Author: Becky

Warning to Whippersnappers

Weird shit happens as you age. I’m not talking about the way things sag, wrinkle, and gray. Everyone knows that. I’m talking about brand loyalty.

I grew up a Crest kid. Oh, sure, I’d indulge myself in an occasional fling with an Aim or a Colgate. I was briefly tempted by Pearl Drops. (Mmmmm, it’s a great feeling!) Thanks to Farrah, there was even that summer interlude with Ultra-Brite. But I always came back to Crest.

Then there was Secret. You know, it was made FOR ME. A woman.

But as I entered my pre-menopausal years, things changed. Secret wasn’t so secret. I abandoned it for Which, oddly, smells good instead of like tennis shoes. And Crest seemed to lose its flavor. But so far, I just can’t give it up. Probably my last grin will be a Crest grin.

Rupert Everett, Eye Feast

One of Tim’s birthday DVDs, recommended to me by Dean James, was a movie called Unconditional Love. It’s a big old sprawling movie that’s silly, funny, sad, and has the daughter-in-law from hell–or is she? Kathy Bates, Dan Akroyd, Jonathan Pryce, a few cameos, and the delicious and talented Rupert Everett (pre-plastic surgery). Anyone else seen this movie?

Cry!

Does anyone remember that Godley & Creme song from the 80s, “Cry”? I can’t get it out of my head today. It may have something to do with recent moments—epiphanies, really—in which I’ve realized how VERY fortunate my writing partners and I have been in the past. Because right now, Tim and I are getting a taste of some dues-paying.

Dues-paying does NOT taste like barbecue Fritos™.

However, I suspect that in the long run, we’ll be better off for having done it.

My Rant for the Day

We all do things now and then that we wouldn’t share with our parents. Getting drunk with our friends in high school. Blowing off classes in college. Getting involved with a person who’s absolutely wrong for us. Losing our religion. Getting fired from a job because we deserve it. Leaving the kids with a sitter so we can do something totally self-indulgent.
Continue reading “My Rant for the Day”

Bloggers and Stuff

Blog exploring is a little like the literary concept of stream of consciousness. One blog takes you to another, and another, and pretty soon you have no idea how you got to where you ended up.

Last night, I found the blog of two Minnesota boys about to move to NYC. One just graduated from college with a degree in art, I think. The other in journalism. On their site, they had this exclusive interview with Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard. It held particular meaning for me in light of a discussion Tim and I had earlier in the evening. Or the wee small hours of the morning. Whatever.

There’s another blog I’ve been reading for a while that has great photographs and stories to go with them. Recently, I had reason to send that blogger a card to the snail mail address on his web site. Last night, his blog and web site were gone. Vanished! For a while, I was afraid he thought I was stalking him and had gone into the witness protection program. But this morning, everything seems to be as it should be.

My blog universe is back in balance.