Many people do not understand exactly what the process of a plastic surgery procedure entails. Generally, we have been socialized to think that plastic surgery options are sought as artificial enhancement to retain their youth. And, while this view is not entirely false in all cases, it is important to know, if you are curious about the subject of plastic surgery, that there is often more to
it than this. While plastic surgery does indeed involve artificial changes in appearance, we all know of the broad scope of applications — from breast enhancment, to recontruction and reduction.A good procedure to use as an example in exploring this assertion is breast-centered plastic surgery, often referred to simply as breast augmentation.
Breast augmentation tends to be an easy surgery to point to for people who are cautious regarding plastic surgery. Regardless of the reason (cosmetic or surgical necessity), breast surgeries address all sorts of different issues that people may have with their bodies. Many women with naturally large breasts explore plastic surgery as a means of breast reduction, due to soreness or discomfort resulting from heavier breasts. Additionally, many women who have battled cancer and had to have part or all of their breasts amputated, turn to plastic surgery for reconstructive purposes. Our site, About Plastic Surgery, offers specific and focused information on this topic, explaining different types of breast surgeries, and the specific medical procedures involved in them.
While breast augmentation is often used as a procedure for enlargement, researching some of its other uses can help you to understand the general scope of plastic surgery, and its implications. Understanding the full scope of the concept and range of procedures may help you to determine your own feelings on the subject. Some people turn to breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, etc. out of a desire for more youthful and attractive appearances. Others seek to address natural imperfections, or areas affected by sickness or injury. Whatever the case, and whatever your feelings on it, the capability of plastic surgery reaches beyond what you might expect.
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There is a new search site/community board focused on plastic surgery (breast). At About Plastic Surgery, you’ll find FAQs on topics from breast augmentation to breast reduction. There is a national surgeon locator and other good information on the topic. The following advertorial, from the staff at ABS, previews some of the info you’ll find there.
There is nothing more frustrating, especially when you are scrimping and saving on every last dime, to find the right gift for those you love, know well and…who basically…don’t need anything. So here is the first installment of some of the sweet pickings I’ve been able to find. Unique, interesting, and since they all appealed to me, I figure they might appeal to you!
First is an unusual memoir/cookbook by none other than the always amazing Linda Evans. Yes, I have a fireplace, and yes, I LOVE to curl up with a good book. But what I love the best is when I can curl up with a good book and smell dinner cooking in the other room. For those of us boomers who watched every episode of Dynasty with bated breath, Linda Evans was beauty personified. But who knew she was a great chef, too? In her truly delightful book, Recipes for Life, My Memories, Evans weaves her life story with recipes from those periods in her life, including recipes from many of her celebrity friends (like Leslie and Tony Curtis’ Lemon Souffle with Raspberry Sauce!). It’s an inventive take on creating a memoir and the peek inside her life and her ability to rebound (with gusto) from the bumps in the road of her life, make for a really fresh read. Here’s a freebie recipe:
The above is an excerpt from the book Recipes For Life: My Memories by Linda Evans. Here’s a coupon site that gives as it receives. What if every purchase you made at 2,500 retailers (from Amazon to Zales) earned a free donation for your favorite charity? GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each purchase from more than 2,500 stores to the charity or school of your choice. I’ve tried it out and while I couldn’t find some of the charities I wanted to donate to, I was able to find enough to make this site worthy of a mention. It also provides over 100,000 of coupons and free shipping deals so you save a bit of money. If you are an online shopper, like me, this is a good find. Chocolate. Chocolate. So many choices and isn’t it nice to find something new and interesting in the world of chocolate? Yum…Frangelico Truffles are created by renowned chocolatier, Maribel Lieberman, chef/owner of MarieBelle Fine Chocolates in New York. The truffles are available at Neiman Marcus stores and online (for those without a Neiman Marcus near them) and come beautifully packaged in five different assortments to chose from, starting at just $15– a reasonably priced for the chocolate lovers in your life! Forever in Blue Jeans, Baby. I’ll let you know what else I find that is super special. Far too many friends and acquaintances have been unemployed for more than a year. Some since the recession hit and the first wave of layoffs came roaring in. It is no surprise that our aging Boomer population would be hard hit, but the length of unemployment is. Watching savings dwindle to zero and finding yourself unemployable due to age and often skill set, can be heartbreaking. Here’s a rundown of the pickle we are in. http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_6775/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=XKi5F7Ys If I’ve been suspiciously silent over the past few weeks it is because I was caught up in end-of-summer business frenzy combined with selling my old home and moving to my new home. I held onto my home of 12 years after having decided when I initially moved in, to move in 3-5 years. And before the blink of an eye, I had stored a decade plus of memories inside those lovely walls.
