Halloween is one of the best holidays. I trick-or-treated into college, because candy is awesome, of course. But the candy aspect of Halloween is only the icing on top of an awesome day for me. Sorry, candy companies that petitioned government to extend day-light savings so that Halloween can have more sunlight hours, and therefore they can make more money! I eat candy whether it's Halloween or not, so I'm playing into Candy Consumerism all the time! Take that!
Halloween has is something much deeper than a chocolatey-good time.
I think the reason why most people really love Halloween is the dressing up part. Not because you get to be slutty, or be someone other than yourself; I think it's because you are given an opportunity to show people a part of yourself that is otherwise only expressed in words. Well, for most people.
I'm pretty sure this is how she always dresses.
Halloween is the one day of the year that you can be whatever or whoever you want, be as creative with your costume as you want, even act like your costume's personality. It's not necessarily that you're allowed to step outside of yourself, it's that you are allowed to show other people that you really are as awesome as you think you are.
"See guys? I told you I'm a nerd and lovedthe Fifth Element. I even have the Multipass!!"
Growing up, I was mostly a witch every year at Halloween. I think I was fascinated with being able to use and control magic; I used to spend a lot of time trying to move things with my mind. That and having any semblance of control over my life was very appealing. So, I've always been pretty true to myself with my costumes.
Anyway, my best costumes have been things that are awesome. For example:
I was a fucking rainbow one year.
Another time I was Margot Tennenbaum.
I couldn't find a good wig, but other than that it was perfect.
Down to the wooden finger.
Last year, I was the 1% just to prove how politically aware I am.
Of course, I've had those costumes that were very much not awesome. I was M.I.A. one year, and I basically just sprayed my hair black and poorly copied one of her outfits and looked like an idiot when no one knew who I was. I also was a slutty Little Red Riding Hood in middle school. That was pretty lame. But I'm sure we've all had our costume low points, right?!
Since I've never done the scary thing before, this year I'm going to go with something that is truly scary: robots.
The problem I have decided on is that I'm in Honduras, so how am I going to find any motivation to do the most awesome thing? And then I remembered how androids are scarier than robots because theylook like humans. After having this awesomely horrifying realization, and also realizing that dressing normally and saying "I'm an android" would get me my ass kicked, I have decided to take on Honduras as a challenge! For the first time ever, my costume is going to depend mostly on my makeup instead of my clothes. And I will be successful.
The thing about being an android is that you essentially have to look like Data, which frankly I am very ok with.
He seems pretty concerned about it, though.
This is what I did:
First, mix face paint of sepia, white, and a little bit of pink.
Add to face and neck.
Gel yo mane.
Finally: be awesome and scare the shit out of some folks.
I also put some ColorStay Overtime for my lips so that the color doesn't come off and I used black paint for my hair line and blended it back.
I decided a plain grey outfit would work best just because I don't have a lot of clothes here and robots don't have a lot of clothing creativity in this day and age.
Forget about how cool it is that we're the only place in the world that grows green chile (which is best tasting, forget about hotness, also, but it can be) and that our state question is about food and that we have a better variant of Mexican food than Mexico or Texas (especially).
Red or green, ladies?Fellas? Hmmm?
Forget about how we have the best weather of anywhere I've heard about or experienced. And forget about how fucking beautiful and diverse this place is.
Even if pictures can't really show it...
and these are pretty good, if I do say so myself.
And I don't care about the Balloon Fiesta or whatever else we're known for.
Trinity Site... first atomic bomb testing.
Yeah, I've been there.
Haven't been here, though.
We have more soul than anywhere I've been. We have a culture and a spirituality and a substance that I feel is very real and I strongly relate to. I feel there is so much to say, and it's hard to know where to begin. A tribute is all I wanted. And I guess everyone loves their home, and I suppose it's hard to explain, but I am so proud of this place and no matter where I go I hope I end up here eventually.
This is even where the aliens hovered and crashed one time.
1. The moment I realized I no longer have body issues. It was an amazing moment. I was taking a shower and looked down at myself and realized that I love my body. It is truly the only thing in the world that I have, that I can or can't count on. It is my home. And as a female in the US, this is something that doesn't always even happen. In the media, such as What the Bleep Do We Know? and in Eat Pray Love (one is awesome, the other is a piece... you make the call), women don't have a chance to experience this until they are older: late 30's or 40's, and only after they have had important life experiences. The fact that this happened when I was 19 is something of an anomaly, and if I am to understand the conversations with other women and the media at face value, body-acceptance is something that should be, but is yet unattainable for all women (and all men, for that matter). It is too often that I see and meet amazing, beautiful people who have these detrimental mindsets, and I think it is the responsibility of all people to attempt to quell this. No, I am not perfect, nor do I think I am, and neither is anyone else. But this isn't the point. The point is that we are all human and that requires love toward each other and toward ourselves. Anyway, I'm really into Dead Prez right now, so enjoy, and keep doing you, Baby.
