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Despite the nonsense that too often defines my workplace, I really enjoy going to work and work in general. As the receptionist at a billion-dollar company, I chit-chat with those who pass by my desk and come to our office. It's usually just surface, meaningless pleasantries, but sometimes a caller or visitor or co-worker has something weighty on their mind, and I hear it. And sometimes we get a maniac and I have to press the "silent alarm" that summons the police, and try to keep the person from doing something extra-stupid until they arrive.
The reception desk reminds me of a confessional. I keep many, many secrets for the company, and a few of my own. One secret is that I do not like everyone I work with, but I feel that no one can tell who I like and who I greatly dislike. I strive for a combination of being both bland and bubbly, and I know when to stay silent and when to call out a cheerful hello to someone passing. Or so I hope.
Each day brings a different set of remarks that I trot out, dozens upon dozens upon dozens of times.
Mondays tend towards asking people if they had a pleasant weekend, or if they did whatever it was they had told me they were going to do back on Friday.
Tuesdays are all about how it isn't Monday anymore.
Wednesday has its share of hump-day remarks, and I'm known for anxiously asking people "how are you holding up?" I don't know how that got started, but they love it, from the high to the low. People are strange.
Thursday I call "Friday Eve," and "Not not long now" is my stock remark.
Friday is "TGIF," "Yay Friday," and "What plans do you have for the weekend?"
My work persona is bought and paid for, and they want me cheerful, motherly, interested in discussing the weather, and smiling gently. Interestingly to me, and a bit insultingly, no one ever asks anything
about my life. But I put on my "interested face" and always inquire
about theirs.
I do enjoy serving others, but the work persona is far from my real self. I'm shy and very hermit-like off the clock, and my pets, art and reading are my passions.
Since it's Hump Day, might as well post something for those who do dread the day. Big Hilda, the creation of artist Duane Bryers, is always good for a HEARTFELT smile! This Hilda is one of my absolute favorites. Just everything about the scene speaks to me and makes a lump in my throat. I have a vintage bike very much like Hilda's, but turquoise blue.
Being a very introspective and quiet person, I spend a lot of time in the realm of imagination. Daily, I write chapters, mentally, of various scenarios. One that I revisit often is imaging that Hilda is a real person, and I think of many adventures for her. I also spend a lot of time in the Hogwarts realm.
Dwayne Bryers, the artist who created and painted Hilda, is, of course, the source of her personality. I just take off from there. Maybe I'll have Hilda visit Hogwarts during my next flight of fancy.
Here is another of my favorite Hildas, and I hope you enjoy it this Monday morning. Looks like Hilda wanted to catch the last of the snow, with unfortunate results.
I remember when "two piece" bathing suits were common - before everything seemed to become, and be called, a "bikini." How many knew that "bikinis" hark to the outfits worn in the Marshall Islands and the Bikini Island/Atoll, later destroyed by U.S. nuclear testing? A veritable island paradise was ruined, native people's homes and livelihoods destroyed, and cancers and radiation deaths resulted. War and the preparation for war - it is terrible, and how can it stop? Will people ever live without wishing to destroy or take over others? No sooner does one group stop its nonsense, than another begins.
I don't think Big Hilda much cares about these philosophical discussions. Oh, I am sure she would care, if she thought about it, but this precious creation of Duane Bryers is usually found enjoying a simple and wholesome life. Mr. Bryers, during WWII, painted propaganda, to help with the war effort. His dark and frightening images from that time are a far cry from sunny and sweet Hilda. I bet he was thoroughly sick of war when he invented Hilda.
One of my favorite images is this one, featuring the homemade and thrifty bathing suit. I hope you enjoy it, too. My little doggie Sophie knows the word "bikini" - it means the little step-in harness that goes around her front. It looks like a bikini top. If we say the word "Bikini!" she goes wild and runs to push it with her nose- time for a walk.
Hilda is about to get a big surprise.
A mouse is about to jump on her! I know how she feels. We have had a mouse in the kitchen for several days. We don't use traps, other than Hav-A-Hart traps that catch them unharmed, but we haven't caught the wee varmint yet. One of our cats keeps a weather eye on the mouse, but the others show no interest. Hilda's pets aren't exactly on the ball, either!
I love Hilda's exuberance, as created and painted by the artist Duane Bryers. She is so deep into her book that she has scared herself silly.
My book list that's posted on the sidebar has Lord of the Rings on it. I can get so scared reading it that I feel the Black Riders are real and creeping about the yard. Such foolishness! But it's a delicious fear!
I think Hilda has the right idea. Just get in comfy jammies, put on a big pot of coffee, and relax! I'd like to have both that coffeepot and that bowl!
Hoping you have a wonderful Big-Hilda style weekend!
Back in 2006, I began blogging. At some point shortly thereafter, I began sprinkling my posts with images of Big Hilda, the red-headed, voluptuous creation of Duane Bryers. At the time, there weren't too many images of Hilda online.
The "Hilda" posts were some of my readers' favorites. While some may say, perhaps rightfully, that pinups of any kind are demeaning, in Hilda, the artist created a character who seemed real. She was more Everywoman than Pinup. In fact, she thumbed her nose at the contemporary ideal of beauty.
Hilda wore her heart on her sleeve - and sometimes little else. She was funny, brave, a bit clumsy, loving, and strong. In all her depictions, you see someone happy with herself, and busy living a sweet and simple life.
How I wish there were a real Hilda! But I wonder, if Hilda were a real woman, would she be so happy and confident, or would she spend her life thinking she was "too fat" and bleaching her red hair into blonde and wearing what everyone else wears?
I was so awestruck when I first "met" Hilda that I began a relentless pursuit of obtaining vintage images of her, both online and actual printed materials.
Some images I have only been able to find online. Many times, the scans of her are faded, distorted, or discolored. I use my Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro programs to try to bring her back to her former glory. And she was glorious!
Here is one of my favorite Hildas. She is always fussing over her pets, reading, knitting, gardening or in the great outdoors, and she definitely enjoys her little potbellied stove and her long johns during cold weather.
I hope you will like Hilda as much as I do.
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