Daily Dish
Mad Men Season 6 Episode 8: This is Your Brain… on Drugs (“The Crash”)
Need an hour-long commercial for "your brain on drugs?" This week's Mad Men episode offers an abundance of addled adults: Cosgrove Cuts a Rug, Ginsburg Cuts Stan, and Cutler Cuts Up. The result? Gibberish. But wait. It's not their fault! They were under the influence, as AMC features a peculiar Public Service Announcement: "This is your brain... This is your brain on drugs." Yes indeed, let's give a round of applause to the hurricane of happenings thanks to a hypodermic in the gluteus maximus, administered to select staff at SCDPCGC. … [Read More...]
Marriage
How Much Sex Is Too Much Sex?
Some say s times a week. Some say s times a day. Both are someone else’s “perfect.”
Love
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Dressing in Confidence: The “Go To” Get-Up
This weekend I had somewhere to go. A special occasion. As in Get Up. Get Dressed. Go Out. And preferably looking stylish. In fact, I was hoping for the perfect combination of chic, sassy, not too "done" and at my best. But no pressure, right? Like many women, I have a closet full of All Things Required: flattering skirts in every conceivable color; equally appealing form-fitting tops showing off collar bones and cleavage; jackets for both day and night; and the good jeans … [Read More...]
Separation Anxiety: 6 Things NOT to Say When a Friend is Divorcing
By Andrea Clement Santiago Maybe I should title this column "Six Ways to Make a Divorcing Friend Feel Worse." That would capture my recent experience, on the receiving end of more than my own separation anxiety - but a great deal of interest on the part of everyone else I know. So here are some tips and guidelines from my personal vault, when it comes to hearing news that a friend or acquaintance is divorcing. … [Read More...]
White Knight Syndrome
We give lip service to the Cinderella Complex, or did, 30 years ago. But what about its cohort in crime, the White Knight Syndrome? What of the rescue fantasies that go hand in hand, those seeds sewn in childhood? I was raised on my share of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, not to mention the Brothers Grimm. But the rescue fantasy, and the White Knight galloping in on his horse to carry me off? No. I never dreamed that someone else would "fix" my life or save me from it. … [Read More...]
Relationship Pitfalls: Helping Versus Fixing
Help out a friend? Give generously to a loved one in a committed relationship? We take those as a given, though we may not realize we're fortunate if we can. But how do you effectively ask for help without becoming mired in obligations? If you're giving help, how do you know where to draw the line between an assist and taking over, or trying to "fix" what isn't your responsibility? We live in a culture where women are presumed to be the "helpers," and men … [Read More...]
Second Time Around… Fatherhood
The boy appeared to be eight or nine years old, his father, in his mid to late fifties. The child sat across from him at an outdoor café, intermittently popping up from his seat and playfully laying his head on his dad's shoulder. The man fiddled with his keys, his glasses, and left his iPhone untouched on the table. His expression was warm, his silver hair plentiful, and his smile bright. His demeanor? Calm and relaxed. Judging by the time of day … [Read More...]
Medical Options Offer Tough Choices
When this medical news regarding Angelina Jolie appeared in one of my trending searches, I was convinced it was some sort of mistake. The high profile Academy Award-winning actress, age 37, was disclosing a recent preventive double mastectomy. Writing of her choice in The New York Times, Ms. Jolie explains that she lost her mother to cancer, and her own genetic makeup placed her at high risk for both breast and ovarian cancer. … [Read More...]
Mad Men Season 6 Episode 7: Man With a Plan
This week on Mad Men, the women without a plan seem to be outperforming the men in the decision-making department. Episode 7, "Man With a Plan," presents a merging SCDP with CGC in a state of clutter and commotion. Man with a plan? What plan? Or for that matter, what man? Concocted of a drunken albeit creative scheme between Don and Ted, the combined power of both agencies succeeded in laying waste to the competition and snaring the Chevy account. Score! … [Read More...]
Stepping Up
It was my firstborn who always stepped up and stepped in - speaking to adults as though he were one of us, swooping in when his little brother was hurt or bullied, offering me a shoulder, an arm, his humor and his fine mind to distract, to discuss, to remind me of my worth - certainly in the eyes of my children. It was he who bit off the most challenging tasks, taking the initiative - verbal, vocal, curious, confident. To some degree, the epitome of a born leader … [Read More...]
Dead Letter Office
Dear Mother, Let’s just get it out in the open, shall we? You loved me and I know it, but you were self-serving and cruel, and I'm done excusing it. You should have done better, for me. You should have done better for yourself. You were big. So big. Every parent looms large to the child, but Mother, you could have been magnificent - with your capacity to create adventure, to ignite imagination, to impart wonder. … [Read More...]
Fat Lip Banana Cream Pie
How to make Fat Lip Banana Cream Pie? First, be five feet tall or under. If you are not, stoop while standing beneath bunches of bananas hanging overhead at your local market. Be sure that a distance of three feet or more exists between aforementioned bananas and your unsuspecting shopping face. For optimal impact, the bananas should be grouped and crammed in weighty bunches of 2 pounds or more while dangling precariously. Next, stand on your tip toes … [Read More...]
The Sober Truth, Secret Salvation
By Andrea Clement Santiago What secrets do you keep? Are you better at keeping secrets, or sharing them? Most of us want to tell other’s secrets, while closely guarding our own. Not only can keeping mum be exhausting, it can be harmful to keep secrets and beneficial to share them. The challenge is deciding if – and how. … [Read More...]
Through the Looking Glass
"Thirty-eight," she says. "Pfft!" I can't help the face I make, and the little hissing noise. Thirty-eight? No way. "Seriously! That's how old I think you are," she says, and I smile. She's been sweet and funny and I adore her bright blue nails with glasses to match. She's making this process more entertaining than I anticipated, and very relaxing. I couldn't be happier. … [Read More...]
