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279th Friday Blog Roundup

The Weekly What If: What if you could take one physical characteristic (your eye colour, your crooked nose, your flat ass, your flat stomach) and put it on another person.  Would you be kind and put your best trait on a friend who struggles with her love of the same body part?  Or would you make someone walk a mile in your shoes by placing your least favourite trait on the body of a person who needs to get a clue (hey, Kate Moss, welcome to my stomach flab post IF drugs)?

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I designed a onesie for a gift with HereWeGoaJen via her Little Star Shop.  It came out exactly how I pictured it in my head, the person loved it, and it was so damn easy.  Her stuff makes great gifts and is definitely priced too low (though don’t raise your prices yet because I still have more gifts to get!).

Just saying if you need a gift too.

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Even though I haven’t seen pictures of Corey Haim since I religiously bought 16 magazine at age 12 (with the exception of the scintillating spread on the two Coreys in People magazine last year detailing their feud), I was really sad when I heard that he died this week.  I flip flop between my favourite Corey Haim film being Lucas and The Lost Boys.  We quote more often from The Lost Boys in our house and we refer to it as Our Twilight (poor Wolvog often has us say to him a la Edward Herrmann, “Don’t ever invite a vampire into your house, you silly boy. It renders you powerless.”), but we also are prone to clapping at a very slow pace and building up to a normal clap like the end of Lucas.

Corey Haim was somewhat emblematic of a certain time period of films–the Breakfast Clubs and Pretty in Pinks and Lucas and Lost BoysWhat was your favourite film from that time period and which movie star’s picture hung in your locker?

It was Johnny Depp for me (21 Jump Street era) and Rob Lowe (especially in Class).

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And now, the blogs…

One Eye Open and Dreaming has a post about how different your life is from how you pictured it.  It is about knowing when you are done with family building and how that end might come at a different place than you pictured it when you started trying to have that first child.  She writes, “I don’t know what I am. Crazy? Ungrateful? Selfish? A friend told me that if I still think about doing another cycle then I’m not done and there’s nothing wrong with that. I sometimes wonder if she’s right.  I definitely didn’t expect this to be a part of my life.”  It was simply what I needed to read this week along with all of your comments on my post.

I was very moved by this post from Crazy Heart Stuff.  She explains, “As I trudged through the soul-sucking experiences of infertility and recurrent loss, I couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I’d get frustrated when I read a blogger had achieved their dream of a baby, then still didn’t seem happy.  I am that person.  And for that, I am so so so sorry.”  It is a post about struggling with depression and anxiety after infertility and it’s an important read for anyone experiencing this too.

Baby, Borneo, or Bust has a damn good story about her husband’s Valentine’s Day surprise.  Can’t say much more than that or it will ruin the ending.

Awful But Functioning has a post that made me cry about a wish cloud and worry dolls.  It is about magical thinking and reality, about letting our children know that we worry too balanced with giving them a cushioned world.  I love her musings on the word “expecting.”  It’s a post that meanders through various thoughts, all beautiful, all heartbreaking.

Lastly, Hoping for Another Lovebug has a post about the infertility hangover.  She explains, “I feel as though I’ve been down for so long that I’m not sure how to be up again…The infertility hangover is more about the lasting effects of the all-consuming, constant depression that became a way of life during all the years we were trying to have another baby.”  It is an amazing post that I think everyone should read–run, don’t walk, your clicking finger over to her blog–and it’s just as much explaining how she got into this funk as explaining how she plans to get out.

The roundup to the Roundup: Answer the Weekly What If about body parts. Jen makes good gifts. Whose picture graced your locker? And lots of great blogs to read.

21 comments

1 loribeth { 03.12.10 at 11:23 am }

I would like to think that I’d be generous & give someone I love my best feature (probably my thick hair) — but I’m afraid I’d be very tempted to give my flabby stomach to one of the stick-thin young girls I work with who eat dessert at our group luncheons & never seem to gain an ounce. ; )

I was already in university when the whole Brat Pack thing began — but I loved all those movies, & I loved the John Hughes tribute at the Oscars & seeing all “his” kids onstage (although I did wonder why he got such lavish treatment when everyone else gets relegated to a few seconds in the “In Memoriam” reel?). I think my all-time favourite would be “Sixteen Candles.” I could SO relate to the Molly Ringwald character (dreaming of the cute guy but attracting the geek) & loved that she got the rich, handsome jock in the end.

Dh & I went to see “Lucas” at the theatre when it first came out, & when we were exiting the theatre, he said, “Hey, isn’t that the kid who was in the movie??” He was standing in the lobby, grinning from ear to ear, talking to a few people. We later learned he was from Toronto, so that made sense.

Very sad. 🙁

2 Battynurse { 03.12.10 at 11:25 am }

I would totally give my ass or my thighs to some skinny minnie who is so into being thin. Maybe Carrie Underwood. But then being a chubby person I admit to having a tendency to not being very trusting of people who are very thin and and tend to vocal about how they stay that way. I don’t know if I explained that right.
I was sad to see Corey Haim died too. Seems like such a waste that so many who had such potential have lost themselves to addiction. As far as favorite movies from that time frame? Top Gun and Mannequin. Although it was pictures of rock stars hung in my locker. Bon Jovi all over.

3 jill { 03.12.10 at 11:43 am }

I think I would put a good body part of mine on someone who envied it. I’m sure I’ve had my moments of wanting to give something bad to someone who pissed me off though (like wishing my IF on some fertile with 6 kids…)

Kiefer Sutherland graced my bedroom wall back when I bought 16 magazine and teen bop (haha). I freakin loved that guy! and I’m happy that he’s still kicking and working. The Lost Boys is definitely one of my fav movies from that time and I was saddened to hear of Corey Haim’s death. It felt like a little more of my childhood slipping away.

