TangledWings

what does a man have to do to get an Oscar around here and other Oscar reflections

Well, by now you've probably heard who the winners and losers were last night...even if you really didn't care to know.  So you've heard Johnny Depp didn't win...damn it...but I'm okay with that because Daniel Day Lewis played the hell out of his role in There Will Be Blood and he really deserved it...and if you believe a word of what I just said you don't know me very well.  I am in fact not okay with it at all and I just don't know what the man has to do to get an Oscar.  Seriously.  What else do they want from him?  I pouted for quite awhile last night and eventually my friend Cherri said, "You really didn't think he was going to win did you," and well, I guess this little part of me did indeed think he just might slip in there and win.  I mean there are always upsets at every Oscars...for instance Tilda Swinton's win last night.  Where the hell did that come from?  Not to mention her dress.  Where the hell did it come from?  So you'll have to bare with me over the next few days as I rant and pout and get it all out of my system.  I still say the man has more guts than any of the other four nominees and I dare say there's not a one of them that would have taken on the role of Sweeney Todd.  But I'm not a member of the Academy so I don't get to vote.  I just get to rant about it on my blog.   

On to other Oscar business...

Every year there are always complaints about the Oscar's being boring and entirely too long.  I don't think that would ever be possible in my world.  I think I would love the Oscar's no matter what and in my personal opinion the longer the better because I'm always a little sad when the credits roll and I realize I have to wait a full year for the next Oscar night.  Here are a just a few random thoughts (because that seems to be the best way to get them to flow) about last night's show...

• Javier Bardem is hot and I like the scruffy look...but not at the Oscars.  I wish he'd shaved.
• But I did love that most of his acceptance speech was in his native tongue (Spanish).  That's what the Oscars are all about.
• I love a man who takes his mother to the Oscars.
• One of the things I was most looking forward to was the performance of the song from Once and it did not disappoint.
• My favorite moment of the night was when they won...but I was so upset that she didn't get to say her thank yous, that the music cut her off...but then I was elated when they brought her out after the commercial break and let her give her acceptance speech...and in my opinion it was the best speech of the night.
• Not a big fan of Daniel Day Lewis's hair.
• Is it possible for George Clooney to look bad?  I think not.
• I loved the previous winner montages they did before the presentation of every category.  I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.
• And the montage of the 79 previous Best Picture winners...I'm such a sucker...
• And the opening...I love things like that...when you sit there and try to recognize as many movies/characters as you can.
• And I also loved the clips that aired right before commercial breaks in which previous winners talked about what it was like to win.
• Speaking of commercials...I'm really likin' the new J.C. Penney's commercials...American Living or something like that...
• Not lovin' Cate Blanchett's dress.  The neck thing's gotta go.
• And Marion Cotillard's dress...it looked like she was wearing scales...like a mermaid or something.
• I've already mentioned Tilda Swinton's dress but it was so bad it deserves to be mentioned again...definitely the worse dress of the night...if you can actually call it a dress...it was more like a black garbage bag...or a tent...
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman actually looked good...compared to what he can look like...
• Julie Christie was gorgeous from the shoulders up...the shoulders down was ruined by the gloves.
• Nicole Kidman...also gorgeous...but I didn't get the necklace...it looked tangled or something...I kept wanting to reach through the screen and fix it for her.
• Lovelies of the evening included (in my opinion)...Jessica Alba and her sweet belly, Jennifer Garner lookin' all glam, Hillary Swank, the absolutely beautiful Laura Linney (lovin' the red hair), Jennifer Hudson rockin' her dress (so much better than whatever that thing was she was wearing last year), Amy Ryan, Kerri Russel (who I wished would have gotten more recognition for The Waitress), and Katherine Heigl lookin' lovely and adorably nervous.
• I'm undecided about both Miley Cyrus and Ellen Page...they both wore beautiful dresses but they almost looked too grown up.
• I'm also undecided about Renee Zellweger...didn't like the look on the red carpet...someone forgot to brush her hair...but she looked great later in the night when she presented an award...and it looked like someone finally brushed her hair...
• Kristin Chenoweth was one of my faves of the night...both the dress she wore on the red carpet and during her performance were gorgeous...and she's just as cute as can be.
• I was so glad Diablo Cody won.
• Women with tats rock.
• Penelope Cruz...loose the feathers...
• oh Ruby Dee...she was so gorgeous in her very classy red dress...I really wanted her to win.
• Does Dixie Carter ever age?  I hope I look as good as she does when I'm her age.
• The B-Dog was happy that "little chef's" movie won.
• Could you not just eat up James McAvoy and his adorable Scottish accent.
• I know there were several moments in the evening when Jon Stewart made me laugh but none of them are coming to mind...so they must not have been all that memorable.
• I like him okay but nobody hosts the Oscars like Billy Crystal.
• I'll end this post with three words...Denzel, Denzel, Denzel...

