Tuesday, July 26, 2011

"All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom; they're not quite present when you talk to them. They communicate to you through a barely discernible but un-ignorable veil. Whether a homeless smack head troubling you for 50p for a cup of tea or a coked-up, pinstriped exec foaming off about his speedboat, there is a toxic aura that prevents connection. They have about them the air of elsewhere, that they're looking through you to somewhere else they'd rather be. And of course they are. The priority of any addict is to anesthetize the pain of living to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief." -Russell Brand in a letter about Amy Winehouse
I cannot wait for the day I can afford lingerie this nice. 
Dear FOX News,
Eat shit and die. 
Sincerely, The rest of the world.
You know you have shitty friends when its your birthday and they are asking you for things, oh and not just once, but multiple times over the night. Some people have no fucking manners at all.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I saw Mulholland Drive when I was in high school and remember thinking to myself afterwards that I had no idea what the hell just happened. 
I present to you the entire problem with our society at this very moment. 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

I can haz drugs? Post-modern culture and the quest for perfection

British singer Lily Allen has been in the tabloids and all over the internet lately, due to comments she made regarding american culture, her comments can be found below:

 "I hang out with models, the biggest pop stars and, you know, really and honestly, I hate saying this, but none of them are achieving those body shapes by being healthy. They’re not just going to the gym two hours a day. They’re not eating or they’re taking speed not to eat. In America everyone abuses that Adderall stuff and people aren’t normal." 

Her comments have received mixed responses from blogs and new websites, some calling her "self-righteous" and claiming her statements are a gross over-exaggeration. I personally have no trouble at all believing Lily is telling the truth, and am more surprised that people are so taken aback by her statements.

First thing we need to consider are her statements about the modelling industry specifically; American society has long held models and supermodels in very high regard, because they are considered to be some of the most beautiful women in the world. Their bodies and their perfectly symmetrical faces are traits that american women aspire to. Make no mistake about it; the mainstream media's pre-occupation with modelling and perfection as a standard of beauty have caused a massive shift in standards of identity. Women everywhere are under the impression that if they can somehow attain this impoossible standard of beauty, that they will finally achieve happiness. And this mindset is only a small part of a much larger cultural shift that is uniquely American: Perfection.

America is undoubtedly one of the most powerful and influential countries in the entire world, and because of this we are all convinced that we need to be the best. At everything. Which brings me to Adderrall. The CEO of a fortune 500 company and someone like Adriana Lima or Rosie Huntington Whiteley both have the same motivation: to be the best at what they do. And millions of us Americans feel the exact same way. We must be the best at what we do, because mediocrity means nothing. It's inconsequential. And in a world where everything has the ability to become an Internet Meme, Inconsequential just won't cut it. It's like we are all trying to actuate Andy Worhal's idea that in the future everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes. We have translated this to mean that everyone in the country must be famous, must be exceptional, in order to even matter in an existential sense. This need for absolute perfection and superiority is unattainable to most people, so what are they left to do? If they want to matter at all, then they must succeed at all costs. And what other way is there to achieve perfection in a society with an attention span no longer than the length of a commercial, than to augment yourself with prescription/illegal substances. Advances in medicine coupled with modern society's obsession with anything "new" drives us to use whatever resources are available in order to improve our chances at success. It's why athletes use steroids. These days there is a prescription solution to almost every medical problem a human could possibly have. Back in the 50's, before Amphetamines were made illegal, factory workers and office workers would use "speed" in preparation for the 14 hour work day that awaited them. Benzodiazapenes were heralded as a miracle for people suffering from anxiety and depression, and not an eyelash was batted because science was the way of the future and drug use was not yet vilified as the past time of the "counter culture." That coupled with the emerging evidence that Amphetamines and Opiates were highly addictive were what made drug use simultaneously abhorrent and glamorous at the same time. It was unacceptable for regular people to use drugs, but it was OK for celebrities because their lifestyles were both unattainable and unimaginable to "regular joes." That was the 80's and 90's. But somehting happened. And that something was called High Speed Internet. In the days of dial up, it cost precious time to be able to access things like email and AOL.com (gasp) so people's time spent browsing the web was limited; they were connected to the rest of the world, but only at 56kbps. They were forced to interface with the real world. But now, in the glory days of the 21st Century, it takes about 5 seconds for me to load up my Gmail, Facebook, and Reddit.com. Literally the entire world is at my finger tips as I type these words, and this fact has done wonders for celebrity culture. Now instead of just hearing rumors about how Kate Moss does coke in the bathroom at photo shoots, I can see pictures of it on Perez Hilton!

