Bridezilla, a Retrospective
Posted by: eleganterica on: November 2, 2009
I’ll admit, my wedding was a pretty stressful event in the planning stages… not because I was a bridezilla, but because HusbandMike was sick at the time.
But have you seen Bridezilla, the show? It graces us with its presence on the WEtv. I sometimes find myself watching a marathon of them all in a row on a Sunday evening.
It’s like the Jerry Springer of bridal shows. I can barely watch it without gasping or covering my eyes every five minutes. HusbandMike doesn’t think it is real. It is so much madness that I am leaning towards that this show can’t possible be real as well. It is entertaining but come on folks, all the girls on it the act like like the lowest form of trash! Even the “rich” ones. How could you (if you’re in a real relationship) get on television and be so unforgivably rude to your fiancé like that? Not only the groom, but the mothers, sisters and friends of these women are being disgraced on national television as well.
Either way I must admit that at the end of the night, watching Bridezilla gives me motivation. It reminds me to treat my husband with total respect and appreciate all of him. The same goes for my mother and my gracious friends and family members. It puts in perspective that no matter how stressed out I was during the planning phase for my wedding that there is no possible way I acted like those creatures.
FYI, Emily Post has a wonderful list of things to do in the final weeks before the wedding. I doubt these women ever considered her advice on wedding etiquette.
Don’t reserve your best behavior for special occasions. You can’t have two sets of manners, two social codes – one for those you admire and want to impress, another for those whom you consider unimportant.
You must be the same to all people.
Lillian Eichler Watson (1947 – )
Cheaper to Settle?
Posted by: eleganterica on: October 6, 2009
- In: Etiquette| Mike
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Just read an article from the Houston Chronicle. Kathryn Winkfein, a 72-year-old central Texas woman whose Tasering by a deputy constable was shown on video nationwide, has accepted Travis County’s $40,000 settlement offer.
This is the woman I mentioned before who dared the deputy to Taser her during a May 2009 traffic stop. Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe said defending a lawsuit would have cost more than $40,000. She had originally sought more than $135,000 for pain and suffering, medical expenses and humiliation.
Before you judge me for being unfeeling and jump up claiming how law enforcement is out to get people, watch the video. This “lady” was no lady. She was disrespectful, argumentative, and dangerous. The argument that no one deserves to be Tasered is a valid one, but I don’t believe she deserved to sue and then be awarded for her behavior and her behavior’s consequences. Why can’t people learn to behave properly?
I had blogged about frivolous lawsuits before, but this brings a whole new perspective to the field. It was better to settle with $40,000 of taxpayer money than to take this case to court. Amazing. You can get rich by breaking the law and then suing. Why didn’t I come up with a scheme like that?
Maybe HusbandMike should think more highly of me when I lose my temper. It may pay off for us in the end.
I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one:
“O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.
~ François-Marie Arouet (1694 – 1778)
better known by the pen name Voltaire
Less Than Meets the Eye
Posted by: eleganterica on: October 5, 2009
Video Clip to be embedded later.
The first movie was great, but the second was really annoying and poorly edited. I hope the directors and writters don’t send another stinker version to the theaters. It would be a shame to ruin such an easy to present story. I am waiting for reviews next time before I head to the theater.
Michael Bay should not be allowed behind the camera again… just saying.
What you are about to see is top secret. Do NOT tell my mother!
~ Agent Simmons, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Pink Was AWESOME!
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 25, 2009
The Pink concert at the Toyota Center last night was frakkin’ awesome. I’d been looking forward to seeing Pink ever since AspiringAnne told me that she had a spare ticket last week.
Pink: Funhouse World Tour 2009
After grabbing a drink at the bar and visiting the merchandise booth (didn’t see a single cute Pink t-shirt… poop), we took our seats to find we were almost as far away from the stage as it’s possible to be and still be in the lower tier. Not complaining though, there was a clear view of the stage above the heads of general admission people standing on the floor. The Tink Tinks though… yeah… umm… no. Trust me, they were weird.
Also, I saw a co-worker there working the floor. He said that he worked concerts at the Toyota Center. It was so odd seeing a higher up at my company being a security like guy.
Anyway, back to Pink. The lights dimmed, and a video started rolling to a soundtrack of ‘Highway To Hell’ (uh okay??) and then a dancer emerged at the end of the runway and Pink exploded out of the floor and was pulled into the air on a rope, sporting a long (idk, like 20 feet) fluffy pink tail as she drifted into the heavens above the crowd. It trailed behind her like a kite tail, and I might have even held my breath. She slowly moved towards the stage as the curtains fell to reveal a carnival themed set most appropriate for the Funhouse Tour – gaudy lights, hall of mirrors, two playground slides and even a waltzer. I knew that this was going to be a great show!