Oscar, oh how I love you...

So the question is can I write a post, a post about the Oscars none the less, in under 20 minutes?  I don't know but I'm going to try.  My friend Cherri should be here any second.  The table is set, our Oscar ballots are printed, and I have the TV Guide channel on (because I don't have cable) to watch the Red Carpet arrivals.

People generally associate me with the Oscars.  Today I had a friend call out of the blue, a friend I haven't talked to in years, just to see how I was going to spend my Oscar day because she knew this is one of the most exciting days of the year for me.  And yes, I have been making preparations all week...and I've taken the day off tomorrow to recuperate from all the Oscar lovin' I plan on enjoying tonight.  People like to ask me about my Oscar predictions--who I think will win the various awards.  The thing is I don't like to predict winners.  I don't care so much about trying to see how many categories I can get right.  What I like to do is choose someone from every category and cheer that person on.  Even if there is a front runner in a specific category I will still cheer on my favorite...even if they don't have a chance in hell.  When that person's category comes up you know I will be holding my breath for them.  My stomach will be in knots, my fingers will be crossed, I'll be muttering prayers under my breath, and I'll be just about sick from the excitement of it all.  And should my selection win you know I'll be in tears when that person walks on stage to take that gorgeous little gold man into their hands.  So here are the nominees I'll be cheering on this year:

Best Actress:  I'll be crossing my fingers for Ellen Page.  She is just so cute and I really loved Juno.  I'm so excited for her to be nominated and this has just really been a big year for her.

Best Supporting Actress:  Ruby Dee all the way.  I've long been a great admirer of both Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis so I am very, very excited about her nomination.  I only wish Ossie Davis were here to sit in the audience with her...and tear up should she win.

Bet Actor:  Well, if you have to ask me about this category then you don't know me very well.  This is one of those categories in which there is a clear front runner--Daniel Day Lewis.  And he was amazing.  But...Johnny Depp was nominated.  I'm 99% certain Daniel Day Lewis will win but there is still that 1% and that one percent has been filled with every prayer my little heart can pray.  Does Daniel Day Lewis deserve to win?  Oh yes.  But you know what, so does Johnny Depp.  Not only was he incredible in Sweeney Todd but the man has balls...to agree to star in a musical...when he'd never done any singing..balls I tell you...big ones.  And yes, I would give him the Oscar just because he's amazing...and a genius...but I really want to give it to him because he has balls.  And should he win...should my month of praying to God that he'll win actually pay off...you'll probably hear me crying from where you are.

Best Supporting Actor:  Another category in which there is a definite front runner but that doesn't matter.  I love me some Casey Affleck and this has really been a good year for him and I'd love to see him win...even though I'm certain it will be Javier Bardem.

Best Animated Feature:  We love Ratatouille...love it!

Best Picture:  Well, since they didn't nominate either of my two favorite movies of 2007--Sweeney Todd or The Waitress--I'll have to go with my other favorite...Juno, Juno, Juno.  I've seen all the others...they were all very good...there isn't a best picture nominee that I didn't enjoy but I'm going to pull for Juno...just like I pulled for Little Miss Sunshine last year. 

