Archive | August 2012

Sisterhood

Aug12

Me and E. ~ 1987 ~ Ages 3 and 6

Sisterhood.  I used to think it only meant the relationship between a woman and her sister(s).  I’m slowly learning that it comes in many forms.  I’m fortunate to have a wonderful little sister, E., who not only was my first and best friend as a child, but whom now inspires me as an adult.  It isn’t something I think about much, but last weekend, as my sister finally discovered GoodReads and I became inspired to write this post, I realized the depth of the shared experiences E. and I have.  Of course, there is the obvious.  We have the same wonderful parents, we share and adore a little brother, we spent almost our entire childhoods living in the same house, and we attended the same schools, even having some of the same teachers.

But there is so much more.  We both grew up playing and working in the family business, Russell Canoe Livery, having our Dad as boss, as did our little brother.  Our Grandma R. taught us all how to drive and supported us in everything we did.  She and Grandpa were fixtures at E.’s basketball and softball games, as well as the football, soccer, and baseball games of G., our little brother.  They even attended the games of great-nieces and nephews, many of whom E. and I considered our best friends.  E. and I will always carry those lessons of love and support with us, thanks to the concerted efforts of our grandparents and our parents.

At the end of our childhoods, E. and I even decided to attend the same university, Michigan State, despite our planned vastly different career paths.  Due to our age difference, almost exactly three years, and my tendency to study abroad, there was only one semester during which we both lived on campus.  One night my sister had one of those freshman year meltdowns that seem to happen to everyone.

Guess who she called?  Yep, her big sister.  I ended up at her dorm room and we ended up spending a good share of that evening just talking, about everything and anything.  I never realized she wasn’t anything but happy; she didn’t realize I wanted children someday or how deeply my infertility weighed on my mind (and still does).  It was the first time we’d shared so much since we were children.

I love the fact that we now share an alma mater too.  She eventually even met my wonderful brother-in-law at MSU and began serving as a Big Sister with Big Brothers, Big Sisters.  Her little sister, C., who is not so little anymore, is very much a part of our family.  C. and I were both in E.’s wedding party, along with E.’s gaggle of crazy friends.

E., Grandpa B., and Me ~ West Branch, MI ~ Christmas 2004

It wasn’t until fairly recently that I began to experience another type of sisterhood; the type that brings women together around a shared set of circumstances.  On Facebook I belong to a very active group of women and girls with Turner Syndrome.  Some Moms, and even a couple of Dads, of girls with Turners participate as well.  As Turner Syndrome affects only women, we are our own sisterhood.  Not only do we share a few similar physical characteristics, nearly all of us deal with infertility, short stature, growth hormone injections, hormone replacement therapy, and continued misinformation surrounding our specific genetic condition.  Through the group, we have cheered on adoptions, supported those going through invitro fertilization, tried to provide accurate information for parents of girls with Turners, and encouraged each other in countless ways, in spite of sometimes severe medical issues and even untimely deaths.  I can’t think of a better definition of sisterhood.

What gets me is this:  Why can’t women carry this attitude with them every day, no matter what the circumstances?  Instead we put each other down, act superior to other women, and generally make the lives of girls miserable throughout junior high and high school.  Then, after college, after we think we’ve put all that behind us, the pettiness starts all over again.  One of the worst bosses I ever had was a woman – and I’ve heard that from several other women.  As a business woman and a manager, I can only hope I can do better.  I will never understand why we must tear each other down in order to build ourselves up.

“Sisters” ~ Copyright 2011-20012 ~ Natasha Wescoat

You can learn more about Natasha Wescoat’s art here or find it on Facebook here.

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Happy Sunday ~

Aug12

 

Happy Sunday everyone!

I’m just glad that the rain quit here for a while.  Lots of great posts coming up today.  I know I’ve featured this particular Beatles video here several times, but still gives me goosebumps.  It just seems to foreshadow the music and videos I grew up with in the mid-1990s, mainstream “alternative” rock ~ i.e. Oasis, Green Day, the White Stripes, and many more.

