The Cult of the Body

The media would have us believe that warlike and sexual video games, movies, tv shows and other outlets have no bearing on society. It's "fantasy" we're told. But, try and limit what is said in commercials and they bemoan the fact that without advertising this companies will go out of business. If what we see and hear in media doesn't have influence then why are we subjected to all the political ads come election time. Letting your customer base know you have a product is one thing. Selling it like the second coming is quite another. I quote myself from a previous post "don't piss on me and tell me it's raining". Mind control is mind control...Madison Avenue and their ilk have morphed from admen to madmen. What exactly is the difference between the evening news and Dancing with the Stars? Both are trying to sell us something...

I hope nobody thinks this is just a problem for women.

RY: On curvy how 'bout Norma Jean. She certainly wasn't a size 0, not even a size 6 but she is the woman who most men dream of. At least most men of a certain age. Like those of us who shopped at Robert Halls. A cliche' I know but beauty is most assuredly in the eye's of the beholder. My bride has many more curves today than 32 years ago and somehow gets my motor running at the same high revs. I'm not just whistling dixie...she gets the motor running like no "performance enhancer" could ever do. As a young man I always fantasized about older women...now I live my fantasy. 

Good God, RoadYacht ... You have to be gettin' purdy close to my age, if you remember, Robert Hall ... I haven't thought about that Store in over forty years ... The one Store that was in Houston became a Tile Outlet in '66, then it was a Beer Joint for a while, then torn down as they made way for a U-Storem place ....... Of all the unimportant, easy to forget things in the world, I am amazed that you remembered that cheesey clothing store ... This is going to be another Good Day, altho' the subject matter could become quite interesting .......

We had a Robert Hall here in Lexington up until the mid seventies. As a wide thighed lad I needed their particular wares. Somehow, as if by magic, by sixteen I no longer needed those varieties. Switched to Levi's and flannel shirts...from John Denver to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now the box usually plays Frank and Dino but the closet still house's blue jeans and flannel. 

Eating disorders are a serious problem that has very little to do with fashion magazines or music videoes.  Eating disorders are about control and self esteem.  Bulimics and anorexics often have rigid personalities and come from backgrounds where they are taught to seek perfection.  Starving, binging and purging are ways that they feel they are controlling their own lives.  The problem may begin with an obsession to  look like a model or have a red carpet body, but  that is only one symptom of the problem.

Dress size has noting to do with fitness or health.  It is just a number that changes whenever clothing companies re=size their patterns. There is nothing wrong with being a size 0 or 2 if your skeleton dictates narrow hipbones and shoulder width.  But starving to fit into a garment with a cerrtain number on the tag is ridiculous.  Eating disorders can be fatal or cause serious life long health issues.  So many of our most recent  fashion and beauty icons are not healthy after 40.  Some models never make it to middle-age because they use rely on better living through chemistry to maintain their figures.   

Ivan, and KC: Marilyn Monroe was not a big woman.  She wasn't the athletic type that came in vogure in the '70's.  Judging by the clothes that I found in my mother's closet, if you were were a size 10 or 8 in the 50's you'd be a size 4 or 2 today.  Women in the 50's were feminine and curvy, in part because they were not weight lifters and they miss with their hormones the way girls do today. 

A world populated by Barbie doll & Ken look-alikes would be very boring. Have you ever wrestled with getting those pencil thin jeans onto a Barbie doll, or fatigues onto an Action Man? I'd rather be fatigued by a bit of action with a cuddly man. I've gone for the growing old disgracefully option, my hair is grey & kept short- last haircut cost £8- help, what's that in dollars? I long since worked out that expensive anti-wrinkle creams etc are just fantasies in a fancy jar, and use baby products. I am told that I am "lucky" to be skinny- I still look good in tight jeans. Ho, me staying skinny has NOTHING to do with worrying about my "body image", it has to do with the reverse of comfort eating. If I'm feeling miserable, I don't eat. Anorexia isn't always a vanity issue. I'm the same weight now as I was when I was young & beautiful, my tits haven't gone south, I still have my teeth (not sparkly American ones, I must admit!) & I scrub up OK for special occasions. Mostly, I mooch aroung in a sweatshirt, tight jeans & Doc Marten boots.
There has to be some inbuilt imperative for men to be attracted to women who are young, healthy,slim pretty etc, for breeding purposes- & vice verca- what girl would want an obese man who might drop dead of a heart attack or diabetes to father her children.Sad thing is, the advertising indusrty latched onto this & focused on the young & beautiful to the extent that it's become the Holy Grail. Other relationships and aspirations and life-stages are equally valuable, & I really don't need the sanction of the media or any other body of opinion to tell me I look OK. I have a mirror.

Must cut fingernails, the typos ..... that word that says aroung should read around.

