Today's news of the sudden death of Brittany Murphy from cardiac arrest is all the more sad and poignant for those of us who grew up knowing and loving her since the Clueless days in 1995.
Though Hollywood has experienced plenty of celebrity deaths recently, this might only be the second time that someone I have personally idolized and whose career I've followed has died within my lifetime. The first was Heath Ledger, which was shocking to me both because he wasn't much older than me and because I'd been a huge fan since the first time he appeared, greasy-haired and brooding, in 10 Things I Hate About You.
It was the first time someone whose posters I had plastered on various dorm room and bedroom walls, whose movies I could recite by heart, had passed away. When I found out, I was in the office of the newspaper I was interning for at the time, staring blankly at the anchor on Newsworld (no, I will NOT call it NN) who was telling me my favorite young heartthrob was dead. How was this possible? He was beautiful, talented, young, rich, famous... did I mention beautiful? It took months for me to stop doing a double-take when I heard people talk about him in the past tense, and seeing The Dark Knight a year later was disturbing, especially since his time spent in character as the Joker was credited as one of the factors in the medication cocktail that led to his accidental overdose. It will never stop being bizarre to me that he is dead -- just this week I saw the first bus-stop posters for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and it gave me a jolt.
Hearing about Brittany Murphy gave me similar feelings, though I can't claim to have spent quite as many hours mooning over pictures of her as I did of Ledger. Almost every girl I know who was born in the 80s practically grew up quoting lines from Clueless. For better or worse, that movie shaped the way we perceived Hollywood, teenagers, dating, and the high school clique system. Though critics would point to its idolization of the rich, white and thin as a horrible influence on young girls, its true fans know that it was tongue-in-cheek and promoted good values in the end. Besides, it's based on Jane Austen's Emma... and nothing based on Austen, however loosely, can ever be just fluff.
My point is that for the first time, my generation is seeing our own personal idols start to pass away in a most disturbingly human way. We weren't old enough to get it when River Phoenix died. I was ten years old when Kurt Cobain committed suicide. Likewise, the people who've been the most affected by the recent passing of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, are the ones who grew up with them and watching them. If you remember where you were when the Jackson 5's biggest hits came out, or when the Thriller video basically invented MTV, or when every single one of your female classmates and their mothers had the Farrah Flip, those stars were your peers and it's a shock when you realize they are mortal.
Brittany Murphy was only seven years older than me -- I watched her grow up from an awkward 18-year-old playing a comic-relief outsider to a glamorous actress capable of playing the confident independent woman or morbidly complex roles. She was underrated in Hollywood while she was alive, and I am sure her tragic death will bring out oodles of the kind of praise MJ got -- the dubious kind that often rings false.
But today, we -- her oldest fans -- will honour her the best way we know how... by remembering her least-polished but most-loved performance.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Nickelback named band of the decade
.....Really?
Apparently, much to my disgust, "Billboard has released a list of the top music stars of the 2000s based on chart success, and Canada's Nickelback was the top group or duo, ranking No. 7 overall." (according to the Globe and Mail)
The top single artists were Eminem, Usher, Nelly, Beyoncé and Alicia Keys.
SERIOUSLY?
Eminem is a genius in his own messed-up way, and Alicia Keys is beyond talented, I'll give you that much, but I probably wouldn't have put her in the top ten artists of the decade. I guess this just reaffirms why I no longer listen to pop radio, if that list demonstrates what the airwaves have been offering for the last 10 years. Come on, NELLY?
The guy who came out with the song that sounds like a clapping/skipping game I played during recess in Grade Two?
If anyone needs me, I'll be in a corner somewhere, weeping for the musical soul of North America.
Apparently, much to my disgust, "Billboard has released a list of the top music stars of the 2000s based on chart success, and Canada's Nickelback was the top group or duo, ranking No. 7 overall." (according to the Globe and Mail)
The top single artists were Eminem, Usher, Nelly, Beyoncé and Alicia Keys.
SERIOUSLY?
Eminem is a genius in his own messed-up way, and Alicia Keys is beyond talented, I'll give you that much, but I probably wouldn't have put her in the top ten artists of the decade. I guess this just reaffirms why I no longer listen to pop radio, if that list demonstrates what the airwaves have been offering for the last 10 years. Come on, NELLY?
The guy who came out with the song that sounds like a clapping/skipping game I played during recess in Grade Two?
If anyone needs me, I'll be in a corner somewhere, weeping for the musical soul of North America.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Shout-outs
I've had a bunch of new blogs and websites on my radar lately-- god, I can't even say the word radar anymore without immediately hearing Britney and the correlating gay-dar spin-offs in my head. You see what you're doing to me, Britney??!
ANYWAYS. The radar, yes?
A Canadian girl goes to China, conquers all
A friend of mine is embarking on her second adventure as a teacher in Asia. First in Korea and now in Shanghai, China, Ms. Clare is an unbelievably funny and insightful blogger... when she gets around to it. She's the first to admit that her original Korea blog sort of fell by the wayside after awhile, and anyone who read it back in those days (three years ago? How time flies when other people than myself are traveling the world) is crossing their fingers we'll get to hear more from her now. Nobody else makes a Korean kindergarten classroom seem quite so bewilderingly hilarious.
People who look more like my mother than I do
Another blog begun by one of my brilliant and beautiful cousins. She constantly inspires me and makes me see ordinary life events in new ways, while also reassuring me that I'm never the only one thinking something neurotic and bizarre. As if that weren't enough, she has awesome taste in music, takes incredible photographs with my uncle's old non-digital camera (are cameras called analog when they're not digital, like clocks?), and has her own unique and whimsical style with clothes and everything else that just makes me want to hang out with her all the time, so that I may be cooler by proximity.
Real women eat cheese, enjoy sex and rock their careers
I've posted about doll magazine here before, but it bears repeating since the mag is still new and very much evolving and growing. It was founded and is edited by one of my classmates from journalism school, and since I've only managed to contribute one piece so far, I don't think it's conceited for me to say how awesome it is.
As someone who grew up reading JANE magazine and plotting with my best friend to move to New York and become an indie music, literature, fashion and pro-women columnist, I can't express how excited I am to see young women in my own city and country taking the initiative to create a source of positive and healthy information and entertainment for other young women.
Sadly, JANE folded in 2007; the founder, Jane Pratt of Sassy fame, had left in 2005 after personal tragedy and after that, the mag's quality and vision started to slip. (Witness the choice of Lindsay Lohan as cover girl in a 2005 issue.) Since then, there are few magazines in the US that cater to women who don't want to be told how to look, what to buy, and who to look up to, especially when those marching orders are shaped by an industry driven by corporate profit and invested in women's insecurity and constant need for self-improvement. Some American mags like NYLON and BUST do a better job of valuing real women for the amazing creatures that we are, but there's nothing similar in Canada -- nothing mainstream, anyway. And unto the breach comes a new doll.
Who says you can't love where you live AND what you do?
