Refractions and Reflections

---1--- I skipped Quick Takes the last few weeks, due to general busyness ( and not feeling like posting, I guess)...so I'll begin by getting you all caught up and tell you now about my New Year's Eve. I grabbed a friend and went downtown for a little while. My city sponsored an event at various venues for a single $8 ticket. We caught a couple songs by a big band, then saw a stand-up comedy routine by the Skinny Improv. They would ask audience members for suggestions for the scenes. At one point they asked, "What is the most unexpected thing you've ever found?" A little girl chimes up, "A green-necked snake in my back yard!" The guy goes, "Oh, wow - you just knew what it was when you saw it? A green-necked snake?" She answered, "Yeah. I'm a horticologist."   After the comedy we walked over to the library where they were having a poetry slam. Apparently they have one here in town every month. I plan to go check it out at...

I know. The one-hundred-twenty-dollar jeans and the Name-brand, form-fitting shirt and the Sparkly, hangy-down things from the cute little crocheted hat... All that stuff draws attention to itself. The Birkin bag and shiny, high-heeled crocs Serve as tempting distractions, Drawing the eyes and the Mind away from what the bling disguises, What the make-up hides, What the glitter and highlights transform into an Icon: The image we all strive to attain. But try to see past all that. Because underneath the grimy Filter of fashion and Caked-on cosmetics lies a Person, just like you and me, with Feelings, and family, and Purpose. Beauty is only skin-deep. It fades. But once the pesky prettiness is Washed away, what Remains is precious.