I spent all day at a Continuing Education class. I arrived 10 minutes
late and I was told my class moved to room 107. So I meandered through
the maze of hallways and finally found the classroom. I sat down next to
my Dad . He told me at the break that everyone went to the wrong class
and if it hadn't been for that attractive woman over there he would have
stayed in the wrong class. After the break I looked over to my right
where she was sitting. She really was a beautiful woman. But what was so
astonishing is that she was probably in her 50's. Now this is a woman
that you would have turned around and taken notice of, and that men
would have been drawn to, she was that good looking. It is an oxymoron,
considering the kind of beauty standards we have in our culture. Namely
that old and beautiful do not go together. I still think it is probably
a lot harder for a woman to grow older than it is for a man. Think about
it. A man's lines and wrinkles just seem to add to an attractive older
man's ruggedness. There are procedures women may choose as an option to
delay the inevitable: becoming invisible. I had to laugh, the other day
when a friend of mine and I were talking about implants. What would some
of these women look like at 70? Everything falling down and
deteriorating except for their breasts, sticking out firm and supple as
though they were 20.........is that something we are going to see in the
next 20- 30-40 years?......is that weird or what? I pulled out a couple
of grey hairs and my Mom was horrified that I would pull out hair. I am
the only one I know that does not color my hair. I am not going to do it
until my hair actually does turn grey. I like my hair color. Most people
I know in their 20's 30's and 40's all color their hair. I seem to be a
dinosaur. My friend told me to 'get with it girl'. Growing old
gracefully will probably be difficult for a lot of us. I try to imagine
how a Victoria's Secret model would react in about 30 years from now.
Would she look at old pictures of herself and stare in the mirror and
sob? It's easy to say you won't have a problem with age if you never
have really been there. If there is something else you can look forward
to, and to arrange your life to be fulfilling in other ways,perhaps the
getting older part will not mean so much. I for one, hope to have most
of my brain cells intact so that I can read, and carry on interesting
discourse with friends and still see all the wonder that is around me.
There are some women, well known, who for the most part made their lives
rewarding and meaningful and may not have had a problem with growing old
gracefully. Most of the following women made some kind of contribution
besides being so ethereally beautiful: 1.Grace Kelly 2. Audrey Hepburn
3. Hedy Lamarr 4.Vivian Leigh(The first time I saw Gone with the Wind I
wanted to look like her) 5.Elizabeth Taylor 6. Julie Christie The rest
of these women I think are also beautiful: ( not in any specific order)
1. Charlize Theron 2. Madeleine Stowe 4. Kim Basinger 5.Ashley Judd 6.
Nicole Kidman 7. Daniella(Victoria's Secret) 8. Audrey Tatou(Amelie) 9.
Cameron Diaz 10. Halle Berry 11. Gail Russell(40's Star) 12. Natalie
Wood 13. Selma Hayak 14. Elizabeth Hurley(Luigi Likes her) 15. Isabelle
Adjani There has to be a Guy's Column too!---These are my favorites:(no
specific order either) 1. Johnny Depp 2. Michael Schoeffling 3. Harrison
Ford(circa 80's) 4. Antonio Banderas 5.Liam Neeson 6. Sean Connery(James
Bond) 7.AL PACINO!(Godfather and his early movies --but still like him)
8.Guy Madison(Awesome! saw his picture in a Book of old male movie stars
in Barnes & Noble) 9. Burt Lancaster(young) 10.Clark Gable(young)
11.Gregory Peck(especially BIg Country--one of my favorite Westerns)
12.Jeff Fahey(never made it big--Lawn Mower Man) 13. Pierce Brosnan 14.
Jeff Bridges 15. Denzel Washington.......... and of course 16. Luigi
Mascarpone Beauty is in the eye of the beholder , as I recall ,so most
of you, I'm sure have your own lists. Peach
Last night I was on the freeway headed for Downtown and the Music Center
to see Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
first 's' is silent). It's about a murderous, scheming woman who kills
her husband and father-in-law, and has her cake and sex too, until the
end. I love Opera anyway...(you don't have to get me to an opera just
because there is sex in it)point me in the direction of Puccini, Mozart,
Bizet and especially Verdi and I'm on my way. However I had not seen an
opera as visually graphic as this one. There was some pretty heavy sex
simulation in a couple of scenes. Once behind a diaphanous red curtain
(the Lover, Sergei looked a bit comical to me because he was going at it
like a jackrabbit, 20million times a second) and the second inside a
barrel with the poor sex harassed cook and a laborer. The music is by
Shostakovich. Name sound familiar? I have heard his work before but not
this particular Opera. The music was great and I enjoyed the entire
production which is Russian; straight from the Mariinsky Theatre in St.