Other moments I'm looking forward to...seeing the song that's been nominated from Once performed by the actors.  Like many of you I loved both the movie and the soundtrack.  Seeing Tommy Lee Jones...my heart belongs to his yummy Texas accent...I even wrote a post about his accent.  John Stewart hosting...he's always a thrill.  Seeing both Alan Arkin and Jennifer Hudson present this year's awards.  Hmmmm....let's see.  I'm just pretty much excited about the whole thing because for awhile I thought it wouldn't even happen...well, not with the same glamor as years past.

The doorbell is ringing so I better go.  I'll post tomorrow about my thoughts of tonight's show...who rocked...and who didn't...who looked brilliant...who should have just stayed home...who made me cry...who made me roll my eyes...you know, all that good stuff...  And I do apologize now my any spelling, punctuation, and/or grammatical errors.  I wrote this post just as fast as my little fingers would type.

Happy Oscars!

Guess who's going to be in Dallas tonight...

...and guess who's going to be there???

If you said the Foo Fighters and me you are totally right!!!  T got tickets for the both of us as my Christmas gift and what seemed so very, very far away is now tonight.  Tonight I will be a just a few yards away from Dave Grohl (if you consider a few as being more than 100 but less than 1,000).  Oh I can hardly stand to think about it.  And because who wants to waste a perfectly good trip to Dallas I will be out of town the rest of the week.  After the concert tonight I will be staying with my parents until the weekend.  My mom and I have a few plans on the agenda including some shopping and a visit to a large outdoor flea market (can everyone say photo op.)  And of course I can't visit the Dallas area without a meal at P.F. Chang's.  And guess what?  I don't know how many times in my life I have managed to travel to Dallas without realizing it has an Anthropologie.  Maybe that's because until blogging I didn't know what Anthropologie was.  But so many of you have mentioned this fabulous store that I've been dying to visit one...and lo and behold Dallas has one.  So that is on the agenda as well.  And when I return it's very possible I will be bringing with me a new member of the family.  Are you intrigued?  Well, you'll just have to wait and see.  So have a very, very lovely rest of the week and a stupendous weekend.  And please if you have not read and responded to my previous post I would love whatever feedback you have to offer.  I've got a plane to catch so I'll see you guys when I return...that is unless I run away with Dave Grohl... 

the year that was;the year that will be

T, the B-Dog, and I celebrated the new year in a pretty low key fashion.  T made homemade mac & cheese (the beautiful Giada's version--love her) and homemade pizza (which he didn't drop on the floor when he tried to toss it by hand--yeah!).  We invited a good friend over for dinner, ate until we about popped, and sat around the table talking and drinking wine.  During dinner I decided we would play a little game.  One of us would pick a subject/topic that had something to do with 2007 or the upcoming 2008 then we would go around in a circle each giving our answer.  Then the next person in the circle would choose a subject/topic and we'd go around again and so on and so forth.  What was supposed to be dinner conversation turned into a game we played from the time we started dinner (around 8:30/9-ish) until midnight.  It was a great way to celebrate the year that was and look forward to the upcoming new year as well as a great way to learn a little about what the year was like for each other and what we all hope for/dream about for the new year.  The subjects ranged from the surface to the deep.  I can't remember all the topics we covered but here are just a few of my answers:

Favorite Movie Released in 2007:

I'm a big movie fan so I can't just choose one.  Mine was a tie between The Waitress (if you haven't seen it please do) and the latest collaboration between the always fascinating Tim Burton and the genius that is Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd...but I'm a little bit partial to the Burton/Depp combo.  I mean this was their 6th collaboration and of the five before this I own, mmmmm, yeah, that would be all five...and I'll own this one too.

