This little jerk bit me on Thursday night because Charity just haaaaad to save it. He’s now at animal control being monitored and will most likely go to the Champaign Humane Society to get adopted out when he and his brother get cleared from having anything bad.
In other news, my internet in my home has gone byebyes. I have a bad feeling I will be out of internet until late July, when I get into my new place. We shall see.
I joined the new artist internet network, Crafthaus, a month or two ago when Jon and Connie showed me it. I didn’t think much of it, but they are getting to be a ton of people on there. The creator, Brigitte Martin, messaged me this morning — they put the picture of my entropic movement number one as the header for the week. Cool.
The network can be like Etsy — selling work is an option — and the profiles are similar to facebook and myspace. It’s a portfolio on the internet for all to see. Artists with or working towards BFAs and MFAs are target members. The general idea is to stick to artsy fartsy and what type of things the member is making. Bonus: Brigitte Martin is currently based in Pittsburgh! HECK. YES.
I have the sudden urge to update this website. Uh oh.
You can check out my main page up in here, browse around or whatever: me page!
This is my new camera. I’ve owned it for 3 hours. It’s approximately the same size as my Sony dsc-h2 and weighs a pound or three more. This guy shoots in RAW format. RAW allows fine manipulation of the image, including but not limited to: fill light, hue, exposure, vibrance, and other things not really thought about. It’s able to shoot in both RAW and .JPG at once, creating two files for easy viewing. Be still, my heart; I still need a charger, zooming lens, and lens filter.
Stats for the dorks:
Canon EOS 400D aka the ~Rebel~ xti
2.5″ viewing screen
built-in flippy flash
CF storage
Canon Lens EF 50mm (what i have for now)
10 megapixel capability
auto sensor cleaner woohoo!
Yay for craigslist.
Next on the things-i-shouldn’t-buy docket: inspired by Cam’s need for a mixer for recording, now i’m looking for one after trying to record Branwyn. Result: when hooked from the amp, there is a crazy electricity interference buzz with both the XLR and 1/4″ outputs. When Branwyn is plugged directly in, no sound gets captured. Stupid passive pickups. I’ve recorded Betsy before with a giant Phonic mixer, but i want the bumbum Branwyn packs that Betts lacks. Also, I would like to have something more compact than 16-channels.
Another way to go about it would be using an instrument microphone like an SM57. I’m wary about micing (”miking?” that looks like “viking” only lamer) when it comes to bass. If you have any ideas, shoot them my way. Or Cam’s. I guess. I GUESS. Guitar for him, bass for me, awesome for all. Barry, stop living far away goddammit.
ROACH (Ruthless Organization Against Citizen Heroes) is a reaction to the heroes who have been popping up in the last few years. Men and women have been taking super hero aliases to be goodniks in a world of sad. Naturally, the eventual plan is for world domination. The leader of ROACH, the Potente, keeps a blog as a way of relaying news to members.
You, too, can join this taskforce against crazies in tights!
ROACH
Troubling News - The Hatchet Applies to ROACH BiA
BREAKING: The Hatchet Now In R.O.A.C.H. BiA
Meet Real-Life Supervillain Society ROACH [Citizen Evil Genius] io9
Google reader is a RSS feed reader, placing them all in one site to read. I didn’t fully compute that the “shared” items can be seen publicly — my understanding was it was a friended-greader-gmail-people-i-know type deal. But it doesn’t have to be!
HERE: click these words here for my greader!
Because you care, this list has all the things I read that I found interesting and labeled as something to share. I have the ninja header yay. Think of it as another link to click when you ran out of your standard stops. Damn you, Google. You make sharing a fun but distant process.
Newsweek: Are We Turning Our Kids into Generation Diva?
Okay, even Newsweek is talking about it: female American kids being super duper obsessed with the way they look and getting treatments to look more attractive is the norm. Apparently it is now standard for little kids to get haircuts that cost the same as 20 comic books. That’s 50$ to normal people. That is lunch for a work week spent on getting your ten-year-old’s hair did.
Consider this: according to a NEWSWEEK examination of the most common beauty trends, by the time your 10-year-old is 50, she’ll have spent nearly $300,000 on just her hair and face. …today’s girls are getting caught up in the beauty maintenance game at ages when they should be learning how to read—and long before their beauty needs enhancing. Twenty years ago, a second grader might have played clumsily with her mother’s lipstick, but she probably didn’t insist on carrying her own lip gloss to school.
