Humor is such a complex thing. There are several theories about what it is, how to recognize it, and we create bonds with others based on their similarity to what we perceive to be our own sense of humor. Sometimes we pay for structured humor by going to a comedy show, or a movie or something. In my opinion, the most satisfying humor is the day-to-day quirks of strangers being themselves. Especially using the Internet as a mask from behind which they write all kinds of unintentionally hilarious shit.
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/stp/738767815.html
http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/stp/773079941.html
http://columbus.craigslist.org/stp/766498654.html
http://columbus.craigslist.org/stp/769085008.html
Thanks,
2buns
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Fat Princess and Feminism
Since when did the term "feminist" carry such a negative connotation-- like feminists are the new fundamentalist religious radicals around whom you can't have any fun because "they might get offended". Apparently, in the last several years, feminism has evolved into this outlandish idea that women have every right to be heard, seen, and feel feelings as men do. Any women that seems to give a shit about anything is one of those "crazy feminists". Meanwhile, the personals ads are overrun with men who are looking for a woman with a brain and yet do not know how to treat such a foreign being because they are not used to anyone with an ponytail and an opinion.
Deep breath.
The point is, is that I am totally pissed off about something that doesn't even concern me, specifically, but is just so insulting to humans in general that I have to say something about it. Sure, it is easy to go with the flow - to accept stereotypes just because they exist, and to not speak up when someone uses commonly accepted language as a silent weapon against you or people you care about, but it is more rewarding for me personally to reject even those commonly accepted things that carry insulting undertones with which I just do not agree.
For instance, Sony's new video game: Fat Princess. No, I am not kidding, there is actually a game on the market called Fat Princess. The title itself is perhaps a little tasteless, but the object of the game is what is mind-blowingly insulting. It's your typical princess-stuck-in-a-castle game, wherein she needs rescued (groan), but players can feed the princess cake to make her fat so that she can't be rescued and carried away.
Wait, what?
Without even touching upon the traditional gender imbalance inherent in these kinds of video games from the inception of the Super Mario series, this game is basically ascertaining that when the princess is skinny (as she starts the game to be), that she is able to be rescued and have her freedom. But, when she's been locked against her will in some castle being force-fed cake, she must remain a prisoner to both her captors and her own fat ass. In short: a fat princess can't be rescued.
Two points here:
1. The reinforcement of fat people as being a target of ridicule is alarming and infuriating. Yes, it is true that this nation is constantly struggling through obesity crises, however, marketing a game that will surely do nothing to address this issue properly is unnecessary. I can already see young children (girls AND boys, although this plays more in to gender stereotypes than I am claiming here) being ridiculed with this game as armor.
2. What the hell kind of market does Sony think they are marketing to?!
Moreover, I grow increasingly more critical of journalism (if writing on the web is still considered to be journalism) when something like this that I feel infringes upon the happiness of several different groups of people, is reported throughout the headlines as an event that is "outraging feminists". Why am I being pigeonholed here? Why can't just decent people be outraged? Moreover, have you ever seen a story that reported that feminists are pleased? How about this one: Feminists Embrace Decency.
Deep breath.
The point is, is that I am totally pissed off about something that doesn't even concern me, specifically, but is just so insulting to humans in general that I have to say something about it. Sure, it is easy to go with the flow - to accept stereotypes just because they exist, and to not speak up when someone uses commonly accepted language as a silent weapon against you or people you care about, but it is more rewarding for me personally to reject even those commonly accepted things that carry insulting undertones with which I just do not agree.
For instance, Sony's new video game: Fat Princess. No, I am not kidding, there is actually a game on the market called Fat Princess. The title itself is perhaps a little tasteless, but the object of the game is what is mind-blowingly insulting. It's your typical princess-stuck-in-a-castle game, wherein she needs rescued (groan), but players can feed the princess cake to make her fat so that she can't be rescued and carried away.
Wait, what?
Without even touching upon the traditional gender imbalance inherent in these kinds of video games from the inception of the Super Mario series, this game is basically ascertaining that when the princess is skinny (as she starts the game to be), that she is able to be rescued and have her freedom. But, when she's been locked against her will in some castle being force-fed cake, she must remain a prisoner to both her captors and her own fat ass. In short: a fat princess can't be rescued.
Two points here:
1. The reinforcement of fat people as being a target of ridicule is alarming and infuriating. Yes, it is true that this nation is constantly struggling through obesity crises, however, marketing a game that will surely do nothing to address this issue properly is unnecessary. I can already see young children (girls AND boys, although this plays more in to gender stereotypes than I am claiming here) being ridiculed with this game as armor.
