THE 12 MONTHS & SHOWS OF REALITY CHRISTMAS

Wednesday on "Simon in the Morning", they had a segment asking listeners what type of reality show would they be best at.  For the life of me, I couldn't think of anything for myself, except maybe "Useless Trivia 24/7". 

What I did think of though was something I wrote a few years ago.  I don't remember how I got the idea, however, since I still have it, I've decided to share it on my blog.  I know it's been awhile ago, since some of the shows aren't on the air any more. 

With that said, I now present, "The 12 Months & Shows of Reality Christmas".

(Names of shows below represent what each Christmas show is patterned after; actual names will differ.)

(Shows run concurrently, starting the day after Thanksgiving and ending on Thanksgiving Day of the next year.)

   1.      Manhunt—To find the perfect Santa Claus.

    2.      The Bachelor—The new Santa picks his perfect Mrs. Claus.

    3.      Pimp My Ride—To customize Santa’s sleigh.

     4.      Extreme Makeover—To make the new Mr. & Mrs. Claus even more

                                            believable.

     5.      The Apprentice—The new Santa chooses which teams of elves-{hundreds,

                              but only show key elves}-continue on and which gets fired.

6.   Fear Factor—Elves must prove their abilities in various ways.

7.      The Amazing Race—All elves from the winning teams must split into new

                                            teams, then race to the North Pole.  At each pit stop Santa

                                            will eliminate a team of elves.

      8.      Survivor—All elves not eliminated will have to prove their survival skills at the

                           North Pole, or be eliminated.

9.      Big Brother—All remaining elves, along with Mr. & Mrs. Claus, have to prove

                                      they can survive together when snowed in at the North Pole.  Will

                                     also have to learn how to care for reindeer, make toys, etc.  More

                                     eliminations.

    10.  What Not To Wear—All final winning elves, along with Mr. & Mrs. Claus, get

                                               a complete fashion makeover.

       11.  Monster House—Santa  & Mrs. Claus, along with the elves, get their living

                                            space made over into the ultimate Christmas themed home.

          12. The Ulitmate Reality--All winners from the previous 11 shows
                                                      appear together in the Macy's Thanksgiving
                                                       Day parade.

                                            

Bonus Show—Unlucky #13

   13.  Cops--Santa and the elves are arrested for passing out black market toys to little children. It's a federal offense crossing state and international lines.  Meanwhile, Mrs. Claus is taken in to custody for putting a little too much "joy" in her brownies.

           

                             

       



Wedding Bell Blues

 Today’s “Simon in the Morning” show focused primarily on the upcoming wedding of Scott Simon’s daughter.  Scott said he wants his daughter to have the wedding she wants; however, he wished there was a more inexpensive way to do it.   He didn’t understand why there had to be a full, sit-down dinner at the reception, instead of just cake and punch.

Jake, on the other hand, saw no reason why there shouldn’t be a full dinner served.  He said that people come to weddings to eat.  

Maybe it’s like Jolynn said, it seems those of us in the older generation have no problem with just cake, or a potluck; while the younger generation seems to want more.  I have no problem going to a wedding and just having cake and punch.  Then again, I don’t go to that many weddings, and when I do, it’s not for the food; it’s to see the couple getting married. 

Honestly, isn’t that why it’s called a “wedding”?   People have weddings to share their special moment with friends and family.  The reception comes later, as a courtesy, (in my opinion), of the couple.  It’s a way of thanking everyone for coming to the wedding. If it was called a “reception”, THEN you could have the big, fancy, sit-down dinner, open bar, the works; and for extra entertainment for the guests, throw in a wedding. 

A suggestion I had was that having a wedding is all in the timing.  Schedule the wedding after lunch, but early enough before dinner; it would eliminate the whole, “feeding everyone”, problem.  People would be full from lunch; feed them punch and cake at the reception; they’re good to go until they get home for dinner.