Hazel leese: Breeding has a lot to do with attraction.  We do generally think of slim women as fertile, however, anorexic and bulimic women are often too thin (or unhealthy) to menstruate.  Many women who work at maintaining a very minimal dress size are not fertile while dieting and skipping meals or overdoing it daily at the gym.    
 
Anorexia and bulimia also affect men and VERY young girls (less than 10 years old) as well.  

If a woman (or man) desires (as in makes it a goal)  to look like an 11 and 1/2 inch piece of plastic then  an eating disorder is only one of many serious problems plaguing that person's life. 
 
 

Julia Masi ~ Thanks, I know all that stuff. Miraculously, my friends anorexic daughter has recently given birth to a healthy baby & she is eating peoperly because she's breastfeeding him. Thankyou, God. The baby is beautiful- I got to hold him for a while the other day.

Ummm... why am I getting a stream of Google ads on the left of my screen for beauty products, slimming products, skinny jeans, plastic surgery ..... I like me how I am.

Ha ha! Just seen an advertisement for a "beauty product" on TV, advising us ladies to consult our aesthetic practitioner what the F..... is one of them, then? Is this the same stuff as calling the garbage collection guys "sanitation engineers"?

 Aesop advised "Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow." Being comfortable in one's own skin is the truest way to hasppiness. Being comfortable with someone else's comfort in themselves is love. My PawPaw said, "Mind your own business." He was right. It is fun to make yourself your finest piece of unique art.  

As Popeye would sing if he was to sing the "The Turtles" song "It Ain't Me Babe".... I yam what I yam and that's all I ever will be........ Be well and be happy.....

Robert Hall - I thought that store only existed in my city way back when...I gave up trying to look like the 'in' crowd after insisting that, one Easter, my Mom buy my a fuzzy pink 'topper' jacket , which was 'the thing to have for young girls' one year when Easter was very early in the year and promised to be a cold day ('50s); my Mom wanted me to get a stylish but warm Spring coat, I insisted and got my way (very unlike me).  I froze that day....and would not admit it, of course, but learned not to follow 'fashion for fashion's sake'.  To this day I laugh at the fads which girls/women, and even boys/men are 'told' they must buy each season.  Which color is in, etc.....classic lasts...and I never had a Barbie doll, or got a "Ken"  but a real man at age 45!  Life has it's ups and downs, but I am living a dream every minute, for real.  I make my own fashion and try to stay true to myself, and as Tommy Typical said, make myself my finest piece of unique art.

But on the other hand, I love to  buy Ralph Lauren's classic clothes, when I find them on sale - because  I fit into their size 8!!!

We are taught from early on not to be satisfied with our bodies no matter how they are.  Pre-teens struggling to change what is, in fact, their body type leads to a life of frustration.  I recently read, I think in "Parade", that the head fitness instructor on that ridiculous show "The Biggest Loser" (aptly named) will not have children since she won't "do that to her body".  I thank G-d that she won't; I can only imagine what a poor mother she would be.
 
I do remember though struggling into a girdle (for that smooth look); a Merry Widow (for that buxom look); and so on.  In fact, I may still have my Merry Widow -- made me look like a Playboy Bunny.......when I was 18.

I think we are hard-wired to look for the best of the best. We're animals too and respond to the same calls of nature other animals do, except backwards. In our species it's the female who sports the most color, but the female is always looking for something too. Fortunately it's not always rock-hard muscles and lots of money that they look for. It's a sense of security (which can come from lots of money but it isn't as enticing as a good heart. Be of good heart people, and take care of each other, and accept each as they are. Look inward under all the "show" to find truth.

Bongo, if but that was true:Porsches would not be squeezed into by overweight,hairplugged,spray-on-taned,pinky ringed freshly divorced........

and Bongo~ you talk about animals? My dog humps air,legs,laundry bags,...and that is only what I have seen  him do....and we live together a good deal of the day.   I would imagine it is the same for all the animals - with the exception of the laundry bag - and that is why evolution has taken some strange twists,for sure.   And that is just the animal kingdom...because there just is no explanation for some of the pairings we witness... (go ahead,close your eyes,remember ones that made you laugh,we can't see)....   <]:-)

BongoBern~ think I already said that there is an imperative to be "attractive". Coulourful clothing was not always the exclusive territory of women- & I think is becoming less so, as it did in the days of the hippies. Look at old paintings of men in wigs, ornate waistcoats, colourful pantaloons,even military uniforms- Fashion is ephemeral.You are right about the security thing, and it isn't just about money. A good heart & a warm hug are "above the price of rubies" Huh! Rock hard muscles? I'd never see the man, he'd be at the gym all the time & all he'd bring home to me would be his sweaty lycra & trainers. No thankyou!

I do not think a woman that is shaped like a broomstick or a 2by4 is really a sex symbol or really attractive. What ever their shape the true attractiveness comes from within  having to do with
ntellect,honesty,creativity,character and personality of anyone ,male or female. Being a veteran (Korean War) and I hear other vets brag about how they can still fit into their old uniforms I say I can still fit in some of my old army clothes, namely socks and hat.       Those consumed with fashion,style and being the"proper Size" should spend more time  working on their sense of humor and being a real person.      

