Category Archives: Uncategorized

March 8, 2009 · 7:52 pm

Would your man wear a mirdle?

mirdle

I almost missed this one last week and then remembered something on twitter that mentioned the ‘mirdle’. Having a little time to myself on this fine Sunday I thought I would Google it and have a look see.

I have brought you a few other male foundation garments in the past. There were mantyhose, spanx-like pantyhose for men. And of course the ever popular mansierre.

This ‘mirdle’, or as the manufacturer, Equmen calls it, the ‘Core Precision Undershirt’ is quite the garment. Let’s see what they have to say about this baby:

Gently pulls the shoulders back while compressing the core. Targeted ventilation maximises breathability. Moisture-wicking action keeps you dry. Improves posture, supports core muscles, optimizes form, controls body temperature and visibly streamlines.

Hey, what doesn’t it do? Translation: makes fat guys buff. Check out the diagram:

singlet-catalogSeriously, this has way too many arrows. And honeslty, look at the picture above. Are we to believe that these guys get their shape from this undergarment. Why don’t they have a before and after pick of the fat schlub who is desperate enough  most inclined to purchase this item. Which, by the way is $99! Even the pricey bras don’t cost that much!

Here is something to think about. Are we, as a society, now leaning in a direction of manorexia? Is the obsession with thin now leaking over to what was once the more clueless sex. Think about it. All those years that the big fat guys would walk down the beach with their guts hanging out, are those days over?

Nah. I think, perhaps the mirdle just won’t make it. At least not at that price point.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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March 3, 2009 · 12:15 am

Time to Cry Tuesday – No time…literally

Sorry all, this week’s installment of Time to Cry Tuesday simply did not happen. In a crunch and did not have time to finish the post. I had a choice to watch 24 with my boys, or write. (aw).

Stay tuned next week for something brilliant and poignant.

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February 26, 2009 · 10:30 pm

The Daystretcher

Stretching Time.When I was little my grandfather had all of these great little sayings that we took for granted. Now that it has been many years since he died, 20 actually, I often think of his quotes and smile at how right on he was.

My favorite of these was, ‘I think you might need a daystretcher’. A man who was never idle, even in is older years, he knew the true meaning of never having enough time in a day. It was not uncommon to stop by his house and find him on a ladder cleaning the gutters… in his 70s!

I shared ‘daystretcher’ with someone today and realized how perfect it was. Thought it was a good follow up to Technojanitor.

Another favorite from Pop: “How much did you pay for that $5 shirt?”

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 17, 2009 · 7:33 pm

Taxicab Confessions Revisited or Putting the Social in Social Media

taxi

A quick aside, sorry for no Time to Cry Tuesday this week… had not time (to cry).

Back in October we had this wild experience in a cab with a driver who claimed to be Doug Ingle from Iron Butterfly. Go ahead and read that link, I will wait.

Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I received a comment on that post from someone named Ryan who said that their dad had the same experience. Small internet.

Today, I did my usual afternoon stat check (that is what we bloggers do to validate ourselves now and then) and I saw that there was an inordinate amount of hits on that very post. Linking to the source I was led here where sure enough there are others with the same story, and my post was linked about halfway down.

So this guy tells this story all the time. Maybe all of us that have been in his cab need a Facebook group. Or not.

Seriously, this is one of the greatest things about blogging. The internet gets smaller everyday. Things come full circle and people find others who have had the same experiences.

The social in social media.

On that note I will let you all know that this weekend I was lucky enough to meet two of my original blog friends, or as my family likes to refer to them, my imaginary friends. Shouting out to Wendy and Liz, who I am pretty sure I could have gone to summer camp with in another life. These are two women I am proud to say I am now REAL friends with. Or friends IRL (in real life) as they say in the blogosphere. For those who are fearful of meeting people online I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt, neither one of them is a psycho OR a creep.

Oh, and we are not dating for those who think that is the only reason to meet people online.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 14, 2009 · 12:23 am

Dan in Danville

dan_as_prize

Seriously, it is not child abuse when they are willingly participating in a humiliating act. Actually, this is the second time Danny and I have staged a shot like this. We love these machines. It makes me laugh because when his sister was little we had more than one meltdown in front of one of these machines soon after I had used the words, “This is absolutely the LAST quarter”.

This weekend is college tour roadtrip volume one. Hard to believe we are doing this with ‘the baby’ but we surely are. The pediatrician was right, nobody goes off to college still wearing diapers.

On the long strange trip of Route 80 to Penn State from NY we came across a town called Danville and new that we HAD to stop there for dinner. At Perkins! Everyone loves Perkins! I have fond college memories of the Perkins in Rochester (at 3AM).

