What's In?

Comments: 23

X Tabber Jan 18, 2006, 4:21pm EST

Don't forget about designer dogs. According to Business Week, that's one of the "big" ideas.

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Gary Engstrom Jan 18, 2006, 4:28pm EST

When will it be "in" to just be yourself? Or, is being "in" a method of self-expression? Thanks Carol V., nicely done!

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jessie voigts Jan 18, 2006, 4:47pm EST

carol - i LOVE this. as i was reading it, i was thinking to myself, WHO CARES? yes, you answered it. society today is so materialistic. it drives me crazy. give me my lake view anyday, and i'll skip all the rest. thank you.

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Spiritguided Woman Jan 18, 2006, 6:47pm EST

Good for you, Carol. It took me a long time to become my own true self. Now I wear capes and have a dress made by the same woman who makes Stevie Nicks' dresses...I can now boldly go where only brave women have gone before.

Namaste to you

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Susan N. Jan 19, 2006, 12:45am EST

Hey, I'm in - don't forget the Verizon friend and family promo! Ugh! Does that mean I've seen too much TV? When I got my first cell phone; with much gnashing of teeth and wailing (supposedly neccesary for job!) my co-workers kept asking me 'are you IN?' and I'd reply yeah I guessed I was. I could not figure out WHY they were so concerned about me being in! Several days went past and I saw the commercial as I went through the living room and then I understood. I bet I laughed for 10 minutes!

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Carol Voigts Jan 19, 2006, 4:12pm EST

Susan, my cell phone is definitely not one of the in ones, as I've had the same one for 5 years now, not a flip phone either. And Yes, Jim, I have often wondered about the things that were talked about at coffee breaks or parties. Almost always about the in things or what kind of hand they had at bridge. Background for me--I was a spec. ed. teacher and I would have liked to discuss the education of the children., or the owls, as you said.

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Rob R. Jan 19, 2006, 4:22pm EST

you watch tv on an owl, jim paul v.? ; )

i'm somewhat of a contrarian - for example, the more theaters a film is playing in, the worse it often is - 'dumbed down for the masses'

give me indie films, concerts in theaters/clubs, non-chain restaurants off-the-beaten-path...

regarding 'hemi,' i believe i read somewhere that it was made-up term dreamed up by marketers - if true, ya gotta laugh at that

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Carol Voigts Jan 19, 2006, 4:59pm EST

Yes, Rob, my husband says that Hemi was made up by the marketers recently. There used to be Hemi motor in Chrysler cars but now they're not made my Hemi, and he says it just means you're only going to get 6mpgal.

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Rob R. Jan 19, 2006, 5:07pm EST

we'll probably be hearing about the 'virtues' of hemis again during the super bowl in a few weeks - where we separate the men from the over-spenders in the ad world

i thought i heard anheuser busch had 8-10 ads locked and loaded for the big game

how they justify that kind of expenditure, i'll never know

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Carol Voigts Jan 19, 2006, 5:42pm EST

Well, I don't want to be in by watching, as I've never watched it before. So I won't be knowing what's IN that Sunday. It occurs to me that perhaps I am a contrarian as to what's IN anyway.

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Edward F. Jan 19, 2006, 9:53pm EST

How about the cell phones for the baby in the carriage, I actually have seen people pushing a carriage with a baby with a toy cellphone

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John Anderson Jan 19, 2006, 11:12pm EST

Did you realize that you can tell how old a movie is by the size of the cell phones? I like yoga moms, too. Cool article.

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Jerine Watson Jan 20, 2006, 10:49am EST

Clever and thought-provoking - been my mantra for years. Non-conformity is the way to be and try to stay, within the parameters of good taste and personal dignity, that is. I applied for a writing gig for young children's stories and the editor wrote back that my story was more for third grade and I would have to buy the books for specific vocabulary words to use - imagine that. No more curiosity of the young to learn a new word they haven't seen before? And my own creativity with those kinds of bands around my mind would die under my feet here like a shard of old orange peel. Seems to me kids have had enough Run Spot Run and need the stimuli of the different and the new..I declined to conform as badly as I need the gig. Oh, well. Next??

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Carol Voigts Jan 20, 2006, 11:04am EST

Thanks for the comments. It seems we have a large group of nonconformists here at Gather. Jim, I've wondered about the rating system myself. Thanks for the support. And Jerine, as a teacher I've seen the restrictions that children's book publishers put on the books tht were "on the reading list". What a joke! I had a friend who as a 1st grade teacher, taught all her kids to read by the end of 1st grade with dinosaur books. She was transferred out of the classroom for not following the prescribed curriculum, even though that was the first time that an entire class had passed the reading level expected. Keep up your great writing.

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Bert B. Jan 20, 2006, 1:49pm EST

regarding 'hemi,' i believe i read somewhere that it was made-up term dreamed up by marketers - if true, ya gotta laugh at that

Actually, it refers to the shape of the combustion chambers in the engine, which are hemispherical. At one time, it was considered the best design.

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Rob R. Jan 20, 2006, 2:29pm EST

thx. for clarification re/'hemi'

is this a rarity in engine design, or is this a common configuration?

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Monica Kennedy Jan 20, 2006, 4:02pm EST

YEs Carol -- exactly -- who cares! Wear, buy, be what you like and want. There are far more important things than these things! Yet for so many it is their world.

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0000-dashiell5-0000 Jan 20, 2006, 4:47pm EST

Um. Not me, apparently. I don't own a cell phone and still eat tacos (though I'd rather a burrito, thank you).

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Nancy S. Jan 20, 2006, 6:17pm EST

This is great! When my kids were younger, they would tell me about a new friend at school, and qualify it with, "but she's kinda weird" or "he's kind of a dork". I started saying "Weird is good. Dorks are good. Bill Gates was a dork." I encouraged them to see that "weirdness often means genius, or eccentricity means talent. Very few great artists were "ordinary".

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Susan N. Jan 25, 2006, 6:11am EST

How come when you are in school nobody likes you if you are different, weird, a dork, a geek, a nerd etc.? When you grow up and become a musician, a movie star, a computer genius, a rocket scientist, a writer; then all the sudden you are the best thing since sliced bread and are automatically elevated to 'IN' status?
Just wondering

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John F Walter Apr 1, 2006, 12:16pm EST

This was a lot of fun. I like the way it was at once a poem, and an invitation to the Gather community to join in. No wonder you got a good response!
I'm glad, also, you said Spanish cuisine is in. Ferran is the closest thing next to godliness as a chef--I've eaten at his restaurant in Barcelona!

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