"We are charming"

Well, I knew that!

Rosefolly

I read that too before I signed up and it is a charming place.
Eccentric is a nicer adjective than oddball which is what my family calls me...and I am, an oddball, that is, but now I shall think of myself as eccentric.

gbg

Is it a coincidence that when I clicked on this thread that the right side advert is for Charmin bathroom tissue...sorry I had to laugh!

Pat

Pat, how funny! I like to think of us as eclectic and charming. (vgb)

I wonder who set these "labels." Most of us are decidedly charming, and a few can be eccentric, at times, myself, included....

Eccentric, huh? I received in my Christmas stocking a cardboard cutout woman with a balloon over her head saying, "She is too fond of books and it has addled her brain."

Eclectic, eccentric and charming. What could be better?

Eccentric? Well, maybe. Eclectic? Can't say I'm sure, even after looking it up. But I'll go for charming.

"I was raised to be charming, not sincere." - The Prince - Into the Woods - Sondheim

I am now at the age when I can be eccentric and not thought to be doty. I like that. But yes, eclectic is probably a better word to describe us. Tho I do love charming!

eclectic,
charming,
interested and interesting
curious
kind
knowledgable
eccentric
thoughtful
helpful
intriguing
focused
determined
contemplating
and
friendly

PAM

A friend once told me that I was neither rich enough nor old enough to be eccentric.

While I understood the thought behind that sentiment .... I think I'm eccentric. Ok, SLIGHTLY eccentric. ;-)

Better yet, I prefer the term INTERESTING.

There is probably some truth to that - if a rich person acts very strange she might be called eccentric, but if poor she'd be called crazy. But I'm not sure eccentricity is just about money. Its a way of thinking, ya know? :)

I've always said I was practicing to be eccentric.

PAM

I completely agree -- eccentricity is a state of mind and a way of thinking. I neither have the money nor the age to be really considered "eccentric" and I'm too boring to be called weird so I'll settle for "interesting". ;-)

One of my great-aunts who lived to be 90+ once told me that the advantage of living to be so old is that you can do and say simply anything and people will put it down to eccentricity due to age. I'm getting there.

carolyn-I'm there (and not 90)-why wait!
My daughters call me their "crazy" mother but they mean it fondly. Maybe I should suggest eccentric?

>I've always said I was practicing to be eccentric.

Hee. A friend had a tshirt in college that said 'curmudgeon in training'. I would love to have one that said 'eccentric in training'

>the advantage of living to be so old is that you can do and say simply anything and people will put it down to eccentricity due to age.

I heard a speaker say a very wise passage about age. Heard it at thirty and it has been my philosophy on age ever since:

When I was 30, I said I was going to go anywhere I wanted to go

At 40 I was going to do anything I wanted to do

At 50 I was going to say aything I wanted to say

At 60 I am going to wear anything I want to wear

And I can hardly wait till I turn 70, coz then I am going to eat anything I want to eat.

This is probably why my 50th has come and gone and I still have a smile on my face.

Cindy, Love it!,

'50'- nailed...
...bit cranky about '60' though. By then, I don't think that the fashion industry will even be making anything I will want to wear.
...could we negotiate '70' , live is short. :))

Many years ago my mother told me I was neither rich enough nor old enough to be eccentric. Well, I'm still not rich, but I'm finally old enough! (At least I think I am, at nearly 62.)

To those of us not growing old gracefully or not too proud to be considered odd, batty, eccentric, gaga, senile, or if like me, you have never been conventional to start with, reread the following and rejoice.

Warning - When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.
By Jenny Joseph.

"When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people's gardens
and learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and pay our rent and not swear in the street
and set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple."

I'm off to buy (or maybe steal) a hat.

I love that poem. And at my party, my colors were red and purple, oh and gold (for 50!)

mumsie, why not? :)

BTW, does anyone know much about the Red Hat Society. They always seem like they are having loads of fun - and I love those hats!

I have been considered eccentric since I was a child. I don't see what age or money has to do with it.

Cindy-Red Hats can be a fun group-depending!
I have several Internet 'friends' who belong to Red Hat groups and they do really (to me) exciting sounding things, but they live in major metro areas so have the availibility to go as a group to musicals, museums etc. and various trips and adventures!
I live in a small town and did join a group a few years ago, and they were a boring lot! They all seemed to know each other before starting the group and they all did the motorhome thing and their husbands all belong to one of those "Men" lodges....I went to several lunches, but after a few I quit because although I tried to fit in, I realized we had nothing in common.
But the people that I know that live in areas in NJ & Michigan all seem to have a great time together. So go on line and ck their web site and you can see if there is a group in your area with an open membership.

Pat

I happened to be staying in a hotel at the same time as a Red Hat Society Convention-they were up until all hours, had a sing-along in the piano bar, did pajama-party room hopping up and down the elevators (still wearing the hats and boas), came in from shopping in packs loaded down with bags (I bet some sales clerks had strong beverages at the end of the day) and showed each other what they'd bought in the lobby to shreiks of "Darling..it's so YOU!", took over the whole middle of the dining room one night and partied hard...just a "Girls' Night Out" gone wild!

Cece --

Your description of the Red Hat Society sounds more like a horde of rampaging Hottentots than a group of women who like to wear red hats! ;-)

I'll have to take note of what you said. From here on in, when I hear "Red Hat Society", I'll make sure to dive for cover. Either that or start offering drinks all over the place, in the hopes that they won't run roughshod over me! ;-)

My wife wears the "Red Hat"; we both think it is a hoot!

Bob

I don't belong to a RH Society but have always wanted to. I think, though, that the posting above is correct in that the ladies are usually already friends and don't really welcome newcomers. I only know one other woman who would like to do this.

When my sister-in-law turned 60, the family had a surprise red hat birthday party for her at the dining room at one of our state park lodges. In addition to our family females, we invited her family and her old friends from high school. Even her youngest grandson (3 months) wore a red Santa hat.

We gave SIL gifts of a red hat, a boa, and all those other goofy things that are in the gift shops. In trying to keep it a surprise, she said my brother had told her more fibs that day than he had in 30 years of marriage all put together, and none of them made any sense.

We had probably 25 people, and it was a blast. A diner we didn't know came over and asked if she could take our picture since she had never seen a Red Hat meeting before. We didn't have the heart to tell her she wasn't seeing one then!

> I don't see what age or money has to do with it.

They don't - its the way we use words in our language. An elderly bag lady who acts odd is doty, An elderly heiress who acts odd is eccentric. There are many other synonyms like that, used depending on social class or status, or age.

oh yes....I'm interesting, you're eccentric, he's bonkers.

I'm thrifty, you're greedy, he's a miser

A lady never sweats, she perspires

I'm steadfast, you're obstinate, he's stubborn as a mule.

I'm beautiful, you're attractive, she's quite pretty if you like that sort of thing.

I love these!

According to my very proper grandmother...

Horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, ladies glow *

I'm a purist, you're a perfectionist, he's a pedant.

I'm assertive, you're aggressive, she's a witch with a capitol b

I was laid off, you resigned, he got fired