South Koreans Snigger at LsOL

This LA Times story http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/21/world/la-fg-korea-ajumma-20100422 caught my I, now that I'm a LOL. Apparently South Koreans snigger at my type. Imagine.

Of course, I was guilty of that too, back in my old life. What do these women do all day, I wondered. Now, I can't get over how quickly the day goes. I could spend the whole week at the gym and bus stop with a couple of errands thrown into the mix. Add in there school meetings, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, freelancing and writing this blog and it's practically a full-time job.

What do Ladies of Leisure do all day? Tell me.

Here are links to the stories I mentioned. Each had an impact on my decision to leave the paper.

This story is about a cool group of tea-drinking men. The story got a lot of positive reader comments. But sadly, I never heard from the principals. That happens a lot. You write this big blast and the folks in the story don't acknowledge it. Either way.

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/86128057.html

This story turned out to be a great success. This was a reason to stay. First of all, it got out on the Sunday front. We journalists have egos after all. The reaction was rich. It was even posted at my gym. And the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons gave it an award: The MORE Award for Journalistic Excellence. The philly.com link has been taken down. But here's a repost:

http://www.thecaptainslog.org/story.php?id=1356

But this one probably had the most profound effect.

http://www.philly.com/philly/living/88050682.html

Ashley is one wise 25-year-old. Check out her blog: The Middle Finger Project (www.themiddlefingerproject.org).

And today I read that my former colleagues might have to reapply for their jobs. At the moment, my decision couldn't seem better.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20100427_Perelmans_join_Phila__newspaper_bidding.html

Day One

This Lady of Leisure stuff is tiring. Up at 6:30 a.m., get the kid off to school, see if anyone noticed the blog (thanks to Ash for commenting), do a load of laundry, off to the gym, lunch, read the Inquirer, blow dry my hair (that's an hour process) because a LOL has to look good, meet the school bus, cook dinner, organize donations to Purple Heart. Whew!
I show up for the Monday aerobics class in my usual weekend gym rat wear: an old, loose T-shirt, a black one that says Lexington across the front (a memento of my hometown in Kentucky), and my usual black, polyester pants (that I actually wore to work in the 90s). Immediately, it was clear I needed a workout wardrobe upgrade. The Monday ladies looked great, and I don't mean just the clothes. It was questionable why they really needed to be sweating at all. But I digress. The real standouts were the outfits -- sleek and color coordinated, down to the sneakers that picked up the ribbing color along the leg of the pants. Many wore make-up. I don't think I even brushed my hair. One woman wore a teal top with blank pants that had a line of teal running down the leg. Another chose shades of brown with orange highlights -- and that included the sneakers that combined those two colors perfectly. Very chic.

I'll have to satisfy my Spandex envy soon. But we all sweat the same, right?

Rest of My Life

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.

After 24 years of working as a journalist for the venerable Philadelphia Inquirer, I volunteered for a layoff. Why would I give up a perfectly good job as a lifestyle writer? It was a chance, a risk, to try something different after doing much of the same type of story -- The Trend -- for too many years. In a do-more-with-less environment at a newspaper in the midst of bankruptcy, I looked ahead 10 years and didn't like what I saw. What was the value of spending my days writing about more men drinking tea, or boomers suffering aching bones, or the Gen Yers who don't want to work a 9 to 5? Don't get me wrong. Each of those stories had value to our reading public and the folks featured in the story. Just not for me as much any more. Been there, done that.

So I jumped ship. When colleagues asked what was next, I sheepishly had to reply, nothing in particular, nothing paying (besides freelancing, and there is a reason the word free is in there). It is an opportunity, a next chapter, early retirement. I think of it as a chance to do nothing and everything. Everything I never had any time to do before: gardening, volunteering, writing this blog.

It's the beginning of an adventure. I'm no longer a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer. I'm a Lady of Leisure.

Tomorrow, I trade my business suit for a track suit.