"Indian Summer" by Dorothy Parker

In youth, it was a way I had
 To do my best to please,
And change, with every passing lad,
 To suit his theories.

But now I know the things I know,
 And do the things I do;
And if you do not like me so,
 To hell, my love, with you!

Shame on you Kate. Shaaaame.

Guilty! For appearing in public with no makeup. ...Must have been a slow gossip news day for the London Daily Mail.

"Dressed in a hoodie and coat with jeans and unkempt trainers, the 33-year-old looked in desperate need of a stylist."

Do you really care that Posh Spice likes high heels? Really?

I like Posh Spice. I wish she hadn't been seen with the book Skinny Bitch, thus giving the idiot authors a ton of money--but I caught an episode of her American show one day, and she was funny. So. Apparently she's addicted to high heels, and the internets is filled with this quote about how she doesn't work out because that would require wearing flat shoes. ...Apparently no one believes that celebrities might have a sense of humour? That they might be "taking the piss" as the expression goes?

Anyway, I came across this tabloid article in Mail Online, and I find its tone offensive (see excerpt below.) The author isn't just saying "Oh it's a bit silly to wear dangerously high high heels all day," but decides it must be because she has low self-esteem, and that it makes her a bad mother: "Consider how long it must take her to get ready to go out, when she could be playing with her children instead." That's just sort of disturbing. The title of the article is "Why can't Posh Spice just be an ordinary mother?" Umm maybe because the tabloids follow her around all day, calling her weird?

The only thing I know about Posh's parenting, is that she lets her child appear in public in an zookeeper outfit, aviator shades, and a Santa hat. And I'm pretty in for that.

***

"Victoria Beckham is 34 and a mother. Isn't it a little undignified to be so thoroughly and absurdly concerned with your appearance at her age - even if you are a celebrity and even if you are launching yourself as a fledgling fashion designer?

...Your exterior only needs to look so super perfect if things aren't so good inside.

Somehow, Victoria ends up looking like she's got something to hide. Fat calves? I don't think so. Low self-esteem is more like it."

Oh Fatty... you must be SO unhappy

Why do people--"experts"--jump to the automatic conclusion that because someone has gained weight, they must be stressed out or unhappy? Oprah is one of the worst culprits, and so is Richard Simmons. (I believe Simmons genuinely cares about people, but his tearful pity seems demeaning sometimes.)

Despite Jessica Simpson's protests that she's happy with her life, her tour, and how she looks, Simmons just had to weigh in with the old She Mustn't Like Herself. Yawn. I've totally gained weight this year, and I still think I rock.

Photoshopped Covers (an oldy, but a goody)

See the article here about Faith Hill's radical photoshop surgery. (Hey, most people gotta go to Auschwitz to get great arms like that! Grr.)

New Column: sex! sex! sex!

I've decided to add a new column to the right, for videos. I decided to add it as a column, instead of regular posts, cause I don't know how regularly I'll add things.

I was just watching an old live performance of Bruce Springsteen singing "I'm On Fire." And it's soo sexy, I wanted to post it. Often sexiness becomes reduced to the shiny boys and girls of music pop videos, but it's a lot more varied than that.

I'm not saying that The Bruce isn't just plain good looking (and back in the day: muscled), but the real sexiness of this performance comes from the rawness of the emotion, and the artistically fantastic song. Once that bass kicks in... yowza! Reminds you that the term "rock and roll" most likely began as a sexual one.

Ah to be sexy and 9 years old again!

There's been some discussion in Runway Land the last couple years over models being too skinny. But this photo reminds me of how much that skinniness is a factor of age... When models are made up, and strutting around with The Pouty Look, they look older than they really are.

But look at this shoe-trip-up photo. The accident has brought out a certain candor, and suddenly the model (Monika Jagaciak, same as the above pics) looks exactly her age: 15 years old. And not in a sexy-jail-bait way... but in a this-is-your-kid-sister way. (Click on the photo to see it larger.)


Below are some of her modeling pics... which are definitely of the Lolita variety.

There's some controversy as to whether models should be allowed to do runway before the age of 16; but I'm less worried about the individual girls (chaperoned by parents) than I am about this extremist version of a society that worships youthfulness. Wishing you were 18 again is one thing... but who the hell wants to be 9? Seriously... I'm not fantasizing about living at home, having a bedtime, and learning my times tables.

Of course, then there's the whole sexualization of little girls... luckily I don't have any children and don't have to worry about that on a personal level.


(I have a little girl, but she comes with fangs and always-sharpened claws. I pity the tom who treats her like a sex object.)

Models Falling on Shitty Shoes

It's painful to watch these women (girls) teetering on unstable shoes. It's one thing if the shoes are just a weird prop for the runway show (though stupid, because it distracts the audience), but another thing if you actually designed these shoes for women to wear. As would be the care here, since it's Prada. In which case... as one woman in the video said, it's disturbing.

I like the self-affirming poppy songs

A song caught my ear from Brandy's new album, called "Camouflage." It's about ending a relationship with someone who doesn't accept you with all your faults, and thereby ending the "camouflage" of pretending to be someone you're not. I'm in for that.

It's also about improving yourself, even if the pace is slow--that working on your faults is a lifelong process. In for that too. We pay a lot of lip service to the "no one's perfect" mantra, but a lot of people have trouble applying that to themselves.

Along those lines, I really like these two metaphors in the song:

"I'm a storm that's rising
And getting stronger with every hour."

"I'm a train that's moving
And every day I'm picking up steam."

I'm in. Way to go, Poppy Song Writer, whoever you are.