Petersburg. A great experience, despite a little problem I had, brought
on by my stupidity. I arrived at our secret free place to park(Luigi
discovered it) and parked behind Luigi's car as he had arrived earlier
from work. I was running late and arrived at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
about ten minutes before curtain time. I had been rushed all day and had
not eaten anything since breakfast, except for some peanuts at 4:00 P.M.
I was starving, but the first act,although long, kept me riveted . As
soon as the curtain came down I told Luigi where I was going and rushed
out. I went to every bar and coffee stand on all three floors. "All the
sandwiches sold out already" they told me. Finally I found one place
where a plastic package of 4 of the teeniest wraps( tortilla wraps) I
had ever seen were 'the last one'. /I'll take it/ I said, giving her the
five bucks and hurrying to find a spot to sit down. I hurriedly took out
my retainers(what a pain, trying to hide this maneuver from prying eyes)
I bit into the first bird-sized wrap. The most disgusting taste settled
on my tongue. Bleech! I took the residue from my mouth with a napkin. I
ran back and told the bartender that the sandwich had been sitting out
too long and my wrap was rancid. She returned my $5 immediately. By this
time I was starting to feel weird and panicky, I was getting
hypoglycemic. How idiotic of me to come to a 3 1/2 hour opera with no
food in my stomach! I ran downstairs and asked the attendant at the
front door if there was anywhere I could get some food. Negative. Was
the restaurant open below the Music Center Complex I wanted to know. He
seemed to think so. I ran downstairs and into the establishment of
Otto's Bar and Grill. It was empty except for a couple at the Bar. /Is
the Bartender around ?/ I asked, rushing up to them like a refugee in
desperation. /He's coming right back/ I paced around at the Bar like a
moron. I had eaten there once before at the Bar where they had quickie
appetizers and such. When he came back out I pounced on him. He assured
me he could get some soup for me instantly. /Please bring bread!/ I
shouted after him. He brought me a bowl of soup that was so spicy I
practically gagged on it. /This is way too hot!/ He assured me the other
soup would be hot too. That was not what I meant I tried to explain to
him. Four more people walked into the Bar. He said he had to get someone
else to help him. He called another bartender from across the
restaurant. By this time I was about ready to crunch on the Bar. The
other Bartender ran in the kitchen to get me some Butternut Squash Soup.
I inhaled it and stuffed many slices of wonderful bread and butter into
my mouth. I also forgot to put my watch on that day so I had no idea
what time it was. After I paid, I ran out of there and back to the Music
Center. The attendant at the front door told me they hadn't started yet
but the whole bottom floor was empty. Rather than trust the elevator I
did an Olympic run up 3 flights of red carpeted stairs. Not great after
eating a huge bowl of soup and bread. I reached the Loge just as they
were closing the inside doors. I found my way down to my row , totally
out of breath. Luigi was waiting in the aisle. /Where were you!?/ I
followed him to our seats as the houselights came down. As I passed the
nice couple on the aisle , standing to let us through and whom I had
spoken to earlier , I whispered, /What an adventure!/ I settled in, out
of breath but full of food, to watch the rest of Katerina's escapades.
