Wednesday, February 27, 2008

sign of the apocalypse


My mom took me to the Clinique counter at the King of Prussia Mall for my 14th birthday. I learned what makeup colors look best on me (purples and browns compliment blue eyes) and how to apply mascara (start from the base of the lash for the fullest effect). I was a freshman in high school and was into makeup and fashion. Now, this wasn't my debut into the makeup world- I'd be dying my hair and waxing my brows since I was in 7th grade. But this was my rite into womanhood- the part of womanhood that involves looking pretty.
To no one's surprise, "kids today" are starting their beauty/pampering regime much earlier. Much earlier. The New York Times reported on a group of girls-the youngest of whom was six- getting "mani/pedis" at themed parties aimed at very young girls. Sign of the apocalypse: the phrase "makeover" being utilized by six-year-olds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/fashion/28Skin.html?hp

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

a t-shirt is worth a thousand words.


Former Presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut endorses Barak Obama.
In other news, Marc Jacobs endorses Hillary Clinton. And made a t-shirt.

hate tuesday, february


love striped shirts, dogs, men with side parts.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Words to Live By

"Only those who have already experienced a revolution within themselves can reach out effectively to help others"

-Malcolm X

Saturday, February 16, 2008

happy birthday, so



I was dancing when I was twelve
I was dancing when I was aaah
I danced myself right out the womb
Is it strange to dance so soon
I danced myself right out the womb

t.rex, cosmic dancer

Thursday, February 14, 2008

valentine

Free love? As if love is anything but free! Man has bought brains, but all the millions in the world have failed to buy love. Man has subdued bodies, but all the power on earth has been unable to subdue love. Man has conquered whole nations, but all his armies could not conquer love. Man has chained and fettered the spirit, but he has been utterly helpless before love. High on a throne, with all the splendor and pomp his gold can command, man is yet poor and desolate, if love passes him by. And if it stays, the poorest hovel is radiant with warmth, with life and color. Thus love has the magic power to make of a beggar a king. Yes, love is free; it can dwell in no other atmosphere.
.emma goldman

Allen sez

"It isn't enough for your heart to break because everyone's heart is broken now."
-Ginsberg

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

A six word memoir is hard.

Let's stop focusing on the world around us and focus once again on ourselves!

This is a neat idea and there are some celebs (s. colbert, yo mama) can share a lot with just 6 words. Quite challenging when you think of how many words are out there...
Give it a shot!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Yes We Can




As motivational this is, I have to ask can we really?


http://www.dipdive.com/

Monday, February 11, 2008

love.


oyster bay, new york


There is only one serious question. And that is:
Who knows how to make love stay?
Answer me that and I will tell you whether or not to kill yourself.
Answer me that and I will ease your mind about the beginning and the end of time.
Answer me that and I will reveal to you the purpose of the moon.
-tom robbins, still life with woodpecker

Sunday, February 10, 2008

monday



make it work.

(bright colors are in for spring!)

The First Feminist

XIII. The First Feminist

1When first I chased and beat you to your knees
2And wried your arm and marked your temple bone
3And wooed you, Sweet, and won you for my own,
4Those were not hairless-chested times like these!
5Wing'd saurians slithered down the charnel seas
6And giant insects glistened, basked, and shone,
7And snag-toothed ape-men fought with knives of stone --
8And wise she-spouses mostly aimed to please!
9But were not you the Primal Feminist
10Ten hundred thousand years ago, my Love,
11When we were first incarnate? I will say
12Women Expressed themselves e'en then, Sweet Dove!
13I do recall as if 'twere yesterday
14That time your teeth met through my dexter wrist.

Don Marquis (1878-1937)

Friday, February 8, 2008

wow.

Dear students:

Did you know…

A flu pandemic has hit every 10 to 50 years throughout recorded history.
The 1918-1919 Spanish Flu pandemic killed an estimated 21 million people worldwide.
Experts around the world believe that it is only a matter of time before another flu
pandemic will occur.

Are you wondering…

How UVM is planning to respond to a flu pandemic?
How you could protect yourself and your family when a flu pandemic hits?

