Ok, I don't write a fashion blog. I don't even follow fashion blogs. I probably should begin following some since every time I buy a new item of clothing I text my friends in a frenzy asking them how to "accessorize" and what color shoes I should wear. That and my most recent purchases were a Snoop Dogg sweatshirt and a polka dot headband. So how am I, the girl who wears teal moccasins daily and owns over 100 non-fitted t-shirts, qualified to give fashion advice? Just trust me on this one.
Let's have a chat about crop tops. Those were a thing in the 80s, when people wore high-waisted jeans and high-top Reeboks. They were even a thing in kids' clothes in the 80s, but I wasn't about to be putting any of that shit on my body. Luckily it died out quickly and I didn't have to deal with them again until the late 90s for entirely different reasons.
I'm just going to put it out there - even if you have the most amazing abs on the planet and aren't showing more than a few inches of skin, crop tops make you look like a whore. Yes, I said it. This is not a "skinny vs. fat" trend - I have not yet seen a fat chick in a crop top, most likely because they are not that fucking stupid. Now I will freely admit that I wear low cut tops, tight clothing, short dresses, bikinis and anything that gives my cleavage the showtime it deserves. However, certain things are only appropriate for certain occasions - most things I have worn/would wear in Las Vegas are pretty much inappropriate anywhere else. Swimsuits are only acceptable at a beach or pool, with a slim exception for other outdoor places where one might lay out to tan.
Here are the places where crop tops are appropriate:
1. Any outdoor party where it's warm and there is likely a pool or beach in the vicinity, thus negating the need to be fully clothed (see swimsuits, above).
2. During vigorous exercise if and only if you are wicked ripped.
3. Halloween
4. If you are a dancer or cheerleader, and then only when in practice and while performing.
5. Rap videos
6. If you are famous for being an entertainer, more specifically Beyoncé, Rihanna or Britney.
7. In a trailer park because, well you can wear anything in a trailer park. Literally anything.
Take note of what is not on the list. I did not include places like "school" or "the mall". No grocery store, restaurants (seriously, why would you want to wear something that shows your stomach while you're EATING?), bars, salons, libraries, government buildings or just walking down the street* (*unless you qualify for the prostitute exception). Do not let the amount of crop tops at places like Forever21 and H&M confuse you - this is NOT everyday wear. Would you wear your slutty schoolgirl costume to the mall? No? THIS IS THE SAME THING, even if you're pairing it with something that doesn't show your ass.
Have I worn crop tops? Yes, yes I have. When, you ask? When they were a REQUIRED COSTUME in high school for my dance team. I wore many, and even when I did, the director would usually pick ones that showed only 2-3 inches of stomach and never a bellybutton. I've also worn them on Halloween. There's a reason your costume is called "slutty Rainbow Brite" or "sexy police officer": it's because non-slutty people don't go around in public wearing crop tops!! And what did I do if on either of these occasions I had to go into public before heading to my performance or party? I'd toss a tshirt over that shit. I'm not walking into Subway looking like a 2-bit whore, even though it would be very obvious to nearly every human that my outfit was dance-related.
So for the love of god, stop buying crop tops. Stop wearing them in public. I guarantee you I'm not the only one looking at you and thinking you're trashy. If you REALLY must own one, save it for summer. Wear it to a pool party. Wear it to the beach. Wear it around your house if you have to, but don't throw your image into accidental slutdom because you thought something was fashionable.
**This public service announcement was partially funded by the makers of full-length shirts.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
PUSH MY BUTTONS
We've got a double entendre here - not only am I writing about something that "pushes my buttons," but in fact I'm writing about ACTUAL buttons.
I'm not entirely sure how to get this message out into the world in a manner effective enough to reach all the idiots roaming the streets, but it needs to be said. We need to have a talk about buttons. Two types, specifically - elevator buttons and street crossing buttons.
I know everyone has been in the situation where they've either seen or (god forbid) partaken in the excessive pushing of buttons. I walk into an elevator lobby alone. I push the UP button. It glows green, or red, or whatever particular color you feel like imagining - the point is that it's fucking LIT UP like a Christmas light. And there are only two options (unless you live in some magical world of crazy multi-way elevators, and if so please take me there promptly) - the top button or the bottom button. When deciding which way to travel in the giant metal box that somewhat terrifyingly lifts you to great heights, there's no way you DON'T notice if one (or both) of the buttons is lit up. This is never a confusing situation.
When I'm standing there, alone, with my UP button glowing, waiting for my elevator, in walks another person. That person sees me standing and waiting as well as the brightly lit UP button. He promptly walks over to it and PRESSES THE GLOWING BUTTON AGAIN. WHOA WHOA WHOA. I'm sorry, did you have a problem with the way the button was glowing? Did you look at me and think "That little bitch can't press buttons worth shit, I'm gonna give this a little extra elbow grease"? ARE MY BUTTON-PRESSING SKILLS INADEQUATE? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??
The reason this pisses me off so much is because there are not multiple settings for elevator buttons. It's not "press once, it might show up; press twice, it'll speed up; press three times and HOLY SHIT INSTANT ELEVATOR ARRIVAL!" No. It's press ONCE, elevator notified. Once the elevator is notified, that's all the power we have. Pushing it multiple times DOES NOT MAKE IT COME FASTER.
Withholding my rage, once the elevator arrives we get on and push our respective floors. Let's say I push 8 and he pushes 10. Suddenly the elevator stops on the 4th floor - someone else wants to ride! This person walks in, stares at the button panel, sees two brightly lit buttons and decides she wants to go to 8. Here's where a normal person would say "Oh, look, how convenient, my floor has already been selected. I shall now lean back and enjoy this glorious elevator ride." But NOOOO. YOU JUST HAVE TO PUSH IT AGAIN. In a debate on this issue a while back, I was offered the explanation that pushing buttons likely makes the door close faster. Perhaps, but you know what does that FOR SURE and not just by your educated guess? THE CLOSE DOOR BUTTON. If you want the doors to close, PRESS THAT BUTTON. It seems VERY SIMPLE but apparently this is difficult.
The other time I nearly pistol whip people is at crosswalks. I hate this so badly that I get angry if I'm driving and I see it happen. There are two people in this particular category. Since most crosswalk buttons don't light up to notify you they've already been pressed, I do understand the need to sometimes re-push it. However, when I'm standing within 1 foot of said button and you go squeeze by me to push it, you're just being a dick. Am I really stupid enough to not press the fucking walk button?? You really think I'm that person? And even if I was, do you not see the 12 people on the other side waiting to cross this direction, any number of whom could have (and likely did) already press the button? GodDAMN it.
Then there is the impatient pusher. They could be a combo of this and the above, which is the ultimate in pissing me off. Let me explain something to you. If you stand next to the light pole and continuously press the button OVER AND OVER AND OVER 50 times, THIS WILL NOT MAKE IT GO FASTER. People need a basic knowledge of circuitry. Once you have pressed the button and completed the circuit, YOU CAN'T COMPLETE IT BETTER OR FASTER. IT IS ALREADY COMPLETE. NOW YOU MUST WAIT.
They treat it like there's a fucking stoplight elf that lives in the pole and every time you push the button he gets poked, assuming that if you keep poking him he's going to get pissed off and be like "OK GO ALREADY STOP BOTHERING ME." NO. THIS IS NOT HOW IT WORKS. Circuits do not understand annoyance. You could press that shit all day and it wouldn't know the difference. You know who does notice annoyance? ME. And guess what? I HAVE NO POWER TO MAKE THE LIGHT CHANGE.
