Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Bratz and Cats



I'm not exactly sure how I got hooked into watching a show about girls who want to wear skimpy, sexy outfits and slither around poles as they sing covers of songs in de riguer pop girl vibrato, but I did just that last night. My old Tuesday night 9pm standby, Law & Order CI was a rerun, that had only aired a month ago. So, after returning home from yoga, and settling down with a bowl of pasta, I flipped until I saw the finale of a reality tv show whose purpose was the search for the next sexy addition to an all girl group. Oddly enough, the name of the band seemed so appropriate since the three finalists all reminded me of those weird toys-- popular with the tweens--called Bratz. Unusually large heads and teeny tiny bodies. (Is this our new ideal body, ladies? Almost makes me nostalgic for Barbie...) Only, these three girls weren't called Bratz, though they were trying out to be dolls. Pussycat Dolls, to be precise.
I didn't know it was a real group. I can honestly say that I never need to see anything like that again. I'm not clear if this is truly an expression of feminism: embracing one's sexuality while thrusting, gyrating, grinding and spanking one's own ass as we celebrate women's ability to be sexy and liberated, meanwhile singing such empowering lyrics as "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?" This is what teenage girls aspire to? Or, are we being hoodwinked into believing that this is the new feminism, and if we're not on board to overtly put our freedom of feminine sexiness on display, then we are some kind of staid, prudish old lady who just doesn't get it. If I look at women, young girls, who wear their thong underwear as outerwear, and think "ick", am I not really a feminist? Am I trouncing on someone else's experience and negating their freedom to express themselves? In my head. Naturally, I wouldn't actually say something to one of these women/girls. In my head I pass judgment, or form an opinion. In my head I say "This is where what we're raising? Girls who wear t-shirts that say 'I slept with your boyfriend' in girlie pink and sparkles?"

I read an interview on Salon.com that discussed these issues, and I thought I'd check out the website that the author contributes to, and read some more about her views. Feminism for younger women. (I guess I fall into the older women category.) I'd like to be the sort of person who can look at a woman's choice of expression and confirm and support it. And yet, I have to be honest, I am not impressed with a lot of what I see in the magazines, television, etc. It doesn't look any different to me than it did when it wasn't cool to dress like hookers (Women who would probably rather be doing something else besides selling their bodies--I'm making an assumption here.) I'd almost rather be called a prude. Don't get the wrong idea--that I think being sexy is "bad" or anti female power. Not at all. I do believe that there are healthy ways to be sexy and that there are ways that women are being duped into thinking that they're the ones in power. Do these girls have power? And if so, at what price?



Thursday, April 19, 2007

Break Out the Summer Clothes!

Guess who's going out to southern California for a little holiday? That's right, c'est moi. Headed down south for a visit with my lovely in only a week and a half. So looking forward to it. I get to see Shawn. I get to see sunshine. I get to feel warm air. I get to breathe smoggy breezes, but I get to come back for some fresh air, so I think I can handle it.

Other than that, well, not much going on chez Linnet. I have tried not to put my pajamas on at 7pm on the weekends. I know they're not my weekends, seeing as how I work on those days, but they are the traditional weekend days/nights nonetheless and I have never gotten over the training my brain received regarding Fridays and Saturdays. Even though all I want to do after work is go home and relax, there is a nagging feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something. Going somewhere. (This was no different when Shawn was here, either, it was just easier to ignore.) Last weekend, I gave myself the task of going to the grocery store at 8pm, just so I could prolong the p.j.'s donning. I know, it's all in my head. Self-imposed musts that matter to no one but myself. Besides, have I mentioned that it's expensive to go out? I just spent $60 on groceries --for one person!--and am taking 3 days off of work pretty shortly. Do i really need to go out just to make myself feel less like a recluse? I'm in the market for the free entertainment. Easy enough to find during the day... The Frye Art Museum is free--love it--though not open late on weekend nights. SAM (rather SAAM, for now) has late night Thursdays. Why not a late night Friday museum? Elliott Bay Books is always good for author readings, though I confess to knowing nothing about the writers scheduled for this weekend.

