hog) and I know if I gave her a chance I might be able to overlook her faults and enjoy her craziness, but she's a SLOB! Bad posture, grossly overweight, mismatched clashing clothing, bad messy hairdo, no makeup. She always looks like she should crawl back under the rock, and she defiantly doesn't care. I hate to admit it, but I just can't get past the cringes. Even considering that, by comparison, I'd look absolutely terrific standing next to her, I don't want to stand next to her. I'd keep trying to tuck her blouse in.
17b. How would it change your life if something happened to make you much less attractive than you are now?
On the one hand, it would make it harder to attract friendly interest. On the other hand, any interest I attracted would be truer. Other than that, I don't think I would be otherwise affected. I have a fairly good self-image, only partly based on appearance.
17c. Do you find anything disturbing about immortality? What age seems ideal to you?
See 17. Believing in reincarnation makes it a lot easier to reject boring immortality. Thirty-seven was a nice age, but I kinda like where I am now, too. I'm a lot smarter, and the body hasn't started falling apart yet.
Monday, December 26, 2005
#495 Quiz - What's Important to Me
[May 2011 update: A lot of people are getting here through a search for "what's important to me". Please note that the link below still works, I think, but the quiz you'll find there is NOT the same quiz I took way back when. The new quiz is rather short and shallow. And the pie chart I got when I took it no longer shows.]
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
Health is most important in your life.
Having a high focus on health indicates that you are very health-conscious and you realize that if you don't have your health, you have nothing. You are devoted to living healthy.
I don't know why they chose "Health". Seems like they could have just as easily chosen Love, or Fun, or Career. Of course, I eat vegetables and fruit. I guess they thought that was more important than the fact that I smoke/have smoked.
Love or Fun would have been most accurate.
~~Silk
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
Health is most important in your life.
Having a high focus on health indicates that you are very health-conscious and you realize that if you don't have your health, you have nothing. You are devoted to living healthy.
I don't know why they chose "Health". Seems like they could have just as easily chosen Love, or Fun, or Career. Of course, I eat vegetables and fruit. I guess they thought that was more important than the fact that I smoke/have smoked.
Love or Fun would have been most accurate.
I think Money got high because I said I will pick up pennies on the street (I consider them lucky. I don't spend lucky coins.) Family got low because none of my family lives nearby.
This quiz actually reflects more one's circumstances than where one places importance.
~~Silk
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