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Sunday, June 02, 2013

You Gotta Be...Balanced

Have you ever heard of a Chinese based philosophy known as yin/yang? If you don't really know it, I'll start by posting the symbol for it...which I'm sure a lot of you have probably seen already.



The yin/yang philosophy is basically an exercise in balance. It's when seemingly opposite forces are linked together in a complementary manner. Examples of this include fire/ice, life/death, darkness/light, male/female, etc.

It is said that each side of the yin/yang symbol describes different things. The “yin”, for example is the side with the black background and white dot in the center of it, is characterized as slow, soft, cold, wet, and passive, while “yang” (the white background with the black dot) is fast, hard, hot, dry, and aggressive.

I guess the best way I can describe both yin and yang is this. Separate, they are direct opposites, and you would think that by putting them together, they would clash horribly. But this is where the balance aspect comes into play. Instead of working against each other, the clashing traits seem to blend well together in a way that takes two separate parts and welds them together into one perfectly balanced entity.

I suppose maybe that's where the phrase “opposites attract” comes from. And, I suppose it also answers the question as to how some couples who are completely different from each other can stay married for fifty plus years.

Of course, this isn't just limited to just matters of love. In life, I think that balance is key to almost everything in life. We all have a side that is considered good, and a side that is considered bad. Very few are completely evil, but very few are completely good. Most of us walk that tightrope every day, and for the most part, we all do a fairly good job balancing on that rope. It's the same deal with all personality traits. Sometimes we have a negative frame of mind, and other times we have a positive outlook. Sometimes we feel so angry that we might want to break stuff, and sometimes we feel so happy that we want to create stuff. And, sometimes we might want to be selfless, and other times we want to be selfish. It all happens to the best of us and the worse of us.

But, here's the thing with the yin/yang philosophy. It's okay if we all have all of these qualities within us, both in the good and bad columns (and, don't kid yourselves, we all have aspects of ourselves that we are either proud of, or ashamed of). I think that in some cases, the parts of our personalities that we consider to be bad can actually be considered to be a blessing in certain situations. For instance, some might see the desire to be self-centered to be an incredibly lousy and tacky quality to have...but there are situations in which putting yourself first can be a good thing...such as fleeing an abusive relationship. Or, another example could be this. Some might see the idea of violence against others as being a completely bad thing, but if one is in a situation where their life is in danger, wouldn't you want to have an entire arsenal of self-defense tricks up your sleeve so that you can get back home in one piece?

That's what today's blog topic is all about. Finding the ideal balance within ourselves to become the most well-rounded person we can be.

And, as it so happens, today's Sunday Jukebox entry follows this theme as well.

It's by a woman who was born and raised in the UK, and who has had the majority of her success in that crazy decade known as the 1990s.

One thing that you should probably know about this British R&B artist is that she is not the one-hit-wonder that many people assume she is. She may not have had much success outside of the one single in the United States, but in the United Kingdom, she released several singles between 1992 and 2003, and even had a song appearing on the official soundtrack to the 1996 film “Romeo + Juliet”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. And, while she hasn't had a song release in nearly ten years, one of her biggest hits happens to be the song that we are going to be looking at today...a song that best exhibits the yin/yang in us all.

How befitting that the accompanying music video happens to be in the contrasting colours of black and white.




ARTIST: Des'ree
SONG: You Gotta Be
ALBUM: I Ain't Movin'
DATE RELEASED: July 29, 1994
PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #5



Yes, the song by Des'ree (born Desiree Annette Weeks) was her biggest smash single, reaching the Top 5 here in North America and the Top 10 in her native UK. But, the song is also one of power, determination, fight, and self-growth.

It's also a song that I have downloaded onto my iPod because I love the message the song presents.

This was a song that has been released three times, if you can believe it. The first time the song was released was in the summer of 1994. It was re-released in May 1995 following the single's popularity in the United States, and a remixed version was brought out in 1999 following its use in a Ford Focus commercial of all places.

Actually, now that I mention it, the song has been used in advertising quite often. It was the song that was most used during ads for PBS's children's programming line-up between 1999 and 2004. It was also used for promotions for “Good Morning America” in the mid-1990s, and it was used in a bank ad in Australia in the early 2000s.

The song was even nominated for “Best Female Video” at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Unfortunately, she lost to Madonna.

But, that's just life, I guess.

Besides, we're not going to talk about Des'ree too much. Instead, we're going to take a look at the song itself, and the deeper meaning that comes from it. After all, the song's chorus seems to be a series of contradictions of sorts...at least until the very end.

