La Moretta

Power of Positive Thinking/The Secret

Unless you have been living under a rock, you've probably heard people talking about The Secret, the Law of Attraction, or positive visualization. Regardless of the term used, the philosophy can be drilled down into a few sentences: If you want something, visualize it happening and it will come true. Stay away from anything that would contradict this goal (e.g., if you want to lose weight, stay away from, and don't look at, people who are overweight).

I don't have an opinion on the entire philosophy, but I must attest that if you put things that you like in front of yourself, they become more real to you, and more front of mind. It has certainly been true about the DiModolo ring I featured on the blog. Every time I look at it, I picture wearing it. It is insanely expensive (at least to me), but find myself viewing it as part of my life -- wearing it to get the dogs groomed, running out to the Container Store, chopping up radishes, mucking out a stable (OK, I never do the last one). I see it on my hands with the short, unpolished, unmanicured nails, and for some reason that doesn't seem at all inappropriate. In any case, I am debating removing it from the blog so I can get it out of my head.

This situation might not be The Secret exactly, but it certainly brought to mind this line from Silence of the Lambs:

Hannibal Lecter: And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.
Clarice Starling: No. We just...
Hannibal Lecter: No. We begin by coveting what we see every day.

So true, Dr. Lecter, so true.

No Train, No Gain

Today I had my first session with a personal trainer. It was an evaluation. They did something called a Body Map where they test the balance of your muscles (are you too tight in areas and weak in others, etc.). I now have assigned exercises to do 3 times a week and I'll have a trainer coming to my place for a total of 24 sessions. This will allow me to focus on increasing my strength and energy rather than giving up and buying a few cases of Red Bull instead.

The woman who evaluated me was very nice and quite tolerable in terms of her approach -- she wasn't chirpy and she clearly was in great shape in a genuinely functional way, which is what I'd like -- enhanced functioning.

Literacy Tutoring --Exciting News

I remember a time in my life when I was very excited and giddy that the David Bowie-lookalike clerk at Commander Salamander noticed me (this was before I developed reliable gaydar).

Today, though, I am very excited and giddy about literacy tutoring for ESL (English as a Second Language). I attended the orientation for the Montgomery County Literacy Council (MCLC), and will go to the training workshop later this month (two consecutive Saturdays). They have a backlog of several hundred people who are waiting for tutoring, so there is great need. Some of the stories are quite familiar -- the immigrant working two jobs who wants to learn English so she can make more money; the people who were professionals in their own countries but don't speak English well enough to obtain certification and are therefore working as cab drivers or technicians; and people who have never learned to read or write in any language. Their lives must be hard and exhausting, and it shows incredible strength and dedication they are making this effort when it would be easier to get a few extra hours of shuteye.

We only have so much time in our lives to make a difference, and someone who really wants to improve his or her situation via hard work is exactly the person I'd like to help (and, I'd like to add, exactly the type of person the U.S. always needs).

They were pushing for people to consider training a small group rather than one-on-one, so I figured WTH (what the hey) and said I'd be willing to do it. They also pointed out, quite wisely, that it was less stressful for the person learning to not be the only student in the session. They require a commitment of a year and two hours a week (preferably two sessions). I did do one thing on the boundary-setting department, though -- I said I was only available to do tutoring at the Rockville location, which will reduce the stress of getting there significantly.

Anyway, this should be very interesting, although there are unlikely to be any Bowie doppelgangers.

Et tu, Funnel Cakes?

Newsweek's Web site has an interesting feature on the nutritional figures of popular carnival food. You will perhaps be disappointed to know that funnel cakes are not as healthy as the people of the American Funnel Cake Association (AFCA) have been claiming. I consulted with a nutritionist and found that funnel cakes can't be considered a vegetable using any criteria. I am so disillusioned.

The other foods mentioned didn't do too well, either, although spun-sugar cotton candy has only about 200 calories per cone. However, did I mention that it's entirely made of sugar?

Here are some other carnival dishes that I never even knew existed, at least consciously:

• Deep-fried Oreos (Oreos dipped in pancake batter and deep fried)
• Deep-fried Twinkies (often with powdered sugar, jam or chocolate on top)
• Deep-fried candy bars (I think you get where I'm going with that)

Why aren't there more things along this line? For example, deep-fried cupcakes, deep-fried butter or deep-fried bacon.

Housekeeping

I'm in the process of re-tagging and categorizing my blog, so please bear with me. Also, although no one is reading this really carefully, in the interest of transparency, I have made some small edits for clarity, so you might notice some differences.

