Beware the eyes of March? Beware the hides of March? Huh? Oh, beware the IDES of March... yeah, 'cause that makes sense...
Nicole and I are in the car on a Sunday afternoon and I realize it's March 1st. Remarking that it's March already, Nicole agrees and says "beware the ides of March!" We sit in silence for a few seconds before she admits, "I have no idea what that means..." Neither do I, I say, except that I know it's March 15th and has something to do with Caesar.
Later that night we mention it to friends who also know that the ides of March is the 15th of the month and they think Caesar might have been killed on that day. Ahhh... Yeah, still not making much sense to us! Although we do warn our friend Caesar just in case and she said she dutifully stays at home with a baseball bat that day.
Like we do with everything we want to know more about, we google it. (This past week alone we googled "big blue arches on I-94," "ACC tournament 2009," "life is good grow," and "March madness 2009.")
I heart google. We google everything.
So, in case you also wondered, the ides of March is March 15th and the saying "beware the ides of March" does indeed refer to the day that Caesar was killed. Apparently a soothsayer warned Caesar that he would meet his peril on that day, but Caesar didn't listen and walked right into an ambush and was murdered.
But the ides wasn't always a terrible day. In the Roman calendar, the "ides" of a month simply referred to the 13th or the 15th of the month when the moon was full. It just so happened that way back in 44 B.C. some big political figure in another part of the world was murdered on the ides. If it had been a few months later, we'd be saying "beware the ides of June."
Yep, that's it. Not very exciting, is it? I think I'll start saying "Happy Ides Day!" instead. I think it's high time March 15th stopped getting such a bad rep.
March 15, 2009
March 10, 2009
Barbie looks good for 50
I loved Barbie. I dressed her in all of her fabulous outfits and dreamed of owning the gargantuan Barbie dream house and her pink Corvette convertible. But it wasn't all glitz and glamor with me, my Barbie flipped burgers and made milkshakes at McDonald's. She had secret rendezvous with Ken and was a role model for younger sister Skipper. And she was kind and humane to my entire stable of My Little Ponies.
Barbie, or Barbara Millicent Roberts as she is officially named, is an icon of American culture and has been a part of most girls' young lives for 50 years. Making her debut in March of 1959, she's seen a lot of changes. In 1971, her eyes were changed to look forward rather than demurely to the side. In 2000, Barbie gave Gore a run for his money when she ran for president (and even spawned voting booths in Toys R' Us stores for children to vote for their favorite candidate!) In 2004, Mattel announced that there was trouble in paradise and that Barbie and Ken had gone their separate ways, but were lovingly reunited in 2006. Released this year, Totally Stylin' Tattoos Barbie comes with a set of more than 40 tiny tattoo stickers that can be placed on her body and a faux tattoo gun with wash-off tats.
In honor of her 50th anniversary, Mattel has released a doll similar to the original. The doll features a new face with a more natural look, including a thinner jaw line, more almond-shaped eyes, fuller lips and a softer makeup palette, with shimmery pink lip shades and neutral eye colors. The new doll sports a two-piece black-and-white bikini trimmed with Barbie’s signature color pink, pink hoop earrings, a ponytail and, given how trendy she always is, a cell phone.
Look at the difference between the two. She may be an unrealistic depiction of an American woman, but you have to admit that she certainly does a good job of representing the changes in beauty women have gone through in the past 50 years. She's taller, she tanner, she's leaner, she's not as all-American.
We've all heard the Barbie backlash. Her body is so distorted that she would have to walk on all fours and wouldn't have enough body fat to menstruate if she were alive. Her pink scale reads 110 pounds, and since she's manufactured on a 1/16 scale, she would be 5'9" in real life and therefore 35% underweight. She's a horrible choice of toy for a young girl coming of age and coming to terms with her body. While I agree with all of this wholeheartedly, more than some of you know, I also think that, like Barbie's 44D chest, it's been blown way out of proportion. What little girl wants a toy that looks like a real woman with wrinkles and love handles and cellulite? I mean really - why do we go see movies? Not because we always want to see someone who looks just like us who's stressed out about mortgage payments, we want to see a beautiful woman find the love of her life or a big muscly man save the world. Movies are fantasy worlds for adults just as toys are fantasy worlds for children. What boy wants to play with a matchbox car that's a 1997 Saturn? So he can imagine himself at 40 years old with a dead end job and a gym membership he doesn't use? No, he wants a red Ferrari! So he can imagine himself as a super cool guy with lots of money and friends and everything he could ever want.
