Author Archive
I am bored out of my mind. All my television shows are on hiatus. I’d really like to watch reruns but they aren’t on right now, so I’m flipping and flipping and flipping. I’m getting a chance to see some of the other shows on television and it’s just not pretty. Last night, I watched about 10 minutes of Charm School. Good grief.
I’m really an HBO junkie. I love The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, Entourage. I loved Six Feet Under. Never got into Rome, too bloody. I tried John from Cincinnati but my mind drifted away from it. I love Weeds on Showtime. There are a few new Entourages on, but not much else. Read the rest of this entry »
An article recently by The Commercial Appeal reporter Cassandra Kimberly about Dan Scott finding an old Lakeland sky ride cart in a storage shed brought back some nice memories for me. The first sky ride I ever went on was above Garner Lake in Lakeland. I couldn’t have been older than 5 years old since it closed in 1968, but I can remember holding my arm out the window. That was a happy memory of that small amusement park. It felt like Six Flags to a small girl.
But the The Huff N’ Puff amusement park also holds a frightening memory for me. It imprinted on my soul and to this day, some 40 years later, it still bothers me. A reader talked about it in a letter to the editor last week.
I wrote an article Tuesday about Playboy auditioning girls for an upcoming issue that features college girls in the Conference USA. The article featured a photo of a girl in a bikini that several female callers said was offensive and immoral. I asked them if they ever went to a beach or a swimming pool or picked up a magazine.
One editor said it would have been better if they hadn’t been in a cheap hotel room posing. I don’t think anyone could distinguish between that hotel room and maybe one at The Peabody. It had a bed, nightstand, television and dresser. Same as any other hotel room in America. They needed some place quiet and discreet so the girl’s wouldn’t be uncomfortable. It was a fairly sterile environment, no sex toys or cheesy music.
Let’s see, one caller said I have a character defect because I don’t have children and THAT’S why I didn’t see anything wrong with college girls trying out for Playboy.
I guess I’m wondering why people are offended about that and aren’t screaming outrage at what happened in Pennsylvania. A man walked into a school house, lined up Amish girls and shot them. That offends me, a lot.
I’ve never really been bothered by naked pictures in Playboy. I don’t buy the magazine but I’m not offended by it. I try to keep a live-and-let-live philosophy in my life. As long as people aren’t hurting others or animals, then I don’t bother them.
Those girls who tried out for the magazine seem relatively smart, self-confident and sure they wanted to do it. I didn’t find any ambivalence. These girls were over 18 and are out making their own decisions. They weren’t victims of anyone. They didn’t commit a crime. They all seemed strong and self-assured.
As for me, I’m haunted by how scared those Amish girls must have been. They live such gentle lives and I am so sad and angry that this man attacked them. I didn’t think twice about the girls trying out for Playboy, but I can’t get the Amish ones off my mind.
What do you think? Let me hear your opinions.
Guest Diva Cindy Wolff
It just drives me crazy when people are too lazy to take their shopping carts to the return racks in the parking lot. Are we so lazy as a society that we simply cannot walk that few feet and put the cart where it belongs? Are we so selfish that we believe it’s our right to block a parking space or leave our cart blocking someone’s car because we are so busy? Is your time more important than mine? Is it really my job to pick up after you?
One thing I loved about Europe was that I saw so many people just doing the right thing.They didn’t play their music so obnoxiously loud to disturb others, they drove fuel-efficient cars, they were polite and considerate. Even their pets had manners. They were allowed in restaurants, on trains, just about anywhere that humans went and they behaved.
Have we lost our manners in this wonderful country of privilege we live in? Do we feel such a sense of entitlement that we forget how to do little things to just be a nice citizen of the Earth. To be kind?
What are your peeves? What are those little things that get under your skin?
I still find it hard to wrap my mind around a newborn baby being placed inside a paper sack and handed over to firemen. On one hand, I’m glad the mother didn’t just abandon the baby in a Dumpster or bury her in the back yard leaving the dog to dig it up, which is exactly what happened last week. But on the other hand, good grief, she had 9 months to figure out what to do. She could have put it up for adoption, screened homes, checked with family or friends to see if one of them might want a baby.
Instead she pinches the umbilical cord together with a paperclip and hands it over. I’m trying to imagine what was going on in this woman’s life that would make her feel such desperation. Then I wonder if she’s feeling anything at all. I have mixed emotions. What are your thoughts on the subject?