It was very hard to make the choice to move (I had my house on and off the market for about 2 years) but I saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To sell my house (yes…at a big markdown because of the housing market collapse) and convert the remaining equity to a home that would satisfy my needs for another decade. As a self-employed person, it was almost impossible to get a mortgage (just as it is impossible as a small business owner to grow a business other than self-financed and organically in this bank-driven market). I can personally say that the banks have the money and don’t want to lend money, even to those that can prove they can repay their debt. But I found the one bank and loan officer that were willing (and excited) to partner with me. The conversion from one home to another will only increase my monthly outlay by a small bit, and one that I can shoulder, even if the economy recedes a bit. So that was the financial challenge. The process of moving, both financially and emotionally, so greatly parallel the political arena that I am compelled to make the comparison. In order to get the credit, my past laurels didn’t count. I had to show I could repay debt in a way that the banks would accept. That was tough. Virtually impossible and required leveraging every possible opportunity. My family came through where I needed them to, and I’m financially beholden to them now, in addition to the banks. I doubt that blood will pursue me for favors as a lobbyist would, but, say I were running …. I don’t know…let’s say…a country…those that had given me money for my house might want to use a bedroom, or a bathroom, or part of the garage from time to time, if they needed it. And I’d have to agree. The emotional challenge was something else and much worse. Like a political party, my memories and emotions were deeply entrenched in the home I had lived in. My daughter’s childhood flavored the wood walls. My dogs scratched their ways across the oak floors. My mother and I enjoyed many an afternoon breathing in the scents of rose and lavender and jasmine from our beautiful garden. We had a multitude of family gatherings and celebrations around our dining room table. We shared zucchini and freshly baked muffins with our neighbors, watched their cats and dogs when they needed help with a feeding or a potty break. My daughter learned to ride a bike on our street. We ate peaches and apples from our trees. Knew the best candy at the best houses on Halloween. Built a community. Shaped my life and my business around my home. Packing up was painful. What to toss, what to keep, what to donate. What furniture was a must keep and what was a do not move? In the end we tossed about 50 full garbage bags of unusable items (found in every nook and cranny you can imagine), donated about 20 full bags and boxes of items to Vietnam Vets, gave away a piano, washer, dryer and fridge. I deliberated over so many items and cried many times due to my reluctance to give up my past. When we walked away from our home for the last time, I thought my heart might break. My daughter hated me for ripping her away from her home and my mother was definitely a bit wobbly on her feet after, literally, a month of packing and a couple of years of wavering upheaval. Fast forward, exactly a month later. I didn’t think about my old home with any sort of regret from the moment I set foot in my new home. Nor has my mother. Not one second. That surprised me more than anything else. My daughter hated me for a couple of weeks, but is starting to love me (and her new room) again. Big lesson learned? Much of the furniture I had such angst over keeping (and which is now here) doesn’t match this house in character or style, and I should have donated or sold it without batting an eye. We took our old memories and let them drift into this new home. What is really clear is that those old memories really are in the past. The new home is for new rules, new memories, new celebrations, new budgets, new neighbors, new resources, different and new. When I ponder the standoff between the two political houses (well, really 3 now with the fractured Republican/Tea party) I see them sitting in their houses, glaring at each other across the aisle (like neighbors fighting over building a shared new fence), holding onto past glories, past doctrine and…basically…the past. Obama gained traction because he really thought he could effect change, and in our imaginations, we thought he might be able to. The Tea Party (I don’t agree with their position, but recognize their popularity) gained traction because their supporters really thought they could effect change. No one expected this level of stalemate, posturing and obstructionism. Occupy Wall Street is continuing to gain traction, because the people have had it. The political dysfunction needs to end. To change a house, all parties really, really need to move from the old house. Toss out old, carefully