So perhaps we should give Barbie a break and see her for what she is - a total babe with a million dollar home and a pink corvette.
Barbie, or Barbara Millicent Roberts as she is officially named, is an icon of American culture and has been a part of most girls' young lives for 50 years. Making her debut in March of 1959, she's seen a lot of changes. In 1971, her eyes were changed to look forward rather than demurely to the side. In 2000, Barbie gave Gore a run for his money when she ran for president (and even spawned voting booths in Toys R' Us stores for children to vote for their favorite candidate!) In 2004, Mattel announced that there was trouble in paradise and that Barbie and Ken had gone their separate ways, but were lovingly reunited in 2006. Released this year, Totally Stylin' Tattoos Barbie comes with a set of more than 40 tiny tattoo stickers that can be placed on her body and a faux tattoo gun with wash-off tats.
In honor of her 50th anniversary, Mattel has released a doll similar to the original. The doll features a new face with a more natural look, including a thinner jaw line, more almond-shaped eyes, fuller lips and a softer makeup palette, with shimmery pink lip shades and neutral eye colors. The new doll sports a two-piece black-and-white bikini trimmed with Barbie’s signature color pink, pink hoop earrings, a ponytail and, given how trendy she always is, a cell phone.
Look at the difference between the two. She may be an unrealistic depiction of an American woman, but you have to admit that she certainly does a good job of representing the changes in beauty women have gone through in the past 50 years. She's taller, she tanner, she's leaner, she's not as all-American.
We've all heard the Barbie backlash. Her body is so distorted that she would have to walk on all fours and wouldn't have enough body fat to menstruate if she were alive. Her pink scale reads 110 pounds, and since she's manufactured on a 1/16 scale, she would be 5'9" in real life and therefore 35% underweight. She's a horrible choice of toy for a young girl coming of age and coming to terms with her body. While I agree with all of this wholeheartedly, more than some of you know, I also think that, like Barbie's 44D chest, it's been blown way out of proportion. What little girl wants a toy that looks like a real woman with wrinkles and love handles and cellulite? I mean really - why do we go see movies? Not because we always want to see someone who looks just like us who's stressed out about mortgage payments, we want to see a beautiful woman find the love of her life or a big muscly man save the world. Movies are fantasy worlds for adults just as toys are fantasy worlds for children. What boy wants to play with a matchbox car that's a 1997 Saturn? So he can imagine himself at 40 years old with a dead end job and a gym membership he doesn't use? No, he wants a red Ferrari! So he can imagine himself as a super cool guy with lots of money and friends and everything he could ever want.
So perhaps we should give Barbie a break and see her for what she is - a total babe with a million dollar home and a pink corvette.
My life is a song...or ten
Sometimes I imagine my life has a soundtrack.
There's a perfect song for every situation, every feeling, every emotion, every struggle, every triumph...ok you get the picture. So if my life did have a soundtrack, I think it would look something like this.