I love taking photos. Since I was about 15, I've been known as the paparazzi among my friends -- aka, the annoying one who's always making them smile and get together, when all they're trying to do is be drunk and belligerent in peace. Thanks to my digital camera, most of the pictures I take turn out relatively well. But it's nothing compared to Chris Levesque's photos.
Chris is one of my oldest friends, and a multi-talented one. He makes films, he takes gorgeous photos, he snowboards. Right now he's living the life in Whistler, BC, doing all three and probably a lot more. (I've heard rumours of hot tubs and trampolines, and I'm really hoping they don't get used together, especially when the apres-mountain booze is flowing.)
In any case, check out the portrait section of his site for some amazing photos. And if you happen to be in Whistler this season, look for the dude in the yellow coat taking pics on the mountain and tell him I say hi.
The Twitterati
Some of my recent follows:
@jaredleto -- yes it's really him, and yes he talks about his band 30 Seconds to Mars a lot.
@blogTO -- good for finding out what's going on in the city, what people are talking about, etc.
@bradTTC -- the communications manager for the TTC. His level of engagement with the Toronto Twitterverse is pretty impressive, even if their service isn't. Hope it turns out to be a useful way for him to gather feedback from the public.
@HalfPintIngalls -- someone impersonating author Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House on the Prairie" fame. It is painfully funny, especially if you've read the books and/or used to watch the TV version and get the finer points of the jokes. I hope the author posts links to any other writing s/he does, because they're damn good.
@therealzooeyd -- as in Deschanel. I found her feed after seeing "500 Days of Summer" and falling in love with the soundtrack, including and especially Zooey's recordings with M. Ward under the band name She & Him. So pretty.
Obligatory shout-out to all our RTP offices with Twitter feeds: @RightToPlayNL, @RightToPlayUSA, @RightToPlayCAN and @RightToPlay_UK, and to our intrepid CEO @JohannKoss.
@theteganandsara -- no explanation necessary, they freaking rule.
@shitmydadsays -- if you haven't heard of this guy or read his stuff yet, go now. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200, just do it now.
ANYWAYS. The radar, yes?
A Canadian girl goes to China, conquers all
A friend of mine is embarking on her second adventure as a teacher in Asia. First in Korea and now in Shanghai, China, Ms. Clare is an unbelievably funny and insightful blogger... when she gets around to it. She's the first to admit that her original Korea blog sort of fell by the wayside after awhile, and anyone who read it back in those days (three years ago? How time flies when other people than myself are traveling the world) is crossing their fingers we'll get to hear more from her now. Nobody else makes a Korean kindergarten classroom seem quite so bewilderingly hilarious.
People who look more like my mother than I do
Another blog begun by one of my brilliant and beautiful cousins. She constantly inspires me and makes me see ordinary life events in new ways, while also reassuring me that I'm never the only one thinking something neurotic and bizarre. As if that weren't enough, she has awesome taste in music, takes incredible photographs with my uncle's old non-digital camera (are cameras called analog when they're not digital, like clocks?), and has her own unique and whimsical style with clothes and everything else that just makes me want to hang out with her all the time, so that I may be cooler by proximity.
Real women eat cheese, enjoy sex and rock their careers
I've posted about doll magazine here before, but it bears repeating since the mag is still new and very much evolving and growing. It was founded and is edited by one of my classmates from journalism school, and since I've only managed to contribute one piece so far, I don't think it's conceited for me to say how awesome it is.
As someone who grew up reading JANE magazine and plotting with my best friend to move to New York and become an indie music, literature, fashion and pro-women columnist, I can't express how excited I am to see young women in my own city and country taking the initiative to create a source of positive and healthy information and entertainment for other young women.
Sadly, JANE folded in 2007; the founder, Jane Pratt of Sassy fame, had left in 2005 after personal tragedy and after that, the mag's quality and vision started to slip. (Witness the choice of Lindsay Lohan as cover girl in a 2005 issue.) Since then, there are few magazines in the US that cater to women who don't want to be told how to look, what to buy, and who to look up to, especially when those marching orders are shaped by an industry driven by corporate profit and invested in women's insecurity and constant need for self-improvement. Some American mags like NYLON and BUST do a better job of valuing real women for the amazing creatures that we are, but there's nothing similar in Canada -- nothing mainstream, anyway. And unto the breach comes a new doll.
Who says you can't love where you live AND what you do?
I love taking photos. Since I was about 15, I've been known as the paparazzi among my friends -- aka, the annoying one who's always making them smile and get together, when all they're trying to do is be drunk and belligerent in peace. Thanks to my digital camera, most of the pictures I take turn out relatively well. But it's nothing compared to Chris Levesque's photos.
Chris is one of my oldest friends, and a multi-talented one. He makes films, he takes gorgeous photos, he snowboards. Right now he's living the life in Whistler, BC, doing all three and probably a lot more. (I've heard rumours of hot tubs and trampolines, and I'm really hoping they don't get used together, especially when the apres-mountain booze is flowing.)
In any case, check out the portrait section of his site for some amazing photos. And if you happen to be in Whistler this season, look for the dude in the yellow coat taking pics on the mountain and tell him I say hi.
The Twitterati
Some of my recent follows:
@jaredleto -- yes it's really him, and yes he talks about his band 30 Seconds to Mars a lot.
@blogTO -- good for finding out what's going on in the city, what people are talking about, etc.
@bradTTC -- the communications manager for the TTC. His level of engagement with the Toronto Twitterverse is pretty impressive, even if their service isn't. Hope it turns out to be a useful way for him to gather feedback from the public.
@HalfPintIngalls -- someone impersonating author Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House on the Prairie" fame. It is painfully funny, especially if you've read the books and/or used to watch the TV version and get the finer points of the jokes. I hope the author posts links to any other writing s/he does, because they're damn good.
@therealzooeyd -- as in Deschanel. I found her feed after seeing "500 Days of Summer" and falling in love with the soundtrack, including and especially Zooey's recordings with M. Ward under the band name She & Him. So pretty.
Obligatory shout-out to all our RTP offices with Twitter feeds: @RightToPlayNL, @RightToPlayUSA, @RightToPlayCAN and @RightToPlay_UK, and to our intrepid CEO @JohannKoss.
@theteganandsara -- no explanation necessary, they freaking rule.
@shitmydadsays -- if you haven't heard of this guy or read his stuff yet, go now. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200, just do it now.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Click here for Chapter Two
Tonight, my mom asked me what I think about the Kindle. Specifically, she wondered whether a device like this would ever be as satisfying as reading from a book with real paper pages and binding.
Well... being the former English Lit major and card-carrying Chapters-Indigo member that I am, I'm sure anyone would expect my response to be along the lines of Hell, no. And it was, more or less.
I personally would really miss the feel of a book in my hands, and the look of the printed words. I guess I'm old-school when it comes to thinking that half the joy of reading is the experience of it -- the texture of the paper, the look of the cover, the font, the way the chapters are laid out and how page breaks can impact the way you interpret a story....