You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know is love will save the day



Now, this chorus is one that appears to be very mish-mashed. I know what you're saying. How can she say that we have to be bad and bold, and then two lines down, we have to be cool and calm? Those aren't adjectives that seem to fit well together, are they?

Ah, but here's where the whole yin/yang situation comes into play. I think that some of the coolest people I have ever known are those who speak out against injustice, cruelty, and wrongs, but do it in such a way that they appear to be calm, cool, and collected. There are ways to speak out against things that make you angry without actually losing your cool.

I do it all the time right here in this blog. There have been several instances in which something has angered me enough that I have wanted to write about it in here...but of course, once I sit down in front of the computer screen, and type it all out, some of that anger subsides, and is replaced by a calmer, more thought-out argument.

That's not to say that I have lost some of my impulsiveness. I just find other ways to channel that energy. It's all about keeping that balance in check.

And, really, that's the whole point of “You Gotta Be”. Finding the balances within yourself to achieve the inner strength necessary to discover who you really are.

It's true! Des'ree even admitted it in Billboard Magazine in January 1995!

It's all about knowing how to handle all of the complex emotions that we all have inside ourselves, and finding the right way to showcase those emotions in the right situation.

And, those are lessons that I have had to learn the hard way.



I'll be brutally honest with you all. I was quite the emotional child growing up. I always took what people said about me way too seriously (and let's face it, this was the case well into my early twenties as well), and there were times in which I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, or the anger I felt bubbling over. I was a complete mess when I was in grade school, and it's only now that I see that my inability to control my emotions was more of a detriment than an aid. I know that sensitivity can be a great quality to have if you know how to use it, but sometimes sensitivity can be misunderstood as being wimpy, or weak. And, the way that I presented myself in grade school...well, I can see why some people seemed to have a field day with it.

By the time that I was a teenager, I learned that maybe dealing with crummy situations through tears, anger, and frustration was only going to get me so far. I had to learn to ignore the haters and focus my attention on positivity. I'm getting better and better at balancing that out now that I am in my thirties, but it's not exactly one hundred per cent perfect.

And, I think that's why I feel such a connection to Des'ree's song. I've been in situations which have really tested me emotionally, and sometimes I didn't exactly act accordingly in how to resolve those conflicts. Over time, I learned that I had to be bold in order to gain wisdom. I had to be tough in order to be stronger. I had to keep a cool head and stay calm in order to keep things into perspective and see better solutions to handling my problems.

And, I especially like the last part of the chorus. The part about how love will save the day. And, I honestly believe that to be true.

I feel as though love is really the only path we have to finding our way to eternal happiness, both within ourselves, and extending that love to other people. And, you'll notice that those people who have a lot of love to give, and are in possession of a lot of love are some of the most well-balanced, well-rounded individuals that you could ever have the pleasure of having in your life.

I know that there is only one chance to make a first impression with a lot of people, and there have admittedly been cases in which I have blown those first impressions with my emotional instability of yore. But, I've learned not to focus on the bad. All I can do is look ahead.

Really, isn't that all that any of us can do?


Saturday, June 01, 2013

Saturday Smorgasbord - Cooking With Play Food

So, here we are. A brand new month. I still can't believe that we're already in the month of June!

(Well, okay...the temperature here is up around 34 degrees Celsius when you take the humidity into account. Maybe I CAN believe that it's June.)
I guess it just seems like I'm happy that June is finally here because to me it seemed as though May lasted forever. Not that I minded, mind you. May is one of my favourite months of the year, after all. But, June is also a wonderful month filled with surprises, sunshine, and the end of school for another year. Summer is fast approaching, and I for one am excited to welcome it.

And, the first of June happens to be the first day of the brand new feature known as the Saturday Smorgasbord. And, as I explained a couple of days ago, the Saturday Smorgasbord is almost like an amalgamation of the former Wednesday and Saturday theme days, in that the topic will be constantly changing.

Unless there happens to be a special event going on in which I will have to pre-empt a particular theme day (and the upcoming Relay for Life is one such event), the way that the Saturday Smorgasbord will run is as such.

FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH: Toys and Games Discussion
SECOND SATURDAY OF THE MONTH: Video Games Discussion
THIRD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH: Cartoon Discussion
FOURTH SATURDAY OF THE MONTH: Books/Comics/Magazine Discussion
FIFTH SATURDAY OF THE MONTH: Author's Choice

(NOTE: I'm only making the fifth Saturday of the month my choice, as having a month with five Saturdays in it is somewhat of a rarity.)

(NOTE 2: In the case of June, week three and week five will be flipping around, as I already have a special blog post planned for June 15.)

So, if we go by that list, you'll automatically see that today's topic will be featuring either a toy or a game. And, today's topic happens to be a fun one, filled with fond memories, a silly game that my sister and I came up with...and plastic food?

