From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

[Ellemeno]

(Heck, I don't know if our discussions about wearing seatbelts will make a difference, and I've got the state government on my side for that one!)

Oy, the seatbelt conversations/wrangling.  "For safety.  Because it's the law."  Sometimes I do feel sorry for kids these days, never to know the joys of lying upside down in the backseat.

[ednbarby]

Clarissa, MILF stands for Mothers I'd Like to F... .   

Will hadn't asked me anything about anyone's ethnicity (and we live in a fairly ethnically and racially diverse area, luckily) UNTIL YESTERDAY.  Sigh.  I knew the day was coming.  We were leaving my gym, which is for women only and which has a lovely day care area (called the Fun Center) for our kids.  A young woman was walking out as well, and she was wearing the full-length scarves and coverup of - my apologies if this is ignorant - the Muslim faith (?).  He goes, of course right in front of her, "Why is that girl wearing that cover on her head?"  I scrambled for something to say and only came up with, "Because it's something she likes to wear."  She smiled approvingly at me, so hopefully I didn't screw up too badly.  And he answered with his customary "Oh" which signals the end of the interview.

[serious crayons]

Wow, Clarissa -- that's the most you've spoke in two weeks! Nice to see you here, and thanks for sharing about Miranda.

Here's how my teachable moment about mentioning strangers' physical attributes came up: my son, then 2, said, very loudly, in Target, in regard to a man standing two feet away: "Mom, look how fat that guy is!"

We hadn't yet discussed the topic of discussing others in public, but this greatly increased my sense of urgency.

As for MILF, no, you're not old enough either but I'll tell you anyway. (I only fairly recently heard it myself.) It stands for Mom I'd Like to F*ck. We're learning the definition just in time; according to an item on Salon last week, there's a new line of baby's clothes that say "My mom is a MILF." How charming. 

BTW, when I first heard the term I looked it up on www.urbandictionary.com. For anybody not already familiar with it, it's an invaluable source for finding definitions of slang words, particularly ones you might not want to ask a librarian for.

[henrypie]

On lying upside-down in the backseat...
One of the cars my parents had till I was about 9 was a 196...6?  Beetle with a rusted-out floor -- there was actually a big square hole in the floor, about a foot by a foot, behind the driver's seat.  My sister and I used to dare each other to touch the pavement when the car was stopped at a red light.  That's just nuts.  My dad should have been locked up.

But I did enjoy sprawling on the backseat of cars with healthy floors.

[newyearsday]

You are courageous to be out there with your love of the movie!!

I've hardly read the rest of this thread (cause I'm a delinquent brokie these days)...but this just strikes me as so sad, even though I relate because I am still shy at times to wear my shirts or talk about the movie to others. But in 2006 for us to be shy or afraid about proclaiming our love for this movie, any movie, shows how far we have to go in giving Jack and Ennis a good life together. Goddammit.



I'll be catching up more I hope, later this week. Re: the post from Sarah immediately above this one, LOL! Here's my version--in the mid-1970's when I was 4 or 5, not only did my mom not make us wear seat belts, but she even built a wooden stand with two small, blue plastic chairs nailed down for my brother and I to sit in when we were in the back seat so we could see out the window! I'm sure it dramatically decreased any safety we might have had back there. Kinda crazy to think of it now, but things were sure different back then. I used to also stand up on the floor of the back seat all the time and then yell at my dad for making me fall down when we went around a curve or braked too fast. "Don't fall me down, daddy!" was my line. Hehehe.

[Ellemeno]

Wow, Clarissa -- that's the most you've spoke in two weeks! Nice to see you here, and thanks for sharing about Miranda.

Here's how my teachable moment about mentioning strangers' physical attributes came up: my son, then 2, said, very loudly, in Target, in regard to a man standing two feet away: "Mom, look how fat that guy is!"

Barb and Katherine - Re MILF - Hunh.  I guess maybe that signals something positive for single mothers hoping for a relationship?  Nahhh.  I'm trying to find a good spin on it - or at least one that makes sense.

My own mother tells the story about me at about 3 when we were in an elevator and I said, "Mommy, look at that lady's dirty coat."  Then a few years later I militantly weaned myself off the word 'lady.'

Re the most I spoke in two weeks.  That put the biggest smile on my face in two weeks.

(Barb, two weeks from today....we'll be in sunny(?) California.)

[serious crayons]

Barb and Katherine - Re MILF - Hunh.  I guess maybe that signals something positive for single mothers hoping for a relationship?  Nahhh.  I'm trying to find a good spin on it - or at least one that makes sense.

Well, the positive spin I've found for it is that at least moms can be considered hot now -- and porn spam I've gotten in recent years confirms this -- instead of just frumpy and self-sacrificing.

[Kelda]

My mum still tells the story of when I was three and with my family walking down this kinda clifftop pathway.. a very Glaswegian woman on her way up said

"Watch yer-sel Hen, it's awfy slippy" (For those that need translation. "Watch little girl, its slippy down there.. don't fall!)

To which I replied in a loud innocent voice which made my family have to muffle their laughs..

"I'm not a hen. I don't lay eggs."

[Ellemeno]

I love the word 'Glaswegian.'  I wish the chat room had sound. 

[henrypie]

Oh Clarissa and Barb,
I hope you guys have a wonderful time but I feel a little like Alma at the door, with my purse on my shoulder, watching y'all hop in your truck together.