I am struck, at this strangely hectic time of year, by how little I actually know the people who are close to me.
Cases in point:
If you asked me about my brother, I'd tell you I adore him; he's the kind of good guy that girls would be lucky (like angels from heaven lucky) to snag. If you asked me his favorite food or favorite color, I couldn't tell you.
If you asked me about my staff's work styles and office quirks, I can list them, no problem. If you asked me what they are actually thinking and feeling about life, I can't help you there.
I talk to my parents once a week: about my job, what they've been up to, etc. And then in a random conversation they drop some news that makes me realize how little I actually know about their lives.
Who among my circle of friends is a blogger? How many of the dedicated facebook people I follow live the happy, cheerful lives they post about? That cute guy who I see every few months - what is his story?
Paradoxically, I often wonder if I leave too much of myself out there. Cue the guilt; do I share too much about myself and not care enough about learning more about my friends, family and colleagues? Like, for example, this blog post? :)
Strange how shopping for Christmas gifts, and realizing with a cosmic gulp that you have no idea what to get the people you are supposed to be closest to, brings it all home. In this season of fellowship and brotherhood, sometimes it's hard not feel self-centered and alone.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
There's something about Glee...
I confess.
I'm not sure why I like Fox's Glee.
Don't get me wrong, I love show stopping group numbers as much as the next person - it's why I love musicals. But I generally have a hard time with film/tv musicals, especially when there are numbers that attempt to blend obviously digitally enhanced music with people walking down the street or hallway or other "normal" place. That's always struck me as super awkward and weird.
And I really despised the story line about the pregnancies, fake or otherwise.
But I love the show. It never fails to make me tear up or laugh out loud. It's a bit embarrassing, honestly, how often I listen to the group numbers on my IPhone, but they've become my way of de-stressing after a long day; I love to crank up the stereo and sing along.
Why?
I think it's because Glee is so unabashedly in love with it's medium. It has no qualms about taking retro material, glitzing it up, remixing it, and asking us to believe that kids singing on a stage in a high school could ever sound like that. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure, live and in person, the actors/singers sound great. But they do not sound like they do on screen, for sure. But the weird part is, I don't care! I love watching them and listening to them.
The mid-season finale seemed like a hedge by the writers and creators; an example of "well, we're not sure we'll be picked up for another 13 episodes, so we'll tie off most of the loose ends and hope for the best." Normally, I would hate that. It's too pat, too easy. But it was perfect.
Why?
This is one is easy to answer. Things are tough. We are struggling, nationally and personally. And while we appreciate the dramatic tension of a fake pregnancy or a Sectionals filled with cheating, we really, really need a win right now. At least I do.
And I got it. Thanks, Glee. Keep on singing with your cheesy, melodramatic self. We love ya.
I'm not sure why I like Fox's Glee.
Don't get me wrong, I love show stopping group numbers as much as the next person - it's why I love musicals. But I generally have a hard time with film/tv musicals, especially when there are numbers that attempt to blend obviously digitally enhanced music with people walking down the street or hallway or other "normal" place. That's always struck me as super awkward and weird.
And I really despised the story line about the pregnancies, fake or otherwise.
But I love the show. It never fails to make me tear up or laugh out loud. It's a bit embarrassing, honestly, how often I listen to the group numbers on my IPhone, but they've become my way of de-stressing after a long day; I love to crank up the stereo and sing along.
Why?
I think it's because Glee is so unabashedly in love with it's medium. It has no qualms about taking retro material, glitzing it up, remixing it, and asking us to believe that kids singing on a stage in a high school could ever sound like that. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure, live and in person, the actors/singers sound great. But they do not sound like they do on screen, for sure. But the weird part is, I don't care! I love watching them and listening to them.
The mid-season finale seemed like a hedge by the writers and creators; an example of "well, we're not sure we'll be picked up for another 13 episodes, so we'll tie off most of the loose ends and hope for the best." Normally, I would hate that. It's too pat, too easy. But it was perfect.