I guess I should set up the story.

When I was really young, my toybox was mostly filled with secondhand toys. My sisters were kind of tomboyish and as a result, they had quite a few toys that could be used by both boys and girls. Not that I cared either way. If the toy was fun enough and kept me entertained, it could have been almost anything.

But on those occasions in which I did get a brand new toy, it was exciting. I know it sounds like an incredibly bad cliché, but I literally did feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I entered an old fashioned toy store, or perused through Woolco's toy department. Mind you, my parents were on a budget, so I couldn't ask for something extravagant like one of those Power Wheels cars.

Not that it really mattered, as I was never one who really wanted expensive toys aside from a video game console.



One of my favourite places to go shopping for toys was in Kingston, Ontario, at the old S & R Department Store. Sadly, the department store closed its doors in the summer of 2009, but I remember the store being absolutely perfect as a young boy. Trips to S & R were very rare, but whenever we did go there, one of the first places that I wanted to go was the toy department, which if memory serves me was on the second floor. Though, I suppose it's possible that it could have been the third floor. Whatever the case, I do remember having to go up at least one flight of stairs to get to it.



The one thing that I remember about S & R's toy department was that it was filled with dozens of toys and novelties that I just couldn't find in any toy store in my hometown. Dozens of knick-knacks, rare items, and shiny things just waiting for some kid to play with. If my parents had let me loose in that section, I very easily could have spent five hundred dollars in that toy section. I loved it!

I still remember the one day that I went to S & R and having absolutely no idea what I wanted to buy. My parents were beginning to get a wee bit impatient with me, but I couldn't help it. I was six years old at the time, and I really was particular over what toy I would ultimately purchase.



What I ended up choosing was a playset that was filled with plastic food, fake cardboard boxes of food that looked like the frozen dinners and dry grocery supplies that my mother always bought from OK Economy (another defunct store), and other tasty looking, but non-edible goodies.

And, I think I must have played with that playset for months and months. I even managed to add more stock to my pretend food pantry by getting a gift of an entire case of play food for Christmas one year.



The only thing that I was lacking was the plastic shopping cart, or a plastic basket to carry all of the food in. But, that was fine. I had more fun playing store anyway.

(And to think that at the time, I didn't see the irony of actually landing a job at a grocery store just twenty years later...)

Of course, in my version of store, I ran things my way. In all honesty, it was probably the only retail experience I had prior to actually landing my current retail position.
CONFESSION: I will be the first one to admit that I did fudge a couple of details on my resume to get my current job. Nothing like a major lie or anything, but let's just say that I played up certain points in order to get their attention. I figure that I've been there eight years, and have more than proven myself, so I'm safe in admitting this little truth.

Anyway, in my version of play store, people could pay whatever price they wanted. I would take the play money from my Monopoly game, and that would become my currency. If anyone wanted a dozen eggs, all they had to pay was a dollar. If they wanted a carton of milk, they could pay two dollars. And, if they wanted a chocolate bar, then they would have to pay five hundred dollars.

(As you could tell, I was very reluctant to sell my chocolate. Even if it was fake.)

However, that play food also came in handy as well for a little game that my sister and I used to play when I was a kid.

I've talked about this before in this blog about how I am the youngest of three children, and that there were considerable age gaps between myself and my older siblings. On one hand, it really frustrated me, as I didn't really have that much contact with people my own age until I entered school. I think having siblings closer to my age probably would have helped my social skills a great deal, and I sort of feel like I missed out on something very special as a result.

But, don't get me wrong. I was happy that my sisters and I were the ages that we were. Because my siblings had a good ten/fifteen years of life experience ahead of me, they came up with some creative ideas of their own to keep me entertained. They used to play school with me, they made alphabet shaped pillows using some of their old clothes for me. And, in the case of my eldest sister, I remember her designing a board game called “Monkey Business” or something like that, and I vaguely remember the game design being a jungle setting where everytime you landed on a banana space, you would flip a card over.

I really wish I still had that game. I played it almost every other day because it was so unique and unlike any other game I had played.

As for the other sister, she took my love of play food and took it one step further by “hosting” her own cooking show, where I would play her special assistant.

I really don't know where she got the inspiration behind her “television chef” persona, but my guess is that she borrowed a page from the late Julia Child's cookbook, as her accent sounded like her.



(At least according to her. To me, she sounded more like Hyacinth Bucket from “Keeping Up Appearances”.)

Anyway, the “show” that she came up with was one known as “Cooking With Bertha”, and naturally, my sister played the role of Bertha. And, of course, she would give me a stupid, goofy, girly name as her personal assistant. It was natural for her to do this though, since she loved to pick on her younger brother. If I remember correctly, the name she used the most often was Bertie or Gertie or some other similar sounding name.