There's also this phenomenon unique to the Internet where Everybody can be famous. Everyone has an opinion, and when they want to share it without worrying about the social ramifications of their thoughts, they turn to the internet. And so celebrity culture has finally become something attainable, but it comes with a price...before everyone accepted that they would never be as great as Marilyn Monroe or Joe DiMaggio, and that was OK. Now, you too can be an exact replica of Marilyn Monroe for the right price. With enough money, society tells you, you can be and do anything that you want. Understandably people have taken this to heart. Mundane human problems like Insomnia can solved by a little Ambien for the price of your provider's Co-pay. Depressed? Well There are about 6 million different drugs you can take for that too, believe me, I have tried a few of them. Can't focus? You must have ADHD, here take this Adderrall! Don't have any problems? HAH are you sure about that? Wouldn't you rather buy this eyeshadow and these high heels and this weight loss DVD and be absolutely sure? Our growing connectedness to everyone else around us coupled with our absolute obsession with making as much money as humanly possible has caused us to seek out a solution for every single one of our "problems." Can't bench press 1000 pounds for 20 reps? What's wrong with you man? Oh wait, here's some steroids, you're all set. And in a culture that obsesses over perfection and where millions of people are all fighting for their piece of the spotlight; for the validation of their existence, don't you think they might try to cheat the system? I do.

Being a recent College graduate I can speak intimately to the effects our Postmodern culture has had on my generation. When I was a senior in high school (2007), Yale had an acceptance rate of 6.4%, and Harvard came in at a measly 7%. And yet we all felt somehow that we should have gotten in. These obviously unrealistic standards had been drilled into our souls by well-meaning teachers who preached that we are all smart and special and bright, but in our own unique and beautiful ways. I personally went to a state school, having been wait listed at all my other schools. But it didn't matter that I was at a state school, and I am certain it wouldn't have mattered what university I went to at all (going to Harvard or Yale only means you can spend more of your parents money on drugs). We were expected to be the best. We were expected to be the brightest, and anything less than an A was irrelevant.Whether that's true or not, it is the standard of our culture. To get a job, you better have a transcript full of As and a novel's worth of extra-curricular activities. Hell, I had to work almost 30 hours a week while going to school full time just to make the rent. I can also tell you that my generation's mentality about recreational drug use is far different than my parents. We are the ADHD generation. When our parents couldn't handle the stress of dealing with children with far more energy than they would ever dream, they gave us drugs to calm us down. My brother, who is a generation behind me (the cusp of the "Tweens") really does have severe ADHD: he had to repeat kindergarten. So in order to function in normal society, he had to be medicated. For him, Adderrall was a life saver. But then other people; my friends, your friends, and maybe you and me, heard about this wonder drug and decided to give it a try; surprise, Adderrall for people without severe attention problems is like giving Barry Bonds a corked bat (the steroids are only more to my point). It's a wonder drug. Tons of energy, motivation, drive, without the hassles of sleep and food that get in the way of work and partying. Wait, you're telling me I can spend all week going to class, working 6 hours a day and partying like the assholes on Jersey Shore all night, and then take this pill the night before my final, study all night and get an A? Where do I sign up? I am sure if there was a list of everyone who used Adderrall for anything other than ADHD, it would be long, and a sizable amount of the people you know are on it. It doesn't just stop at college though. Yeah it might be time to put away the dope for a while so we can pass our drug tests, but as long as a doctor says I can take it, it's not abuse right? In order to pay off my student loans, maintain an apartment, remain fashionably relevant (woman only requirement) and be able to afford that snazzy iPhone or Android all my friends have, I have to work like 80 hours a week. God forbid I should settle for just "average". So what do we do? We do what our parents taught us; we go to the doctor. Self-medication, and Self-Augmentation have become the American Way, and this culture of impossibly high standards has created a need to improve ourselves beyond our own physical and mental limitations. Welcome to the Future, If you can't keep up don't worry; There's a pill for that.

