Monthly Archives: February 2015

I confess, I am hooked on ‘The Bachelor’

Posted on by
Reply

Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf published week of February 23, 2015 in the Albert Lea Tribune and The Courier SentinelI confess

They say confession is good for the soul. I have a confession to make. I can’t believe I have this to confess. I watch “The Bachelor.” I have to eat the words I have spoken in the past because I made the statement that I thought it was a ridiculous show. That was before I became hooked on this season of ABC’s “The Bachelor.”

I didn’t understand the hype. I didn’t understand why it was a popular show. Watching the end of the last “The Bachelorette” series, quite by accident, I became intrigued by the cute farm boy from Iowa that the bachelorette didn’t pick. It doesn’t matter how old I am, I still can see cute and handsome. The cute, rejected farm boy from Iowa, Chris Soules, is this season’s bachelor, and he seems to be a nice guy.

In the ’60s there was a rumor that songs on the radio had hidden messages that enticed you to keep listening to them. Perhaps “The Bachelor” producers have incorporated that into their program and we don’t know it because it is easy to get sucked into the program and the drama.

In case you don’t know the premise of the program, a bachelor is looking for a wife. The program brings numerous women for the bachelor to date over the weeks, eliminating some of them in the rose ceremony until he finds and falls in love with the woman who hopefully will be his wife.

Over the course of the years and the shows, there have been some couples that have been successful in their search and others that have split up soon after the program ended.

Although this program with the Iowa bachelor has become an obsession with me, I don’t understand why these beautiful women, and also men with “The Bachelorette” program, would put themselves in the position they are in during the show. I imagine some of them are there for fame and fortune that might follow because they get noticed.

I can’t imagine being one of these women waiting for a turn to have a one-on-one or a group date with the bachelor, let alone know that he is also romancing and kissing other women. In this case each woman is waiting for the bachelor to notice them. He makes them each feel special, but they don’t know if it is special enough. We hang on every moment.

I found myself as I watched the women who were waiting, wondering and on pins and needles, some in tears, asking myself, “What is wrong with this picture?” In the real world would it be OK with us to be in a queue competing, waiting for someone to honor us with a little attention? Would we be so forgiving if someone we were seeing was kissing and holding other women? Probably not.

I realize this is a reality show. I don’t feel this is a game to Chris Soules. I am partial to Iowa and the reason I watch this season is because Chris Soules seems to be genuine. I wonder how many of the young women and teenagers that possibly watch this get the idea that it is fine to wait for someone to notice them and choose them,  while the one that is possibly the object of their affection is noticing someone else at the same time.

Love is a waiting game but reality shows aren’t really reality.

I will admit I am old with some old-fashioned ideas. When I was dating we didn’t have the Internet and the world wide communication we have now. The people we met and dated were from our communities, or places we visited or colleges we attended. Keeping in touch with those boyfriends and girlfriends farther away meant we had to write letters and use the telephone. Our space for meeting people was limited. Other people would play matchmaker and introduce us to people they thought were right for us.

How many people of the older generations would have chosen different people if they had the wide opportunities that are available now? What I understand from listening to those who are looking for someone to share their life with, is that it is hard in 2015 to meet people because of the busy world we live in.

Single people are limited in small farming communities such as the town where this year’s bachelor resides. The younger people move to the city, without the familiarity of small towns where everyone knows everyone.  Meeting a potential spouse is harder.

In 2015 we have a wide range of dating sites matching people to other people that makes them compatible. I know people who have used these sites and found beautiful people to marry.

As I root for my favorite woman to win the bachelor’s heart I am still mystified as to the process. I am still baffled as to why it keeps me glued to the program. Perhaps it is because of Cinderella. We love the story of Cinderella meeting her prince charming. Maybe “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” is our 2015 version of Cinderella. I don’t know, but I can’t wait to see who is chosen for the happy ending.

 

Granny, A Contest and Shelley’s Book Case

Posted on by
Reply

contest prizesI am hosting trivia at Shelly’s Book Case today. Pop and  over and see if you how well you know Granny and Fuchsia. There is a prize. Trivia on Shelly’s Book Case

The Country Girl Meets The City Girl!

