O.P.P.

No - this isn't a throwback to Naughty by Nature and their song, "O.P.P." so you can stop waving your hands in the air...waving them like you just don't care...

O.P.P. here is other people's perception....I've often wondered if the way I see something is the same way that someone else sees something. Something as simple as looking at myself in the mirror. I could see myself in one light but then someone else could see me in a whole other way. I remember WAY back in the day, Oprah had this guest on her show that refused to go out in public because she felt like she was hideous looking and didn't want people staring at her. She actually was an average looking woman - she wasn't ugly and she wasn't a drop dead beauty. But the way she perceived herself was so drastically different than what others were seeing that she felt that if she went out in public, she would get stared at and whispered about so she became a recluse.

When I was at the gym yesterday, I was looking in the mirror and I thought, "Huh....I look like I've lost a little weight." But then I was wondering if the mirrors they had installed in the Women's locker room were those mirrors that make you seem skinnier than you really are...kind of like trick mirrors. Although at a gym, you would think they would install those mirrors that make you look a little chubbier so you get out there and hit those cardio machines harder. But I digress. In looking at myself, I was wondering if other people see me the same way I see myself.

Growing up, I've always been bigger than the average Asian female. But I'm also more athletic than the average Asian female. I've got football player shoulders, child bearing hips and soccer player calves. But it's all proportionate (don't want people thinking I look like a total freak). People in my life, growing up, would make fun of me for being a bigger girl. In high school, I thought I was pretty average but I was never petite and in college and right after college, I gained some weight that made me kinda big. But now, I'm probably more fit than I have been in years - I played soccer and softball all summer, started taking hip hop dance class since February and I work out at the gym several times a week. Some days I feel like I'm in really great shape...other days, I feel like I've really let myself go and I feel really fat. And when I'm having those "low" days, I wonder how other people perceive me?

I guess it's the same for anything - how one person perceives and object, a situation, a person will always differ from how another person perceives the same things - but is it drastically different or are we all seeing the same things, for the most part?

Look, Mom! No Cavities!

Do you remember those Crest (or Colgate) commercials back in the day where the kid is so excited about acing his "check up" at the dentist that he races home, passing other kids playing along the way, to show his mom the good news? I used to think those commercials were ridiculous. What kid is that excited about the dentist anyway?

In retrospect, however, I think those commercials were on to something. Now, it's not like I walk around the rest of the day on a cloud when I get a clean bill of health at the dentist. But I CERTAINLY am depressed when things aren't so rosy. When the dentist pokes with that scraper thing and the prong "catches," I immediately know I'm in trouble. And then it's time for the dentist and me to "have a little talk."

Whenever they discover that I have let my teeth rot (which is really what is going on here), I feel like such a deadbeat. I try to explain that I work really hard at brushing my teeth (I floss and everything you're supposed to do). But I feel like it falls on deaf ears. Even if it's true that my teeth have a lot of grooves and I may just be cavity prone, I feel like I've let my dentist (and Mom) down.

Here's hoping for a clean check-up in 6 months!

Trash T.V. Returns!!

I know it's a little pathetic, but I am excited that trash t.v. is BACK! Season premieres are this week, and my Ti-Faux is working overtime! I love when I come home from a night on the town, and there are shows saved up just for me. And I get to fast forward through the commercials!

On the starting line-up this season:

1. Gossip Girl (high quality, scandalous trash!!)
2. Ugly Betty
3. The Office
4. The Biggest Loser
5. Dancing With The Stars
6. America's Next Top Model
7. My Name is Earl

Grey's Anatomy used to be one of my star players. But last season was just torture to watch. And Katherine Heigl winning the Emmy? Please. She should join Overactors Annonymous. And I'm sorry, but that Zac Posen dress she wore didn't do her any favors. She looked like she was going to the prom.

See you around, McDreamy. I still loved you in "Loverboy" and "Can't Buy Me Love." No one but you epitomizes "Geek to Chic . . ." And I think I'll pass on the spin off, Private Practice. Because it looks ridiculous. I do love me some Tim Daly, though. If anyone out there is watching it, please let me know if I should tune in.

Toilet Seat Cover - the Follow Up

On my most recent trip to the restroom (2 minutes ago), I decided to find out whether or not there were instructions on the box on how to properly use the paper toilet seat cover.
I pulled the box out of the holder and flipped it around. What did I find?
Indeed there are instructions....instructions on how to put it into the dispenser. Well, duh! That's a no brainer! Anyone can place a box of something in a nice, shiny holder (kind of like placing a box of tissues under a pretty container dispenser. They even had graphics on how to "load the box" into the dispenser. I would understand if the instructions were for loading the box into one of those technical dispensers with the knob you have to push in and down to dispense one cover at a time, but this was just a big, fancy, silver box on the wall with a cutout for the seat covers to be taken out manually.

