Creepy

Whoa! This article was printed the day after my last post. It's like the Personal Politics Gods read my blog and responded through the medium of the New York Times. And the gist of the message is: Yes, be afraid.

Google Mania

I have a confession: I love everything that Google does. From the search engine to the email to the book scanning to the maps to the awesome new 800 number. I recently downloaded the Google Toolbar for Firefox and set up my iGoogle page. I LOVE IT ALL!

But I wonder if I shouldn't be more wary. I mean, will the government be using/are they already using these tools against us? Should I really be so supportive of a company that does EVERYTHING?!

I just can't help but love it, though. I am enamored. I am hooked.

Do I need help?

Ikea Hacking

Have you heard about Ikea Hacking? It's not new, but I had been thinking about it a lot this past weekend as I put together two lovely pieces of Ikea furniture. To "hack" an Ikea product means to either repurpose all or part of an Ikea item (make something totally new) or just modify an existing item (add some personal flair). It's very cool, and there's a whole blog about it right here on Blogger: ikeahacker.blogger.com.

I actually found out about Ikea Hacking while I was looking up info on upcycling, the making of non-disposable items out of discarded material. They're not the exact same thing, but you can see how they're related. In any case, I'm wondering if any of you out there know much about upcycling and/or what you all think about the term "upcycling" versus "recycling." I know that "upcycling" has a genealogy (though I don't know what it is). I guess I'm just wary of the the implications of the "up" prefix--like the new product is inherently better than whatever is is made out of. And, sure--non-disposable things are generally better than disposable, but why do we have to bring these judgements into it?

Relatedly, I also feel compelled to state for the record that I hate those "I am not a plastic bag" bags. They're almost condescending. And smell of self-congratulations for consumerism masked as politics. And they're ugly.

The end.


Ikea cat hack!

Is Resistance Futile?

Should I join Facebook? I have resisted for a long time. But now I feel kind of left out. I just can't get behind all of these "social networking" sites. Are we really "networking" here, or just making some asshole rich? I'm also against the faddishness of the New Cool Site thing. First it's Friendster; then MySpace; now Facebook. Why can't we just stick to one and not allow ourselves to be the pawns of capitalist forces trying to trick us into thinking that we're "connecting with our friends" when we're really just allowing them to gather demographic info so that they can sell us shit? The weirdest part is that I'm not really all that overly earnest or incredibly naive or even against buying shit--even though everything I've written here appears to be to the contrary. There's just something that seems so gullible about joining all of these sites.

Am I being crazy here? Am I missing something? Will you still accept my friend request?

Poet's Corner

I'm in a poetry class that makes me feel old. The upside, though, is that I'm getting to read some good poetry. Here's an incredible piece by Emily Dickinson for your reading pleasure:

Pain - has an Element of Blank -
It cannot recollect
When it begun - Or if there were
A time when it was not -

It has no Future - but itself -
It's Infinite contain
It's Past - enlightened to perceive
New Periods - Of Pain.

Why are cats the cutest?

Really. And how did they GET so cute??!!

Karaoke + Joey Fatone = Love

If you have not watched The Singing Bee, you should do it now (or on Tuesday when it airs)! No, it's not as great as real karaoke; but it's still pretty awesome. It features Joey Fatone as the host (and you know I have a soft spot for him); a live band with live, Broadway-ish singers; girls dancing around in their underwear; and a karaoke contest. What's not to love??!!

It is also far superior to the other karoake show, Don't Forget the Lyrics. That one gives karoke a bad, stupidly-drawn-out-in-a-way-
that-isn't-dramatic-but-instead-is-really-annoying name.

Peace Offering

Well, it's been a long time. So I've decided to share a few of the sites that have been keeping me occupied (and away from Blogger) recently. Here they are, in no particular order:

Weather Underground
As you may know, I'm into the weather and like to be informed about meteorological news. This site is great for all browsers, and my favorite feature is that it tells you how the next day's weather will compare to today's. For example, currently "Tomorrow is forecast to be nearly the same temperature as today." Why don't all weather sites and forecasts give you this information? 'Cause isn't that what we really need to know, anyway?

