found here.

Well, money talk aside, I can see clearly now, the rain is gone...oh, sorry, didn't mean to break out in song. Aren't you glad I just work with words and don't post videos?  My son wants me to make videos...could be interesting, but I wouldn't torture you with my voice...just my words.

"I love them!  How much are they?"  I ask after trying on the first pair of GREAT glasses the formerly nice man handed me.

"The most expensive pair in the shop." He replies.

Glumly, I slink back into my hard, plastic chair feeling like I'd just been kicked in the stomach.  Now I would never look attractive, fashionable, and smart in my glasses...just nerdy.  I know, I am what I am, but I like to disguise my nerdyness with cute glasses. (Spell check is telling me that "nerdyness" is not word.  I'm just gonna add it.)

"Now why did you do that to me?"  I inquire with a bit of outrage.

The FORMERLY nice man says with a chuckle, "Because it's my job"

Glancing over at my husband, I can see the veins bulging in his neck and forehead.  Because I know he's on the verge of a stroke over how big a "fat" check he's going to need to write, I ask if there are any "cheap knock-offs" of this great frame.  There are ALWAYS cheap knock-offs, but you need to ask for them specifically.  Glancing back at my husband, I see a little color returning to his face and know I'm on the right track. 

"Why did I bring him along?"  I think to myself, but quickly remember I'd have been lost for hours if I hadn't. I need a live GPS.  I start out going to the corner market and end up in Brooklyn with no idea of where I went wrong.  Maps do nothing for me.  It's like reading hieroglyphics. 

When asked what I was looking for in a pair of frames, my husband suddenly found life and said "She's East Village." 

The pillager of my finances wants more clarity and inquires, "More like Bleaker and less like Avenue A?"

From that moment forward, I disappeared.  It didn't matter that these were MY glasses or the finance pillager's job was to show ME glasses or that my husband was merely along as MY GPS.  No.  I had to wander the store myself and try on my own glasses while the two men discussed "The Village", music, bands, and old guy NY stuff.  Yes, I said it "OLD GUY."  I was being ignored and I couldn't see.

Now, unless you grew up in the New York City area, you may not understand "The Village", "Bleaker St.", or "Avenue A".  Sorry.  That's why we have the internet, our information resource center.

Finally I had to interrupt.  "Excuse me, remember me, I need GLASSES!"  Without even a glance in my direction, the pillager turned behind him, grabbed a pair of frames from a hiding spot I hadn't seen and handed them over.  I could have been upset, but these were THEM.  I loved them! 

Finally, he and my husband stopped to take a breath and turning to me (it was about time), he said "And they're not even that expensive." 

You're waiting to see them, aren't you?  Unlike my normal outrageous choices, these glasses are subtle, but with subtly comes a simple class.  Ok, enough...what do you think?

It's hard to actually see them in this picture, but they are purple with green arms.  By the way, Isn't this coat fabulous?  Three quarter length.  I love it!

Not a very attractive picture.  Just look at the glasses.

You know, I can only see the coat in these pictures.  I hadn't realized what a presence it commandeers.

P.S. Shoes in picture are from Shoe Fly! Aren't they FAB! If you aren't a member yet, JOIN NOW!

=) Happy Shopping!

Photo Model: Caitlain Clowes

Posted by: Caitlain Clowes

Do you believe that God watches out for you?

I was driving in rural North Carolina last summer.  I had just visited my eye doctor and needed an update to my glasses prescription.  So I handed over my glasses and wore my contact lenses exclusively for a week while the glasses were updated.

And during the week I drove to North Carolina for a short visit to family.  I was only about 35 miles from my destination when my eyes got really tired.  So I pulled over at the last large town and took the lenses out, rewet them, gave my eyes a gentle rub, and put the lenses back in.

Big mistake.  I couldn't see very well at all!  Well, I thought that the blurriness would subside after a few blinks, so I got back on the road.  It was dark by now.  And as I drove further, I started wondering whether it wouldn't be smart to turn around, get back to that town and find a hotel.  Only thing was, I had driven far enough in my blur that I was going to have as much trouble going back as I would going forward.  I honestly didn't know what to do.  With my kid in the back seat, it was just her and me. I was getting worried.

I was thinking to myself that what I needed was another car that I could just follow.  It was that bad.  I was having trouble seeing my lane as we got farther into the country where the street lighting was real sparse. 

