NEW GLASSES, OLD CLOTHES

I need to nominate myself for “What Not to Wear” so Stacy and Clinton will kidnap me, make me throw out all my clothes and give me $5,000 for a new wardrobe.  I almost cried today, finding holes in my favorite tank tops. Sure, they’re twenty-years-old but I still love them! I probably shouldn’t be wearing tank tops anyway.  What I need is a nice light-weight burkha that will cover the wrinkly skin on my bony frame.  Just a slit for the eyes. . . . speaking of which I hate my new glasses.

I thought they were so great when I tried them on because they’re bigger than the rectangular shape that’s been in style for the last four or five years. Everybody looks exactly the same except for the occasional old soul who somehow finds 1980s mega-frames that cover half his face.  I chose these new black frames because I opted for photo-sensitive, and wanted something big enough to keep the sun out. Plus, I thought they make me look intelligent but John says they look like Clark Kent.

I liked the idea of one pair of glasses, not having to switch from glasses to sunglasses every time I went anywhere in the daytime. I was tired of the clip-on sunglass because they can get bent if I put them in my pocket, forget and sit on them, which bends them all out of shape. Or if I raise my hand to push hair out of my face I flick the sunglass part to the floor. 

I remember in the mid 80s when I was working at the Sand & Sea and had several different pair of classes. It was such fun to get dressed and decide between my green or black glasses. I remember the orange ones with little flecks in them that looked like butterfly wings. Those days are way behind me, I know, so I shouldn’t reminisce and make myself depressed. 

In the meantime I’m working on my memoir, Gowland Girl, which I plan to have cover my life until I moved away from home. It will be prose, poems and photographs. I had fun scanning old photos into the computer. But when I cut and pasted the photos into the document and tried to email it to John to print - because he has a much better printer than I do - the file was enormous and would not go through. So I deleted all the pictures and don’t know how this will work when I want to submit the manuscript to a publisher.

Some days I feel like a country bumpkin, not knowing how to deal with the sophisticated world.  Today is Tuesday which I love because I go to the writing group at the Dietert Center. It’s such a pleasure to read what everyone’s writing and get help when I struggle. I’ll bring in my Chapter One re-write which is called “Before I Was Born”.  I need to get that just right before I proceed. 

I’m glad I have friends to encourage me because otherwise I’d just want to crawl back into bed with my Kindle and play Easy Word, which I think I need to delete. I spent two hours the other day playing it. What a waste of time!  I already play Scrabble online, watch Jeopardy! every day and do crosswords. I don’t need another game to distract me from the WORK I should be doing!