YouTube
Well, duh. But some of my preferred searches include "Tegan and Sara The Con," "Beth Ditto Friday Night Project," and "kittens falling asleep."

Ikea
The entire Ikea catalogue is now online. It's so mezmerizing!

Re-ment
So many minis!!!

Vagina Pagina
This is a great resource for women's health topics with useful and cool links to other health sites, sex-info sites, blogs, etc. Plus, no matter how your pronounce it (en español or rhyming English), it has an awesome name.

CuteOverload
Something happened and CO wasn't as cute as it had been. But now it's back with the full-on cuteness. (Whew!)

What sites have YOU been browsing/obsessed with?

Major League Woes

In case you didn't know, I became a baseball fan (well, an A's fan, to be more precise) during last year's play-offs. The fandom had been slowly growing ever since I went to a few A's games--and saw some games on TV; and heard some games on the radio; and sometimes saw the game on the TV and heard it on the radio (simultaneously) two summers ago. (Guess who I was living with!) But it really came into fruition the day I followed a game on ESPN.com, alone in my apartment, while wearing a rally hat and yelling at the cold computer screen. Suddenly, I was a Fan. And I had a few new crushes: Barry "Dreamboat" Zito (of course), Bobby Kielty (for the hair), and Nick Swisher (for the somehow gross-yet-alluring stoner quality). Well, and Houston Street is pretty cute too. In any case, I followed the play-off games and learned all kinds of fascinating facts about baseball and the team (but mostly about Dreamboat). Oh, and how I learned to love the LingO!

And then they lost! So sad. But I was looking forward to the next season 'cause, as you know, there's always next year . . .

But then--tragedy! Dreamboat left! (Yes, he deserves the money, but what about me?!) What was I to do? Follow him to the Giants--and that terrible orange color? Abandon all of my other junior Dreamies? But I couldn't leave Barry! He's 6'4"! He does yoga! He plays the guitar while surfing! (Well, something like that.) Oh, and he's a good pitcher.

So, anyway, now that the season has begun, I've decided that I must stay true to the A's. I check in on Dreamboat every once is a while, but it's so hard to see him in that drab uniform. And who cares about those other people walking around on the field with him? Unless Albert Pujols suddenly shows up on the Giants' roster, I will never be able to muster any more interest in that team. I do hope that Barry is happy there, though. And I sure hope he likes orange.

Anyway, the point of this post is just a lamentation over the loss of Dreamboat. I still have faith in the A's. And I'll keep wearing my rally hat! (Until they move to Fremont. Then I'll spend my days hatless, crying over times gone by--and for all of the dreamboats I once loved.)

Alanis, Fergie, or Jennifer Love Hewitt?

My supercool and awesome friend Gaby sent me this link to a crazy video on YouTube. You need to watch it now! And then tell me: Is Alanis making fun of herself or Fergie? I can't really tell. And, weirder still, I hope Alanis is making fun of herself because I'm feeling very protective of Fergie these days. Ever since I learned all of the words to "London Bridge" for a karaoke party a little while ago, I've had a soft spot for Fergie. I think it's her unabashed embrace of the nonsensical that has endeared her to me. (Or the fact that her case of swamp ass just might rival mine! I don't believe that "peed her pants" theory--also thanks to Gaby.) I do NOT like the Black Eyed Peas with Fergie, though. I don't know why. Well, I have an idea why, which has to do with a little song that some of us may know as "Let's Get It Started." But that was still Fergie. So, who knows how my mind works? Anyway . . .

Also on the topic of Fergie, I submit that she and Gwen Stefani are actually very similar. Some may say that Fergie is a bad imitation of Gwen, but I'm not sure that it's so one-way. Thoughts?

