Someone Stole My Rat

It was only a dollar store rat. It’s not like I can’t run out and get another one – probably for half price since Halloween is old news.  Still, I feel really bent out of shape that someone stole my rat.

Maybe because Halloween is a time where you welcome people onto your porch, not thinking that they’ll violate your hospitality.

Maybe because “it’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing.”

Maybe because the kids I suspect lifted it were with a parent.

Maybe because as an entitled ‘right now’ society, we have collectively forgotten that you don’t take something if it doesn’t belong to you.

It’s not the plastic rodent I mourn, it’s the kid who probably doesn’t know that he did anything wrong.

Contents of an Old Wallet

It’s amazing how things change so quickly.  I did a triple take when I stumbled upon these cards in a long forgotten wallet tucked in the back of my closet.  It not only shows how negligent I am in keeping my closet organized, but it illustrates the stunning fall of three giants.

Blockbuster peaked in 2004 with 9,000 stores and 60,000 employees.  By 2011, it was all over for them.  They simply couldn’t keep up with the pace of the changing marketplace and competitors who were ahead of the streaming technology curve.

A merchant named John Wanamaker pioneered the idea of a department store in Philadelphia in 1866.  He wrote his own ads and was the first to offer full cash refunds to customers. As family members died off in the 1920’s, the stores passed to a board of trustees.  Its doors closed in 1995 and Wanamaker’s is now a Macy’s. People still rendezvous at and refer to the 2,500 lb. bronze eagle, however, as the Wanamaker eagle.

Quakers Justus Strawbridge and Isaac Clothier founded Strawbridge & Clothier as a dry goods store in 1868. When the company combined their buildings into one magnificent limestone structure in 1931, they almost went bankrupt due to the staggering costs of the limestone. They held on and thrived for many years, but by 2006, in a painful decision, the family sold their stock.

I guess the lesson is that no matter how robust we are now, we can never take anything for granted. Change with the times, be open to new ideas, and don’t get in over our heads with debt.  What I thought was a long overdue closet cleaning turned out to be a metaphor for taking inventory of more than just my clothes.

Through the Screen Door

Autumn always brings out the bittersweet in me.  No other season provides such compelling evidence that change is in the air.  The cool breezes through the screen door and the vibrant backdrop dramatically announce the end of one era and the beginning of another.

How many times have my kids bounded down those front steps as the screen door closes, as only a screen door will.  Excruciatingly slow at first, and then a quick slam.  If you’re not careful, the cat will sneak out.

Autumn is indifferent as to whether you’re ready. It plows forward and starts the process without looking back.  As it should.

Thrift Store Finds and Never Minds

Thrift Store Finds and Never Minds

You never know what you’re going to find in a thrift store. That’s part of the fascination that keeps me coming back.  Sometimes what you spy is just plain funny and you scratch your head and wonder who owned it…and why.

Is that George Washington crossing the Delaware? On a pair of shorts? OK, then….

Wandering through a thrift store can be like therapy.  You laugh, you feel nostalgic, you feel gratitude, and every now and then, you just may find something that speaks to you.

Like this sweet basket for my bike.  Only $2.90. Now I can run to the market and get milk.

Or these beautiful, hand painted glasses jars. 99 cents each. From their marks, I tracked them down to Hazel Atlas glass company, which went out of business in 1964. They are listed on Ebay for $99 each. Maybe some day I’ll sell them, but for now, I bask in their beauty and my hundredfold score. 

Not to change the subject, but is that Fat Albert on a pair of jeans? See my point?

Happy thrifting…

Everyone should know Malala’s name

I’m as guilty as anyone. I shamelessly follow the petty fights of the housewives.  I concern myself with the state of Khloe’s marriage and I’m more in tune with TMZ than CNN.

One brave little girl named Malala Yousafzai, however, should be headlining in all of our minds.  Malala embodies everything that we so painfully take for granted in this country.  Education for girls, freedom, our right to speak out against oppression.

In case you don’t Malala’s story, here’s a brief summary. She was born and raised in Northern Pakistan.  In 2009 when she was 12, a militant warlord seized control of the region and began closing girls’ schools.  Malala appeared in two short documentaries about the closures and soon became a high profile advocate for girls’ education, even writing a blog for the BBC.  Last October, Taliban gunmen boarded her school bus and shot her in the head and neck.  Miraculously, Malala survived without any brain damage and continues to fight for the right of girls to get an education.  The Taliban vows to go after her again.  When Malala woke up after surgery, she asked for her books.

I’m not saying young girls should forsake Taylor and Selena, but let’s make room for Malala’s voice as well.  Make a shirt that says “I am Malala” and celebrate her birthday, July 12, as Malala day.  Route for her to win the Nobel Peace Prize. And, please, never again say that you’re bored and hate school.