The worst is when I get there first, press the button, and have been waiting for a few minutes when Mr. Pokey comes up and starts his incessant pressing, only to have the light change nearly immediately and have him think it's because he kept pressing the button. YOU DIDN'T DO THAT. YOU ARE LIKE A CHILD. The one that keeps poking his mom repeating "Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy..." until the mom can't take it anymore and is like "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
You are an adult. Stop believing in the stoplight elf. He does not exist. He will not grant your wish the more times you push the button. The only thing that will come from you doing this is someone like me smacking you in the head with a blunt object because you're so fucking stupid. And if there was a stoplight elf and he did get irritated with your incessant poking, he'd probably turn the walk sign on while oncoming traffic still had a green, because that's what you deserve.
I'm not entirely sure how to get this message out into the world in a manner effective enough to reach all the idiots roaming the streets, but it needs to be said. We need to have a talk about buttons. Two types, specifically - elevator buttons and street crossing buttons.
I know everyone has been in the situation where they've either seen or (god forbid) partaken in the excessive pushing of buttons. I walk into an elevator lobby alone. I push the UP button. It glows green, or red, or whatever particular color you feel like imagining - the point is that it's fucking LIT UP like a Christmas light. And there are only two options (unless you live in some magical world of crazy multi-way elevators, and if so please take me there promptly) - the top button or the bottom button. When deciding which way to travel in the giant metal box that somewhat terrifyingly lifts you to great heights, there's no way you DON'T notice if one (or both) of the buttons is lit up. This is never a confusing situation.
When I'm standing there, alone, with my UP button glowing, waiting for my elevator, in walks another person. That person sees me standing and waiting as well as the brightly lit UP button. He promptly walks over to it and PRESSES THE GLOWING BUTTON AGAIN. WHOA WHOA WHOA. I'm sorry, did you have a problem with the way the button was glowing? Did you look at me and think "That little bitch can't press buttons worth shit, I'm gonna give this a little extra elbow grease"? ARE MY BUTTON-PRESSING SKILLS INADEQUATE? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT??
The reason this pisses me off so much is because there are not multiple settings for elevator buttons. It's not "press once, it might show up; press twice, it'll speed up; press three times and HOLY SHIT INSTANT ELEVATOR ARRIVAL!" No. It's press ONCE, elevator notified. Once the elevator is notified, that's all the power we have. Pushing it multiple times DOES NOT MAKE IT COME FASTER.
Withholding my rage, once the elevator arrives we get on and push our respective floors. Let's say I push 8 and he pushes 10. Suddenly the elevator stops on the 4th floor - someone else wants to ride! This person walks in, stares at the button panel, sees two brightly lit buttons and decides she wants to go to 8. Here's where a normal person would say "Oh, look, how convenient, my floor has already been selected. I shall now lean back and enjoy this glorious elevator ride." But NOOOO. YOU JUST HAVE TO PUSH IT AGAIN. In a debate on this issue a while back, I was offered the explanation that pushing buttons likely makes the door close faster. Perhaps, but you know what does that FOR SURE and not just by your educated guess? THE CLOSE DOOR BUTTON. If you want the doors to close, PRESS THAT BUTTON. It seems VERY SIMPLE but apparently this is difficult.
The other time I nearly pistol whip people is at crosswalks. I hate this so badly that I get angry if I'm driving and I see it happen. There are two people in this particular category. Since most crosswalk buttons don't light up to notify you they've already been pressed, I do understand the need to sometimes re-push it. However, when I'm standing within 1 foot of said button and you go squeeze by me to push it, you're just being a dick. Am I really stupid enough to not press the fucking walk button?? You really think I'm that person? And even if I was, do you not see the 12 people on the other side waiting to cross this direction, any number of whom could have (and likely did) already press the button? GodDAMN it.
Then there is the impatient pusher. They could be a combo of this and the above, which is the ultimate in pissing me off. Let me explain something to you. If you stand next to the light pole and continuously press the button OVER AND OVER AND OVER 50 times, THIS WILL NOT MAKE IT GO FASTER. People need a basic knowledge of circuitry. Once you have pressed the button and completed the circuit, YOU CAN'T COMPLETE IT BETTER OR FASTER. IT IS ALREADY COMPLETE. NOW YOU MUST WAIT.
They treat it like there's a fucking stoplight elf that lives in the pole and every time you push the button he gets poked, assuming that if you keep poking him he's going to get pissed off and be like "OK GO ALREADY STOP BOTHERING ME." NO. THIS IS NOT HOW IT WORKS. Circuits do not understand annoyance. You could press that shit all day and it wouldn't know the difference. You know who does notice annoyance? ME. And guess what? I HAVE NO POWER TO MAKE THE LIGHT CHANGE.
The worst is when I get there first, press the button, and have been waiting for a few minutes when Mr. Pokey comes up and starts his incessant pressing, only to have the light change nearly immediately and have him think it's because he kept pressing the button. YOU DIDN'T DO THAT. YOU ARE LIKE A CHILD. The one that keeps poking his mom repeating "Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy..." until the mom can't take it anymore and is like "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
You are an adult. Stop believing in the stoplight elf. He does not exist. He will not grant your wish the more times you push the button. The only thing that will come from you doing this is someone like me smacking you in the head with a blunt object because you're so fucking stupid. And if there was a stoplight elf and he did get irritated with your incessant poking, he'd probably turn the walk sign on while oncoming traffic still had a green, because that's what you deserve.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
HELLO, I'M AN INCREDIBLE CHEAPSKATE
The poverty that comes with being in graduate school, living on loans and whatever random income I can find sporadically, has turned me into probably the biggest cheapskate on earth. Seriously, your grandpa reuses paper towels because he doesn't want to buy more? I'm almost there.
Remember when Victoria's Secret would send you a card in the mail that said "free panty!" every two weeks? Well, I'm pretty much the reason that was stopped. Every other week I'd walk in, pick out whatever style was free and walk up to the counter with my magical card and new underwear. I'll be honest, I have a fuckton of free underwear. At any given time, 60% of my underwear drawer was likely free. To be fair, you can never have enough underwear, in case of some sort of emergency - those free panties will get me way further than most people when the zombie apocalypse hits. When I'd hand the cashier the card and the undies, she'd always ask "Would you like to get the matching bra with that? You'll save $10." The first few times I politely said "No thanks." One day, when I literally had about 73 cents in my pocket and a free panty card to my name, I got the same question. "No thanks, I'm only in the market for free stuff today." That was that.
Back in the day, before I paid for my own shit, I wore $150 designer jeans. Now I walk into Forever 21 and balk at anything that's over $15. It takes me a good 20 minutes and some deep introspection to decide whether or not I want that $12 shirt. I mean, $12! That's TWO BURRITOS. I see a sale sign in the H&M next door. My idea of a sale is all things are $5. ALL THINGS. I walk up to a cute sweater on the sale rack and see that it's been marked down to $25. $25?!? ON SALE? Come ON people, I'm not fucking Bill Gates here. I can't be spending $25 all willy nilly, that's big money!
