50-something Moms Blog

MakerFaire and The Flaming Woman

I attended the MakerFaire last weekend.  It was my first time -  and boy was I surprised at the snarl of traffic and people attending – over 30,000 people daily I'm told.   Traffic was particularly bad as it was Kentucky Derby day and people were going to Bay Meadows to place their bets. That aside, my 13 year old son thought the event was “cool” and so did I.

The creations and the creation-makers were an odd mixture of knitters and robotics. The "soft" tech meets the "high" tech.   I loved running into people driving cupcakes and listening to a “steampunk”, shovel-playing guitarist. I didn't know what “steampunk” was at the time, but then I saw an article in NY Times that described the movement.  They described it as a "aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world".  Very Emo meets Victorian-era stuff.    I also saw a lady walking with a “lily-pad" umbrella that was kept moist by her assistant who walked by her side with a water sprayer.  Sort of re-defines being an assistant.   But by far my favorite experience (besides the battle-bots) was the 20 ft tall, 6 ton pyrotecnic, “Flaming Woman”. Artists Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito sculpted a woman out of 10-inch pipe and scrap metal and the results is a true replica of how I feel sometimes as a “50-something” mom. Just a little bit “on fire”. Here’s a link to see the woman in action….

A Trip to Trader Joe's

On a recent trip to Trader Joe’s, it struck me that you could classify the mothers who bring their toddlers to a grocery store into 3 camps:  One – the education/experiential camp (showing and demonstrating as they go)  for some reason these kids usually seem engaged and non-belligerent.  Two - the mothers who don’t seem to quite have things under control, or at least THIS particular morning things were VERY out-of-control.  Their kids are whining, crying or begging and the mothers usually seemed stressed or embarrassed and are placating the kids.  Three – these are the mothers who just wallop their kids if they act up or they let them scream bloody murder and act as if they aren’t bothering anyone in the store.   Sure…..

That day there must have been 12 mothers with toddlers in the store (no they were not together in pre-school formation)  and  each mother could be categorized in my 3 categories (at least it seemed to me).