Random Thoughts

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If tailors/manufacturers can put inside pockets in men's jackets, why not in women's jackets? They can't even use the excuse of "ruining the lines", the way they do with pants & skirts, because 1.) it doesn't ruin the lines on men, and 2.) it would be less likely to do so on us as women are already more "lumpy" in that area than men.

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Here's something you rarely see: men in kilts riding bicycles. The question is, is it really something we want to see--and I'm asking that as a lover of kilts. (FWIW, this crossed my mind while watching Hamish Macbeth, a program set in Scotland.)

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Uncle Pookie and I watched PBS' American Masters program on John Wayne and John Ford. While they were talking about The Quiet Man, one of the men commenting said that, by that time, Ford was aiming for a transparent style; if a shot didn't work for the characters or the story, he didn't want it. I like that. It shows a humbleness before the story that is admirable.

Not that Ford the man was all that humble. I think it's often the case that good or great artists become larger men while making their art than they are in their personal lives.

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I know our cat only "cared" out of self-interest, but it's still kind of (sorta, almost) sad that no one cares anymore when I open a can of tuna. No one wants to drink the tuna water, either.

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Like many Americans, I enjoy English accents, but with age I'm finding the more I hear Irishmen speak, the more I prefer an Irish accent. At least on men. There's something sexy about real Irish accents (as opposed to those TV leprechaun ones) coming from a man.

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Modern people are supposed to be so much more sophisticated than previous generations because our fictional heroes always have faults--i.e. we're too sophisticated to believe in unmitigated goodness. But we're also the people who increasingly hold that the Founding Fathers were complete scum because some of them owned slaves. So...we're sophisticated enough to believe that heroes must have some fault, else they're not really believably human, but we're not sophisticated enough to believe that otherwise great--even good--men may have moral failings.

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I don't know why the wearing of casual dresses ever fell in favor, especially in hot, humid climates. I found an attractive olive denim shirt dress at the thrift store a few months ago and, man, is it easy to wear. Just pull one garment out of the closet, put it on, add some sandals, and you're dressed; there's no matching tops and bottoms, and there's plenty of air circulation to keep you--well, as cool as is possible in a former swamp. Yet most women around here wear pants or shorts all summer.

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You know what I'd like to see? A kimono made of a red plaid--something like the design you used to see on metal lunchboxes, maybe--worn with a black obi. Let the cross-fertilization of cultures accelerate!

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I saw the practice of medicine referred to as a white collar job. I guess it is, yet I can't think of any blue collar or service industry job that has the potential to get you so nastily dirty as doctors sometimes get while pursuing their job.

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If a religious group promoted the wearing of hobble skirts, they would rightly be denounced as oppressive to women, but if designers or fetishists promote it, somehow it's all about fun, fashion, and freedom.

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I like the word "pop" a lot more when it's the onomatopoeic word than when it's the shortening of "popular", though I know a lot of people wouldn't understand that. (FWIW, I don't like it at all when it's the word for soft drinks, but that's just a regional prejudice.)

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Wouldn't it be great to have a room with all sorts of great words (synagogue, macadamia, gumbo, gazebo, encumber, corinthian, biofuel, fustilugs, provender, ...) decorating the walls? There's some delicious words here: http://www.myfavoriteword.com/

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I'd really like to get me one of those rings the Green Lantern has, but I don't think those weird little men who supply them would give one to someone who'd have to be constantly fighting the urge to form a giant green mallet and whack annoying people on the head with it.

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I have never seen a woman on the history aisles in any bookstore I've been in. Are we leaving the study of history to men?

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It is funny--as in sad, pathetic, and frustrating--that so many people in America are so hyper-sensitive to anything that might possibly be perceived as racial in nature, that any discussion of race is strongly taboo. At least any discussion that goes beyond, "Racism is terrible, isn't it?" "Why yes, it is, I was just thinking the very same thing! And what a shame it is that we don't think about how terrible it is more often." "Stereotypes are truly the language of hate." That particular non-discussion we are all allowed to pat ourselves on the back with.

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Some factoids are just plain fun. For example, just today I learned that 1.) there is such a thing as turtle farms, and 2.) Mississippi turtle growers used to be referred to as the Turtle Mafia. Not only is the idea of a turtle farm cool, my rather dull, tired (tiresome doesn't cover it) day is a little brighter for having heard the term Turtle Mafia. I want to say it again and again: Turtle Mafia, Turtle Mafia!