Thoughts of a Twitterless Thinker 12-03-09

Greetings, denizens of the Quang! I decided it’s time I started thinking again. Since I don’t Tweet, I hereby subject you to the randomness of my mind, all in one shot. So…hmmm. What DID I think about today?

Although I don’t believe in astrology, I’m here to tell you, I was born to be a Sagittarius.No other sign nails it.

How does a Christmas cactus know when it’s Christmas time? Mine bloomed at the first hint of December. Spooky.
Why won’t the mainstream media report on Climategate? The biggest scam since…since…since…The You’ve Inherited Money in Nigeria But You Have to Pay us Thousands of Dollars to Retrieve Your Inheritance scam, and no one will report it? It is EVERYWHERE on the internet, but I have yet to see it on any major network. Methinks Michael Crichton got it right. Too bad he died before seeing his research come to fruition.

I played a review game with my 8th graders today. I gave them a title of a literary work and they had to guess the author. One of the girls, while thinking of her answer said, “It’s right there at the back of my tongue.” I think I will steal that phrase for whenever something is a little farther away than the tip of my tongue.

My friends and I have been having discussions lately on the female phenomenon known as “makeup.”

One acquaintance says that women wear makeup for other women. They feel competitive with other women and want to look their best because they know other women are evaluating them. He thinks if other women weren’t around, women wouldn’t bother with makeup. I insist that women wear makeup for men. Men are visual and seem (I said “seem”) to prefer “enhanced” women. (Blame it on Hugh and Photoshop.) I’m not talking Tammy Faye makeup---just the normal amount. My feeling is that if men weren’t around, women wouldn’t bother with makeup.

Various men in our ongoing discussion have said that they prefer women with no makeup. But do they really? I wonder, with good reason.

A previous man in my life said he preferred me, and all women, to dress modestly. By modestly, I mean shirts that adequately cover torso and bosom, and skirts that fall below the knee. Yet once when he and I were out to eat, a woman walked by wearing a mini-skirt, high heels, a suit jacket, and a tank top that showed plenty of cleavage. His eyes followed her as she walked through the restaurant. He said, “Ah. Girl clothes. Nice.”

So that causes me wonder. Do men “say” they like women with no makeup, but will take a second glance and actually prefer a woman with makeup? In light of some heated discussions about this topic, I decided to ask Foreign Quang readers their opinions.

Men—Do you prefer women with or without makeup?

Women—Do you wear makeup for other women, or for men? Or for yourself?

Last week I read all four books of the Twlight series. My step-daughter, Gnome, has a boxed set, with which she was all too willing to indoctrinate me, I mean share with me.

Those of you who have read all four books completely understand why there were two opposing camps---Team Edward and Team Jacob. Observe where my loyalties fell as I read the four books.

Twlight---Team Edward
New Moon---Team Jacob
Eclipse---Team Jacob
Breaking Dawn—Team Edward

I’ve been to see New Moon at the theater twice, once with Computer Geek and Weston, and once with Gnome and her brother, Neo. I love going to movies that elicit crowd involvement, and this movie certainly has that ability.

The first night I went, the theater was packed. When Jacob rips off his shirt to stop Bella’s head from bleeding, the ladies went wild with loud cat calls, woo-hoo’s, “Go Jacob!” and “Yes!” (I wanted to yell “He’s seventeen, you pedophiles!”) Later, when Edward tries to provoke the vampire powers-that-be, he steps into the sunlight while removing his shirt. The female reaction was a little more subdued. There were soft wow’s, gentle moans, and whispers “Oh baby.”

What accounted for the difference? I think that because Jacob is the more passionate, fiery, humorous of the two, he got a like reaction. Edward, being more calm, cool, and stony, got the more reverent response, as if they were witnessing a Renaissance statue come to life.

The second time I went, there were only around twenty-five people in the theater. The crowd didn’t respond as vocally, except for one lady about my age who sat behind me. Whenever Jacob was on screen, she would utter, “Oh, how cute!” or “What a precious!” “He’s sooo sweet!” I think she was in love. Definitely on Team Jacob. I wonder if that is why the theater is offering a $50 reward for the return of the cardboard stand-up Jacob that is missing from the lobby. Just wait until Breaking Dawn. Edward will go missing in a vampire flash.

All this immersion in to the Twilight world last week made me miss Washington. We visited last May and would love to go back. It’s fun to read about Forks, when I’ve actually been there. The Olympic peninsula is gorgeous. It was a fantastically sunny day when we were in Forks, so of course we did not run in to Edward or Bella.

Copalis Beach

Near Kalaloch

Forks, of course!


Forks Visitor's Center



Neo, Gnome, and Hoolie in front of
Dazzled by Twilight, a store in Forks dedicated
to all things Twilight


Gnome, sitting on the carved "Edward" bench

I wish someone would bring a Taco John’s to Utah. Potato Oles with Nacho cheese sauce. Yummm. Maybe then my sister wouldn’t be so tempted to always text me, “Guess where I ate today?”

Since I am a financially disadvantaged teacher, I don’t have boatloads of cash to spend on my darling students when they have a birthday. I have begun making them bookmarks since I am, after all, their literature teacher. Here are a couple of the ones I made recently.

My son is such a sweetheart. He went to go see 2012 with Em last week and brought home 8 little Sweet Tarts for me. Today, they each got a chocolate chip cookie in history class, so he saved half of it to bring home for me. He loves to surprise me.

He told me today that he got his desk moved in school. His desk is now right next to the teacher’s. I said, “Did you get moved for talking too much?”

“Mom. If I talked too much she would move me next to a girl.”

Ahh…the hypocrisy of the media. They slam Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, and Two and a Half Men down our throats—you know, the shows that glamorize promiscuity and infidelity, making cheating seem ever so cool. But then they turn around and crucify people who actually behave that way in real life. I’m not defending what Tiger Woods did. Not by any means. I’m just sayin’. Make up your mind, Hollywood. If you’re going to promote shows that show us how really sexy people “should” behave, then at least have the integrity to stop acting all shocked about Tiger.

Do other people name their houses? Among our group of friends, we have three families who live in houses with names. When we visit those friends, we don’t say we’re going to Laura’s house, or Sarah’s house, we say we’re going to the South House (it’s the “southest” of all our friends,) or the Pink Palace (one room in the house is pink,) or the Toothpaste House (it’s the color of Gleem.)

I guess that’s enough thinking for one day. So what did you think about?