These are questions many of your colleagues are asking. In response, the co-chairs of the
Emergency Management Planning Working Group, Al Turgeon and Estelle Maartmann-Moe, are
sponsoring the following open fora for University employees and students who want to
learn more about the University’s planned pandemic response.

· Monday - February 11^th from 2:30 to 4:30 pm - Davis Center - Sugar Maple Ballroom

· Tuesday - March 18^th from 3 to 5 pm - Davis Center - Livak Ballroom

I strongly encourage all interested students, faculty, and staff to attend. This is your
opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, discuss your concerns, and receive an update
on how the University’s planning efforts are progressing.

For more information about emergency response at UVM, including information on the
pandemic response plan, visit www.uvm.edu/emergency.

_____________________________________
J. Michael Gower
Vice President for Finance & Administration
University Treasurer
University of Vermont
(802)656-0219
(802)304-1069 Fax
michael.gower@uvm.edu

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is
that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness
that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, famous? Actually, who are you not to be?.... Your
playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you.... When
we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.
-Marianne Williamson

Monday, February 4, 2008

The Key to Success

I'm starting to realize I'm most productive when I'm not doing the work I should be doing. When I have a paper due, you can bet that my room is immaculate, the dishes are clean, and I’ve probably done all other (easier) work for my classes. After all, the only way to guiltlessly avoid writing a paper is to find something else productive to do. When all other more minor assignments are done (work, mind you, that would not even have been done at all if it hadn’t suddenly become the lesser of two evils), I’ll begin preliminary research for my essay by checking out Wikipedia. Quickly losing interest in what I should be researching, I’ll click the little blue hyperlinks (I don’t think I’ve ever made it through a full article) and all of a sudden I’ve gone from one article, to the next, to the next, until I’ve ended up somewhere that's totally unrelated to where I began. How else would I know what the lithosphere is?
Fine, my paper isn’t done, but look at everything else I’ve accomplished! So I have to wonder: is procrastination a dangerous evil, or really, the key to success?

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Separate but Equal?

Let's talk about the construction of gender and gender relations here, now, in the twenty-first century.
Actually, let's talk about the shit still associated with being a woman in the 21st century. 100 years ago, women were fighting for the right to vote. 40 years ago, women were fighting for the right to have abortions. Now, we can vote, and we can have abortions. (sort of.) Right now, it seems that we're winning another right: the right to be treated as objects. This fight has been pretty easy, possibly because of the mass of women behind this cause. It's amazing what sheer numbers can accomplish.
So if it is twenty-first century America and we're all enlightened and free, why do I still have to wonder whether or not I am viewed and respected as a human? When a teenage boy yells at a woman on a bike "I have a banana seat you can ride," or when a man yells out his window at a woman in a skirt "make it a little shorter, desperate," or when a she politely asks a man to stop making offensive jokes and is then told that he'll wait till she's not around because women need to be protected, and then is identified by men as a man-hating "feminazi" for voicing her non-acceptance of these instances, women are not seen as human beings, let alone equals.

Yes, I have a "rack," we all do. Is this what is standing in the way of being treated as an equal? Women and men are biologically unique, and many experts make a strong case for innate psychological differences as well. But I still don't think that should excuse males from acting as unperceptive idiots seemingly incapable of acting like they have the capability for rational thought, whether breasts are involved or not.
Or should it? Does the media fuel this behavior by presenting women as simple and wanting nothing more than male attention? Can you blame a man when he thinks a woman is running in a tank top for his pleasure when that's what they do in the movies?
At what point do we stop acting within our biological roles (nature)and start acting how we thing we're supposed to, ie how we see ourselves portrayed in the almighty media (culture)?


This topic, while largely left unexplored outside the realm of universities womens' studies classes and downplayed elsewhere, has so many implications and and avenues to explore that it's virtually impossible to come to a concrete answer: women should not use their sexuality to get what they want, it objectifies them and degrades them. That is not power or progress, patriarchy by another name. OR, men are stupid, ie easily swayed by a little cleavage, so why not use it to get what you want? That's power. Men and women are not biological equals, and should not be treated as such. OR, we are both humans capable of rational thought, therefore deserve equal treatment.

This argument is so old it seems cliche, and it wouldn't be relevant were objectification of women not now more the norm than ever.