choose who they accept favor from (not just go for the money) and create a different house. New, different, no old furniture. A new kitchen and see how to make an omelette in a differently configured workspace. Shore up the infrastructure, fix the electric panel so the house doesn’t fry, forget the fence feud and make friends with the new neighbors, cut down the big tree if the roots are threatening to pull up the entrance to your driveway (cuz you HAVE to be able to go in and out), fix the sprinklers if the grass is dying of thirst, and change the pool water if it hasn’t been emptied in 25 years, cancel DirecTV, Netflix, and landlines, if you need the extra $ to balance the books, buy local and organic to support your new ‘hood and build this new experience from a new perspective. Hang an old picture in a new spot. Buy a new picture. This is a must-read. Tell me you don’t agree with Warren Buffet… http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15/buffett-rich-should-pay-m_n_926839.html Such a dramatic juxtaposition of the disconnect between ideology and governance.
A post on Time Goes By captures Tea Party members cheering to news of the S&P downgrade of the US economy. Today the NY times talks economic necessity for America. Well, as a country we are in a bit of a pickle. The government is being held hostage by a very right wing agenda. The concept of compromise, which is the foundation of any good functioning government, has been replaced by intransigence. The rich will get richer and the middle class, working classes and disenfranchised are at the short end of the stick. Our debt load is too high from 8 years of Bush-era spending and then the Bush/Obama infusion of capital to the finance industry…again, on the backs of our children and grandchildren. It’s not looking pretty.
As I ponder all this in my apparent addiction to the news and the messages coming from both parties, I can’t help but think of my own house and how most Americans survive when revenues fall short and costs climb. So here’s how most of us do it. 1) We look at our revenues so that we know what is coming in. In my case, being a small business, I have seasonal trends and an unstable revenue stream, but I generally know what is coming in and can project what will be coming in based on the economy as it is today. A huge number of people are on unemployment and that income may be all they have to count on. Another chunk of the population are working part time or are bringing in virtually no revenue at all. In the past, Americans counted on increasing their debt load to manage revenue shortfalls in order to pay the bills. Currently, all those with challenged credit either have no credit cards, lines of credit or any equity to leverage, or have chosen to go the cash only route. 2) We look at our expenses. From mortgage or rent payments to chocolate chips cookies. We look at all of it. 3) We figure out what is a must-have and what is a nice-to-have. For each person those definitions are slightly different, but I think we can agree on shelter, transport, food, education, health care, shoes, clothing (things to cover our otherwise naked bodies), emergency fund. Everything else can go if money isn’t there to support it. I’m a single mom. I must care for my child — have a safe place for her to rest her head at night. If I had no money for my rent or mortgage, I’d have to move in with friends or family. If I had no friends or family in LA, I’d have to move to where friends and family were willing to help. I must have a car in Los Angeles. In other cities, I could abandon the car. In LA, not an option. I don’t need a new car with high payments. I could have a used car, or even a severely used car as long as it was safe. If I had to give up the car, I would. I’d bike, take public transit, change my routine if possible. We must eat healthy food, she must go to school and we both need shoes and clothes. We do eat healthy — it costs a bit more, but we also give up buying packaged and preserved foods. It balances out but we are healthier as a result of good, fresh food. My daughter goes to public school. If she were in private school, I’d transfer her to public school in order to make ends meet. We could both make do with one or two pairs of good shoes and a few changes of clothes. Medical coverage – If I could continue to afford my medical coverage, it would remain a top priority for this family. If I needed government support, I’d take it. Austere? Yes. But we’d survive in the short term. In the long term, while we could survive in austerity, we wouldn’t grow. Because we’d be stuck in poverty. So I’d have to look at my revenue options. Ways in which I could earn money. If my business dried up, I’d look at anything from cleaning peoples homes, to consulting on small business and everything in between, until I figured out a way to bring in sufficient revenues to climb out of the hole. Does that ring true to you? Wouldn’t