The Red Hat Society

Okay, so you all remember my mom, right?

She's kind of a weird, crazy lady (see pictures below):

Anyway, she is an active member in this nationwide old lady craze called The Red Hat Society. (Click here to see their very informative and detailed website.) This group started in 1997 when a lady gave her friend a red hat for her 50th birthday and a poem with the lines,

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me."

So, basically, this is a group of old ladies going around saying, "We don't give a frick about what people think of us anymore and we're going to wear our red hats!" So, they go around wearing their red hats and purple outfits and just not caring what people think anymore.

At first, I kind of rolled my eyes at this whole concept. Especially when my mom goes around decorating her guest bedroom (which we have to stay in) with Red Hat Society theme:

But now, I've come to appreciate it, in certain respects. For, I am at a point in my life where I am saying, "I don't give a frick about what people think of me anymore."

Granted, I'm not going to go about wearing a stupid red hat or making theme rooms on the matter... but it is a nice concept, and one that we should embrace whether or not we are 50, 35, or 20.

Screw the world. Who cares what anyone else thinks? Where your red hats, ladies. Do what you want to do. Enjoy your life. Don't listen to societal norms that tell you NOT to wear red hats with purple outfits. Do what my mom does and put together weird "Alternatives to the Christmas Sweater" parties and Halloween costumes that say you're "Miss Conduct".

Or, go rollerskating with a group of friends, even if you're 35 years old. Or play laser tag. Or go snow tubing.

I tell you, this Grown Up Fun Times thing that I started is like the new, cooler version of the Red Hat Society for the next generation. (Much, much cooler.)



But it has the same message:

Have fun.
Stop Caring What People Think.
Do What You Want To Do.
Form Community.

What's not to love? So, my mom can have her Red Hats. I can have my Fun Times. And I'll try not to make fun of her too much because we are probably very much alike.

The Purpose of Art

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso

Doing New Things

You know how when you're growing up, you're always experiencing things for the first time? Like, learning how to walk, going to school for the first time, falling in love, getting your first job, getting married, having kids. All of that.

When we get older, we might fall into the habit of living our lives (basically) for our children, and sometimes we forget to do things of interest for our own selves. New things.

Like, kids are always taking some sort of a class or another (swimming lessons, choir practice, drama, soccer, piano, etc). Why don't adults do that?

When was the last time you ever took a class?

When was the last time you did something that interested you, just for the sake of doing it?

Most of us don't set out to live our lives vicariously through our children, but sometimes it happens anyway, because it is so easy to fall into.

I've been aware of these thoughts and have tried to keep on top of them over the years. I've taken classes. I've started this thing called Grown Up Fun Times to help keep me doing fun and interesting things that I may have forgotten about over the years. I've started going to a Book Club (which was a new thing for me). And learning new hobbies, like drawing Manga.

Or teaching myself how to juggle. Or doing community theater. Or learning ventriloquism (although that didn't really amount to anything other than learning how to say some stupid statement about a ghost). Or doing art shows. Or playing poker. Or any of that. My point is... do new things. Don't let yourself become bored. Or complacent. Or not fun.
That is all.

Dumb Pictures

So, when I dug up those old pictures of Vernon, I found a couple of other pictures as well.

There is this one, from my photography class. Apparently, the conversation with Vern must have gone something like this:

Allison: Take off your shirt and sit on this stairwell. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I'm an artist!

Vernon (rolls eyes): Whatever.

And then there's this one, of my mom, somewhere in Chicago. Again, the conversation:

Allison: Stand with your leg up against the wall, Mom. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I'm an artist.

I don't know what the hell I was thinking.

And then, I found our engagement pictures, taken at the JCPenney Portrait Studios (where I was working at the time). They're kind of dumb. Look at us, just standing there, looking all stupid.

Why is it that we do such dumb things in any time that isn't the present?

What Ocean Thinks of Our Family

Ocean is doing this "All About Me" project for school, and this is what she wrote about her family:

My little sister Peace, who is three, is nice and likes to play. My brother Ezra is seven. He can be nice and he likes sports. My dad is a nice person and a very good Catholic. My mom is nice and has a lot of friends.

Yep. That pretty much sums it up.


Netflix Update:
Drive - Not very good. Or, as Vern put it, "One of the worst movies I've ever seen." There was this song used in the movie that was the stupidest song I've ever heard, and it seemed so cheesey within the context of the movie. Ryan Gosling stars.
Melancholia - I don't know what to think of this movie. I don't.