Tall Attitude

I have an attitude every day of my life (my mother will vouch for this) and this morning was no exception. It started out like any other day…

I walk to work anywhere from 6:30-8:00 am depending on when I get up, what my schedule looks like for the day, and to be entirely truthful, my level of motivation. Lately, I’m all about work. So this morning it was about 6:45 and I was walking near the capital.  I decided that I wanted to stop at Walgreens to pick up some eyeliner.  I’m leaving for Mexico in about a week and it wouldn’t behoove me to run dry on eyeliner on my trip. Now Walgreens doesn’t open until 7:00 so I loiter out front for a few minutes.

I was minding my own business, playing ‘Tiny Tower’ on my iPhone and I hear this voice very clearly say to me, ‘Why you gotta be so Tall?’

In all honestly, I wasn’t in the mood.  It was early and I didn’t want to think about what clever comeback I could come up with.  So I chose to ignore it.

Again that voice, ‘Hey you!  Why you gotta be so Tall?’

I could feel someone crowding my space so I made eye contact with a very, very short woman who was glaring at me as if she had a personal problem with my height.  Immediately, I took offense.  I probably didn’t help the situation when I sniffed (probably arrogantly), looked her up and down, and turned away.

She got angrier, ‘I’m talking to you and I asked you a question?’

Softly I responded, “I heard you.  I figured that you couldn’t be that stupid to ask someone twice your size, a dumb question like that.’  I sweetly smiled and went back to playing on my phone.

She started to say more so I looked up and made eye contact again.  This time I wasn’t smiling.  Oddly enough, she moved on.

I am a nice person.  Way too nice, in fact because I tend to give people far more credit than they deserve but this woman got under my skin.  I ended up not getting my eye-liner.  I guess this means I’ll have to go back.  I should also mention, this did not ruin my day.  I actually told this story in a couple of my meetings and it got people to laugh, so all in all, I chalk it up to yet another Holli-experience.

Big hat, polka dots, water, and a smile. Now that’s a happy face!

So you wanna start a Tall Club, eh?

You’re tall.  You feel like you hang out with a lot of tall people.  You think it would be fun to start a tall club.  So you talk to your other tall friends and everyone seems to think it would be fun and a great idea.  Now what?  Well, that’s what I’m here for!  I’ve got the inside info on how you can start your very own tall club and also how you too can become affiliated with Tall Clubs International.

The basic requirements:

1. Men must be a minimum of 6’2″ and women must be a minimum of 5’10”.
2. All members must be at least 21 years of age.
3. Start-up clubs should be active for 6 months prior to application for membership
4. Minimum membership prior to application for membership is 15 members.
5. TCI annual dues are $3 per member, minimum of $45, due in January of each year.

The basic steps

1. Name your club and elect officers
2. Publicize your club (Facebook, Twitter, Meet-Up, etc)
3. Begin having regular meetings and social events to attract more members
4. Write your bylaws (samples available)
5. Open a bank account and start collecting dues to fund events
6. Once you have 15 members it’s time to apply for members ship!  (you must have authorization by a majority vote of your members directing the club president to seek membership through TCI)
7. Contact TCI’s Vice President of Membership (tci-membership@tall.org) at least 60 days prior to the annual convention (usually the last weekend in June) to submit your application for membership.  You will need:

• Letter of Application from your Club President
• Letter of Sponsorship from another TCI club in good standing (find one that’s close in proximity to you or perhaps make friends with someone in a club OR contact me and I’ll direct you to someone close to you)
• Send a check for 1/2 of the annual dues (minimum $22.50 for 15 members)
• List of founding members (Include: names, officially measured height barefoot, zip code, and email address)

If all is in order, your new club will be nominated for membership at the annual Delegates meeting during Convention.

Some of my tall club members at Convention in Las Vegas in 2009 when I won Miss Tall International.

Why should I become affiliated with Tall Clubs International (TCI)?

• Charity–TCI is affiliated with several charities so your funds go to some great charities such as Marfan Syndrome and Habitat for Humanity.
• Parents–TCI is a little like your parent.  You have your local club and then TCI above your local club.  It’s a great dynamic.
• Parties–do you like to party?  Yeah, me too.  And so do many of the TCI members.
• Tall People–do you like to party with tall people?  Yeah, me too…..see where I’m going with this?
• Tall Stores–what better place to swap stories about tall stores or even better swap clothes.  Or how about this, many tall stores offer discounts to members of TCI!!!
• Miss Tall International–Are you single, female, and always wanted to wear a crown and a sash?  Perhaps you should consider running for Miss Tall International.
• Ummmm…FUN–I don’t think I need to expand on this

Me and my tall friend Jan. This was taken at a Tall Christmas party!

