Showing posts with label Joan Crawford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joan Crawford. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Joan Crawford, paella, and Pepsi

 
Found this odd and oddly affecting promotional video for Pepsi from 1969, thanks to Lypsinka, by way of Michael Musto's blog http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/.  I know I'm supposed to laugh at it  for how bizarre it is by today's standards (and it is bizarre), but mostly I feel awash in the type of mid-century wonder and goodness that is like a balm to me.  It is a communion with the graceful power of Joan Crawford.  Like a mouthful of Wonder Bread and a sip of Pepsi, it makes me feel whole and, believe it or not, proudly American.  Thank you, Joan.  I'm glad that conventional housewife and mother let you borrow her daughter to take her on a tour of the grocery store and buy Spanish sausage.  I just wish it could have been me. 

In other news, I've changed the background.  I can't make up my mind, so expect it to change again once or twice more before I settle on something.  I admit to being a complete novice at this medium...hell, I can't even figure out why my royalty free photos from prior blogs have gone awol.  If you have thoughts or opinions, feel free to share 'em.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Wedding Bells

I ate my feelings today.  Let's just be honest.  We all know when we're doing it, and I did it in spades.  And didn't spend a cent.  The office was loaded up with treats today flowing in from all directions.  It was also loaded with the stress of ringing phones and employees needing assistance, asking for special requests, etc. 

To explain, I am the operations/communications admin for a corporate office of about 170 employees.  I work at the front desk, greet visitors, answer the phone, handle incoming deliveries, make announcements, order supplies, process employee paperwork, handle office equipment, the security system, blah-blah-blah.  Most of the time enjoy it because I get to use my personality, cheer people up throughout the day, provide a zany but professional spirit and give good customer service.  But on the occasional day like today???  There were several times I wanted to grab my rhinestone handled letter opener (which makes me feel like Joan Crawford every time I use it) and gouge my eyes out like Oedipus.  Instead, I ate.  The ironic thing is that I've been worried about gaining weight lately, and those concerns coupled with seeing myself in a couple of unflattering photos and being unhappy with my mid-section only made it more difficult to refrain from eating.  I piled my plate high and somewhere in the back of my head I thought "who knows when this will come again?  Grab it while you may!!!!"

Of course, it's not the end of the world.  I skipped dinner tonight and will just go back to eating like normal again tomorrow, waiting until I'm hungry.  I can do it.  I can.  And the few pounds I've gained in the past week will melt off. No worries.  In fact they could just be the daily fluctuation of 3 lbs that they say occurs.  I can't pay any attention to the feeling that my thighs have grown two inches, it will only compel me to give in and say "Awww, what the fuck.  If I'm gonna have tree trunks for legs, let's live it the shit up!"  No.  Instead, remember how you lost the 30 pounds you've lost, how hard it was to get here, enjoy the results and keep up the good work. 

One of the events that helped to pack on a pound or two was a wedding I went to on Saturday at the Saint Mary's cathedral.  It's unarguably the most impressive church in town, nestled in the heart of downtown Austin.  Stepping in it immediately made me feel like a kid again, being with my Irish Catholic Grandmother, standing by her side as she lit a candle in remembrance.  There's something about the majesty and grandeur about Catholicism that makes the whole world seem just a little more sacred.  And when you step out into the world again, you take just a piece of that majesty with you.  So in spite of not being a practicing Catholic anymore, having found a church most folks would call New Age, I still love feeling like a Catholic again and will never pass up the opportunity to go to Midnight Mass.




Anyway, the service, and the bride were lovely.  She looked like a Princess out of a Disney film. 
Really.  I'm not just saying that, because she's not likely to see this.  And anyone who's first dance starts with "You're the One That I want" from Grease?  Come on.  I have to say, everything about this wedding was pretty extravagant.  The reception was held at the Driskoll, a very chi-chi hotel in Austin, it was stunningly decorated, everything was impeccable.  Her little girl dream come true.  And of course, being at a wedding, you can't help thinking about your own, even a little...even if it's not legal in most states...
                                                         

Me, I'd want something pretty informal, with a reception at a Barbecue Joint, seventy-five close friends and family, and a swing band.  I know barbecue and swing don't necessarily go together, but we'd make em fit.  Oh yeah, and the grooms cake...would have to be an armadillo cake, grey frosting on the outside and red velvet on the inside.  Tacky, maybe, but to my mind, delightful.  Of course, you've gotta get a man first...

Cursive

  Last week I returned to doing my  morning pages , a practice I was committed to for years, and then abandoned, at least partially in the d...