They brought out this chaise lounge to the center of the stage, hot pink velvet. Everyone was envious… I wanted one just like it too. Pink was now wearing an incredibly revealing number and was sprawled all over the sofa. Then hands started coming out of the chaise lounge, and looked like they were behaving inappropriately. The big screens blurred. It was naughty.
Some dominatrix outfits… those were interesting. The place erupted half-way through the show when she sang ‘So What’. The song ‘Funhouse’ saw two giant, malevolent inflatable clowns suddenly appear behind the band, leering out at the audience – they deflated just as quickly. AspiringAnne did not like those clowns. Did Pink go Led Zeppelin? Oh yes. She also did ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in captain’s hat and bright yellow ringmaster’s jacket a la Freddie – I thought the opening bars were just the prelude to a segue into one of her songs but she did the whole song, and pretty damn fab it was too.
Watching Pink above the stage being flung about as an acrobat and showing us her aerial moves while singing upside down and flying through the air on her trapeze – she was, obviously, attached to a safety wire – but that was pretty impressive stuff.
She did more aerial work later in the show attached to a bungee rope and bounced and spun above the heads of the crowd at the end of the runway and in the encore to ‘Glitter In The Air’ when she floated up, up and away wrapped in a billowing cradle with three or four dancers doing their stuff in mid air. Her outfit this time was reminiscent of Leeloo’s white taped barely there number from The Fifth Element, only even more revealing. They then took her back to the beginning, lowering her into the floor of the runway where the show started. I thought it might be over, but they brought her back out, dripping wet and she spun up above the crowds’ head with water droplets going everywhere. When your pop star turns into a circus performer for real, then you’ve got to love ‘em!
Sadly, I have no pictures. I didn’t have my purse, and I only took my cards and some cash with me in my pockets. It completely slipped my mind to bring my iPhone. I know… I know… no excuses. What can I say? I’m just forgetful like that.
Today, charting your own course isn’t just more necessary than ever before, it’s also much easier — and much more fun.
~ Pink (1979 – )
3D… Just Not Me
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 21, 2009
- In: Mike| Warcraft
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CousinMegan’s mom once gave her some great advice:
Find the nerdiest man possible and marry him to guarantee happiness, stability, and always have the newest electronics.
~ AuntTeresa
When HusbandMike and I were at BlizzCon, I saw an vendor with an amazing display by PNY of the game with a 3D video card. Playing World of Warcraft in 3D seemed pretty darn cool. I was slightly disappointed when it was pointed out to me that my laptop couldn’t handle a video card of this magnatude.
HusbandMike was interested though. You could see the 3D images sparkle in his eyes behind the super cool glasses.
I just read this article on CNN.com. Experts are saying that 3D is coming to home television sets next year… you would wear glasses similar to the ones at 3D movies.
The technology shows tremendous advancement, but I just don’t know if I’m interested. I don’t think I would want to wear special glasses to watch TV. I’m a pretty simple girl, but I am glad that I have a husband who would think this is cool.
I’ll wait for holograms.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
~ Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
Sewing Sadness and Joy
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 16, 2009
A terrible thing happened this past weekend. The sewing machine repair shop called and, after two months mind you, said that they cannot fix my sewing machine. The parts are no longer available.
Now this was a very old machine. I would guess that it was as old as my parents… didn’t even have a thread cutter (if you can believe that). HusbandMike told me not to cry, and that we should try taking it to another place. PirateStuart told me that he was a sewing machine repair man in a previous life, and gave me a good link to check out. You can find anything online afterall.
Now transition to my secondary story… We had this old oven in the kitchen. It wasn’t connected anymore, so it was just taking up valuable cabinet space. A few months ago we took the oven out ourselves and stored a bunch of boxes in this newly created storage space. HusbandMike’s plan is to put doors on it to make it like a secondary pantry. This will require time and money… mostly money.
The big, open, unfinished hole in our cabinets started to get to me after a while. I decided that I would purchase remnant fabric from the fabric store when an appropriate fabric became available to make simple curtains. Luckily on my first trip to the first fabric store I visited, I discovered two yards of a simple yet elegant upolstry fabric. Perfect.
This was going to be a temporary thing… in the beginning I thought I was just going to staple the fabric to the inside of the big gaping hole. Didn’t think it would be there for long. After a while, I realized this needed to be a less than temporary solution. I needed to hem the fabric and hang it properly.