I could go on.
But this is a subject of MASSIVE debate and controversy and nerdy agonizing among the literati and wannabes. And I recognize that there are all levels of literacy out there, all levels of interest in reading, period, and -- shocking thought! -- there MAY, just possibly, be people who actually do not enjoy looking at stacks and stacks of books around their homes? I mean, I certainly can't picture anyone like that, and frankly wouldn't want to associate with them, but I will allow the possibility of their existence.
The Kindle, and its conceptual friend the e-book, might do for reading what mp3 players have done for music -- that is, make it more portable and shareable, if not more accessible financially. If this technology allows people to read more often, and entices people who normally wouldn't pick up a real book to read at all, then it's a good thing. There's still a large chunk of the population who wouldn't read a newspaper on the subway, let alone hold a large flat piece of metal in front of their faces while balancing a purse / messenger bag and trying not to get flung bodily into the people around them.
To the people who point to the Kindle as an example of the print industry being on its way out, I scoff and point to Indigo's quarterly profit reports and the insane success of Oprah's book club (though I do have my own snobbish opinions about some of her picks, and the way the "masses" tend to follow her recommendations with zero thought or discernment of their own -- but there again, isn't it better that people are reading at all?)... No matter what happens with newspapers and magazines, I have no doubt that paper books are going strong.
But somehow I doubt I'm the Kindle's target audience anyway. Someone who is the proud proprietor of two 6-foot-tall bookshelves packed full, not to mention an obsessive "reading list" that has reached almost 700 titles, is not the person Amazon is trying to reel in.
The iPod, however, not only reeled me in but bought my soul and sold me several albums on iTunes as well. I've bought fewer than five albums on actual CDs in the last six or seven years, and I own nothing on vinyl. I guess my snobbery of authentic experiences only extends so far -- nobody can call me a hipster yet.
Thank God.
Well... being the former English Lit major and card-carrying Chapters-Indigo member that I am, I'm sure anyone would expect my response to be along the lines of Hell, no. And it was, more or less.
I personally would really miss the feel of a book in my hands, and the look of the printed words. I guess I'm old-school when it comes to thinking that half the joy of reading is the experience of it -- the texture of the paper, the look of the cover, the font, the way the chapters are laid out and how page breaks can impact the way you interpret a story....
I could go on.
But this is a subject of MASSIVE debate and controversy and nerdy agonizing among the literati and wannabes. And I recognize that there are all levels of literacy out there, all levels of interest in reading, period, and -- shocking thought! -- there MAY, just possibly, be people who actually do not enjoy looking at stacks and stacks of books around their homes? I mean, I certainly can't picture anyone like that, and frankly wouldn't want to associate with them, but I will allow the possibility of their existence.
The Kindle, and its conceptual friend the e-book, might do for reading what mp3 players have done for music -- that is, make it more portable and shareable, if not more accessible financially. If this technology allows people to read more often, and entices people who normally wouldn't pick up a real book to read at all, then it's a good thing. There's still a large chunk of the population who wouldn't read a newspaper on the subway, let alone hold a large flat piece of metal in front of their faces while balancing a purse / messenger bag and trying not to get flung bodily into the people around them.
To the people who point to the Kindle as an example of the print industry being on its way out, I scoff and point to Indigo's quarterly profit reports and the insane success of Oprah's book club (though I do have my own snobbish opinions about some of her picks, and the way the "masses" tend to follow her recommendations with zero thought or discernment of their own -- but there again, isn't it better that people are reading at all?)... No matter what happens with newspapers and magazines, I have no doubt that paper books are going strong.
But somehow I doubt I'm the Kindle's target audience anyway. Someone who is the proud proprietor of two 6-foot-tall bookshelves packed full, not to mention an obsessive "reading list" that has reached almost 700 titles, is not the person Amazon is trying to reel in.
The iPod, however, not only reeled me in but bought my soul and sold me several albums on iTunes as well. I've bought fewer than five albums on actual CDs in the last six or seven years, and I own nothing on vinyl. I guess my snobbery of authentic experiences only extends so far -- nobody can call me a hipster yet.
Thank God.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Several Good Things
I'm channeling The Martha today with my domesticity.
Which is surprising, since I am usually totally useless around the house when I'm this tired. For whatever reason, I haven't slept well for two nights in a row. Possible Reasons: my stomp-happy new upstairs neighbour? Withdrawal from the white noise that was once provided by my air conditioner, forcibly wrenched out of my life and into basement storage by building management (this is a matter to be dealt with in another post, not to mention copious bitching to co-workers, friends, and strangers on the subway)?
For the first time in several days, I can safely say I was not kept awake by mind-numbing circular stress-thoughts about work projects, or financial planning, or the other Usual Suspects that tend to drag me up out of sleep and into a wide-eyed, tensed-up stress coma.
So whatever it was that kept me from sleeping well, I woke up peaceful this morning. After spending Friday night with my girlfriends, strutting around our university town wearing matching short dresses and matching sassy attitudes (Sassitudes?), and spending Saturday evening having dinner with family, I was feeling good today. Far enough removed from the chaotic, barely-controlled organization that is my work week, to be able to think about doing something at home other than burrowing into quilts and pillows and hiding my brain inside a book. Most weekends I don't feel like I get enough head space to be able to contemplate things like doing laundry, re-organizing shelves, taking a walk, cooking real food. I get panicky at the thought of the precious minutes slipping away too quickly towards Monday morning, and I try to hang on to my Me Time so hard that I end up doing nothing.
Happily, today was different. Granted, I didn't leave the house, but I felt good being here. I contemplated certain aspects of the redecoration that is constantly going on inside my head, and which is slowly becoming reality in my apartment. My aunt and uncle (henceforth to be known as Martha's Glorious Elves) brought over a set of perfect white dishes for me, which they no longer need since they've been given a fancier set. It propelled me into a frenzy of dish-washing, cupboard-organizing, dinner-cooking domesticity that hasn't been seen around here since my last birthday party. It struck me, not for the first time, how wrong it is that I tend to clean only when other people are coming over, and not just for myself... especially since I really love my apartment and the way the afternoon light falls in on my table and chairs, my bookshelves (pride and joy), my picture frames -- all these things which I picked out myself and have arranged in a way that pleases me. I should make more of an effort to keep things tidy enough that I remember why I love hanging out here, and not just because I'm hiding from real life.
Tomorrow morning I will blow-dry my hair and put on mildly uncomfortable clothing and slap a determined look on my face and head deeper into the forest of city office buildings that make up my nine-to-five life. But for now, I'm wearing my grey Henley and a ponytail, the Christmas twinkly lights are on above the window, and there are art-canvas pictures waiting to be put up on the wall.
Which is surprising, since I am usually totally useless around the house when I'm this tired. For whatever reason, I haven't slept well for two nights in a row. Possible Reasons: my stomp-happy new upstairs neighbour? Withdrawal from the white noise that was once provided by my air conditioner, forcibly wrenched out of my life and into basement storage by building management (this is a matter to be dealt with in another post, not to mention copious bitching to co-workers, friends, and strangers on the subway)?