Hong Kong further ruined my range of acceptable pricing. As I walked around the stores in the little cheapie malls (the ones with the good Engrish shirts), I'd use my magical conversion app on my phone to convert HK$ to US$. The most expensive thing was like $11. That was WAAAY too much. I stayed in a store for 15 minutes holding three $4 tank tops (an item of clothing that I would get a ton of use out of) trying to figure out if it was worth it. I ended up buying only two and left feeling like I'd just blown my life savings.
So you'd think that someone as cheap as I am would LOVE a good Black Friday deal, right? NOPE. If there is an afterlife, and I'm judged to be a terrible human being (likely), I will be sent to a crowded mall where I can't find a place to sit or hide or ever leave the crushing weight of the mass of people sent to destroy me. I mean, there are other reasons I don't do Black Friday...
I don't have any money. Sure a $60 5-foot-wide flat screen tv is a great deal, but I neither have $60 nor do I need a TV the size of a refrigerator on my wall to watch from the couch no one has moved (or cleaned) since 1980. I have a lovely, appropriately-sized flat screen TV, and I will have it until (its) death do us part.
No, really, I don't have any money. $10 on everything at H&M? Still can't afford that. I mean, good on H&M for understanding that "sale" should never mean anything over $15 exists in the store, but with age has come the wisdom that I can't eat a sweater, even if I'm really fucking hungry.
I don't need to be arrested. Seriously, the likelihood of this happening were I to enter a large store on Black Friday where there are limited numbers of items is quite high. I'm not a thief, but if you try to grab something out of my hands I'LL CUT YOU, BITCH. The amount of anger that lives within this small body is astonishing, really. Just ask the guy that stole my phone.
I live in a world of student discounts, walking 10 blocks instead of paying for parking, and smuggling bottles of mini liquor into a bar, mixing it into my plain (free) Coke in the bathroom while hiding in the stall like Rob Ford and his grocery bag of crack cocaine. Survival instincts at their finest.
Remember when Victoria's Secret would send you a card in the mail that said "free panty!" every two weeks? Well, I'm pretty much the reason that was stopped. Every other week I'd walk in, pick out whatever style was free and walk up to the counter with my magical card and new underwear. I'll be honest, I have a fuckton of free underwear. At any given time, 60% of my underwear drawer was likely free. To be fair, you can never have enough underwear, in case of some sort of emergency - those free panties will get me way further than most people when the zombie apocalypse hits. When I'd hand the cashier the card and the undies, she'd always ask "Would you like to get the matching bra with that? You'll save $10." The first few times I politely said "No thanks." One day, when I literally had about 73 cents in my pocket and a free panty card to my name, I got the same question. "No thanks, I'm only in the market for free stuff today." That was that.
Back in the day, before I paid for my own shit, I wore $150 designer jeans. Now I walk into Forever 21 and balk at anything that's over $15. It takes me a good 20 minutes and some deep introspection to decide whether or not I want that $12 shirt. I mean, $12! That's TWO BURRITOS. I see a sale sign in the H&M next door. My idea of a sale is all things are $5. ALL THINGS. I walk up to a cute sweater on the sale rack and see that it's been marked down to $25. $25?!? ON SALE? Come ON people, I'm not fucking Bill Gates here. I can't be spending $25 all willy nilly, that's big money!
Hong Kong further ruined my range of acceptable pricing. As I walked around the stores in the little cheapie malls (the ones with the good Engrish shirts), I'd use my magical conversion app on my phone to convert HK$ to US$. The most expensive thing was like $11. That was WAAAY too much. I stayed in a store for 15 minutes holding three $4 tank tops (an item of clothing that I would get a ton of use out of) trying to figure out if it was worth it. I ended up buying only two and left feeling like I'd just blown my life savings.
So you'd think that someone as cheap as I am would LOVE a good Black Friday deal, right? NOPE. If there is an afterlife, and I'm judged to be a terrible human being (likely), I will be sent to a crowded mall where I can't find a place to sit or hide or ever leave the crushing weight of the mass of people sent to destroy me. I mean, there are other reasons I don't do Black Friday...
I don't have any money. Sure a $60 5-foot-wide flat screen tv is a great deal, but I neither have $60 nor do I need a TV the size of a refrigerator on my wall to watch from the couch no one has moved (or cleaned) since 1980. I have a lovely, appropriately-sized flat screen TV, and I will have it until (its) death do us part.
No, really, I don't have any money. $10 on everything at H&M? Still can't afford that. I mean, good on H&M for understanding that "sale" should never mean anything over $15 exists in the store, but with age has come the wisdom that I can't eat a sweater, even if I'm really fucking hungry.
I don't need to be arrested. Seriously, the likelihood of this happening were I to enter a large store on Black Friday where there are limited numbers of items is quite high. I'm not a thief, but if you try to grab something out of my hands I'LL CUT YOU, BITCH. The amount of anger that lives within this small body is astonishing, really. Just ask the guy that stole my phone.
I live in a world of student discounts, walking 10 blocks instead of paying for parking, and smuggling bottles of mini liquor into a bar, mixing it into my plain (free) Coke in the bathroom while hiding in the stall like Rob Ford and his grocery bag of crack cocaine. Survival instincts at their finest.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
SHIT THAT'S PISSING ME OFF RIGHT NOW
Sometimes you just need to rant about shit that's pissing you off. Well, today is one of those days. I hope you're not one of these people because I want to throw large non-lethal objects at their heads right now.
1) I have a 7ish minute drive to school from my house. Everything's fucking peachy until I try to merge onto the 110 from the 101S. I'm honestly not sure how this literally happens EVERY SINGLE DAY and NO ONE has figured this out yet, but all these goddamned morons think "OH SHIT if I don't get all the way over into the left 3 lanes in the next 100 feet I'll be stuck downtown forever!" NOPE. There's a little secret. It's adequately signed and pretty fucking obvious but apparently, based on driver behavior, it's still a fucking little known porthole that goes EXACTLY WHERE THEY WANT TO GO. Here's the secret - IF YOU DON'T MAKE IT TO THE LEFT 3 LANES YOU WILL STILL GET ON THE 110S. The magical lane RIGHT NEXT TO IT, the one you're slowing to a COMPLETE STOP in to get over ONE MORE LANE and wasting my precious time because you don't care to read signs, GOES TO THE EXACT SAME PLACE. We go up a magical little hill, then come down and get RIGHT BACK ON THE 110! I know, it's CRAZY.
First of all, I can assume that the vast majority of the people at any given time are residents of Los Angeles, and also that they have in fact driven on this particular stretch of road before. Second, I'd say a good HALF of them probably do this drive EVERY GODDAMNED DAY to get to work. How stupid are you to drive the same route for days, months, or even YEARS and not figure out that there's a nifty little way to get around all the backup in merging traffic? THERE'S A SIGN. IT HAS AN ARROW. IT POINTS TO THAT LANE AND SAYS 110S. Do you not trust the sign? You trust the sign next to it, why not THIS SIGN? This sign has no reason to lie to you. I'm going to make a new sign. It's going to be bright fucking orange and I'll put it at the start of the shoulder that half of you idiots drive across at the last minute because the other lane will take you STRAIGHT TO HELL apparently. My sign will say "HEY ASSHOLES, THIS LANE ---> WILL ALSO TAKE YOU TO THE 110S. I PROMISE." The arrow is necessary because they are literally that stupid. Actually I should just draw a picture of the whole thing because I'm assuming someone this dumb can read.
