Wine & writing. . .a great combination

My friend Sheila and I spent an unusual evening last night.  We both received an e-mail that the Miami Book Fair was holding something called First Draft: A Literary Social, described as "a monthly series of informal writing events that turn happy hours into great stories".   If that didn't inspire us enough, the fact that it also mentioned that drinks were on the house, had us up and moving.

We arrived at the Langford Hotel in Downtown Miami at 6:30 sharp to find a roomful of interesting looking people, mostly women but quite a few men.  With glasses filled  and bowls of pretzels on every table,  host Julie Anne Howe, explained that the evening's theme was "All The Rage", and that we would have ten minutes to write on one of three subjects:  "What I Won't Wear."  "What I Will Wear."  and finally "My Personal Style Monologue".

When the 10 minutes were up, the first 5 or 6 of the 10 or 15 people in the room would come up to the microphone and read what they wrote.  One girl wrote "I Won't Wear a Frown".  Very deep.  Sheila wrote "I Won't Wear Turquoise."  I had no idea she felt so strongly about the color.  Here's what I wrote. . you kinda had to hear it out loud to understand the deep emotion it conveyed.

"WHAT I WON'T WEAR" by Joan Spector

Who decided that women's pants had to be skinny?  A 20 year old, no doubt.  One of those Millenials we're always hearing about lately.

Skinny pants are for kids, or at least girls with Kardashian butts, not elegant adults.  We wear boot cut trousers, or flowing slacks that provide a little defense for those of us who still remember Gloria Vanderbilt's famous comfortable jeans.

No, I won't wear those skinny minnies.  So what if that's all I can find in my local department store.  I prefer to stand up for my rights, not to mention my octogenarian legs.

So I say, senior ladies, unite!  We have nothing to lose but our former good bodies.

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Not one of my finer pieces of writing but I actually got quite a round of applause from the audience.  It was truly a fun evening and the wine was fabulous.  Can't wait to go again next month.