Now merge the two stories together… Hence my need to use my sewing machine, which, after dragging it out from deep within the bowels of the spare bedroom closet, I found out was broken. While I was waiting for the machine to be repaired, I started sewing the curtains… by hand. This takes longer than you think. The great thing though is that my hand-stitching is so tiny that you can barely see the seams. Even I find my work quite impressive. We bought a simple rod and some clip rings to hang it at our last trip to Bed Bath and Beyond.
I finished. See how beautiful they are… feel free to give a contented sigh when you look at them (I know I do).
Remnant fabric: $5, Window treatment hardware: $7, Hiding a big ugly hole: priceless
So in conclusion, I made curtains without a sewing machine. A good thing because my sewing machine doesn’t look like it will be fixed anytime soon. I rock.
Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun (1859)
I’m Sure You Can
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 14, 2009
- In: Dogs
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Sometimes you just need to buck up and spend the money on a decent leash. 
see more dog and puppy pictures
When We Cross Over
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 9, 2009
I’m not a big fan of lawsuits. Let me clarify, I’m not a big fan of big settlement lawsuits. Don’t get me wrong, Erin Brockovich was a great movie and I felt for those people she was helping. What PG&E did was a very bad thing, and I don’t know if any criminal charges were filed… if they weren’t then there should have been.
But I’m not really talking about a company dumping toxic chemicals that killed people and then getting sued by those people. I’m talking about spilling coffee on your lap… in the car… and then suing because it was hot. I’m talking about your child slipping on a wet floor being mopped when they were running around while in your sight… and then suing because your three-year-old got hurt. I’m talking about smoking for thirty years and then suing the cigarette company. Best yet, I’m talking about suing an amusement park after you were hit by lightning in their parking lot… next to your own car. I simply don’t have much sympathy for frivolous litigation.
Then I read this story. Brief recap: after Abercrombie & Fitch refused to let a teenager help her autistic sister try on clothes at its Mall of America store, and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights fined the company $115,264 for discriminating against a disabled person. Now the store had a reasonable concern in the beginning. It did not want both girls entering the fitting room because of store policy aimed at preventing shoplifting, but the store refused to relent even after the sister, and later the girls’ mother, explained that Molly Maxson, then 14, couldn’t be alone because of her disability.
Now, the family didn’t sue immediately. They spoke to employees, they spoke to management, and then they called the company service hotline. When several complaints to the company were ignored, the girl’s mother, Beth Maxson, took the case to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
I don’t think this was frivolous. Of the $115K mentioned above, only $25K went to Molly and her family. The rest went to the family’s attorney’s (a payment ordered by the judge) and to the state in fines. Most importantly, Abercrombie & Fitch also was ordered to post signs in its seven Minnesota stores explaining that disabled individuals should seek out a sales associate if they need an exception to the company’s policy allowing only one person in the fitting room at a time. The company also must provide an hour of training for all employees in Minnesota who interact with the public to make sure they understand how to help disabled customers. They won’t humiliate another disabled person in front of other customers ever again.
This all could have been resolved if the company and its employees had acted like compassionate human beings. During the same shopping trip, the girls were questioned at another store as to why they were going into a fitting room together. Once they explained Molly’s disability though, the clerk consented immediately.
This expensive matter could have been avoided if the company simply apologized instead of being so belligerent. In its legal battle, the company even challenged the family’s claim that Molly was disabled, requesting medical and school records and subjecting the girl to an interview with a forensic psychologist… umm… why?
She never wants to shop there again. A sad thing for a young girl just simply wanting the clothes that will help her fit in better with the other students at school.
Just sayin’… it pays to be nice… to have understanding and compassion. Being courteous makes the world a better place… so be nice… cross over to the other side (we have cookies).
In a law firm you may want to re-think your wardrobe a little.
~ Ed Masry, Erin Brockovich (2000)
The Long Awaited Vacation Post
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 3, 2009
- In: Costumes| Mike| Warcraft
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For every exciting and feel-good thing that happens in your life, there are the icky and disappointing bits. It seems that my kiva.org loan I mentioned in a previous post to Jenan in Lebanon may have some problems. As of today, her repayment status says delinquent. I didn’t notice this when I last checked on Monday. I’m hoping that Jenan turns this around because I was very much hoping to reinvest that loan money to another woman in the Middle East. These women, as a group, are in a special place in my heart.
There were also some not-so-pleasant moments during this vacation… I’ll keep this brief.