Why?
This is one is easy to answer. Things are tough. We are struggling, nationally and personally. And while we appreciate the dramatic tension of a fake pregnancy or a Sectionals filled with cheating, we really, really need a win right now. At least I do.
And I got it. Thanks, Glee. Keep on singing with your cheesy, melodramatic self. We love ya.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Cookiefest 2009
Every year, during the holidays, two of my dear friends and I embark on a two day adventure known as Cookiefest. Cookiefest is two solid days of baking cookies, for no purpose other than...because we can. This year, the 3rd Annual Cookiefest, was perhaps our most prolific yet. 53 dozen cookies were made. Yes, that's at least 636 cookies (not counting the toffee and other non-cookie sweets).
Cookiefest works for several reasons:
1. Our hostess has a kitchen like non other. This girl, a former Pampered Chef rep, has EVERYTHING you could want in her kitchen. Except, strangely, a 9x13 baking pan. Aha - Christmas present!
2. Our hostess also has a cool husband and son; the boys put up with our cackling and giggling with grace. Even a stomach bug for the son couldn't put a damper on things. He was a real trooper. And the husband helped make us yummy breakfast to kick off day two. You've gotta love that.
3. We're really good at shopping. This year was our best ; we knew what we needed (5 pounds of butter, 6 bags of chocolate chips, two dozen eggs, etc), and we nearly halved our shopping bill. Score.
4. We're great friends. The kind of friends who know their place. For example, I am a cooking idiot. A moron in the kitchen. I heat up soup and consider it a culinary victory. And I have absolutely no problem fetching and carrying and measuring upon request. My two gals are also comfortable enough to know they don't have to feel bad about being far superior to me in kitchen knowledge. They gently and cheerfully order me about, and it's great! And this year, they even let me make my own cookie, a mix of Craisins, oatmeal and white chocolate chips that have been dubbed "Joatmeal" cookies.
Now, a couple of days later, Cookiefest 2009 - Phase 2, also known as Cookiefeast, begins. It's the effort to distribute the cookies so I don't eat all of them. It's also the time when casual acquaintances suddenly become much more friendly. I wonder why?
Happy Holidays, y'all. Hope your friends are as great as mine.
Cookiefest works for several reasons:
1. Our hostess has a kitchen like non other. This girl, a former Pampered Chef rep, has EVERYTHING you could want in her kitchen. Except, strangely, a 9x13 baking pan. Aha - Christmas present!
2. Our hostess also has a cool husband and son; the boys put up with our cackling and giggling with grace. Even a stomach bug for the son couldn't put a damper on things. He was a real trooper. And the husband helped make us yummy breakfast to kick off day two. You've gotta love that.
3. We're really good at shopping. This year was our best ; we knew what we needed (5 pounds of butter, 6 bags of chocolate chips, two dozen eggs, etc), and we nearly halved our shopping bill. Score.
4. We're great friends. The kind of friends who know their place. For example, I am a cooking idiot. A moron in the kitchen. I heat up soup and consider it a culinary victory. And I have absolutely no problem fetching and carrying and measuring upon request. My two gals are also comfortable enough to know they don't have to feel bad about being far superior to me in kitchen knowledge. They gently and cheerfully order me about, and it's great! And this year, they even let me make my own cookie, a mix of Craisins, oatmeal and white chocolate chips that have been dubbed "Joatmeal" cookies.
Now, a couple of days later, Cookiefest 2009 - Phase 2, also known as Cookiefeast, begins. It's the effort to distribute the cookies so I don't eat all of them. It's also the time when casual acquaintances suddenly become much more friendly. I wonder why?
Happy Holidays, y'all. Hope your friends are as great as mine.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
thinking in tweets and updates
OK, social media folks, admit it. Since you started tweeting or facebooking, you're thought process has changed. Maybe in the past something odd would happen to you, and you'd think it to yourself, or, if someone was with you, say it out loud. Maybe if you were super diligent, you'd write it in a diary.