First Home Visit Scheduled!!!!

Our first home visit is scheduled for July 14th at 6ish PM. Huzzah! This means that there are a few key things we are going to need to do before then, and it's possible that we might be asking a critical friend to come over and point out things that aren't quite up to par (e.g., the Christmas ornaments on the lawn in July, that kind of thing).

We can't legally do our second one until I have my physical, which at this point is scheduled for October -- zoinks! So I'm going to either find a new physician or coax this one into doing it earlier.

Not for Sissies

Former magazine editor Charla Krupp has been making the rounds promoting her new book, How Not to Look Old. Krupp herself is a remarkable creature of a kind that we see increasingly in the public eye -- although she is a woman of a certain age, her face is unlined and her flowing hair is the type of youthful blonde that costs a lot of money. There is nothing technically wrong with the way she looks, but she doesn't actually project youth or personality. I also have problems with the idea that you are supposed to avoid looking mature. Many women gain an exceptional type of beauty in middle and old age, often when they were undistinguished in their youth.

However, Krupp's TV appearances made me give the book a shot -- not in the interest of youthfulizing myself, but in the interest of modernizing my appearance. I figured there was a possibility that I was wearing the equivalent of a hoop skirt and powdered wig, and this would make me less credible with my target audiences.

Among Krupp's recommendations are: lighten up the hair (or cover the gray); lighten up on the makeup; do a whitening treatment on your teeth; consider pink for lipstick rather than red; stop wearing matchy-matchy outfits (e.g., a business suit); let your hair grow longer and cut bangs; update your eyewear, and get a pair of modern jeans.

I've tried a few of these and I did notice a difference -- more significantly, my mom and sister both commented on it separately. Ms. Krupp's book also encouraged me to get a new pressed powder -- I had lost mine months before and didn't want to get anything chalky. Also, I am fairly pale and it can be a problem finding the right light shade. I ended up getting MAC's Select Sheer Pressed Powder, which they have in 16 shades. It is wonderful -- light and not chalky, covers flaws but doesn't mask your skin -- I can't say enough good things about it.  My shade is NC20, by the way. I would seriously recommend it for someone who wants to even out her complexion but doesn't want to hassle with, or doesn't need, foundation. Also, don't be afraid of going to MAC -- it definitely attracts some makeup junkies and drama types, but the salesgirl was helpful to me despite my bare face.

I hate vegetables and produce

OK, I admit it. At this point I'm really getting weary of all the greens.  I made a soup last night with kale, garlic scapes and potatoes, and it was quite good and low-fat and ful of vitamins, but when I look in the fridge I still see some green with elephant-sized leaves (I think they are collards), beets and peas.

I feel like Lucy at the candy factory, except that the chocolate is actually radishes.

INFPs, do not unite!

I was reading an article about Myers-Briggs profiles and how some companies really take a lot of stock in them. As I mentioned, I'm more of an enneagram fan, but I took a look on some Web sites to see how they describe an INFP. The bullets below are lifted from Personality Page.

A lot of the characteristics seem accurate, but it's possible that they would apply to many people.

• They are focused on making the world a better place for people.
• INFPs are highly intuitive about people.
• INFPs are on a continuous mission to find the truth and meaning underlying things.
• INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. They don't want to feel badly.
• INFPs are flexible and laid-back, until one of their values is violated. In the face of their value system being threatened, INFPs can become aggressive defenders, fighting passionately for their cause.
• When it comes to the mundane details of life maintenance, INFPs are typically completely unaware of such things.
• The INFP needs to work on balancing their high ideals with the requirements of every day living. Without resolving this conflict, they will never be happy with themselves, and they may become confused and paralyzed about what to do with their lives.
• INFPs are usually talented writers. They may be awkard and uncomfortable with expressing themselves verbally, but have a wonderful ability to define and express what they're feeling on paper.

If I were a corporation, I wouldn't want any INFPs, and as I mentioned elsewhere, I was one of two INFPs in an office of 200. The department I worked in was the only one that had any significant  number of "I"s. If I knew any young INFPs, I would advise them to get out of the corporate environment immediately -- it's a mismatch.

Has anyone else taken the M-B tests? If so, did you find them to be accurate? In what context did you take them?

Unity Now

Salon's Walter Shapiro offers a dissection of the Obama/Clinton dog-and-pony show in Unity, NH.  He thinks it was well done, which it was to some degree -- they were color coordinated, she showed deference, etc. I'll buy that. However, it happened three weeks too late, and I'm not sure it undid the way the primaries ended.