Test-my patience-monials

Everyone knows that there can be no better advertising than word of mouth – satisfied customers talking about your products and services. There are a lot of companies who take this ‘word of mouth’ concept and mass produce it and so we have testimonial-style commercials.

Banks, insurance companies, vocational colleges, face creams, diet pill companies, etc. are all on board this bandwagon. Watching TV is just no fun with the guy from ITT-Tech hounding you to ‘call now’ and warning you that the couch is not your friend. How does he know? The couch and I are really good friends; we’ve been through a lot together. And now that couch’s feelings have been hurt I just have to spend more time with it and watch more TV. And there to interrupt my favourite shows is the most irritating testimonial commercial of all – the Fabreeze ad. I don’t understand this one – she is a real estate agent who uses Fabreeze to prep her houses for sale. Fair enough but then the ad goes south fast as she talks about using it in her own home to remove odours from her couch because it was smelling more like dog? Here’s a tip – keep the dogs off the couch. She also uses it to get rid of sports odours and teenage odours. What on earth!

Things that make you go…hmm

I met a friend this morning, not unusual in itself, but what he had to say highlighted something that has been troubling me for a while: how does one deal with the possible passing away of a loved one. How do you repress your own best instincts when they wishes of how they future quality of life – or lack of it thereof, in this case – should be lived. This is something that continues to be talked about in Canada.

My own feeling regarding this is: I want them to be with me for as long as I can have them. Yes, I know that’s HUGELY selfish; but I don’t think I could bear to be asked to support their desire to ‘pull the plug’ should that situation ever present itself. Could I ever be ready to take responsibility (which is essentially what this is) for someone else’s well-being in this manner? I’m not sure.

Idol Updates

OMG! American Idol eliminations were on Wednesday night and I definitely don’t agree with America or the Judges. They should have kept Paige and voted Miley off. What was that about? Her singing was pretty awful for someone who does that for a living. And she really wasn’t that great of a mentor either.

I’m definitely not too impressed with this season’s Idol finalists. A rather weak bunch – they really need to shape up or I’d seriously have no trouble whatsoever changing the channel. Anyways I’d rather watch paint dry on the DIY channel than watch Kara flirt with Simon.

I LOVE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR!

No, it has nothing to do with the birds chirping or leaves appearing on barren branches or the sun shining and winter being declared officially over. Its new season of Reality TV time!

Reality television, a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors. Except for Celebrity Apprentice that is. Season 9 has Grammy winner, Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Osbourne, Comedian Sinbad, Olympian Michael Johnson and Rockstar, Bret Michaels to name a very few. Too early in the game to have a favourite. Except for Trump of course. He is always a favourite.

American Idol has been on for a while now but has just gotten to the interesting part – the top 12. The addition of Ellen as judge is excellent – haven’t seen any constructive criticism but boy do I love her sense of humour. Still not liking Kara DioGuardi, and what’s up with her being all over Simon this season?

Love my pear shape

I don’t – I hate it. I’ve never loved it. Not having clothes that fit (one size fits all – that’s a laugh!) didn’t make it any easier to love my pear-shaped frame. Would it have been easier to love an apple shape instead? I don’t know. But if we were picking vegetables, I can definitely say that I’d be fine with “broccoli”. Green, long stems, and heavy on top. Carrots were also a possibility, but they were just too orange and too lean – not me at all.
But really, I’d rather not have to compare my body to any food item. Thanks to all the lovely folk encouraging us to love the shape we have, but, personally, I’d be happy without the comparisons.

Make believe

My best friend’s daughter is discovering make-up. The suggested pace of growth, from teen to young woman, scares her mother, but it takes me back to a fun and ridiculous time and my own flirts with make-up; school days off were the best time to poke about my mother’s make-up and try on the odd medley of colours that only the very young or colour challenged can combine.
Today it’s hard to get away from the online and TV aides – the legion of beauty tips, get the look, and makeover shows. But while impressive in terms of help available for the style-challenged, it is possible that for many young people struggling to find their own, how-to’s can turn in to uninteresting homogeneity.

Beyond beauty

I heard it on The View: a new reality show (groan) featuring Jessica Simpson. This time Ms. Simpson, recently the subject of great media scrutiny for her changing shape, would embark on a global tour to explore how the idea of beauty was interpreted across cultures.

Interesting, and if not original, in a world that continues to be dominated by stereotypes of western beauty, it could provide a refreshing counter view. But…hold the applause, the Simpson beauty tour seems on track to deliver more of the usual inanities than any meaningful discourse on cultural perceptions of beauty. Oh well.

Armchair travel

Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea,
And East and West the wanderlust that will not let me be…
But, common sense, sparked by an assessment of my finances, ensures that I will stay put — at least for the time being. So goodbye airplanes, hello armchair travel.

Hello world!

Welcome to my world.