So this is Danny in Danville. And yes he carries my warped affection for the absurd. After all, I labored with this child on my birthday and he was born at 1AM the next morning.

We are practically twins!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 5, 2009 · 11:34 pm

Manicures & Martinis

manicure_and_martinins

If you glance at the calendar you will see that tonight is the first Thursday of the month and that means only one thing… First Thursday’s dinner. Tonight there was some show and tell. This is the only item clean enough to share but it is a good one.

Fertility is hot lately, what with a crazed mommy machine squeaking out 8 babies last week. Let me disclaimer this post so as not to offend. I think this concept is fabulous, one of my best friends had kids through fertility treatments (no really, that one is true) and I have worked professionally on fertility patient information materials. Yes I get it is a serious topic. No I don’t think it is in poor taste to laugh about… well anything. That is the whole point.

Now that we got all that out of the way…

I would like to start by stating that I would attend just about any event that promised free manicures and martinis. Honestly, you could sell me on the virtues of embalming fluid at an event like this. Brilliant!

It would seem that this group, The American Fertility Association, is running a few seminars to ‘chat with a leading fertility expert in a safe and comfortable setting’. Oh right, because a fertility clinic or a doctor’s office are extremely dangerous venues. You never know who will be hanging around places like that!

The graphic here is fabulous, but the copy? Not so much. We did not quite get the part about being in your 20s or 30s and simply not being ready to have a baby right now. So the reason those women would come to this event would be? Oh right!

Free manicures and martinis.

Our favorite part of this ad? (and I am quite proud, for I was the only one at the table who could still read the small type). They will also be offering alcohol-free Fertilitinis. What a great name for a drink. Could you imagine serving those at a club?

I guess you would drink them under the biological clock that is ticking above the bar.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 3, 2009 · 12:26 am

Time to Cry Tuesday – Sunrise, Sunset

sunrise_sunset

The title of this post is for my brother. This is how I will be able to tell if he is reading. What, it’s not all about me and my blog?

When we were growing up my mom had a friend with a beautiful singing voice. At every Bar or Bat Mitzvah she would get up and sing Sunrise, Sunset with the band. As you would expect, all of us kids would roll our eyes, giggle a little, suffer glares and shushes from our parents and fidget our way through to the end of the song.

Years later, at my brother’s wedding, she got up and sang it again. As young adults the eye rolling was replaced with a wink, we had long since learned to stop fidgeting and our parents were way too busy full out weeping to worry about the likes of us.

Fast forward a quarter of a century. (this, too, is for my brother – everyone loves to think of themselves as being married for any fraction of a century, right?)

This past weekend I attended the Bar Mitzvah of a friend’s child. But this was not just ANY Bar Mitzvah. This, my friends, was the celebration of the last of the First Thursday children coming of age. The First Thursday group has existed since the month he was born, he is our measure for the length of our friendship and as you can imagine, he is our little mascot of sorts because of it. (surely every 13 year old boy would love to be referred to this way.)

Yes, number 18 has now become a man. Funny, but he still looked so young to me. Until the video montage looped its way into my line of sight and I saw all those kids frozen in time as they were when they were small.

Then I looked back on the dance floor and caught a glimpse of my sweet *J* (not Jana, this is my other J) in that beautiful blue satin dress the color of her eyes, of *N* and *K* in those drop dead sequin numbers with the high heels that would surely cripple the likes of me. And *V* dancing up a storm as if the whole damn world was her living room and she had it by the balls.

That’s when it friggin’ hit me. Like a ton of corny, OMG-I-have-surely-become-my-mother bricks…

I could have been singing the lyrics to Sunrise Sunset in my head.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 28, 2009 · 9:34 pm

Home Candy

home_candy2

Those have to be my two most favorite words on earth. Seriously, talk about branding. The comfort of home and the rush of sugar. And this shot, with the confectionary dusting of snow in front of the sign is too good to be true.

When I took this picture I was not familiar with the store. Now that I have checked them out online I am hopelessly in love. Talk about innovation in merchandising. Kind of like a sale in a garage… garage sale? Their goods are the type of things that you could surely live without out but you think really NEED.

Love. Love. Love.

Except for these fluffy mittens. These I don’t get at all. And I REALLY don’t get them at $70 or even the sale price of $59.50.

But the dog bowls… very cool. Kitchenware… want everything on this page (except the egg tray, just don’t serve this many eggs unless it is Passover) . The Vintage Collection is a riot. Pretty sure between my mom and I we have most of these items. I may have to rename this section ‘Nana’s Pantry’. (seriously Mom, check this out, you will crack up). And the grand finale… the wallets are very fun.

You just never know when you grab a quick shot walking down the street what you will uncover.