For the first time in several days, I can safely say I was not kept awake by mind-numbing circular stress-thoughts about work projects, or financial planning, or the other Usual Suspects that tend to drag me up out of sleep and into a wide-eyed, tensed-up stress coma.
So whatever it was that kept me from sleeping well, I woke up peaceful this morning. After spending Friday night with my girlfriends, strutting around our university town wearing matching short dresses and matching sassy attitudes (Sassitudes?), and spending Saturday evening having dinner with family, I was feeling good today. Far enough removed from the chaotic, barely-controlled organization that is my work week, to be able to think about doing something at home other than burrowing into quilts and pillows and hiding my brain inside a book. Most weekends I don't feel like I get enough head space to be able to contemplate things like doing laundry, re-organizing shelves, taking a walk, cooking real food. I get panicky at the thought of the precious minutes slipping away too quickly towards Monday morning, and I try to hang on to my Me Time so hard that I end up doing nothing.
Happily, today was different. Granted, I didn't leave the house, but I felt good being here. I contemplated certain aspects of the redecoration that is constantly going on inside my head, and which is slowly becoming reality in my apartment. My aunt and uncle (henceforth to be known as Martha's Glorious Elves) brought over a set of perfect white dishes for me, which they no longer need since they've been given a fancier set. It propelled me into a frenzy of dish-washing, cupboard-organizing, dinner-cooking domesticity that hasn't been seen around here since my last birthday party. It struck me, not for the first time, how wrong it is that I tend to clean only when other people are coming over, and not just for myself... especially since I really love my apartment and the way the afternoon light falls in on my table and chairs, my bookshelves (pride and joy), my picture frames -- all these things which I picked out myself and have arranged in a way that pleases me. I should make more of an effort to keep things tidy enough that I remember why I love hanging out here, and not just because I'm hiding from real life.
Tomorrow morning I will blow-dry my hair and put on mildly uncomfortable clothing and slap a determined look on my face and head deeper into the forest of city office buildings that make up my nine-to-five life. But for now, I'm wearing my grey Henley and a ponytail, the Christmas twinkly lights are on above the window, and there are art-canvas pictures waiting to be put up on the wall.
Friday, December 4, 2009
An Error of Mass Proportions
I got on my scale this morning, and it said "ERROR".
That can't be good.
That can't be good.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
My reading list for the next three to six years
Courtesy of The Globe and Mail's list of the top fiction from 2008. Time to dust off that library card - none of these is exactly cheap.
I will never make it through all of these, but a girl can dream, right?
In other news, the "long list" for the 2009 Giller Award came out earlier this week. (And in a truly cringe-worthy show of irony, the Globe's copy editors didn't catch the misspelling of the word "chromosome" in the headline of their Books blog.)
Here are this year's finalists for your viewing (and reading-list-making) pleasure. Of the 12 authors chosen, only two are men, which is extremely unusual. I like Scowen's three possible conclusions from this information; my gut says it's a mix between #2 and #3.
**Edited to add:
Apparently it's highly appropriate for me to be nitpicking the Globe for its spelling errors on today of all days. September 24th is National Punctuation Day. May the so-called "language-arts fusspots" unite!
I will never make it through all of these, but a girl can dream, right?
In other news, the "long list" for the 2009 Giller Award came out earlier this week. (And in a truly cringe-worthy show of irony, the Globe's copy editors didn't catch the misspelling of the word "chromosome" in the headline of their Books blog.)
Here are this year's finalists for your viewing (and reading-list-making) pleasure. Of the 12 authors chosen, only two are men, which is extremely unusual. I like Scowen's three possible conclusions from this information; my gut says it's a mix between #2 and #3.
Margaret Atwood for The Year of the Flood
Martha Bailie for The Incident Report
Kim Echlin for The Disappeared
Claire Holden Rothman for The Heart Specialist
Paulette Jiles for The Color of Lightning
Jeanette Lynes for The Factory Voice
Annabel Lyon for her novel The Golden Mean
Linden MacIntyre for his novel The Bishop’s Man
Colin McAdam for Fall
Anne Michaels for The Winter Vault
Shani Mootoo for Valmiki’s Daughter
Kate Pullinger for The Mistress Of Nothing
**Edited to add:
Apparently it's highly appropriate for me to be nitpicking the Globe for its spelling errors on today of all days. September 24th is National Punctuation Day. May the so-called "language-arts fusspots" unite!
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Unbelievably lazy blogging
I half-arsedly chronicled my thoughts during tonight's Emmy Awards on Twitter. Here they are in all their glory. You'll have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks for the parts where I got up to get more cheese.
******
We interrupt this Emmy telecast with Michael "Dracula" Ignatieff's commercial claiming He Can Do Better. I want proof, fangs.
@chills_7 You will def have to take photos of that. Make sure to wear your Harvard tie and carry around a little Dion voodoo doll.
Seeing clips of the last Idol finale makes me relive the pain of seeing Adam Lambert NOT WIN. Emmy telecast, why must you torture me?
Third time's a charm -- let's see if the CBS team can come back from commercial break without airing audio of backstage inner workings.
....nope.
Oh Ricky Gervais. I kind of wish he was hosting. NO -- I'm sorry, Neil Patrick. I didn't say that out loud. Just pretend that didn't happen.
All the shows I don't watch are winning. Have I been paying attention to the wrong shows? Or do I just have bad taste? Disturbing.
Thanks, @shetu07. I knew you believed in me. Speaking of taste, what is with all the man-glasses?
In Memoriam segment on now... I am officially blubbering.
My taste in TV is vindicated!! Hooray, Mad Men!!
Glenn Close, OMG! I love all the strong older super-women owning this show tonight.
@shetu07 You need to watch this: http://tinyurl.com/my2o53 same topic, great discussion.
Wants moar Don Draper, plees.
"I'm just a poor kid from the valley. I feel like Cinder-fella."
Bob Newhart is hilarious. Though, his timing is slightly off.
MORE VINDICATION!! 30 Rock wins! 22 nominations! My favorite Tina Fey! love.
Intrigued by this voting for Breakthrough Performance... but suspect the results will be similar to Allen beating Lambert. Ppl are stupid.
'Fame'. September 25th. I cannot contain myself.
Mad Men again! Thank you.
*****
And thus concludes the 2009 Emmys. For a much sassier and fashion-oriented commentary on the Emmy Red Carpet, go on over and visit the Fug Girls. They've always got something to say.
******
We interrupt this Emmy telecast with Michael "Dracula" Ignatieff's commercial claiming He Can Do Better. I want proof, fangs.
chills_7 @meghan_moloney Yes!!! I was brainstorming for a Halloween costume. Ignatieff is an awesome idea!! Thanks
@chills_7 You will def have to take photos of that. Make sure to wear your Harvard tie and carry around a little Dion voodoo doll.