Mel goes through a break up: "Everything You Want," Vertical Horizon
Mel does what she wants: "My Prerogative," Bobby Brown
Mel enjoys being single: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," Cindi Lauper
Mel is bored: "The Thrill is Gone," B.B. King
Mel is worried: "Let It Be," The Beatles
Mel is thankful for her friends: "That's What Friends Are For," Dionne Warwick & Friends
Mel is stuck in traffic: "Move Bitch," Ludacris
Mel is on deadline: "Under Pressure," David Bowie and Queen
Mel gives in: "Whatever You Want," Vienna Teng
Mel waits for someone: "My Doorbell," The White Stripes
Mel watches the evening news: "What's Going On," Marvin Gaye
Mel goes on a cruise: "Fantastic Voyage," Coolio
Mel is in a crowded place: "Don't Stand So Close," The Police
Mel returns from cruise: "Back to Life," Soul II Soul
Mel travels to the South: "In God's Country," U2
Mel feels holy: "I Say a Little Prayer," Dionne Warwick
Mel is alone in the afternoon and wishing she wasn't: "Afternoon Delight," Starland Vocal Band
Mel is out for a ride: "Bicycle Race," Queen
Mel can't catch a break: "Rain," Patti Griffin
Mel makes her famous scrambled eggs: "Beat It," Michael Jackson
Mel sees through all the facades: "True Colors," Cindi Lauper
Mel wants to know the truth: "Straight Up," Paula Abdul
Mel realizes that nothing is perfect: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Poison
Mel recovers: "Broken Wings," Mr. Mister
Mel meets Nicole: "Awake," Secondhand Serenade
Mel falls for Nicole: "Endless Love," Lionel Richie and Diana Ross
Mel meditates (or her downstairs neighbors are not home): "Enjoy the Silence," Depeche Mode
Mel keeps swimming: "Survivor," Destiny's Child
Mel is happy: “Walking on Sunshine,” Katrina & The Waves
There's a perfect song for every situation, every feeling, every emotion, every struggle, every triumph...ok you get the picture. So if my life did have a soundtrack, I think it would look something like this.
Mel goes through a break up: "Everything You Want," Vertical Horizon
Mel does what she wants: "My Prerogative," Bobby Brown
Mel enjoys being single: "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," Cindi Lauper
Mel is bored: "The Thrill is Gone," B.B. King
Mel is worried: "Let It Be," The Beatles
Mel is thankful for her friends: "That's What Friends Are For," Dionne Warwick & Friends
Mel is stuck in traffic: "Move Bitch," Ludacris
Mel is on deadline: "Under Pressure," David Bowie and Queen
Mel gives in: "Whatever You Want," Vienna Teng
Mel waits for someone: "My Doorbell," The White Stripes
Mel watches the evening news: "What's Going On," Marvin Gaye
Mel goes on a cruise: "Fantastic Voyage," Coolio
Mel is in a crowded place: "Don't Stand So Close," The Police
Mel returns from cruise: "Back to Life," Soul II Soul
Mel travels to the South: "In God's Country," U2
Mel feels holy: "I Say a Little Prayer," Dionne Warwick
Mel is alone in the afternoon and wishing she wasn't: "Afternoon Delight," Starland Vocal Band
Mel is out for a ride: "Bicycle Race," Queen
Mel can't catch a break: "Rain," Patti Griffin
Mel makes her famous scrambled eggs: "Beat It," Michael Jackson
Mel sees through all the facades: "True Colors," Cindi Lauper
Mel wants to know the truth: "Straight Up," Paula Abdul
Mel realizes that nothing is perfect: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," Poison
Mel recovers: "Broken Wings," Mr. Mister
Mel meets Nicole: "Awake," Secondhand Serenade
Mel falls for Nicole: "Endless Love," Lionel Richie and Diana Ross
Mel meditates (or her downstairs neighbors are not home): "Enjoy the Silence," Depeche Mode
Mel keeps swimming: "Survivor," Destiny's Child
Mel is happy: “Walking on Sunshine,” Katrina & The Waves
February 26, 2009
V-Day
For many women, February means candy hearts and flowers for Valentine's Day, but for some women, the month of February brings a different V-Day - a movement to end violence against women.
Started ten years ago by feminist Eve Ensler, V-day (www.vday.org) has grown from a national to a global campaign to increase awareness and raise money for anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.
Largely done through creative events such as spoken word, plays and films, local activists and college students participate in the events. In 2008, over 4000 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls.
