096 UnReal housewives

The unreal housewives

I hate to admit it, but I am a fan of the TV series, “The Real Housewives of . . .” I watch most of them--New York City, Beverly Hills, Orange County. I have no idea why, but I rarely miss an episode.

The excuse I use for watching is that I love to see the clothes, hairstyles, houses, cars, and the cities where they live. It is sort of like the men who used to say they read Playboy for the articles--sure.

Even though we cannot relate to the grandeur of their lives, we see that they are definitely not without struggles. We are privy to their very public divorces, affairs, bankruptcies, family squabbles, addictions--much like the situations of average people.



The main difference is the money. Before they get on the show, they have to prove they can afford the lavish parties, trips, charitable events, and all the trimmings. If they can manage the finances to get on the show, many have built on the experience and profited by products they sell. In addition, some of the housewives have moved into other entertainments area, including talk shows, so it can sometimes be very worthwhile for them.


One aspect that drives me nuts is the constant conflicts that are part of the series. It is disconcerting how they will verbally spar over many minor disputes and continue the fracas for many episodes. Just when you think it is settled, someone just has to bring it up again. I want to say--“Get over it ladies! Conduct your petty disagreements in private!” But I guess the show wouldn’t be as juicy or appealing.

What really makes me angry at myself is I sometimes take sides on the disputes that can be mundane or serious but often turn into hysterical confrontations. “Why would she say that, she is a total idiot, that is not true” are observations I often verbalize -- hopefully when no one else is around. I haven’t reached the point of actually writing them down and sending them to the reunion shows--yet! But sometimes I get the urge to make a comment--so far I have suppressed it and I hope I continue on this track. I could always turn the TV off but somehow I don’t.

It would be more interesting if they would show what the ladies really do each day instead of the tedious infighting and growling at each other. Some of them have jobs that could be entertaining and informative and much better plot choices. Occasionally they do show some work places but not nearly enough.

There used to be charitable fundraisers that the women would sponsor, but those seem to have been replaced with social events where the women bring up old issues to cause a scene and ruin the evening. There have been exotic trips where someone just has to bring up a sore subject one more time. I can’t imagine spending that kind of money, and the evening goes down the tubes or the trip is ruined--that just doesn’t seem real!

But this is the state of TV programming in 2016 where reality shows are more inexpensive to present than scripted ones. We the public take the bait and off we go for another season of verbal scuffles and loud retorts. Every once in awhile I think maybe they are right, and we all should just shoot off our mouths when we are upset with someone--but then reason kicks in and I know it would never work.

Sometimes I fantasize about a Winchester reality housewives series, but I am afraid we wouldn’t draw the audience as we go to the grocery store, eat dinner at local haunts, and discuss the latest health problems--definitely not the stuff of the Real Housewives!

Frances     

095 Rummage!

The Wonders of Rummage

Until I became involved in the Rotary Rummage sale, I had little interest in garage sales or thrift shops, but a few years of organizing and sorting rummage changed my outlook. 

This year sale proceeds go to the ChildSafe Center. The sale will be at the Armory on Saturday, June 4 (full details at the bottom). We select a different beneficiary each year. Volunteers from the beneficiary organizations are a big help as are high school students from the Handley Interact club, family member and friends. Every year we worry that there will not be enough stuff for a sale, but there always seemed to be. We started unpacking the tractor trailers last week and began household pickups in earnest. 

I am amazed at the huge volume of things that come in and even more surprised how it all gets organized and sorted in time for the sale. For a number of years the sale has been at the old Armory ar SU. The first floor is completely filled to overflowing and the yard outside is also full.

These photos from earlier sales show a lot of rummage but do not show IT ALL!

Trish Stiles in the Boutique section.
We get some very nice things.

Libba Pendleton folding clothes.

It takes a person with special characteristics to enjoy rummage sale work--a passion for order among chaos, curiosity, a sense of humor, a strong back, and a willingness to get dirty. 