2) Undergrads. I can't handle you. Seriously. SHUT UP. Everything you say is of no importance whatsoever. Stop talking like Kim Kardashian. I want to punch you in the neck. I hate being on campus in the middle of the day. I've nearly been killed by a bike at least 7 times because these idiots are actually texting while biking. And you're so LOUD. STOP. There is no possible way I could've been that annoying as an undergrad. Having a boyfriend the whole time helped because I wasn't gossiping about frat guys or randomly yelling for no reason. I'm not saying that the majority of stuff I talk about is important/relevant/or even worth listening to, but I do it at a reasonable volume and without the stupid bitch voice or a "NO WAAAAAAY" thrown in every 3 seconds.
There was a dumb fake blonde hair-extension little bitch in the computer lab today when I was trying to print my paper for class and run halfway across campus because nowhere else has any goddamn printing. There are rows of computers, as you may have guessed seeing that is the typical setup for a computer lab. I was assigned to a computer at the very end of a row. There was one girl sitting at a computer doing what looked like legit work, and then her dumb fake friend was sitting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE. There was NO ONE ELSE AROUND. All you have to do is MOVE YOUR CHAIR NEXT TO HER. NOPE. She was going to sit in that aisle and take it for all it was worth. I begin walking down the aisle to my computer and, after standing next to her for a second, assuming she'd get out of my way, had to say EXCUSE ME in order for her to acknowledge my existence and moved VERY SLIGHTLY out of the way for me to pass while rolling her eyes. Then she went right back to her spot blocking any and all traffic. I had to go back and forth to the computer twice to get my paper from the printer and sign off, and BOTH TIMES she still had yet to figure out that OH HEY PEOPLE WALK HERE and that maybe because I left my stuff by the computer when I got up that I was likely to walk back. EACH TIME required me to stand there and say excuse me when she CLEARLY saw me coming. HEY. YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT, COOL, OR EVEN SOMEONE THAT ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD WANT TO TALK TO. STOP. JUST STOP EXISTING. I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE.
I've been doing important shit since before you even existed. What was I doing in 1994? Lots of awesome important 12-year-old things, like listening to Janet Jackson on a cassette tape or making friendship bracelets. What were you doing? OH RIGHT, BEING BORN. Sorry, that doesn't hold a candle to my middle school theater skills that have obviously served me well in this world. And I was KILLING IT on Super Nintendo. I can still kill it on Super Nintendo.
3) In my MBA class, which has people I generally don't hate in it since they at least know what a VHS tape is, I generally sit in the middle of a row with a couple of empty seats on each side of me between whoever's on the ends. It works out great. I like this setup. Don't fuck with this setup. Especially don't fuck with this setup if you're the two guys in class that have RAGING B.O. "Oh hey, we're late to class! Why don't we squeeze in and sit on either side of this girl instead of taking one of the 20 other available seats in the room?" DEAR GOD STOP. I have my nice buffer zone where I can spread out my shit, have my breakfast bar and water and generally be comfortable. GET OUT OF THE BUFFER ZONE. I DO NOT HAVE FORCES TO COMBAT YOUR STENCH, pleeeeeeeeeeease spare me from an hour and a half of the equivalent of sticking my face in a dumpster. I was not spared. I left with very little oxygen because I had been taking shallow breaths to avoid the smell, I COULD HAVE DIED PEOPLE.
I may or may not have some anger issues. Just be glad I take it out via blog and not through violent means. I mostly don't care to go to prison, since if my friends won't even visit me in Silverlake there's NO WAY they'd drive all the way to prison.
1) I have a 7ish minute drive to school from my house. Everything's fucking peachy until I try to merge onto the 110 from the 101S. I'm honestly not sure how this literally happens EVERY SINGLE DAY and NO ONE has figured this out yet, but all these goddamned morons think "OH SHIT if I don't get all the way over into the left 3 lanes in the next 100 feet I'll be stuck downtown forever!" NOPE. There's a little secret. It's adequately signed and pretty fucking obvious but apparently, based on driver behavior, it's still a fucking little known porthole that goes EXACTLY WHERE THEY WANT TO GO. Here's the secret - IF YOU DON'T MAKE IT TO THE LEFT 3 LANES YOU WILL STILL GET ON THE 110S. The magical lane RIGHT NEXT TO IT, the one you're slowing to a COMPLETE STOP in to get over ONE MORE LANE and wasting my precious time because you don't care to read signs, GOES TO THE EXACT SAME PLACE. We go up a magical little hill, then come down and get RIGHT BACK ON THE 110! I know, it's CRAZY.
First of all, I can assume that the vast majority of the people at any given time are residents of Los Angeles, and also that they have in fact driven on this particular stretch of road before. Second, I'd say a good HALF of them probably do this drive EVERY GODDAMNED DAY to get to work. How stupid are you to drive the same route for days, months, or even YEARS and not figure out that there's a nifty little way to get around all the backup in merging traffic? THERE'S A SIGN. IT HAS AN ARROW. IT POINTS TO THAT LANE AND SAYS 110S. Do you not trust the sign? You trust the sign next to it, why not THIS SIGN? This sign has no reason to lie to you. I'm going to make a new sign. It's going to be bright fucking orange and I'll put it at the start of the shoulder that half of you idiots drive across at the last minute because the other lane will take you STRAIGHT TO HELL apparently. My sign will say "HEY ASSHOLES, THIS LANE ---> WILL ALSO TAKE YOU TO THE 110S. I PROMISE." The arrow is necessary because they are literally that stupid. Actually I should just draw a picture of the whole thing because I'm assuming someone this dumb can read.
2) Undergrads. I can't handle you. Seriously. SHUT UP. Everything you say is of no importance whatsoever. Stop talking like Kim Kardashian. I want to punch you in the neck. I hate being on campus in the middle of the day. I've nearly been killed by a bike at least 7 times because these idiots are actually texting while biking. And you're so LOUD. STOP. There is no possible way I could've been that annoying as an undergrad. Having a boyfriend the whole time helped because I wasn't gossiping about frat guys or randomly yelling for no reason. I'm not saying that the majority of stuff I talk about is important/relevant/or even worth listening to, but I do it at a reasonable volume and without the stupid bitch voice or a "NO WAAAAAAY" thrown in every 3 seconds.
There was a dumb fake blonde hair-extension little bitch in the computer lab today when I was trying to print my paper for class and run halfway across campus because nowhere else has any goddamn printing. There are rows of computers, as you may have guessed seeing that is the typical setup for a computer lab. I was assigned to a computer at the very end of a row. There was one girl sitting at a computer doing what looked like legit work, and then her dumb fake friend was sitting IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE. There was NO ONE ELSE AROUND. All you have to do is MOVE YOUR CHAIR NEXT TO HER. NOPE. She was going to sit in that aisle and take it for all it was worth. I begin walking down the aisle to my computer and, after standing next to her for a second, assuming she'd get out of my way, had to say EXCUSE ME in order for her to acknowledge my existence and moved VERY SLIGHTLY out of the way for me to pass while rolling her eyes. Then she went right back to her spot blocking any and all traffic. I had to go back and forth to the computer twice to get my paper from the printer and sign off, and BOTH TIMES she still had yet to figure out that OH HEY PEOPLE WALK HERE and that maybe because I left my stuff by the computer when I got up that I was likely to walk back. EACH TIME required me to stand there and say excuse me when she CLEARLY saw me coming. HEY. YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT, COOL, OR EVEN SOMEONE THAT ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD WANT TO TALK TO. STOP. JUST STOP EXISTING. I CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE.