Part Three
LineCon
The first was the line at BlizzCon… to get in. Some people had reported that the line was long to pick up the registration badges, but we proud guildies of the Spirits of the Elements did not experience that. As stated in my previous post, we got our badges and goodies without fuss… in under thirty minutes I think (and that included the walk).
The next morning was a different issue. We saw lots of interesting costumes in line, some of which I posted in yesterday’s blog entry. It was important to have things to look at during this time of intense waiting. This next picture below gives a decent representation of the line; you can see how people are moving in one direction and another as the line folds and wraps around.
Human (warrior?)… and I have no idea what the girl with the huge tracks of land behind him is supposed to be… photo by FlyingFitz
I could have sworn at one point that I saw a hint of ni@@le on that woman. It turned out to be a shadow, but seriously… why wear an outfit where this could become a point of debate? Seriously. I mean seriously… they are practically trying to pop out on their own.
I just don’t get it. I really don’t.
Anyway… I digress. If I remember right, we got in line around 9:00~ish AM. The doors to the convention center opened at 10:00 AM (I think). The opening ceremonies were at either 12:00 or 12:30 PM. We figured that we had plenty of time.
We didn’t.
The line went from the convention center and wrapped a couple of times around this park (seen behind the girl with the explosive breasts) then down the street a few blocks at which point it went back and forth about fifteen times in a parking lot then wound its way back to the convention following somewhat of the same path that it took before.
It took us quite a while. We missed the opening ceremonies.
The day before, I had slathered myself in sunscreen. I knew that we would be outdoors and standing around in lines while we were in Disneyland… who wants to burn. Unfortunately, I made no such precautions the first day of BlizzCon… I honestly figured that we would be inside all day. My mistake. I take no comfort my my dark hair; I have the red-headed ginger gene within me and therefore I burn easily.
HusbandMike was quite put out and upset. He felt that if the doors opened at 10:30 and the opening ceremonies were at 12:00 then the convention staff should have been prepared to process the twenty to thirty thousand gamers during that time. A valid point, but perhaps not quite realistic since BlizzCon is staff by the inexperienced (with conventions that is) staff of Blizzard. Sigh… C’est la vie.
Food
Second, I’m so glad that we brought plenty of snacks and drinks with us. Kudos to HusbandMike for the foresight to buy carmel popcorn at Downtown Disney and Cheese-its at Target. The vending machines only took exact change, it was like $3 or $4 for a soda, and they were pretty much sold out each time you went to them. The lines at the concession stands wrapped around corners.
The food that I did see people eating didn’t look too appetizing either. I am not a fan of gross convention food. Fortunately, we walked back to the hotel for our lunch. I had a delicious club sandwich accompanied by crispy fries. Yum.
Seating
Finally… finding seats, especially in Hall D (the main hall), was rather difficult. Everywhere you looked people were saving seats. Later in the evening, the chairs we found didn’t get us very close to the stage for viewing the costume competition, and we pretty much watched the event on the big screens projected throughout the area.
I didn’t mind too much. I actually think that I got a better close up view on the big screens, and I still occasionally looked at the stage. Plus, I was happy to be sitting down.
अब पछ्ताए होत क्या जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत ।
Why repent now, when the bird has already eaten the crop?
There is no use repenting after time of action passes.
~ Hindi Proverb
English equivalent: no use crying over spilled milk
Side Note to Vacation Post
Posted by: eleganterica on: September 3, 2009
- In: Mike
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HusbandMike forwarded this to me the day after we got back from our vacation. Unfortunately, it went to straight to my junk email inbox and I never saw it… until now!
-----Original Message----- From: Husband Mike Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 1:45 PM To: ElegantErica Subject: [Fwd: Galactic Greetings!] --------------------- Original Message --------------------- Subject: Galactic Greetings! From: BuzzLightyear@disneyland.com Date: Thu, August 20, 2009 10:14 am To: HusbandMike ------------------------------------------------------------Galactic Greetings Space Ranger,
You have received an intergalactic transmission from a friend who has just completed a mission on the new Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster interactive experience at Disneyland® Park in California.
To Infinity and Beyond!
http://www.disneyland.com/Buzz
© Disney
My serious expression clearly states that I am trying my very best to provide HusbandMike with a worthy opponent. However, as stated in a previous post, you can also clearly see that HusbandMike is beating me at this ride/game (though at the moment my score is gloriously only one thousand points away from his).
My work is a game, a very serious game.
~ M. C. Escher (1898 – 1972)
About Me
I am married. I have a pet rabbit. I am terrible at writing thank-you notes. I can find the good in ANY situation.
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