Good morning Village!
Forgive me for regressing to Sunday's topic for one moment, just saw this and it stunned me:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/imax/hubble3d/
Back to today's very important topic.

The most commented on atricle of clothing I have is the Telluride jacket from Mr .Peterman I purchased about 12 or so years ago. The comments are all positive. And more come from the female gender than from the male. I wear it because I like it, not to make a fashion statement.

rwh1~ My poor old wife Pinky, was a shoe collecter...she had 21 PAIRS of shoes under here desk when I went to clean it out. She had 5 shoe racks in her closet at home, and 6 pairs of assorted kinds of shoe and boot in the RoadYacht.    WE always laughed at her wide assortment - even actual high top sneaker HIGHHEELS....and her explanation? ; "No mater how my body changes, my shoe size is the same"  .   .

My apologies!, the site is already crashing due to the number of hits, here's the official trailer on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO4ZWJlROwE

BongoBern: For me it was a sense of humor first and foremost.

RY: Pinky was right! And rhwi: I'm laughing since I just uncovered all my uniforms in a garret.

I had a European gentleman tell me once that "making love to a fashion model would be like having sex with a bicycle...." At the time I was fit, but appropriately padded. He got big bonus points, which in retrospect, might have been the point.

The irony for me is that illness has left me very thin, and I have never recieved more compliments on how good I "look" (well, except the last time I had a life-threatening illness). Clearly all is in the mind, as well as eyes of the beholder and beheld. I have to differentiate for myself as no one else can, but it IS a very fine line sometimes.

To RoadYacht:  You are making me laugh out loud...I guess I am an oldster or maybe just was very young when I heard and saw those things! 

JaxZ~ too right, I'm sick of people telling me I look great when I feel like s***

Hazel: Hello Luv! It is rather counterproductive to my mindset, I'm always tempted for a split second to say "I'm DYING here!" But they've been trained well by the media, and as came up in our phobia discussion, are unconscious of the possible realities. Cest la Vie.

Given the choice between making love to a bicycle or a bouncy castle, which would you lot prefer? I vote bouncy castle.

Slightly off topic, and a little early in the day, here is a train to rival thesepia train, though we can always make ours better  :   www.rovos.com    ;

Hazel: I had ONE body-builder boyfriend. Like hugging a stone wall. Damned uncomfortable. I love your word picture "bouncy castle"! Comfy (and healthy) for me please.

Shelly Winters wrote in her autobiography that she and Marilyn (who were roomates and best friends in the starlett years), were modern size 16's and would purge and sauna off 10-15 pounds before every screen test. The media machine IS chewing up too many lives, both men and women. It's up to us to do something about it, just as it is with any important objective.

RY: Oh MY! We can take road trips! It doesn't mean we love our own any less!

I was a national championship collegiate athlete back in the day. A classic blue-eyed buxom California girl. And quite pretty, even by the aggressive appearance standards of LA.

Then I got Lyme disease, which if left untreated over time (25 years in my case) will seriously disrupt the endocrine system in ways that cause serious weight gain. I spent a decade in bed, deathly ill but not knowing why. During those years, I gained 60 pounds. (Peterman's size 16 skirts still fit; but the 18 dresses are cut a bit narrow in the bust.) The weight is stable now, but it's not coming off.

I went into remission a couple years ago. I'm able to get out of bed for at least a few hours a day. I went back to grad school, and re-started my career. I'm even able to engage in some light exercise now and again; and occasionally, usually while in a yoga pose, I get glimpses of everything I once cherished about being in this amazing body.

But the illness isn't curable at this late date, so I'm still very limited in what I can do about the weight. Overdoing the exercise will send me straight back to bed, in days of agony. I have to be very careful. If I could go back to running 10 miles a week, I'd drop this in no time. But if I did that, I'd have no life. It's all tradeoffs.

So zaftig I will be, from here unto the end. My new job includes a fair amount of media work and public speaking. I dress my curves in lush knits and simple silks and bits of romance; pay close attention to my grooming; and use the weight as part of my public persona, since I have no other choice about it. After all this body and I have been through, the fact that I am up and dressed on any given day is a pluperfect miracle, and I won't waste a moment of those good days on regrets. I have no idea how long this remission will last, and there's just too much to get done in whatever time I have to allow silly things like weight to distract me.

And, oddly, in addition to a husband who's still as crazy about me as he was the day we met 25 years ago, I find that I've attracted a little clutch of brilliant and wonky 30-something fanboys who think I hung the moon. It's just so cute. I didn't expect that at 50, but I'll take it.

By the way, a century ago, the most celebrated beauty in the world was Lillian Russell. She was five foot six, 200 pounds, with red hair and blue eyes. And I could have been picked up on her warrant.

Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

About a dozen years ago, five persons were browsing, (or was it grazing)? the goods at a truck farm stand on the edge of town. I was one of them.

Another was a tanned thirty-something woman with a blond ponytail and wearing a snug puckery white tube top.

The senior generation of the family that had always run the place was no longer about and a fairly undignified son, Hoagy, had taken over.

I didn't hear the question asked of him by the woman but his response: "Speakin' of melons, 'em are some nice t..." was interrupted by a crushing blow to the middle of his face by a sturdy ham-fisted man who proved to be the woman's father.

It is doubtful that Hoagy heard the sound of it or the sound of his head hitting the hard ground behind the counter for that matter.

One shopping couple, the Bakers,  loaded their stuff into the car and took off... without having paid.

The girl and her dad calmly gathered and bagged their produce, left a generous amount of cash and drove away.

Not wanting the event to be viewed as some kind of unprovoked attack on the gardener, I left a note explaining exactly what had taken place and because I like you had been brought up to consider a note with no signature a rude thing, it was:

"Signed,   Rollo Tomasi"

But, here's the funny part: Hoagy's wife a lithe and coppery woman with buns, legs, arms and abs of steel and the bosom of an eight grade boy was the sexual fantasy icon of hundreds of men who flocked to the place whenever she was working.

The point being... hell, I don't know except to say that by careful listening to many men over a long time, I know one thing for sure: no matter what your height, weight or body type, there is a constituency out there for exactly that.

 

One of the last things I could say to my wife to make her laugh was about our dog : "Round is a shape"

Participating in today's topic is a bit too close to home for me. It would be like hitting an underhanded-slow-pitched-without-a-hint-of-a-spin-brand-new-16"-softball with a giant cartoon bat for me.

Maybe it's just that I learned to cope and accept my differences as a defensive mechanism or I maybe, hopefully,...I truly believe in my heart of hearts that it is what is on the inside that really matters. That when I'm weighed and measured, it'll be the eternal part of me that will either carry the day or send me back to detention, locked in a room with a nun who has never laughed and is armed with an unforgiving yardstick.

As far as maintaining our ‘vehicles' I think we do the best with what we have control of to achieve good health and demonstrate appreciation of whatever physical gifts we have been blessed with.

Be well and happy all of you.......

Rollo Tomasi was a bad figment......

Perhaps  part  of  the  plan  to  break  people  of  obsessive  attention to  physical  size  &  shape  {alas,  at  the  expense  of  analysis  of  one's  inner  soul}  could  be  governmental  regulation.   People  diagnosed  with  obsessive  compulsive  attention  to body types  could  be  required  to  have  mirrors  in  every  room of  their  homes  and  workplaces......funhouse  mirrors,   that  playfully distort  every  dimension  of  reality.
For  the  record,   my  weeks  recently  passed  have  been  "full  tilt  boogie"  problematic........therefore  I  propose  an  evening  pleasure  excursion  in  "desert  rose,"  the  former  club  &  observation  car  of  the  Soo  Line  Railroad,    available  for  lease  to pleasure  tour  operators.   It's  parked  at  the  Wisconsin  Railway  Museum  in  Green Bay.   JaxZ  plans  to  sit  in  the  comfy  chair  in  the  corner,   facing  everybody......  I  really  really  could  benefit  from  a  Grey  Goose  Vodka  Martini,  oversized  olives  stuffed  with  anchovies  and  gourmet  hard  to  find  cheeses.    Now  we  need  a  volunteer,  the  piano  bar  is  virtually  useless  without  a  piano  player.....  

Too bad we can't get the likes of Victor Borge

RY - Victor Borge appears every Tuesday evening at thesepia train piano bar and his tip jar is always overflowing.

Do you all remember Twiggy?  We were shocked at how thin she was; laughed at her popularlty and yet, now that seems to be the look to be achieved.....bewildering.

Victor Borge was one of the Greatest Entertainers ever on the face of the earth ... He actually was, a most excellently Trained and accomplished Musician, ...  beyond Concert Quality as a Classical Pianist ... But he could play any thing, from any era, any Ethnos, in any style one might think of ... He was the Consummate Clown, his Delivery was flawless, his execution impeccable ... The most fascinating thing I ever saw him do, and I never missed his Show when he was in Town, was to play ... BACKWARDS ... any piece of Music ever written, whether it was Happy Birthday or Beethoven's Fifth ... and not miss or flub a single note ....... Most amazing ... His death was a tremendous loss to all worlds, not just Music ...  Typical of most Jewish Boys, he was fond of, Healthy Girls .......

Hot photo up top! What's her name?

Variety is indeed the spice of life.  I've always had a thing for prominent noses and tiny ears on a woman.... no, I have NO idea!  (Notice I'm keeping it all 'above the neck'!).  My preferences in 'descending order' are matters for private consultation........

