pomegranate

On Sweats and Ts

Sometimes blog posts comes out of conversations.

This morning, talking to a friend on the phone, I mentioned something that I've noticed recently.  When I go to places, I think of the shirt.  The gift shop or swag stand holds a siren call just for me.  Right now, I said to my friend, I could imagine my wardrobe consisting entirely of jeans and shirts of places and things that I liked.  It would be an easy thing to accomplish.  Transcriptionists don't have dress codes.  And it reminded me of Duane's wife in Larry McMurtry's Duane's Depressed who always wore a T shirt with some kind of smart ass saying on it.  It's a phrase that often comes up in talks.  "That should be a T shirt."  My favorite fantasy shirt lately would say "Member of the Factinista."  Another related shirt would carry the image of Colbert.  In fact, since seeing his Correspondent  Dinner address, I've wondered if the Daily Report sold shirts.

Here are some shirts that I've bought recently:  one that honors Bill King where the proceeds went to the ballet, it has his face on it in this gaudy green and yellow and it's about as audacious as the man was himself in that good, clean, out of the box, extravagant way.  A grey short sleeved shirt from the musical duo, Gypsy Soul.  I now have four T shirts from them, two long sleeved, two short, and two have the same logo on them.  But I love their music, I know them, and I often work the swag stand for them when they come to town.  So, three of those shirts were gifts.  Two from Disneyland, one sweatshirt -- a hoodie with pockets, extra bonus points, with Mickey enjoying life in California -- I think it  must be the California Adventure promo.  The other is black and tight and sequined.  It's like an evening T shirt.

There was a shirt that got away.  This weekend we were at the Aquarium, and I fell in love with the otters.  They reminded me of cats in water, although actual cats in water would behave quite differently.  But they had a similar zest of life that I've seen in cats.  They would dive for kelp and then resurface and swim on their backs, holding the kelp on their bellies, and chomping on it every now and again as they circled the tank.  Anyway, there was a T shirt with an otter image on sale, which I should have gotten, but instead I grew self-conscious.  It felt too extravagant to have so many T shirts and sweatshirts.  Isn't it weird to own a shirt with an otter on it?  So, I walked away and now I regret it.  I think wearing that shirt would have reminded me of joy.

Anyway, that's it for now.  I'm as busy as ever and surprised to be here, but after that conversation today, these ideas stuck in my head and demanded to be a post. 

Dress for Success

Two years ago, I started wearing dresses again.  It was the first time in several years that we had a summer here.  After all the rain and the cold and the despair of having to wear sleeves and coats all the time, when the weather grew warm, I wanted to wear dresses again.

For me, wearing a dress is a different state of mind.  I feel more feminine.  I feel more prepared for the day.  I feel prettier.  And I feel more visible.  Although weather was the #1 reason why I stopped wearing dresses, visibility was #2 with a bullet.  In a dress, I have a more difficult time walking down a street anonymously.  There's attention that accompanies it, and for a long time, I didn't want to have to deal with that energy.  For a long time, I didn't feel like I had the boundaries for it.  Now it doesn't bother me as much.  There are times still when I will cross a street for comfort.   I don't know if that will ever change.  Carrie Bradshaw can wear outrageous outfits in Manhattan, and nothing ever seems to happen, but in real life, it's different.

This week, we're in the midst of a warm spell, and I've got dresses lined up for each day.  This makes me happy.

Tattoos

There are some certainties in life.  One is I would never get a tattoo.  I'm not a person who's into adornment.  I'm still trying to figure out how to accessorize with jewelry; I'm nowhere near skin decoration.  And I wouldn't ever do it.  The pain factor would be big for me--not just for the initial tattooing, but for the most certain removal--I just can't imagine coming up with something that I would want marked on my body for all time.  Right now, I can't even think of anything I would want for a day.

When I see tattoos in life, I go through a funny reaction.  It feels both public and private to me.  I want to admire the art or ask questions about it, but at the same time, it feels I shouldn't talk about it or even really look at it.  It's an interesting back and forth.