So, what we would do is she would grab one of mom's mixing bowls from the kitchen cupboards, and I would gather all the play food that I had, and we would also choose one of my mom's many cookbooks to “recreate” a recipe from the book into our cooking show. The only problem was that I would purposely sabotage the recipe by throwing in a lot of ingredients that were kind of nasty. If we were pretending to make chocolate chip muffins, I'd throw in pickles and Jell-O. If we were making borscht, I would throw in eggs, corn, and frozen cheese pizza. And, I'm pretty sure that we were the only “television chefs” that used corn dogs and Spaghetti-O's inside a red velvet cake.

But, we didn't care. The whole process was a barrel full of laughs, and the whole adventure was a barrel full of laughs, every time.

And, even though I'm an adult now, and the play food has since been donated to Goodwill shops in the area, I think that those memories will be the ones I cherish the most.


Friday, May 31, 2013

Leave It To Beaver and Mrs. Cleaver

Today is the last day of May, which means that it also happens to be the last look back on sitcom mothers of the past.

And, for this edition, we're going to be taking a look at one of the best sitcom moms ever...well, according to quite a few people, that is.

It's hard to tell who exactly is the perfect sitcom mom, as we all have our own opinions on the subject. Some people might argue that it is Carol Brady, while others will argue that Roseanne is better. Some may like the mother from The Wonder Years, while others prefer the mother from Family Guy.

And, whilst no sitcom mother is absolutely one hundred per cent perfect, this one comes rather close.




Of course, once I reveal that today's sitcom mother was portrayed by the late Barbara Billingsley, then you've already figured out exactly who today's mother is.  But to say that Barbara had a real love for the role that made her famous was an understatement.  Not only did she play the role for "Leave it to Beaver"'s entire six year run, but she reprised the role on several occasions after that.

And, that role, as we all well know was that of June Evelyn Bronson Cleaver. 




Yes, when "Leave it to Beaver" first debuted on CBS, Barbara Billingsley was cast in the iconic role.  And, here's some interesting trivia regarding her casting.  Although the show didn't begin airing until October 1957, a pilot episode aired six months earlier in April 1957.  On that pilot, Barbara originated the role that made her a household name.




"Leave it to Beaver" was created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher.  The plan was to have a television sitcom that featured a suburban family and dealing with the mischief and trouble that young boys could get themselves into.  The show was specifically designed to stand out from other similar shows like "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" in that rather than focus on the parents of the show, the main stars would be the children.  Originally, the show was going to be called "It's A Small World" (which coincidentally happened to be the title of the pilot episode).  The title was briefly changed to "Wally and The Beaver", and then was changed once more to become "Leave it to Beaver".

TRIVIA:  And, yes...the rumours you may have heard were true.  "Leave it to Beaver" was the very first television show to feature a toilet in a scene.  Kind of makes you wonder how people went to the bathroom before 1957, huh?




Anyway, you all know who the main characters of "Leave it to Beaver" are.  The star of the show was Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, played by now 64-year-old Jerry Mathers.

(Mathers was just eight when he auditioned for the role, and in one of the auditions, he wore a Cub Scout uniform, and kind of rushed through the audition because he was anxious to get to the den meeting!)

Tony Dow was cast as eldest Cleaver boy, Wally, and initially Dow only went to the audition to support a friend of his who was auditioning for a different project.  But, when he decided to try out for the part and ended up getting it, he couldn't pass it up.  Dow, now 68, has since pursued a career in sculpting.

Hugh Beaumont was also cast as the role of Cleaver patriarch, Ward after he had worked with Mathers in a religious film (I know, I found that last piece of information quite interesting as I had no idea myself).  Beaumont stayed on the show the entire six year run, but died in May 1982 after suffering a heart attack.

And, then there was Barbara Billingsley, who prior to getting the role of June Cleaver worked as an actress on several B-movie roles.  And, looking back on it, I can't picture anyone else playing the role of June Cleaver but Barbara, can you?

And, no...you cannot even compare Janine Turner's performance in the 1997 remake film.  There is absolutely no comparison.  Although, Billingsley was a good sport about it all, and did have a cameo role as Aunt Martha.




Now, I've done quite a bit of research in coming up with some interesting facts that make June Cleaver stand out when compared to the other sitcom moms that have appeared both before and after her heyday.  And, some of the information that I have dug up on June Cleaver has been very interesting.

And, no, she was not caught having an affair with a toothless prostitute, nor did she have to go on Maury Povich to find out if Ward really was the father of Beaver Cleaver.  This was the 1950s, after all, and the most scandalous thing that June probably did was wear white after Labour Day.