New Study Disses Day Care

Today, the New York Times reported (here) on a study that claims that young kids who are in day care for at least 10 hours a week for at least a year are "more disruptive" when they start school. And, apparently, this diruptiveness continues through 6th grade. (But then what? Everyone becomes equally disruptive? Or I guess the disruptiveness jusst becomes an equal-opportunity thing by that point.) In any case, I can't decide if the article itself is pointless--along with the study--or if it's just the study that's crap. This is how the NYT describes the new-found evidence of the day care/disruption connection:

The effect [of day care on behavior] was slight, and well within the normal range for healthy children, the researchers found. And as expected, parents’ guidance and their genes had by far the strongest influence on how children behaved.

So, what's the point of this study? And why report on it as if the findings mean anything? I may have a bit of a personal bias against the anti-day-care position, partially because it seems to go hand-in-hand with a discussion of stay-at-home vs. working moms. Um, hello? Haven't we decided that mothers are not the only people who are responsible for or capable of taking care of children? And maybe the problem is with how preschoolers are scoialized in general. Or the weird chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, and mutant genes in their food. Or the way they are expected to behave/are treated once they get to school. But it's probably just easier to blame it all on moms. 'Cause we know they don't care about kids anyway.

Hello again.

Hello, dear readers. I'm back! It's been a while since I posted here, but--in my defense--I do have two drafts of posts waiting to be born. I'm not going to post them now, though. One will eventually show up here and the other will probably just remain a reminder of time gone by. But I will tell you that my list of pet peeves includes the words, "tummy," "yummy," and "comfy." And now, in the spirit of newness and positive thinking, here are some things for which I am grateful:

• modern dentistry
• hippie food
  
• The Search for the Next [Pussycat] Doll
• karaoke with friends and/or strangers
• flash drives!

And there you have it.

Who are you rooting for to become the next Doll? I'm not totally sure. Probably Sisely. But I don't have as many strong feelings about the Dolls (except toward one contestant, but to say it would go against my positivity pledge). I do, however, have very strong feelings about Diana on America's Next Top Model. (I heart her! A lot.)

Blog for Choice

MNS told me that today (ok, technically yesterday, but I haven't gone to sleep yet so for me it's still today) is Blog for Choice Day and that bloggers for choice are encouraged to blog about why they're pro-choice.

So, here it is: I'm pro-choice because I believe that no one should be forced to give birth. I've never articulated my stance so succinctly or in that exact way before, but I think that that's it in a nutshell. At a reading for her co-edited book, Bitchfest, Lisa Jervis encouraged the audience to start calling the anti-choice movement the "forced childbirth movement;" and I liked the idea. I don't know if it's necessarily the best possible phrase out there, but I do find it helpful to move away from the notion of "choice" as what appears to be the only widely recognized way to articulate a "pro-choice" position. "Choice" is tough to define and harder to assure that everyone has. "Choice" also has a kind of flippant or mutable connotation that doesn't always suit abortion--"choice" as a broad concept, I think, is difficult to separate from the more ubiquitous and specific notion of "consumer choice" in the US. Abortion isn't merely about "choice" or even "rights," but about labor, health, opportunity, binary gender, notions of family . . . the list goes on. To frame the debate as an issue of "choice" may, strangely enough, move the discussion too far from the fundamental issue in the "abortion debates": who decides when and which women can or cannot give birth? But even now we're touching on forced sterilization, reproductive healthcare, organization of the workplace and the economy . . . again, the list goes on! So why not just parse it down to the bare bones problem: no one should be forced to give birth. Sounds right to me.

What does everyone else think?

Charlotte and Miranda choose their choices.

Total Overload

If you do nothing else today, go to Cute Overload. Watch the videos of the tiger cub and the scuba diving cat. You. Will. Die! Of cuteness!

Official Loser

Well, I have lost the Blog-a-Day Challenge. Yesterday was a kind of crazy and mixed-up day, and I just forgot to post something! But I guess that's how these things go. The good news, though, is that I won't have to write (and, more to the point, you won't have to read) things like "Who doesn't like Keanu Reeves?" and "I love coffee" just to have something posted for that day. My new challenge is to write more interesting things every time I post. Can I do it?

Coffee = Life

I love coffee. The taste, the smell, the buzz--all of it. So if a hippie holistic healer asked me to give it up, would I? Well, if all of my problems could be solved by simply skipping the coffee in the morning, I would consider it. But any less of a pay-back really doesn't seem all that enticing. And really--how can it be that bad?! It's so good!