But you had a filter, generally; either the fact that no one was around to talk to and you'd feel stupid talking to yourself, or the person with you was sick and tired of your random thoughts, or you were just too lazy to write in your diary. And so on.
Today though, that filter is, if not gone, at least a bit more porous than it was. Now, if you choose, ANY random thought that you have can be instantly shared with those poor suckers who haven't hidden or blocked you yet.
What tweets/updates did you NOT send today? Here are a few of mine (and no, they are not all less than 140 characters):
7:30am - Crap. 4 days vacation is not really vacation if you're with your family. Can I have one more day just for me? No? Damn it.
8:15am - Breakfast failure; gluten free blueberry waffles with a bit of low fat vanilla ice cream. Gross. Where are the blueberries? And why does it taste like I'm eating sandpaper? Yes, I threw the remaining waffle out the car window. It's biodegradable and editable. In theory.
8:30am - Definitely not in the mood to be social. I should be making the rounds asking people about their holidays. Instead, I'll hunker at my desk and pretend I can't hear anyone.
9:30am - Bless her heart, one of my lovely staff braved the morning thunderclouds and poked her head in to say hi. Starting to feel marginally human.
9:35am - Finally able to step into public and hunt down some tea. Wow, check out that fabulous jacket a coworker is wearing. Instant hatred of every piece in my wardrobe.
10am - First meeting of the day, begun with a giggle-worthy story about Nutcrackers past. Thanks, Martin!
10:30am - now what do I do?
10:31am - right, I've got about 50 emails to answer.
11am - Side note: I can't believe my brother's in a real relationship. He's always been able to share my frustration at going through life without a companion. Now I will really be a 5th wheel, even with my family. That one's gonna take some getting used to.
11:30am - oooh, let's take on that bully of an agent. Yeah! Take that! And that! And THIS! Sometimes it's fun to play tough.
12noon - Lunch with a pal! Favorite part of the day. And best of all, we pretty much decided there would be no impromptu Spanish lesson at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I think our usual teacher wasn't in the mood to put up with our ineptitude.
1pm - Crap. What is that voicemail? I didn't have a phone meeting today, did I? Oh wait, it's not Monday, moron, it's Tuesday! Hey, at least the resulting conversation was WAY cool. Sometimes, we do really cool s#!% at my job.
1:30pm - Senior Staff meeting - scheduled for 30 minutes. An hour later, we're done.
2:30pm - race down to the Box Office for another meeting. I really do love my team. They are just smart, dedicated people, and I've got to remember that it's my job to make sure they have fun while they are doing their jobs.
3pm - back upstairs for yet another meeting. Can't stop being jealous of coworker who is going to EGYPT for a whole month with her mom. Floating on the Nile. I can't really think of anything much more fabulous than that.
3:30pm - back downstairs for another meeting. At least this one has a Brit on the conference call. Love the accent.
5pm - wander outside and suddenly feel woozy and a little nauseous, which NEVER happens. WTF? This doesn't bode well.
5:05pm - no time to feel sick - there's a city council meeting tonight! Guess I'm staying in the office until then. Excellent. Really wanted to work out, but let's face it, probably would have convinced myself not to given the aforementioned wooziness.
5:15pm - coworker mentions wanting peanut butter sandwiches to be magically delivered. Suddenly, this is all. I. can. think. about.
6pm - Screw it. I'm going to the store to get the fixings for peanut butter sandwiches.
6:15pm - OK, in the 2 minutes between the time I entered the store and exited, not only did a Salvation Army bell ringer appear, but about 50 cars. What the?
6:16pm - Crap - I don't have any change. Really baleful look from the bell ringer. Will try to put double in tomorrow to make up for it.
6:25pm - Mmmm. Peanut butter sandwiches.
6:45pm - Feeling human - dizziness and nausea gone. And holy crap, it's time to go to the city council meeting!
