A Fork in the Road

Posted Dec 7, 2006 by Mike DeWitt

Updated Dec 11, 2006 at 12:11 AM

                       
It’s a Good Day, Hikers!

My pack is packed and my food and water supplies are replenished.  The Trail has been forced to wait too long and I am glad to be on it. . 

But before I vanish into the signal-poor woods, I am compelled to share with you something about the community of Blountstown and the indelible impression it has left upon me. 

Blountstown lies against the west bank of the Apalachicola River about an hour’s drive west of Tallahassee.  It is the seat of government of Calhoun County.  Like many small panhandle towns, it is a community that has come to a fork in the road.  If my words ring familiar, it may be because you once heard words like these twenty or thirty years ago from a Hillsborough or Pasco County native who knew well the land before the bulldozers came to call.

The residents in Calhoun County number less than half that of my home town of Temple Terrace, Florida, a small city on the outskirts of Tampa.  Calhoun County is unapologetically rural.  But for Blountstown and few smaller hamlets, it is largely undeveloped. This is a curse in the sense that well-paying jobs are scarce, and a blessing in that its rivers and landscapes are almost as pristine as they were on the first week of creation. 

But more and more Americans are moving south to stay, and it is a certainty that Calhoun County will not escape the notice of developers who are all too happy to accommodate them.  It is no longer a question of if, but of when - and more importantly, of how.

During my week-long stay in Blountstown, I was privileged to meet with many of the county’s civic and government leaders.  All of them expressed a vision of a county with a thriving eco-tourism trade that will bring good jobs and well-heeled visitors to a picturesque Main Street with rustic, red brick warmth emblematic of Blountstown’s river town past.

Already in place is the Blountstown Greenway, recently blazed as a spur of the Florida Trail.  Its smooth asphalt surface connects the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement to Main Street and the Apalachicola River.  It is the centerpiece of Blountstown’s blueprint for the sort of town that everyone wants to live in.  And that brings Calhoun County to the fork in the road.

Our Sunshine State is littered with counties that failed to anticipate the impact that a “come one, come all” approach to development would have on their infrastructure, their landscape and their quality of life. 

                                 

If I have learned anything from walking this trail, it is that Florida in its most natural and historic state is its most enchanting attraction.  The panhandle counties are one of the few areas left in Florida where such beauty is virtually everywhere one looks.  It is an increasingly rare coin, a diamond in the form that Mother Nature herself sculpted. 

As the leaders of Calhoun County stand at that fork in the road, I hope they choose carefully their path.  The easy road leads to paved fields, bulldozed woods, overcrowded schools and roads forever clogged with carloads of people wishing they were someplace else.  I know this because my home is on that road. 

For all of our sake, I pray they choose the road less traveled.

100% All-Natural Cheers form the Florida Trail, Mike

---

Curiously Strong Chocolate?

Posted Dec 7, 2006 by Jeff Houck

Updated Dec 7, 2006 at 11:28 AM

When I was a young reporter, I worked in Anchorage, Alaska. Every so often, I’d have to fly out to a bush village to interview someone.

One time while I was covering the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a photographer named Mike Dinneen went with me.

People living in interior villages are notoriously private. They’re even more so when there are a reporter and photographer around. This on top of the fact that Alaska Natives aren’t big on talking anyway.

Once while we were in McGrath covering the back of the race pack, we hit a conversational speed bump with a local man. He wasn’t being difficult; he just didn’t have anything more to say.

Mike reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin of peppermint Altoids.

“Curiously strong peppermint Altoid?” Mike asked, offering them to the man.

He had never seen one before, much less eaten one. Neither had I. The man was reluctant.

“They’re ... curiously strong,” Mike said, peeling back the paper cover inside.

The man reached in and took one. So did I.

Mike failed to tell us how powerful the mints were. Combined with the fact that it was about 10 below outside, the mints packed a wallop.

The man was so surprised, he started giggling. Which led to him talking some more. Which led me to keeping a tin in my bag for interview purposes for the next 10 years.

I mention all that in order to say that it looks like I’ll have to restock another flavor:

For the chocoholic in all of us, Altoids has a new wonderful way to enjoy its curiously strong mints—dipped in dark chocolate.

To get the full effect of the chocolate you definitely have to chew these mints, otherwise the chocolate melts off and you’re just left with an Altoid.

And if you’re in need of some chocolate, but don’t want something as bad for you as a candy bar, these are great: They’re only 15 calories for 2 pieces and have a half a gram of fat (granted, it’s all saturated fat—but it is a splurge, right?).

Look for the Curiously Chocolate Altoids ($2.49 for about 36 mints) to start hitting store shelves in select cities in December and nationwide by February (perfect for Valentine’s Day, too!).

 

 

---

Bookmark This

Posted Dec 6, 2006 by Chris Chmura

Updated Dec 6, 2006 at 11:09 PM

This list is a must-have for anyone who’s traveling with a laptop:
http://www.wififreespot.com/airport.html

---

Everything’s Better With Cheese On Top

Posted Dec 6, 2006 by Janine Dorsey

Updated Dec 6, 2006 at 01:18 PM

That’s my homemade chili, with a generous bit of cheddar cheese. I don’t need any more cheese in my life, but there you have it nonetheless. It’s nutritious and delicious.

I wonder if Marty’s favorite chickie with corn and potatoes would look better with cheese on top?

Why yes, yes it does!

---

Yes, Gwyneth, You Would Look Fat In Audrey’s Dress, And Here’s Why

Posted Dec 6, 2006 by Sandy Hughes

Updated Dec 6, 2006 at 03:10 PM

There’s an Urban Myth floating around that we all want to be Audrey Hepburn.

