Taking a Temperature

I almost never do this.  Turns out, I should be.

Blog more, Break less
For the past two weeks I have been warming Tales... like a chicken sitting on her eggs.  I've been trying to understand this process of making what I write not only relatable, but also readable.  On an internet search I found two articles I hope will teach me savvy blogging techniques and of them, the most important:  Blog more.  Blog with a running theme.

I asked my husband what he thought of the posts since Tales' inception.  He told me unwittingly he thought the blog was about nothing, "it doesn't have a running theme."

At first I was floored, the blog is about my life.  But then I started looking over my posts like a doctor looking over a scan.  Maybe there is some truth behind my husband's comment.  That quickly turned into worried and frantic thinking about how I can express myself, while expressing myself.
Here's what I figured out.

Tales... not appearing to have a running theme is the running theme.  We all remember how wildly successful Seinfeld was, and that was a show about nothing.  We all laughed, sometimes while hugging our sides at the antics Jerry and friends got into, all serving as an explanation to Jerry's opening, telling jokes to an audience about his observation of the world as he saw it.  That being said, I agree with another tip I read about rewriting posts to fit how I want to be seen.  If I can be honest in a way that a tipsy conversation can be life changing, I want to be seen as a witty and intelligent woman who pays attention to the world around her.  The first 19 posts open to a very small world of mostly family, but there's more to it.  And, that's my job to fix.  So, why not start now?

Thursdays are better known for throwbacks.  Today, Thursdays are for taking a temperature.  The temp for example of SELF magazine and their mean girl behavior in making fun of a woman with brain cancer.

Wonder Tutu...

The actual brain cancer survivor, Monika Allen, pictured right was running in a New York Marathon at the time this was taken.  She was also a few days out from chemotherapy.  So, what did SELF do?  They suped up the runner after emailing her for permission to use her picture, then they published it in a section called "The BS Meter," making fun of Allen and making assumptions that her costume makes her run faster.
Haha...No.
Allen makes the costumes for runners and sells them as a part of her company, Glam Runners.
Temperature: These costumes are super cute.  If they aren't too expensive, I'm going to be impressing upon my husband the need to have this and wear it while working out at the gym.  And, I should get one for my gym wife, my kid sister, who has committed to me as I have to her to make our bodies fitter and our minds happier.
As for SELF, think before you publish!  DUH, all people somehow end up in hot water when they do, act, say or publish things that needed more thinking through.  SELF should feature wonderful stories like Monika Allen's.  In a world where skepticism is the new black, the color of courage would help to brighten things up.

#DaddyIssues...
Conscious Uncoupling is the new term for breaking up, according to Ms. Gwyneth Paltrow's blog, GOOP.  She and Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin are no longer together but will continue to co-parent their two children (they better.  There is nothing worse than children growing up to find unhealthy relationships of their own.  Take notes parents because you will be blamed for it).
Today on the E! news rerun of the celeb news from the night before, clips and pictures of the Gwyneth and Chris' relationship were shown.  One clip that resonated with me was a bite from an interview Gwyneth did with Amanda DeCadenet where she talked about the importance of her father in terms of starting relationships.
"When my father was around, I didn't need to find the perfect man because I already had him," she said.
It's so true.
Before my father's death in 2008, my husband and I, then boyfriend and girlfriend were great.  I didn't think there was a single thing that needed to be changed about my husband.  I did and still do push the issue of fragrance as I think a well fragranced man is attractive, but beyond that, perfection(as good relationships go). After my father died, everything about my husband was under scrutiny.  Everything we did as a couple was under scrutiny.  For as long as we dated I had no problems with crowded places, that's just life outside of home.  Three months out from my father dying, we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie, and I was panicking.  I couldn't take the crowds.
Going to the movies with my dad was a weekly tradition.  My father was the kind of man who enjoyed getting up very early to make the first matinee show after making the first few hours of breakfast at the neighborhood diner.  Everything had to be early.  And, everything seemingly had to be crowd free.

That I was facing this panic in public and with my husband, I couldn't and, didn't have a way of sharing this without becoming unnecessarily agitated.
Grief counseling later helped me discover how I was hanging on to even the things about my father that pissed me off.  But, he was the first man I'd ever known, the first man I'd ever went out with publically, the first man I'd ever kissed and, he was the first man I had ever loved.

Temperature: It's sad to hear that Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are separating, and up until now, the conscious uncoupling term and explanation seemed like BS.  Luckily, I can relate to a Daddy's girl.  For all the things I wish my Daddy didn't do, say or, act I miss him.  Everyday.