Anyway, did you know that in June's early life, it was widely under the assumption that June's family was more...shall we say...privileged than Ward's?  In one episode, June revealed that she was actually taught repeatedly how to do a proper curtsy in case she ever found herself courting a wealthy diplomat!

Instead, she ended up with commoner Ward Cleaver.

Well, okay, Ward wasn't exactly destitute.  But he did seem to come from a family who really understood the value of a dollar.  It was also shown in an episode that Ward convinced June to not buy an expensive opal ring.  He convinced her to go with a pair of galoshes instead!

(Hmmm...I bet if I had a wife, I'm sure that she'd love it if I bought her rainwear instead of a nice piece of jewelry.  And, I bet if I tried that, I would probably not stay married for much longer.)




But, that was the thing with June.  She very rarely got angry, or even raised her voice (well, except when Beaver gets his nice clothes all dirty or smuggles in insects into the house).  She was too much of a lady to yell, scream, curse, cry, or even sleep in the same bed as her husband.

I guess if there was really only one flaw to be found in June Cleaver, it was that she would be completely out of her element in 2013, as so much as changed over the years.  

In Leave it to Beaver, June Cleaver always dressed immaculately, and seemed to keep up with the latest fashion trends.  In 2013, let's just say that yoga pants and sweats seem to be the most popular mom trends.  I'd like to see June Cleaver squeeze into some skinny jeans now!

In Leave it to Beaver, June Cleaver manages to find a way to create a seven course breakfast menu and still keep her kitchen completely spotless.  My own mother couldn't even do that!  She always said that a messy kitchen was a badge of honour because it just went to show just how hard she worked.

In Leave it to Beaver, June Cleaver enjoys such riveting activities as needlepoint, cake decorating, and arranging tea roses.  In 2013, I don't even know anyone who does needlepoint, nor do I think many people even know what a tea rose is.  But, I do know quite a few cake decorators.

In Leave it to Beaver, June quite often got involved a little too much in the lives of her boys, even going as far as supervising Beaver's play dates with Eddie Haskell and Lumpy Rutherford (though to be fair, Eddie Haskell was a bully of sorts).  On a personal level, I don't think I would have quite appreciated my own mother butting in on my own playdates when I was a kid, although to her credit, she let us do our own thing most of the time.  And, to be fair, I never really did much that was spontaneous as a child, so she didn't really have anything to worry about.

And, I'm pretty sure that June Cleaver is the only mom that I ever saw wearing a full pearl necklace around her neck in every single scene.  She wore it while she was cooking.  She wore it while she was gardening.  She probably wore it to bed as she slept next to her husband's twin bed.  Heck, she probably even wore it while she went to use the toilet which shall never be spoken of!  Needless to say, none of the female members of my family ever loved a piece of jewelry enough to wear it at every opportunity, though I'll be the first to admit that one of my sisters has a shoe fetish.

But you know, for years, June Cleaver was considered to be one of the most iconic television moms.  And, I think it's a label that she deserved.  Oh, sure, her trademarks, quirks, and methods of running a household are horribly outdated by today's standards, but one thing remained clear.  She loved her family with all her heart, and she would do almost anything in the world to make her family happy.

And, this continued well into the 1980s when CBS aired a reunion movie called "Still the Beaver", as well as a revival show entitled "The New Leave it to Beaver", which to my surprise ran for four seasons between 1985 and 1989.  Although Hugh Beaumont had died prior to the reunion movie, the producers decided that rather than have June Cleaver remarry, that she would be seen living the life of a widow.  And, besides, it wasn't as if she was completely alone, as a now grown Beaver Cleaver and his two sons have moved in with her!





Even in adulthood, she was still taking care of her boys.  What a mom!

Sadly, Barbara Billingsley passed away in 2010 at the ripe old age of 94...and while her death was a sad day in the world of classic television, her portrayal of the near-perfect housewife and mother will always be remembered, and will always make her one of the greatest mothers in the world of situation comedy.




Thursday, May 30, 2013

Wake Up and Smell the Changes!

I still have a hard time believing that I have kept this blog going for two years. And, in order to keep this blog fresh and current, it's time for the annual list of changes. Don't worry. It won't be that many. Truth be told, I'm kind of feeling a little bit tired and sore today, so don't be too surprised if this blog entry is a little bit shorter than normal.

Oh, and because it's a Thursday Diary entry, I am going to be penning these changes in the format of a diary entry! And, you might see a few songs about change popping up every few paragraphs or so.



Oh, look. There's one up above!

May 30, 2013

Are you ready for some changes in the format of this blog?