On Amazon.com alone we counted over seventeen biographies and pictorials , plus one book called How To Be Lovely:  The Audrey Hepburn Way of Life, whatever that is.
And yesterday’s sale of her famous (“iconic”) Breakfast at Tiffany’s Givenchy dress for almost a million dollars is proof that the mystique indeed lives on.

Yes, we loved the movie too (although we would question the intellectual depth of anyone who claims it’s their “favorite of all time”), and, of course, we acknowledge that Ms. Hepburn is a major style icon who ranks right up there with Marie Antionette, Coco Chanel, and Jackie O, but we also suspect that at least some of the fascination with her has to do with her being so, well skinny.
(One of our favorite movie lines is from a scene in Ron Howard’s classic 1982 comedy Night Shift, when nebbishy Chuck Lumley, played by Henry Winkler, is trying to get his neurotic, diet-obsessed fiancé “in the mood”. “Tell me I’m skinny!” she demands. “You’re so skinny!” he shouts. “You’re a willow! You’re a reed! You’re… Audrey Hepburn!”)

But the fact is, very few of us could Audrey Hepburns, no matter how skinny we might be. Her petite, naturally boyish body type—often referred to as a waif or “gamine”—is less about thinness and more about hormones and bone structure. (In fact, offhand, we can think of only a couple of celebrities who are natural waifs—Kate Moss, of course, and Natalie Portman.)

So instead of trying to be a willow/a reed/ Audrey Hepburn and stressing over every extra pound (and really, who wants to do that this time of year?), why not just wear things that work with your body type in the first place?
Of course, this is easier said than done, and even celebrities don’t always get it right.

Take, for example, Gwyneth Paltrow.

When Gwyneth was bone-thin, it was easy to mistake her for a waif or gamine type.
But in actuality (and this became more apparent when she put on some baby weight), she’s a Classic type, rectangular in both her body and her facial structure, more like Grace Kelly, (now there’s an icon for you) or, for a living example, Candice Bergen. (You know—Shirley Schmidt on Boston Legal?)  Candice has always dressed impeccably for her body type, and while she certainly isn’t model thin, she’s never looked heavy either—over the years, she’s learned how to disguise her flaws and play up her assets, and she always looks great.

Ms. Paltrow, on the other hand, is still learning, and it’s been interesting to watch.
When she became pregnant, she, (or her stylists), couldn’t seem to figure out how to deal with her new shape. They didn’t seem to realize that (as is always the case with this body type) her extra weight has made her fleshier, but not curvier. (Note that “curvy” has less to do with breast size than with proportions). She has never been—and never will be—an hourglass, so she will always look best in dresses that have straight lines, with the emphasis on the shoulders and upper torso and away from the hips and bust.

In other words, her best silhouette, in our humble opinion, is a modified X—wide at the shoulders, softly tapered at the waist, and gently flared (or straight, but never tapering in) at the bottom.
We’ve also noticed that her upper arms can look too heavy if she wears the wrong thing—sleeveless is not good for Gwynnie!  If she wants bare arms, she should wear either a strapless or a straight across neckline—no jewel necks or deep V-necks, no halters, and no sweetheart necklines. (Any of those will make her look hippy, and not in a fun Haight-Ashbury way, either).

These no-no’s were true when she was skinny, (her first Oscar dress, which drew some criticism for being too low for her bony chest, would have been perfect if that that V neck were filled in to be straight across to complete the X) and will remain true no matter how much weight she gains.

Still not sure what we mean?  Here’s another example. Look how this dress is all wrong: Even though she’s her normal weight in this picture, this frock, gorgeous as it is, hits all of the wrong places. The sweetheart neckline is too low and too rounded—again, necklines should always be straight across if she’s going strapless or spaghetti.  Gwyneth should also avoid dresses or pants that hit more than a couple of inches below her knee, otherwise her calves have a tendency to look chunky (even when she’s skinny).

And if you still aren’t convinced, this picture of three outfits she wore the on the same day is a perfect example of how wardrobe choices can instantly add or subtract pounds: The wrap dress would have been great if it flared out from the waist and hit at mid-knee, but the pencilly skirt and the gathers across the tummy aren’t so good. The silver dress is a disaster, making her look 10 pounds heavier. (The V-neck is too vertical, the cap sleeves yell “look at my arms!” and it’s about 2 inches too long.) The little black dress certainly makes her look skinnier, but the inverted triangle shape does nothing to flatter her and makes her legs look heavier than they are, even though the length is perfect. If we could only re-cut that neckline straight across from shoulder to shoulder and belt the waist, it would be perfect!

Now, don’t think we’re trying to pick on Gwynnie—we love that she’s not afraid to experiment, and to be fair, it’s a lot easier to spot the duds after the fact. Our point is to show you what the right clothes can do, and we do think that someone in the Paltrow camp is finally figuring it out, because lately Gwyneth has looked fabulous:  We love this dress on her because it follows the X silhouette perfectly: It has a strong horizontal line at the neck, and gentle waist emphasis. It falls straight and drapes over her hips. Its elbow- length sleeves flatter her arms and the floor length of the skirt keep the line long and lean.  But even this short and bare dress works, because it’s still a soft X: The one shoulder neckline is still horizontal enough to make a strong line, there’s the soft waist, the skirt has a slight flare to it, and its hits just at the knee to create a long, slim leg.

So all of this is great to know—if you’re a rectangle like Gwyneth and Candice. But what if you’re not? To help you discover your true body type, there are scads of books on the subject to help you get started.  Two of our favorites are The Pocket Stylist by Kendall Farr (for determining your overall body type and the silhouttes to look for), and the original What Not To Wear by Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine.

We could go on,  but we think we’ve covered more than enough for one day.  Class is dismissed—now dress for your body type and eat, drink and be merry!

 

 

---