7pm - Council meeting. There are some weird cushions on these benches. Both me and my co-worker nearly slid off them when we tried to sit up straight.
8pmish - meeting over. I have no desire to be a city council member. None whatsoever. Glad that other people do.
8:30pmish - Nearly jumped out of my skin when a guy appeared at my side as I struggled to get the mail out of my mailbox. Yet another reason I can't wait to leave my apartment - the light in the mail area has been out for days.
8:50pm - My friend was right, Mythbusters is awesome. I really want to go skydiving. But I probably should lose a bunch of weight first. How depressing is that? Ugh.
8:51 - speaking of losing weight, this little mini pint of Cherry Garcia is mighty tasty. Sorry, but Ben and Jerry are The Men. Hands down.
9:40pm - Am pretty tired, but fundamentally unable to fathom going to bed at this hour. Solution? To the computer!
10:30pm - Geez, Jodi, get a life, would you? Ok, ok. I'm done. For tonight anyway.
But you had a filter, generally; either the fact that no one was around to talk to and you'd feel stupid talking to yourself, or the person with you was sick and tired of your random thoughts, or you were just too lazy to write in your diary. And so on.
Today though, that filter is, if not gone, at least a bit more porous than it was. Now, if you choose, ANY random thought that you have can be instantly shared with those poor suckers who haven't hidden or blocked you yet.
What tweets/updates did you NOT send today? Here are a few of mine (and no, they are not all less than 140 characters):
7:30am - Crap. 4 days vacation is not really vacation if you're with your family. Can I have one more day just for me? No? Damn it.
8:15am - Breakfast failure; gluten free blueberry waffles with a bit of low fat vanilla ice cream. Gross. Where are the blueberries? And why does it taste like I'm eating sandpaper? Yes, I threw the remaining waffle out the car window. It's biodegradable and editable. In theory.
8:30am - Definitely not in the mood to be social. I should be making the rounds asking people about their holidays. Instead, I'll hunker at my desk and pretend I can't hear anyone.
9:30am - Bless her heart, one of my lovely staff braved the morning thunderclouds and poked her head in to say hi. Starting to feel marginally human.
9:35am - Finally able to step into public and hunt down some tea. Wow, check out that fabulous jacket a coworker is wearing. Instant hatred of every piece in my wardrobe.
10am - First meeting of the day, begun with a giggle-worthy story about Nutcrackers past. Thanks, Martin!
10:30am - now what do I do?
10:31am - right, I've got about 50 emails to answer.
11am - Side note: I can't believe my brother's in a real relationship. He's always been able to share my frustration at going through life without a companion. Now I will really be a 5th wheel, even with my family. That one's gonna take some getting used to.
11:30am - oooh, let's take on that bully of an agent. Yeah! Take that! And that! And THIS! Sometimes it's fun to play tough.
12noon - Lunch with a pal! Favorite part of the day. And best of all, we pretty much decided there would be no impromptu Spanish lesson at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I think our usual teacher wasn't in the mood to put up with our ineptitude.
1pm - Crap. What is that voicemail? I didn't have a phone meeting today, did I? Oh wait, it's not Monday, moron, it's Tuesday! Hey, at least the resulting conversation was WAY cool. Sometimes, we do really cool s#!% at my job.
1:30pm - Senior Staff meeting - scheduled for 30 minutes. An hour later, we're done.
2:30pm - race down to the Box Office for another meeting. I really do love my team. They are just smart, dedicated people, and I've got to remember that it's my job to make sure they have fun while they are doing their jobs.
3pm - back upstairs for yet another meeting. Can't stop being jealous of coworker who is going to EGYPT for a whole month with her mom. Floating on the Nile. I can't really think of anything much more fabulous than that.
3:30pm - back downstairs for another meeting. At least this one has a Brit on the conference call. Love the accent.
5pm - wander outside and suddenly feel woozy and a little nauseous, which NEVER happens. WTF? This doesn't bode well.