I think the only questions that all us who look to the "fashion and beauty' industries and the celebrities/models that get paid to be their face is 'when did I stop thinking for myself" and "why would one permit such a shallow measure of worth to be used by anyone to diminish oneself?   jmo says the guy who said he was just gonna sit on the sidelines today  ..... but that's it, off to Starbucks to kick start my being..

I will admit in public that my experiences (censored) indicate that 'positions' that are possible when one is young, thin, fit, and supple that are not possible when older, fatter, out-of-shape, and stiff.  Perhaps our preferences spring from these elementary basics.  I suspect our caveman ancestors (of both sexes) were not limited to 'the missionary position' though I admit I'm speculating....

Robert Hall!  Now that's a memory.
 
I was in junior high or so when a brand new shiny Robert Hall opened up in our town, and I asked and asked my mama, "Can we go shopping at Robert Hall" and she'd wave me off, I persisted, she said "No.  We will not be shopping at Robert Hall."
 
So there.  We never talked about shopping at Robert Hall again.  I assumed it must have been an awfully expensive store, too expensive for us to shop in.  I didn't know anyone else who did either, but when we'd drive past it, I envied the people who owned the cars parked in the Robert Hall parking lot.
 
Eventually, Robert Hall just went away.  I paid no attention to it, never went through those verboten front doors, and then there came those SALE! SALE! SALE! and GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! SALE! signs in the window, in bright sale colored red -- and it was gone.  And then the building was razed.
 
On my first date with my now husband, way back when in the late sixties, we spoke about Robert Hall stores, and how he never got to shop there either, and how he figured it was just too upscale for the likes of him and his family.
 
Seems like that chain has a lot of memories for some of us, of a certain age...
 
 
 
 
 
 

It's Kate Moss' post heroin addicted "look" that's today's Twiggy, I think, Andy.
 
The woman who was Twiggy, happily, now looks very good.  She has a body!  Still slim, but definitely, a body, not just bones that look like twigs.
 
 
 

Last post for now:  The shape of a body is simply one element of the physical......  More important are the subtle movements of our bodies... Watching a couple flirt from a distance is a good way to pick up all the subtleties if one is interested.  It's amazing the repertoire we pick up over the course of our lives.... Not only do actions speak louder than words; stride, tosses of the head, smiles, hand movements, and hundreds of other 'motions' reveal our innermost 'secrets' to the observant....

Check out this NPR link, if only to look at the two pictures of a group of models from 1993 (all of whom you're probably familiar with) -- and below it, models on the runway, circa NOW.
 
http://www.npr.org/blogs/tellmemore/2010/02/freaked_out_by_fashion_week.html
 
 
we've come a long way, ladies?

 
If God were to take the time and we all know that he is too busy painting upturned rowboats dark green to bother, but if he were to listen to silly wishes: "Oh, please give me back the body I had at age thirty,"  he would be wise enough to do that only if we had been, at that time, perfectly happy with it.

That explains why he has a lot time for boats, cribbage and Cubs games.

 

Stoney: You "nailed it clean" with the last one. There are many things we all wish we were better at. I for one, covet your gift of story telling. We all have our little gifts and talents. It's obvious that it's in the use of said gifts and talents that we shine. Sadly it would seem, we are measured more on perception than reality. Book by it's cover and all that.

STONEY:  I Second that Motion .......

Bert: Thanks for saving me my favorite chair! {{reaching over}} Here, have some of this incredible Stilton on Asian Pear Apple slices...

Mrs. Robinson: Bravo! So happy to meet you!

PL: I very much agree with what I'm hearing you say: It IS the inside that matters.

In a forum like this we are unable to "judge" by appearnce (I wonder what my jammies say about me) or body language, so our hearts are the interpreters of intent and so on. I'll really go out on a limb with my thought that punctuation, verbage, and preconceived ideas all play parts in our perception as well. we are all affected by our environment (emotional/physical/situational), education (wise/streetsmart/learned/common sense/inexperienced) and company (friends/coworkers/family/pets(!), as well as our free-will thinking and evolving ideals. What an amazing, possibility-filled mix!

I like it.

Dang I wish we had spell-check on here! {{laughing }} Mr. Peterman!!!

“Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.”

Victor Borge

Mrs Robinson~ A pluperfect miracle- can I keep that one in my notebook? Hey, I love to see a big lady well-groomed & stylishly dressed, it's the ones who slob around in baggy track suits that turn me off! My Mom, now 84, is a big girl, but still dresses beautifully & has an ardent fan club of male admirers, Lymes Disease is a bit of a bummer- who would have thought that a tick bite could cause such long-term misery? Hope you have lots of good days.

 
Kentucky Curmudgeon & JALOPKIN,

Thank you boys. What I was trying to say was that if we are not included in our own constituency of satisfaction with or appreciation for how we look, nothing else really matters. They wouldn't call it self- esteem if we could get it from somebody else.