And our society's paradoxical obsession with perfection and aversion to altering one's consciousness with min-expanding drugs is a bed time story for another time.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Casey Anthony Found Not Guilty

It would be hard to find a person who does not know who Casey Anthony is in our media soaked society, so I won't belabor the post by explaining the trial. Did she kill her daughter? Probably. Is it the jury's fault that she is going to go free? NO. Unfortunately, the jury's job is not as a council of elders, making decisions based upon assumptions and wisdom. The job of a jury is to assess innocence or guilt based on the evidence they are provided with. For someone to be found guilty, it must be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt. Since there was not much physical evidence here, there was reasonable doubt. The jury had no choice but to conclude that there was not enough evidence to link Casey to the crime, and therefore had to find her not guilty. I am sorry that there was no physical evidence, and that the guilty parties didn't just fess up to their crimes, because in this case nobody wins. A little girl is dead and her killer is out there somewhere, newly free or free this whole time? Will we ever know?

Happy Day

Got a job interview!!!!!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Salma Hayek's husband is the father of Linda Evangelista's four year old son...

The child was conceived in 2006; when Hayek and Pinault were separated. Hayek and Pinault would go on to marry in 2009. I guess technically in this case it was not cheating because they were apart, but there was obvs still something between them because they got married later. I guess it just goes to show, that no matter how beautiful a woman you are, a man will go off and f*ck other women. Why? Because he can? I don't know. If anything, this just makes me think that the reason men cheat has nothing to do with the women they are with, but more to do with the fact that they are weak, and prone to sticking their dick in places they shouldn't, because they can.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Men are mercenaries
They ally themselves with the highest bidder, 
The one's willing to give the most up for them, 
They stick around, assuring you that you are getting your money's worth, 
Until they make their kill, and claim their rewards, 
Then they are gone, 
In search of another customer. 

Women are Samurais, 
Loyal to their masters, 
Willing to do anything for them, 
Following a code of honor, 
even at their own expense, 
and when their master cries 'Seppuku!'
They comply, 
Twisting their Katana inside themselves, with a smile. 
As everybody knows, the news media has a tendancy to spend the most time talking about violent crimes, because that gains the most viewers. But it also has the effect of skewing viewer perspective about the amount of crime going on in their city. By this I mean that they hear only about crime happening around them and assume that the amount of crime is going up. But people used to only have access to the news via the papers or on TV, which necessarily limited the amount of time they had to spend reading the news. But now that there is the internet, and most news sources have gone digital, news and current events are available at literally any time of the day. And since people spend much more time on the internet than they did reading or watching TV, their perception of how much crime is going on is shooting up rapidly because they are exposed to it for longer periods of the day. But is this perception true? Is there more crime than before? Or is the news media skewing our perception to make us think there is more than there actually is?

R.I.P.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

TrueFact:

The Internet does not in fact represent the real world. The internet represents an amalgamation of random thoughts and negativity guarded by anonymity, that, because of social norms, has no place it the "real world." Oh yeah, and Cats. :)
The only man I would ever trust with a joint bank account is my father. Marriage may be a contract but I'm not stupid.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." -Rousseau
Stephanie Meyers has done more to retard the progress of gender equality than Eve herself could have ever hoped.

Gay, Straight, or Bi? -It's none of your business.

I was overjoyed to hear that New York has finally passed law recognizing the legitimacy of same-sex marriage. It is a step in the right direction for equality...but has obviously rattled a few cages and the same old bigots have resurfaced, with their hateful speech and their ignorance. Personally, I think a person's sexual orientation is none of anyone's business unless they are having sex with you. Sex, love, and intimacy, contrary to what others would have you believe, is not something that should openly be ruminated about by anyone other than the involved parties. I find stories about celebrity couples to be stomach turning and a waste of my time, and as any of my friends will tell you, I will probably never ask you about your love life unless you mention it first.