I do wonder if these are just the words of an addict. Am I just taking the defensive, predictable stance by saying, "I don't have a problem! There's nothing wrong with this!"?* Maybe. But I think I can live with a caffeine addiction. I am pretty happy to allow myself that fault. Is that crazy? What do you think?

*That's some tricky punctuation but I don't have time to figure out if it's correct, so I'm just gonna say that it is.

Ugh.

Not that many things have happened today, but it still sucked. Part of the sucky-ness has been due to my thoughts about my life (e.g. that it sucks). I'm reading this book called It's a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths about Life in Your Twenties, so that should give you an idea about where I'm coming from and where I'm about to go. The good thing about the book is that the worries and problems that the writers discuss certainly echo my own. So at least I don't feel like I'm totally crazy. But I can't really envision the happy endings (or at least the happy twists on the endings) that these women offer. Yes, it's true that I'm holding out hope for my thirties to mark the beginning of a new and better era, especially as my twenties come closer and closer to their end. ('Cause it can't get much worse than this, can it?) But I really doubt that I'll be so wittily appreciative once it's all said and done. Will I really feel so warmly nostalgic for the ways in which this decade of my life made me the "smart, sassy woman that I am today?" I doubt it--and not just because I don't think I would ever use the word "sassy" so seriously. I think it's more likely that, looking back, I'll write something like this: "The best part of my twenties was falling in love with all fifteen of my cats. But I really could have done that at any age."

[Note: There are a bunch of things that I like about the book, though. And one of the best ones is the name of a stuffed animal that's a mini daschund: Weenis! So good!]

I'm still here!

Hello, dear readers. Did you think I wouldn't post this before the midnight deadline? It was a close call, but I'm still in the running for the meager jackpot that is the prize for the blog-a-day challenge.

Someday I promise to write something more substantive. Until then, I will simply offer these musings about Keanu Reeves: Who doesn't like Keanu Reeves? Really. Even though he may not be the (ahem) best actor, there's something about him that's just, well, great. Yes, I will admit that I had a HUGE crush on Keanu when I was about 12, but I don't think that's clouding my judgement here. Hello!? Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure? Classic. Point Break? Awesome. The Matrix? Only OK, but still fun to talk about.

And I'm out the door!

So, I'm about to head out to a special-club club. Are you intrigued? Well, you may never know where I'm going. Getting ready to go out, however, has got me thinking about make-up and getting-ready rituals. I really like the getting-ready ritual, especially if it involves make-up, getting-ready partners, drinks, and party music. It may be my favorite part of going out. Closely followed by drinking enough so that EVERYTHING is funny and a great idea. We'll see how tonight goes . . .

Grey Gardens are full of cats!

MNS and I watched Grey Gardens (the documentary about Jackie O's relatives, Big and Little Edie) a few days ago. It was very exciting because I had wanted to see it for a long time. And why did I want to see it? Well, I'm not afraid to admit that it was NOT due to my inherent I-know-what's-cool quality, but rather because Lorelai and Rory watch the documentary in an episode of Gilmore Girls. But it's such a cool show that I'm still cool, right?

Anyway, my favorite things captured in the documentary were all of the cats that live at Grey Gardens! The raccoons that Little Edie also feeds were not very cool, but the cats were awesome. They were everywhere. And so cute! I think my favorite one is the one who pooped behind the portrait of Big Edie. LOL!

Relatedly, the significance of two crazy single ladies with a ton of cats is not lost on me. But I've always been a fan of crazy cat ladies; and I'm not afraid to admit that I am well on my way to being one. However, I will NEVER, EVER live with raccoons. They're hands are so creepy!

Totally fascinating information

This is a little bit of a cop-out post again. I'm about to watch Kirstie Alley's famous bikini-clad appearance on Oprah. And I've been thinking about this article from the New York Times that laurenj wrote about on her blog on Monday. It discusses the growing popularity of sending home body mass index (BMI) reports for school children and touches on the "problem" of "obesity" among kids. So I'm going to have to post something about Fat soon, but it's going to take more than the twelve minutes I have left now before midnight. So this is just a (mostly unnecessary) post to say that I will discuss this issue in the future.

