Monday, November 27, 2006

HELLO!

One of my weaknesses at the gym is reading Hello Magazine.
Lives of the rich and famous, and sometimes just the rich. I like Hello Magazine for the same reason that I like Vanity Fair...only Hello celebrates and Vanity tears.

The photos in Hello are what get me.

Tonight, while torturing myself on the treadmill, I saw (I say saw because I didn't read it) an article on Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher...the photo spread was great!

Debbie and Carrie drinking fake tea, and fake cooking in a sterile, model home kitchen.
A photo of Debbie mock chastising Carrie at the open (suspiciously spotless) oven door in an immaculate kitchen.

This is twice in a couple of days I'm reminded of something my mother used to do when I was a kid.

She used to take rolls of film of fake family gatherings to send "back home".

Us sitting in the kitchen drinking Turkish Coffee from empty cups.
Uja stirring an empty pot on the stove with all the appliances shown in the photo.
Sitting in the immaculately cleaned living room with a decanter and glasses, with the T.V. and stereo system circumstantially shown in the photo...all this to show my grandparents that we were doing ok.

That we weren't starving, and that we had "things", things that maybe other family "back home" didn't have.

It wasn't until today that I realized that we used to send our own "rich and famous" magazine layouts "back home".

(If I find some of the photos, which I know that I have...I'll scan and post them)

Quirks of immigrants..you gotta love 'em.