"Beauty exists not just on the surface."
2. Concerts and music festivals. There's always at least one moment during a festival or concert where it becomes clear how beautiful the energy of a crowd of people all celebrating the same thing, all experiencing joy, really is. I experienced this most intensely when I saw MGMT at Austin City Limits in 2008, when they started to play Kids. The crowd of hundreds, maybe thousands of people lost it and everyone was singing and dancing. It was very much a spiritual experience. But maybe this feeling is why humans have religion, if we want to think about it in that way. If anyone has experienced this at a concert, they know the feeling I mean. How could humans back in the day having the same feeling or similar experience not take some spiritual opinion out of that? And since it is based on mutual experience with other humans, a group is formed. The feeling is attributed to something outside of themselves. Rituals are created in order to continue to have the experience. Stories are thought of, visions are had, to explain it. It goes from there, and eventually it becomes stale and gay people aren't allowed to get married and women are closer to evil than god. Unfortunately, I have not studied this at all, but it seems to make sense, so, I think it's the case.
3. When someone notices something about you that you think is special, without prompt. For example, I have a freckle/mole on my forehead that I've always thought was unique. My high school boyfriend and I were making avatars on the Wii, I made his and he made mine, and he made a point to put that freckle on it. It was small, and something stupid, but it meant a lot that someone saw something that I loved about myself that they also thought was important, or to be presumptuous, special.
4. Anytime a deep and pure emotion is experienced. It can be for any reason, positive or negative. Pure sadness is just as positive as a feeling of pure joy, as ironic as that may sound. But think about it. To feel is to be alive, and pure emotions are beautiful.
5. The first time I felt like a woman (or I guess, a man, if that's how you swing). When I shaved my head, the first time I looked in the mirror afterward, I felt more like a woman than any other time in my entire life. A woman's hair is one of her most important expressions of femininity, and frequently, women shave their heads in times of mourning, or their heads are shaved as a form of torture. Mine was sort of in mourning, it was a strange time in my life, but when my hair was gone, it was very therapeutic. This must be due to the social import of looking and being feminine for a female, and having the ovaries to break through that, and to be strong for myself. And to be strong is to be woman. You go, Grrl.
Everything here rocks, right? And why do we experience these? Why do we experience all the awesome things not listed here, like watching a really beautiful sunset, or chilling with really close friends, etc? Because of the god in each of us, as the Dead Prez would probably agree...
I realize it's probably tacky to have two music videos
I feel like I should preface this by saying that I do think about more than TV. I have the kinds of thoughts intellectual persons have. Take politics. I like to think and talk about it and I will most likely do so in the future. I may even write about it! For now, however, I feel it is important to pay homage to the name-sake of my blog beyond "I.D.K., I just like it, ok?"
1. Strong, Female-Female Relationships
I realized recently that all of the female-male relationships in this show only serve to reinforce the relationships between Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. Even the gay male characters serve this purpose. It seems that many people write off the show as a television version of Cosmopolitan, where the intent is to attempt to make women view their self worth in terms of what men they have and how one can then please a man once he has been attained. But this is not the case. In reality, this show is about being happy being single, and not being single, and reinforcing the idea that female-female friendships should be the leaning-post in a woman's life. In fact, the fairytale idea of romantic love that almost any person raised in the West ascribes to (or feels expected to ascribe to)? Not really present in this show. The only character that even attempts to have this kind of love, Charlotte, is disappointed over and over until she is forced to reconsider what love really is. In the episode The Agony and the Ecstasy, she says, "Maybe we can be each others' soul mates, and then we can let men be just these great, nice guys to have fun with."
Throughout human history, female-female friendships have always been one of the most important kinds of relationships a woman can have. It is not the relationship with her husband - in fact, in many cultures, the way women speak about their relationships with their husbands is very negative. Though, this may be only in specific kinds of kinship systems, but let's not delve into anthropological theory. The point is, women in Western society, at least in the United states have been raised to think of other women as back-stabbing bitches who are only out to get theirs. That is, women are thought of as competing for the best male (social Darwinism - one of the most disgusting bastardizations of Darwin's theories). Our fairy tales begin and end with that male. This show is entirely against that idea. It forces healthy friendships into the light and presents them as an important part of a woman's life. And they are. It is this idea of competition between women that is so disgusting and has done nothing but to attempt to sever these important relationships, which in effect is an attempt to dismantle the woman's rights movement. In my opinion.