Posted on by
Reply

farm girl1Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf published week of February 16 in the Albert Lea Tribune

I once wrote a book for a friend. I called myself the city girl in the story, which of course, was a little far-fetched because I live in a small town in the country. Last week I became a city girl for a week, spending time with my kids and grandchildren. It was somewhat of a retreat because I had the house to myself for the day while the others were at  school and work. I also had time to myself to flit around town whenever the urge for coffee and conversation would drive me out of the house.

I am out of the loop, very far out of the loop. Since making writing my business of choice, I hide away in my home, fast forward through commercials because I don’t watch live television, ignore the news and live in the fantasy of writing.

A look of amazement covers my face when I finally come out of hiding and visit the big city. I am a country bumpkin.

In earlier columns I mention being challenged by faucets on sinks, towel machines and flushing toilets when I am out and about in the big city and visit public restrooms. It hasn’t been long since I visited, perhaps November, but I wasn’t expecting any new challenges in the public restrooms. I did notice I was not the only one restroom challenged, as other women were swiping and waving, trying to get machines to work.

I always hold on to my cellphone tightly when using the bathroom in public restrooms. Those toilets flush the water right out from under you and a falling-out-of-the-pocket cellphone dropped in the water  would flush faster than the average hand could move, but then, who would want to move that hand before the toilet flushed?

This time on my visit to a public restroom in a major department store I was ready to pay attention to the towel machine so I knew if I had to wave or swipe. I was ready for the automatic faucets which might require a dash underneath them to get them going. I encountered my problem before I dashed my hands underneath the faucet. I pumped the soap dispenser. It didn’t work. I looked for a button to push. There was no button. Just for kicks I dashed my hand underneath the soap machine and it dispensed soap. Very clever, now I have to watch out for soap machines too.

This public restroom made drying hands easy and fun. It doesn’t  take a scientist to figure out you put your hands, pointed down, in the machine slots to dry your hands. I loved the hand machine as it felt like a massage on the hands. It doesn’t take much to make me happy.

I remember a time when the thought of the big city scared me because of all the crime.  I was leery on my visits, checking out my surroundings all the time. Since I quit listening to the news that phobia has gone away. At least it did until I took time to watch the news while I visited the big city. The swat team was entering Byerly’s in St. Louis Park, and the hunt continued in Jordon which was not far from where I was. I listened as more dire things were reported. It scared me that the news didn’t scare me.  The types of incidents I was hearing that were happening seem to be the way of life and normal. Nowhere are we safe, and we accept in 2015 this is part of our life.

I find the fact unacceptable and scary that I would accept news of that type as normal.

I have heard of the unfriendliness of people in big cities. I found that not to be true. I had people to chat with wherever I decided to go. I made a new friend over lamenting about weight gain over a rack of clothes. We exchanged numbers and will meet again. Perhaps it is my chatty nature. People from big cities seem to be getting a bad rap for being unfriendly.

Because I had a chance to spend time on a walking track at a large community center that is not available to me in my town, I decided to purchase some cheap walking shoes. I hadn’t planned on doing much walking since it was chilly and I am not a cold weather person, so I didn’t bring my walking shoes this trip. This is where I found I need to pay more attention to commercials.

I grew up in a shoe store. As an adult, I don’t care much about shoes. I don’t shop for shoes very often. Imagine my surprise when I found out that many brands of athletic shoes come with memory foam insoles. I have bad feet and when I tried the new memory sole shoes on I felt as if I was walking on a cloud. Do you suppose if we wore memory foam in our shoes our memory would improve? After all, our skin and feet are very absorbent. Vicks absorbs on the feet and stops a cough; maybe memory foam would do the same? I tried to talk myself into spending the money on the shoes that had memory rather than the cheap ones I had intended to purchase. I had perfectly good shoes at home. I couldn’t justify the purchase and I picked up the $15 rather than the $60 shoes.

The manager and I had a conversation earlier on and he was teasing me about my purchase when I brought it up to the counter. I told him my dilemma and he said, “They make insoles from memory foam and you can move them from shoe to shoe.”

I was shocked. I didn’t know. I don’t buy insoles. I don’t look at insoles and I don’t usually wear extra insoles in my shoes.  Insoles were much cheaper than the $60 shoes. My new $15 walking shoes now have memory and so do I.

I am left with the memory of my week in the Cities. I am left with the realization I need to expand my horizons more so I can keep up with conversations of those younger than I am. I want to be a well-informed older person, not stagnating in my old age. Will I be able to broaden my horizons? Stay tuned.