Now, if you’d like to start a tall club please do!  If you would like more information on this please feel free to contact TCI Vice President (currently Genie Williamson) at tci-membership@tall.org.

I can also assist if you would like to contact me at misstallgirlramblings@gmail.com.  I can direct you to clubs near you or directly to TCI for further assistance.

Update: Tall Woman searching for Tall Man

If you know me, I tend to be wordy so if you want the short version: I’ve not found Mr. Tall Right. In fact I’ve not even gone on a single date yet!

For those of you that want the tall version, read on…

I have not found Mr. Mantastic yet…I’m sure he’s out there but….

So if you remember I uploaded my profile onto Match.com with baited breath, crossing my fingers, and hoping for the best all the while keeping my expectations very low.  I’m SO glad I’ve kept my expectations at an all time low.  I’ve received many winks which have sparked no interest in me and I’ve received 1 email.  Okay, technically I’ve received 3 but 2 of those emails are from my friends, Dave and Jeff, so those don’t really count 🙂 (sorry guys).

I went into my profile this morning thinking maybe it’s too long.  So I deleted a couple of things to shorten it up and resubmitted it.  I personally think my profile is kinda funny, explains who I am, but isn’t terribly long so whomever reads it isn’t bored by the end.  But I’m simply not getting noticed OR I’m just too tall OR I’m not as funny as I think I am OR…the list is endless.

The Match Profile is like the resume of dating and I’m failing at this first step in the process.  I’ve actually used a professional resume service to beef up my professional resume so I’m wondering do I need that for my profile?  I met my last boyfriend randomly at a Portland Skyliner tall club event so do I need to hang around tall clubs?  What’s a tall girl to do?

I was also Miss Tall Portland once upon a time. What a fun time that was!

This whole dating thing is really no fun for me.  BUT, I can’t just hide myself away….I’m such a catch.  (Please read this dripping with sarcasm as that’s how it’s being written.  And a further disclaimer: please don’t feel the need to stroke my ego with compliments, I’m truly not fishing for any, I simply like to be sarcastic sometimes)

Wish me luck!

If I could change 1 thing because I’m tall it would be…

Why not bigger tree houses?  We need bigger tree houses to better suit our taller bodies!

I’ve actually thought a long time about this…a long, long time and I’ve wanted to write about it but it’s a difficult and personal thing for each individual.  Someone that is 5’10” is going to want something much different than someone who is 7’8″. And the difference between males and females is also going to vary greatly as well.  I think what I personally would like to change is going to be very, very different than say, a guy that’s 6’10”.  But I guess we’ll see.

The more I thought about this the more I couldn’t narrow it down to one thing.  I can think of one thing that I want more than others, but there are multiple things that I want.  Typical female…I moved my list around so many times although my #1 stayed the same.  Here goes!

If I could change 1 (okay, more than 1) thing because I’m tall it would be:

1.  Airline Seats–now I know this one is obvious but I wouldn’t actually change the width because I fit fine in the actual seat.  It’s the distance between the seats needs to be longer!  My knees are right up against the back of the seat in front of me.  And if the jack-hole in front of me chooses to recline in their seat…I’m going to be a very unhappy passenger.  Or, the airlines could save the bulk-head and exit row seats (provided we can assist in the event of an emergency) for passengers over 6’2″ AND NOT CHARGE US EXTRA!!!!

I chose this for my number one because I travel a lot.  I spend so much money on extra leg-room and checking my luggage that my trips become much more expensive than I’d really like them to be.  An extra $25-$45 for the leg room both ways and then another $20-$25 for my bags, we’ve now added another $100-$150 to my already expensive trip!  Yikes.

Who has extra cash?  Apparently me…

2.  Tall Clubs International—TCI (Tall Clubs International) is such an important part of height awareness and they have so much to give as a social club and as a charity, but unfortunately the group is dwindling.  The club began in 1939 and there are still approximately 50 clubs throughout the Unites States with nearly 2,000 members however there was a time when the active membership was nearly 5,000.  I’d like to help get TCI back on the map with some beefed up membership and more active members but I’ll be honest, even I haven’t been very active myself lately.  Life tends to get in the way.  More membership, more advertisement, more sponsors…we need to get more activity!