I think this Youtube video really sums it up:
2. Carrie and Big
Unfortunately, this is one of the most romantic relationships on television. It's unfortunate because it's super dysfunctional, but it's still very romantic because, as anyone raised in the '90s knows, being in love and being angsty are very important parts of life, and are usually one in the same. (Take, for example, Reality Bites, my friends). And anyone who has been in love knows how painful it can be, and confusing and heartbreaking. How seeing the other person for the first time with someone else could make you cry for days. But also, love makes you finally feel that there's another person in the world that understands you. And forces you to know that you will never be able to understand someone else, no matter how hard you try. Carrie and Big are these feelings brought to life. Carrie and Big are the concept of the One Great Love brought to life.
The reason why I consider Moon River to be one of the most, if not the most, romantic songs of all time is because of this show. Specifically, the scene when Big is moving to California and Carrie brings over a pizza, not knowing that he's moving, and gets all upset, and goes through his records, and starts making fun of him for having Henry Mancini and then he plays it and they dance... It's on the same level as the famous When Harry Met Sally... scene. Because really, in both cases they're two drifters who don't know how it works. But in the end, both Harry and Big make the Romantic Gesture and get back their H.M., New York ladies with their fabulous, curly hair.
3. Fabulous is now a part of my vocabulary
4. Samantha Jones and the Concept of "Slut"
First of all, we all know that the word "slut" is a sexist and disgusting word to use. It is specifically femaleand used to punish women for having any sort of sexual agency. That's why it's so offensive. No duh. The reason why Samantha is such an amazing character is because her character in this show is used in the same way the SlutWalk is used: female sexuality is shoved in people's faces as something that is acceptable and should be expected. It is an attempt to make people feel uncomfortable - using the negative word "slut" in a positive way shocks and offends people to make the word have less meaning in the same way artists use religious figures and symbols to shock and offend to make a point. Samantha is the SlutWalk of Sex and the City.
Additionally, Samantha is older than the rest of the women in the show by about 10 years, yet continues to have a healthy sex life. An older, single woman being sexually active is never an issue. The issue is how a woman who is so proud of her sexuality deals with getting older when society tells us that older women are sexless creatures. It is settled, like most things in Sex and the City, by saying that Samantha, and the rest of the Fab Four, is fabulous no matter what.
The slut issue is addressed many times in the show, and it is decided that no, these women are not sluts. Samantha is the strongest voice in this opinion, and is the strongest voice in defending her lifestyle choice. The most interesting episode that addresses this, though, is Cover Girl. Basically, Carrie walks in on Samantha giving the World Wide Express guy a blow job in Samantha's office when Carrie is meeting her for lunch. The rest of the episode Sam is upset that Carrie is judging her for being a slut. In the end, Carrie admits that she judged Samantha, though she says that she also admires Sam's ability to put her sex life out there, and Samantha admits that she judges herself, too. But this moment is not one to prove how slutty she is and how it's wrong like it would be in most shows. Samantha on a regular basis throughout the series expresses that she is fabulous and that her life is fabulous. This does not change. This specific situation was based on Samantha's insecurities after her relationship with Richard went sour and how she is still dealing with that. The point of this storyline is to show that we all have insecurities and it doesn't matter how strong of a person you are, there will be times when you will question yourself.
5. Relationships are the main subject matter
Yes, I like to talk about relationships. Yes, I like romantic movies and ideas (the ones that don't make me want to puke, that is). And yes, I know how stereotypical it is for a woman to gossip about relationships and to romanticize romance, but it's fun. And actually! Gossip is one of the best ways to form bonds with others. It reinforces the fact that you exist within the same social group; that you are all the We and not the Them. It reinforces that we are not alone in this life. So, watching other, fake women's relationship issues is a fun release, and also a parallel to our own lives. We can watch this show and see other women deal with the same bullshit that we do and have to ask the same questions we do. It provides the pararelationships that humans have enjoyed since stories have existed. I know Carrie isn't one of my friends, but watching the show makes me feel like she is, and I enjoy that feeling, and I like pretending that I'm also sharing in her relationship problems. Basic rules of entertainment.
**Everything said here only applies to the show. Don't worry, I know the movies are atrocious.