Another topic that came up in the discussion this morning was where did all these traditions come from?   Some were easy to explain, like the parents paying for the wedding.  It probably evolved from when brides used to have a dowry.  To honor a suitor wanting to marry a man’s daughter, the man’s family would throw in a “bonus”; usually a goat, or something useful like that.  

Things aren’t like that now however.  It seems as the times have changed, so have the traditions.  Nowadays, the family of the bride is expected to pay for the wedding; while the groom’s family is responsible for the rehearsal dinner.  Well, at least that’s how it was when *I* got married.  Not sure it’s even that way anymore.

Then again, when I got married, my husband to be and I paid for it ourselves.  We felt that if *we* were the ones getting married, then *we* should be the ones to pay for it.  And we had a nice wedding, with everything the way we wanted it.  Okay, we got a little crazy; we didn’t have just cake and punch at our reception.  We upped the ante a bit by also having coffee, cashews and M&M’s.  Doesn’t sound like much, but there was a reason for it.  If there were leftovers, we didn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of stuff we didn’t like.  It was our wedding, and his favorite thing was cashews, and mine was M&M’s; so that’s what we had.

I don’t know, it seems as time goes on, people want everything bigger and better than the last person.  Not just weddings, but everything in general.  Back on the subject of weddings though, I had a thought.  Since traditions have evolved with the times, maybe they should evolve some more.  It seems nowadays that the younger generation is more educated; getting married later in life, and generally establishing themselves before settling down.  Not everyone maybe, but it does seem a majority of younger people are trending this way.

If that’s the case, here’s my suggestion for whom pays for a wedding:  The couple getting married.  Why not?  If they’re ready to get married, settle down, and be responsible, what better way than starting with paying for their own wedding?  Yes, it’s the bride’s special day, and she’s going to want everything to be perfect and special.  If she can’t afford what she wants for a wedding though, maybe it’s not time for marriage.  Or maybe she could lower her expectations, or find a way to work her budget around what she’s planning for the wedding.  

 I’m pretty sure a lot of people will disagree with me on this, and that’s okay.  This is just my opinion.  I’m sure if I were in Scott’s shoes, I’d feel the same way he does.  Every parent wants to do whatever they can for their child, me included.  I do feel though that it’s a viable solution to the high cost of a wedding.

One thing I feel shouldn’t happen at a wedding, or reception, is asking guests to pay.  These are friends and family that have been invited to the event; if they’re invited, why are they being asked to pay for it?  It seems totally tacky to me to do that.  Then again, if the couple who is marrying happens to be starving actors, this might be an opportunity.  Hmmm…I can see it now…

It could be a real life “Tony & Tina’s Wedding”, just change the names to the names of the couple, and go from there.  In this case, it *could* be a dinner theater, with each guest paying for their meal, and watching the wedding take place. 

If dinner is too expensive, even with guests paying, it could always be staged as a matinee.  Instead of dinner, guests would pay a lower price for the “show”, and have cake and punch instead.  VIP guests could upgrade to coffee, nuts and mints. 

Then again, with all the things that happen at Tony & Tina’s fictional wedding, maybe trying to do that in real life isn’t such a great idea.

I guess what it boils down to is, however a wedding and reception is paid for, it should be the best it can be for the couple.

KUPL HAPPY HOUR-WITH MARLEE SCOTT-JUNE 24, 2011

The evening of June 24, 2011 KUPL held another “Happy Hour” for their listeners.

This time food was provided by Elephant’s Deli, and was very good.  There were nuts, veggies, sweet & sour meatballs and macaroni and cheese.  In addition, patrons had a choice of beer or wine to go with their food.

Entertainment was provided by up and coming Canadian artist, Marlee Scott. 

I’d never heard of Marlee before her performance in the Bing Lounge.  Though the set was short, Scott was very entertaining. 

Marlee started her set with a song titled, “Planet of Your Own”.  It's a song about someone "so out there", you just wonder what planet they came from.  As Marlee put it, we all know someone like that.

Though Marlee Scott doesn’t have a distinct voice of her own, (in my opinion), she is a great singer and songwriter.  She’s just different enough not to be “cookie cutter”, like some artists are.  Also, the songs she writes are from the heart and experience.  You can tell this when she talks about her music, and songwriting.

