January 8, 2010

• AN ODE TO PANTYHOSE AND ELECTRIC CURLERS (or, Some Newfangled Things I Really, Really Like)

  Do you remember when pantyhose were invented? That must be a red-letter day in the mind of every girl who endured garter belts or girdles to hold up stockings. Liberating…truly liberating…is what they were! I remember feeling quite extravagant and worrying about runs, but it was surely worth it, for the unsurpassed comfort.

  And about the same time, along came another life-transforming invention. In a single day, after paying $12 at Katz Drug Store in Springfield, I went from endless nights of not being able to sleep because of having my stick-straight hair rolled on excruciating metal brush rollers (and let’s not forget the painful, dented head that ached all the next day; perhaps I owe my propensity for headaches to sleeping on those durned brush rollers) to a simple, 15-minute morning routine with electric curlers. So simple…just plug them in, let them warm up and then wind the hair around the heated rods…voila! Instant curls with no pain! It was so good to sleep again.

  I must say that those two innovations surely ranked right up there in importance with other landmarks events of that era, such as man walking on the moon and the invention of the calculator and the invasion of the Beatles. I really, really liked pantyhose and electric curlers and what they did for me.

  Today I’m thinking appreciatively of a few current things that I really, really like. I would almost go so far as to say I love them…but let’s save that for more important notions. Let’s just say LIKE to a high degree….exponential like, as time goes by. The more I use them, the more I like them.

                  

  In the kitchen, there is my handy mini-chopper. This is really a sweet little device, much like a food processor except small. I had a food processor, and the clean up was large. So I neglected it. The clean up for this is small. I use it mainly for nuts, and mainly that would be pecans, my favorite. I use lots of nuts in cooking, and it takes a matter of about five seconds to chop up a cupful of nuts with this handiest of little appliances. It does plug into an outlet, so it does require electricity. But it is surely worth the milli-kilowatt it uses. I really, really like this mini-chopper. And I do use it for more than nuts…

  Now let’s go to the living room where we keep our television, and find connected to it a DVD player. While I’m not a huge tech fan, I do really like what this player does….it lets me be really choosy about what I watch. Hand in hand with this item is Netflix. I can choose from thousands of DVDs and be very picky. That’s what I am, when it comes to television and movies. I’m very critical and generally don’t like network television, except for a few things on public television. So this way I can have good quality entertainment when I want it. Can’t beat having it my way! I really, really like the service provided by Netflix.

  Among DVDs, there are some good ones out there for children that this adult also appreciates.

            

  Last summer while in Colorado, I picked up two new ones for my grandchildren. Lost in the Woods and Stranger in the Woods are both simply delightful! I’m thinking of giving one to a friend for his birthday…he is far from childhood but loves the outdoors and nature and will appreciate the clever way these short but totally charming films are done. But I digress…

                      

  Beside our bed is a stack of books that I keep handy. When it gets low, I must replenish for I’m desperately afraid of running out of something good to read. I read only at night, when I go to bed, and since my farmboy falls asleep before I do, it’s important to not disturb his rest. I really, really like my little purple clip-on book light…very bright and does a good job for me. I’m so thankful it isn’t a kerosene lamp that I must read by.

  But I really, really do like kerosene lamps! The glow from them is so soft and becoming to everything and everyone. I know I look better by lamplight…the wrinkles and skin spots recede and, hopefully, an aura of romanticism appears (wishful thinking?)

                      

  In this window, I have gathered together the ones I’ve collected and been given, and from Christmas to New Year’s I kept them lit at night. I like to think of how welcoming it must look to passersby. But here I’ve digressed again…these lamps are not newfangled things. I’m such a digressor, especially where old things are concerned….

                     

  Back to modern stuff. Under the stairs sits my favorite household cleaning aid. I really, really like my sweeper. It’s a Dyson, bought on the recommendation of another xangan who told the truth. I like seeing how much it picks up and I like its power. My old Electrolux, bought in 1975, was a dandy, but it died. I bought a new one in the 1990s, and it just wasn’t the same. The Dyson, now a year old, has yet to disappoint me. Keep up the good work, Dy!

  Now I’d like to hear about some things you really, really like. What am I missing out on? Perhaps there are some newfangled…or just unknown to me….things that I need to learn about in this new year. Something along the lines of a self-dusting something or other, a mop with a motor on it, or a self-propelled iron?

  • 12:43 pm
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