To Iowa, with Love :)

I just returned to California after a few weeks spent in the Midwest.

I know I'm biased, but Iowa really is an anomaly nowadays.

Amidst the fields of soybeans and corn... sprout major business headquarters like Pella windows, Maytag and Amana appliances (and of course our beloved Pancheros)

Next to old pickup trucks down at the only cafe in a town of 500... park Royal Prevost double sided coaches bearing the names of the newest Presidential hopefuls eagerly trying to sway one of the most influential and coveted voters.

Along the roadside of the the longest, largest and oldest bicycle touring ride in the world... beckon signs proclaiming pie after pie after homemade pie...

or in this case... free cake!

And although goofy looking school buses abound, albeit for one week of the year... the students in the state are attending some of the best schools in the nation, not to mention holding doors for people, initiating conversation with adults and saying please and thank you... regularly.

To many people, Iowa, is one of those backwards states. The last ones to know the latest fashion, to hear the newest hits, to still make things for dinner from "scratch". Talk about a blessing...

Imagine if there were no US Weekly, People, and well I guess there is no more "News of the World" (although I wasn't keen on that one anyway :)

Every year, backstage at Fashion Week I would ask designers what their 'inspiration' was. Their answer was inevitably a time since passed. So they're recycling? right? Isn't that what we all do??

Now, the new thing is mixing and matching the generations styles, adding your own spin and calling it "chic". So what you're saying is, whatever I want to wear is cool - as long as the powers that be approve?

I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that denim on denim, formerly made fun of and nicknamed the Canadian Tuxedo, is now REVERED! Who decided that? And why do we all listen? Why is it that just because one group gives their blessing... all the sheep quickly do a 180?

One of the most important people of our lifetime, in our history is an inventor named Dean Kamen. You've probably heard of him... because of me. I'm slightly obsessed. He invented the first diabetic insulin pump, the mobile dialysis machine, the ibot wheelchair, the Segway, and now a water purification system that can be powered by dung.

He's been wearing denim on denim for decades. If you ask him, "it's functional". Well good news Dean, you're now a fashion icon as well as one of the most revered and influential peeople in the world. Like he cares. He flies his own jet, and helicopter, forgets to eat because he's too busy inventing, and almost never spends the night in his beautiful home because the worlds problems beckon him to offer what he can.

He's my hero...

I don't care that Kim Kardashian is getting married, or that she wants 5 kids, and I'm sure she doesn't care about me or my dreams either, or else she'd call more often.

I don't lose sleep wondering if Rachel Zoe approves my outfit made of swim caps... she has no idea the looks of confusion, wonder and sheer delight I see on the faces of the people who look at me like I'm an absolute lunatic...

People ask me where I'm from... I like to make sure it's clear that although the home where I receive (the most) mail is in California, make no bones about it... I'm from that random state in the middle where the seasons come and go in equal proportion.

Where we pride ourselves in showing up to the prom in a John Deere 9630 tractor that costs twice as much as your Maserati, in a dress we sewed ourselves. That's "couture" right Ms. Zoe? :)

It's also that place where a thank you card is accompanied by a homemade loaf of banana bread because not only did our parents instill manners and values they also taught us how to use those appliances in the house, not just how they match the shabby chic decor. (and because despite what everyone says about eating raw dough... licking the beaters, the bowls, and the spatula... is fine)

Iowa is the reason I am who I am... California is the reason I appreciate it.

Going home was a good reminder of how buying nothing new for a year, isn't really so much about sacrifice, as it is about reassessing.

Oh did I tell you about the solar powered stereo I got to play with all during RAGBRAI?? I'm too sleepy right now... but I promise tomorrow.

Gummy pennies...

I'm finding more crap in bags stashed everywhere. Now I'm not coming across entire bottles of anything, but you know what I have found an excess of... gum... Mainly torn in half... slightly gross, pieces of gum.

Part of my natural "saving" mentality is to only eat half a stick of gum (or maybe it's because my mom would only give me a half a piece as a kid?).

Well, surprisingly enough, my mouth isn't that big. It may be loud, but it isn't big.
Have you ever had your jaw hurt from chewing a big ol' wad of gum? Well a half stick is just right for me... it's the other half that I feel sorry for.

These seem to have escaped relatively unscathed, but inevitably they'll end up in the bottom of a bag with lint and paper all over them... or I think to use up those coins rattling around in the bottom of my bag only to find they're all half covered in sticky (un-chewed) but now kind of unusable coins (well unusable in the sense that you'd rather not put the cashier through the pain of touching them, and then get that unescapable dirty look - but really...  do you think you're going to go home and wash them?? yeah right.)

                            The worst part about this picture is that it's not just pennies...

But, money is money... Take it from the owner of this restaurant I went to the other day... He tried to pay his credit card bill with pennies. (although they were clean...)

Back to the point - even though mentally I'm getting twice as much gum out of a pack by eating only half pieces... it isn't a reality if all the other halfsies are being eaten by my change, and ruining the insides of my bags.

Here are my thoughts.

1. I could start eating full sticks of gum so my jaw hurts like crazy, and eventually give up gum all together, in turn not ever wasting any gum. (but I love gum)


2. I could always put my gum in ziploc bags so at least if the halfsies start deteriorating on me they're still clean enough to eat... (chances are slim I would actually remember to do that.)


C. I could just mentally get over the thought that I'm somehow being less wasteful and face reality.

4. OR...      Could we petition gum companies to make pieces smaller? Let's be serious, in today's world it's all about options...

Not sure how to solve this dilemma just yet, will have to let you know...

Gum counts as food - right?




Afterthought:

Dot -is a character on MADtv. I have to imagine I was much like her when I was a kid... ok, maybe even today. She has a funny line in this particular skit about "unusable nickels" - nothing to do with gum, but pretty funny. If you're into that sort of stuff.