I've been doing important shit since before you even existed. What was I doing in 1994? Lots of awesome important 12-year-old things, like listening to Janet Jackson on a cassette tape or making friendship bracelets. What were you doing? OH RIGHT, BEING BORN. Sorry, that doesn't hold a candle to my middle school theater skills that have obviously served me well in this world. And I was KILLING IT on Super Nintendo. I can still kill it on Super Nintendo.
3) In my MBA class, which has people I generally don't hate in it since they at least know what a VHS tape is, I generally sit in the middle of a row with a couple of empty seats on each side of me between whoever's on the ends. It works out great. I like this setup. Don't fuck with this setup. Especially don't fuck with this setup if you're the two guys in class that have RAGING B.O. "Oh hey, we're late to class! Why don't we squeeze in and sit on either side of this girl instead of taking one of the 20 other available seats in the room?" DEAR GOD STOP. I have my nice buffer zone where I can spread out my shit, have my breakfast bar and water and generally be comfortable. GET OUT OF THE BUFFER ZONE. I DO NOT HAVE FORCES TO COMBAT YOUR STENCH, pleeeeeeeeeeease spare me from an hour and a half of the equivalent of sticking my face in a dumpster. I was not spared. I left with very little oxygen because I had been taking shallow breaths to avoid the smell, I COULD HAVE DIED PEOPLE.
I may or may not have some anger issues. Just be glad I take it out via blog and not through violent means. I mostly don't care to go to prison, since if my friends won't even visit me in Silverlake there's NO WAY they'd drive all the way to prison.
Monday, November 18, 2013
MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Some people might call me weird. I like to say "well-rounded" or "eclectic", but we all have our idiosyncrasies. While I don't technically have multiple personality disorder, I do feel like I have multiple people that come out on specific occasions. After a little introspection, I've come to the conclusion that my personality is made up of the following:
1) The 65-year-old black man - He loves his Motown. This guy is likely seen driving around town grooving to the oldies in his car. He probably wears a hat most of the time, an old guy hat - like a plaid newsboy cap or whatever the fuck old dudes wear. He may very well embarrass his children with his wardrobe and attempts to get them to dance to the Temptations with him when they visit home. He doesn't give a fuck, he's just having a good time. He enjoys a good, long sit on the porch on a sunny day and probably whistles his groovin' tunes while he does it. And he never takes off the goddamn hat.
2) The crotchety old woman - This old bitch lives alone and hates everyone. She's probably yelled at you to get off her lawn more than once and is frequently cursing under her breath about the "damn kids" in the neighborhood. She doesn't want to talk to you and gets pissed off when strangers try to start a conversation. She gets immense pleasure calling the police on the "damn kids" when they barely screw up because she hates them so goddamned much. When there aren't any kids to curse at, she can often be found on her couch with her cats, watching Law and Order marathons and actually calling the number on the ad for the Rascal scooter but decides every time that it's too expensive. The only thing she eats is grilled cheese.
3) The flamboyant interior designer/antiquer - This guy gets WAY too impressed when you have a piece of designer furniture or something rare and vintage. If you invite him over to your home for dinner and you happen to share his design style, he'll be so overwhelmed by your décor that he likely can't hold a conversation without telling you the history of the architect or furniture designer. You can really impress him by having original mid-century pieces, like an Eames chair or case study bed. He watches Mad Men especially for the furniture and fashion. If you don't know or care about architecture and design, you want to fucking kill this guy every minute of your life.
4) The frat boy - This guy does things specifically because they're stupid. If he can make someone laugh with his dumb antics, he has succeeded in life. He knows all the lines to Family Guy and hates it when people talk about actual important topics like politics or current events. No time for that! Time to party! Time to have fun! Why so serious? He wants to be the fun guy, the one everyone wants to hang out with, the one people say "Wicked awesome party, bra" to. When he enters the real world and gets a job, he feels completely out of place in a professional environment and has to put on a fake persona to get by. The second he's out of work, the tie comes off and the Tupac comes on, rapping his way back to his tiny studio in a really awesome part of town that keeps him close to the "action". He has an irrepressible urge to say "your mom does x" after someone makes almost any statement.
5) The Mean Girl - Yes, as in "the Plastics". This girl is attractive and knows it. She is also a walking pile of judgments - every person she sees gets sized up, whether it be a 3-year-old or someone her own age. Common thoughts that pass through her mind are "Eww, buy some jeans that fit, muffin top", "You REALLY need some makeup, like NOW", and "Your face makes me want to gouge out my own eyeballs." Her favorite pastime is group judging with her friends when they go to public places or watch TV together. She has no qualms about the fact that her looks get her things, and secretly enjoys the attention she gets when she wears "going out" clothes. She also only has attractive friends - hot chicks in a group can get ANYTHING.
6) The guy who lives with his mom - He's in his 30s, and he lives in his parents' basement. He doesn't leave the house often and finds "eating lunch" or "going to the mailbox" as things that likely warrant a nap. People freak him out. Every time he goes somewhere he has to interact with someone, so it's just easier to stay in bed watching Netflix in his comfy PJs than try to function around other people. His laundry piles up until he has to do three loads at once. He's so lazy that instead of going out and getting food he'll make a meal out of random things like a sweet potato, half a quesadilla and some unidentified leftovers in the back of the fridge. He is likely over 300lbs and a virgin.
So there's the breakdown. I'm sure there's more in there, but they don't show themselves that often. What 31-year-old white chick sings Marvin Gaye in her car while wearing a dinosaur tshirt and cursing everyone in her path? Probably the same one that, after being robbed and bleeding out of multiple wounds, stops crying for a good ten seconds upon entering the home of the good Samaritan helping out and gasps "You have an EAMES CHAIR?" only to resume crying momentarily. Yep. That sounds about right.
1) The 65-year-old black man - He loves his Motown. This guy is likely seen driving around town grooving to the oldies in his car. He probably wears a hat most of the time, an old guy hat - like a plaid newsboy cap or whatever the fuck old dudes wear. He may very well embarrass his children with his wardrobe and attempts to get them to dance to the Temptations with him when they visit home. He doesn't give a fuck, he's just having a good time. He enjoys a good, long sit on the porch on a sunny day and probably whistles his groovin' tunes while he does it. And he never takes off the goddamn hat.
2) The crotchety old woman - This old bitch lives alone and hates everyone. She's probably yelled at you to get off her lawn more than once and is frequently cursing under her breath about the "damn kids" in the neighborhood. She doesn't want to talk to you and gets pissed off when strangers try to start a conversation. She gets immense pleasure calling the police on the "damn kids" when they barely screw up because she hates them so goddamned much. When there aren't any kids to curse at, she can often be found on her couch with her cats, watching Law and Order marathons and actually calling the number on the ad for the Rascal scooter but decides every time that it's too expensive. The only thing she eats is grilled cheese.
3) The flamboyant interior designer/antiquer - This guy gets WAY too impressed when you have a piece of designer furniture or something rare and vintage. If you invite him over to your home for dinner and you happen to share his design style, he'll be so overwhelmed by your décor that he likely can't hold a conversation without telling you the history of the architect or furniture designer. You can really impress him by having original mid-century pieces, like an Eames chair or case study bed. He watches Mad Men especially for the furniture and fashion. If you don't know or care about architecture and design, you want to fucking kill this guy every minute of your life.