Entertainers not only need to have talent, they need to have stage presence as well.  Marlee Scott definitely has this area covered!  From the time she came out on stage, she was talking to the audience, joking around, etc., like she’d known everyone there her whole life.

Being from Canada, Marlee has had various singles released there.  Her first U.S. single, "Beautiful Maybe", is scheduled for release today, (Monday, June 27, 2011).  It's this song Marlee ended her set with. 

Before singing "Beautiful Maybe", she told about making the video.  She said she doesn't like ticks, and how, while filming the video, she was down in a hole.  During the shoot, she noticed a tick near her, but still had to go on with the taping.  Someone, off camera, managed to "save" Marlee from the tick, by stepping on it.  After putting this visual in everyone's head, Marlee said to remember that when the video comes out. 

Once Marlee had finished singing, she took time to pose for pictures and sign autographs for anyone wanting one.  Just like she was onstage, Marlee was very nice, and friendly with everyone.  She also has a great sense of humor, which shined through the entire time.

In my opinion, though Marlee Scott may not be as good, or identifiable as some country artists; she definitely shows great promise of going far in the music business.

Summer Songs

Over the years, every genre of music has had it’s fair share of summer songs.  Heck, the Beach Boys have made a career singing about summer!

With today being the official start of summer, I decided it was a good time to mention some songs of the season.  Where to start though?  There are so many songs that can remind one of summer, it would take until at least fall to list every one of them. Even if just the country songs were mentioned, the list would be a long one. 

For that reason, I’ve decided to list only country songs, with “summer” in the title.

I’m sure there are probably songs I’ve missed; for now though, I’ve listed the eleven songs I know that fit my criteria.  The songs are listed in alphabetical order, by title.

1.       “All Summer Long”—Kid Rock

This song came out in 2008 and has been a staple on country radio stations ever since.  The song also helped Kid Rock propel himself into a new career in country music.

2.      “Groovy Little Summer Song”—James Otto

This is probably my favorite song by James Otto.  I just love the rhythm and feel of the song.  Released in 2010, unfortunately, the song only made it to 26 on the Billboard country music charts. 

3.      “Here Comes Summer”—LoCash Cowboys

This song was also released in 2010, charting just under the country top 40 at #41.  That’s sad, as I really think this is a great song and it should have charted higher.  To me, the LoCash Cowboys are the most underrated duo in country music.

4.      “It’s a Summer Thing”—Troy Olsen

Yet another song from 2010, is Troy Olsen’s “It’s a Summer Thing”.  Troy hasn't caught on with the masses quite yet, though this song did help get him some airplay.

5.  Six-Pack Summer—Phil Vassar

This is another of my favorite summer songs.  Released in 2001, it peaked at #9 on the country music charts.  This, to me is truly a classic country summer song that I never get tired of hearing.

6.    Summer Nights—Rascal Flatts

Rascal Flatts released this song as the second single from their “Unstoppable” CD.  The song peaked at #2 on the country charts in 2009.

7.  Summer’s Comin’—Clint Black

This song was released in 2006 and has always been one of my favorites.  I especially like the video for the song; which features cameo appearances by Howie Mandel, Dick Clark and Jay Leno, among others.

8.  Summertime—Kenny Chesney

Kenny Chesney is known for his lighthearted songs about fun in the sun.  “Summertime” was Chesney’s contribution to summer in 2005.  He took the song to #1 on the country charts.

9.    Summertime Blues—Alan Jackson

“Summertime Blues” was originally written and released by rockabilly artist, Eddie Cochran, in 1958.  It peaked at #8 on the Billboard charts.  Several other artists have recorded the song over the years.  Alan Jackson took his turn with the song in 1994, reaching #1 on the Billboard country charts.