Is it really that bad now? Just in the big cities or everywhere?
I admit I was totes intrigued by the idea of keeping lip-covering substances on my person at all times, but I didn’t actually put it on because it tasted bad and rubbed off in a few minutes time. When kids go beyond the comfort of being okay with their own body into the world of never being good enough before their bodies are developed — mentally as well as physically — how do they create a stable self-image? Appearance continues to change over time, and when something isn’t “right,” when something happens to tip the little microcosm in their brain to instability, how are they going to react? Is this a simple case of retail therapy training, or are we going to push the kiddles into the brain meds a bit more quickly due to the incomplete feeling created by the ideal image? How are people managing their bodies? How attainable are their beauty or health goals? Is health even part of the equation?
MANY QUESTIONS THAT I CANNOT ANSWER.
Both men and women have enough body issues and insecurities without the addition of a huge body inferiority complex. It’s called being a teenager — wanting to fit into society. There are those who pointedly go the opposite of mainstream acceptance and end up being put into the category of (extreme) counterculture or (lightly) going through a phase. Either way, we all fit somewhere. As far as I experience, that’s what normal is. It can be an active or passive process.
Being okay with the way oneself appears is an indirectly learned thing. Idk if it’s being taught well if at all. I’m guessing it’s becoming a “do as I say, not as I do” type of lesson. Saying everyone should like their own body sounds great, but when the same people saying it spend an hour on makeup in the morning, or covering their graying hair with color while making a fuss about it, it sounds a tad disingenuous.
This other part of the article makes me wonder how much is amped up anti-media propaganda and how much is real. But what if it is real… this sucks.
these days, body dissatisfaction begins in grammar school. According to a 2004 study by the Dove Real Beauty campaign, 42 percent of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner, while 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of getting fat. “When you have tweens putting on firming cream”—as was revealed by 1 percent of girls in an NPD study—”it’s clear they’re looking for imaginary flaws,” says Harvard psychologist Nancy Etcoff. [link added]
I want to know how big these studies are and where they happened because I refuse to think it’s actually going on. Da Nile. I’m in it. This commercial, however, continues to rock.
Further digging reveals some fun articles on body image and how little girls are learning how to interpret body hair. This article on MSNBC talks about ten-year-olds getting bikini waxes and one salon’s “virgin” wax deal. People are getting their kids dehaired early on to “permanently” remove pubic hair because their mothers tell them it is ugly. It becomes considered a deformity. Half the time the kids probably aren’t fully developed or aware of how their body acts in adult form.
Isn’t it enough to accept a body as being imperfect, and the imperfections give it interesting parts to learn and explore? Telling her the way her body grows is gross seems like an awful lot of stress to put on a kid. Idk. I’m throwing a lot of loaded questions out here.
Shit like this is easier said than done when kids really do have a lot of body hair early in life. Any time in life really… additional hair can give people complexes. Me and my full face of hair know that. I keep it in check. I pluck, shave, and wax random parts of my body so that I look good according to the accepted concept of attractive. I’ve had laser facial hair removal six times only to have it grow back with a vengeance. Really the only hair that bugs me is on my face. The rest I leave alone half the time. My body was programmed to have it. But then, my ovaries are programmed to create multiple large cysts that create their own painfests of inconsistent popping, literally making my body sick until it passes. Maybe the programming isn’t always right.
Who am I to tell an eight-year-old to not worry about the hair on her legs when she’s as middle eastern as I am and getting made fun of for looking different? Besides somebody speaking from experience, just another adult trying to fight the good fight. While waxing my tummy.
There’s an in between somewhere in all of this.
I have room for one diva in my life, and she is covered in hair.
Are We Turning Our Kids into Generation Diva? newsweek
dove campaign for real beauty
Bikini Babies: Preteens and Summer Body Image recipestoday.com
Too young? Preteen girls get leg, bikini waxes msnbc
EDIT: pix are up.
Yesterday I disembarked from my safe bubble of awesome, Chambana, to preview the possible future of my lyf. My mom and I are traveling the southwest of the United States, and I will be keeping track of thangs on this guy. I wrote a live blog of sorts to capture the moments of driving to Chicago and flying into San Diego on my phone and emailed it to myself. Pictures will be updated when I am able to access the internet with my own laptop, which isn’t possible at this time.
