Blah Blah Blog

First post of 2009.... better late than never? I've been waiting for some pics from my New Years Ski weekend, but they are still "in the mail." You can’t imagine what an incentive it is to have received THREE emails from actual Dottier readers requesting a post. They like me! They really, really like me! Okay. Sorry.

Light bulbs - I saw an article recently in a national publication about non-incandescent light bulbs. The writer was offering decorating tips to improve their coolness factor (as relating to being hip – nothing to do with temperature). Prior to that, I had no idea they were NOT something that all the Cool Kids were installing. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, a light bulb shaped like a pear is more visually pleasing than one shaped like a coil. Who knew? Here in SE Portland, Green is the Scene. You haven’t really arrived until your roof sprouts vegetables and your counter top compost is in place. And, let’s face it, the coil-shaped lights don’t put out quite the same level of light as the old ones. So unless you’re performing surgery or something, it can be an advantage. If you can’t see those gray roots very well, for instance, less color touch up needed. See?

Cell phone talkers – why has society widely accepted the premise that one person talking into a cell phone in a public place is obnoxious while two people carrying on an inane conversation is somehow acceptable? Really, if you happen to be alone trying to read your newspaper and drink your coffee in peace, aren't both scenarios are equally off-putting? My theory is that we’re offended by the cell phone talker because we can’t hear the other person. Our voyeurism is compromised. Listening in on two idiots yabbering is much more satisfying? I think not. My own annoyance level skyrockets when forced to wait for a flight with all the airline televisions blaring Fox News at full blast. I swear I'm going to get one of those stealth universal remotes and learn to surreptitiously hit the OFF button while keeping it hidden in my purse. Glee.

Older than the president – like many front-end boomers, I realized recently that come next Tuesday, I will be older than the US President for the first time. This reminded me of a conversation on this phenomenon with my late mother. She was lamenting the milestones of aging. First you’re older than the cops, then the doctors, then eventually, the President. “But you know you’re REALLY old,” she commented, “when you’re older than the Pope.” Why that’s so dang funny, I can’t explain, but it is.

War? (good god, y’all) Hmmmph! What is it good for? The message of Edwin Starr’s funky hit song is so ridiculously simplistic and audaciously precise, no wonder the obvious response is “Right On!” The current events in Gaza are only the latest manifestation of this truism. On a smaller, but no less tragic scale, my home town is presently witness to escalated gang wars between the local Crips and Bloods. The death toll since the beginning of December is already close to double digits and no one – neighborhood leaders, clergy or even former gang members – can effect a truce. Watching what this does to the fragile commerce in the area -- not to mention the nerves of its residents, provides a certain window into what life must be like for your average Afghanistan, Iraqi, Palestinian or even Israeli. What is it good for? Absolutely Nothing! Say it again.