Whine, whine, whine. Maybe I should change the name of this blog to Whiner, or Whine Fest. My apologies to all 3-4 of you. No more whining. Honestly, being solo hasn't been that bad. Just gets a little lonely sometimes and so I sit on my couch, in my pajamas, with a blanket and pillows, at 7 o'clock in the evening feeling a little unenthused (apparantly, unenthused is not a word. And yet, it sounds so right...) about my entertainment choices. Heck. I haven't even played my xbox since shawn left. Now, is that ridiculous, or what?

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

All Done

Sent in the supplemental materials to the two schools that I have applied to, thus far, on Monday. Big day for me. Now I don't have to hem and haw and avoid eye contact when someone asks me how my applications are coming along. (On June 1, I'll send in to the third school.) What an uplifting experience. Here I am, missing Shawn, feeling little to no energy to do much of anything, and I can check that off of my list of things I've been, for no reason in particular, putting off. Made for a better answer to the "What's new with you" question that came up, several times, that same evening at my friend Marcus' birthday soiree. Had a chance to see lots of friends that I rarely see anymore, now that we don't all live in the same building. Well, we didn't all live in the same building, but enough of us did so that it sometimes felt as if we had the same address, what with all the comings and goings and drop ins. Anyway, it was more fun to announce that I'd applied for grad school AND that Shawn had moved to California, then just the moving to CA part.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Things To Do When You're Scared Of Silence

1. Watch television
Lots of television. This is particularly useful when you don't have cable and you live in an area where the reception is for crap. You can spend hours flipping through the 7 channels, 3 of which actually come in, waiting for the Law & Order franchise reruns-very likely to occur on every night of the week and Saturdays! If you get tired of the 3 channels, simply adjust the rabbit ears for the next 20 minutes to get 3 different channels. Besides, you can always count on the God channel to come in crystal clear, no matter how the ears are positioned.

2. Play Solitaire while listening to iTunes on shuffle
I'll bet you didn't even remember that you'd downloaded that album! You can play guess the song title/artist/album/release date/band members, too. And, if you're like me and have lost that youthful ability to know the answers to all of those questions, you can exercise that atrophied muscle and be able to flex it at the next social function you attend.

3. Increase your Netflix subscription so there is a constant flow of movies in the
mailbox
Perhaps you don't want to spend that extra $2 plus applicable taxes? Never fear, you can watch all the movies your lovely mother recorded for you on those old fashioned VHS tapes. So what if some of them have been viewed so many times that the picture is a little wobbly and causes you to feel the onset of motion sickness? You've seen most of those movies so many times you don't have to concentrate too hard on the actual watching. After all, it's the noise that's important.

4. Play Xbox until you're bleary eyed
This one works really well, since it is easy as pie to wile away the hours without even noticing how many you've lost forever. However, should you get stuck on a particularly gnarly section that you just can't seem to advance from, this option does become less appealing.

5. Surf the internet
Here's another opportunity for the name that band/album/singer/song game exercise. And, if you're like me and refuse to cough up the extra dough to have a high speed internet connection, you'll really have some serious noise-filled hours while you wait for that Ryan Adams website to fully load.

Happy Silence Avoiding!!!

Thursday, April 05, 2007

I heart Wong Kar Wai

If you haven't had the divine pleasure of seeing films by this graceful, intriguing, sexy, thoughtful, smart, melodic, moody, stay with you long after they're over, AMAZING FILM MAKER, then you must run to your local video store or move to the top of your Netflix queue movies by this man. Go ahead, start with As Tears Go By and see how he is not just any Hong Kong director. Of course, as I am notoriously a late bloomer, you may already know the greatness that is Wong Kar Wai, and I'm not telling you anything new. However, if you haven't...RENT THEE Chungking Express, or In the Mood For Love if nothing else.