It is amazing what some people put in boxes and send to the sale. I think some folks just gather the boxes in the attic and garage and send those, never looking inside. Last year a sorter proudly presented a Madame Alexander doll box to the folks at the Boutique, only to discover it was filled with rags! A box we unpacked this year was taped shut and labeled "packed in 1975." We pull a lot of loose change out of the boxes; it all goes to the cause. It is fun to unpack boxes--some many diverse objects seem to be in each one.

The early work entails moving boxes or the diverse contents of a box all around the Armory to the proper category location.

Categories include: 

Housewares & nick/nacks

Jewelry
Books and audio-visuals 

    (surprise!! my section!)
Toys
Lawn, garden & hardware
Seasonal & bric/brac
Sporting goods
Clothes and shoes
Boutique

Office supplies & equipment
Indoor furniture

Outdoor furniture
Exercise equipment
Baby clothes
Pictures & artwork
Linens & bath
Electronics and photography

Crafts

The sorting, a lot of folding, and pricing of the items takes much time. Just when you think you have your section organized, another big donation comes in! Good news and bad news! A small percent of the clothing is priced individually; most is sold by the bag. The morning of the sale, the outdoor furniture, equipment, and big sports and exercise items are pulled out of the trailer and placed in the outside area next to the Armory.

It is difficult to believe in the early going that we will be ready for that first batch of people, the early birds, who pay $10 to shop at 7 am before the free admission at 8 am. I did the early bird a few times, but discovered the stuff I was interested in did not go early anyway!

The work is fun and the rapport with fellow obsessive-compulsives is great. I have a much greater respect for "stuff" and try to think each time I start to buy something, "Is this going to end up at the Rummage Sale?"

Except, of course, for the stuff I buy at the Rummage Sale!

Trish        

To Donate and/or come to the Rummage Sale:

And one final thought:

094 Shakespeare

Shakespeare:

Still Going Strong after 400 Years

I am a confirmed fan of Shakespeare. To those of you who had to study “The Bard” every year of high school and did not enjoy it, I maintain you did not escape his influence. Although Shakespeare died 400 years ago this past April, he is with us still and his influence on our culture is impossible to ignore.

The contemporary of William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, noted playwright, poet, and critic, even anticipated how lasting Shakespeare would be: “He’s not of an age, but for all time.” This he wrote in the preface of the collection of Shakespeare’s plays known as the First Folio. Why did Jonson anticipate this popularity? Four reasons may help us make sense of Jonson’s belief.

*Shakespeare’s works summarize the range of human emotions in simple, yet eloquent language. It is said that collecting Shakespearean quotes is one of the prime reasons John Bartlett compiled the first major book of familiar quotations. 

*Shakespeare is a remarkable storyteller. Even when he adapted/used old tales already known, he told every kind of story – comedy, tragedy, history, melodrama, adventure, love, and fairy tales, with a few ghosts and witches (popular still today!) thrown in.

*The characters are compelling and complex. Hamlet is an easy example – a gentle young man seeking to avenge murder. Lear and his daughters. Are all daughters loved equally? Or Romeo and Juliet (West Side Story)? Teenagers in lustful love who will not be convinced otherwise? 

Do we not know a Falstaff – a fat, jolly, entertaining reprobate who both lies and tells brutal truths? Verdi even wrote a whole opera about him! How about a strong, passionate wife (Lady Macbeth) who convinces her husband to do her will – even if illegal and immoral? 








Do you know a Puck – mischievous, magical, and sometimes cruel? 

*Common day expressions (some even considered clichés) pepper our language. Even should you say that reading Shakespeare “is all Greek to me,” you are quoting the Bard. If you are missing an item which has “vanished into thin air,” or if you admit “the game is up,” – yes, still Shakespeare. Or should you think I am “blinking idiot” for being a Shakespeare fan, then “what the dickens”--you are quoting him yet again. Even if it is not always clear to scholars whether some of the words and phrases were already in existence in Shakespeare’s day or actually coined by him, it is in his plays where they manifest themselves for all time.