Favorite TV show of 2007:

my family and I are in love with Chuck, all week we look forward to Chuck night

Favorite cd of 2007 (the cd listened to the most--didn't have to be released in 2007):

hands down Skin & Bones by the Foo Fighters

Proudest moment of 2007:

Being published twice--once in Artful Blogging and once in Life Images

Greatest memory of 2007:

walking into B&N and seeing my image on the cover of a magazine...and then propping the magazine up beside other magazines and taking my picture with other celebrities like Oprah, the oh-so yummy Christian Bale, and the equally yummy Orlando Bloom

Five songs listened to the most over 2007 (don't have the be released in 2007):

in no particular order--

1. Green Eyes by Cold Play (wonderful, sexy love song)
2. Live Forever by Oasis (my favorite walking song, I can play this one song over and over and walk for over an hour)
3. Black by Pearl Jam (mmmmm....Eddie Veder)
4. Another Round by the Foo Fighters (from the fabulous Skin & Bones)
5. Four White Horses by Counting Crows (on their live in New Amsterdam album)

Saddest Moment of the Year:

the death of my uncle

Greatest Regret/Disappointment of 2007:

not getting to have one last time to tell my uncle I loved him...even though I know he knew I still would have liked to tell him

Best Choice of 2007:

putting the B-Dog in pre-school, his intellect is growing by leaps and bounds

Two People (one 'real life', one famous) that you're glad came into your life in 2007:

1. my co-worker--when you work as closely as the two of us you really need someone you enjoy, get along with, can talk to, and who makes you laugh
2. Sharon Olds--although I've read Sharon Olds' work for more than the past year she truly was my poet laureate of the year

One person who's work influenced 2007:

for me it was William Stafford, his discipline of writing a poem every morning inspired me, and continues to inspire me, to do the same

Another Celebration of 2007:

getting a raise!

Favorite Scientific/Technological change/advancement of 2007:

this category was the toughest one for me.  T is a computer genius and our friend is a scientist with his PhD...and then there's me...the more artistic of the group.  The other two had to skip me, give their answer, and then come back to me.  And I still couldn't come up with anything.  Then later in the night I finally thought of something--Radiohead releasing their latest album on-line and letting buyers set their own price.  At first I thought why in the world would you let buyers set their own price?  And then I realized they really might be on to something.  I mean if you cut out the middle man, cut out shipping and packaging costs, then even after letting buyers set their own price Radiohead will probably make more money off the album than they would have otherwise.   

Surprise of the year:

Al Gore winning the Noble Peach Prize, I'm happy for him...but it was a surprise

********************************************************************************

One of the things looking forward to the most in 2008:

ArtFest baby!

A fun 'resolution' for the year:

In 2008 I'm going to travel the world without ever leaving my couch by reading one travel memoir/essay each month.  I've started the year off by traveling to 1920's Paris with Ernest Hemingway by reading The Movable Feast.

A discipline to incorporate into 2008:

I'm following in William Stafford's shoes by writing a poem a day

Mondo Beyondo for 2008:

I've mentioned this to a few friends and I'm still tossing it around...but...I'd really like to start my own zine (we'll talk about this more in a later post)

I heart Amy

Very soon after making the decision to become a vegan I discovered Amy's Organics...and let me tell ya...Amy's is every busy vegan's best friend.  When my mornings are too busy to put together a delicious colorful salad topped with avocado and kidney beans I toss one of Amy's burritos into my bag and head out the door.  When I'm too tired at night to make my favorite cabbage roll ups with almond dipping sauce I heat up one of Amy's enchilada dishes.  When I've made too much tomato soup and I need a change of pace I open a can of Amy's No Chicken Noodle soup.  And then there's her yummy chili, her Tuscan Bean and Rice soup, and her veggie loaf which saw me through this Thanksgiving holiday.  And just when I thought life couldn't get any better I was meandering around in the freezer section of my local grocery store last week when I spied Amy's cheese-less pizza.  Pizza is one of my weakness and when the guys order pizza I am certain to fall off the vegan wagon.  Sure I could order a pizza without cheese but please...who really wants to do that?  But now that I've discovered Amy's amazingly delicious cheese-less pizza all my pizza problems have been solved.  Roaming around on Amy's site I see that she has many, many more products I have yet to discover...and she has a blog.  I'm not certain my heart can take so much happiness.  Now if only she'd create a vegan cheese I could stomach then all my vegan woes would be solved.