My 6’4″ friend Megan who is a former President of Tall Clubs International and of course, Moi on the left.

3.  Clothes–okay, let me be a little more specific because personally I don’t have a terrible time finding clothes however there are 2 categories of tall people who need help with clothing:

• Tall, plus sized-this combination is nearly impossible for women to find good, quality, and reasonably priced clothing.  Most women can’t spend $100 per shirt or $150 per pair of pants.  That’s simply too much for the average woman so there needs to be better availability of tall, plus-sized clothing as well as better pricing.
• Clothes for the super tall-allow me to explain further.  I have a friend, Chris, who is 6’9″.  He shops at 1 store for almost all of his clothes.  1 store!  I don’t know how he does it.  For those men and women over 6’6″ with inseams over 38′, they need specialty stores that also aren’t horribly expensive and they also need greater access to these stores.

This is Chris and these are actually his hats. Wait, that’s not true. He really wears hats like this to distract people from his 6’9″ height. Okay…that’s not true either.

4.  Height Awareness-I’d like to change some perceptions that people seem to have about tall people.  We all play basketball, we are all freaks, tall women only want to date taller men (okay, for those of you that read my last blog yes, I am searching for a tall guy but that doesn’t mean I haven’t dated shorter guys in the past.  Don’t judge) and all the tall men only date women under 5 feet.  We all get labeled somehow.  We’ll I’ve come up with a few examples of things I’d like for people to know that it’s NOT okay to do or say.

• It’s not okay to come up behind me when I’m not looking and stand back-to-back with me while your friends take your picture.  You might get punched, seriously.
• I may or may not have played basketball and unless you know me, you probably should be careful what you ask.  Is it okay to touch a pregnant women’s belly?  Consider my feelings like that pregnant women’s belly…tread lightly.
• To point and stare at me as I walk by is downright rude.  Learn some manners (unless you are under the age of 8, then it’s acceptable)
• Thinking you are funny by saying something clever like ‘How’s the weather up there’ or ‘What’s up shorty?’ is really your way of indicating your very low IQ
• Please don’t ask me to compare hands with you.  Yes, my hands are probably bigger.  I’d also wager that so is my brain.
• No, my parents aren’t tall.  They are very short, I’m a mutant.  Who can explain science?

My family! All right…my dad is really tall, so is everyone else in my family.

So there you have it.  4 things that I would change and I KNOW I didn’t touch on some topics that others would want to change.  I wonder how much would actually change if I could at least get my wish with the first 4…..hmmmmm, I think I’ll go ponder that for awhile.

So you think you’re tall? And special? Why….yes!

That’s Neri (my upstairs neighbor in front!). See, I AM that much taller!

Yeah, I think I’m tall too. At least I think I’m taller than most women until last night when I went to a movie.  Let me re-phrase that.  I went to a movie with my shorter neighbors (sorry guys, but you are shorter than me).  We decided to go see Dark Knight Rising since we had some Groupons or Living Social Deals that were about to expire.  We get to the theater and while Randy waited out in the hall Neri, Leah, and I made a trip to the ladies room prior to the show and that’s where I saw her.  She was probably my height or maybe, just maybe, a smidge taller than me!  Say what!

We met eyes in the mirror, then quickly looked away.  Then just as quickly we met eyes again.  I felt as though we were doing that weird guy/girl dance of flirting, but we weren’t.  We were sizing each other up but trying to appear as though we weren’t.  You see, that’s what us tall girls do.  It’s so rare to be able to look someone of our same sex in the eye that we want to stare but we don’t want to be caught!

I looked her up and down trying to determine where she got her height.  Was she all legs?  Torso?  Properly or weirdly proportioned?  How did she dress?  Does she like being tall?  Did she stand up straight?  Should I talk to her?  Should I mention ‘our’ heights?  I wonder if she’s looking at me?  Should I smile?  Oh, this is awkward!

She washed her hands while I was still waiting in line and as she passed I stood up a little straighter and tried to catch her eye.  I didn’t say anything to her and I don’t think she would’ve wanted me to.  She walked with a little hunch in her shoulders as if she didn’t like her height and she didn’t even glance up as she walked past.  Too bad, I wanted to give her a big smile.