4) The frat boy - This guy does things specifically because they're stupid. If he can make someone laugh with his dumb antics, he has succeeded in life. He knows all the lines to Family Guy and hates it when people talk about actual important topics like politics or current events. No time for that! Time to party! Time to have fun! Why so serious? He wants to be the fun guy, the one everyone wants to hang out with, the one people say "Wicked awesome party, bra" to. When he enters the real world and gets a job, he feels completely out of place in a professional environment and has to put on a fake persona to get by. The second he's out of work, the tie comes off and the Tupac comes on, rapping his way back to his tiny studio in a really awesome part of town that keeps him close to the "action". He has an irrepressible urge to say "your mom does x" after someone makes almost any statement.
5) The Mean Girl - Yes, as in "the Plastics". This girl is attractive and knows it. She is also a walking pile of judgments - every person she sees gets sized up, whether it be a 3-year-old or someone her own age. Common thoughts that pass through her mind are "Eww, buy some jeans that fit, muffin top", "You REALLY need some makeup, like NOW", and "Your face makes me want to gouge out my own eyeballs." Her favorite pastime is group judging with her friends when they go to public places or watch TV together. She has no qualms about the fact that her looks get her things, and secretly enjoys the attention she gets when she wears "going out" clothes. She also only has attractive friends - hot chicks in a group can get ANYTHING.
6) The guy who lives with his mom - He's in his 30s, and he lives in his parents' basement. He doesn't leave the house often and finds "eating lunch" or "going to the mailbox" as things that likely warrant a nap. People freak him out. Every time he goes somewhere he has to interact with someone, so it's just easier to stay in bed watching Netflix in his comfy PJs than try to function around other people. His laundry piles up until he has to do three loads at once. He's so lazy that instead of going out and getting food he'll make a meal out of random things like a sweet potato, half a quesadilla and some unidentified leftovers in the back of the fridge. He is likely over 300lbs and a virgin.
So there's the breakdown. I'm sure there's more in there, but they don't show themselves that often. What 31-year-old white chick sings Marvin Gaye in her car while wearing a dinosaur tshirt and cursing everyone in her path? Probably the same one that, after being robbed and bleeding out of multiple wounds, stops crying for a good ten seconds upon entering the home of the good Samaritan helping out and gasps "You have an EAMES CHAIR?" only to resume crying momentarily. Yep. That sounds about right.
Monday, November 11, 2013
WHEN I GROW UP
When you're a little kid, everyone always asks you what you want to be when you grow up. Super young kids say things like princesses or Batman, but getting into elementary school they begin to get semi-realistic. Semi.
When I was asked what I wanted to be, my first response was "Robin Williams." I think that took some people off guard, since apparently it isn't normal for a blonde 8-year-old girl to aspire to be a small, hairy funny guy with a coke habit. I eventually changed my tune, and decided on archaeology. When I learned that all the mummies had already been found and were in museums waiting to be seen, I changed again. Perhaps the one I kept for the longest was architect - and that still remains one of my passions that I sadly don't have the math skills or requisite degrees to pursue.
It's normal to change your mind a lot as a kid. I think at one time I wanted to be an airline pilot. That would scare the living fuck out of me now. But there comes a time in your "adult" life (adult as referring to the age limits set by the government, which obviously do not coincide with maturity levels) when you don't get to change your mind anymore. Some people find a job right out of college and stay in that industry, others go to grad school with a clear path in mind that generally they stick to. And then there's me.
At that same point when people start getting jobs and sticking to them, it really sort of becomes unacceptable to change your mind. Once you pass grad school age, you're kinda SOL if you haven't found your niche. You're no longer "aspiring" or "experimenting", you're lazy and a fuck up.
Law school, ironically enough, is called a "terminal degree" - one where you can't get any higher in the field than that. I was hoping it would be my terminal degree, but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. If you asked me the day I graduated law school what I'd be doing at age 31, it sure as hell wouldn't be "single, unemployed graduate student living with my brother and two cats." I'd have said I'd be married, hopefully living in California (ONE goal achieved, check) and likely be prosecuting big time criminals as a US Attorney. Let's all get a good laugh out of that one for a second.
If you'd asked me last year what I'd be doing when I graduated USC in May, I'd likely have said something very specific about doing PR for this or that agency or company. You ask me now? I don't have a fucking clue. Every minute of the past semester I've been terrified of graduating, not because I'm not ready to enter the workforce, but because I'm afraid the workforce won't want me.
I was at an interview last week for a job that meshed both my law degree and PR degree into an internship. I was really interested because it involved interesting law and a lot of writing. Obviously, as I sit here at 1am on a Sunday night (Monday morning?) blogging, it's pretty clear that I enjoy writing to some degree. The interviewer asked me standard questions, why I wanted the job etc., which I think I answered with enough vigor to show I'd be a good employee. Then she asked me what I see myself doing in five years.
With the way my life has gone, and not all of it bad in any way, I could be living on a houseboat in Hawaii making odd crafts I sell on Etsy in 5 years. I could be a lawyer again. I could be a professor. Where do I think I'll be in five years? The only honest answer is "alive" and very likely still on the west coast. Where do I WANT to be in five years? Happy. Doing what, I don't care. I don't know where my money will come from or what I'll be doing, but I hope to god I'm happy.
While the interview went well I think, I left feeling depressed. Angry, depressed and irritated. I'm tired of people asking me what I want to be when I grow up. I know I'm fucking 31 and should have some idea of what I want to do with my life, but I don't. Honestly, if I could choose ANYTHING, I'd be a writer. I'd write for Chelsea Lately or Saturday Night Live, or some other comedy. I'd write books, snarky memoirs and tales of my dating woes.
I'm not lazy, irresponsible or a fuck up. I have an honest confusion as to where I want my career to take me, or where to even start. I'm past the point of what I "want" to do, now it's "that wouldn't be so bad." Now I just need to find a job so I can support myself and so people won't look at me like I'm some sort of child who needs tending because I can't make up my mind. I hate having to explain myself to people I meet when they ask me "what do you do?" I'm tired of talking about it. It happens every day. Every damn day someone reminds me that I'm very much an adult and very much not at the right point in my life.
Stop making me explain myself. If I could do that, I'd likely have the answer to my own questions. I don't. I'll find something I don't mind doing that will support me and pay my bills, but I don't know what that is right now. Stop making me explain why I left law. Stop making me feel like I made a mistake because of a horrific experience and that I'd likely still be employed if not for what that did to me. Maybe I did make a mistake, but I would have never found that out without going through school last year and having stress lead to my PTSD diagnosis.
All I want is some stability. I want to know I have a job when I graduate. I want to know that soon people will look at me as a real adult and not some wandering hippie child out to find meaning in life. I'm still looking. Who knows when I'll find that meaning, but at least I can have people see me as a normal person while doing it once I graduate.
The only people in my life that I know understand me are my parents. Both changed careers in their mid-forties. I'm lucky to have supportive parents because this is a tricky situation, especially financially. I'm glad they're not the prodding annoying parents who are angry that I haven't (and don't plan on) given them grandchildren. I'm harder on myself than they are on me. I always have been. I just want everyone else to see that I'm trying. Eventually I can be included in dinners to nice restaurants or other things I currently can't afford. Eventually I won't be "the poor friend." I guess I'm just a late bloomer.