Peter Lake,

Rollo Tomasi was they guy who always got away with it... until he didn't.

Todays topic is not new- I have an old 78rpm pre-vinyl record with a song that has the words "Stay young & beautiful if you want to be loved".... that's going to annoy anybody who remembers the song, you'll be humming it all evening.

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FExwkuUU08

oooh...don't go to the music, or you get sooo many variations (by the way, University studies show you stiil can understand miispeeled words),incl. "If ya wanna be happy for the rest of your life just make a happy woman your wife"  (OK, a little artistic license)...and as for the more supple younger lovers, they have tat new pill, called VI-ACHE-RA, because your back is older,too

You seem to be getting on nicely Mrs. Robinson.

Very nicely, indeed.

RY: so glad you don't mind the msipelngs! Are these your dogs? They seem to have no problem whatsoever with body image. Or laundry bags....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkPNa4DBFHI

Hazel: Fun song! MUCH better than "I've got a loverly bunch of coconuts" running through my head all day.... ;)

RY~ laundry bags? The pervert! I had a Jack Russel Terrier who was an ardent ankle shagger. No house guest was safe!

It goes way way back, hazel. 
 
Women covering their faces with lead based paint really knocks me out.  And they knew it was harmful...nonetheless in the pusuit of that perfectly pale white chalky visage, they went on using it.
 
Which lead to their hair falling out.
 
 
It all sounds ludicrous, but if you stop and think about it, some of the cosmetics some cosmetically besotted women use have suspect chemicals, and oft times the results (apricot kernal scrub to abrade and soften the face -- followed by application of "toner" which is usually alcohol based) -- well, they're awful.   But who cares, so long as whatever it is they think they should look like will be achieved (a chemically burnt face?).
 
It's crazy.
 
I didn't think it was so crazy when I was a kid, but I had a mother with beautiful skin who thought it was all crazy.  So she gave me a bar of plain soap, and a tube of unscented face cream, and said, "go at it." 
 
Which I did, and I don't use anything more now than I did then, and I don't have one wrinkle so help me, I don't.  Maybe it's genetics, but (where's BEBE?) it's also simple is better, less is more, and leave the sharp apricot kernels inside the apricots where they belong.
 
And if it's got lead in it, send it back to China which puts lead in everything because they know how harmful it is, and China doesn't love us, they just love our money.
 
and that's for another day.
 
 

Stoney~ thanks for the link, Annie Lennox is great!

JaxZ~ I'm bored- which is dangerous. Who is Miss Spellings?

Hazel: She's the daughter of Aaron, Moses' better spoken brother (no stutter). Big TV producer, parted the waters of Charleton Heston's swimming pool. Hangs out with that Hotel Guy's daughter sometimes on the Riviera......

Park4: I'm rabbit-trailing through all these links Mr. JP leaves us at the top and I ended up on The Giraffe women. Talk about sad and hard to understand. But they STILL think it's beautiful and sacred. I guess it doesn't matter that I don't understand.... but I wish I did.

Hazel, c'mon over, we'll make fudge and watch Dances with Smurfs, um, I mean Avatar..... it'll cheer you right up Lovey. How are the ducks? Still cuddling?

What are you guys talking about over there in the corner? Do I smell single-malt and you're not SHARING?

I believe that I was born in the wrong era.  Think:  that picture of the lady hanging over the bar in the old westerns -- reclining with one hand kind of holding up her head -- zaftig. 
 
A friend of mine found one of those pictures someplace and bought it for me.  Though it was a nude, it was close enough and we hung it in our bedroom.  Eventually it became part of the scenery and we kind of forgot about until.....we had a party and people were putting their coats on our bed.  Someone came over to me and said, a little hesitantly, "I like your picture."  It wasn't until after the party that I realized he thought it was me!  (good use for the other day's topic -- exclamation point)  It never occurred to me that anyone would think that.  At first I was a little embarrassed and then, I was really flattered.

We're sharing...but someone committed alcohol abuse by spilling some. Maybe, RY's dog will partake by licking it up for us. God help us if he gets lit in the process.

JaxZ~ Ha! The smell of single-malt is coming from me.... It's nearly 1AM here & time I went to bed before I say something that will make everybody hate me. Thanks for the elucidation on the subject of Miss Spelling. The ducks are still amourous & delighted with the food I gave them today. Night night, God Bless.

Andy: I LOVE that story! That's a keeper!

KC: I thought only military used that line, oh wait, we're related grunts! :D

Hazel, I knew it was getting very late there. I can't believe you understood any of my nonsense! Sleep well, keep the bugs out of the Spirits or they'll be bouncing off the walls all night. Bless you, see you tomorrow..... G'night duckies (glad someone is getting some)....

