Jewel Joules

There are unwritten rules about wearing jewels just as there are for attire. You don't have to be an expert to know what looks best. As with clothing, the old rule: the less, the better. In some social gatherings, there are women - and not all jewel wearers are women -  who overdo their bauble displays. They put on every ring, necklace and bracelet they own thinking that they are showing everyone their personal value. But, as always, too much is much too much. Take time to consider what is called "staging" when you want to show off your jewelry.  Keep your gems cleaned and bright. It isn't about quantity, it's about quality. Even the royals wear their diamonds and other precious gems paying close attention to good taste and respect for history. Queen Elizabeth dresses in monochromatic shades and her fabulous jewelry thus stands out. One of the social events I attend, is a game at tables with hands and bodices forming most of the  scenery one beholds beyond the cards. For some reason, the ladies, and not a few men, have taken to adorning their fingers and necklines with gold and diamonds perhaps thinking to impress everyone. These little sparklers are many if not large and the tables are almost blinding at times. It seems that the latest trend to have a gemologist dig out gramma's diamonds and re-form them into newly contorted jewelry for their inheritors, is the trend. And that's all very well, but there is no reason to dazzle everyone to death. Who cares when you bid seven Bridge spades, if your new-design diamonds out-do mine. If mine are bigger and dazzle more, I win anyway! But I jest. And people who hang little diamond encrusted things around their necks bespeaking of tourist trip temptations such as "here, look what I gotcha Honey, we're on vacation so why not" bits and pieces, need a word of caution. Sure wear that pretty little piece, but make sure it fits the outfit and that it is shown off at its best, small notwithstanding. To show off your jewels, first think about them.  Give them the respect they deserve. A beautiful fabric in a plain  shade, creates a fabulous staging for a large precious stone.  A pretty floral garment invites small sparklers in similar shades to go hand in hand. For hand jewelry, the same rules apply. It's a question of harmonizing. Jewelry, unless it's the crown jewels, is an accessory, not the main event. Set the scene and let it shine!

In Good Taste

Diets, meaning what-you-eat, not the silly death-to-calories kind, are as varied as the individual member of the human race. In the far distant past, according to scientists, early man ate what was available in the neighbourhood. It usually did include protein, sorry vegans, and our tooth structure apparently proves that fact. Like predators, we have teeth that are longer and more pointed for tearing and gnashing and also, teeth deemed to grind and mash. What we all have, whether we eat meats or vegetables, is taste. Our tongue structures tell us what we enjoy eating and drinking and presumably, are either controlled by our brains or go around telling our brains what we like. The verdict is still out on who controls what, from what I glean from Scientific American magazine. But from my experience, there is no complete agreement about taste as good or bad. Apparently, from the age of being here, we have our likes and dislikes and they are unique to each person. I know passionate parents who courageously seek to instill dietary impressions on kids when they are old enough to say "no" emphatically, but as the same parents also know, you can't feed a silk purse to a sow's ear - or something like that. For example, vegan parents attempt to make their offsprings' diets vegan and candy-enemies, their little ones, sugar proof, but in the end, all children will grow up and choose their own foods, their ways, often in defiance of past parental pressures. Then again, there are parents who are slender or fat and insist on their little ones becoming carbon copies or the reverse. Strange things happen to do with foods and eating habits. When you prepare a dinner for a larger group, it's polite to ask if there are any dietary needs amongst your guests. It is rather surprising in some cases that a dinner can be constructed at all, when you receive your collected responses. They include those who don't eat meat, who hate tofu, who are lactose intolerant, gluten free, who don't like broccoli, who dare not eat eggs, who do not have sugar, who are allergic to nuts, who won't touch beans, who refuse fats, who cannot have alcohol, who ... . The list goes on forever. It makes dinner preparation for a crowd, a buffet, whether you planned for it or not. And even then, you need to get your thinking cap out if not the telephone book restaurant section. In cave days, Man was lucky to get something in his/her stomach at all, whether it grew from the benefits of sap or blood. Somehow I think there were no fuss-pot allergies and intolerances to fret about. It makes me wonder how, from that time to this, we became such a woosy bunch.

