daBlog by goddess101

Passing the Shite

I saw something unbelievable today.

On my way to the grocery store, I noticed some unknown dog had apparently deposited an unsightly, unsanitary present in front of a local clothing shop. This is actually pretty common in Amsterdam. Laws do exist that require dog owners to pick up after their pets, but they don’t call this town the city of tolerance for nothing.

Anyhoo, on my way back from the grocery store, I saw how the shop owner was dealing with this little problem. She filled a huge bucket of water, lugged it to the front of the shop, and “washed” the poop away from her front door by throwing the water at it. Great for her, but her actions have now passed on the problem to her neighbor, who must now have to deal with the shite.

It struck me as so odd. It was obviously too late to find out which dog had dropped the turd. But instead of getting a piece of paper, a plastic bag, or whatever to pick up that shit and throw it away into the nearby garbage can, she went through a whole lot of trouble to make it not her problem.

In some ways, it reminds me of how most folks deal with problems in the world. We are bombarded with bad news all the time—natural disasters, famine, war, poverty, crime. Pick your poison. But most of us choose not to do anything. We try to pretend it’s not there. We have all gotten so good at forgetting about what sucks in the world, that it’s become second nature to us.

And what are we left with? Shit still left in the street.

Idol Ramblings

What is it about good singing that just touches your soul? Have you ever heard singing that made you want to cry? I’ve had that feeling lately watching this guy on American Idol. His name is Scott Salvo, not your typical American Idol contestant. Built like Bluto, he’s got puffy cheeks, squinty eyes, a pudgy nose. He actually looks like he could be part man, part boar. But what’s amazing is his voice. His rendition of “Superstar” is simply candy for the ears.

I’ve been watching his Cleveland audition over and over again, and I’m convinced that his talent is a truly a gift from God. Only God could have blessed this man with such a voice.

Celebrity Disappointment

You can ask several people who knew me 10 – 15 years ago. My absolute idol was Carnie Wilson. I was completely obsessed with Wilson Phillips at the time. I was constantly listening to their music, writing about them in my journals, following their chart progress in all the trade publications, making trips to the library to find and photocopy articles about them, and so on. Of the trio, Carnie was my favorite. I loved her singing voice, and she had a personality to boot. Outspoken, sometimes controversial, she seemed just so cool.

What made her stand out though, particularly when watching any one of their videos, was not her talent or gift of gab. It was her weight. Just as each of the Beatles had their own nickname (“the smart one,” “the cute one,” etc), standing next to “the blond one” and “the dumb one” was Carnie, “the fat one.” The late Chris Farley portrayed her in all his girth on Saturday Night Live. Julie Brown ridiculed her in a spoof where she had Carnie wanting to eat her fellow band members. Music video after music video, the record company insisted they hide her in the shadows.

She’ll chronicle her plight in her books years later. But of course, what made her even more famous was her well-publicized stomach-staple surgery. Heck, it was even broadcast on the internet.

I remember hearing about her doing this surgery. I was disappointed. She was my idol, and I thought she was taking the easy way out. At the time, I had gone through my own dramatic weightloss journey, going from 235 lbs to something around 160 lbs at the time. I didn’t need this gastric bypass. I did it naturally and on my own. How could someone I idolized not be able to do that too?

I’m not sure I still feel that way. After watching some of the videos at Spotlight Health I changed my mind. Maybe she really did need the surgery. And I was proud of her that she lost all that weight. Because when she went down to 150 lbs, she looked gorgeous, happy and healthy.

Well, now I see these pictures and I’m disappointed again. It’s as though she never lost all the weight. All that progress, gone. What happened? How could she let this happen? Sure she’s pregnant, but she’s certainly gained more than what, I think, is normal. All the women she has inspired to either lose weight or have the surgery, what are they thinking now?