Small Town USA, 1967
1967. Small Town, USA. It could have been anywhere. It should have been a sort of Camelot, a place of innocent ideals and perhaps for some it was - a picture-perfect locale of neat homes dating to the 1890s or the 1930s, storefronts in brick, roads where children played without concern, on the surface, a bastion of moderate behaviors, honorable interactions, merchants who offered credit with a nod, neighbors who never thought twice about their unlocked doors. … [Read More...]
Mad Men Season 6 Episode 6: For Immediate Release
Roger gets my vote as Mad Men's most impish, incorrigible and endearing character this week. He's my mischief-making hero in Mad Men's Episode 6, "For Immediate Release." Thank the silver fox for his latest conquest - a sweet young thing named Daisy, who just happens to be his eyes and ears in the First Class Lounge at the airport. Not only is she the ticket to a good time in bed, but she's at the starting gate for SCDP's journey to salvation when … [Read More...]
Freelance Isolation? Options Offer Social Outlets
You've defined your own cozy corner of the castle you call home. You've designated it your workplace. For awhile, it's fabulous! But you may be yearning for a break, a change, a more populated alternative. Enter the open, urban hangout - with its touch of college library merged with café culture. Here, you'll find a spot to be productive, and a sense of belonging that often eludes those of us who go it alone. … [Read More...]
There is Nothin’ Like a Dame
By Donna Highfill We were fifth graders, enjoying four-square on the school playground. We were having a great time until a sixth-grade bully rolled his ball into our game. He stood at the basketball hoop and laughed, yelling: "Hey, losers, give my ball back!" We returned the ball and resumed play. A few seconds later, his ball rolled into our game, again. We returned it, hoping he would stop. Then we heard his cruel cackle, as the ball barreled into our game a third time … [Read More...]
The Confidence Conundrum
How would you describe yourself - cocky or cowering? Offering your opinion with ease, or holding your tongue so you don't sound foolish? Most of us might say we're somewhere in the middle. But what if we get more explicit? Are you confident in your sexual prowess? Confident in your cooking? Confident at the podium in front of your peers? … [Read More...]
Short Cuts
Shortcuts? We all take them, cutting corners in daily life without a second thought. We cut out sleep, we skip our meals, we skim the boss's emails instead of reading thoroughly, we make arguments without checking our facts. Let's face it. Shortcuts are here to stay. Texting shortcuts. Studying shortcuts. Cooking shortcuts. Parenting shortcuts. We take shortcuts because they're easier. We take shortcuts because they're necessary. … [Read More...]
More Power to Martha!
This tidy morsel was too delicious to pass up. Martha goes Match. Yes, that's Martha Stewart and... you got it... Match.com. Don't you love it? A little romance in the air for the month of May! I do not come to mock her. On the contrary, I am singing her praises for taking the plunge even if it started as a bit of a joke, or at the nudge of Today Show's Matt Lauer, all in good fun. … [Read More...]
Do You Know Who You’re With?
I consider myself a private person - despite openness in my writing, and an extroverted side that coexists contentedly with my introversion. I feel no compulsion to share every aspect of my life. I know who I am. I own my virtues and my faults. I rely on the lessons of my experience, and I am constantly learning. My closest friends and loved ones experience a "me" that is the result. Do they know who I am? Over time, yes. But... … [Read More...]
Mad Men Season 6 Episode 5: “The Flood”
As a tidal wave of social upheaval picks up speed in the spring of 1968, Mad Men's Episode 5, "The Flood," highlights the private lives of key characters - this, in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the opening scenes, Don and Megan run into Sylvia and Arnie in the lobby of their building. The Drapers are headed to a banquet, and the Rosens are off to D.C. where the good doctor is slotted at an event as keynote speaker. Surprise, surprise - … [Read More...]
The Marriage Mindset
I love a good wedding. Don't you? But I admit, it's been a few years since I've attended one. My sons are too young (thankfully!), my friends are already hitched, and those who have divorced are not rushing to the altar. But that doesn't mean there isn't pressure to do exactly that. Rush to the altar that is, after six or 12 months have passed in some sort of committed relationship. We're a marriage-minded culture, and that's hardly news. … [Read More...]
Interior Wit
A clever remark. A knowing look. An object that seems audaciously out of place at first - yet when you glance again, it's absolutely perfect. Wit? I adore it. I love its inherent mirth, its dusting of defiance, and its underlying intelligence. Does wit reflect a particular view on life? I think so. Can wit be expressed in our interiors? … [Read More...]
Purse-suit of Happiness
By Andrea Clement Santiago Some may say I'm a bit of a pack rat. Others would disagree - they would insist I'm a full-fledged hoarder. I have a difficult time throwing things away. What if I need that item again? What if the Clothes Tag Patrol or the Receipt Police stop by and need to see the paperwork? Or, perhaps someday I'll want to make a collage out of all those ticket stubs from every event I've ever attended. Plus, as a former teacher, I know … [Read More...]
Love Versus Logistics
It’s love. And it’s good. You share blissful nights, romantic weekends, and cherished hours of conversation. You laugh at the same jokes. You’re dismayed over the same issues. You like his kids and he likes yours. You “fit” – and you even understand why. Oh, it’s not that there aren’t differences. There are, as in all relationships. But you're in a great place and you know your good fortune. … [Read More...]
New Voices (New Contributors)
As you may have noticed, there are new voices appearing at Daily Plate of Crazy. And more to come! Please check back often and enjoy a growing number of contributors, with much to say on specific topics, and much to share from their own lives. If you're interested in learning more about contributing as Daily Plate of Crazy evolves and expands, be on the lookout for more detail on the Contributors page. … [Read More...]
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