Where Do They Come From, Where Do They Go?

Last night saw another world championship complete with the Philadelphia Phillies winning the 2008 World Series. I could care less about the Phillies - but what has always fascinated me, growing up, is how fast a championship team gets their championship gear after their win. This applies to any of the championships - the Superbowl, the Stanley Cup, the NBA (what is their championship called?) and the World Series being the major of the championships.

I remember growing up, watching championship games and being AMAZED at how quickly the winning players had their 'Championship' hats on right after the game. I was always wondering, 'How did they know that this team was going to win?' Thus was the mind of a very, young girl. But now I know better - they make championship gear for both teams - that's what makes it so easily accessible to the general public as well.

After figuring that piece out, the question then became, what happens to the losing team's championship accessories and apparel? I mean, you have to think that they had to make equal amounts for both teams - so you have enough to cover the team and all it's staff, and stuff that's ready to go on sale to the general public as early as the following day - what happens to all that stuff?

Well apparently, they get donated to third world countries. That's nice to know - at least it isn't a big waste and someone is getting some use out of the stuff - but just think, if you're ever on a trip for Unicef in Africa or touring the underdeveloped nations of South America, you just might run into natives that believe that the Patriots won the 2007 Superbowl...and you'll have to stop and think about it and say, 'Hmmm - I could've sworn the Giants won that game.'

Night of the Living Puffy

Apparently, Halloween is the second most decorated holiday (behind Christmas, of course). I didn't really notice this in D.C., probably because most of us in our compact townhouses simply didn't have the kind of yard that easily accommodates a faux grave yard or a collection of creepy scarecrows. That kind of decorating takes space.

In my new town of Del Rio, Texas, however, I've seen several houses that seem to take this idea of Halloween decorating seriously. Tombstones, cobwebs, skeletons, spiders, the works. But you know what else has made a rock star showing this year? Halloween-themed puffies.

For those of you not familiar with this technical term, "puffies" are those inflatable yard characters that became popular around Christmas a number of years ago. They started with oversized Santas and Frosties and escalated to rotating snow globes. "Puffies" is the term of endearment given to these characters by my mom, who became a little violent as we passed by a particularly tacky row of houses on the way back from my brother's house one Christmas eve and blurted out, "I can't stand those puffies!!"

I do see her point. The kinds of Christmas decorations I like are the more traditional ones: pretty wreaths and lights on the trees, maybe a few ribbons here and there - not a scene that looks straight out of a North Pole-themed episode of "SpongeBob SquarePants." The worst of the lot, in my opinion, is the Christmas tree puffy, especially in my hometown - in MICHIGAN - where there are evergreens-a-plenty. Really? It never occurred to these people to just string a few lights on the pine trees already in their front yards?

I have to say, though, I am actually enjoying the Halloween puffies. I guess I never considered Halloween decorating to be a big tradition, so it is kind of a nice treat to drive down Main Street and see that house with the sitting scarecrow with a pumpkin head that rotates 360 degrees. He's pretty cool. And I smile every time I see those Casper-like ghosts coming out of a jack-o-lantern.

Puffies - I have to hand it to you. I never thought I'd see the day . . .

Life's Simple Answer: You're Crazy!

I was flipping through the morning radio shows this morning, when my regular station when to commercial break and came across the area's Top 40 POP station. Their morning show is AWFUL, in my opinion. I can't stand the hosts and I just think it's really crude that their idea of a good morning show is to have people call in with their problems and the show hosts getting involved. Like - a girl calls in because she knows her boyfriend cheated on her and she wants to confront him. So what do they do - the show hosts call the boyfriend and make him confess on air. How stupid is that?

Well this morning should've been a < 5 minute segment with one particular caller. It was an older woman - I would've put her in her mid-late 40s. First of all, it's pretty pathetic that you're that old and calling a Top 40 POP station. She called because her former business partner used to be her fiance. Well, he called off the wedding and she is now selling her business and because she stands to make a good profit, she wants to know if he deserves any of it since he helped start the business? That seemed like a question for Dear Abby, really. But that is beside the point - that was only one of her burning questions. Her other question was why he called off the engagement. He apparently had kids that came to visit her a lot and the kids seemed to really like her back then. But since the engagement was called off, she doesn't see the kids very much and they don't seem to like her all that much anymore - she has a feeling that their real mother is brainwashing them.

