Survivor Journals
Bob of If I Die Before I Wake
has invited nine journallers to participate in a Cyber
Survivor Adventure.
Every couple of weeks, the
group will be issued a "challenge entry". The
site will post a excerpt from the challenge entries, as
well as the link to the complete entry found on the
journaller's own journal site.
After the challenge entry is posted, the nine journallers
will vote one of the writers off the site.
The "ousted" journaller will actually remain on
the site, but rather than posting further challenge
entries, they will act as a judge and commentator.
The first challenge entry has been issued, and can be
found at the Survivor Journal website. The actual entries
should be completed by
October 1, 2000.
Please take the time to visit, especially once the
challenge entries are posted. There is a message board to
post your thoughts/comments and also a instant poll where
visitors can vote for who they would want to see kicked
off the site.
The reasons behind Survivor Journals are simple.
1. To try something new.
2. Increase the interaction of the journal community.
3. The challenge.
4. Increased exposure to all journals involved.
So take a look around, explore all the journals involved.
If you would like to take part in Survivor Journals, Year
Two (around Nov/Dec 2000), let Bob know!
Diet Week #12
Goal :
lose 100 lbs.
Immediate goal:
the next 10 lbs.
Lost to date:
18 lbs
this number updates
on Tuesdays --
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LIGHT JUST ONE LITTLE CANDLE...
October 7, 2000
It used to be only Tupperware. Now it seems you can buy
just about anything from a home shopping party. I
attended a candle-and- bric-a-brac party last night,
given by a neighbor. Now ordinarily this would be the
sort of thing I would run screaming from, but first of
all, Walt accepted on my behalf while Peggy and I were in
San Diego, and secondly, it’s with one of the
neighbors who has had a lot of problems about us through
the years, and we figured it might be a good fence
mending.
First I got the time wrong. I thought it was 7:30 and so
I was lollygagging around with Walt and Peggy, enjoying
my Harris Ranch steak, when Walt pointed out it was 7:15
and the party started at 7. Fortunately it was only next
door.
There were about a dozen women there. I knew only the
hostess and one other neighbor (who was hidden behind a
fireplace and I didn’t even see her until it was all
over). Everyone was sipping wine and looking at a
catalogue. I didn’t get either. When the wine came
around for seconds, I still didn’t get a glass. When
the salesperson (daughter of the hostess) started
instructing us in filling out our forms, I still
didn’t have a book, a form, or a pen.
Thank God we didn’t play cutesy games. I have
purchased a lot of Tupperware over the years, but the
thing that has saved my pocketbook more than anything are
the stupid games you have to play. They may be ice
breakers. For me they are the world’s biggest
turnoff. I used to say “just give me a catalog and
I’ll order something, but I won’t come to your
party.” Now I just decline entirely (easy to do
since I don’t seem to be being invited any
more--perhaps because this is something better suited to
the younger married crowd). I did go to one party with a
friend. We were going to just pop in and pop out, claim
that we’d at least BEEN there. But it turned out we
were the ONLY ones who showed up. We sat there, two
bodies in a circle of 20 chairs, and we dutifully
listened to all the demonstrations, bought our Tupperware
and got out as soon as we could.
I hate it when the real reason for the gathering is not
made known. We were once invited to have
“dessert” with a guy with whom I used to do
business. He and his wife wanted to “get to know us
better,” he said. Innocent lambs that we were, we
showed up ready to make new friends and instead
discovered we had been invited to an Amway meeting, with
a bunch of strangers who had also been duped. We were
trapped for two hours. We didn’t join and I stopped
doing business at his shop because it was too
uncomfortable to see him. I detest Amway’s
underhanded way of trying to rook in new members. I hate
sales. I would be the world’s worst Amway
salesperson and I hate going off in good faith to visit a
friend only to discover that the friend wants me to agree
to go into a business I despise.
At least we were told part of the facts when I was
invited to a “lingerie shower” some years ago.
It was an office affair and we were assured there would
be lingerie for larger women and that we could buy a
shower gift for the bride. Well...yes...there was
lingerie. There were also creams and lotions and powders
and pretty amazing sex toys that we all examined and
tried to imagine ever using. There were games--pin the
penis on the model was one. And then came the male
stripper. He swaggered in dressesd in cowboy regalia and
began his dance to the mortification of the bride. For
awhile it was fun in a voyeuristic sort of way until he
said “Now I’m going to go dance with your
friends.” That’s when I slipped out a side door
and sat in a darkened computer room. The hostess found me
at one point and asked if I wanted to continue to sit
there in the dark. I said I did. She turned off the
light. I later found out someone else was hiding in the
bathroom. It was not one of my better nights!
I remember going to a Mary Kay party where we all learned
how to put on makeup. In those days I thought I would
actually start looking “coordinated” when I
appeared in public. I bought all the stuff and it sat and
rotted in my bathroom for years. I tossed it recently.
There were also “color” parties, where someone
came to “do your colors” and tell you what
colors you should be wearing. This particular party, with
an excruciatingly perky representative, was at a
friend’s house. The lighting was bad. She asked if
someone could hold a light for her. I held the damn light
for hours while each of my friends had a detailed
analysis done of their skin tone, and all the proper
colors for them to wear. When it was my turn, she sat me
in the seat, told me what an abominable color I was
wearing, and then said she really didn’t have time
to do a full analysis on me, but I was a
“winter” and for a mere $21 I could buy a set
of cards that would help me choose the right clothing. I
was the only one who WORKED during the bloody
demonstration and I was the only one who never got an
analysis. (And yes, I bought the stupid cards, and never
used them.)
I suppose there are people who like home sales parties.
They like the games. They like getting together with
other women in the neighborhood, eating fancy snacks and
chatting. I just don’t have the time, or the money,
or the interest, or the ROOM for most of this
merchandise. (We did agree to a home demonstration of
Cutco knives, though, when our daughter-in-law was
selling them; I bought a set and have never regretted
that decision.)
But I listened to the candle demonstration and learned
more about candles than I ever knew before. I found one
of the cheapest things to buy and ordered it, along with
a dozen Gardenia-scented votive candles.
Heck, $35 seems a cheap price to mend a neighborhood
fence.
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