by Alison

winter’s first snow falls

lace weaves into the landscape -

I want to paint

by Alison

.

Wear the sun screen folks!

Along with a wide brimmed hat

and Oil of Olay.

.

Check out Audrey Hepburn and Kate Moss rocking the wide brimmed hats! Wearing a wide brimmed hat does not need to make one look like they just popped out of an Army Navy shop. Wide brimmed hats can be very chic. And you can bet that this is going to be my new obsession. I want the most fabulous, awe inspiring (as well as a few sporty and practical) wide brimmed hats that are out there. And yes, along with sunscreen and Oil of Olay… they offer sun protection!

So I just had my surgery yesterday and I want to tell you that although it was not a huge deal, it was not a small deal either. After the surgery I was given a mirror to look at the wound on my forehead and It looked like I was shot in the head. Thankfully, they stitched it up and covered it with a bandage and I don’t have to look at it for two days, when I have to remove the bandage and clean the stitching. My forehead is now swollen and it looks like there is a goose egg sitting underneath the bandage. It may take up to three weeks for the swelling to go down. My left eyebrow is raised due to the pulling of the stitching and it may take up to 6 months for my eyebrow to relax into it’s normal position. The scar will heal into it’s permanent state in 1 - 2 years. As far as activity is concerned, I am supposed to do close to nothing for the next week, a little more than nothing for the second week and I’m not to exercise for the next month. Whoa!!! It will be interesting to see how 4 year old Penny handles a more sedentary mom and I’m also curious as to see what my house will turn into.

So all of this is certainly endurable but it still sucks. So ladies and gentlemen and the kiddos especially, wear your sunscreen and not just at the beach! Because it’s good for you and your skin will thank you.

by Kelly

the flowering crabs

pop as a tornado hits –

beauty is short lived

by Alison

my hairdresser soothes

my troubled heart and grey roots -

In two hours I’m changed.

by Alison

“Are you getting married?”

she asks as I gussy up

for an interview.

by Kelly

“You’re almost 40,”

he says, “and you’re so pretty.”

the icicles drip

by Kelly

No matter how I

slice, her name won’t fit in a

meaningful haiku:

Isabella Rosellinni

Before a room filled

with women (and a few men),

she talked ageism.

When she turned 40,

Lancome sent her flowers and

flowers and flowers.

First she was flattered

then it hit her: the flowers

were for her funeral.

After 14 years

as the company’s model,

she was done–fired.

“The emphasis placed

on women’s beauty is part

of our oppression.”

Then she said, “I get

ofended when people say

you don’t look your age.”

“I’m happy to be

who I am. I’m 59.”

She continued on,

“You get the wrinkles,

of course, but you also get

enormous freedom.”

Finally she’s doing

what she always wanted to,

and that’s make movies.

Isabella Rosellinni, actress and super model, spoke in Minneapolis on Monday night. I had the pleasure of going to hear her speak.

I was delighted to learn about the newest role Ms. Rosellinni has taken on: film writer and producer. If you’ve got a moment, you simply must check out the two-minute movies she made for the Sundance Channel called Green Prono, which are all about the sex lives of insects.

Ms. Rosillinni was in town as part of the Smart Talk lecture series. In the coming months, Ann Compton and Sigourney Weaver will both come through Minneapolis.

As an official “Smart Talk Blogger,” I’ll be penning haiku about what each one of them has to say. Or, if you think you’d like to take in the events yourself, I have a coupon code to offer: KW2011.

Read more Smart Talk haiku.

by Kelly

blue November sky

picturesque autumn waters

this beauty stops me

by Kelly

“You’re way prettier

than those girls on Top Model,”

Hubby says — Smart Man

blue skies and red leaves -

puppy and I decide

to keep walking