And that's when another car happened along.  Usually people on this stretch of highway drive over the speed limit, which is bad enough in daylight since it's a narrow two lane.  In the dark of night for a blurry eye'd driver it was a potential nightmare.  But then, out of the blue, I find myself behind a driver going 45 miles an hour.  What's more, it was just the two of us.  For once, I didn't have another car on my tail rushing me along.

I was sure that other driver would eventually speed up.  People often go a little slower when they first pull out into a highway and then come up to speed.  The posted speed limit was 55.  But the other driver stayed a steady 45 mph.  It was just slow enough and just fast enough for me to keep up and stay right behind him.

I just took it for the lifeline that it was, wondering when he would turn off and leave me alone again to manage as best I could.  But, I'll be darned, my angel behind the wheel drove the entire 35 miles and turned off just a mile outside the little town I was trying to reach.  He took me all the way there, and when he finally turned we were in a 45 mph zone on the outskirts!  A half mile later the speed goes down to 35, and then you're in town.

Don't know about you, but I was sure someone was watching over me and my daughter.  My scientifically minded friends would say it was just a coincidence.  But a similar event has never happened to me along that stretch before or since -- and moreover I "predicted" the event before it happened by wishing for the very thing I got.

I'm not saying an "angel" was driving the car, like a picture of something you'd see in a Hallmark card, I'm suggesting that God uses what we call coincidence to help us through life.

The person driving the car was just a slow driving person getting where he wanted to go.  He didn't know that his actions affected anyone but himself.  Since he knew that road too (it's a local kind of road), he might have wondered why I never passed him.  Most people are in a big hurry.  But he just drove steadily and I followed him like my life depended upon it.  Cause it did.

That's how God works, I think.  When you've got the entire space/time continuum at your disposal you don't need fantasy or special effects.  For God, ordinary "chance" happenings will do just fine.

Yesterday, 4th October, we had our annual Amsterdam-Oost flickr meet up. We had fun, beer, cheese, wurst, Bitterballen, wine, Chelley decided to take a dive off of the stairs (are you ok hun?), we met 2 people who live in the area too (hi Keeshu, hi Juutepuut), and fellow Amsterdam-Oost pooler / 52 weeks pooler did his version of the 52 shot (which included moi too). Hence my entry where he's in the photo too.

Sandros, here's to you, cheers mate! (please say hi to Mme O and Mr. T)

52 40 Focus!, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 5th October, 2008 -- ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

Well I received my first pair of glasses today.  It appears that I have simple myopia / Low myopia / Late adult onset.  What does this mean?  Essentially I’m near sighted (things far away look blurry), it’s not bad <3.00D, and occurred after I was 40 years old.  In myopia the eye focuses in front of the retina.

Of course there are some good and bad things.  First I can see again!   I can’t wait for the Ravens vs Titans game tomorrow; the players won’t be blurry.  My HD TV even looks better with glasses on.  And according to the Myopia entry on Wikipedia people with myopia are likely to be smarter than those without.  “A number of studies have shown that the prevalence of myopia increases with level of education[41][38] and many studies have shown a relationship between myopia and IQ.”  Sure glad I'm not one of those dummies with hyperopia when the eye's focus point is behind the retina.

Glasses are expensive!!!  Somebody please explain to me why my Ralph Lauren frames cost twice has much as the lenses?   This is completely out of control.  There is absolutely no way that frame manufacturers are investing more expense into designing, manufacturing and selling frames than what goes into the actual lenses.  I do not believe that.

Yes I know I bought expensive designer frames.  But all the frames in the store were within $10-$20 of each other.  Unless you went for like the $100 frames then you really could see the difference between the expensive frames and the cheaper ones.  In any event this frame vs lenses pricing system is completely backwards.  There is no way that frames should be more expensive than lenses.

Also on the bad side I’ve never worn glasses before in my life.  This is going to be a major lifestyle change.  I asked about laser surgery and my doctor said I was a candidate for it but if they fixed my myopia with surgery I’d be wearing glasses to read and see things close up.  Either way it looks like I’m stuck with glasses so why risk the surgery if you can’t get ride of the glasses altogether?  Well I’m glad I can see again.  Highway signs haven’t looked this good in a long time.

Hmm, do I have anything else to say? Let us see... (hey, is that not weird that the non-contraction form is 'let us,' so when I use it I speak of my self in the plural sense?)

