Penny Raile: Visible Woman

Unimportant Things About Me

•As a child, I did not like gathering eggs on the farm because the hens were mean.
• I played the Doris Day part in “Pillow Talk” in a high school play.
• I played defensive line woman on my girl’s football team in high school - real football, not powder puff.
• I ate dinner at a restaurant next to Vice President Bush’s table in Fort Smith, Arkansas surrounded by secret service agents.
• I played the French horn and the cymbals in my high school band – horribly.
• I was the Sports Editor of my high school paper.
• When I moved to California, I lived in Malibu. I now live near Skid Row.
• I did not finish kindergarten.

101 Things in 1001 Days

THE START OF MY LIST 1 Go to Paris and shop flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales 2 Go on a holiday trip with my entire family 3 Do stretching exercises five days a week for one month 4 Write the second edition of the Raile Family History 5 Finish the Harry Potter series 6 Create “gorilla art” 7 Make a map of every place I have been 8 Elaborately decorate my loft for Halloween 9 Invite at least four guests for dinner at the same time and everyone wears red 10 Go to Yosemite Park 11 Host a pajama party 12 Go on at least one date 13 Turn the big room into something whimsical 14 Change jobs 15 Keep a better diary 16 Set-up a trust fund 17 Write my life story 18 Create a web site to sell things 19 Make things that I am willing to sell 20 Send an admiration letter to RK 21 Visit New York 22 Attend Artfest in Seattle, Washington 23 Visit Watts Tower 24 Send out secret friend packages 25 Create a margarita bar and a coffee bar in loft 26 Read five books that I should have read in high school 27 Create five photo studies

March 2015

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
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22	23	24	25	26	27	28
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I am a thrift store addict and proud of it. I have no intention of seeking help and would resist all attempts at an intervention by my family and friends. The rush of finding something wonderful at a ridiculously low price is amazing. It doesn't happen on every visit. In fact, the truly great finds come infrequently. Yesterday was one of those days. I made a visit to the Salvation Army on Washington Blvd. and sitting low on a shelf was a box that screamed vintage before I even knew of its contents. I picked it up and discovered "The Visible Woman."

"She" is a plastic model education kit from Renwal from 1960. The box is complete with all her bones, muscles, organs and her "miracle of creation" pregnancy parts, plus instructions on how to put her together. The "putting together" part looks tedious, so right now I have her displayed totally naked with her parts put to the side. I may have to put some clothes on her - perhaps a bikini.

And of course there is the joy of telling everyone who sees her that I only paid $2.50 for her during my lunch hour.