First Ramble

I haven't done one of my "rambles" over here at old blogger.com, and I think I just might do one now.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next

That's a wise prayer. Some people might have stopped reading there because I wrote "God", or quoted a prayer. What-ever. I don't care. But it is a wise prayer. So much more happiness could be found in the world if we just did our best, and were content knowing that.

Where we going with this? I've seen the "Campaign for Real Beauty". And I think it's a shame that we even need to believe it's something that's necessary.

I like Hollywood beauty. I like the pictures in the tabloids, the fashion magazines, and the like. But in my mind there are two kinds of beauty: the kind that show-biz creates, and the kind that happens naturally. I don't want every woman to look like Angelina Jolie or Paris Hilton or Jessica Simpson.

But I don't want there to be a movement that would stop me from seeing them in all their created beauty, because I don't think Hollywood beauty is better than natural beauty.

I see the pretty-boys of the world, and hell, I'd like to be as handsome and hot as them, but I can't be. It's just not gonna happen. I mean even if I employ a staff of experts and artisans, the best I could hope for is maybe a supporting role to Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt, or whomever happens to be the hot guy of the moment. And that's because it's not realistic for me to think I could look like that.

But that doesn't bother me too much, and I don't want any of it to go away because it hurts my self-esteem. I think we've gone way overboard with it all.

Why? Because Hollywood beauty is carefully sculpted, carved, and created. It's supposed to be fantasy. And I don't feel inferior to any of those guys. I'm not as good-looking as the worst-looking in Hollywood, but so what? I don't live in Hollywood, I live here in the real world. And when I go into the bagel shop on Saturday morning, looking like a train wreck, no one cares. At all! Trust me. Except maybe the poor kid who waits on me at the counter.

I'd rather, right now, be snuggled on the couch with a woman whose only response to a crowd of paparazzi bursting through the door would be to ask, "Hey, did you wipe your feet?"

Think about it...There's big money in catching someone like Cameron Diaz, Britney Spears or Pamela Anderson "with their hair down". Why? Because it catches them looking like the rest of us. Natural. Who really wants to see that, though? I love it when they're all made up, dressed to the nines and looking their best. It's supposed to be that way, because it's part of the fantasy.

But fantasy doesn't cloud my judgment. I know what's real, and I know what's created, and I'm happy living in the real world. But it doesn't mean I want them to go away.

I mean if you apply this thinking to other aspects of life...Should we shut down the fanciest restaurants in the world because the rest of us can't cook as well? Should the guy in Beverly Hills not be allowed to own a Bentley because the best I can do is a Ford Explorer?

No. I think we need to get away from "reality" sometimes and appreciate the fantasy. I think we've lost too much "reality" trying to make the world so damned "real".

I want my idols to be different than me. Otherwise, who cares? But the keyword is "different"... Not "better".

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I watched this Saturday's episode of "Dateline: NBC". Correspondent Keith Morrison gave us the story of the robbery of Joe Francis, mastermind of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire.

I don't know about anyone else, but to me, this was one of the most fractured, disjointed and just flat-out confusing reporting jobs I have ever witnessed. This story was worthy of about 5 sentences, yet somehow Dateline spread it over an hour. I have no idea why anyone thought this story was worth telling, but those Dateline folks better tighten it up if they want to get me back as a viewer. And I think it's a safe bet that I wasn't the only one sitting out there in TV Land with the confused look on my face, scratching my head.

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I hear a lot of people say things like, "That was a stupid commercial."

I'm getting the feeling though, as I spent the last few months looking at TV commercials, that I think the Advertisers are the ones thinking we're stupid.

Is it really necessary for Washington Mutual to market itself as WaMu?

And, are the commercials for this horror shown nationwide?

I thought this crap was supposed to cure headaches, not cause brain hemorrhages! Worst commercial ever, in my opinion. Probably make 'em millions.

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I think a big problem here in the good ol' USA is that so many of the people who take themselves way too seriously shouldn't, and not enough of the ones who should take themselves seriously do.

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Respect is like a privilege in that you earn it. Want my respect? Show me why.

Respect has gotten confused around here with "common decency". Yeah we all deserve that. Funny how a lot of people screaming for "respect" do so without "common decency" toward others.

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Aren't you glad we don't see much of Omarosa anymore?
Don't know who she is?
Good.

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Donald Trump fired his real-life assistant. He said she was more interested in becoming a star than in running a business.

That sentence just about made me choke.

Old Comb-over Trump also has some online University, to learn how to be like Mop-Head. Most of us failed to meet the first pre-requisite: being born to a real-estate magnate like Needs-a-real-barber Don was. I want to learn from a guy who started from SCRATCH. And who has a mirror.

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Wanna drive yourself nuts? Next time you watch a news anchor on CNN or FOX or whatever, look for three things they all do:

the eyebrow raise

the head tilt

the head nod

Then count how many times they do each one in a minute. They practice it to make themselves "more interesting". But when you become aware of it, it's kinda distracting, isn't it?

Wonder if they talk like that when they go home?

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It's almost Boot Season. YES!

Ok that's it for now.