Oh, guess what?  I love cardigans!  Okay, so that was not really a guessing sort of thing... but, anyway... I love them!  I do not even own them and I love them.  I have been looking at pictures of knitted cardigans for hours and hours over the last few days, and I love them even more every time I see a particularly amazing one.  I think I will start over on my Mrs. Darcy Cardigan with another pattern, just a basic cardigan pattern, one that I can wear with everything.  It is a good thing I do not have hundreds of dollars, because I would probably buy a lot of cardigans and then have no more.  Uh, that was a boring thing to write.  It bored me.  I take that back.

It seems like whenever I like something, I become obsessed with it... well, not exactly obsessed, but I like it a lot.  Likewise, there is nothing I 'kind of like' or am 'okay'* with.  Right off the bat, I love something or I hate it.  Funny, considering my other views are not at all black or white.

I still need to find a dress for homecoming... though there is still plenty of time.

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OH YEAH, I just remembered something very important!  LAURA IS THE WINNER OF THE 100th COMMENT AWARD!  Congratulations, Laura.  There will be a prize, I just have to decide what it will be... maybe a book or I could knit you something or buy you a candy bar or bake you cookies (you liked those butterscotch white chocolate ones... do you want me to make you some of those?) something.   Laura, what do you want?

Anyway, feel free to use this banner in any way you wish (the URL is http://storiesfromahat.wordpress.com/), and congratulations again!

It links to your blog, in case you were wondering.

Best wishes!

*************************

And with that cheerful  note, goodbye everybody!  I have places to go and things to see.  Actually, I do not, but I am leaving anyway.

Farewell!

*For some reason, every time I type 'okay' the spell checker tries to correct it and say 'Tokay.'  What the heck is 'Tokay?'  Okay, I just checked, and it is a)a wine, b)a name, c)a place in Australia or New Mexico, e)a type of gecko, and d)the name of a high school.  Interesting.  I guess you really do learn a new thing every day.

Nobody preached, papa prayed a standard of "Thank the Lord for..(dinner or supper)" with a resounding sound of plates and forks making music swiftly at the final Amen. 

Women surrounded the table serving like a small covey of quail scattering in flight back to the kitchen only when the sound of an empty bowl or glass was heard.  God blessed us there at the table.

Papa's cup was never empty always overflowing to the saucer underneath.  I recall the sound as he always drank from the overflowing saucer first.  Sad how today we take a cup of coffee for granted.

Not a thousand bucks could hire the star of this performance.  Love was the guest and our plates were always covered with plenty.  More than food was put away here at The Family Table.

Hard times were concealed here under the table.  Hands scarred from burns on the stove were wrapped in aprons and feet swollen from walking a long row to hoe were all welcome to find solace of rest at the table.  Tiny baby feet always dangled on a knee as new generations found a place at the table.  The table never lets you forget.  The smells wake you up in the morning and linger like a mist through the night.

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news to the world?  It's like a good meal at the table.

Someone counted the cost.

Someone paid the price.

Someone prepared.

Someone served.

We all come and dine and that same one...cleans up the mess.

On the other hand (so DH told me) women will weigh the severity of the potential outcome much more highly than the likelihood of that outcome.  Thus a woman may decide to not take a risk that carries a lot of danger, even though the chances of it actually happening are small.

When I look at how DH and I make decisions, it seems pretty accurate.  He was happy to have laser eye surgery done - and has been very happy with the results.  Although I know it's a well-researched procedure and it has a good track record, there is always a small risk that something could go wrong.  I just don't want to take any chances I don't have to take with my vision.  Glasses don't really bother me (and in fact, given my general klutziness, they are a pretty good idea anyway.  At least once a year I walk into a wall or a door, or something pokes at me in the vicinity of my eyes, and I'm glad to have eye protection!)

So what do you think?  Does this observation about gender and risk taking ring true to you?

So I went into Student Health to talk to the optometrist and was told that if I went to Lenscrafters that they could do glasses for me in an hour.

So awhile later, after going through tons of glasses, I got a pair of really cute Versace $265 glasses. YAY! Except the fact that it was ridiculously expensive.

So when people tell you that you should take painkillers before you get waxed... they were not kidding. It's not as painful as I thought it would be, but I finally mustered up the courage to get a bikini wax done.