Again, that is why I always carry a camera.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 25, 2009 · 9:24 pm

Now she becomes a book reviewer?!

6a00d83451a8cf69e2010536eb729f970c-120wiI have spent the last 20 years trying my best to get involved in a book club and I have finally found the type I could handle. A virtual one. Yes, I know, I have a strange knack of finding almost everything I need in the basement. Kind of scary, but hey, it works for me.

The Silicon Valley Moms Blog was given the opportunity to review Diana Spechler’s new novel, Who by Fire. I jumped at the chance to read this and share my thoughts with the group. Other reviews will be linked at the bottom of this post as well as the lead in post on our group blog. The author will be available there for comments throughout the day, making this quite intriguing for me to participate in.

This is an interesting story about the power of family and how circumstance and human frailty can compromise these bonds. Being one who hates when a book review gives away the entire story – because then why bother – I will be brief in my description.

The story opens with the disappearance of the youngest of three children. It is set in a suburban community not unlike my own. The family is Jewish, and similar to my own family, more traditional than truly religious. The loss of their young daughter causes irreparable damage to this family. The parents split and the remaining siblings take very different paths. The son turns to Orthodox Judaism and flees to Israel, the daughter turns to a life of unfulfilling sexual encounters, often with strangers.

You are thinking, so much for not giving too many details? Sorry, you need these to follow my ‘review’. This is not a traditional book review filled with likes and dislikes or analysis of writing style. I did enjoy the book, found it a quick read and would recommend it for that reason. However it is the lesson from this story that stuck with me and kept me thinking long after I put the book down.

This book was about motherhood and the lengths to which we will go to save our children and preserve a sense of family unity, sometimes at the risk of destroying the individuals and their right to choose their own paths. As mothers, we claim to want to see our children lead happy and fulfilling lives. But what happens when the path they choose is not the one we sought for them? Do we support their life decisions, or do we push them away with the very acts that we think will draw them closer?

The mother in this story is torn by her son’s decision to pursue a more religious path than she has taken. She goes so far as to consider his choice cult-like. It aggravated me to think of how this tortured her and led her to manipulate her kids. I have known people who have chosen to live more religious lives than their parents. Although it is hard on their families they work it out and respect their lifestyle.

The hardest thing for a parent to do is to hold their tongue and only give advice when it is asked for. We live in a generation of helicopter parenting and over-involvement that sometimes pushes our families away instead of drawing them closer.

So far I have been fortunate to have children who have level heads and make well informed solid choices. But they are on the cusp of their adulthood. The choices get harder from here on. My only hope is that I will always be able to support them no matter who they are and where life leads them.

If you would like to read more reviews of this book you can find them below. Please be warned that these are more traditional reviews and give full details of the story.

Florinda at The 3 Rs blog

Rebecca at The Book Lady’s Blog

Julie at Booking Mama

Marie at Boston Bibliophile

Gayle Weiswasser at Everyday I Write the Book Blog

Meghan at Meghan’s Mindless Muttering

Sarah at Genesis Moments

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 17, 2009 · 10:47 pm

Need a Jolt?

jolt-gum

I am one of those people that has a pack of gum on their desk and during the course of the day will chew the entire thing while I am working. It is some kind of OCD rabid chewing habit that one can only hone when working by themselves in the basement. It’s sort of anti-social to be snapping and popping away all day when someone shares your workspace. The dog? She could not care less.

So here’s the thing. This Jolt gum? If you read the fine print on the bottom left of the package you will find out that 2 pieces of this stuff is equal to 1 energy drink. Yeh, so that would mean that the whole pack would be equal to a pot of coffee or maybe letting the air out of a balloon and buzzing around the ceiling! I suppose that would be why their tagline would be: “Chew More, Do More”. I love their disclaimer on the website. “GumRunners, LLC supports responsible chewing. Please chew responsibly. Or responsively. Or both.” Sounds like these guys have chewed quite a bit themselves.

Don’t worry, I did not eat all 12 pieces at once. But maybe 4. And let me tell you, this is not recommended for someone with high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat. Um, yes I would be raising my hand for those last two ailments. Note to self: switch back to Orbit.

I will, however, praise the makers of Jolt gum for supporting the USA National Team, even if they do humiliate that poor swimmer by photographing him with that ridiculous bonnet-like bathing cap on his head. Don’t you think the strings on this sucker are hideously long? But they do give 5 cents from the sale of every pack to the team and all kidding aside that makes me love this brand. They also support the military. No joke. They sent 25,000 free packs of gum overseas to our troops.

Honestly, there is nothing I love more than a brand with a sense of humor and cause-related programs. My two favorites. Kudos to you Jolt-peeps for bringing the buzz out of the cola into this chewy delight! Hey, do you make a decaf version?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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