5:05pm - no time to feel sick - there's a city council meeting tonight! Guess I'm staying in the office until then. Excellent. Really wanted to work out, but let's face it, probably would have convinced myself not to given the aforementioned wooziness.
5:15pm - coworker mentions wanting peanut butter sandwiches to be magically delivered. Suddenly, this is all. I. can. think. about.
6pm - Screw it. I'm going to the store to get the fixings for peanut butter sandwiches.
6:15pm - OK, in the 2 minutes between the time I entered the store and exited, not only did a Salvation Army bell ringer appear, but about 50 cars. What the?
6:16pm - Crap - I don't have any change. Really baleful look from the bell ringer. Will try to put double in tomorrow to make up for it.
6:25pm - Mmmm. Peanut butter sandwiches.
6:45pm - Feeling human - dizziness and nausea gone. And holy crap, it's time to go to the city council meeting!
7pm - Council meeting. There are some weird cushions on these benches. Both me and my co-worker nearly slid off them when we tried to sit up straight.
8pmish - meeting over. I have no desire to be a city council member. None whatsoever. Glad that other people do.
8:30pmish - Nearly jumped out of my skin when a guy appeared at my side as I struggled to get the mail out of my mailbox. Yet another reason I can't wait to leave my apartment - the light in the mail area has been out for days.
8:50pm - My friend was right, Mythbusters is awesome. I really want to go skydiving. But I probably should lose a bunch of weight first. How depressing is that? Ugh.
8:51 - speaking of losing weight, this little mini pint of Cherry Garcia is mighty tasty. Sorry, but Ben and Jerry are The Men. Hands down.
9:40pm - Am pretty tired, but fundamentally unable to fathom going to bed at this hour. Solution? To the computer!
10:30pm - Geez, Jodi, get a life, would you? Ok, ok. I'm done. For tonight anyway.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Jump the...teddy bear?
Yikes, upon reflection that blog entry title is much dirtier than I'd intended. Hang with me for a moment; this is a pop culture post, not some repressed childhood sexual fantasy. I have a theory to put out there.
I submit that whenever a TV show delves into pregnancy, it's a "jump the shark" moment, by default. It might not spell imminent creative death, but it does mean the show has to work doubly hard to get back into my good graces.
Evidence? Mulder & Scully's baby - I don't think The X-Files ever recovered. I'm working my way through Joss Whedon's Angel, and just (thankfully) got through the birth of Angel's child. Even Lost's Aaron was a bit of a stretch for me; after the birth and the inevitable montage of strong men smiling tenderly and poignant piano notes accompanying a moment of peace and harmony, it took a while to bring me back from the edge. And it's the one part of Glee that makes me really uncomfortable.
I suppose this could just be me. I have this problem with pregnancy depicted on TV, in movies, onstage or elsewhere (not sure where else is elsewhere, but you get the point). Perhaps it's because I haven't had kids, nor been involved in anyone else's having of kids. Or maybe because it feels a bit too intimate, too secret, to put out there for the world to see.
Maybe it's because I know they are acting, and no matter how good the woman is (or man, I suppose; wasn't Scott Bakula pregnant once in Quantum Leap?), it's not real. There's no way it can be. Being pregnant and having a baby is a pretty sacred thing, in my opinion, and I guess it takes me out of the comfort zone of storytelling. I like my stories pretend, so I can imagine the world they take place in, and enjoy knowing that the actors are creating them with as much authenticity as they can, even when the stories are a mite far-fetched. Making a character have a baby brings that storytelling world crashing to reality.
What do you think? Are there examples of shows that had a baby and did it well? Or am I on to something here?
I submit that whenever a TV show delves into pregnancy, it's a "jump the shark" moment, by default. It might not spell imminent creative death, but it does mean the show has to work doubly hard to get back into my good graces.
