Author: Angie World

When did it become acceptable to wear cargo shorts to church? That is my burning question. The casualisation of America is in full swing. When did it happen? When did it become the norm for women to wear Day-Glo biking shorts to work? When did women think it was a good idea to wear sweat pants to a court house? Why do men think it is acceptable to wear items they would wear to a baseball game to church?
I am astounded by the lack of social graces everywhere I go these days. Before you say “oh one more old person bemoaning about young people and the way the dress”. I am the last of the baby boomer generation, born in 1964. I love clothes, fashion, dressing for the occasion and am saddened by the decay of social dressing. I am specifically aiming this at people my age and older, unfortunately the social norm now is to dress as dowdy and badly as possible.
Even business casual has taken on a whole new meaning. Gone are nicely pressed khaki’s, instead jeans with holes in them are the norm, and t-shirts. Gone are the days of nice slacks, button down shirts, ties and Italian shoes.
I miss the days that men wore suits to church and women wore dresses. Nice dresses, not horrible lavender, flowered, column dresses that went out of style as soon as they were “in”. I miss the days that women knew you did not wear hose with open toe, strappy sandals.
Where are the women and men who remember how to dress for every occasion? Where are you hiding? Several years ago I had to go to court with Elizabeth (not a juvenile delinquent, traffic court); she asked what she should wear. I told her to dress like she does on Sunday’s for church. She wore a nice skirt and blouse with nice shoes. When we went into the courthouse there were teens there with not so nice jeans, none dressed and the parents were wearing sweat pants (not juicy, wal-mart) and jeans (not Seven, wrangler). None were dressed for the occasion. My daughter was a little put out, she said “Mom, we are over dressed” I said “No, they are horribly underdressed.” It was then that I started noticing the horrible way people are dressing. At church that Sunday I saw a man in cargo shorts and his wife was in denim Capri’s. What upbringing told them this was ok? A house of worship is a sacred thing and we should show respect. We should dress for the occasion. In the workplace began noticing the 300 pound women in biking shorts, the one middle-aged woman who insists on wearing skirts so short that when she walks you see everything she has to offer. Who told her this was acceptable business wear? Before you ask, I work in an office for a major telecommunications company. Not in a small town, in a major, cosmopolitan city. A city that is known for fashion giants. If we are so fortunate to have the fashion giants in our city, why then do we not know how to dress?
How to rectify this horrendous situation? Well I do have a solution to the problem. Advertising and mandatory dress codes are a good start. Yes, there, I said it. Obviously when you leave mainstream America to there own devices they make horrendous fashion choices. They should be led; reading Vogue, W, and Lucky should be mandatory beginning in Middle School. Not only for the girls, but the boys should be included as well. The way men are dressing these days is also horrifying. There are the men who wear t-shirts with inappropriate logos in the office, men who wear jeans and cargo shorts to church. Men who wear sweat pants and pajama bottoms to the store, to work and sporting events. Men who show up for a date wearing gym shorts. Who does that you might ask? Or maybe you won’t ask that, because you know who does that. The question is who doesn’t do that. Well, the answer would be gay men. It seems that gay men are the only ones who know how to dress for the occasion. Just catch an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I have noticed even when Carson Kressley takes one to task and takes him shopping, buys him the clothes, even puts the outfit together, inevitably the man messes up. Ignores Carson’s sage advice on fashion and wears what he thinks looks good. Ok, men, the women in your life would not have nominated you if you looked good to begin with. Stick with Carson’s advice. Watch a few episodes of What Not to Wear, The Look for Less, and the BBC version of What Not to Wear. I noticed even on the Look for Less recently a woman did not take the advice of Lloyd Boston and went back to her old New Jersey ways. A pity, because she looked amazing in “The” look and looked trashy in her regular way of dressing.
Why oh why do we have to be so stubborn? With a plethora of designers, magazines and television shows, why do we insist on doing it our own way? Is it the old American independence asserting itself? Are we trying still to break away from European traditions? What is it about us that we have to be different? And not in a good way. There are a lot of things about us that is good, the whole democratic thing, the way we have to urge to defend the defenseless, wanting to help the unfortunate, getting involved. These are good things to be different in. I am just asking that we look to our European counterparts for a little fashion flare. A cognitization of our not so distant past when dressing for dinner out was a given. Dress for dinner out with your partner, male, female, whichever it is. Put a little effort, when you go to the office, church, restaurant, the mall, the library, to your children’s school. Remember the rest of us have to look at you.

