Well, I took myself out to the movies and saw Spanglish, which had me sniffling or outright weeping the whole way through, when I wasn't laughing hysterically. I loved it. It actually captured some of the most excuciatingly uncomfortable bits of being human and imperfect in such a singluar way. It is sobering to watch Sandler pull a Carrey and actually nail an exceedingly sensitive role - the only slight hints of Sandler-ism comthing through in a scene where he's absolutely hammered. The laughs nearly all come from his wife, who's a complete basket-case in an over the top yet strangely all-too believable way. Also, the two young girls steal the film, I think, especially the one who plays Sandler's daughter. I just fell in love with her and hope I have a kid just like her someday. She slew me. Congratulations, kid, whoever and wherever you are. I'm so pleased, I just expected a silly chick-flick, and this was nothing of the sort.
back to the Shipment O' Plain I got today, here's something I wrote to our Friend Jeff...
"A little something to make thee giggle - I was bored when I got home and triedon the daft apron again. I suddenly realized that I'm supposed to pin the apron, rather than tie it, and it looks much, much better. I think. There are no full length mirrors in our house, since my non-Quaker agnostic roommates are both actually nearly as plain as me (it's such a great reality check) so I've been wandering aound the apartment trying to get a glimpse of my vain plain self in one of the windows. Heh. The cape part of the apron does SUCH a good job with what it's supposed to do, I actually feel extremely sobered when I do get the slightest glance at my shapeless self! Eeenteresting.
I'm still not going to wear it out, except to show a few on my friends who will be amused/intruiged. Blatant misuse of plain garb, I know. Heh."
Someone asked if people treated me differently when they encounter me "plainly"...well, sometimes. To be honest, I think my plain (until I put on the silly apron) is subtle enough that notbody really bats an eyelash. Those that see me everyday raised an eyebrow at the fact that a.) I only seem to have two or three outfits in rotation, b.) that they all consist of longish skirts and a sweater in grey or brown, and c.) my hair is always covered by a bandana, or a crochet skull-cap worn as a snood. If you just saw me and didn't know me, you might assign me to the "hippie" group as much as the "slightly obsessively religious" group.
This is what I thought. Until last night. I wasn't even dressed super-plain, I thought, but I stopped by a pub for a drink with a friend. Some really annoying really drunk dude yelled out "You look like a mennonite!" I smiled and said "I'm not a mennonite, I'm a Quaker." He shook his head and yelled, louder, a few inches from my face..."Welll....you LOOOOOOOK like a MENNONITE!". I replied "Yes! and you look like....an asshole!" but I only whispered it, and he didn't hear.
Which is good.
Yep.
Of The Best Stuff, but Cracked
1 comment:
There are worse things to be yelled at! :) I peg the guy as a bitter escapee of some sort of Anabaptism. Though during my Mennonite upbringing (in Kansas, a very different branch than the Lancaster crowd), conservative or Old Order women wore colorful, if old-fashioned looking, cotton dresses, the white (or black-- there was some marital status differentiation but I never knew what) head coverings, and comfy tennis shoes. Definitely function over form, but very cheerful. My attempt to express my liberal & modern Menno self was a nearly-unnoticeable phase in which I refused to wear any jewelry and would wear only jeans (with the label torn off) and plain, colored t-shirts to school (we may have been liberal, but jeans to church was still not ok). It was at a kind of formative point (age 12-15 or so) and while I do own a lot more clothes now, the aesthetic & approach has never really left, the point being that I'm really glad I did that even if I didn't stick with it.
--AR
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