Every time the anniversary of this blog rolls around, I always feel as though I want to celebrate that milestone. I mean, granted, this blog has only been around a couple of years, but I always loved anniversaries. It's a stepping stone in the path to great things. I still have this belief that writing is something that I am destined to do with my life, and that working retail has just been a simple stepping stone towards that path.

(Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. That stepping stone is like a freakin' boulder as I've been in retail eight and a half years now. I still have to dream, can't I?)

I think that's why I love the idea of blogging my thoughts to the world. These days now more than ever, people are venturing into the self-publishing route. And, I'll be the first to admit that while I never really saw myself as a published author in “book” format yet...the fact that I have come up with a way to record my thoughts every day for a two year period (keeping in mind that 2012 was a leap year on top of that)...kind of makes me one, doesn't it?

Now, if only I could find a way to make money out of my writing skills. I've gotten some ideas on how to do this with this blog, but that's an ongoing thing that I'm still researching. You don't have to worry about pop-up advertisements, or having to watch a commercial on allergy medication before you have to read a blog entry. I am committed to keeping this blog ad-free. And, besides, since I bring up a lot of pop culture references in this blog, I don't really think that it is right to profit off of other people's successes.



Now, if you recall, last year, the changes to the blog were almost all cosmetic. The colour scheme changed to the now current purple/yellow motif (which is staying the same), the logo was polished and made in a semi-professional manner (which again, is staying the same), and the theme days were mostly kept the same (I've had the same theme days going on since January 1, 2012).

This year, the changes will be not as drastic. I've tweaked the font around, and I've temporarily placed a special 2-year-anniversary banner atop the blog.

And, there's a couple of changes to the theme days that you should be made aware of.



Yes...wake up and smell the changes, because a couple of this blog's theme days will be completely flipped around.

First things first, here are the entries that will be sticking around for another year.



I'm keeping the Tuesday Timeline feature in place. I think it's fun to go back in time to see what was going on in the world at any given moment in history, and I'll be the first to admit that I learn quite a lot from my Tuesday Timeline moments. Plus, the Tuesday Timeline is also a fairly well-received theme day as exhibited by all of you reading this blog. So, the Tuesday Timeline stays.



The Thursday Diary is also sticking around for the foreseeable future. After all, it was one of the only days in which I actually turned the blog personal, and shared with you some of my deepest secrets, my biggest regrets, and my hopes for the future. And, from what I can tell, you all seem to love this day as well, so who am I to get rid of it?

There are three days that I am also keeping on the schedule, but I will be tweaking them slightly.



You've already seen evidence of this in the Sunday Jukebox from last week, but let's just say that I will be keeping the topic up and running...but the song choices will become a little bit more personal. They're either going to be songs that have been a huge part of my life growing up, or they're going to be songs in which their lyrics or message will have some meaning to me...and maybe it will have some meaning for you too.



The Monday Matinee is also sticking around for now, but rather than have it being a garbage dump of trivia facts, I'm going to try and look at it through a different angle. Maybe we can learn some morals from the film itself, or maybe the film can act as a tribute to an actor or actress, or maybe it will be a personal memory associated with the film. Really, I'll come up with something to keep the Monday Matinee alive.



I'm also keeping the discussion for all things television on Fridays, but since we're now looking at talk shows, soap operas, reality television episodes, and other various television programs, instead of the day being known as TGIF, instead, the day will be known as What's On TV Friday Night? I figure that will cover all the bases.



So, this means that obviously, the Wednesday and Saturday theme days are going to be changing completely.

Now, initially, the Wednesday entries were known as the Wednesday Gift Shop, where I discussed books, games, toys, and other novelty items. And, Saturdays have included discussions on Saturday Morning Cartoons, educational programs, and other kid shows. But after coming to the conclusion that I am slowly but surely running out of topics to discuss, I have decided to combine the two theme days into one.

Saturdays will henceforth be known as the Saturday Smorgasbord. And since we have a whole bunch of topic ideas for the Saturday Smorgasbord, I will be designing it like this.

First Saturday of the month – Toy Discussions
Second Saturday of the month – Video Game Discussions
Third Saturday of the month – Cartoon Discussions
Fourth Saturday of the month – Book/Comic/Magazine Discussions

(On a month where we have five Saturdays, the last Saturday will be author's choice.)

So, since we have Saturdays up and running...that leaves us with Wednesdays. And, for what it's worth, I think I have come up with a way to make this blog as much your creation as it is mine.



And, that's why I have decided to make Wednesdays “All-Request”!

That's right! I'm letting YOU have the chance to control what you want to see in my blog. I love hearing suggestions from all of you on what topics I should write about, and some of them I have taken.