How much caffeine is too much? That is rhetorical. I have a theory, I believe that certain people have a high tolerance for caffeine, and yes, I know that in certain people it is known to cause cancer and a myriad of other problems. However, I believe, in my case, that it is my lifeblood. The other day someone tweeted that they had so much caffeine that their skin was buzzing. I thought that is the way I feel every day. I literally drink a pot of coffee every morning before I leave the house for work. Before everyone faints from shock, and yes I know that much coffee drinking is shocking, that is the only coffee I drink all day. Except for Friday, when I have my coffee treat from Starbucks.
My grandmother used to drink coffee all day long, she would put the most horrendous liquid sweetener in it and then drink it like that, no cream, no milk, nothing just that sweetener and the coffee. My grandfather used to tease her about it. She would make me milk coffee. I think she is the one that got me addicted! I think I might mention my grandmother lived to be 98. If I could put numbers in all caps I would totally put her age in all caps. She was vibrant and very much in her right mind up till the very end. I tend to believe it was all of the caffeine in her system. So, my theory is, I will live forever due to the caffeine. She lived on coffee and candy, and was a tiny little woman. Oh, brilliant idea! My new diet! Coffee and candy! Of course that would mean I would have to drink my coffee sans cream, which is totally not going to happen. Hmmm, maybe just coffee, I could drink coffee all day long, and not eat. Do you know I honestly don’t remember my grandmother eating anything but candy. I think Elizabeth inherited that trait, while I got the coffee trait. So, if the next time you see me and I am only eating candy and drinking coffee, you will know I am trying this diet.

It’s April, more importantly it’s almost the middle of April. That means the 4th month of the year is almost gone. Where is the time going? I don’t understand how it goes faster and faster. I don’t know how it is possible. When I was younger time seemed to stand still at times. I wish there were moments I could capture, bottle and keep forever. I know what you are thinking; photographs are the way to go. However, it is not always appropriate to stop whatever you are doing and photograph it.
This weekend, Tessa was with me, and these are the moments I wish I could bottle. She is so sweet and funny and so much fun to be with. She has become obsessed with race cars. Yes, race cars. I have Jeffrey and Alex’s old hot wheels cars and she loves them. She plays with Barbie dolls, Lincoln logs, legos, crayons and hot wheels. She runs the gamut of toydom. Also we had to watch the Aristocats no less than four times. I can almost sing the whole movie. Her father, Jeffrey, was obsessed with the Junglebook at her age. I can still sing those songs. Alex loved Pocahontas; Elizabeth loved The Beatles, The Yellow Submarine. And yes I can sing the songs from both of those movies as well.
I wish I could go back in time and watch those movies with my children again. I have the best kids to watch movies with; they don’t talk during the movie. We sit and watch, without commentary. It is disturbing to watch a television show or movie with someone who feels the need to talk during the whole thing. And yes, we know people like that. No matter how hard you stare at them or sigh and pause the movie or show they keep talking! You all know who you are….

Today I feel a deep sadness, Dixie Carter has left this earth. I loved Dixie Carter, her portrayal of Julia Sugerbaker was nothing short of brilliant. She took a character that could very easily been played as shrill and bitchy and made her warm and complicated. She gave life to a character that was outspoken, yet most of the time tempered with tact, she had grace and class. From the interviews I have seen featuring Dixie Carter the same could be said for her. She was only 70, that is young, especially considering her father lived to be 96. The family is not saying what she passed from, I hope she did not suffer.
There are few people I would want to suffer in their final moments, people who harm children, they can suffer. But then again if I got to pick who would suffer in their final moments, would someone else choose me? There is the quandary, so I will leave it up to God, I don’t want to be the decision maker on that subject!
It leaves the question, if I could be a decision maker on something big what would it be? I would ban Crocs. That would be my decision. Those are the ugliest things ever worn by a human being and they need to go to the landfill immediately! Now, today, if you own a pair give them to your dog for a chew toy, because that is all they are good for. People, fashion does not equal comfort! Buck up, suffer a little for your feet to look good!

