Archive for June, 2008
It is interesting to me how much information I acquire through snippets of conversation! Just when my mind starts to wander into that zone of hazy attentiveness, (don’t say you haven’t been there too), skimming through the banter of polite conversation, something someone says, usually just in passing will attract my attention and suddenly I am all ears. I say just in passing, because I am not talking about something of worldwide importance like politics or anything of such a serious nature. To be honest topics like these usually push me into my snooze zone quicker than ever. No, what interests me is the odd tidbits that pertain to daily life, things that many I suppose would categorize as trivial!
I mention this because it happened to me just the other day. I was leaving my doctor’s office, prescription in hand, speaking the usual parting speak, my mind already thinking about where I was going next, when all of a sudden I hear: “Oh by the way did you know that Long’s is one of the most expensive places to get that filled.” Well, now wait a minute, what did he say? I was in total shock; I had to stop and ask him to clarify. It could be that I am just plain naïve, but I had never considered that the filling of prescriptions was a commercial enterprise! I mean most of us don’t go to the doctor and say – I think I would like some antibiotics today because I am feeling a little bored. No, we get prescriptions when we are sick, at which time they are a necessity, a means of restoring our bodies back to health. This being the case I naturally believed that the FDA would protect us, the general public by regulating prices, in the same way that they regulate just about every other aspect of the procedure. Why oversee one part and not the other? But no, as it turns out the price of medication is a free for all!
Noting my interest, my doctor proceeded to tell me more. Did you know that if you are prescribed say forty 10mg. pills, two to be taken twice daily it is much more expensive than twenty 20mg pills to be taken once a day? Now doesn’t that seem out of whack? If for instance you were to buy gold, wouldn’t you expect to pay more for 24karat than 14karat? Then wouldn’t it follow that 20mg strength medication would be more expensive than 10mg? In reality that is not the case so I am told, the price apparently is predicated by how many pills are in the bottle, rather than what is in the pill itself! I cannot even fathom who thought that one up.
So you see although they may be trivial, these little tidbits are extremely useful when navigating through the maze of life, especially if you are anything like me, a girl constantly in need of pinching her pennies!
P.S. I use the word “girl” lightly, because the term “woman” seems just too serious for me!
June 26th, 2008
To contact me, please email me at Mari@tooseriousforme.com. I am aware that the comment box currently looks a bit of a disaster, but it does work, which is the main thing. Being technically challenged, I am still learning the ins and outs of that part of the site. Please feel free to relay your thoughts to me both positives – of which I hope there are a few – and negatives, any insights are welcome. In fact any contact would be good, since then at least I will know that I am not just talking to myself! Many thanks.
June 26th, 2008
Here they come my little darlings, straggling in one by one, tightly ensconced in their clear plastic wraps, not a feather ruffled. Yes, it’s that time of the month; and my mailbox fills with Elle, W, Vogue, Bazaar, Marie Claire, Lucky, Vanity Fair etc. – all the arbiters of Trend and Fashion
Agh my God, total disaster, this is the swimsuit edition, and staring at me from its ultra deluxe, high definition glossy page is a “Glamazon”! Perfectly groomed, impossibly tanned, incredibly lean (not a bump in sight), wearing the most gorgeous $1,500 bikini, with a luxurious main of hair streaming just so. Idiot that I am, it never occurs to me to think that it has taken hours of primping and prepping to prepare this girl (all of 16yrs old I am sure) with a wind machine blowing uncomfortably in her face to capture this perfect moment – oh no, totally brainwashed by this impossible dream, I just drink it all in, believing that I too should be able to step out onto the beach at such high velocity – not a chance in hell!
Yes I have used those icky strips for perfect pearly whites, sprayed that lotion for the ultimate tan, although not with as much skill as the professionals who can you believe they say can actually sculpt your body to perfection with their hoses (what a fascinating idea), and eaten my share of lean cuisine, standing on the inevitable elliptical machine for hours on end – standing being the operative word…. my it is exhausting. But to be honest the fact of the matter is maintenance and how much do I care? At this moment, looking at her the answer is “Yes!”. Images of total rectitude flash through my mind, - but truthfully only for the blink of an eye because in reality I am too lazy for such rectitude and would much prefer to spend my evenings gossiping with friends, drinking cool glasses of whatever glorious concoction is the flavor of the day.
Girls, I LOVE clothes with an absolute passion, they can hide a multitude of sins, change my mood from blue to exuberant and add that touch of frivolity in a life that can be too serious. But do I need to be such an aesthete – NO, I say. GO to your closet or on a hell bound shopping spree and grab the most divine outfit you can find and join me at “Indulgence” at Bar 35 on Thursday, because life is way too short and sweet to be staring at the pages of a Glossy Magazine!
June 24th, 2008
Having recently sold my contemporary women’s retail businesses – Rafael at Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii and my website RafaelHawaii.com I found that I had time on my hands. Conveniently, I was invited to write a Style/Fashion column for a new on-line magazine HawaiiRedMagazine.com that was in the throes of being launched. Not knowing what to really write about, I found that in addition to wanting to share some of the tips gleaned during my years in the fashion industry, I was perversely drawn to battling against the constant barrage of media-hyped ideals of eternal youth, beauty and a picture perfect life among other things. I hoped that by approaching such topics with humor we might all be able to breathe a collective sigh of relief and relax knowing that we are not alone and that our reality is often so far removed from Madison Avenue’s as to be hilarious. I thought it would be fun to share my thoughts with other women, and that was how this blog was born. I hope that by reading ToosSeriousForMe.com – Reality from a woman’s point of view, you can take a break and check out the links to visit new and exciting places as well as enjoy the comical paradox of life as much as I do when I write about it.
Mari Stewart June 13, 2008