But I wondered if the couple I had just spoken to would have laughed if
they had known my hypoglycemia was the adventure I spoke of. Katerina's
corrupt life was much more fascinating and we all were pretty transfixed
once the curtain rose again. Peach
The world is changing all the time. Lately Tourism is up in the country
with no Terrorism at the moment, but could be down tomorrow at the click
of a Time Bomb. I had always wanted to go to Bali and the rest of
Indonesia. Doesn't look like a safe idea at the moment. There are about
114 Australians that are still missing who were vacationing in Bali.
Many places in Africa are also reeling from war and government upheavals
and guns and bombs. I had also wanted to go to Africa. It has been on my
Travel list since I graduated from College. I have been very fortunate
that I have already seen much of the World already. Just before I
graduated, my girlfiend, Jane, talked me into going on a Airline Flight
Attendant interview with her. At the time I could not figure out why
someone who was college educated would want to be a waitress. But I was
in for a very pleasant surprise because I was hired and had about the
most incredible few years of my entire life. I was based in London and
later on in L.A. Because I had conversational knowledge of another
language I was able to bid for the most incredible trips and layovers. I
have been to Tahiti,Tokyo,Hong Kong,Thailand, Europe,
Scandinavia,Sydney,New Guinea, Samoa, Hawaii,Iran, Israel,Greece,
Lebanon, New Delhi,Argentina,Venezuela, Panama,Brazil.....and so
on...... I really now believe, that in spite of the way the World has
been changing and moving in very dangerous directions, there is still an
incredible planet out there to discover and people are still going to
want to venture out and explore. Many 'secret' and uninhabited parts of
the world are no longer a mystery nor are they as serene or isolated as
they once were. Even in the last few years, places like the Galapagos
Islands ,which were pretty remote to most of the world only ten years
ago, are now a regular tourist stop for some special Vacation and
Tourist companies and organizations. It doesn't really matter as long as
there are restrictions(which there are ) in preserving these wild and
remarkably sublime areas of nature. I think that anyone who is very
young with College ending or even a little bit of school or business
behind them, with no attachments, should take advantage of the beautiful
world outside of the USA. Getting up'close and personal' in Foreign
countries is even better by Train( i.e.Eurailpass) or backpacking
,cycling or even walking. I did a little of that too. The nice thing
about flying around is that I really loved the 'flying' part. Maybe I
should have been a pilot like my brother. I 'discovered' airplanes when
I was 15, when my Dad took me and my sister and brother to San Diego for
the week-end. It was the first time I had ever been on an airplane. The
only memory that seems permanently imprinted on my grey matter is the
feeling of that first take-off. As the plane picked up speed and
seemingly raced to the end of the runway, I was staring out the window
with my mouth hanging open and thinking how extraordinary that sensation
of speed felt; and the lifting off and the pulling away from
gravity-heavy earth. My juvenile mind only thought of how awesome it all
was, and how it was so much better than a Roller Coaster! Airplanes are
still 'awesome' to me, and the excitement and enthusiasm I felt about
flying when I was working as that 'flying waitress', always carried over
to my passengers. I would love to point out places , especially in L.A.,
that I knew so well, when we were on final approach. "Oh , look over
there, there's the Santa Monica Mountains......hey there's Downtown
L.A.!" That incredible sensation of speeding and the feeling of
'lifting' at take-off stayed with me long after I had quit. It is
difficult to describe that 'feeling', but it remained with me after I
left the Airlines and the 'grounding' was felt physically. I don't think
I have ever lost my travel bug either or all the wonderful 'color
slides' that I have both in my drawer at home and in my head. You're
going to laugh but I believe it's true when I say it's in my genes. My
Dad wanted to be a pilot(but didn't and that's another story anyway.),
my bother and first cousin are both Captains of Airlines(he married a
Flight attendant and so did my brother). And I became a Flight Attendant
although I am a pilot wannabe. That 'fun' feeling of liking
flying(take-offs) has to be genetic! ( I think I saw something on
Discovery channel about the genetic thing behind people jumping out of
airplanes........no I won't do that!!) After 9/11 I was a little plane
shy like most everyone else. But I finally got up there this summer
traveling to Toronto and then to New York. I still do like airplanes,
despite everything, and I am the only woman I know that like's war films
with airplanes in them!! Peach p.s.Has anyone ever heard of a film
called "The High and the Mighty"? It's not on the IMDB. Enetation
(Comments) is down again. Have patience. Maybe when you come back I'll
have HaloScan.
This Blog will be undergoing a change to a new Design and new name.
However I'm not sure exactly when,(That's the problem) and it depends on
If I can convince Luigi to stay home one whole day to help me with it.
But If I want to do cool things with my Blog everyday I'm going to have
to learn it myself. Luigi is not going to want to be my little Blog
enhancement robot to be at my beck and call every time I need something
done. He did put the photo up for me. But I would like to be able to
manage that myself so that I can have a gallery of my photos or at least
be able to change the front photo whenever I want to. The new name will
be DianaBanana( I put a copyright on it). If you don't like it, please
let the 'menu planner' know. The last entry has created some talk about
the eating habits of Americans. I saw two women on the golf course which
I passed on my way to Samy's Camera(on Fairfax) Saturday afternoon. Both
of them were, to be on the 'nice ' side, fat. Golf is ok if you're fat
as long as you are into some other more challenging aerobic activities.