I recently attended one of these events when I saw The Vagina Monologues performed by University of Michigan students on campus. The Vagina Monologues were a result of several interviews conducted by Eve Ensler and others of various women from different backgrounds, cultures and socio-economic status. The interviews resulted in stories of all kinds - some that made me laugh out loud like the elderly woman who had never "looked down THERE" before, and others that made me cry like the Bosnian woman who was ripped open with the force of a gun inside her. In a world of violence and television images that we've become numb to, art and performance provide a vehicle to connect with people, to open their eyes to what's happening all around us.
Tonight I will attend another V-Day performance in Ferndale, a play written by Eve Ensler called Necessary Targets. Eve traveled to Bosnia to interview female refugees who had been brutally raped and beaten during the war. Their stories of love and community in the face of such brutality inspired Eve to write the play.
Necessary Targets runs tonight at 7:30 at the Ringwald Theater in Ferndale and proceeds benefit HAVEN in Pontiac, an emergency shelter that runs educational programs in the schools, offers counseling, advocates for abuse victims, and maintains a 24-hour crisis line and a forensic nursing program for sexual assault victims.
Tonight is the last show, but there are several other V-Day events taking place in and around Detroit in the next couple of weeks:
Love HER. Cherish HER. RESPECT HER. An Evening of Spoken Word, 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, 1515 Broadway, Detroit.
Women's self-defense seminar, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 28, the Costick Center, located on 11 Mile, between Middlebelt and Inkster, Farmington Hills. Jeff Duncan, master instructor and sixth-degree black belt, his wife Connie, second-degree black belt and chief instructor and additional female black belt instructors from Farmington Martial Arts, will teach self-defense and awareness skills. Open to women and girls, age 11 and up. Advance registration is required by calling (248) 473-1800.
"Anyone of Us: Words from Prison," 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1, 1515 Broadway, Detroit. The production draws on the writings of women in prison. A panel discussion follows the performance.
Until the Violence Stops Film Festival, 7 p.m. March 3-4, 1515 Broadway, Detroit. "Until the Violence Stops," "What I Want My Words To Do To you," and "From One Prison" screen the first day; "Tough Guise," "Street Sex," and "Lumo" shown the second day.
"The Vagina Monologues," 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 6-7, 1515 Broadway, Detroit. Special guest is Kalimah Johnson, a therapist and poet.
If you can't attend any of these events, please visit the www.VDay.org to learn more about what you can do to help stop violence against women.
Started ten years ago by feminist Eve Ensler, V-day (www.vday.org) has grown from a national to a global campaign to increase awareness and raise money for anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.
Largely done through creative events such as spoken word, plays and films, local activists and college students participate in the events. In 2008, over 4000 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls.
I recently attended one of these events when I saw The Vagina Monologues performed by University of Michigan students on campus. The Vagina Monologues were a result of several interviews conducted by Eve Ensler and others of various women from different backgrounds, cultures and socio-economic status. The interviews resulted in stories of all kinds - some that made me laugh out loud like the elderly woman who had never "looked down THERE" before, and others that made me cry like the Bosnian woman who was ripped open with the force of a gun inside her. In a world of violence and television images that we've become numb to, art and performance provide a vehicle to connect with people, to open their eyes to what's happening all around us.
Tonight I will attend another V-Day performance in Ferndale, a play written by Eve Ensler called Necessary Targets. Eve traveled to Bosnia to interview female refugees who had been brutally raped and beaten during the war. Their stories of love and community in the face of such brutality inspired Eve to write the play.
Necessary Targets runs tonight at 7:30 at the Ringwald Theater in Ferndale and proceeds benefit HAVEN in Pontiac, an emergency shelter that runs educational programs in the schools, offers counseling, advocates for abuse victims, and maintains a 24-hour crisis line and a forensic nursing program for sexual assault victims.
Tonight is the last show, but there are several other V-Day events taking place in and around Detroit in the next couple of weeks:
Love HER. Cherish HER. RESPECT HER. An Evening of Spoken Word, 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, 1515 Broadway, Detroit.