Seeing clips of the last Idol finale makes me relive the pain of seeing Adam Lambert NOT WIN. Emmy telecast, why must you torture me?
Third time's a charm -- let's see if the CBS team can come back from commercial break without airing audio of backstage inner workings.
....nope.
Oh Ricky Gervais. I kind of wish he was hosting. NO -- I'm sorry, Neil Patrick. I didn't say that out loud. Just pretend that didn't happen.
All the shows I don't watch are winning. Have I been paying attention to the wrong shows? Or do I just have bad taste? Disturbing.
shetu07 @meghan_moloney don't doubt your taste. doubt THEIRS.
Thanks, @shetu07. I knew you believed in me. Speaking of taste, what is with all the man-glasses?
In Memoriam segment on now... I am officially blubbering.
My taste in TV is vindicated!! Hooray, Mad Men!!
Glenn Close, OMG! I love all the strong older super-women owning this show tonight.
shetu07 @meghan_moloney I love Jessica Lange for sort of acknowledging that older women don't get many roles
@shetu07 You need to watch this: http://tinyurl.com/my2o53 same topic, great discussion.
Wants moar Don Draper, plees.
"I'm just a poor kid from the valley. I feel like Cinder-fella."
Bob Newhart is hilarious. Though, his timing is slightly off.
MORE VINDICATION!! 30 Rock wins! 22 nominations! My favorite Tina Fey! love.
Intrigued by this voting for Breakthrough Performance... but suspect the results will be similar to Allen beating Lambert. Ppl are stupid.
'Fame'. September 25th. I cannot contain myself.
Mad Men again! Thank you.
*****
And thus concludes the 2009 Emmys. For a much sassier and fashion-oriented commentary on the Emmy Red Carpet, go on over and visit the Fug Girls. They've always got something to say.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Meta-publishing on the Interwebz
Greetings! I've been taking a break from posting for awhile. Is it just me, or do all interesting, thought-provoking, and blog-post-worthy ideas ONLY EVER occur during work hours, when I am at the office and feel like blogging is probably not good for billable hours? Sometimes I write things down on sticky-notes, to remind myself later on of my epic ideas. But by the time I get home, I no longer care enough to drag myself out of my tired stupor to actually post anything. Also, the sticky-notes usually say really cryptic things like "BOOKS" or "Atwood Twilight".
In any case, I've been more of an internet lurker lately than a participant. But I am proud to say that I have finally made my first official contribution to my friend Shetu's online mag, Doll Magazine. The mag started after we finished journalism school and started looking around for something real to do with our lives, and I have to say that Shetu - like so many of my other illustrious and successful former classmates - has done something very real and impressive.
Under the Blog section, Doll has started a weekly feature of Twitter picks, wherein contributors who are also Twitter users pick their top five followees and explain what's so rad about them. Doll being what it is - a publication aimed at young liberal-minded women - and me being what I am, it wasn't hard to find contenders on my Twitter feed whose ethos would resonate well with readers. In fact, the hardest part was narrowing them down to five. But I did. And you can see my picks, and justifications, in last week's post.
It turned into a weirdly interesting experiment for me. I ended up re-evaluating half of the people I follow, especially those I started following soon after creating my Twitter account and had no idea what I was looking to get from the experience. I also noticed that I have surprisingly few news-based feeds, most likely because I already have a complex RSS system set up in my capacity as media-monitoring guru at work, so I've already seen the major outlets' stories.
But mostly, I realized what I'm mainly looking for from Twitter is amusement: the feeds I am most drawn to are those which are clever enough to say something distinct in 140 characters or less, without resorting to inane abbreviations or web-lingo. I guess it's my language-junkie side peeking through again, but there are people who can do amazing things with a Tweet. The other factor here is that I don't have a smartphone, therefore I don't check Twitter obsessively like every Crackberry-head I see wandering around the city. So it wouldn't be a practical way for me to actually follow online news and pop culture's daily obsessions. And as a friend of mine said the other day, it's just one more thing you have to update regularly, on top of Facebook and the rest of it.
Speaking of regular updates, I'm toying with the idea of live-blogging the Emmy awards this Sunday night, after being told that my Oscars live-blog was entertaining. The jury's still out on this one.
In any case, I've been more of an internet lurker lately than a participant. But I am proud to say that I have finally made my first official contribution to my friend Shetu's online mag, Doll Magazine. The mag started after we finished journalism school and started looking around for something real to do with our lives, and I have to say that Shetu - like so many of my other illustrious and successful former classmates - has done something very real and impressive.
Under the Blog section, Doll has started a weekly feature of Twitter picks, wherein contributors who are also Twitter users pick their top five followees and explain what's so rad about them. Doll being what it is - a publication aimed at young liberal-minded women - and me being what I am, it wasn't hard to find contenders on my Twitter feed whose ethos would resonate well with readers. In fact, the hardest part was narrowing them down to five. But I did. And you can see my picks, and justifications, in last week's post.
It turned into a weirdly interesting experiment for me. I ended up re-evaluating half of the people I follow, especially those I started following soon after creating my Twitter account and had no idea what I was looking to get from the experience. I also noticed that I have surprisingly few news-based feeds, most likely because I already have a complex RSS system set up in my capacity as media-monitoring guru at work, so I've already seen the major outlets' stories.
But mostly, I realized what I'm mainly looking for from Twitter is amusement: the feeds I am most drawn to are those which are clever enough to say something distinct in 140 characters or less, without resorting to inane abbreviations or web-lingo. I guess it's my language-junkie side peeking through again, but there are people who can do amazing things with a Tweet. The other factor here is that I don't have a smartphone, therefore I don't check Twitter obsessively like every Crackberry-head I see wandering around the city. So it wouldn't be a practical way for me to actually follow online news and pop culture's daily obsessions. And as a friend of mine said the other day, it's just one more thing you have to update regularly, on top of Facebook and the rest of it.
Speaking of regular updates, I'm toying with the idea of live-blogging the Emmy awards this Sunday night, after being told that my Oscars live-blog was entertaining. The jury's still out on this one.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Wisdom from my grandmother
I've read countless email forwards like this and would normally just pass right by, but this list of 45 best life lessons is actually pretty good. Especially #40. And #10.
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile..
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24.. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone for everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
32.. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33.. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile..
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over-prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24.. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone for everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
32.. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33.. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Friday, July 24, 2009
When guys become girls: Faux-tranny ad campaign
The T-word. Beyond your average four-letter words, this six-letter behemoth has inspired universal fear and embarrassment among men for decades. And yet an ad campaign has a 16-year-old guy not only saying the word, but buying the product.
The word... is tampon.
This year's award for Most Bizarre Ad Campaign Ever has to go to Tampax. The Globe and Mail posted a story today about the company's creation, a teenager named Zack, who randomly wakes up one morning with a vajajay instead of his usual equipment. Now Zack must deal with all the delightful side effects that come along with being a Woman, and purchase his very own products:
This from the fictional Zack's online diary, which is accompanied by his very own Twitter feed and YouTube channel.
