It's Greek T.V.!

When I lived in Greece, English Language television was sometimes hard to come by. That's completely understandable since I was in a foreign country. What was not understandable was the available Greek programming. Most nights, I could only find shows involving nothing more than a bunch of middle-aged to elderly people sitting around a table listening to music and occasionally dancing or smashing a plate! Who was watching this? All you had to do was leave your apartment and walk to the nearest restaurant or bar and you could be there! Since I speak virtually no Greek and am almost completely ignorant about who those people at the table were, this whole thing was a mystery to me.



I later understood that many of them were singers or TV personalities, but that still doesn't explain it. Try to imagine a 4 hour show on network television that consisted only of a table of b-list stars listening to folk music, eating and throwing around place settings. Actually, that COULD provide some entertainment just not 4 hours a night.

Let's see, who should we put at the table and who should we have singing? Here's my lineup:

Scott Baio & wife, Donnie & Marie, Dave Coulier, Kirk Cameron, and Sherri Shepherd would probably be a good time.

Now I'm wavering again. I don't think I would want any of those people (except maybe Dave, he did crack me up as a child) on my television screen any more than they have to be. I guess I'm back to square one: this type of program is inexplicable!

The Culprit?

I had an epiphany on the train ride home today. If you recall, my Lip Troubles began on Tuesday evening with a vague, chapped feeling at the corners of my mouth. I had completely forgotten, but on Tuesday morning I had had some trouble waking up and, after my shower, I went to brush my teeth. Just before putting the loaded toothbrush in my mouth, I realized I had put a ribbon of facial cleanser on it instead of toothpaste. I did my best to rinse it all off but, not having a spare, I had to brush my teeth with the contaminated toothbrush.

My guess is that salicylic acid doesn't do great things for the area inside and immediately surrounding your mouth. I think there are even warnings about it. Hopefully this turns out to be the problem and I can fix it with my brand-new brush!

Lip Service

It started with a tingle that turned into a burning sensation that morphed into the largest lips since Mick Jagger! Actually, that last part is an exaggeration, I don't think my lips could ever reach that level.

Yesterday, I had this odd feeling, at the corners of my mouth, that my lips were starting to get chapped or had been sunburned. Since it isn't the middle of winter and I have barely seen the sun since '98, this seemed a bit strange. I'm no hypochondriac, so I just shrugged my shoulders and applied a little extra chap stick.

It was a rough night, I tossed and turned, my mouth was dry, and when I awoke, I realized I had been sleeping with my mouth open! "Whatever, Sara" you may say, "many people sleep with their mouths open." To that, I can only tell you that ever since I heard the statistic that the average human swallows about 4 spiders a year in her sleep*, I worked hard to train myself to sleep with my mouth closed. Of course, there is no guarantee that I ALWAYS have my mouth closed, but I like to think I do and years of waking up with my mouth closed have confirmed this to my satisfaction.

So anyway, the fact of open-mouthed sleeping had to be explained, and it happened because of my severely swollen upper lip! I felt like a sunburn had punched me in the face. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn't believe what I saw and I was having trouble closing my mouth even fully awake.

I will confess, I panicked a bit at this point. I grabbed some ice from the freezer to try to reduce the swelling. I googled "my lips are swollen" and found a number of compatriots. The most frequent advice was ice and/or an antihistamine. Luckily, the last time my brother was here, he left his Benadryl. I took a dose and hopped into the shower wondering if I would have to leave for work looking like my lip had been in a fight with a syringe filled with collagen, and the syringe had won. Unfortunately for me, the drugs didn't take effect quickly enough for me to catch a train without a case of puffy lip. I practiced tucking my upper lip in a little and trying to look casual in the mirror. I also practiced my phone answering mantra from work, "Center for Talent Development, this is Sara. How may I help you?" to make sure the lip wouldn't turn it into "Thenther for Thalent Pthhhhhh..." When I was satisfied, I hurried off to work.

The inflammation seemed to have calmed down by the time I got to the office, since my co-workers didn't look at me in a way that suggested I appeared crazier than normal. We all laughed at the story, and throughout the day they assured me that it was looking better. It still feels a little tingly and the swelling hasn't completely subsided, so I may take another Benadryl before bed.

The photos in this post were taken approximately 12 hours apart.


*I do not have documentation to back that up, but google it and you'll see!
*If you read this blog, you get how I feel about such things.

Puppies!

One of the puppies in this cuddly pile will become a member of the Morrow family. She is female, dark brown, and very curly. She may even be the one with her eye on the camera. Any ideas for cute names? I think my mother and I drove my dad crazy with our suggestions including
Dr. Hiram Barker (before I knew it would be a girl and when I read "Baker" as "Barker")
Lambchops (the original Baba had a dog by this name)
Cerberus (call her "Cera"...very funny, Mom!)
Arni (Greek for "lamb" and a homophone for our friend Arne)
Goober or Gomer
Aunt Bea
JoJo (they must miss the other one!)

Dad is saying he wants a name that doesn't end in a "y" sound. We may be able to sway him on that. Previous dog names for our family pets should probably be excluded: Charlie, Lady, Nikki, Bodie, Jazzy, Daisy

Writing Women

I just watched "The Reader" today. It brought to mind a complaint that I have had for a while concerning female characters in novels.
Recently I have read and/or watched novels and films written by men that have strong, relatable, imperfect women among the characters. Firstly, there is "The Reader", written by a German lawyer about a boy who falls in love with an older woman only to later find out that she was a member of the SS and had previously committed terrible crimes against humanity. This woman should be a completely unsympathetic character but she is so believable and human that you cannot help feeling conflicted about her. I was stunned by her when I read the novel a few years ago. In the film she is played bye Kate Winslet (arguably the greatest actress of her generation) who does a great job. She rightfully won the oscar for that performance.
Another example is "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Lisbeth Salander is the life-blood of the series. She is complex and unapologetic. It is she who comes to the rescue of the "hero" in the first book not the other way around.
These are just two examples I came up with off the top of my head. Admittedly, I don't read a whole lot by women, but the stuff that I do read comes across quite hollow. It seems that female authors try to write women the way they would like to be. Prettier, thinner, richer, etc. I cannot think of the last modern novel I read with a respectable heroine written by a woman.
It seems to me that the best women written, are written by men. I would love for someone to prove me wrong.

Slaughter Home?

I went to a Jerk Chicken place with friends tonight. It was on the South Side of Chicago. The food was good. I had a chicken stew.

The highlight of my night came as we were leaving. As we turned the corner from 75th onto South Jeffery, I spotted a sign that made me do a double take.


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It is actually listed online as "Slaughter Sons" without the &, and really the & makes all the difference.

Gap Ts

Last weekend I did a little shopping at Gap and found these great t-shirts they are selling this season. They are cut on the bottom seam more like a dress shirt or baseball jersey, with a curved hem that is longer right at the front and back and goes up by the hips. This is great for me because I usually have trouble finding shirts that don't ride up in the front. I am wearing two in the video from yesterday.

The only problem is that you do have to double up because these shirts are super-thin. That's okay with me, I think they look cute layered.

I also managed to pick up two clearance sweaters, one for $9 and one for $7!