10. Sunshine & Summertime—Faith Hill

As I stated in the introduction, I’m sure there are songs I’ve missed while compiling this list.  I repeat it here, because there must be more than one country summer song done by a female artist.  Faith Hill’s “Sunshine & Summertime is the only one I can think of however.  It was released in 2006, and peaked at #7 on the country charts.

11. That Summer—Garth Brooks

Though the word “summer” appears in the title, this song definitely has a different feel to it.  It doesn't have that light, carefree feeling most summer songs have.  Instead, it tells the story of a summer romance between a hired hand and his boss.  Garth Brooks took the song to the top of the country charts in 1993.

Twisted, Tangled Tunes

The other day, during the "Celebrity Soup", on "Simon in the Morning", Scott Simon had a blurb about Weird Al Yankovic.  According to the report, Weird Al has parodied some country songs on his next CD.

The story reminded me of a song rewrite I did awhile ago.  The song is Alan Jackson's "5 O'Clock Somewhere", with Jimmy Buffett.

In my version, I had country song parody artist, Cledus T. Judd doing Alan Jackson's lines, and Weird Al doing Jimmy Buffett's.

In light of the news about Weird Al's latest CD, I've decided to post my parody of "5 O'Clock Somewhere" on this blog.

My apologies in advance for the size of the print.  I couldn't make it any larger, and still have it fit the blog.

For My Dad

Since today is Father’s Day, I’ve decided to post a blog about my dad, Wayne Predmore.  (Please forgive the quality of the photo.  My dad hates having his picture taken, and this was the best my son could get.)

 First I’d like to say that “Father’s Day”, sounds kind of stuffy.  To me, it’s “Dad’s Day”.  It just sounds more fitting and comfortable to me; especially since my dad isn’t the stuffy type.  If the truth were told, I’ve called my dad, “dad”, for a long time now; though in my heart, he’s always been, and will always be my “daddy”. 

Every year, I hear radio and television commercials about “what dad wants for Father’s Day”; they never fit my dad.  My dad isn’t one to wear ties, unless it’s necessary.  He’s not the rugged, outdoor type; the sports type; or any of the other things described in the commercials.  I think the closest a commercial has come to ever sounding like my dad is one that said, “dad likes to eat”.  That sort of fits my dad; he does love his cookies. 

 My dad is easy to get things for however.  He loves gadgets.  The nice thing about the gadgets my dad gets is, they’re useful.  Well, most of them anyway. 

 He also has some collections that are just his.  I’ll clarify this by saying that, as a couple, my parents have things they collect; and they also have separate collections.  For my dad, it’s pens with advertising on them; ball caps with advertising, or other things on them; and cow cream pitchers.

 Growing up, I’d always get pens from anywhere I went, to give to my dad.  When my son was about a year old, we got him a hat with my son’s picture on it.  Also over the years, I’ve made my version of cow cream pitchers for my dad.

 There are just so many things I could say about my dad.  How he used to work at Fred Meyer, and knew Mr. Meyer personally.  How he worked 35 years for the post office, always the graveyard shift. Before that, he worked at a Standard gas station, (it’s Chevron now), in Portland, Oregon.  How once, Nat King Cole came into the station and ended up singing while his car was being worked on.  I could tell you all the stories he’s told me over the years about his childhood, the navy, his jobs, all of that; but I won’t.  Not because I don’t want to; because I couldn’t tell his stories as well as he can. 

 Everything I’ve written so far tells you a bit about my dad; it’s just the surface though.

My dad is one of those guys that doesn’t say “I love you”.  When I was younger it bothered me; especially since we clashed a lot when I was a kid.

I’ve always been told I’m just like my dad.  Again, that bothered me sometimes when I was a kid, because of the clashing we did. 

As I get older though, I see things a lot differently.  My dad may have never told me specifically that he loves me; but I KNOW he does.  My dad is a living example of “actions speak louder than words”.  For all the times he’s never said “I love you”, there’s been an equal number of times, (if not more), where he’s done things for me, or others in the family, that he didn’t have to do.  He just did it, because he wanted to. 