you like to see all our politicians live on unemployment for a year and see how they’d do? What would they do? Where would they cut and how would they find ways to bring in additional revenues while cost-cutting. At some point they’ll remember what life for most Americans is. And maybe at that point they’d understand how to balance out the country’s budgeting woes, stop catering to the top percentage of the uber-rich who will continue to earn tremendous amounts of money as they swoop in and buy bargain price stocks yet again. You can cut costs all you want, but in a recession/depression/shrinking world economy/double triple dippity-doo, KNOWING that your tax revenues will falter, you have to look at where to possibly bring in more tax revenues and from those that are hurting the LEAST, not suffering the most. In your own house, you would NEVER say you wouldn’t look at ways to bring in more revenue. That’s shooting yourself and your family through your two pairs of shoes. If you haven’t received this via email (you can get on the email list at www.whitehouse.gov), here is a good schematic that shows you a top line view of what the debt ceiling agreement contained and how it was structured. I’m so stunned by the dysfunction of the Republican party and the carryover to overall governmental dysfunction, that I’m beside myself. There is a huge divide between ideology and governance. Ideology has to do with believing in a particular viewpoint. Governance has to do with doing what is best for the largest majority and for the country as a whole. Tea Party pledges, right wing ideology, and an uncompromising set of beliefs are fine in theory. They encourage discussion and debate and help to move all ideologies (right or left) closer to the center, which is where the best of government can typically be found. But when we are in a fabricated crisis, one created by fairly new political players, at a certain point ideology has to give way to governance. In order for any solid union to govern, both ends of the spectrum compromise on their overall beliefs to come to a resolution that all can live with. Balance comes when both parties are equally unhappy, but the country comes out the winner.
For some reason, in this battle, the idea of compromise has become bad. As if compromise means losing political ground, rather than as an agreed upon negotiation to a fair end. I’m a Democrat through and through, as most of my readers are aware. At the same time, the bulk of readership is Boomer and 50 plus and hits to entitlement programs are direct hits to us. I’m pretty sure most of us would be OK with medicare being delayed to 67 or our social security starting a year or two later with a few less dollars. It would hurt our pocketbooks as our earnings diminish, but we’d live with it knowing that we make up about 30% of the population that needs support from these programs. To categorically allow companies like Exxon and Chevron to boast profits of 41 and 43% when most of us can barely pay the rent or can’t find work and then say that closing those companies tax loopholes will hurt job creation is more than just hooey. It is a slap in the face to the poor, working, middle and retired classes of America. So to the priveleged of the tea party, those like Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, or child support welsher, Joe Walsh, or any of the other newbies who can’t possibly run the greatest country, I say, it is time to re-examine what compromise means. Do any of them ever compromise in their relationships or it is always “my way or the highway”. Everyone in life has to compromise. It is the way of the world. A bissel of this and a bissel of that, as my great grandmother used to say while making a meshuggenah (crazy) sign behind my uncompromising grandmother’s back. I may not be technically “gray” since I do admit to coloring my hair, but the void for boomers and 50 plussers who want to have their own voice in the “green” market is finally filled. Gray is Green, developed with the expertise of parent organization, the Natural Resources Defense Council, is grabbing interest with their website and actionables all focused on, and dedicated to giving a voice to our generation on green issues. Check it out (www.grayisgreen.org) and sign up for their newsletter to stay on top of who is doing what in which communities to promote and protect our fragile blue planet.
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The master of making a Boomer swoon, Neil Diamond, is justabout to release a long-awaited compilation CD of 23 of his best-loved hits from the 1960′s to 2008. With his inside recollection liner notes and the authenticity behind the original studio recordings, who wouldn’t want this as a Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or … ANY kind of reason for a present? Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings
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