She did a pretty good job. It didn't take too long and it wasn't TOO painful. But I think that it would always help to take painkillers first anyways.

I also made use of the late birthday gift that Florence and Yichen gave me and got my nails done. Pretty french tipped nails that I missed. With pretty flowers on my toes... yay!! :)

Other than adjusting to the fact that my prescription is different and that certain parts of my body hurt, today wasn't too bad and rather productive.

On a totally different note, I am taking COGS 3, a computer class and I find it fascinating and SO much fun.

Why didn't I ever look into web design and computer programming before? I'm totally OCD and that makes this perfect for me. haha. :D

DJ Envy sits down with Blu Division's G Malone to speak on the West Coast, how Dr. Dre isn't helping the new west and his relationship with Lil Wayne & Mack 10.

PREVIOUS: Glasses Malone - Fuck G Malone

It's a wig with glasses in them!  Well thats all for now!

~tapeboy100~

But!

There's one backpack that brought my desire back to life.

It's the Robert Geller Leather Backpack!

Retails for USD$1607.

It made me think again about bringing back this desire. lol.

His glasses are to die for too.

This is hard to find. One is hovering at USD$200 on eBay.

My friend bought a knock-off for around USD$9.

Oh well. Of course the real ones are the best.

take those glasses off and be a responsible member of society... or stick it to 'em.

I’d had to go into town to collect a parcel from the post office. I hadn’t been expecting one so was a little confused when the office messenger gave me a pink slip from the post office telling me I had a package waiting. It turned out that the parcel that I’d given up on which my sister had posted at the end of February had finally surfaced.

Due to my immense stupidity I lost two pairs of glasses around Christmas, one of which was prescription dark glasses. I’d like to blame the effect of Larium on my short term memory but I suspect age, booze and lack of concentration were bigger contributors (one pair were lost during energetic dancing to celebrate the New Year, the other left in an internet cafe). As a result I decided to ask Ellen, my sister, to get a pair of “transition” glasses made up to the prescription I’d left with her. Being a kind and generous sister she did this and I overrode her suggestion that she send it registered post. A decision I later regretted. After waiting two months and visiting the post office repeatedly I lost all hope and went out and bought a pair of transition (reactalite, goes dark in sunshine) glasses here in Accra. Because Spec-Savers in the UK gave a free pair I’ve gone from having just one pair in February to four pairs now. I can afford to be as reckless with my spectacles as I like now

And I was able to give one of the new pairs an outing yesterday evening to celebrate Eid myself with a beer sitting on the roof of a bar while a live band played below, as I looked across to the central Mosque and chatted to Kim from the Peace Corp.

(Salah is the name locally used for the ceebrations around Eid)

style that rocks

< make a jump >

I was dying to get on this Allegory hawk again, and the Rock Blood color just screams for attention. Belleza Ewan Skin and MADesigns SOUL eyes in Blue 7 are worn with Redgrave's Dirty Jeans in LightGrey, and one of the great Roborock Tees from Kari (dig that moth eaten effect), the look is definitely roughened up.

Body art by Aitui in the form of the Dire Sleeves Tattoo, and Glasses from Artilleri - a classic rockabilly nod with the Buddy specs. More bits and pieces add the finishing touches; the Predator O-Necklace from House of Shea (Limited Edition), Valiant Brown Leather Armcuff, a 'retro' dice bracelet from NM, and some facial piercing from AddiXion. A great pair of Hoorenbeek low tops in the 'used' white version round out the style.

Please visit Designer Directory for store locations.

BODY

Skin: Belleza ~ Ewan tan 7 bald

Hair: Stringer HQ's ~ ALLEGORY - ROCK BLOOD

Eyes: MADesigns ~ SOUL eyes Blue 7

OUTFIT

Pants: Redgrave ~ Dirty Jeans No.1 -LightGrey

Shirt: Kari ~ Roborock T - Keytar

Shoes: hoorenbeek ~ All Star - Low Top Used - White

Glasses: artilleri ~ buddy glasses

Tattoo: AITUI TATTOO ~ Dire /Sleeves

Necklace: House of Shaea ~ O Necklace Predator

Bracelet: NM ~ Armband cubes ,Valiant ~ Brown Leather Cuff

Piercing: addiXion ~ Arrows EyeBrow piercing

Style/Model: Volcom Praga

Photography: Aldero Akami

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