I want to slap every man or woman in the face that ever claimed that allowing homosexuals the right to marry one another would ruin the sanctity of marriage. These are the very same people that are cheating on their wives and husbands, fathering illegitimate children, and getting caught up in scandals with underage boys. What could ruin the sanctity of marriage more than infidelity? Nothing, because marriage is about a promise. It's a contract, made between two PEOPLE.

"Well, if the gays are allowed to marry, then why don't we make incest or bestiality legal? It's all the same right??" No, you fucking retard. Incest is a horrible crime, which at it's core consists of the theft of innocence, and the betrayal of trust, and the shattering of reality for one child, at the hands of the one person they trusted in this world. And bestiality? Don't get me started, we have seen men and women marry all sorts of inanimate objects and try to marry animals. This is kind of the same dynamic, where one adult person of sound mind is usurping the rights of another. Go ahead and marry whatever barbie or ken doll you like, I certainly don't give a fuck, but please, don't touch my dog.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that I would have preferred to be the child whose two lesbian moms lived happily ever after, as opposed to yet another child from a broken home. I feel more betrayed by my parent's failures at keeping the marriage vows that they recited in front of their preacher, than by a couple of men or women that just want to have the same right to love each other that I get.

So please, world, get your head out of your fucking ass and realize that there are more important things in this world to worry about than who is fucking whom.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Why Religion Makes No Sense:

Say you are a christian, and you believe that Jesus was crucified for your sins and rose from the dead three days later. Say you believed this so thoroughly that you would die for it. There are people who live and die with this belief every single day. Well guess what? There are millions of people halfway across the globe that believe something completely different from you, and live and die by that belief every single day. So, which one of you is right? You'd like to believe that it's you, but the truth is that it is neither.
I am currently reading White Oleander, and it's really good. There is one character that caught my attention; that of Olivia Johnstone. In the book she is basically a high-end prostitute that the main character, Astrid, idolizes for her seemingly comfortable and privileged lifestyle. But you quickly realize that Olivia is not all what she seems. Her shiny exterior gloss covers up a hollow inside, where there is no Love, but only a means to an end. I was reminded of her because I also just found this blog, http://iamstrippergrrl.posterous.com/ which is filled with the ruminations of a woman who is a stripper, and that also has a small daughter. It piqued my interest because the blogger/stripper seems to love her job and revels in the attention she gets from the men at her work. I wish I could ask the stripper whether she thought of her job as demeaning, empowering, or neither. While I place no judgement on her, as it's really not my place...I can't help but wonder if she is being honest. The reason I would never choose to become a stripper is that I personally would feel demeaned for doing so. I hardly consider myself a feminist, but it's hard not to recognize what the dynamic is like in a profession like that. If I were a stripper, the attention I receive would be solely based on my attractiveness and my sexuality. The men that go to strip clubs are obviously not there to talk politics, they are there to look at my tits. I realize that women possess a unique type of sexual "Power" that men don't have, but there is more to me than my tits and ass. And how can it be called "Power" if it is contingent upon the approval of men? Power should be without condition. But, stripping is really no worse than every other entertainment based industry; strippers are just more honest about it. Sex sells, and we have used women's beauty to sell everything from burger king to furniture. Despite our best efforts, we still live in a Man's World. 

Yellow Ledbetter- Pearl Jam

"...On the official bootleg release of 5/3/03 - State College, Pennsylvania, Vedder sings "I'd like to wish this war away, and I tried but it just, just don't happen, don't happen that way/And my brother...they sent him off to fight for the flag, I just, I don't hope he comes home in a box or a bag", and "And I know that he's just following his path, as long, as long as it's not a box or a bag..."
Christians' biggest mistake is believing that God created morality.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

The Truth About High Fashion

Critics have scolded the Fashion industry ever since I can remember because they do not represent the "average woman ." Well the truth is that High Fashion isn't about the average woman. High Fashion is about class and money. Designer clothing costs lots of money, and therefore only wealthy people are able to afford it. wealthy women and men are not average at all. They have the money and the time to whittle themselves down to a size zero and can look good in something that would look like a potato sack on your "average woman." This is why I love and hate fashion all at once. I am an outsider looking in at something I will probably never be able to attain.