Mad Men . . .

What I've been doing lately . . .

planning, teaching, coming home and watching Mad Men.  If you haven't heard of it, it's a show about the "mad" ad men during the late 50's and 60's and their families.  It sure gives you a pretty accurate picture of what life was like for the middle-upper class during that time.

And boy are they mad.  The housewives struggle keeping up spotless appearances while their husbands work extra long hours coming home late or not at all.  It highlights interesting tidbits, like the total lack of litter control.  The main family in the show goes on a picnic and the father throws his empty beer can into the woods.  Then, the wife simply picks up the picnic blanket, shakes off the garbage and they all walk off.  Evidentally, there were enough clean places left to pick a new one the next time.

The men in the ad agency are constantly vying for recognition and raises and the one woman copywriter struggles to get paid 2/3rds of their paychecks for the same work.  Affairs and flirtations are commonplace and the office is filled with women doing all of the meaningless, dull tasks (yay secretarial).  And then come the weird and strained, husband-wife dynamics, the distanced relationships between fathers and children, the practice of women giving birth while heavily sedated, and other fun stuff.

And then there's Peggy.  She's amazingly successful for the time, becoming a copywriter after the men surprisingly (or not) discover that not all secretaries are brainless as they try to seem.  But, she just doesn't ever seem to fit in.  She's practical, cool-headed, learns from her mistakes, and is talented.  Nothing that is expected from a woman in these times of course.  (Either you are poor, or a secretary, or if you are wealthy, a housewife).  She isn't any of things, and people just don't know what to do with her.   She's simply before her time and she's so refreshing to watch.  She's my favorite character by far, though perhaps not the most "mad".

It's all so perfect looking on the outside, with corruption abounding inside despite people's best intentions.  It's simply fascinating and makes me laugh when people call them the "good ol' days".  They were simply different days with their own vices and problems. Today it seems that the middle class has fared much better in recent years, especially women, but we still fail at providing for the lower class, especially women and children. But that is another matter...

If any of this sounds interesting to you, there's four seasons on netflix and its in the middle of the fifth I believe.

Any of my lovely readers want to share what their fav. show is?

Cruise part deux

 So, yeah, sorry this post is so late. :P  Here's a few highlights of our cruise.  And now, our ship:

We had a tour of the galley, here's a little taste of the artistry of our crew. :)  Yes, it's all fruits and veggies.

A refreshing drink before a tour.  Yay for free stuff! :)

 Us on the first day. It was lovely weather, and rather breezy.

Mum and Dad on the first morning.

 Our dining area.  The windows overlooked out the back of the ship.

The first sunset view from the ship.  A little slanted, but beautiful all the same.

Our first port was Ketchikan, where my cousin and her family lives.  We had a great time getting a tour from the "locals".

Here I am overlooking a river overlooked the pathway that used to lead to all the brothels that used to be rather popular with the men a few decades back. ;)

Below is me loving on my cousin's little black kitty.  She was sooooo happy to be petted.  I wanted to take her home, but didn't think they'd let me for some reason . . . :(

They have some gorgeous forests and plants in Ketchikan, I had to get a picture.

Micah wishing there still were brothels here . . . lol . . . j/k   But, yes, another view of brothel row.

 The "young folks".  My sister, her husband, us, and my cuz and her husband.  We are a good-looking crew, if I say so myself.  It was sad to say goodbye later that afternoon.

Aunt Karen and Palin, best buds. :P  We found her acting the "momma grizzly" in Ketchikan and catching fish evidentally.

The dining on our cruise ship was FANTASTIC!!!  Some of the best food I've had anywhere.  We hope to take this particular ship again somewhere new sometime, mostly because of the food.

Here's our water, showing the famous "baked alaska" we were served for dessert.

Me trying frog legs for the first time.  It might not be my last, they weren't bad.

 More dinner shots.

 Janelle and hubby.

The entertainment was also top notch!  We went almost every night.  Some nights you just gotta be lazy on a cruise . . .

 Our theatre.



The main attraction (and most awesome) were the acrobats.

 And more.  They were beyond talented.  Micah liked them so much, he's friends with them on facebook.

And the last day and evening on the ship was bittersweet.  We got some nice cruiseship pictures though.

Farewell pretty ship.  We'll be back again someday.  Micah and I are determined to become "gold" captain club members someday.  (Which means a lot of cruises, which would just be oh so hard to put up with.)

If you haven't been . . . go.  Simple as that.

So tired . . .

I haven't been posting as I should because it's been a very busy week.  I taught all day and even though I got my 8 hours last night I came home and crashed for another two.  Teaching can be very emotionally draining.  I ended up arriving a little late and was rushing around a bit for most of the day like a chicken with its head cut off.

The day seemed to fly by and by the time the last student left, I just wanted to lie down in the middle of my classroom floor and take a nap.  But, like a good person, I did prep for tomorrow and then dragged myself home.

The kids are awesome though, so it makes it all worth it . . . :)