832PM central
Cylons are in San Diego.
820PM central
Landed. I wonder who won basketball tonight.
806PM central
Final descent. Turn off phone.
8PM central
20 minutes til we land.
751PM central
Ungrateful kid finally looked out the window. Is now grateful. Less
miffed due to her adorable reaction.
749PM central
Holy crap… Im really going to California! HOLY MOLEY
742PM central
We are so checking in right at midnight o’clock EST to get window
seats. On level four. I am progressing. Tweedle, Like, Omigod! Dee
seems interested in my game and keeps looking over.
738PM central
Holy shit, those are mountains out there! Damn my aisle seat! Damn me
giving up that seat! That little kid isn’t looking out the window at
all! Kids appreciate nothing these days!
736PM central.
Yup. Im traveling with my mommy.
731PM central
Brick breaker time, bitches. Time to bust that record.
708PM central
Woke up from nap. There is a kid wailing slooowly like a siren on a wambulance.
527 PM central
STUPID KNEE. Reminder to start hardcore rigorious leg stabilizer
workout upon return. Need to look up how the knee works.
513PM central
I miss riding horses.
507 PM central
Work on jeff’s sweater song instead. Water was too cold.
502PM central.
Stupid knees. Nap attempt number one.
459PM central
Oh good. Tweedle, Like, Omigod! Dee has busted out the Seventeen magazine.
Tweedle, Like, Omigod! Dum’s name is Kara.
456PM central
Man with septum piercing likes lorna doones as well. Rock.
453PM central
LORNA DOONES BEAT SHITTY BAGGED CHOCO CHIP COOKIES
443PM central
Learn best actress nominees received a pushup bra and thong panties
with diamonds and pearls on a pin. Urge to scream repressed by social
contract with fellow passengers.
Panty is a disgusting word.
441 beverage order
Tall drink of water for me, please. Mom’s reading.
432PM central.
There is talk of fresh chocolate chip cookies on the magic speaker box.
422PM central
Electronics allowed back on yaaay. Liz and Julie are keeping to
themselves. The originals are telling each other how mean they are.
Reading US Weekly. Remembering why I don’t read US Weekly.
414 PM central
’sit back and relax, or hey! Lean forward and be tense!’
It would be nice if people knew closing the window shades brings the
temperature down literally ten degrees. The valley high school girls
are going strong. One in front is Liz. Other is Julie.
407PM central
oh, they have two friends in front of us.
406PM central
sienna miller can bite my ass
403PM central
Have boarded plane. Have up group of two seats I scored to lady with
little girl. Am now next to the valley duo, names TBA.
13 PM central.
Showed mom random pictures on laptop due to editing to pass time. Many
pictures with lip ring involved. Mom Looks received. Oh the guilt! My
self expression, let me show you it. Being squashed. Rediscovered kick
ass picture of grandpa and uncle uncle Jim. Crisis averted.
240 PM central.
Wonder about brackets. Hate Barry for getting me involved.
218 PM central.
Sitting at terminal, see bag. Ultimate man purse? Maybe.
116 PM central.
Bush and barbed wire is protecting my vehicle in the car lot. I
feel safe. Text parental unit concerning arrival.
115PM CUTE BABY ALERT.
113PM central.
He left! The spot is mine. Fuck the bus is here!
110PM
In midway parking lot. Douchebucket in a beamer SUV sittin pretty
playing with his OFA toys. No other possible spots in the lot. Go
knock on window, ask if he’s leaving. Snot gives me 5 minutes answer.
Douchenugget.
1025am central.
Fuel gauge still says empty with my full tank. Poop.
1030 vertical horizon
1022am central
I don’t really get these live blogs that sports guys do, but I have a
feeling there will be a lot of downtime during this upcoming week. For
those who I don’t talk to or avoid eye contact with, I’m traveling to
the southwest of the United States with my mommy to visit potential
areas I can live and/or work in with this alleged art degree I’m
getting. Um about to make the journey to the big city. Getting gas.
Aha! Full tank achieved.
DID YOU KNOW: Fiona thinks she is a bracelet.
DID YOU KNOW: She is not a bracelet.
^What happens when I get a camera and need to be “professional.” Okay really I was checking the mark distance and shadow placement and didn’t set the focus.