PARK4~ Sorry, flower, stuff has a nasty habit of coming onto my screen out of synch 'cos I'm in a different place. Never mind lead based products, women once used arsenic based cosmetics. I'm a soap & water girl & put baby-bum cream on my face 'cos I think that's product tested to the Nth degree. If it's any consolation to you, shipping containers that bring products from China to the UK are re-filled, for their return journey, with UK trash to be dumped in their landfill sites. Poetic justice.

Park/Hazel: I was just thinking about that horrendous arsenic.... they used to put drops in their water at bedtime to make their complexions "translucent". Ye gods and little fishes.

Speaking of getting some Zzzzzzzzz's. I'm going to bed with Gustave Flaubert and Madame Bovary. Since no one else has fessed up to actually buying a copy (among those who hadn't read it), I am soldiering on all by my lonesome. Did you know this was Gustave's FIRST novel? Hope mine sells as many copies, while I'm ALIVE....
"Night Y'all!
Have fun stormin the castle!

Whoa!!!! Craziness......Metrical???????  Robert Halls????????            Now I'm sure I must be at "the home" reliving my  younger days.  But I'm so glad I'm in such EXCELLENT company!!!!!!!  Thanks, guys!

   
janej78~

Digging around backwards, I saw that you sneaked in late. We have a daughter, Jane.
Wecome, just step aboard thesepia train at your convenience and you don't have to say a thing unless somebody makes you laugh or gets your cork.
Stoney

Nearly all of my post-PhD research involved cell culture of human endothelial cells, in which an intracellular response to binding of thrombin to thrombomodulin was being searched for (I spent 2 years of my live proving that it doesn't exist!). These cells are exceptionally difficult to grow in culture, and this meant frequently qoing to the source for them, which is the gajunk suctioned out during liposuction. Different places have different techniques and certainly the procedure has evolved. At the time however, getting your legs nicely and smoothly and circumferentially liposuctioned meant meant that straps were put on hour ankles and they were hoisted up as if you were on a meathook.

I remember watching this and just saying to myself that this is just....well, it's JUST PLAIN WRONG, somehow.

Was Twiggy famous for wearing the first bikini?

Park: It's amazing how much clinical effort is spent by hepatologists tracking down causes of idiosyncratic liver injury that, by process of elimination, prove to result from chemicals in hair colorants and make up agents.

To Park4:  as I remember at my tender age, the reason we went to Robert Hall was just the opposite - it was inexpensive; we could never have afforded to shop there if it was otherwise.

 
Julia Masi, you've got it about anorexia and bulimia being about control and low self esteem. Going the other direction, the USA is gaining weight. It's sad that so much unhealthy food is cheap. I quit eating fast food about 20 years ago, but for many, it's a daily part of their diet. It's hard to pass up a 2 for 1 special or whatever the deal might be....and super sizing for just a few pennies more. Obesity in this country is reaching epic proportions....in children too.  More fatty food, less exercise.  A friend's daughter is obese. She would be insulted if she lost weight and received a compliment. She thinks she's happy as she is. She has recently been diagnosed with diabetes...she's 32. Eating disorders are a serious problem. I do believe that societal "norms" of beauty have added to the problem. Magazines, TV, movies all show thin women ... "Real Women Have Curves" was a welcome movie.
 
At 5'7", 124 pounds most of my adult life...except for gaining 40 pounds during pregnancy....then back to 124...I always had a very healthy appetite and ate whatever and however much I wanted...oh for the days! ....then I was 50 and started putting on weight and, not wanting to diet, started eating less. Now at 60 I eat small amounts every 2 or 3 hours, though I'd love to eat more, I don't like feeling full and I seem to gain weight instantly....my metabolism has slowed down...way down. I wouldn't mind losing 10 pounds, but I wouldn't want to be even close to 124 now.  It was natural and okay when I was younger, but now it's Too thin. I figure if I can bend over and tie my shoe laces without panting, then my weight is okay.  Exercise is key.
 
Mrs. Robinson, one of my friends with Lyme, rather than gain weight, lost a lot of weight...she's skin and bones with no muscle tone due to her weakness and being bedridden for so long. Lyme is an insidious disease when it isn't caught and treated quickly.  The best to you and more good days ahead.
  
RoadYacht, maybe that's why I love shoes ...all the shoes in my closet still fit.
 
JaxZ, I agree that there's no outward appearance to judge anyone here by, but at times nuances may be missed. I noticed that in some of the comments in the photo contest.... not being able to see the expression on a face or hear the inflection in a voice, some remarks were taken the wrong way.... though this crowd seems pretty savvy. 
I feel some protection in the anonymity while at the same time feeling like an outsider. Some of you seem to be friends and I'm trying to get used to inviting myself to the party. It's not real easy for me to just chime in.
 
Bert..Olives stuffed with anchovies? where? I want.
 
A good sense of humor is sexy....and I think laughter is the best sound there is.
 

karma swim swami~ I should not be here now- insomnia. Your earlier comment about liposuction confirms my opinion that anasthesia is vital for any medical procedure, if only to save embassment to the patient! Hepatologists, take a short-cut, it's probably alcohol.

couple of rr-s missing there, sorry.