Remembering Gordon

Everyone has a friend they will always remember. My friend Gordon, was one of those and at this time of year, especially, I remember him. Gordon was a rare person who cared more about people in general, than most do. When he went about his work, or play, he took all of it seriously. Nothing was done in half-measures. If it were a pie to be baked, the ingredients were meticulously portioned out and placed into the mix with great respect and care. Just as he would, his friends, he entered completely, his personal self, into whatever he was doing. During this April, this daffodil time of year, it was for him, the season to go to a bulb farm in the Fraser Valley and meet with hugs, the owners John and his wife, to select, from their vast array of varieties, armloads of daffodils. The gorgeous blooms were not for him, but mostly for his friends, and particularly, the more mature ladies he knew. Gordon loved his ladies, and he had legions of them, literally, because he was a great fan of the Royal Canadian Legion and the women who kept its wheels turning. He also took joy in having a pint or two with his compatriots with whom he shared anecdotes around the table. He, who  never forgot November's Remembrance Day and the taking to schools of poppies so that children would also never forget the sacrifices of previous wars, put his time to it faithfully. The dedicated ladies of The Legion, were charmed as he explained to them, the various kinds of daffodils: some having scent and others with assorted "plumages" that they would be receiving. And always a grateful, smiling kiss was planted on his white bearded cheek along with a giggle of thanks. It was an honour to see this annual display of such truly loving generosity. Gordon was known by hosts of those who benefitted by knowing him and experiencing his loyalties. The greatest love of his life was rugby, a rough and courage-inspiring game, that he participated in wholly. He wasn't a big man, but his strength was his determination, and that goes a long way on the field. He, not only played rugby with all of his heart, but he also saw to it that the continuance of the game was met. He was inspired in turn by the women and men who also loved rugby as much as he did. You would see him at the age of eighty, strolling up and down the field calling out encouraging words to his teams, sometimes going a bit further than he should. The women and men on the field recognised his voice and heeded his advice. Then afterward, in the clubhouses, when wins were celebrated or losses bemoaned as learning experiences, he gave his encouraging words. He knew what it was like. During his later years before cancer claimed him, you always recognised his now slower pace up and down the field, but expected him to be there - and he was. Gordon will not be forgotten by all those who miss and love the memory of this special man.

Smile, You're On Camera

No thanks, and I don't want to smile unless I have a good reason to do it.  I am feeling grumpy about being forced to be on camera much too much. Cameras are at most doorways, street corners, mall halls, stores and perhaps even out in the woods where one seeks privacy and peace. I know people who set up cameras for fun and don't warn others that they are being filmed. At a group event at a country cottage one evening, we were supposedly treated to films of people hiking in the nearby woods. For a few hundred dollars, some of the rollicking social folk in that locale, set up their photography equipment in the name of capturing wild four legged forest creatures but accidentally caught the activities, however innocent, of a few two legged ones. I didn't find this kind of amusement amusing. It's not fair or ethical in my opinion, and I am sure that is how most thinking people would react.  Others I know of, who do the same thing in commercial stores, have a jolly time sitting with their companions, jesting about their customers, or not, who come into their establishments. Often these recordings include voice.  And who knows what other viewers enjoy their free candid camera movies taken of anyone, anywhere in public.? There are certain peace-keeping souls who don't mind being filmed in candid shots by unknown photographers, and say so, but I have an aversion to being filmed without my permission or at least having been given a warning that I am being photographed. It feels that my personal space is invaded and that my freedom to come and go at will, is restricted. Like most people, I am sort of uncomfortable when a picture of me with or without others, is being taken. Not being trained in the skills of modelling for the camera lens, I am never sure just quite how I should turn, smile, stay still, or pose. Many people with the advent of "selfies" and social media, practice their posing in front of their phones or mirrors, but I am not among that sort. From an early age, if not at birth itself, modern individuals have become accustomed to being "taken" by a camera. What isn't filmed by amateurs with phones, security items and social media devices? It is becoming a "Big Brother Is Watching You" world. In some ways it's a good thing, but mostly it isn't. Where is the freedom to be yourself and know that you are not being perhaps surveyed in everything you do. What happened to times when you could duck in somewhere and surreptitiously adjust your bra straps, or loosen your belt or hike up your jeans privately without being under possible scrutiny? Just as the written word can be taken out of context and twisted, as proved by the media, your photo can be muddled with so that what is you, can become something unflattering, other than you. In jest: it makes the "burka", kind of tempting, hmmm?