And, here's how you can take part.

If you don't know already, you can join the official Facebook page for this blog by clicking HERE. On that page, as well as my own personal page, every Tuesday, I will be posting a post asking for topic ideas. I will choose one at random, and write about that subject. If you want me to write about hockey, I'll do a hockey post! If you want me to write about bacon double cheeseburgers, I will do exactly that! If you want to me make a case against the wearing of bikini underwear, by gum, I'll do that too! Whatever you want, I'll write it! But you have to help a blogger out and give me the ideas! Sound good?

So, just to summarize, the new theme days are...

SUNDAY: SUNDAY JUKEBOX
MONDAY: MONDAY MATINEE
TUESDAY: TUESDAY TIMELINE
WEDNESDAY: ALL-REQUEST WEDNESDAYS
THURSDAY: THURSDAY DIARIES
FRIDAY: WHAT'S ON TV FRIDAY NIGHT?
SATURDAY: SATURDAY SMORGASBORD



We've had two wonderful years together. Let's make year number three the best year yet!


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Seeing Red Over Sun-Kissed/Sunburned Skin

I typically don't like repeating topics within the same month (well, aside from the Back to the Future trilogy entries that I worked on the last three Monday Matinees), but in this case, I'm going to have to in order to set up the story.



Above is a copy of Jughead With Archie Digest #88. It was one of the very first comic books that I remember reading in my childhood, and miraculously enough, it is still in fantastic condition. I would have gone into my bookshelf to scan the images that I needed to illustrate this point, but it's tucked all the way in the back of my bookshelf, and it would take me a lot of time to dig it out, so I'll just have to describe it to you.

Anyway, one of the reasons why that particular book stands out in my mind is the opening story. Traditionally speaking, almost every digest magazine has two new stories mixed in with some classic Archie comics from the last ten or twenty years prior. In almost all cases, the new stories at at the two bookends (or, the opening and closing stories). With me so far?

The first story in the book shows Jughead and Archie talking to each other while Archie is doing some watering in the garden. I want to say that Archie is wearing a bathing suit and a T-shirt, but I can't recall. At some point, Archie and Jughead decided to go to the beach, and Jughead and Archie get into a discussion on precautions that they could take to avoid excessive sun exposure. It's actually kind of a story that is similar to those Goofus and Gallant stories that you'd find in Highlights magazine. In Archie and Jughead's case, both of them knew that going outside without wearing sunscreen was not a good idea (keeping in mind that this story was illustrated at a time when the hole in the ozone layer was just discovered a couple of years earlier). So, both of them rubbed some sunscreen all over their bodies and played on the beach happily.

Reggie Mantle, on the other hand, didn't need sunscreen. He felt that wearing sunscreen was the wimpiest thing that one could do. So, he spent his day on the beach prancing around with girls in bikinis, himself wearing a rather skimpy Speedo.

(Which, according to this blogger is one article of men's clothing that I would never wear.)

But, anyway, I'm sure you all know how the story goes. Archie and Jughead end up without any damage done to their epidermis whatsoever. But after a woman accidentally slaps Reggie in the back, he winces in pain in a dramatic fashion before turning a sickly shade of rose. Despite the fact that he was basically out in the sun for hours on end without even so much as using sunscreen, he is still completely clueless about how harmful the sun's rays could get, and is absolutely dumbfounded over how something like that could have happened.

Cue a scene of all the bikini-clad women that Reggie was just playing frisbee with chanting...

WE USED A SUNSCREEN!!!

And, at the end of the story, Jughead adds “and you should too”.

Now, I suppose you're wondering why I have chosen this comic book tale to open up my discussion. Well, it's very simple. It has to do with today's blog topic.



Sun protection.

I mean, let's face it. All of us these days need it.

I will say this. I'd rather get a tan the old-fashioned way by going outside for a few hours rather than book an appointment at a tanning salon any day of the week. I don't really like tanning beds much at all, and I am in firm support of banning them for everyone under the age of eighteen. But, regardless of whether you tan in a bed, or tan on a beach towel on a sandy shore, you still have to take protection from the sun very seriously.

As someone who works a job that is mostly outdoors now (where each of my shifts last at least seven and a half hours), I definitely have to make sure that I take care of my skin whenever possible. In fact, I'm going to post my daily routine for protecting myself from the sun, just so I can give off the impression that I am no Reggie Mantle and that I do take the effects of excessive sunlight exposure on the skin quite seriously.