When I was asked what I wanted to be, my first response was "Robin Williams." I think that took some people off guard, since apparently it isn't normal for a blonde 8-year-old girl to aspire to be a small, hairy funny guy with a coke habit. I eventually changed my tune, and decided on archaeology. When I learned that all the mummies had already been found and were in museums waiting to be seen, I changed again. Perhaps the one I kept for the longest was architect - and that still remains one of my passions that I sadly don't have the math skills or requisite degrees to pursue.
It's normal to change your mind a lot as a kid. I think at one time I wanted to be an airline pilot. That would scare the living fuck out of me now. But there comes a time in your "adult" life (adult as referring to the age limits set by the government, which obviously do not coincide with maturity levels) when you don't get to change your mind anymore. Some people find a job right out of college and stay in that industry, others go to grad school with a clear path in mind that generally they stick to. And then there's me.
At that same point when people start getting jobs and sticking to them, it really sort of becomes unacceptable to change your mind. Once you pass grad school age, you're kinda SOL if you haven't found your niche. You're no longer "aspiring" or "experimenting", you're lazy and a fuck up.
Law school, ironically enough, is called a "terminal degree" - one where you can't get any higher in the field than that. I was hoping it would be my terminal degree, but things don't always turn out the way you want them to. If you asked me the day I graduated law school what I'd be doing at age 31, it sure as hell wouldn't be "single, unemployed graduate student living with my brother and two cats." I'd have said I'd be married, hopefully living in California (ONE goal achieved, check) and likely be prosecuting big time criminals as a US Attorney. Let's all get a good laugh out of that one for a second.
If you'd asked me last year what I'd be doing when I graduated USC in May, I'd likely have said something very specific about doing PR for this or that agency or company. You ask me now? I don't have a fucking clue. Every minute of the past semester I've been terrified of graduating, not because I'm not ready to enter the workforce, but because I'm afraid the workforce won't want me.
I was at an interview last week for a job that meshed both my law degree and PR degree into an internship. I was really interested because it involved interesting law and a lot of writing. Obviously, as I sit here at 1am on a Sunday night (Monday morning?) blogging, it's pretty clear that I enjoy writing to some degree. The interviewer asked me standard questions, why I wanted the job etc., which I think I answered with enough vigor to show I'd be a good employee. Then she asked me what I see myself doing in five years.
With the way my life has gone, and not all of it bad in any way, I could be living on a houseboat in Hawaii making odd crafts I sell on Etsy in 5 years. I could be a lawyer again. I could be a professor. Where do I think I'll be in five years? The only honest answer is "alive" and very likely still on the west coast. Where do I WANT to be in five years? Happy. Doing what, I don't care. I don't know where my money will come from or what I'll be doing, but I hope to god I'm happy.
While the interview went well I think, I left feeling depressed. Angry, depressed and irritated. I'm tired of people asking me what I want to be when I grow up. I know I'm fucking 31 and should have some idea of what I want to do with my life, but I don't. Honestly, if I could choose ANYTHING, I'd be a writer. I'd write for Chelsea Lately or Saturday Night Live, or some other comedy. I'd write books, snarky memoirs and tales of my dating woes.
I'm not lazy, irresponsible or a fuck up. I have an honest confusion as to where I want my career to take me, or where to even start. I'm past the point of what I "want" to do, now it's "that wouldn't be so bad." Now I just need to find a job so I can support myself and so people won't look at me like I'm some sort of child who needs tending because I can't make up my mind. I hate having to explain myself to people I meet when they ask me "what do you do?" I'm tired of talking about it. It happens every day. Every damn day someone reminds me that I'm very much an adult and very much not at the right point in my life.
Stop making me explain myself. If I could do that, I'd likely have the answer to my own questions. I don't. I'll find something I don't mind doing that will support me and pay my bills, but I don't know what that is right now. Stop making me explain why I left law. Stop making me feel like I made a mistake because of a horrific experience and that I'd likely still be employed if not for what that did to me. Maybe I did make a mistake, but I would have never found that out without going through school last year and having stress lead to my PTSD diagnosis.
All I want is some stability. I want to know I have a job when I graduate. I want to know that soon people will look at me as a real adult and not some wandering hippie child out to find meaning in life. I'm still looking. Who knows when I'll find that meaning, but at least I can have people see me as a normal person while doing it once I graduate.
The only people in my life that I know understand me are my parents. Both changed careers in their mid-forties. I'm lucky to have supportive parents because this is a tricky situation, especially financially. I'm glad they're not the prodding annoying parents who are angry that I haven't (and don't plan on) given them grandchildren. I'm harder on myself than they are on me. I always have been. I just want everyone else to see that I'm trying. Eventually I can be included in dinners to nice restaurants or other things I currently can't afford. Eventually I won't be "the poor friend." I guess I'm just a late bloomer.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
YOU'RE SINGLE BECAUSE YOU'RE A CLOSET RACIST
Someday my posts about bad dates will end, and I'll have a good date that lasts forever, but until then I suppose I can at least keep you entertained.
I met a nice young man at a friend's wedding recently. I wasn't necessarily looking to meet someone since the wedding was out-of-town, but it turned out that this guy lived in south LA. He seemed fun and social at the wedding, and was very polite - he'd go and get me drinks when I was about to go so I could continue to dance, etc (no, he did not roofie me, sorry). At the post-wedding brunch the next morning he even offered to get me some advil for my hangover, which he did promptly. Very thoughtful.
We didn't exchange numbers because there was always some awkward group dynamic, but he asked the bride for my number and we started chatting. I invited him to Oktoberfest since it was near his place, and he not only came, he stood in line with me for a whole hour to get tickets since I didn't get them online (whoopsie). Bought all my beers that night, etc.
So we hang out for a couple of weeks, and I'm still not entirely sure if I'm interested or not, because I feel like he hasn't opened up much. A few things did sort of slip out, though, that I was slightly disturbed by. In passing, driving to lunch or somewhere, he was talking about the new things they were building in his neighborhood, and then mentioned that it had gotten a lot more "ethnic" than when he first moved there. Um, son, you live in LOS ANGELES. In any given day, I am likely to hear at LEAST 3 languages, possibly more (English, Spanish, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi...) and he seems "surprised" that ANYWHERE in the city is "ethnic?" I began to be on my guard, because I didn't like that statement.
Last week I invited him to a friend's Halloween party, because I was sort of hoping that was an isolated incident and perhaps he'd start opening up in a party atmosphere, like when I first met him. A couple of days later, he texted me a picture of Milli Vanilli. After a complete WTF moment, he said that was what he was being for Halloween. Funny, yet not so funny if you only have Milli and not Vanilli...but whatever he wanted to do.
A couple of days later he texts me with a picture of him in costume, a hat, wig, and sunglasses. He looked like Ozzy Osbourne, and I told him that jokingly. And then here it came:
"I won't when I'm wearing my makeup!"
Hoping to all that was holy he was talking about some sort of Michael Jackson eyeliner or the like and not what I assumed, I asked
"Um...makeup?"
"Yeah, my face paint."
"You mean blackface?"
"Yeah"
"NO." followed by "You're joking right?"
"No, why?"
"Seriously?"
"??"