I wanted to shout out to her, ‘Stand up straight!  Embrace your height!  You are special!  Let your height make the world notice you but make the world love you because of YOU!‘

*Sigh*

I won’t get on my soapbox about this topic because then I’ll rant and rave about how awesome and amazing it is to be tall.   But I will tell a little story about the picture below:

I toast all you TALL women out there!

This picture was taken on my 39th birthday this year.  A friend of mine was visiting from Iowa and I took her to the drag show at Darcelle’s in Portland, OR.  Why am I toasting?  I felt amazing that night!  And here’s why:  I’m tall and I felt beautiful.  I bought the dress from Long Tall Sally and the little sweater cover-up as well.  When I walked into the room at Darcelle’s and while we were being seated, I had multiple drag queens ask me where I got my clothes!  I don’t think you can get a higher compliment than that.  So you can see, my night started out with an ego boost and my night only got better from there.

The point is, whatever you’ve got whether it’s height, beautiful hair, great eyebrows….whatever, you’ve got to make the most of it.  Regardless.  You’ll feel beautiful, you’ll radiate beauty and everyone wins.

Okay, I did end up on my soapbox.  Getting down now….

Your ‘Tallness’ is back

Oh boy have I been having some fun the last few months. I’ve had so many changes happening in my life that it would be impossible to go through everything so here are probably the most important updates. (and I’m sure there will be more to come, life is a bit exciting right now!)

1.  I’ve been traveling (MD, MN, CO, WI, WA, IL) and I’ve picked up a few great memories and some new friends along the way.  Here are a few pics:

This is me and my friend’s mom. Yes, I really am THAT tall!

This is in CO (one of my favorite states). Melissa is 5’11” and her husband, Damian, is 6’5″ish…

In Baltimore, MD at the Belgium beer festival and I met the 2 greatest bartenders in the city!! Yeah, bold, but I said it!

2.  I’ve been shopping!  (oh dear)  And my closet has never been more full.  I’m thinking about selling some of my older clothes and I found a great website to do so.  Here’s the link if you are interested in selling some of your own, tall, ‘gently-used’ clothing:  No Heels Required

Here is one of my new dresses (Long Tall Sally) and one of my new friends from IA!!

3.  I’m single and ready to mingle…okay, I’ve been single for awhile now and I’m not so sure about the ‘ready to mingle’ part, but I’m working on it.  (There’s really no pics to do this one justice unless I put on a sad face and take a picture…)

4.  I turned 39.  It’s my last year in my 30’s so I’ve got to make the most of this year.  I also celebrated my birthday for several days and there may have been some sketchy characters involved.  BTW…the picture below does not indicate that these people from my birthday party were sketchy, they are merely my newest friends!

These people really know how to show a new 39 year old a good time!

5.  I took pictures with random strangers who interest me.  Oh come on…who doesn’t LOVE to do this???

In the event you can’t read the caption on this gentleman’s shirt, it says: ‘Why R U so small?’ It’s a must-have for every tall girl!

So, as you can see I’ve been terribly busy trying to find a social life and I think I’ve done a fairly good job. So many more stories to tell…but I think I’ll save a few for a later date.  Until then…..

The Ultimate TALL Guy?

Now that I’ve got all the ladies attention (and possibly a few of the fellas attention) I’d like to back up.  Do you guys remember when I blogged last April about an ‘Amazingly Funny Tall Interview‘?  In the event you don’t remember, I’m going to ask that you click the link and watch this interview in order to refresh your memory.  Take a peek at my very quick blog and listen to the YouTube video in order for this blog to make any sense.  I thank you in advance!

So now that you are caught up you recall, Chris Clapham.  The very handsome, quick-witted, tall gentleman who happened to catch my attention when I saw his YouTube video.  WELL…I was lucky enough to get to meet him.  That’s right!!  He lives near one of my sisters and when my family went on our fishing trip to MN, we got an opportunity to meet.  Lucky for me, he lives near Minneapolis/Saint Paul area.  Let me just say this:  He is awesome!

Chris and me!! Oh yeah!! He's tall.

I’ll be honest, I was so incredibly excited to meet Chris.  He’s tall, funny, athletic, good looking, did I mention funny?  He’s the real deal ladies!!!

Part of the reason why I was excited to meet Chris is because it’s not too often I see men taller than me who I think could be as funny in person as they are in a video interview.  I was intrigued because the more FUN friends you have, the better your entire life of traveling becomes especially if they live near your sister and you will have the opportunity to see them again at some point!  (also it’s kinda nice to make your boyfriend a bit jealous…..he he…that’s a terrible, yet honest confession, isn’t it?)