Not to mention an a - hell, they tell me to keep taking the tablets....

The word was supposed to say embarassment & I'm still not sure I spelled it right!

And the days seem to be getting longer...I thought it was because  I was gettin older....bu, NO! it is because there are two times as many people as there used to be, and all the extra weight they have put on is slowing the Earth's rotation.....that may be why the Hurricane season started later this year, and why the new ice cream flavors have not come out yet

hazel~

Anesthesia is called for just to read about that procedure.

janej78~ Don't be shy, the lunatics run the asylum here, so you're in safe company. I've only been here a short time & I feel like I have a group of new friends. And it feels like going abroad- I have never been to the USA & find the chat about baseball & food & clothes stores I never heard of facinating. Where else would I learn about horseshoe sandwiches?

Hazel~just a little past Park4's area, is Mineral Point ,Wisconsin. They brag about their Pasties. Seems it was settled by Welsh,and when we went thru there, it was very 'settled by', if you get my distinction; not malled,or McDonalded...and we stoped and had some, and some local brew,and wandered,and photo'd...I will post some. not tonite. They were miners,and that part of the state - Mineral point - had lots to be mined...your connection to the area is vital

It's not wholesome beauty and health that are being advertised, but rather eternal youth. Most runway models are young teenagers. It's natural for a 13-year-old to be slim and slight. As those models age, perhaps because of their immaturity, they seem willingly to do very dangerous things to fight nature and their increasingly developing bodies, in order to stay in front of the camera.
For thousands of years, people have been searching for the Fountain of Youth. The fashion industry is selling that dream image, preying upon the human outlook that aging is a disease to be cured.  They should promote something more attainable and realistic, but making a profit seems to be getting in the way of letting us grow old gracefully.
 
Women and men, at each stage of their lives, are beautiful. We must learn to accept this and teach it to our children.

Good a.m. Kindlee:  there you are. Exactly.  Had I more determination I would have stayed here last night and tried to insert what you just wrote, above.
 
Eternal youth.  Hope in a jar.  The Fountain of Youth.  My god, it's idiocy.  I recall being a youth, and rebelling against the communal soul that is youth.  Wasted on the young?  Yeah, I guess it is, but it will always be, because youth strives for age, and sadly, age, in its fuzzy memory, wants its youth back.
 
I don't.
 
If there were days in the sun back then, there will be days in the sun, today and in the days that follow.  The sun shines over all of us, young and old, it's just that some of both group refuse to see it, and that's too bad for them.
 
For me, eternal youth would be hell.  I think it would be for most of us, if we were honest.
 
And you'll never find one of those "anti aging" products in my bathroom.  I mean, what is that?  anti-aging?  That's just not possible, nor is it a healthy hope. 
 
I wish I could say "Who do they think they're kidding" (the manufacturers of anti aging products), but I know who they are kidding, and very successfully, profit-wise.
 
I'm just going to age away naturally and happily and healthily as possible, and watch all these people with lifts and botox and various silicone enhancements fall apart, one body part at a time.
 
anti aging!
silly!
 
But what a good point Kindlee! I wish it were made earlier so more of the interested posters could give their input.

KSS:  Yes, indeed.  You are so right.  I gave up the hair coloring several years ago after an illness that required steroids that lowered my immune system and made me oddly susceptible to wounds.  When I got better, but still on the evil steroids, I thought, 'well, I better do something about my hair (face, etc...) -- but I read the hair coloring box, and I thought "no, this could cause problems" and so I didn't use it, eventually tossed it, never went back. 
 
Silver's a good color, anyhow.
 
But you couldn't be 'righter' Doctor.
 
The things we do to make us look like we think we ought to look -- it's frightening to me-- and I don't have access to all the information that you do. 
 
"Dying to Dye" -- it could be a title of a book.

Thanks Hazel. Kindlee, you are so right. It is about staying young...youth in a bottle. There's always something new to try.....too many products, improved products...ad nauseam. Enough to drive one nuts. I don't use any of them or color my hair. I'm trying to age gracefully....make the best of it... I A friend hates getting old and dyes his mustache and eyebrows. I tell him it actually makes him look older, but he's obsessed with wanting to look younger (he'll be 60 in Dec)....but hey, what's the alternative?..death....so, I say accept it as a natural progression and love every minute of it.

PARK4 ~ I wish I could have made my point earlier, but some days I can't be here as much as I'd love to be...thanks for looking back in time and catching my post. You, too, janej78.
I can't help but think of the lyrics "when I grow up I want to be an old woman!"

Kindlee, great lyrics. I hope I do get to be an old woman. I don't feel old now...well, a little if I look in the mirror...but like they say, you're as old as you feel...and that's my philosophy...forget the creams and artificial means..keep an open mind and think young.