SPC {what I wear 1}

I'm really excited about this month's Self Portrait Challenge theme.  So excited I'm starting a week early.  What I wear.  I think what we wear, or what we don't wear, can reveal a lot about who we are...or who we want to be.  We often choose our clothing based on how we feel or how we want to feel.  It can be an expression of our personality or an indication of where we happen to be in our lives at the present moment.  And I can't help but also link what we wear to style.  Although I don't think I've owned a certain style for myself there are many people who have.  There are people who have taken a certain look and made it so theirs that you can't help but think of that person when you think of the style.  Think Frida Kahlo and her Tehuana dress.  Can you imagine her in anything else?  Think Coco Chanel and her string of pearls.  Think Diane Keaton and the way she took menswear and made it feminine.  Think Stevie Nicks and her free flowing bewitching gowns and capes.  Think Audrey Hepburn and those adorable cropped pants paired with cute slippers.  Think Bono and his sunglasses.  Think Elvis and his big collared sequin suits.  Think about the way Carey Grant could wear a tuxedo like no one else.  Think Charlie Chaplain with his mustache and bowler hat.  Think Johnny Depp and that bohemian 'hobo chic' he pulls off so well.  And I'm sure you could list hundreds of others whose 'look' has become synonymous with the person.  What we choose to wear can reveal little things about ourselves that maybe we only feel safe expressing through something we can easily remove.  So I think this ought to be an interesting month and I can't wait to see what some of you come up with.

I'm one of those people who wish they had a 'look'.  I kinda just feel thrown together most of the time.  I don't consider myself stylish in the least.  The images above are just about the way I feel about my wardrobe.  A bit frumpy.  Now there is something to be said for comfort and many weekends you will catch me just as you see me above--pajama pants (or comfy pants as we call them in our home), a t-shirt, hair thrown up, and not a stitch of make-up.  Very au naturale.  But I would be lying if I said I didn't have this little piece inside of me longing to be a bit more stylish.  And I don't mean that in a fad/trend kind of way.  I mean I wish I knew how to better express who I am on the inside through what I wear on the outside.  A fad/trend is a passing fancy.  Style is something you own that may even be unique to you.  It doesn't have to be what everyone else is wearing.  It has to be something that really lets you come alive.  Sometimes I get really bored with the 'I bought this because it was on sale' look instead of the 'I bought this because it's really ME' look and I long for a look I feel I really own instead of one that owns me.  Our clothing can shift the way we feel about ourselves and can sometimes even instill a sense of empowerment.  Often when my look owns me, instead of the other way around, I don't feel a strong sense of empowerment.  Now I'm not saying empowerment comes from what we wear.  I'm saying that when we own our look it is often a good indicator that we do feel grounded and empowered and confident.  It could mean we have a strong sense of self...strong enough that we let ourselves explore who we are through what we wear.  It's the inside manifesting itself on the outside.  I'm okay with pajama pants and no make-up on the weekends...and sometimes during the week...and I am wearing a Wonder Woman t-shirt afterall...that's gotta say something for me.  But I also want everything that's stuffed inside--my creativity, my passion, my power, my heart, my unfolding and becoming--to be seen on the outside.  Choosing to dress in a way that expresses all that is trapped inside is one way to accomplish getting the inside outside.

Dave Grohl Ought to Appreciate this Post

I confess...I'm a Foo Fighters fan.  It all began years ago when I saw Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (both members of the Foo Fighters) induct Queen into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.  Because Freddie Mercury is no longer living the two Foo Fighters members performed in his honor.  They performed Queen's Tie Your Mother Down and from that moment on I was sold.  It was passionate and angst-y and sweaty...all the things I love in a good rock 'n' roll song.  A few years later I saw them perform Times Like These at the Grammys and that further deepened my love.  And then there was the time Dave Grohl joined Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zant, and Elvis Costello in a performance of London Calling at the Grammys in honor of The Clash.  That sealed it for me and nothing anyone can say can talk me out of my love for them. 