Holli's Angels (Heather, Chris, & Holli)

Thank you to Chris for giving me and my family the chance to get to know you.  You were great fun and we all enjoyed meeting you.  Ladies–he’s the real deal.  Great guy, down to earth, and FUNNY!!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important part of the night.  You guys need to see the chili dog that I had for dinner.  Holy Moses was this thing awesome!!!!!

The Chili Cheese Dog (chili on the side)

Where’s Holli?

There really is no excuse for my absence.  I’d love to make up this great story about how I was whisked away to Australia by some handsome goat-herder and I lost track of the last 3 months…but I really have no excuse what-so-ever.

Or I could tell you how I was walking down the street on my way to Starbucks and I  hit my head on another stop sign.  It caused me memory loss for the past 3 months.   It also prompted me to hop on the next bus to New Orleans and I’ve been supplementing my income by tap dancing with street urchins. (I did take 8 years of tap-dancing lessons)

In all honesty, I have been busy with work and with my life in general.  Usually I’ve always been able to find time to write.  It’s part of who I am.  But lately it seems I’ve been very, very busy and I’ve got nothing to show for my craziness except an empty blog!

Now I will tell you that I have some exciting stories coming.  Remember the really funny, ‘Interview with a Tall Guy‘ (Chris Clapham)?  If you click the link you’ll get to see his hilarious interview.  I actually got to meet him when I was in MN visiting my family!!!  I’m going to be blogging about that awesome experience.  He’s a kick in the pants.  I’ll also be blogging about what I’ve been doing this summer and about what I’ve not been doing this summer.  I’ve got some great photos to share because you know how I love to take pics with people.

Funny Man Clapham and Moi!

So yes, I’ve been a bit absent as of late and I apologize for this from the bottom of my heart.   I’m hell-bent on getting back to the weekly writing (as I sit here on a Saturday night pretending to watch the movie, ‘Inception’, reading People magazine, and consuming Riesling with my 3 cats!  I’m so cool…)  Too much work and no  fun means no horseplay for Holli…..

Ummmm...I might be too big for this horse!

More to come….

The Tall Convention

Where has Holli been???  Yes, I have taken a little vacation from writing but now I’m back because I have stories.  And I have to tell you where I’ve been.

Last week the annual Tall Clubs International Convention was held in Seattle, WA and let me tell you I had one of the best times ever!!!  I laughed and I partied until 3:00 am just like I was young (er) again.  It was an incredible time.

Ylian shot video after video and they are awesome!!!  I’m unfortunately not going to say much on my first day back at blogging I will, however, leave you with this wonderful link to go check out the videos for yourself.  Don’t stop at the first one, there are about 10 videos from 2011 as well as many videos from previous Portland Skyliner events.

Incidentally, Miss Talisha Tolliver is your new Miss Tall International 2011!!!

Miss Tall International 2011, Talisha Tolliver

You all should be checking out your local TALL clubs because this is too much fun not to share!!!

How to tell if you are TALL?

Some people believe they are tall. Others know themselves to be tall. Many have been told they are tall, but how do you know?  I thought it might be fun to put together a few tests that you can try for yourself.  Then you’ll know if you are truly tall or if somebody’s feeding you a line of bull.

1. Do you spend inordinate amounts of time admiring the tops of people’s heads?
2. Can you touch a standard 9 foot ceiling without a lot of effort?
3. Have you ever had one of the following nicknames: Stretch, Olive Oyl, Big <insert your name here>, Giraffe, Tiny, Tree, or Tall <insert your name here>?
4. When out with friends, do you always get the front seat?
5. Do you have trouble finding an inseam longer than 36 inches?
6. Has anyone ever gasped when you walked by?
7. Have you been asked to get something off of a top shelf in a grocery store for a random stranger?
8. Did you play sports because the coaches asked you to?
9. If you had $1 for every time someone asked you how tall you were, would you be a thousandaire?
10. Have you ever hit your head on a stop sign?

With the exception of number 8, I have had all of the above happen to me.  It wasn’t until number 10 that I realized, “Yep, I’m damn tall.”  I mean seriously, it’s not everyday you walk directly into a stop sign (not the post, the actual sign).

My 6'1" sister with her daughter.