"Wait, What" Moments - Euro Edition

Some things are the same everywhere. Take those scratch your head moments that make you double take and say, “wait…what?”  My encounters with these didn’t stop on international soil.

On a corner in Paris, we spotted this bicycle that was obviously hit (possibly more than once). We felt a little bad chuckling at the bent tires, but couldn’t hold in our laugh when we saw how it was chained up so securely.

I have to say I was a little shocked when I stepped into the shower at a Munich hotel room and saw what was tiled on the walls. It’s one thing to have an irrational fear of clowns, but this happy oom-pah band was no laughing matter.  Turns out, a lot of people share my terror of clowns (coulrophobia). Something to do with disguises, fake emotions, all that make-up, and creepy wigs. Why it was on the shower wall, I’ll never know.

When walking in a little alley in Florence, we did a double take and a head bend when we saw this pizza shop with its signs upside down or backwards. I can’t quite figure out which. Did no one notice this at installation? So confused.

My son was recently in Berlin and sent me this photo.  He stayed in a hotel with a shared toilet, and apparently you weren’t permitted to pee standing up. He was astounded at not just one, but two of the signs. We researched and found out that in Germany and Austria, they design toilets with a shelf and expect people to sit, not stand.  I don’t even want to share anymore on this…

Anyway, the Urban Dictionary defines ‘wait, what’ as “a way of indicating that the thing you or someone else just said makes no sense.” Sometimes that applies to what we see, too.

Thrift Shop Prophecies

There’s nothing like a thrift store to give you a cold reality check on things that are trending down.  Here are a few things I noticed.

Soup tureens.  It’s a sad state of affairs that we don’t have the time or energy to make homemade soup anymore.  This graveyard of soup tureens is a signal that fast food and quick fixes have left us no time for comfort food. Maybe it’s time to slow down…

Tissue boxes.  Oh, what to say about all these plastic tissue box holders. Are they really necessary? The public has spoken and said “no.” Just wish some clever crafter would come up with an alternative idea to upcycle these.

Piggy Banks. I think the proliferation of piggy banks on thrift store shelves says something about the fiscal direction in which we’re heading as a nation.  We’re not teaching our children the value of saving.  This is one trend I hope will reverse itself. 

Coffee Pots. These coffee containers were once modern beyond grandma’s grasp.  It’s amazing to see this lonely line of glass receptacles that has been overtaken by k-cups, pods, and cappuccino makers. 

Never underestimate the forecasting power of a thrift store.

Letter Openers

The next best thing to a hand written letter is a beautiful letter opener. 

Maybe I get sentimental because I know it’s only a matter of time before a letter opener will just be another object from the past.  Between email and online bills, it’s easy to see that one day the children of the world will ponder the purpose of a letter opener.  But for now, I’ll enjoy the variety I find at yard sales and estate auctions.  I think about how many desks they’ve graced, how many hands have held them, and wonder what news they’ve unleashed.  A letter opener can transport you back to an era of waiting for the postman and the drama of the smooth rip across the envelope.

Here are a few favorites…

This one was probably a giveaway from the Fuller Brush man. Apparently, he went door-to-door selling cleaning and personal care products. How Mad Men is this?

I love the smooth elegant hand juxtaposed with the comical face. 

 

This one commemorates the Cunard Ocean Lines Building in NYC at 25 Broadway. Not long after the building was completed in 1920, Cunard suffered during the Great Depression and merged with rival White Star Lines (of Titanic fame) in 1934. As sea traffic continued to decline because of increased competition from air travel, Cunard sold its grand building in 1966.  Ah, but this letter opener still remains after almost 100 years. 

Letter openers. What stories they could tell…

Seattle Surprises

I didn’t know what to expect when I stepped off the plane on Thursday night last week at the Seattle Tacoma airport.  I was just happy I was linking up with my son, Richie, his partner, Ryan, and Ry’s mom, Lisa.  This was to be our 3^rd Annual Mother/Son Road Trip.

In the back of my mind, I thought cold, damp, rainy, and frankly, a little “meh.” Happily, it was clear, mild, and - surprise - sunny and anything but meh.

On the first day, we took a coffee crawl and Ed, our fabulous host, taught us that Starbucks originated in Seattle in 1971 at the Pike Place Market and was named for the first mate, Starbuck, in the novel Moby Dick.  As we progressed to four other coffee shops, we wondered aloud why there were so many in Seattle. Ed speculated about the weather, the laidback culture, the walkable nature of the city, reasonable rents, etc.  Who knows exactly why, but in terms of density, Seattle has 4x as many coffee shops as New York City. 