Needless to say it isn't uncommon to hear a little Foo Fighters music playing either at home or in my office.  (side note: when we're at home I like my Foo Fighters mixed in with a little Oasis and Pearl Jam or Counting Crows depending on my mood.) Especially lately.  I recently purchased a copy of their cd Skin and Bones and I swear to you it may be the most fabulous cd ever.  Okay, maybe that's exaggerating it a bit but it is pretty damn good.  I think I've played it non-stop for three weeks.  I fully expect my co-worker to turn against me at any moment and threaten to ban the Foo Fighters from our office forever. (Foo Fighters plug: run to your nearest music store, or log onto Amazon.com, and purchase this cd...do it now...I promise you won't regret it...if you're having doubts watch this...or this.)  Earlier in the week I actually received an e-mail from someone who had read a comment I left on another blog about Skin and Bones and she purchased it and wanted to let me know she loved it.  YES!  Another Foo Fighters convert. 

I've been pushing the Foo Fighters on my co-workers, on T & the B-Dog, on anyone I can.  My brother's birthday is next month and guess what he'll be getting.  If you guessed a copy of Skin and Bones you are correct.  There are times I honest to God believe that because I've spent so much money on Johnny Depp (dvds, soundtracks, figurines, costumes, swords, books, even legos) I ought to be able to call him up at any time and say, "Hey Johnny, you know that island in the Caribbean you own.  Well I helped you purchase a sliver of that island so I'm coming to visit this weekend.  Just throw a sleeping bag out on the beach and I'll be fine."  Well it's getting to the point that I think I ought to be able to call up Dave Grohl any time and say, "Hey I hear you're going to be performing at such-and-such-location.  I'd like a couple tickets thank you very much."  I'm just trying to spread some Foo Fighters love (gotta love You Tube.)

But that's not really what this post is about.  That was just an introduction...a long one but still only an introduction.  This post is actually about a new game the B-Dog has invented that T and I get the pleasure of playing with him.  While sitting around the dinner table last week, and yes, there may have been some Foo Fighters playing in the background, the B-Dog decided we all needed to raise our hands as fast as we could and whoever was the fastest got to call someone a Foo Fighter (somehow that always managed to be him.)  Hands up.  "Mom's a Foo Fighter."  Hands down.  Hands up.  "Dad's a Foo Fighter." Hands down and so on and so forth.  Every once in awhile T or I one got to squeeze in a "Britt's a Foo Fighter."

Little did we know there are apparently several versions of this game.  According to the B-Dog other versions are as follows:

• Foo Fighters 2--can only be played while at the gas station
• Foo Fighters 3--has to be played while at the candy store
• Foo Fighters 4--requires props (like matchbox cars, etc.)
• Foo Fighters 5 (try saying that 10 times in a row as fast as you can...that's what I thought...not so easy is it)--requires you wear a costume
• Foo Fighters 11--can only be played while driving and only by the driver (I know...not very safe)
• Foo Fighters 13--requires multiple costumes and you rotate them
• Foo Fighters 41--can only be played while watching Transformers but seeing as how we don't have Transformers we can't play it
• Foo Fighters 81--must only be played at the grocery store
• Foo Fighters 89--requires you put both hands up in the air instead of just one
• and finally there is my personal favorite, Foo Fighters 99--which you can only play if you have ninety-nine and two thousand seven arms and since monsters are the only ones with ninety-nine and two thousand seven arms they're the only ones who can play it

See how much fun you can have when you live with a 4 year old.  Hey, it beats the heck out of having to chase him around the house with a plastic sword pretending to be either Captain Jack or Captain Barbosa, depending on which one he wants to be.

So let's say we make this post a little more interesting.  For the sake of spreading a little more Foo Fighters love I will personally purchase a copy of Skin and Bones (after I get paid on November 1st of course) to the 1st person that comments on this post and says, "I'd like to have a little Foo Fighters love lavished on me.  Send me a copy."  I will e-mail you for your address and once I get paid (god, that can not come soon enough) I will buy you a copy, along with my brother's, and send it to you.  I promise!  Then you too can be a Foo Fighters convert.  How can you not take me up on this?  I mean it's a free cd...and a damn good one at that.  First person that comments...

Dang...now I'm feeling guilty for not spreading the Johnny Depp love.  I'll have to think about that one and come up with something for next month.  Stay tuned.