Evidence? Mulder & Scully's baby - I don't think The X-Files ever recovered. I'm working my way through Joss Whedon's Angel, and just (thankfully) got through the birth of Angel's child. Even Lost's Aaron was a bit of a stretch for me; after the birth and the inevitable montage of strong men smiling tenderly and poignant piano notes accompanying a moment of peace and harmony, it took a while to bring me back from the edge. And it's the one part of Glee that makes me really uncomfortable.
I suppose this could just be me. I have this problem with pregnancy depicted on TV, in movies, onstage or elsewhere (not sure where else is elsewhere, but you get the point). Perhaps it's because I haven't had kids, nor been involved in anyone else's having of kids. Or maybe because it feels a bit too intimate, too secret, to put out there for the world to see.
Maybe it's because I know they are acting, and no matter how good the woman is (or man, I suppose; wasn't Scott Bakula pregnant once in Quantum Leap?), it's not real. There's no way it can be. Being pregnant and having a baby is a pretty sacred thing, in my opinion, and I guess it takes me out of the comfort zone of storytelling. I like my stories pretend, so I can imagine the world they take place in, and enjoy knowing that the actors are creating them with as much authenticity as they can, even when the stories are a mite far-fetched. Making a character have a baby brings that storytelling world crashing to reality.
What do you think? Are there examples of shows that had a baby and did it well? Or am I on to something here?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
none of these are connected...
...but they all made me do that thing that dogs do: perk their ears up, cock their heads to the side and, if they had eyebrows, raise them quizzically while saying (if they had vocal cords) "eh?"
A local TV station is running a "personal paper-shredding" promotion. I really don't get it. What's that got to do with TV?
There's a film fest taking place this weekend, which is quite exciting for this small town. It's called I-540 Filmfest. It's named for the highway that connects about a dozen cities and towns. But it's only taking place in one of them.
Ticket sales aren't exactly roaring along at my day job, so I was dreading the conference call with my boss today. But he was sympathetic, even empathetic, about it, and positively cheerleader-esque in his efforts to buck us up. I wasn't quite sure how to take it, but it certainly made me think about how I should do the same for my staff. Amazing what a little positive feedback can do.
On that same conference call, I got the giggles as I imagined my boss' head as a sleek black telephone.
I've been putting off a writing project for weeks, claiming distractions. Turns out shutting the door and ignoring email works pretty well against those distractions. Oh, so that's how you put one word in front of the other! Watch out, unsuspecting patrons, I'm gonna give you some prose that'll empty your bank accounts real darn quick.
In the last week, I seem to have suddenly developed a social life. When did this happen? I'm usually the one alone at a take-out line, determinedly texting myself so as to not appear a loser. Hmmm...better not jinx it; I'm shutting up now.
Today, as news of the awful shooting at Ft. Hood trickled in, I made the mistake of looking at the comments on an online news story. Bad move. Folks, let me tell you this; President Obama and his socialist agenda did not cause the shooting. Neither did gun-toting, secessionist Texans. Come on now.
I skipped kickboxing today, and trudged home feeling guilty. That is, until I opened the front door of my apartment. There, on the table, were my sneakers, where I'd left them this morning so I wouldn't forget them. I guess my subconscious knew what it was doing.
I'm on a cooking binge lately. Well, more like a "preparing" binge, since cooking implies spices and sauces, and I'm not there yet. But tonight I discovered that David Sedaris on audio tape actually makes slicing vegetables more fun. Just watch out for the sharp side of the knife.
Here's my favorite recently overheard conversation on the street: "No, it's not an actual sex toy, not really..."
And speaking of sex, the ducks in my pond were...ahem...enjoying themselves again this morning. Pretty sad when the local water fowl get more action than I do.
On that happy note, good night, blogging world.
A local TV station is running a "personal paper-shredding" promotion. I really don't get it. What's that got to do with TV?
There's a film fest taking place this weekend, which is quite exciting for this small town. It's called I-540 Filmfest. It's named for the highway that connects about a dozen cities and towns. But it's only taking place in one of them.