My dad is also very loyal to his family.  One of the best examples I’ll always remember is when I had an internship at a local TV station.  It’s a station that I grew up watching the news on, because my parents always did.  I couldn’t get hired on to the station full-time, and ended up quitting, to take another job.  

The day I quit was the day my dad stopped watching the news on that station.  Didn’t matter that I was the one who decided to quit; if his daughter wasn’t good enough for them, he was just going to watch another station from then on. Over the years, he has gone back to watching the news on that station, though he does still switch around at times.

As far as me being “just like my dad”, yeah, I am; and I’m okay with that.  I’m especially okay with me having the same sense of humor as my dad.  My sense of humor is one of my favorite things about me; and seeing how my dad is, anyone could tell he’s where it came from.  Though I’m pretty sure my dad would tell you I’m a bit more warped than he is.  I am.  I like to say that I got the good part of humor from him, and expanded on it.

In other ways, I’m different than my dad.  I’m very much a hugger; my dad isn’t.  I say, “I love you”; he doesn’t.  In fact, it kind of makes my dad uncomfortable when someone says it to him.  Again, it’s not that he doesn’t have those feelings; he just grew up in a different era when guys didn’t say stuff like that. 

I used to think if I said it to him enough, he’d get used to it, and start doing it too.  Then I realized, I was just making him uncomfortable, which I didn’t like doing to him.  So I don’t say it to him anymore; not because I don’t love him, but because I don’t like making my dad feel uncomfortable; especially if it’s in front of other people.  As I put it, I don’t want him to feel all “squirmy”.   Instead, I try to show my dad in little ways that I love him.  Guess I learned that from him too. 

We still clash sometimes, we probably always will.  It’s what happens when two people are so much alike. Don’t ever mistake it for me not loving my dad, or vice versa; as stated throughout this blog, the love is definitely there, you just have to look instead of listen for it.

When it comes to that “squirmy” feeling my dad gets about this stuff; well, that’s where my actions will speak for me instead of words.  I’ve written this post, and put it here on my blog.  My next step is to print off a copy for my dad for “Dad’s Day” and give it to him.  He can read it when no one else is around.  Then, if he feels “squirmy”, no one else will know. 

So, happy Father’s Day to all the fathers, dad’s, daddies, etc.; out there, and especially to my daddy.  Thank you for being my dad and putting up with me all these years.

The Arts Project

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, the company I work for held it’s very first employee art show.

The idea came from an employee as part of a leadership course she was taking.  Part of her task was to do something that would engage at least twenty-five people.  She came up with the idea of the art show because of her love of photography.  She felt that if this was a big part of her life, away from work, there were probably other employees that were the same way.

The turn out of employees was huge, for a first time event; so big that the organizers decided to put a cap on the number of entries each person could have. In all there were 125 entries from 44 employees; and this didn't include those that were turned away after the entry deadline.

After a lot of planning and hard work, the day of the art show finally arrived.  A large room in one of the company’s buildings had been transformed into an art gallery, to display the art submitted by employees.

The art itself was quite varied.  Employees submitted photos, paintings, drawings, jewelry, pottery, fabrics, and everything in between.

I’ve never considered myself an artist; I just like playing on the computer and coming up with things, using Paint Shop Pro 7.  A friend convinced me to at least submit some of my stuff though, so I did.  This is one of my entries, under “Graphic Arts”.  I got the idea from my son, and because my parents collect Santas.  My son said they didn't have a "Camo Santa".

 

 On the day of the art exhibit, a co-worker and I went to check it out.  When we got there, I discovered as an “artist”, in the show, I had a special badge to wear.  I have to admit, the littlest things make me feel special; enough so that I’ve scanned the badge for this post. 

 It was really cool to see all the different items on display at the exhibit.  Our company definitely has some really talented people working for them.

One of my favorite photos was of a Rock Squirrel; it’s just sooooooooo cute!

 Another piece I really liked was done by one of my former co-workers.  It’s a painting she did for her grandma, and is from a photo of the co-worker when she was 2 years old.