Women's self-defense seminar, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 28, the Costick Center, located on 11 Mile, between Middlebelt and Inkster, Farmington Hills. Jeff Duncan, master instructor and sixth-degree black belt, his wife Connie, second-degree black belt and chief instructor and additional female black belt instructors from Farmington Martial Arts, will teach self-defense and awareness skills. Open to women and girls, age 11 and up. Advance registration is required by calling (248) 473-1800.
"Anyone of Us: Words from Prison," 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, and 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1, 1515 Broadway, Detroit. The production draws on the writings of women in prison. A panel discussion follows the performance.
Until the Violence Stops Film Festival, 7 p.m. March 3-4, 1515 Broadway, Detroit. "Until the Violence Stops," "What I Want My Words To Do To you," and "From One Prison" screen the first day; "Tough Guise," "Street Sex," and "Lumo" shown the second day.
"The Vagina Monologues," 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, March 6-7, 1515 Broadway, Detroit. Special guest is Kalimah Johnson, a therapist and poet.
If you can't attend any of these events, please visit the www.VDay.org to learn more about what you can do to help stop violence against women.
February 25, 2009
February Haiku
A co-worker on facebook posted a "Pothole Haiku" as her status this week and inspired me. I love haiku! And it's been a while, so here are a few haiku I wrote about the month of February.
Fourth month of winter/
Oh look, another gray cloud/
How many more weeks?
Glad for Valentine's/
Or else month would be a bust/
Though March not better
Big holes of dread/
My bloody tongue reminds me/
Have to swerve next time
Furnace is tired/
Running marathons all day/
Expensive racing
Rubber on ice, slide/
Guardrail not very sturdy/
Facing wrong way now
Hello I am here/
Under all of these layers/
Warm, but can't move much
Heavy boots on feet/
Forgot what my toes look like/
Wonder if they still exist
Fourth month of winter/
Oh look, another gray cloud/
How many more weeks?
Glad for Valentine's/
Or else month would be a bust/
Though March not better
Big holes of dread/
My bloody tongue reminds me/
Have to swerve next time
Furnace is tired/
Running marathons all day/
Expensive racing
Rubber on ice, slide/
Guardrail not very sturdy/
Facing wrong way now
Hello I am here/
Under all of these layers/
Warm, but can't move much
Heavy boots on feet/
Forgot what my toes look like/
Wonder if they still exist
Skinny Tuesday
Yesterday was "Fat Tuesday" or "Paczki Day" and while I understand what Fat Tuesday is - the last chance to gorge yourself on forbidden delights in the form of a huge, stuffed donut-like pastries before you have to give up all your culinary sins when Lent begins on Ash Wednesday - I don't get what's so great about Paczkis. They're enormous, heavy, greasy balls filled with various flavors of fruit jelly (there are even prune ones!) or Bavarian custard. "What's not to love?" you may say, but before you take another bite, think about this - what does Fat Tuesday mean to you?
Fat Tuesday actually began as Fat Thursday to mark the beginning of the last week before Lent. Paczki (pronounced "ponchki", not "poonchki" like it's so often called) were discovered as a way to use up all of the lard, sugar and eggs that would be forbidden during Lent. So, shouldn't only those who participate in Lent celebrate Fat Tuesday? If you don't practice Lenten behavior yet still eat your share of paczki the day before Ash Wednesday, it's kind of like celebrating Christmas Eve but refusing to celebrate Christmas. What's the point? I mean, rather than waiting in the two-hour bakery line in Hamtramck for a dozen paczki, you could designate a random day, say January 14, as your own personal paczki day. Or do they taste better on Fat Tuesday? Is it the camaraderie of eating them together? Is it the forbidden aura around every nibble that gets your heart rate up on that particular day?
In your defense, I do realize this is all easy for me to say because paczki have the distinct honor of being the only sweet on the planet that I have no trouble resisting and I do not participate in Lent (well, there was that one time I gave up ice cream and chocolate just to see if I could do it). I think we should abandon the tradition altogether and instead live a life of moderation and simplicity. If there's something you love that's not so great for you, do it in moderation. If there's something that you can give up for 40 days, give it up all together and live simply rather than conforming to a tradition of gorging, denying, and then gorging again.