2. What the hell kind of market does Sony think they are marketing to?!
Moreover, I grow increasingly more critical of journalism (if writing on the web is still considered to be journalism) when something like this that I feel infringes upon the happiness of several different groups of people, is reported throughout the headlines as an event that is "outraging feminists". Why am I being pigeonholed here? Why can't just decent people be outraged? Moreover, have you ever seen a story that reported that feminists are pleased? How about this one: Feminists Embrace Decency.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Honoring a Food Blogger
Due to total cliche reasons about the world becoming more of a technological society, the people that we e-meet and correspond with online are just as much of a part of our lives than the people that we actually know and sometimes do not even see that often. I'd venture to say that I have stronger bonds with some people with which I do not or can not spend a lot of face time, as opposed to people I went to school with and spent hours upon hours of sharing physical space. I do not think that this speaks to the fact that we are becoming isolationists, I just think that the way that we socially interact has changed.
Today, I discovered that one of the women that authored a frequently-visited food blog passed away suddenly. I felt no less sympathy and sadness than if I had learned a friend had passed. I re-visited her blog and saw this following passage, as written by her husband:
Many of the regular visitors to What Did You Eat? have already heard the tragic news that this site's creator, Sherry Cermak, died on July 20, 2008 of a sudden heart attack. Sherry was part of two wonderful blogging communities. The food bloggers, which was the main topic of What Did You Eat?, and the cat bloggers where she posted updates on the lives of her cats and rescued wildlife (squirrels) on WCB. Sherry shared parts of her personal life on her blog, most recently her anemia and what she was cooking and eating to improve her blood count. She had started a new blog "My Battle with Anemia", but died before she could make the initial posting.
As a fellow anemic this was difficult to read, but to visit her blog and see her entries just days earlier filled with the enthusiasm of beating her illness and trying to craft her recipes around her deficiency was heartbreaking and inspiring.
Tonight, I will be making one of her recipes in her honor. Hopefully Sherry was aware of how many strangers and e-friends she had in her life before it was taken from her.
Today, I discovered that one of the women that authored a frequently-visited food blog passed away suddenly. I felt no less sympathy and sadness than if I had learned a friend had passed. I re-visited her blog and saw this following passage, as written by her husband:
Many of the regular visitors to What Did You Eat? have already heard the tragic news that this site's creator, Sherry Cermak, died on July 20, 2008 of a sudden heart attack. Sherry was part of two wonderful blogging communities. The food bloggers, which was the main topic of What Did You Eat?, and the cat bloggers where she posted updates on the lives of her cats and rescued wildlife (squirrels) on WCB. Sherry shared parts of her personal life on her blog, most recently her anemia and what she was cooking and eating to improve her blood count. She had started a new blog "My Battle with Anemia", but died before she could make the initial posting.
As a fellow anemic this was difficult to read, but to visit her blog and see her entries just days earlier filled with the enthusiasm of beating her illness and trying to craft her recipes around her deficiency was heartbreaking and inspiring.
Tonight, I will be making one of her recipes in her honor. Hopefully Sherry was aware of how many strangers and e-friends she had in her life before it was taken from her.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
You Live... Where?
I don't think I could buy a house on a street if I wasn't ready to embrace the name of the street on which it was located. Just today, returning from Easton, I passed a street called Leather Stocking Trail. I mean, seriously? How are you going to explain what a Leather Stocking is when your children want to know?
"Oh, it's like socks. Made of dead cow skin. Arranged in such a manner so that it acts as a path if you ever wanted to follow them to get somewhere."
I recently ran into someone who had visited some family in the Columbus/Gahanna area and asked if Cherry Bottom road was a joke. The rest of the crowd burst into laughter at the mention of "Cherry Bottom". Moreover, do you really want to have to give these directions:
Take Cherry Bottom all the way to the Freedom Ridge, and then just follow Leather Stocking Trail all the way here.
Uh, what kind of party is this again?
In other news, hearing the song "I'm so Excited (and I Just Can't Hide it)" when you are not excited is some form of sick punishment
"Oh, it's like socks. Made of dead cow skin. Arranged in such a manner so that it acts as a path if you ever wanted to follow them to get somewhere."
I recently ran into someone who had visited some family in the Columbus/Gahanna area and asked if Cherry Bottom road was a joke. The rest of the crowd burst into laughter at the mention of "Cherry Bottom". Moreover, do you really want to have to give these directions:
Take Cherry Bottom all the way to the Freedom Ridge, and then just follow Leather Stocking Trail all the way here.
Uh, what kind of party is this again?
In other news, hearing the song "I'm so Excited (and I Just Can't Hide it)" when you are not excited is some form of sick punishment
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wii NES
Subtlety is incredibly sexy. Does the Nintendo Wii come straight out and hand everything to you at once? No. You have to work hard at it, get better at some things at which you have previously sucked, and then -- out of nowhere -- you get some new stuff unlocked. And you know what you're doing the entire time that you're waiting out moments in between unlocked songs or games? Thinking about how great it is going to be when you finally get another one.