Here are some of my favorite single words

• Scuffle   – Antony & Cleopatra
• Swagger – Henry V
• Grovel – Henry IV
• Lonely - Coriolanus
• Unreal - Macbeth
• Zany – Love’s Labour’s Lost
• Puking – As You Like It
• Obscene – Love’s Labour’s Lost
• Addiction - Othello
• Manager – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Dishearten – Henry V
• Rant - Hamlet
• Laughable – The Merchant of Venice
• Jaded – Henry VI
• Fashionable – Troilus & Cressida

And favorite phrases

• Dead as a doornail – Henry VI
• Not slept a wink – Cymbeline
• In stitches – Twelfth Night
• One fell swoop – Macbeth
• Give the devil his due – Henry IV
• There’s method in my madness – Hamlet
• Spotless reputation – Richard II
• Foregone conclusion – Othello
• A sorry sight – Macbeth
• For goodness sake – Henry VIII
• Good riddance – The Merchant of Venice
• Break the ice – The Taming of the Shrew
• A wild goose chase – Romeo and Juliet
• Knock, Knock! Who’s there? – Macbeth
• All of a sudden – The Taming of the Shrew
• And finally, my grandmother’s favorite:                                                             Eaten out of house and home! – Henry IV

To my readers, you savvy, wonderful people--I hope this bit of the Bard reminds you of how much William Shakespeare--

whoever he might really have been--is a fixed part of our culture.

Glenne            

P.S. “To be or not to be”--is it still the question?

093 Doll frenzy

Doll frenzy redux

What is it about a doll that often beckons a little girl in a way that is enticing as well as exciting. Terri Lee was the doll of choice for my sisters and me, growing up in the 1950s. I know most people have never heard of her, but she was a constant resident in our house. The Terri Lee doll didn'’t do anything and had no special skills but just looked at the world with large painted eyes that never closed and very distinctive eyelashes. Measuring 16 inches, she wore clothes like most children, but also outfits we young mortals could only dream about--fairy princess gowns, drum majorette costumes, fancy dresses, and much, much more.

Old photo of my original Terri

I inherited mine from my older sister, who won a new one in a raffle at a local children’s shop that sold the dolls. My mother never wasted anything so the used doll was passed to me, and I was thrilled. 

Terri Lee came to me with the promise from my mom that she would be refurbished. There was actually a hospital for this family of dolls that would repaint her and recondition her to an almost new status.

We packed her up for a makeover to the hospital clear across the country to California. It tool several weeks but it was worth it when she arrived better than ever, sporting that trademark look with large, intense eyes that never wavered.

Each year, my sisters and I would add to our dolls’ collection of clothes (by this time, the third sister joined the Terri Lee frenzy) rather than getting a new doll for Christmas. My parents must have felt they were being invaded by these big-eyed dolls, but they went along with the total obsession. Bridal gowns, fancy outfits, flowery dresses, shorts and tops--you name it--she had it.

I wish my mom had kept them, but she passed them on to other young girls to enjoy. She couldn’'t stand something not being used so items were donated as soon as they were dormant for a brief second or two. You had to be quick to survive her recycling efforts.

Several years ago when my granddaughters got into the American Doll frenzy, I remembered my fascination with Terri Lee. Having access to instant research these days on the Internet, I started a search and Googled for info. It didn’'t take long. I was shocked and surprised to find out Terri Lee was patterned after a real child.

The doll was originally created in 1946 (the year I was born) by Violet Lee Gradwohl who named the doll after her daughter. Violet started the company in Lincoln, Nebraska, and moved it to Apple Valley, California (the site of the hospital where my doll was refurbished), six years later, according to terrilee.com. 

Terri Lee was considered the best dressed toddler doll in the 1940s and 1950s. Her wardrobe was made up of more than 500 costumes and accessories at the height of her popularity, according to the site.