 One of the textile entries really caught my eye also; and was done by another former co-worker.  It’s a scarf that has combined felted wool with silk.  The title of the piece is “Undersea Garden”. 

 These are just a minuscule part of all that was on display at this first art exhibit.

The feedback from this one-day event was so positive, it was turned into a week long showing.  Even though this was the first employee art show our company has had; I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last.

GUESS WHO?

In another blog I mentioned how I don’t like “cookie cutter” voices.  Those artists who are so generic you can’t tell one from the other.  They could be interchangeable on any song played on the radio, and I doubt anyone would know the difference.

I also said how I like voices that stand out. The minute you hear a song, even if you’ve never heard it before, you instantly know who’s singing.  To me, that makes the music on the radio much more interesting.  It adds flavor to what would otherwise be bland and boring.

Then there are the newer artists who’ve come on the scene lately.  It seems there are quite a few that sound like other, established artists.  The person most people think of first is Easton Corbin.

Easton has always been compared to George Strait; which he doesn’t like.  In some ways, I understand why he resents the comparison.  He’s a new artist who wants to make his career based on his own merits.  Yet, he keeps being compared to George Strait; those are big shoes to fill, especially as a new artist. 

On the other hand, in this case, I see it as a compliment to Easton also.  To me, George Strait seems to have a wide range of styles he plays off of.  So, if people are comparing Easton Corbin to George Strait, which style?  If it’s all of them, I see that as a good thing. It’s worked for George, why wouldn’t it work for Easton?  I’m not sure there will ever be another George Strait, but there are worse artists Easton Corbin could be compared to.

  Awhile back KUPL was playing a song, “If I Run”, by the Harters.  Until I looked the song up, I would have sworn it was Steel Magnolia.  Even though both acts are new to country music, Steel Magnolia is known a bit more than the Harters.  The nice exception to thinking the Harters and Steel Magnolia sound alike is, neither have that cookie cutter sound.

Then there’s Joey+Rory.  I’d heard music by them before, most notably, “Cheater, Cheater”.   They’re another duo without a generic sound.  However, the first few times I heard the song, “That’s Important to Me”, I thought the Judds had put out new music.  The song has the Judds “feel” to it, and Joey’s voice, (on this song at least), sounds like the Judds. I like that this song has that “familiar” sound to it; yet Joey+Rory still have their own style and sound.

On the subject of of acts sounding like others, but only on some songs, there’s the Dirt Drifters.  Every time I would hear “Something Better” on the radio, I thought it was Toby Keith.  I wondered why Toby had two songs out at the same time.  When I found out it was the Dirt Drifters, and that they were going to be in Portland, I HAD to see them.  I wanted to know firsthand whether all their songs sounded like Toby Keith, or just that one.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Dirt Drifters are a very talented band, with their own distinct sound.  They did say that others had thought their first single sounded like Toby Keith, and they were okay with that.  They took it as a compliment that people wanted to find out more about them, because of the comparison.

On a slightly different path of voice comparisons, there’s Glen Templeton.  This new country artist definitely has his own style and sound, and is great at what he does.  At one point in time though, Glen was the star in the traveling play about Conway Twitty’s life.  He had been personally chosen by Twitty’s family for the role, because he sounded so much like Conway.

 Right now, KUPL is playing a song by Bradley Gaskin called, “Mr. Bartender”.  The first time I heard it, I instantly thought of Travis Tritt in his early days.  Yet, while the song reminds me of Tritt, Gaskin actually does hold his own, with his own sound, on the song. 

And then there’s this year’s American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery.    McCreery definitely has his own style and voice, as evidenced by his single, “I Love You This Big”.  While on Idol though, his “signature” song was Josh Turner’s “Your Man”.  Scotty was a dead ringer for Josh Turner; which was especially noticeable when Turner showed up to sing the song with Scotty at McCreery’s homecoming concert for American Idol.

I think there will always be comparisons of groups and artists in all genres of music.  Whether it’s someone like Easton Corbin, who has that “voice” all the time; or it’s a band, like the Dirt Drifters, who just happen on one song to sound like another artist, the comparisons will always be there. 