As we all know I am a self-admitted television addict. Last night was the 100th episode of Bones. Now I am not going to talk about it right now because I can’t without giving spoilers and if anyone has it DVR’d and has not watched it, they will literally hunt me down like a dog! Just know that David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel knock it out of the ballpark. It was awesome. If you are not following Hart Hanson on twitter, start today, he is the creator of Bones and he totally rocks.
What I am going to talk about is Vampire Diaries. If you have not seen the episode, stop reading, spoiler alert!
Vampire Diaries feeds a part of me that has not been nourished since the Buffyverse created by Joss Whedon left this world. There are so many comparisons to Buffy/Angel and Vampire Diaries, now I know they are both set in the world where Vampires exist, however it goes deeper than that. Damon, wow, Damon, what can I say, I love a bad boy and Damon is shades of Angelus and Spike put together. Last night when Damon asked a homeowner if she had family, children a husband living with her, and she answered in the negative, when he did the careless motion of breaking her neck it was so reminiscent of Angelus doing the same to Jenny Calendar. The human that was there helping Damon rescue Stefan said “Hey!” Damon just looked at him and said “What? Get rid of the body.” It was greatness, something missing from television for a long time. Stefan being injured and Elena offering to let him feed on her to regain his strength was so shades of Buffy doing that for Angel when Faith shot him with the poison arrow.
There are no slayers on here, but there are humans who hunt Vampires, can we say Rogue Demon hunter? Wesley I miss you!
While the writing is not up to the standards set by Joss Whedon (there are few that can live up to the standards he has set in this genre) this show is really good and getting better. I don’t know where they are finding these young actors, but they have done an amazing job, there is not one on here that shows stiffness or awkwardness saying their lines. The teen angst and sincerity in which lines are delivered are nothing short of brilliance. Missing is the humor injected by Whedon in the Buffy world.
The one thing I take exception to is the way the Vamps who are killed die, they don’t turn to dust. Everyone knows when you stake a Vamp or chop their heads off, they turn to dust. On this show that is ignored, lack of special effects budget perhaps? I don’t know, but seeing all of the Vampire bodies strewn about last night was disturbing to say the least.
I don’t know when I started loving the whole Vampire lore, it is not a new thing, I remember when I was a kid back in Oklahoma City, and they showed all of the old black and white horror films on channel 4 every Saturday afternoon. I fell in love with the Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dracula, later when I was in elementary school; I rushed home from school to watch Dark Shadows. Barnabus was just the best!

Yesterday I was incensed. Today, I got nada. I have, unfortunately, discovered a new cookie. The crunchy granola dark chocolate almond cookie from Pepperidge Farm. It is amazing decadent goodness. Everyone should run out and buy a package. How close are the scientist to creating the time travel machine? I am tired of this time era and would like to try another. Perhaps ancient Egypt, oh or Greece, or 1825 in the United States. Why that particular year you ask, well it is after the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812 and it is before the Civil War. I have no desire to go back to a war time. I have enough of that here. I don’t think I would like to stay a long period of time, no running water, no air conditioning, no way. Although the clothes would be amazing! I would need to get laser eye surgery first. Don’t want to be a blue stocking in the 1800’s. That was not a good thing. I think I would make a good monarch in Ancient Egypt. The ruling class was Greek, so they would not think I didn’t belong, of course I would have to learn Latin. I am rethinking going back to a time where I have to learn a new language. Would take too much time, unless they have invented subliminal learning tapes. Then I could do it.
Oh, maybe I will go to the future, to when the aliens finally reveal themselves and we get to all ride around like Captain Kirk. Now that is worth a time travel moment. That’s it, not going to the past, totally traveling to the future!