Our next stop was the “soul of Seattle,” Pike Place Market.  The vibrant flowers beckoned us in and the honeycrisp apple samples brought us to our knees.  The market was alive with energy and we learned that fish really do fly as fishmongers throw them to get wrapped after purchase.  It’s an amazing blend of talent – stand up comedians, singers, performance artists… all while expertly gutting and filleting fish.  

We put nearby Freemont on our agenda for its quirky factor. Unfortunately we went at night and missed the troll under the bridge, but were able to come face to face with the Lenin statue.  An American teaching in Slovakia found the seven ton bronze sculpture lying face down after the Revolution in 1989 and felt compelled to honor its historic and artistic importance.  He mortgaged his home to purchase it and bring it to the US. People seem to love that art itself triumphed over ideology.

The hills were another surprise. Seattle felt a little San Franciscoesque and is actually surrounded by 200 feet of shoreline. A 35-minute ferry to Bainbridge was a must to squeeze into our two-day adventure.  We didn’t know what was more breath taking – the snowcapped Olympic Mountains or the charming harbor as we approached the island.

Although I always thought of grunge rock originating in Seattle, it’s also home base to many businesses including Boeing, Cinnabon, Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom’s and UPS. Not too grungy.  A stunning 36% of Seattleites get to work by foot, bike, or public transportation, including ferry.  And clean and green is always a nice surprise.

The best part of the trip, though? My utter gratitude to be with these people and share in the beauty of our planet.  Here’s to next March and Road Trip #4.

Have a good day, Hon!

Every city has its kitschy charms.  I’d say one of Baltimore’s is how it channels its inner “hon.”  Rather than try to escape its blue collar, waitress, dockworker, beehive hairstyle image, it embraces it in a warm hug and calls it “hon.” The culture of the 1950’s to the 1970’s Baltimore is captured in John Water’s movies, especially Pink Flamingos, where native Waters parodies everything Baltimore.

In 2010, a local businesswoman in Baltimore trademarked the word “hon” for promotional purposes.  Such was an outpouring of outrage, that she relinquished the trademark a year later.  No one can lay claim to the spirit or heart of something. And that’s the very essence of “hon.”

Suburban Desert

When there aren’t enough sources of fresh food in an urban or rural area – it’s called a food desert.  Could this be happening in suburbia, too?

Over the past year, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend.  Supermarkets are closing.  Right here in the burbs.  At least three within a few miles of each other.  What’s going on?

Some speculate that competition from the big chains is causing these food stores to “underperform.”  Without supermarkets, it tends to make people turn to fast food.  We’re being overfed and undernourished. 

All I know is that it makes me sad. Sad that I can’t jump in my car and pop over to Pathmark.  Sad that my mom can’t step out her apartment and stroll to Superfresh. But mostly, I'm sad for the people who lost their livelihood. 

There’s always hope, though. I heard that a new market is making plans to occupy one of the empty spaces.  I know I'll never take this oasis for granted again.

Wait ... what? Part 4

Wait … what? Part Four

In my never-ending encounters with “wait … what” moments, here are a few more I stumbled upon over the past few weeks.

An ancient statue sports a cool beanie on the Johns Hopkins campus.  He actually wears it well.

I thought it was a little odd to encounter this piece of broken peace.  It would take a brave buyer to pick this off the discount rack. It doesn’t seem to bode well, does it?

They paved paradise, but a little plant still managed to claim a spot in the middle of this parking space - through concrete - after Hurricane Sandy. We should all be that stubborn. 

Enjoy the quirky times in life that make you say, “wait … what?”

Nights at a Round Table

I think all future dining rooms should be square. Why? So that a round table can fit squarely in there.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the virtues of the round table.  It’s very democratic. There is no head and everyone is on par. You don’t have to think about where you sit and whether you’ll be stuck next to cousin Mildred who drones on about her cats.  At a round table, everyone is part of every conversation.  There’s no monopolization, polarization, or isolation. 

Legend has it that King Arthur ordered that a round table be built so that none of his knights had precedence over the other. It was a radical concept of equality.   Winston Churchill, too, apparently preferred a round table to conduct business.

So, next time you’re stuck at one end of a long table, think how King Arthur was secure enough not to be a head, but to be ahead of his time.

Four Shadowing

Last weekend I was bombarded with fours.  Was the universe trying to tell me something?

As someone always looking for symbolism, I researched a bit to find that four denotes stability and the tangible nature of things.  Consider the four seasons, the four directions, the four elements, and the four corners of the earth.  Four represents calmness and completeness.  However, four is an unlucky number in Chinese culture, so I’ll calmly and completely ignore that.

In numerology, the recurrence of four in your life signifies organization, hard work, solidity and great strength, but it can also symbolize a sense of restriction and limitation.  Guess it’s time listen to the fours and try to flex without being inflexible and hold strong without holding back.