This is Disturbing on so Many Levels

This past weekend while I was on-line wasting time before the wedding I agreed to photograph I found this web-site.  Please check it out.  It floored me and it might floor you as well.  At the top of the site you'll see a link that says portfolio--click on it.  You should see two rows of images.  All these images are photographs of famous people.  Pick one by clicking on it.  It will enlarge the image.  When you hover your cursor over the image you will be able to see the 'before' version of the image.  To exit the enlarged version click on it then choose another one.  Go ahead.  Look at them all.  Pay close attention to waist size, breast size, thigh size.  Notice the difference in the 'before' images and the 'after' images.  Are you disturbed?

Yes, I'm going to get up on my feminist soap box for a minute because, well, it's my blog and I can rant about whatever I want to rant about.  And I definitely want to rant about this.  Now I knew things like this were happening.  I knew about air brushing and I saw the Dove add that was really popular around the beginning of the year.  I even had a link to it on my own blog.  I'm not naive.  But when I saw the way these images had been altered I couldn't believe it.  We are bombarded by images of what is and is not acceptable to the point that we begin to loath our own bodies.  I know I do.  I just wrote a post about it last week, a post about how a tabloid calling Kelly Clarkson a weight loss loser made me feel like a looser too.  After viewing the altered/enhanced images on this web-site I understood why we as women often feel as if we can't live up to the expectations of society--the very women we're being compared to can't even live up to the images. These are extremely beautiful women and yet their waists are being thinned out, their breasts are being lifted and enlarged, their thighs are being trimmed and rounded, their wrinkles and blemishes are being brushed smooth and all of this is happening to the point where they are pretty much being given new bodies.  Look at the image of Eva Longoria (2nd row, 5th pic).  She's tiny to begin with but look at how much her waist has been trimmed.  Look at how her hip has been rounded to make her look more sexy, more desirable.  Look at the image of Kelly Clarkson (1st row, 3rd image--at least I think it's Kelly Clarkson, she's been changed so much I'm not sure).  In the original image she looks, well, a lot like me.  Natural, full, curvaceous.  But look at the altered image.  They've taken off about 1/3 of her size.    Now I'm a photographer so I know about altering and enhancing images.  I do it to my own photographs.  If I take a photograph and the person in the image has some acne I whip out that spot healing brush.  If I take a photograph of a child and notice a booger hanging off the end of their nose, poof!  It's gone.  I soften and saturate color.  I do a little dodging and burning to the eyes to make them pop.  But what is happening in these images is all together different.  In these images the women are being give different bodies, bodies that are more 'acceptable'.  It makes you realize how unrealistic the images we are being saturated with truly are and how unrealistic the standards can be.

And notice one other thing...and yes, I am ranting.  Sixteen of the twenty images are women.  Only four are men.  And of those four images only one of them has been thinned out.  The other three were touched up to add light and cover the rugged naturalness of the complexion, only minor enhancements.  That can send a definite message--men are okay with only minor changes, women are only okay if they've been given totally new bodies, better bodies, thinner bodies, bodies that aren't realistically feasible even for the thinnest, most toned, most beautiful women in society.

Do you find this as disturbing as I do?  And why do we put up with it?  Why do we buy into it?  Women buy the magazines, the products, the values and ideas images like the ones on this web-site support and promote.  I buy them.  I'm guilty of it.  I have bought into the idea that my body is unacceptable when compared to other women's bodies, especially famous women.  And as long as we can be convinced to keep our focus on the shallow, surface level issues in life--like our size, shape, and weight--we don't have the energy to focus on the important issues, issues like poverty, homelessness, unemployment, education, health care, AIDS and other diseases, genocide, racism, sexism, ageism, and all those other isms.  I have a hard time seeing the important issues when I'm too focused on my low self-esteem. 

As I looked at all these images this past Saturday it was a real wake up call.  Like I said, I knew this was happening.  I wasn't naive.  But to actually see the transformation happening was something else.  The first thing I did after turning off my computer was walk directly into the bathroom, look at myself in the mirror, and apologize to myself for all the abuse I've heaped on myself in an effort to live up to images that aren't real.

Having Some Body Issues

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