When I typically think of being judgmental, I think of religious intolerance or ignorance of things not understood. These past few days I have witnessed a different kind of judgmental behavior. I have a few things to say.
Rednecks are not bad people. I have a very dear friend whose husband is a “redneck”, he drinks beer, watches NASCAR and grills meat outside, rides four wheelers and goes mudding, he is one of the best people I know. Huge heart, kind, caring and thoughtful. I am wondering if I should mention his father is a doctor and his mother a socialite. You can never ever judge a person by what is on the outside.
My amazing daughter Elizabeth hunts with a crossbow, lives on a farm, raises cattle, pigs, guinea hens and whatever else one can think of. Oh did I mention she is a former Hooters girl. She is beautiful, smart, funny and educated.
My sons work on cars. My dad was a mechanic, my grandfather was a mechanic and my first husband was a mechanic.
I myself was raised in a small town in Oklahoma, I am well read, I love music of all kinds, from Vivaldi to Tim McGraw, and I also listen to Snoop Dogg and other rappers. I read Joseph Campbell and my favorite philosopher is Mary Wollstonecraft. One of my favorite movies is Urban Cowboy, I cry every time Bud and Cissy break up. And I cry harder when they find their way back to each other. And Ronald Reagan is and always will be my favorite president. What does that make me?
When and where does the judgmental thinking stop? What gives a group of people the right to think they are better than any other group? This is the question of the day. I know that I can have a tendency to be rather snotty; however, that snottiness is more directed towards people who behave badly.
Just for the record, country music does not make me vomit, I listen to rap, and I am friends with self admitted rednecks, as well as being friends with highly evolved people. I have friends from every walk of life, I cherish each and every one of them, they are all different, unique individuals. I am so happy I don’t choose my friends based on socio-economic standards. I am so happy that people choose to be friends with me. All of them add so much richness and color and a storyline to the tapestry that is my life.
Oh and for the record, when I was younger I also enjoyed mudding, not so much the hunting, my dad took me once and it was a disaster. I spent hours on my hair and makeup only to come to the realization that the animals did not appreciate my perfection.

Common sense, short to the point, self explanatory, one would think. Webster’s defines common sense this way: sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence.
Sound practical judgment. Sounds simple, should be simple, everyone should exhibit it, and however, not all people do exhibit common sense. Common sense tells us not to reveal incredibly personal information to perfect strangers. The internet has made it very easy for people to lose common sense. I firmly believe that people forget everything they say on the internet is accessible to anyone who cares to delve deep enough to find it.
I think sometimes people confuse common sense with common decency. Like the decent thing to do would be to call when you are going to be late, or when someone tells you something about someone else not telling everyone about that person. Common decency tells us to treat each other with respect. People seem to have lost that as well, people are more and more behaving in an uncivilized manner. I don’t know who to blame for this. Is it television the way some groups blame? Is it the internet as others are wont to cast stones at, or is it a break down of religious values?
Historically we see the break down of societies, the Roman Empire for example. There was a huge break down in societal niceties, ok, there was incest, pillaging, in a word Caligula, his name sums up a lot of brutality that led to the downfall of a great society. The French, the excesses of the monarchy are blamed for their downfall. One wonders if they were left with something better.
In today’s society I see where parents are allowing their children to run rampant, they are rude, and parents think it is cute. I am here to tell you it is not cute. Children have horrible table manners, they are rude to adults, and they are allowed to use inappropriate language. I see that in the mall. Parents just idly standing by.
Is this a lack of common sense or common decency? Is it the beginning of the end of a society as we know it? Will the desensitization of our youth result in a total breakdown of our world as we know it? Only time will tell.