Just a thought...
And one more note:
If you're Polish and having paczki means much more to you than just a jelly donut, if it is a way to celebrate your heritage, then by all means you should go to Hamtramck for the parade, festival and a performance by the Polish Mulsims.
Fat Tuesday actually began as Fat Thursday to mark the beginning of the last week before Lent. Paczki (pronounced "ponchki", not "poonchki" like it's so often called) were discovered as a way to use up all of the lard, sugar and eggs that would be forbidden during Lent. So, shouldn't only those who participate in Lent celebrate Fat Tuesday? If you don't practice Lenten behavior yet still eat your share of paczki the day before Ash Wednesday, it's kind of like celebrating Christmas Eve but refusing to celebrate Christmas. What's the point? I mean, rather than waiting in the two-hour bakery line in Hamtramck for a dozen paczki, you could designate a random day, say January 14, as your own personal paczki day. Or do they taste better on Fat Tuesday? Is it the camaraderie of eating them together? Is it the forbidden aura around every nibble that gets your heart rate up on that particular day?
In your defense, I do realize this is all easy for me to say because paczki have the distinct honor of being the only sweet on the planet that I have no trouble resisting and I do not participate in Lent (well, there was that one time I gave up ice cream and chocolate just to see if I could do it). I think we should abandon the tradition altogether and instead live a life of moderation and simplicity. If there's something you love that's not so great for you, do it in moderation. If there's something that you can give up for 40 days, give it up all together and live simply rather than conforming to a tradition of gorging, denying, and then gorging again.
Just a thought...
And one more note:
If you're Polish and having paczki means much more to you than just a jelly donut, if it is a way to celebrate your heritage, then by all means you should go to Hamtramck for the parade, festival and a performance by the Polish Mulsims.
February 17, 2009
Six-Word Memoir
Urban legend holds that, to win a $10 bet, Ernest Hemingway once wrote a six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." This sparked online magazine Smith to challenge their readers to write their own six-word autobiography. The magazine received thousands of responses, many of which are collected in the book Not Quite What I Was Planning. Some are funny, some are sad, some make no sense at all to anyone but the person who wrote it, but they inspired me to think about my own life and how I would represent 32 years so briefly.
What has my life meant up until now? What has been the theme? What do I represent?
Approaching it from every conceivable angle, I set out to write my six-word memoir. Should it be about my childhood and my family? Should it be about my emotional growth and my journey to find myself? Or should it be about my life as I see it now?
In the end, I decided that my life has been a continuous journey of discovery, challenge, adventure and love. I've spent a good portion of my life discovering who I am. I've faced adversity, I've risen, I've fallen, I've loved and I most definitely have lost. Expressing all of that in just six words seemed impossible at first, but then I gave it a shot. And I wrote a few. :-)
I'm who? Switched paths. Right road.
Leaped, fell, bruised. Fell again, love.
Laugh lines are my greatest achievement.
Climbing mountains. Sometimes with bad shoes.
Bending but never breaking. Strong roots.
What would your six-word autobiography be?
What has my life meant up until now? What has been the theme? What do I represent?
Approaching it from every conceivable angle, I set out to write my six-word memoir. Should it be about my childhood and my family? Should it be about my emotional growth and my journey to find myself? Or should it be about my life as I see it now?
In the end, I decided that my life has been a continuous journey of discovery, challenge, adventure and love. I've spent a good portion of my life discovering who I am. I've faced adversity, I've risen, I've fallen, I've loved and I most definitely have lost. Expressing all of that in just six words seemed impossible at first, but then I gave it a shot. And I wrote a few. :-)
I'm who? Switched paths. Right road.
Leaped, fell, bruised. Fell again, love.
Laugh lines are my greatest achievement.
Climbing mountains. Sometimes with bad shoes.
Bending but never breaking. Strong roots.
What would your six-word autobiography be?
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