Beautiful Food

To some, skinny is beautiful. That seems illogical to me. The word "skinny" or "slim" means to be less than a normal weight. It is, therefore, about thin people who are less than healthy. Those who go to great lengths to be unnaturally thin and spend most of their waking hours worrying about calories and exercise and garment sizes, are obsessive. When they meet with friends, they talk about nothing but their diets and their exercise and how they have or have not lost weight and how depressed they are if they haven't stuck to their diets. Their lives from day to day, can be read as  good or bad depending upon what they see on the scales that morning. It is exactly the opposite end of the spectrum of our concern about obesity. Both fly in the face of normal health. If you ask these people why they are doing it, their usual reason is to look good for someone else. What? If that adult someone else expects you to look like a little girl or boy with no hips or body fat, I would say, be wary of their pedophilic tendencies! People, as they age, develop, by nature, a certain amount of fat on their bodies for purposes that only nature knows and there can't be anything wrong with that plan. I do support those who believe in eating food that is nutritious and healthy.  If we want to keep health costs down, even with the great benefits of social health plans, we have to live our lives responsibly and that includes taking care of our health. But to try and emulate the pathetically thin arms and legs of  teen or pre-teen models as seen in fashion spreads, is irresponsible. Those bodies are clothes hangers and, to our shame, we must admit that they do display fashions to our liking for some reason. Few of the models are naturally thin for their lifetimes, but some, indeed, are people with frames that are long and lean and will stay that way. Most of us, gain pounds as we age, but the fashion world denies us  accepting that fact. Lately, I have been a proponent of food that is beautiful. I believe that butter and all of the other no-nos of  dieting folk, can be enjoyed if they are taken simply in lesser amounts. A little filet mignon with pate on top, one glazed carrot and greens with oil and vinegar is acceptable even with a small mousse to finish and a nice red wine. It's all a matter of size. Oops! Did I say size?

Invisible Blindness

There are "things" out there, we don't see, though they are clearly present. Take wires for example. Please. A comedian might quip. When you are standing on a hilltop and take a photograph of a lovely city scene below, that is overlooking a sea or lake or river, and you go home and see the album on your camera, there they are. Why didn't you see the wires across the view at the time, before you took the shot? You didn't see them because you are so accustomed to the ugly, granted useful, things, that you simply forgot to look. We look at so many images daily that they become invisible. Signs and wires  and cigarette butts and trash cans that are all in our sights, have become something we disallow to accept in our vision. City folk don't see beggars lying on sidewalks or dogs, plastic bags or not, defecating in the streets or trolley lines rampant overhead or lamp posts stretching all along the ways. We are so used to these objects and people that they don't register in our sight. Today only steps away from my patio, on the busy street corner that lies just above the tiny glimpse I have of the ocean below, a new "invisible" object has appeared. It is a huge sign that hangs on a long steel arm out into the street. From it there hangs two very large rectangular objects encased in metal in which lights are installed. One is for drivers coming westbound and the other is for those going eastward. Also inflicted on this same corner, once peaceful and unobstructed, are  two more stop lights on the corners, set on poles to hold them as though the upper ones are not enough warning to drivers. The whole area is dominated by these objects on poles. They are ugly, although probably most useful for just-in-case reasons. Sadly, the busiest and most dangerous corner on the block just a little bit away,  hasn't a sign at all, even though many accidents have occurred there due to a blind hill on which drivers coming up,  gun their engines to the maximum, and where there isn't a mere stop sign to be seen. One wonders who plans these matters and what their parameters are? I suspect, the metal flotsam that has appeared to interfere with the ocean views that are obstructed in my nearby neighbourhood, will not only be offending the eye of those who see it, but also the ear,  since the advent of the tweeting signals for walkers is upon us. Ah, now we must be, not only blind but also, deaf.