Yesterday I received the best present EVER! Elizabeth Anne told me she reads me! Woohoo! She said she reads me to make sure I am not saying anything bad about her. However I choose to believe that she reads me because she loves her mommy. She has the prettiest mommy. I said that in a total creepy Bette Davis voice.
I cooked and cooked and cooked yesterday. I made a ham, dressing, green bean casserole, deviled eggs and strawberry shortcake. We ate so much of the other stuff we never got to the strawberry shortcake! It was just me, Elizabeth and Freddy, I know they probably felt a lot of pressure to eat all of that! I sent them home with a ton of leftovers. I might make 15 bean soup Saturday with the rest of the ham. That is my favorite soup.
Today’s entry will not be as long as yesterdays, I think used up all of my words in that post, today I am tired!
Happy Monday everyone!

Happy Easter everyone! Today being Easter Sunday it of course has made me nostalgic. Nostalgic for all of the great Oklahoma churches I grew up in. First on the list was Sunnydale Freewill Baptist Church, and yes the connection to Buffy is not lost on me. I remember that church, which is unusual because I went there from birth to the age of 5. But I remember singing in the children’s choir, I remember vacation bible school there, I remember going down to the basement for Sunday School class. Most of all when I think of Sunnydale Free Will Baptist Church, I just feel warmth and a sense of security. Next was the Blackwelder Free Will Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Brother DeArthur Yandale was the preacher, and yes I mean preacher. He was an old fashioned preacher, in almost every sense of the word. My grandmother adored him; he had practically grown up at her house, so she was very fond of him. I remember that church, it was small and accepting of anyone who walked across the threshold.
As much as I fondly remember those churches, the one that had the major influence on my life was the one in Owasso, The First Free Will Baptist Church of Owasso, Oklahoma. It was an amazing church, filled with love, acceptance and a cast of characters. It was a place that accepted you even when you made major mistakes. I should know, I committed a major sin and they still loved me. I am not ready to say what that was here, yet. But the cast of characters that influenced my life, those people I will never forget. From Sister Grace who taught my 9th grade Sunday School and who at the beginning of the new Sunday School year said, “Listen, I have to teach the curriculum, but you guys know this stuff inside and out. Is there anything you want to study in the bible?” OMG was that an open invitation to a nerd like me! Tammi slunk down in her seat; I know she was praying Sister Grace didn’t see my hand shoot up! However, since mine was the only one up, she saw. I wanted to study the book of Revelation. There I did it, I issued a challenge, and man, did she ever rise up to meet it. We would quickly go over the things we knew, and then she would bring out charts and tell us things that were truly amazing, and explain things in a way that I totally got. To this day, Revelation is my favorite book in the bible.
Brother Gail with his “like I said now, like I said”. He was good natured and jolly and always there with a kind word. Sister Caroline Hall, who taught my junior year of Sunday School, she worked at the Christian Book Store in Tulsa and she would bring me, books to read on other religions and denominations. She said in order to understand why we believe what we believe we had to study how other people believe. She also said that in order to share what we believe we had to be respectful of other people’s belief systems. How would anyone listen to you if you did not respect them? A lesson I learned well in my own household.
I remember the time I ran off one teacher, I was 13, he was young, in his early 20’s, really had no business teaching that age. Well in our class he said a word I had never heard, I asked him what that meant, he became flustered. Then defensive, of course I went in for the kill. I told him if he was embarrassed by a word then he had no business bringing it up and if a subject made him uncomfortable he should not be teaching it. He then screamed out the meaning of the word, bestiality. Well then the whole class started laughing. He quit right then and there. He complained to the deacons, which my dad was the head of. My dad, my dad, went to bat for me; he told them I was right. That man had no business teaching anything if he was going to be embarrassed about it. They all agreed and didn’t ask him to teach again.
The minister of that church is still there, they have changed their name as well to Rejoice Free Will Baptist Church, if you are ever in Owasso, please stop by. Brother Pirtle is an amazing minister; he has been there for over 30 years now. He just gets better and better. I know this because I pop in every once in a while.
And yes it was a place we all called each other brother and sister, I once asked my mom why we did that. She said that it was harder to speak in anger to someone when you are calling them brother or sister. Also, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, so why not acknowledge that fact when speaking to each other.
Happy Easter everyone, I hope today that everyone goes to a church like I used to go to in Owasso, Oklahoma. I have yet to find it in Texas.