4 loribeth { 03.12.10 at 11:52 am }

Oh, & I didn’t have any photos in my locker at school, but my bedroom walls were papered with (first) David Cassidy, (then) Donny Osmond & (finally)(eek) the Bay City Rollers. I had a poster from a British magazine of Woody (my favourite Roller) wearing nothing but a very long & strategically placed tartan scarf. I don’t think my mother was too impressed, but I loved it, lol. ; )

5 Al { 03.12.10 at 11:55 am }

Can I give my ovaries to Michelle Duggar?

6 susy { 03.12.10 at 12:03 pm }

That onesie is so cute!

I think good trait might be my hair.. but maybe be selective to someone that would rock it short. My hair behaves awesome long or short, but I’m a short hair kind of girl. A trait I’d NEVER give anyone would be my poor sight. It totally sucks, and w/o my contacts or glasses, I feel likeEVERYTHING is so out of focus it’s unrecognizable. Even my hand in front of my face wld be blurry.

Hanging a hunky guy – a la’ Johnny Depp – wasn’t in my time when I was in school. But from back then, I LOVED the Breakfast Club, and The Goonies. Both I stop at whenever on TV and will randomly put in the DVD when I want to chill on the couch.. oh! And loved Corey H in Lost Boys.

7 JuliaS { 03.12.10 at 12:12 pm }

In my locker? I had pictures of jets! But one actor – Mel Gibson, from Road Warrior. Road Warrior Mel was tres hot. Current Mel, not so much – he got kind of smarmy. But back then – oooooo yeah.

SO, I had him next to the picture of my SR-71 and Harrier Jet

8 Heather { 03.12.10 at 12:23 pm }

It was Kirk Cameron and then Vanilla Ice for me. Swoon.

Depends on who I am giving the body part to – someone I love or someone I don’t like? I would be kind to someone I love and definitely get rid of my thighs/stomach to someone I don’t love!

9 Busted Kate { 03.12.10 at 12:26 pm }

Great suggestions as usual Mel! Thanks so much for posting 🙂

10 Guera! { 03.12.10 at 1:01 pm }

I’d give my breasts to this guy in our office because he’s a real boob.

11 Heather { 03.12.10 at 1:36 pm }

As the token weirdo, I had a picture (ahem, like 20) of Michael Crawford in my locker. Always. it was sort of like a shrine.

12 S { 03.12.10 at 3:15 pm }

I would love to let a particular effortlessly-thin woman I know live with my body and its weight problems. Perhaps she would then be a little less judgmental about people who are overweight, or in some other way flawed. I feel guilty that I wouldn’t rather give one of my good physical traits to a friend, but I guess I’d rather get back at an enemy instead.

Back in the day, my sister and I were both Duran Duran devotees. Our room was papered with posters of them that we had bought or torn out of Tiger Beat. John Taylor was my favorite, while my sis preferred Roger Taylor. (Neither of us went for the obvious choice of Simon LeBon.)

In terms of movie stars, I was in love with Tom Cruise in the 80s. I continued to enjoy his movies into the 90s, but since Eyes Wide Shut, he’s been a little hit-or-miss for me, plus he has gotten weird. LOL

13 Caitlin { 03.12.10 at 3:30 pm }

I would probably give my red hair to anyone who claims they “love red hair” and insists that I am so lucky. Seriously? *You* try growing up with it! It isn’t as beautiful to all of those kids in elementary and middle school who like to pick on others.

Wait, does that mean I would have to be bald after?

I was born in the 80’s, but my absolute favorite movie from that era was The Goonies. Can’t beat it!

14 Baby Smiling In Back Seat { 03.12.10 at 6:58 pm }

I liked Andrew McCarthy best, even more than Kirk Cameron, my hypothetical husband. I watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at least a hundred times.

15 HereWeGoAJen { 03.12.10 at 9:17 pm }

Thank you for the onesie love! I did give you the Mel discount, normally I’d charge a little more for a two color with embellishment. 😉 So technically my prices are higher. But I do end up giving discounts to nearly everyone, since nearly everyone is a person-I-know.

16 Carrie { 03.12.10 at 9:41 pm }

I’m mean – and would want someone to walk in my shoes. There are so many people out there that need to be grounded.

17 S.I.F. { 03.13.10 at 2:48 am }

I would give my boobs to a friend of mine who is always complaining about being flat chested. I love my boobs, but sometimes they’re a bit overrated too! Still, I would give them to her so she could a.) stop telling me how jealous she is and b.) realize they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be!

18 Valery Val { 03.13.10 at 6:02 am }

I think I offered you my flat stomach before? it seems to scream ‘childless! never ever pregnant! ‘ at me…

19 Queenie { 03.14.10 at 11:31 am }

Thanks for the acknowledgment, Mel.

I am a thin person, although I wouldn’t say I’m “so into it.” It’s just how I’m built, and I know how lucky this makes me. I would give this attribute out, and to Battynurse in particular, so she could know that not all skinny people are suspect!

20 Flying Monkeys { 03.14.10 at 10:28 pm }

Hey, thanks for the nod. I left my computer at home this weekend so I didn’t get a chance to do it sooner. I wish I just ‘knew’ but I don’t.

I have a couple of people I would like to experience balding just for a day, not permanently. I can always diet for the weight but the hair, when it’s gone it will be forever.
I was a Duran Duran fan in the 6th grade and INXS/Guns n’ Roses in high school, weird combo huh? I loved Micheal Hutchence.
I was really sad about Corey. I had hoped he would get a chance to reclaim his life.

21 Bea { 03.19.10 at 7:50 am }

I think I’m shallow and nasty enough that I’d have to go with option B… and I have so many parts to choose from… and so many victims…

Bea

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