The more I thought about it the more I wanted to find one of the dolls – I needed it like a hole in the head. (I collected Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for years so I knew I couldn'’t get that hooked on Terri Lee.)

Again I headed to the Internet for assistance. The vintage dolls and clothes were quite expensive (hundreds of dollars) and not always in good shape. I made the plunge and opted for a new one. I spent about $150 with clothes included, far more than my mother would have approved.

I keep Terri Lee in the original box, which is an artwork itself. I share her with the granddaughters when they visit – they can look and touch but not undress or keep her out of the box for any length of time.

Recently, friends who knew about my fascination with the doll shared a magazine article from “Doll News” that explained how Terri Lee dolls and outfits benefited the American Heart Association from 1950 to 1956. The company created a series of costumes with a Valentine’s theme with a percentage of sales going to the Heart Fund Campaign.

My friend added after she gave me the article that she thought the doll actually looked like me (of course in younger years when I had dark brown hair). I am not sure I believe that, but I will use it as an excuse for a grown woman buying a replica of a doll from her childhood. Makes perfect sense!

Here's to Savvy Doll Collecting,

Frances         

For more information, here are some interesting links:

Article excerpt from Nebraska History magazine

http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/excerpts-4-12.htm

An article in the Lincoln Journal Star about an exhibit of dolls at the state museum:

(You may need to wade through some ads.)

http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/misc/world-s-best-dressed-doll-born-in-lincoln/article_46b506f5-0ff2-51d8-8f4c-8e8b2e9cfc52.html

                 

092 Regimentation Not

You Can't Regiment People!

As a boss, I was always disappointed when staff members did not follow the party line and would mess up.

We allowed quite a bit of variety but did not tolerate rudeness, incorrect information, or bad errors. One thing suggested by the more obsessive of us was a standard spiel that each person would use verbatim in various situations.

Needless to say, that did not work!

Now retired from my job a library director, I still enjoy watching and evaluating people in public-service jobs.

My husband Harry and I frequently eat subs from the Subway franchises. [Before I proceed further, I should state that the Winchester Subways seem to be well-managed, which gives me a good comparison as we visit other Subways around the country.]

Making subway after subway must be mind numbing, but should a manager hire a person with NO short-term memory:

   Me, "Two 12-inch honey oat buns, please."

   Subway person, "What kind?"

   "Honey oat."

Subway person then removed 1 six-inch honey oat bun from the case. There did not seem to be a hearing issue, and the rest of the construction of two subs followed a similar pattern. I caught on--when her hand hovered near the correct ingredient, I would quickly name it and so occasionally, I did not have to repeat the ingredient several times.

I can tell there is a standard for making Subway sandwiches. I have witnessed a few training sessions, in fact. The amount of each ingredient that workers are supposed to put on a sandwich seems pretty strictly defined. With sliced meat and cheese, there is little deviation.

Harry gets tuna fish most often on his sub. It is my favorite measure of quantity control. The standard appears to be four scoops of a small ice-cream-type scooper with each scoop carefully leveled by the edge of the container. 

I swear one shop along the Interstate substituted an even smaller scoop for the tuna. Some service folks at Interstate restaurants and gas stops know that you are passing through and don't seem to worry too much about customer service. There has to be really good owners and managers to find good service at such shops.

Back to the scooped tuna, my reactions as I watch the tuna get scooped vary:

   "Damn, they follow the training." This usually happens about 50 percent of the time.

   "Wow, that's some generous scoops--no leveling the scoop!" Then I wonder if they are deliberately ignoring the training because they disagree with the amount; their manager told them to give more (I doubt that); are mad at their manager; or no one can tell them how to operate. Or do they even remember the training? Did they have training?

Hey, you have to think about something during all that assembling!

We will keep on traveling and eating Subway, and I will continue to enjoy watching sandwich assemblers exert their creativity on the job!

Trish