Ahh - paranoia. But it's not paranoia that is this woman's problem.
It's so simple, actually - I don't understand how she doesn't get it.
Dear Abby first - does he deserve any of the profit you stand to make off selling your business? It would definitely be a nice gesture to give him something since he helped you so much.
Next - You wanna know why he called off the engagement? It's because you're 40-something years old calling a Top 40 Morning Show to air your grievances.
And why don't the kids come see you or seem to like you anymore?
For one, because he called off the engagement - why would his kids come to see you anymore? And secondly, because you're 40-something years old calling a Top 40 Morning show to air your grievances.
In a nutshell - you're crazy!
Deal with it!

Logo Loco

Logos are everywhere - they're on webpages, billboards, buildings, tee shirts, coffee mugs - you name it, a logo can probably be placed on it.

There are logos that make sense - probably the ones that make the most sense are just those ones that are made out of the company's initials like the 'B' for Blogger or the 'Y!' for Yahoo!. Then there are name logos like Google written in different colors or the oval with 'Post' written in script. Finally - there are the graphic logos - like the circular fox for 'Firefox' or the white outline of an eagle on a blue backdrop for the United States Post office. All easily identifiable - all make sense.

But then you get some logos that you just can't make heads or tails out of. On my way to work today, I passed a commercial van - the company was 'All Kinds of Flooring' and their logo was a cityscape coming out of a suitcase. I didn't get it. At first, I thought it was rolls of carpets coming out of a suitcase - which would've made sense. But then I was wondering if they provided hardwood and how they would depict that. Upon further inspection, however, I saw it was a city - and that led me to thinking - what do skyscrapers have to do with flooring? AND when do you see a flooring person with a suitcase? I'm wondering if they only did commercial flooring - hence the reason for the cityscape coming out of the suitcase - that's the only logical explanation I can think of.

In conclusion, I feel that if I have to think about what it all means, then your logo is no good.

Just How Far Do Bridezillas Go?

They are the craziest of the crazed. They are oftentimes under extreme stress and confronting uncooperative peers. They even have their own show on cable. They are....BRIDEZILLAS!

I haven't watched the show -I always pass by it on the Channel Guide thinking that I don't need to watch that kind of dra-mah. But what made me think about Bridezillas was actually the final challenge of Project Runway - creating a bridesmaid's dress to accompany the wedding dress each finalist had to design.

I actually thought all three finalists' dresses were very nice however, only one of the three, in my opinion, could be versatile enough to fit women of various sizes. That one was Korto's. I feel like halters could work for any person and I really didn't think it was as bad as the judges made it out to seem - but their negative feedback was probably related to the "mess" that was her wedding dress.

The other two bridesmaids dresses, by Kenley and Leanne - although beautiful - not very versatile for all body types.

Which leads me to this question about Bridezillas - have there been bridezillas that have gone so far as to leave out a family member (sibling), close friend, etc from their wedding party because they didn't fit the 'skinny' mold of what their wedding should look like? I mean how does that talk go if you have an overweight sister - 'Umm, hey sis...you're practically my best friend but my wedding party needs to look glamorous so I can't have you in my wedding - unless you can lose 50 lbs. in the next 10 months.'
I'm sure there are brides like that all over the place - and I know there are brides that struggle when they do have their closest friends/relatives in the wedding party and they just span the whole range of the size chart. I knew one bride that had three bridesmaids - they were a size 6, 10 and 16...talk about a range. So I suggested she go with a halter dress - as those seem to be flattering on all sizes.

I know there are Bridezillas out there that go crazy for a pluthera of other reasons, but I think this one - leaving out siblings/family members from the bridal party because they are overweight, would be an extreme. Then again, it's been awhile since I was a bride and none of my friends (thank goodness) are/were Bridezillas....so maybe I'll just to tune in to see how far these Bridezillas actually go in their ranting, ravings and demands.