Likewise, whether, like Corbin, artists resent the comparison, or like the Dirt Drifters, embrace it; there will always be both as long as there’s music in the world.

A Hairy Predicament

Everyone has hair.  Whether it’s a lot, or a little, we all have it.  As we get older though, it seems, the hair we have tends to forget where it belongs.   

For example, some men, as they get older, start going bald.  What they’re missing on the top of their head however has been found in abundance in their ears and nose.  My (il)logical theory for this is gravity.  As men get older, the hair falls from their head, landing in their nose and ears.  I could be totally wrong about this of course, but for now that’s my theory, and I’m sticking to it.

It’s different for women.  While we don’t typically lose the hair on our head, we do seem not to have to shave our legs and under arms as much the older we get.  Sounds good, until you start finding where that missing hair went.

It starts out gradually, you look in the mirror one day and you see this little black spiky thing sticking out of your chin.  You don’t think much about it, just pluck it out with a pair of tweezers and go about your business.

A day or two later, you find another one, or two.  Okay, not a big deal; pull those, and move on. 

This continues for awhile; until you discover the hairs keep coming back, and bringing their friends.  Shaving is not an option; this only encourages the hair to continue to hang around your chin area.  It’s even been known to attract more hairs.  The tweezers are still doing a good job; it’s just taking a bit longer to weed the hairs. You continue with this pattern of hair elimination.

Next you get a magnified mirror.  The hairs are getting smart; they hide then pop out full grown.  Seriously, you can look in the mirror, see nothing, and an hour or so later, you have this inch long thing sticking out of your face!

The magnified mirror helps with finding the hairs that do that.  With a good mirror and pair of tweezers, you can catch the little buggers before they can spring out of your face.  This is good, you’ve got the situation under control; at least as much as you can, and still have a life.

Then one day you notice, there are less hairs on your chin than before.  You begin to rejoice in your victory; until you discover all of the hairs are still there, they’ve just gone incognito.  They’ve gone white or gray, making it almost impossible for you to see; yet being very obvious to anyone near you.

The magnified mirror and tweezers are doing an okay job, but it’s getting harder to see the hairs you’re trying to get.  Add the fact that by now your eyesight is going bad, (whether due to age, or all the hair hunting you’ve been doing); things just aren’t looking good overall. 

You keep up the fight though, knowing if you don’t, the hairs will take over your chin.  And they’re getting tough.  While at first you could pluck a hair out easily, now each one holds steadfast, trying it’s best not to be uprooted.

The next stage is, you’re holding your own against the hairs on your chin.  You’re not winning, but neither are they; it’s a stalemate.  Okay, it’s doable.  Not necessarily the best scenario, one you can deal with though.  Until you discover the hair that has migrated to your upper lip.  So not fair!

The chin is one thing; you can pull hairs out with tweezers with little to no pain.  The upper lip however is a different story.  That hurts!!!

Okay, it’s not a major hurt, but it does hurt, nonetheless.  Also, I’m not sure if it’s the location, or what, however, the hair on your upper lip is never small, like on your chin.  For some reason upper lip hair is just instantly long.  And there’s never just one hair.  Upper lip hairs rise up in masses.  Even if your chin hairs have gone gray or white, upper lip hair always comes in dark and long.  If a face was a garden, the chin would have regular soil, while the upper lip would be using Miracle-Gro.

Just when you think it can’t get any worse, what happens?  Whatever it is that’s going on with the hairs on your upper lip, the hairs on your chin have caught on.  They seem to have smuggled some of that Miracle-Gro for hair down to their area.  Now the chin hairs are popping up longer, stronger, and more frequently.  Plus, they still have a stronghold on your chin, making it almost impossible to pull them out.

And thus the cycle continues, day in and day out.  I have no idea where this whole chin and upper lip hair deal is heading; I’m just along for the ride at this point.  What I do know is, if I had a choice, I’d shave my legs and underarms every day, if it meant the stupid hairs on my face would go away!