 

Aug11

What an interesting post! There is something about the dress Madame plans to wear to the wedding that reminds me of my childhood. I’m not sure why. Somehow I was under the impression that the hat tradition was largely British. I was wrong.

Becoming Madame

One of the major advantages of living in France has to be the tradition, like in the UK, of wearing large, festive hats to weddings.

One of my husband’s cousins is getting married this weekend up in Normandy and we are all getting ready to trek up there for the big event. This will be my fifth time as a guest at a wedding in France, my sixth French wedding if we include my own.

I already spoke to a number of the differences between French and North American weddings in a previous post, so I won’t dwell on those points now. What I’m really excited about is wearing a wedding hat for the first time this Saturday!

As a bride, I wore the more traditional veil. As a guest to the non-family weddings I attended before I was married, I felt a little strange adopting the French tradition…

View original post 950 more words

Aug10

I can only hope to attend BlogHer one day!

Go Jules Go

Right now I’m imagining all of you charming little chipmunks scurrying around, cursing the copy machine, looking for your red staplers and hating The Man.

Meanwhile, I’m kicking off my first two-week vacation in a thousand years. Instead of doing this yesterday and scheduling it to publish at 6am EST today, I decided to write this post when I got up and see what happens.

Wow. I feel so daring.

In case you missed my fancy sidebar widget and my last post: I attended my first blogging conference, BlogHer ’12, on Saturday. I left bright and early to take the train from New Jersey into Manhattan, armed with ‘stache glasses and a lightness of heart only vacation time can bring. By 7am, it was already as hot as Hades, so I went to that special place in my mind. You know the place – it’s normally reserved for

View original post 783 more words

Aug5

Leg warmers? Really? I’d love to know why they became a fad in the first place. I barely remember them, although I know I had at least a pair as a very young child. I’m surprised she didn’t mention Jane Fonda’s workout records (yes, records) or the Get In Shape Girl stuff marketed to self-conscious tweens who didn’t just feel bad enough about their body image already.

Childhood Relived

*What the…Friday? is a weekly Friday feature in which I resuscitate a video relic from the swampy pits of Pop Culture Wasteland.*

Today:  What the legwarmers?

“They’re functional, fashionable and just plain fun!”

That’s what I learned about legwarmers today — from watching a commercial about legwarmers.

1982-Angie and 1982-Skate Island could attest to the “fashionable” part.  And  scientific evidence would surely prove they are “just plain fun.”

But “functional”?  What would make them functional?  This was not explained to me in the commercial, amid the flying hypnotic color wheel of legs.

Oh, I suppose you’re going to say that legwarmers keep your legs warm?  Yeah, I thought you’d say that.  That’s so obvious, right.

Then tell me why Jane Fonda is not wearing earmuffs.  Huh?  Tell me.  Then tell me why this thing was never all the rage:

And then when you’re done telling me that, tell me what…

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Facebook, Twitter, and GoodReads ~ Oh My

Aug5

Lately I’ve been spending my time filling out the Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde Facebook page, which you can find here.  I’m hoping to eventually create a community there that wants to have in depth conversations.  Right now, as I’ve just set up the discussion boards, I’m having a conversation with myself!  I visualize it as a place for readers to plug their blogs, discuss what books they just finished, and share ideas as to what they’d like to see here.  I want to make Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde truly interactive.  Currently I have 50 members, myself included.  There is always room for one more.

In addition to finally fleshing out the Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde facebook page, I’ve also spent some time developing my Twitter account, @russelllindsey.  If you take the time to follow me, I follow you back.  Currently Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde, each and every post, is broadcast to 162 Twitter followers.

Twitter and Facebook aside, I’ve also gone through my GoodReads account.  You can find me on Goodreads here.  While I don’t have the details right now, a conversation or two I had on GoodReads may have a huge impact on the future of Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde.  Stay tuned!

Even though it has taken me a lot longer than I would’ve liked, I’m glad I’m finally starting to truly use social media to promote Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde.  So, I’m curious – to all those writers out there:  What social media sites are you using?  How often do you use it?  How do you create an audience for your work?  I’d love to hear about all of your experiences.  Good, Bad, and Ugly.