Seriously?
As the Globe points out, there is a chance this ad campaign (which has apparently been going on since April, so... good job, marketers?) may anger young girls, or grown women, who do have to actually deal with this crap in real life, and may not take kindly to the male gender pretending to complain about it and then throwing down their tampons with glee, shouting, "I was just kidding! I don't have my period! I'm STILL A MAN!"
But there could be positive impacts to this campaign too. Maybe men will not only stop gloating about how easy they've got it, body-wise, and just bring us a damn latte at opportune moments. MAYBE, just maybe, those men who are in relationships with a woman will see these ads and realize that buying a pack of tampons for one's significant other on occasion is not the worst thing in the world.
Yeah. And maybe Sarah Palin will join the Democrats.
The word... is tampon.
This year's award for Most Bizarre Ad Campaign Ever has to go to Tampax. The Globe and Mail posted a story today about the company's creation, a teenager named Zack, who randomly wakes up one morning with a vajajay instead of his usual equipment. Now Zack must deal with all the delightful side effects that come along with being a Woman, and purchase his very own products:
"I arrived at that point in every man with a vagina's life, when he leaves home and goes out into the world to buy his own damn tampons."
This from the fictional Zack's online diary, which is accompanied by his very own Twitter feed and YouTube channel.
Seriously?
As the Globe points out, there is a chance this ad campaign (which has apparently been going on since April, so... good job, marketers?) may anger young girls, or grown women, who do have to actually deal with this crap in real life, and may not take kindly to the male gender pretending to complain about it and then throwing down their tampons with glee, shouting, "I was just kidding! I don't have my period! I'm STILL A MAN!"
But there could be positive impacts to this campaign too. Maybe men will not only stop gloating about how easy they've got it, body-wise, and just bring us a damn latte at opportune moments. MAYBE, just maybe, those men who are in relationships with a woman will see these ads and realize that buying a pack of tampons for one's significant other on occasion is not the worst thing in the world.
Yeah. And maybe Sarah Palin will join the Democrats.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Reaping the fruits of our complacency
A very good friend of mine sent me an email forward today, knowing (as she knows me so well) that I would have an opinion on it. And did I ever. I've pasted the email here and have responded to it below...
Well... first things first:
Maybe if the person who wrote these comments knew the difference between a possessive apostrophe and a contraction, I would have more respect for his/her opinions.
Seriously though, I hear and see this kind of shit all the time, especially living in Toronto, and I have no patience for it. I happen to think the Canadian anthem should stay the way it is, because it's tradition, but I don't think the mere suggestion to translate it (and that's all it was, a suggestion, not an order or a decision) should cause mass xenophobic hysteria. Incidentally, xenophobia is the fear of foreigners or strangers. People who rant against immigrants "trying to change our great country" are scared, and their fear blinds them to the realities of how immigration actually impacts this country.
We are a nation of only-children who are not reproducing our own population. Once the baby boomers grow old, retire, and begin to pass away, we will not only be left with gaping holes in our employment system, medical staff and political leadership, but with holes in our society as well. We NEED immigrants - just as early Canadian settlers needed other settlers to help them establish themselves.
More importantly, whether our population grows or shrinks, our country is not as perfect as these people would like to believe. Canada may be high up on the index of living standards in comparison to much of the world, but the fact remains that we have major, major issues here that are not being dealt with. The rise in homelessness, the lack of government attention to problems like mental illness and inaccessible education, and many industries that lack young people being trained to work - crucial industries like health care, elder care and essential trades - all of these are really big problems that are convenient to ignore as we go about our daily lives, belting 'O Canada' at opportune moments and slagging the Americans for their messed-up way of running their country.
When I hear about people keeling over and dying in emergency waiting rooms because there aren't enough doctors to tend to them... when I see taxi drivers with medical training kept out of our system because of government bias and red tape... and when I see homeless men - and women - on the street corner every morning as I approach my office building, with their feet black with frostbite, it makes me wonder who could possibly think that immigrants are "spoiling" this country.
And for anyone who would accuse me of being cynical or anti-Canadian... I love my country fiercely and I vote every chance I get - thus I have the right to speak up. It is the unpatriotic and the politically apathetic who have no right to complain.
WE ARE PROUD CANADIANS
Bruce Allen is on the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee and new Canadians (specifically Hindi's/Indian's) want him fired for his recent comments outlined below:
[Note: these comments included the phrase "If you choose to come to a place like Canada, then shut up and fit in."]
I am sorry, but after hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Hindi at the 2010 Olympics - enough is enough. Nowhere or at no other time in our Nation's history, did they sing it in Italian, Japanese, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German, Portuguese, Greek, or any other language because of immigration. It was written in English, adapted into French, and should be sung word for word the way it was written.
The news broadcasts even gave the Hindi version translation - which was not even close to our National Anthem. I am not the least bit sorry if this offends ANYONE, this is MY COUNTRY; My Grand Dad served in the military, other family members also served, as well as my wife & I served a combined total of 56 years between us. We made many sacrifices for our country and do not feel we should feel obligated to allow invited people we've welcomed with open arms to influence & change our society to better resemble the one they chose to leave to come here!!! - IF YOU AGREE ABOUT THIS GREAT COUNTRY, SPEAK UP BEFORE ITS TOO LATE
I am not against immigration. In fact I believe we need more, my ancestors were immigrants -- just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the Rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and LONG LIVE CANADA!'
It's time we all get behind Bruce Allen, and scrap this Political Correctness His comments were anything but racist, however, there are far too many overly sensitive 'New Canadians' that are attempting to change everything we hold dear.
ARE you PART OF THE PROBLEM ??? Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone, will we still be the Country of Choice and Still be CANADA if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries who have come to live in CANADA because it is the Country of Choice??????
Think about it!
IMMIGRANTS, NOT CANADIAN'S, MUST ADAPT.
It's Time for CANADIANS to speak up.. If you agree ? Pass this along; if you don't agree? Delete it and reap what you sow because of your complacency!
Well... first things first:
Maybe if the person who wrote these comments knew the difference between a possessive apostrophe and a contraction, I would have more respect for his/her opinions.
Seriously though, I hear and see this kind of shit all the time, especially living in Toronto, and I have no patience for it. I happen to think the Canadian anthem should stay the way it is, because it's tradition, but I don't think the mere suggestion to translate it (and that's all it was, a suggestion, not an order or a decision) should cause mass xenophobic hysteria. Incidentally, xenophobia is the fear of foreigners or strangers. People who rant against immigrants "trying to change our great country" are scared, and their fear blinds them to the realities of how immigration actually impacts this country.
We are a nation of only-children who are not reproducing our own population. Once the baby boomers grow old, retire, and begin to pass away, we will not only be left with gaping holes in our employment system, medical staff and political leadership, but with holes in our society as well. We NEED immigrants - just as early Canadian settlers needed other settlers to help them establish themselves.