So where are my instructions on using the actual seat cover? I guess I will just have to keep on, keeping on and keep doing what I've been doing - ripping, tearing, and shredding paper seat covers.

Instructions, Not Included

I've had this thought in my head for awhile but yesterday, while at the Chesapeake House Rest Stop, in Maryland, I decided I needed to write it in the blog and see if others have thought the same thing....those paper toilet seat covers - what's the deal with them? How can I get the hole to open in the paper without damaging the surrounding seat cover? I know it's semi-perforated on three sides of the hole, but there really is no easy way to open it up without ripping the rest of the seat cover.

Nine times out of ten, when I use the paper seat cover, I will not be successful in opening up the hole to properly place the seat cover on the toilet and do my business. No - what really does happen is:
1) I carefully place the cover on the toilet seat and try to open the hole only to have half of the seat cover drop into the water;
2) I carefully try to tear the hole part open in mid-air only to be left with two equal parts of the seat cover;
3) I carefully try to open the hole along the "perforation" only to be left with a square piece of paper in my hand to cover the seat.

Is there something wrong with me? I'm sure that if I ripped out the box of covers from the wall, I'll get some kind of instruction on how to properly place the seat cover on the seat but the fact of the matter is that I am in the bathroom because I have "business" to do and the last thing on my mind is figuring out how to get this darn thing to work!

I'm wondering - do I need to just place the seat cover on the seat and then sit on it so that the force of my butt making contact with the seat will just automatically rip open the perforated hole? Is that the trick? I just feel like if I don't rip that hole open prior to sitting down, there's going to be a natural disaster!

Really - I'm okay with just reverting back to the method I grew up with....tear some toilet paper, wipe down the seat, tear two long pieces of toilet paper, fold over for "double cushioning" and place on each half of toilet seat. But then you have the potential of moving so fast that some of your makeshift seat cover flies away and you're still only sitting on half or a sliver of what you originally intended.

I've even had the pleasure of seeing the clear plastic cover the totally covers the seat already and then moves around when the toilet is flushed and a new person comes into the stall. Although technologically very cool, how do I know that it's not like those old-school cloth towel holders that just recycle itself through a ringer in a box on the wall? It's not like I see a trail of used, clear, plastic covers behind the toilet to let me know that it's really changing. So again, very skeptical.

If someone can share with me the secrets of the paper seat cover, I would be more than happy to start using them - as long as I'm guaranteed full coverage of the seat!

What Would You Say?

Two weekends of traveling in a row makes me fondly recall going to see Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with my dad and brother over Thanksgiving years ago in Indianapolis. Both my dad and my brother have those contagious laughs that will get me going every time even if the source of their amusement isn’t remotely funny by my standards. That’s not to say Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was beneath me. To the contrary, it still ranks up there as one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. But I digress. This post isn’t really about that. It’s just that, in the past two weeks, I have indeed traveled by plane, by train, and by automobile . . .

This weekend, I took the Amtrak up to Philadelphia en route to New York City with my husband for an anniversary getaway. If you haven’t traveled up the East Coast via Amtrak, let me tell you - it is interesting. It’s a little like Southwest Airlines (which I like to refer to as the “Air Bus”). A lot of people think Southwest is the greatest thing since sliced bread. But you can’t sell me. For me, no assigned seats = automatic stress. And especially so with the train. Did I pick the right car? What if there were empty seats in another car? What if I have to sit next to someone really smelly (completely within the realm of possibility)? What if I can’t find a place to sit at all?

Last night, I sat next to Kelly Osbourne. Kelly was okay. She didn’t smell. She did, however, insist on stowing all of her luggage “under” her seat (i.e., right where her feet should be), meaning her Chuck Taylors spilled into my space. I was not okay with this, but whatever. I could at least sneak my feet out into the aisle. [side note: it was not the real Kelly Osbourne].

Phew – I was seated. I was lucky. I watched at least 10 people go back and forth looking not just for the perfect seat but for any seat. This was some high quality people watching. As I watched some guy walk by with his New York Jets paraphernalia on, I suddenly felt the urge to yell out “Chad Pennington sucks.” When really, I could care less about the Jets or Chad Pennington. I guess I was just tired of waiting mute for so long (our train was 30 minutes late).

It is not the only time I’ve had that feeling about wanting to shout out nonsense to a stranger. I mean, at least five times a day I want to yell out to some yahoo on a cell phone in a confined space that no one cares about whose cousin’s boyfriend’s sister saw Ferris last night at 31 Flavors or whatever. It’s just that someday, I’m afraid I’ll actually act on my urge.