"O.K Peach", you are saying, "how fat are YOU?" Well I just looked at
that picture a little closer and it does look like I am a little
'saftig'. Well, first of all, sometimes you photogragh about 10 pounds
heavier then you really are. I guess it's the position I'm in. But I
weigh 129 pounds(usually 127-130 tops) and am a little over 5'7". I
guess I'll have to get another photo. Luigi was getting tired or I would
have put another one of me in front of the U.N. But hey, this is not
meant to be an Ego Blog anyway. The eating habits of Americans are
unhealthy to say the least. It is the lack of discipline and the
worshiping and believing in commercial claims that do them in. For
instance; apparently some people believe that if they eat or drink
something nonfat they will not get obese. Have you ever stopped to
wonder why people order non-fat foam with their Espresso and order along
with it a nice gooey cinnamon Bun? What about a Diet Pepsi with an order
of a Big Mac and Double Fries to go? When you ask for a Small soda, you
actually receive one that looks like a/ Large/. And if you order the
extra large or/Grande/ you can use the empty container to haul away the
contents of your pick-up truck! What is it with the soda? It is probably
one of the most unhealthy drinks out there. I love the carbonated
mineral water they sell at Trader Joe's. It's called /Gerolsteiner/ and
I like it better than Pellegrino. You can add Lemonade or orange Juice
or just about any other Juice and it really tastes, I think, better than
ordinary sodas. I just don't know where I would be without Trader Joe's
. I buy just about all my food there. Hey, for a great Breakfast, try
this. A recipe from a Personal Trainer friend of mine. Separate out 3-4
egg whites, and beat it together with 3 Tblsp. of oatmeal flakes, 1
tblsp. of Buckwheat flour and a dash of cinnamon( add a drop of soy milk
if it is too dry) and heat it on a griddle or frying pan (non-stick is
preferable) with a little Canola Oil, until brown and you have one hell
of a pancake. I love it. Especially when I want to get away from eggs or
the same old cereal. I like it with banana slices or peaches or apple
sauce. Or even a little apricot fruit spread. (I'm getting hungry).
Anyway I think that many people think they have to starve themselves to
not get fat and that simply isn't true. I find it truly amazing that I
walk around most of the day with half a million ideas in my head,
overworking my synapses........not to mention the minutes wasted in the
shower while I carry on a 'Seminar' and entertain ideas for the Blog.
The problem with Blogging is that you have to get to the computer almost
immediately or you lose it! And I can never get there right away.
Yesterday I saw two scary programs on (Discovery Channel, I think) One
was about the pilfering of uranium in Russia and how it finds its way
through many borders and ends up in places like Pakistan and Iraq. The
most frightening part of the program was the realization of who could get
at their hands on materials for Neutron Bombs. The other 'scary' program
was about that guy in Mesa, Az(Bob Stewart?) who was illegally making 50
caliber rifles and selling them out of his garage.(Damn! Pardon my
French but those things can shoot through thick metal and probably blow
your body parts to Kingdom Come from a mile away! Gee,Lord, I only need
a handgun to protect myself; but what if one of those men with 50
Caliber Rifles don't like me!) Then they showed that Militia Group,(that
Timothy McVey supposedly attended) from Michigan. Well It's getting
late......will have to do the 'Gun Control' issue tomorrow. Your Friend,
Peach
Hey, it's alright to get a little crazy at 12:00 midnight. It's been so
long since I have blogged that I forgot how.......well I take that
back...Blogging is sort of like brushing your teeth. New York was really
an incredible experience. I had made some observations, like I didn't
see any obese people, possibly because everybody walks. The other reason
for lack of obesity is that you don't find Burger King or McDonald's on
every corner. Americans just don't realize Fast Food on a regular basis
puts on waist pollution, big time. Instead of the greasy fare, on almost
every corner, there's usually a combo drug store/minimarket with these
amazing salad bars......See, if you had those kind of choices of healthy
AND delicious foods everywhere you wouldn't get fat. On the eve of this
ongoing, impending war decision debacle I'm really not in my political
mode mood right now. So the Mid East and Ann Coulter will have to wait.
Besides I need to get some sleep. No more of this 2:00a.m. Blogging for
me. If you're fat, after reading this entry, and you have to send me
hate mail.......so be it. Buenas Noches Peach