First, I always make sure that I have sunscreen on me at all times. And, I know that a lot of news sources these days are reporting that you don't need to have a sunscreen that has an SPF higher than 40, but I always use at least a 50 SPF. When I was younger, I burned something fierce, and joked that I needed a sunscreen that had an SPF of 10,000! But, I have noticed that the stuff that I use is fine. It does what it is supposed to do, and that's all that matters. Believe me, I know all about blistering sunburns. I acquired quite a few of them in my early childhood that were skin-peeling awfulness. After you experience a couple of them, you definitely don't want to experience another one. And, I also have learned that applying it only once a day is not exactly the way you want to go unless you're going to be outside for 30 minutes or an hour. Myself? I usually reapply sunscreen during breaks and my lunch hour. That way, I'll be well protected from the elements.



Another thing that I mostly do is wear a hat that has some sort of protection. I know that those Tilley hats that look like the hat that Inspector Gadget wears are probably the best ones to wear, and I used to own one, but I cannot find it for the life of me. So, instead, I use a baseball cap. Not quite the protection that could be used, but it's fine as long as I remember to apply sunscreen on the back of my neck. Though, admittedly sometimes I don't wear a hat if it appears to be an overcast, cool day, and when the clouds go away and heat up the ground below, I end up paying for my little slip-up. But, it happens to us all. No need to stress over it.

And, of course, the whole idea of applying sunscreen on a scorching hot day is just one of the many things that one can do in order to stay safe in the summer heat. In fact, I want to tell you a story from the days in which I did store standards for my job. It was the day before Canada Day (July 1), and I was out in the hot sun for several hours without drinking any liquids whatsoever.

Big mistake on my part.

Heat stroke is very serious stuff. As someone who has suffered from heat stroke related incidents in my childhood, I know how hard it can be to experience that discomfort. So, you know what I started doing? I used to smuggle a thermos filled with ice cold water inside the shopping cart collecting machine so that I could stay hydrated at all times. And, the best part was that the thermos was the same exact colour as the shopping carts at the time, so I didn't have to worry about getting “busted” so to speak. And, even if I did get caught with a thermos filled with water, I think that they would have understood.



That's why I'm always constantly drinking water on the job when I work the Garden Centre. If I didn't drink water out there, I'd likely be passed out in the compound lying in between the cedar mulch and peat moss. So, yes, hydration is very important to me, and I make sure that I keep a bottle of water on my person at all times while I am working outside.

Just one more thing that I want to make clear as I close this blog post on sun safety. I am one of those people who has a naturally ruddy complexion. When I get a lot of sun exposure, it's typical for me to get a reddish glow in my skin. But then it fades completely to a tan brown colour. It comes from my father's side of the family. Did you know that when my father gets a lot of colour, his skin gets incredibly dark? It's true. Mine does the exact same thing. I can see why some people might mistake it as being a burn, but I would know if it is. I am the best judge of my own body, and I know what a sunburn feels like. I've always had that ruddy complexion whether I am in extreme heat or extreme cold. It has nothing to do with high blood pressure (it was normal the last time I had mine checked), and it also has nothing to do with any skin diseases. That's just the way that I was born.

It certainly doesn't mean that I don't practice sun safety. I wouldn't be writing an entire blog post on how important it is if I didn't. Nor does it mean that I don't take care of myself outside. I may have a slip-up every now and again, but everyone does. I would say that I actually do a good job keeping safe against the elements. It may not look like I do, but there's only so much one can do with a naturally ruddy complexion.

I certainly wouldn't fault anyone for getting a nasty sunburn every now and again. Maybe they forgot the sunscreen one day...or maybe, like me, they have a naturally ruddy complexion too. I certainly wouldn't point it out to them and chastise them for having a burn. I don't know the situation behind it, and it's not up to me to judge.

I certainly don't think it's very nice to make light of a person who has had the misfortune of getting a sunburn. I definitely don't think it's very nice to make everyone in the room aware of the fact that a person's skin colour is redder than what they perceive as being normal. 

And, I certainly don't think that it's very professional or courteous to point out a person's sun-kissed skin to everybody in the room and kick off an impromptu sun protection intervention in a public space like say, a cafeteria, hallway, or break room where you are basically observed under a microscope for your entire lunch hour and having to try and constantly explain that your skin is not burned, that it is merely a side-effect of having a naturally rosy complexion. Because not only does it make that person's free time less enjoyable for them...it kind of makes that person feel like the village idiot - especially someone who does take sun safety quite seriously - who is tired of explaining to people who obviously don't know better than to talk with someone in a more respectful manner.  And, sometimes, it hurts the person's feelings, which if they already do suffer a nasty burn can make the situation even more embarrassing.

In the end, they are people, not circus sideshows. And, regardless of whether the intentions behind the concern are good, I still think that respect plays a huge part in that.


Just some food for thought though.