I think a lot of people could benefit from a similar dating structure.
I think a lot of people could benefit from a similar dating structure.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
If You're Not Waiting for Something, You're Just Waiting.
Recently, I spent 5 days in Florida -- which, if you've ever been to Florida you realize this is 4 days too many. This well-deserved (says me) time off of work thankfully coincided with the release of the new iPhone, which, I wasn't at all interested in until I realized I had the day off and could thus spend it standing in line.
I had planned to get there early. 6am early. Then, I realized that taking my mom and grandma to the airport would thwart these plans, and that if I were still going to commit to the iPhone line, I would have to meet up around 9:45 and probably bring up the rear of the line behind all of the people that got there way before the 8am release. Again, I had the day off. So I did it. I waited in line for the iPhone.
I did it for the experience. The experience -- which saw survival of the fittest and most patient. I weathered the hot Florida sun and humidity, the threat of a downpour, Apple POS system crash they blamed on AT&T, achy feet from standing in heels, and free McDonald's hamburgers. McDonald's --never one to miss a marketing opportunity -- was the official cater of the iPhone line. All the hamburgers, Desani water, and apple dippers you could eat: $0, 6 hours of waiting.
Comments from passersby outside were at a minimum, however, when we graduated from Line 1: outside, to Line 2: inside, mall patrons were less forgiving of the cumbersome line crowding their mall. In such a way that strangers communicate the most pertinent bit of information they can in their passing moments, it is amazing what some of the observers verbally left behind.
Basically: they were better than us. The International Plaza Mall -- snooty even by its namesake -- is not the most forgiving place to wait in line.
An older, petite woman, who appeared sharp in nature, critical in expression, and poised as though her entire person had been raped from a high-end boutique's front, vapid mannequin powered by the line and demanded to know why we were there. She wore a color of green I could never afford.
"What. Are you waiting in line for?" She asked, to no one in particular.
"The iPhone," several people responded with vigor that was oddly excited and exhausted.
With the upward wave of a wrinkled, wretched wizard's hand, she cackled upward into the air as she dramatically tilted her head back and released the coldness in her soul. "Ha!" The echo of her laughter enshrouded all whose eyes were upon her and minimized them to a pile of dust underneath the condescending demeanor of someone who has never waited in line for anything. Anything at all.
I had planned to get there early. 6am early. Then, I realized that taking my mom and grandma to the airport would thwart these plans, and that if I were still going to commit to the iPhone line, I would have to meet up around 9:45 and probably bring up the rear of the line behind all of the people that got there way before the 8am release. Again, I had the day off. So I did it. I waited in line for the iPhone.
I did it for the experience. The experience -- which saw survival of the fittest and most patient. I weathered the hot Florida sun and humidity, the threat of a downpour, Apple POS system crash they blamed on AT&T, achy feet from standing in heels, and free McDonald's hamburgers. McDonald's --never one to miss a marketing opportunity -- was the official cater of the iPhone line. All the hamburgers, Desani water, and apple dippers you could eat: $0, 6 hours of waiting.
Comments from passersby outside were at a minimum, however, when we graduated from Line 1: outside, to Line 2: inside, mall patrons were less forgiving of the cumbersome line crowding their mall. In such a way that strangers communicate the most pertinent bit of information they can in their passing moments, it is amazing what some of the observers verbally left behind.
Basically: they were better than us. The International Plaza Mall -- snooty even by its namesake -- is not the most forgiving place to wait in line.
An older, petite woman, who appeared sharp in nature, critical in expression, and poised as though her entire person had been raped from a high-end boutique's front, vapid mannequin powered by the line and demanded to know why we were there. She wore a color of green I could never afford.
"What. Are you waiting in line for?" She asked, to no one in particular.
"The iPhone," several people responded with vigor that was oddly excited and exhausted.
With the upward wave of a wrinkled, wretched wizard's hand, she cackled upward into the air as she dramatically tilted her head back and released the coldness in her soul. "Ha!" The echo of her laughter enshrouded all whose eyes were upon her and minimized them to a pile of dust underneath the condescending demeanor of someone who has never waited in line for anything. Anything at all.
Close to the Heart
Today's observation is pretty simple: if you have your boobs hanging out, people are much more forward in approaching you.
I have worked promotional jobs in which we weren't required to wear any sort of uniform, and I rarely got approached or asked out whatsoever. Last night, I got two email addresses, three compliments on my legs, and a marriage proposal. It's all about the boobs.
I have worked promotional jobs in which we weren't required to wear any sort of uniform, and I rarely got approached or asked out whatsoever. Last night, I got two email addresses, three compliments on my legs, and a marriage proposal. It's all about the boobs.
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