"Dude it's fucking 2013, you can't fucking wear blackface!!!"
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE IT'S INSANELY RACIST"
The conversation continued with him seemingly COMPLETELY IGNORANT of the fact that blackface hasn't been socially acceptable since like 1930, not to mention that it's ALWAYS been racist... So I told him that under no circumstances would he be wearing blackface to my friend's party, and I would not attend ANY party with him if he wore that. He agreed not to, but still didn't really seem to understand.
I called him the next day. "Dude. Do you REALLY not understand why it's not ok to wear blackface?"
"Well, no..."
I told him the story of fraternities and sororities that got in major trouble for having only a FEW of their many members wear blackface at parties, and that these people were suspended or put on probation from their house. And this was in TEXAS. We're in LA. I'm surprised I don't slip in a puddle of rainbows and liberalism on a daily basis, and this guy had literally no concept of how offensive this was.
He didn't say much in response. No "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was that out of line" or "I had no idea, I will definitely not do it now." Just sort of quiet on the other line occasionally mumbling "ok" every now and then, and not like he'd had some revelation of his idiocy. I don't know why I didn't take this occasion to get rid of him quickly and easily, but I think I was still in a state of shock that a human being in one of the most diverse and liberal cities in the country didn't know blackface was racist.
I took the opportunity to ask another question: "How do you feel about gay people?"
"Well, I don't know any really, but I don't have a problem with them."
You don't know any gay people? Once again. Los Angeles. I'm practically TRIPPING OVER GAY PEOPLE and you don't know ANY? Who are you? I'd say nearly a quarter of my friends are gay. I pictured a few years down the line with this guy and attending a gay friend's wedding, and it wasn't looking pretty.
I did end up taking him to the Halloween party since he promised not to wear his "makeup" and because I didn't want the drama of disinviting him when I can just slowly phase out seeing him and answering texts. The whole day before the party, I was so excited about my costume, but so dreading the party. I didn't want to have to babysit him, or really hang out with him at all. Luckily he didn't follow me around like a puppy so I was able to get away and have conversations with other people (ironically most of the party was either non-white or gay, with me and only a couple of others as the white folk).
I could also go into how he couldn't really have a real conversation, his jokes weren't funny, and he couldn't handle 5 seconds of silence and therefore would insert said unfunny jokes into any time I wasn't speaking, but I'm so horrified by the above incident that I can barely focus on that. I'm so horrified I couldn't even make this post funny. Also he's not on Facebook. Like has NEVER had an account. Obviously some people (me...) like it more than others, but someone my own age who has never ever had an account? I find that a little odd. At least that means I can post this without any repercussions though :)
I met a nice young man at a friend's wedding recently. I wasn't necessarily looking to meet someone since the wedding was out-of-town, but it turned out that this guy lived in south LA. He seemed fun and social at the wedding, and was very polite - he'd go and get me drinks when I was about to go so I could continue to dance, etc (no, he did not roofie me, sorry). At the post-wedding brunch the next morning he even offered to get me some advil for my hangover, which he did promptly. Very thoughtful.
We didn't exchange numbers because there was always some awkward group dynamic, but he asked the bride for my number and we started chatting. I invited him to Oktoberfest since it was near his place, and he not only came, he stood in line with me for a whole hour to get tickets since I didn't get them online (whoopsie). Bought all my beers that night, etc.
So we hang out for a couple of weeks, and I'm still not entirely sure if I'm interested or not, because I feel like he hasn't opened up much. A few things did sort of slip out, though, that I was slightly disturbed by. In passing, driving to lunch or somewhere, he was talking about the new things they were building in his neighborhood, and then mentioned that it had gotten a lot more "ethnic" than when he first moved there. Um, son, you live in LOS ANGELES. In any given day, I am likely to hear at LEAST 3 languages, possibly more (English, Spanish, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi...) and he seems "surprised" that ANYWHERE in the city is "ethnic?" I began to be on my guard, because I didn't like that statement.
Last week I invited him to a friend's Halloween party, because I was sort of hoping that was an isolated incident and perhaps he'd start opening up in a party atmosphere, like when I first met him. A couple of days later, he texted me a picture of Milli Vanilli. After a complete WTF moment, he said that was what he was being for Halloween. Funny, yet not so funny if you only have Milli and not Vanilli...but whatever he wanted to do.
A couple of days later he texts me with a picture of him in costume, a hat, wig, and sunglasses. He looked like Ozzy Osbourne, and I told him that jokingly. And then here it came:
"I won't when I'm wearing my makeup!"
Hoping to all that was holy he was talking about some sort of Michael Jackson eyeliner or the like and not what I assumed, I asked
"Um...makeup?"
"Yeah, my face paint."
"You mean blackface?"
"Yeah"
"NO." followed by "You're joking right?"
"No, why?"
"Seriously?"
"??"
"Dude it's fucking 2013, you can't fucking wear blackface!!!"
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE IT'S INSANELY RACIST"
The conversation continued with him seemingly COMPLETELY IGNORANT of the fact that blackface hasn't been socially acceptable since like 1930, not to mention that it's ALWAYS been racist... So I told him that under no circumstances would he be wearing blackface to my friend's party, and I would not attend ANY party with him if he wore that. He agreed not to, but still didn't really seem to understand.
I called him the next day. "Dude. Do you REALLY not understand why it's not ok to wear blackface?"
"Well, no..."
I told him the story of fraternities and sororities that got in major trouble for having only a FEW of their many members wear blackface at parties, and that these people were suspended or put on probation from their house. And this was in TEXAS. We're in LA. I'm surprised I don't slip in a puddle of rainbows and liberalism on a daily basis, and this guy had literally no concept of how offensive this was.
He didn't say much in response. No "I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was that out of line" or "I had no idea, I will definitely not do it now." Just sort of quiet on the other line occasionally mumbling "ok" every now and then, and not like he'd had some revelation of his idiocy. I don't know why I didn't take this occasion to get rid of him quickly and easily, but I think I was still in a state of shock that a human being in one of the most diverse and liberal cities in the country didn't know blackface was racist.
I took the opportunity to ask another question: "How do you feel about gay people?"
"Well, I don't know any really, but I don't have a problem with them."
You don't know any gay people? Once again. Los Angeles. I'm practically TRIPPING OVER GAY PEOPLE and you don't know ANY? Who are you? I'd say nearly a quarter of my friends are gay. I pictured a few years down the line with this guy and attending a gay friend's wedding, and it wasn't looking pretty.
I did end up taking him to the Halloween party since he promised not to wear his "makeup" and because I didn't want the drama of disinviting him when I can just slowly phase out seeing him and answering texts. The whole day before the party, I was so excited about my costume, but so dreading the party. I didn't want to have to babysit him, or really hang out with him at all. Luckily he didn't follow me around like a puppy so I was able to get away and have conversations with other people (ironically most of the party was either non-white or gay, with me and only a couple of others as the white folk).
I could also go into how he couldn't really have a real conversation, his jokes weren't funny, and he couldn't handle 5 seconds of silence and therefore would insert said unfunny jokes into any time I wasn't speaking, but I'm so horrified by the above incident that I can barely focus on that. I'm so horrified I couldn't even make this post funny. Also he's not on Facebook. Like has NEVER had an account. Obviously some people (me...) like it more than others, but someone my own age who has never ever had an account? I find that a little odd. At least that means I can post this without any repercussions though :)
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