Ticket sales aren't exactly roaring along at my day job, so I was dreading the conference call with my boss today. But he was sympathetic, even empathetic, about it, and positively cheerleader-esque in his efforts to buck us up. I wasn't quite sure how to take it, but it certainly made me think about how I should do the same for my staff. Amazing what a little positive feedback can do.
On that same conference call, I got the giggles as I imagined my boss' head as a sleek black telephone.
I've been putting off a writing project for weeks, claiming distractions. Turns out shutting the door and ignoring email works pretty well against those distractions. Oh, so that's how you put one word in front of the other! Watch out, unsuspecting patrons, I'm gonna give you some prose that'll empty your bank accounts real darn quick.
In the last week, I seem to have suddenly developed a social life. When did this happen? I'm usually the one alone at a take-out line, determinedly texting myself so as to not appear a loser. Hmmm...better not jinx it; I'm shutting up now.
Today, as news of the awful shooting at Ft. Hood trickled in, I made the mistake of looking at the comments on an online news story. Bad move. Folks, let me tell you this; President Obama and his socialist agenda did not cause the shooting. Neither did gun-toting, secessionist Texans. Come on now.
I skipped kickboxing today, and trudged home feeling guilty. That is, until I opened the front door of my apartment. There, on the table, were my sneakers, where I'd left them this morning so I wouldn't forget them. I guess my subconscious knew what it was doing.
I'm on a cooking binge lately. Well, more like a "preparing" binge, since cooking implies spices and sauces, and I'm not there yet. But tonight I discovered that David Sedaris on audio tape actually makes slicing vegetables more fun. Just watch out for the sharp side of the knife.
Here's my favorite recently overheard conversation on the street: "No, it's not an actual sex toy, not really..."
And speaking of sex, the ducks in my pond were...ahem...enjoying themselves again this morning. Pretty sad when the local water fowl get more action than I do.
On that happy note, good night, blogging world.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Post-Halloween musings
Halloween always amazes. The childlike glee we get at the chance to dress up, play another person, or just make idiots of ourselves, is fascinating.
Men in costume are just more interesting than women. For example: a man dressed as a woman is vaguely scandalous and hysterical. A woman dressed as a man? Vaguely creepy, a little sad, and not at all entertaining. Seeing grown men dressed as Oscar the Grouch and Elmo? Awesome. Had women worn those costumes...not nearly as awesome.
A quote on Twitter seems particularly apt: Halloween is the one time a year when women can dress like sluts and not be judged for it. I'd challenge the "not being judged" part, but there is some truth there.
No matter how hot a skimpy outfit with fishnets might appear, the woman wearing it is freezing cold, I assure you.
Free dessert for wearing a costume? Sign me up.
The time that parents put into their childrens' costumes confounds me. Especially when the kids are less than 5 years old. But I guess that's like getting a manicure in the winter; though you might tell yourself it's for others, it's really just for you.
And just like that, November is here. Oh, joy, now all the commercials will be about stupid toys that your child just MUST have for Christmas. Ick.
Men in costume are just more interesting than women. For example: a man dressed as a woman is vaguely scandalous and hysterical. A woman dressed as a man? Vaguely creepy, a little sad, and not at all entertaining. Seeing grown men dressed as Oscar the Grouch and Elmo? Awesome. Had women worn those costumes...not nearly as awesome.
A quote on Twitter seems particularly apt: Halloween is the one time a year when women can dress like sluts and not be judged for it. I'd challenge the "not being judged" part, but there is some truth there.
No matter how hot a skimpy outfit with fishnets might appear, the woman wearing it is freezing cold, I assure you.
Free dessert for wearing a costume? Sign me up.
The time that parents put into their childrens' costumes confounds me. Especially when the kids are less than 5 years old. But I guess that's like getting a manicure in the winter; though you might tell yourself it's for others, it's really just for you.
And just like that, November is here. Oh, joy, now all the commercials will be about stupid toys that your child just MUST have for Christmas. Ick.
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