Scraping the Barrel?

Here is a tip from Lucky magazine to me to you:

To remove deodorant traces (a.k.a. "white residue") from a shirt, simply wipe the stuff with an old pair of nylon pantyhose. (OK, you may have to wipe it several times.)

Some of you may find this to be useless or boring information, but I personally love this kind of "unusual uses for ordinary things" thing.

Does anyone have other useful tips to share?

Grades = Problems

Yesterday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Kyle Dowd, an '06 graduate of Duke University and former member of their lacrosse team, is suing the school and a professor for a grade that he received in a political science course last spring. As you all may recall, last spring was when three members of the Duke lacrosse team were charged with the rape and kidnapping of a woman who had been hired to strip at a team party and tension was high, to say the least, on campus. Dowd claims that Dr. Kim Curtis failed him in the course due to her prejudice against him as a lacrosse player and association with the case, even though he was not personally charged with any crimes. Dowd originally received an F in the class, but the university changed it to a D after he filed a formal complaint and they determined that the F had been the product of a "calculation error." Curtis maintains that Dowd's grade was based on a poor final paper and excessive absenses. Dowd is suing for a passing grade on his transcript and $60,000 in damages.

Obviously, there's more to this story: the kid wasn't going to graduate on time with the F in the class (though he did, ultimately); the professor's name is on an ad that sympathizes with the woman who accused the guys of rape; Dowd's other papers for the class were C quality, not F; the only other failing grade in the course also went to another lacrosse palyer, etc. In any case, it seems possible that the F was, in some part, a result of bias on the professor's part. 'Cause, well, why not? And, if that is the case, it is certainly a problem.

But the bigger problem is that grades are pretty much always products of biases--in the sense that they are rather subjective and fairly arbitrary. (I think this is true even in "hard science" courses that base the grades on test scores alone.) And what is the legal precedent for determining whether a paper deserved an F or not? And is it really OK to sue for damages that include a tuition refund for the cost of the semi-failed course?

I feel pretty torn about the whole thing. First, I don't believe in grades so I have a hard time thinking about the "meaning" of the F (and the D). Since I have given grades to students, though, I do think that failing someone in a course is pretty severe. In my mind, a student really has to put in no effort and/or turn in absolutely incoherent or inappropriate work to flat-out fail a class. But, since there is no single standard for grades, it's hard to say whether someone else's definition of an F-quality performance is valid or not. And, if the circumstances were different--say a female student were suing a male teacher for sex-based discrimination with similarly ambivalent evidence--I would probably feel a little more certain about the appropriateness of the lawsuit in general. I mean, I support challenging grades that seem unfair. But I also think that grades are kind of meaningless; so is a lawsuit really the answer to these issues?

What do you think?

(You can download a copy of the lawsuit from this article from Fox News. [Try not to freak out or throw up from the outrageousness of the article itself. And the fact that the article is part of the "ifeminists" series is a whole other issue!])

Five Truths and No Lies

So, MNS tagged me to do this thing where you reveal five truths about yourself. And since she is one of my few faithful blog readers, I have to comply. Here they are:

1. I can't remember when I started to drink coffee every morning, which seems weird because I drank tea in the morning for years and years and then somehow switched. Does anyone else remember when or how this happened.
2. I once stole a Barbie bag from a friend (a bag for Baribe herself, so it was small). But then I felt horribly guilty and gave it back--without anyone knowing that I had been the one to take or return it--a little while later.
3. I believed in Santa Claus for a very long time.
   
4. I have had several dreams that involve losing my teeth.
   
5. My therapist is MIA. (Does that count as a truth about me?

And there they are! If anyone else has a truth that they would like to share, please feel free to do so in the comments. 'Cause comments are cool and fun! And my comments area is neglected.

Also, if anyone can tell me how to get my line spacing back to normal after using the list-making function thingie, please leave that info in the comments too.