More importantly, whether our population grows or shrinks, our country is not as perfect as these people would like to believe. Canada may be high up on the index of living standards in comparison to much of the world, but the fact remains that we have major, major issues here that are not being dealt with. The rise in homelessness, the lack of government attention to problems like mental illness and inaccessible education, and many industries that lack young people being trained to work - crucial industries like health care, elder care and essential trades - all of these are really big problems that are convenient to ignore as we go about our daily lives, belting 'O Canada' at opportune moments and slagging the Americans for their messed-up way of running their country.
When I hear about people keeling over and dying in emergency waiting rooms because there aren't enough doctors to tend to them... when I see taxi drivers with medical training kept out of our system because of government bias and red tape... and when I see homeless men - and women - on the street corner every morning as I approach my office building, with their feet black with frostbite, it makes me wonder who could possibly think that immigrants are "spoiling" this country.
And for anyone who would accuse me of being cynical or anti-Canadian... I love my country fiercely and I vote every chance I get - thus I have the right to speak up. It is the unpatriotic and the politically apathetic who have no right to complain.
Monday, May 4, 2009
An Olympian in the opposite of Lego-land
Anna Rice, one of Right To Play's long-time Athlete Ambassadors, arrived in Kampala, Uganda two weeks ago to visit two of our organization's projects in refugee camps. Along with her fiance and a third professional badminton player, she'll be running badminton programs at the camps to teach Right To Play coaches how to run their own sessions with their students.
Anna is a habitual blogger and a great writer, with an eye for detail that allows us to picture her adventures. I especially like the part where she compares Ugandan scooter taxi drivers to "young Evel Knievels".
Check her out at CBCSports.ca!
Anna is a habitual blogger and a great writer, with an eye for detail that allows us to picture her adventures. I especially like the part where she compares Ugandan scooter taxi drivers to "young Evel Knievels".
Check her out at CBCSports.ca!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Looks like I wasn't the only one ranting...
Interesting follow-up to my post from last week in today's Globe, by Judith Timson (who I respect much more than the unfortunate McLaren...)
For the whole column, click here. To read McLaren's original article, scroll down to my post from last week and find the link.
Take the response to a recent column by my colleague Leah McLaren, in which she had the temerity to list her thirtysomething fiscal grievances right down to admitting she was peeved because now she wouldn't even be getting an inheritance. "How do you spell sense of entitlement?" one poster fumed. Another pronounced: "People need to get a grip and adapt, that includes the endlessly whining and self-absorbed and overly spoiled boomer children. Your timing in the cycle may be wrong, but there are no guarantees that life is fair, despite maybe having been told the contrary."
For the whole column, click here. To read McLaren's original article, scroll down to my post from last week and find the link.
Friday, April 24, 2009
When will we learn...
Ron Judd of the Seattle Times has posted an article on his Olympics blog entitled "Women ski jumpers just don't know their place - VANOC".
I know this title is sarcastic. It has to be. Right?
Even so, it's a bit of a shock to hear that sentiment in 2009, or to see it plastered across my Google Reader page.
For further reading on this topic, please see Gary Mason and John MacKinnon's articles.
I know this title is sarcastic. It has to be. Right?
Even so, it's a bit of a shock to hear that sentiment in 2009, or to see it plastered across my Google Reader page.
For further reading on this topic, please see Gary Mason and John MacKinnon's articles.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Generation debt is in for a rough ride -- and the rest of us just have to put up with them.
The Globe's Leah McLaren makes me irate sometimes.
Today is one of those times.
The gist of her article is that people currently in their late 20s and early 30s - the children of the baby boomers, known as the "echo" generation or mini-boom - were promised this fantastic, affluent lifestyle purely based on demographics, education rates, and the sheer hubris that comes from growing up with two career parents and no poverty. And guess what - the universe went back on its promise. Wah wah.
Not only does McLaren bewail her fate as an educated, employed, 30-year-old homeowner... she scorns the boomers, now in their 50s and 60s, for similarly bewailing the loss of their affluent lifestyles. Mutual funds have tanked, six- and seven-figure home values have tanked, and retirement plans are going out the window. But apparently this situation deserves no sympathy from twenty-somethings.
In fact, McLaren finds it helpful to blame her parents' generation for the mass financial chaos that surrounds us all.
"Who's crying the blues? Why it's the baby boomers, of course! The generation in charge - the one that created and perpetuated the unsustainable financial model that led to the current collapse in the first place," she writes. "And as for their jobs - you know the high-paying, secure ones at the very top of the pay scale? Well, they're going to have to hang onto those for a while longer than they had thought. At least until they get old and sick enough to max out the health-care system and the national pension fund. It's a wonder my generation isn't demonstrating in the streets."
Well, Leah, maybe it's because not everyone in their twenties feels quite as entitled as you do to owning a home by the age of 30. Perhaps you should take a hint from several of your interview subjects, who seem "relentlessly positive about the future" - or, as you put it, "close their eyes and plug their ears and hum Mary Had a Little Lamb till it's over." I'm not advocating unrealistic optimism. We are truly in the midst of an unprecedented global situation, and it would be foolish not to acknowledge that. But to bitterly declare "We have been robbed"? Comparing people who, as McLaren herself notes, have been privileged enough to buy expensive homes and find lucrative careers by their late 20s, to "hobos"??
What about the kids who never had a hope of belonging to a tennis club or riding a pony? Are we supposed to feel more sorry for people who had it all, and then lost it, than those who never had it in the first place and likely never will?
I don't want to sound unsympathetic to those who have hit hard times. Being in my early-slash-mid-twenties myself, I am no stranger to the crushing stress and anxiety that comes with thinking about the current job market. And being in the field of media like McLaren, as well as the non-profit sector, I do know what it's like to fear for your job, your rent payments, your livelihood. But like me, Leah McLaren still has a job - as a lifestyle columnist (which some misanthropes might say is the marshmallow fluff of the journalistic world) for one of the country's most well-respected and widely read newspapers, in an era when media jobs have taken massive hits and print media has been doomed to failure, not to mention the current wider economic gloom. I don't know what her personal finances are like right now, but her job status in and of itself should be causing her to thank her lucky stars.
And how does McLaren end her essay, after spending 1000 words or so pointing fingers at Mommy and Daddy for getting upset about their depressing financial statements?
With this mindblowingly self-centred epiphany:
"Which was when it hit me: Not only was I unlikely to get through this recession unscathed, I probably wasn't going to get an inheritance either."
Thanks for nothing, McLaren.
Today is one of those times.
The gist of her article is that people currently in their late 20s and early 30s - the children of the baby boomers, known as the "echo" generation or mini-boom - were promised this fantastic, affluent lifestyle purely based on demographics, education rates, and the sheer hubris that comes from growing up with two career parents and no poverty. And guess what - the universe went back on its promise. Wah wah.