Kind-of Review: The Notorious Bettie Page

For the record, I liked The Notorious Bettie Page. It wasn't exactly all that I had hoped it would be--or that it could have been; but it did succeed in many ways. The acting was great. The costumes were awesome. And the production quality was impressive. In general, Gretchen Mol was a good Bettie Page. And, yes, I will admit that Bettie Page herself was quite slender. But she had a bit more junk in the trunk, as they say, than Gretchen Mol has to offer. So the pin-up poses were OK when Gretchen was Bettie, but they didn't quite live up to the originals. Gretchen Mol herself is not quite pin-up material (which is not to say that she isn't attractive), but she did a good job with what she had.

There were a few semi-substantial problems with the film, though. One was the dialogue, which at times seemed contrived and stilted. And the overall story seemed to only touch the surface of the issues that it raised: Bettie Page's general biography; Page's reconciliation of her religious beliefs with her scandalous work; censorship; sexuality; and perversion. Mary Harron, the film's director, says in the DVD extras that she wanted to make a film that was equally about the life of Bettie Page and "sex in the fifties." But the whole thing comes across as a quick, outline edit of much more rich material. The film itself doesn't really say much about the material that it covers. All of the characters are sympathetic, but they also lack any real depth. The censorship issues are interesting, but the senate hearing scenes are mostly notable for their historical accuracy in set design, costume, and voice. There are a lot of holes and gaps in the film, and the pacing a bit awkward. So it could have been better. But the sylized black-and-white scenes; the retro lingerie and fetish-wear; and the hint of Bettie Page's naughty/nice persona are enough to make it worth a Friday night.

I Heart Bettie Page

I do heart Bettie Page, and My New Shoes and I just rented The Notorious Bettie Page. I was supposed to have seen this movie already for free (which is a long story), and I'm still a little sad that I didn't. In any case, I am both excited and apprehensive about it. Skinny Gretchen Mol as the curvy Bettie Page? I'm skeptical, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Relatedly, I wish I was a burlesque performer. I don't think it will ever actually happen, but I'm pretty sure there's an outfit involving pasties in my future. Or pasty-making! OK, honestly, I do want to learn to sew lingerie kinds of things (mostly undies). And that's my confession for the day.

The worst kind of failure

So, I entered a blog-a-day blogging challenge yesterday and promptly lost it. I didn't blog! On the first day! It wasn't on purpose; I just forgot. It is depressing, though, for two reasons:

1. I think it may have cost me five bucks.
2. How could I have failed so miserably and so quickly? I'm already feeling like a general failure and this just feels like the final nail in the coffin. Or whatever.
   

But there may be hope still. Will my fellow bloggers allow me to start again? Today? This time for real? I hope so.

Maybe the fact that I had an idea for a post yesterday will swing the vote in my favor. I was going to write about Courtney Love's diary-excerpt book, Dirty Blonde. (Yes, again.) Because my last post was about an article about the book and now I have a copy of the book itself. I've only read the introductions and about two pages, but I think that my assessment of the book may be different from Ariel Levy's. (I have to wonder why I was so quick to agree with her before--because I rarely agree with her in general. But what's done is done.)

OK, maybe this is a boring thing to write about since I don't really have anything to say about the book yet. But I will add one thing: I was shocked to see that Professional Feminists Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner (of Manifesta fame) have written the afterword to Dirty Blonde. What will they say?! And how were they chosen to write it? I know they think that they're so hip and, it seems, punk rock. But they are not. Just 'cause one is blonde (and gay) and the other wears skirts (often brown and tweed-ish, I might add) does not mean that they are cool and/or radical enough for COURTNEY LOVE!

I think that so-called Third Wave Feminism (the caps are important here) needs a new face (and a less condescending tone). The awesome women over at Bitch magazine could fill in here. (Deborah Solomon's semi-recent interview with Bitch editorial and creative director Andi Zeisler in the New York Times Magazine proves Ziesler's abilities quite nicely. [I'm looking for a free copy to link to.]) But I really think it should be me.