Not only does McLaren bewail her fate as an educated, employed, 30-year-old homeowner... she scorns the boomers, now in their 50s and 60s, for similarly bewailing the loss of their affluent lifestyles. Mutual funds have tanked, six- and seven-figure home values have tanked, and retirement plans are going out the window. But apparently this situation deserves no sympathy from twenty-somethings.
In fact, McLaren finds it helpful to blame her parents' generation for the mass financial chaos that surrounds us all.
"Who's crying the blues? Why it's the baby boomers, of course! The generation in charge - the one that created and perpetuated the unsustainable financial model that led to the current collapse in the first place," she writes. "And as for their jobs - you know the high-paying, secure ones at the very top of the pay scale? Well, they're going to have to hang onto those for a while longer than they had thought. At least until they get old and sick enough to max out the health-care system and the national pension fund. It's a wonder my generation isn't demonstrating in the streets."
Well, Leah, maybe it's because not everyone in their twenties feels quite as entitled as you do to owning a home by the age of 30. Perhaps you should take a hint from several of your interview subjects, who seem "relentlessly positive about the future" - or, as you put it, "close their eyes and plug their ears and hum Mary Had a Little Lamb till it's over." I'm not advocating unrealistic optimism. We are truly in the midst of an unprecedented global situation, and it would be foolish not to acknowledge that. But to bitterly declare "We have been robbed"? Comparing people who, as McLaren herself notes, have been privileged enough to buy expensive homes and find lucrative careers by their late 20s, to "hobos"??
What about the kids who never had a hope of belonging to a tennis club or riding a pony? Are we supposed to feel more sorry for people who had it all, and then lost it, than those who never had it in the first place and likely never will?
I don't want to sound unsympathetic to those who have hit hard times. Being in my early-slash-mid-twenties myself, I am no stranger to the crushing stress and anxiety that comes with thinking about the current job market. And being in the field of media like McLaren, as well as the non-profit sector, I do know what it's like to fear for your job, your rent payments, your livelihood. But like me, Leah McLaren still has a job - as a lifestyle columnist (which some misanthropes might say is the marshmallow fluff of the journalistic world) for one of the country's most well-respected and widely read newspapers, in an era when media jobs have taken massive hits and print media has been doomed to failure, not to mention the current wider economic gloom. I don't know what her personal finances are like right now, but her job status in and of itself should be causing her to thank her lucky stars.
And how does McLaren end her essay, after spending 1000 words or so pointing fingers at Mommy and Daddy for getting upset about their depressing financial statements?
With this mindblowingly self-centred epiphany:
"Which was when it hit me: Not only was I unlikely to get through this recession unscathed, I probably wasn't going to get an inheritance either."
Thanks for nothing, McLaren.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
If you've ever wondered what I do at my job....
...check out one of our recent newsletters, the Red Ball Report. We're currently working on the next issue, which should be out within a month, but this one gives a really good overview of who we are, what we do, and where we work.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Live-blogging the 2009 Oscars
7:11 pm
James Franco, posing for photos with unidentified blonde. My night is already complete.
7:12 pm
SJP calls her dress "barely mint"... Dior haute couture. Ryan Seacrest calls Matthew Broderick's suit "barely black". I call his greasy highlighted hair "disturbing".
7:14 pm
Seth Rogen calls SJP "every girl's worst nightmare". Complimentary or no? He questions whether he should get fat again for his next Hollywood role. As long as he keeps his black square-frame glasses, I don't care how pudgy he gets.
7:15 pm
Anne Hathaway is wearing something silver and sparkling and looks really thin. I am neither amused nor particularly impressed. Bad news.
7:17pm
Switch over to the Barbara Walters Special to see what's -- Omigod. Ohhhh my god. Baba Wawa just said sex... in front of Anne Hathaway. Anne, on the other hand, just justified my love for her by saying she would feel "just fine" if she never got married because she has no complaints about her life. But she does want children.
And then she called Barbara "Baba" to her face. I now love her even more.
James Franco, posing for photos with unidentified blonde. My night is already complete.
7:12 pm
SJP calls her dress "barely mint"... Dior haute couture. Ryan Seacrest calls Matthew Broderick's suit "barely black". I call his greasy highlighted hair "disturbing".
7:14 pm
Seth Rogen calls SJP "every girl's worst nightmare". Complimentary or no? He questions whether he should get fat again for his next Hollywood role. As long as he keeps his black square-frame glasses, I don't care how pudgy he gets.
7:15 pm
Anne Hathaway is wearing something silver and sparkling and looks really thin. I am neither amused nor particularly impressed. Bad news.
7:17pm
Switch over to the Barbara Walters Special to see what's -- Omigod. Ohhhh my god. Baba Wawa just said sex... in front of Anne Hathaway. Anne, on the other hand, just justified my love for her by saying she would feel "just fine" if she never got married because she has no complaints about her life. But she does want children.
And then she called Barbara "Baba" to her face. I now love her even more.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Twittering
It's a lazy Saturday and I'm finally getting around to doing things I don't have time to do on weekdays, like making coffee at home, updating various online profiles and linking them all together so that I don't feel like I have seven different online identities. I was beginning to feel like Ellen Page in "The Tracey Fragments".
I added the Twitter widget to this blog because it's easier and faster to update my Twitter status than doing an entire blog entry, so I do it far more often. Case in point: my last blog entry was April 2008. Side-note: is there ANY greater word in the English language than 'widget'? Sub-question: is 'widget' really part of the English language, since it's primarily used in a web context, which presumably transcends oral language? Is there a French word for 'widget'?
For those of you who used to follow this blog back when I was posting mostly news articles or features, I haven't written much in the way of journalism in awhile so I haven't quite decided what to do with this blog yet. It may become a hodge-podge of my actual work, links to interesting things I find on the web, and other passing thoughts. And maybe -- if you're lucky -- the occasional old-school rant, harking back to my glory days of blogging on my now-defunct MSN space, when I would rant about everything related to university life. Possible new topic: why Twitter won't let me upload a new picture, telling me there was "something wrong with your picture. Probably too big." ... except the last one I had up there was the same size. Twitter gods, wtf?
I added the Twitter widget to this blog because it's easier and faster to update my Twitter status than doing an entire blog entry, so I do it far more often. Case in point: my last blog entry was April 2008. Side-note: is there ANY greater word in the English language than 'widget'? Sub-question: is 'widget' really part of the English language, since it's primarily used in a web context, which presumably transcends oral language? Is there a French word for 'widget'?
For those of you who used to follow this blog back when I was posting mostly news articles or features, I haven't written much in the way of journalism in awhile so I haven't quite decided what to do with this blog yet. It may become a hodge-podge of my actual work, links to interesting things I find on the web, and other passing thoughts. And maybe -- if you're lucky -- the occasional old-school rant, harking back to my glory days of blogging on my now-defunct MSN space, when I would rant about everything related to university life. Possible new topic: why Twitter won't let me upload a new picture, telling me there was "something wrong with your picture. Probably too big." ... except the last one I had up there was the same size. Twitter gods, wtf?
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