"she must exercise to keep up her level of attractiveness"

(TL:DR (too long didn't read) aka this post could be summed up by: people are dicks, inner confidence is awesome, i can't wait for my letterpress class, and dove blue fig & orange blossom deoderant SMELLS AMAZING.)

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"she must exercise to keep up her level of attractiveness"

someone had that on their okcupid profile recently. a small part of me wanted to write to him "you want her to exercise to keep up YOUR level of attractiveness, not hers." but internet feuds are stupid. okcupid is generally pretty stupid. i didn't read further than that sentence.

it's characteristic of online dating that people mostly look at superficial qualities over substance; hell, it's like that in the normal, real life world too. i do it. it's easy to do, and aren't our brains programmed to sort and label based on what we see first? yes. i mean, probably. meghan (and like, everyone) knows more about this than i do.

i don't know if i can properly explain how simultaneously rage-y and disappointed this sentence makes me. it's one thing to like a certain type of body, but it's quite another to expect that the *woman* only consider herself objectively attractive with a certain type of body. this article comes pretty close, and is just damn good in general.

is exercise great for you, and can give you a sense of accomplishment, and keep you healthy and strong and happy and allows you to achieve goals and feel confident? YES. does it dictate how attractive you are? NO. while i'll give him that i do think inner confidence contributes to attraction, attractiveness is one of the most subjective things in the world. because if you're attractive to one person you're inevitably unattractive to another. it's a mixed bag, so fuck that noise - find yourself attractive, that's who matters.


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i've been thinking a lot about hobbies lately, since i've signed up for a letterpress class in july. MAKING MY OWN STATIONERY, WHAT THE WHAT!? i'm so excited i can't even tell you.

sometimes i also think about starting some sort of body image SOMETHING for kids, and hell, for adults too. that article i linked to above, coupled with reading things like that okcupid profile sentence above, really makes me want to pursue it. i wish i had female figures when i was younger telling me these things. or even for adults too...like dove beauty campaigns but not actually selling soap* and also maybe not implying that real beauty is still dependent on looks.

putting image (related: weight) first and foremost is something that i've been struggling with since i was about 10 from all sorts of sources, some you'd expect and some i still am rather bothered by...and my reaction to those vulnerabilities isn't always the right one, but i wish i had a way of channeling it. i wish i had a way of explaining it that makes sense, even. people write articles, give talks, launch campaigns, but with a single "well, that's just the way we are"  it's so easily dismissed. i feel defeated even before i start.

i don't know where i'm going with this. my thoughts are unfinished. it's amazing when you see and hear people that shout the way you want to think, the way you think everyone should feel about themselves and each other, and then it's frustrating for all of it to be so easily knocked down.

for now i'll leave you with this: http://fuckyeahbodyimage.tumblr.com/

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 *i do use dove deoderant sometimes. ARE MY ARMPITS BEAUTIFUL NOW?! god i hope so. i'm worthless if they aren't.

way harsh, tai.

well excuse me for trying to make something of myself, spotify! (not related to the actual music on the screen, mind you, just thought the sentiment was a bit rude!)



ps that message comes up when you hover over the forward arrow when you haven't gone to a further page yet.

twice now

meghan and i ran the crystal city Friday 5K tonight. or, most of it. the storm came in and they shut down the course.

but as i was jogging (and then walking....and then more walking) along the streets of arlington, i realized...

how many times have i been out driving and a road is blocked off because of a race? i used to get annoyed. now i'm the person on the course.

i'm still SO slow and don't really even run that much of the 3.1 miles, but the fact that i'm the person ON the course now instead of driving by it....i'm proud of that.

exciting!

considering it's my career field, i do not go to enough live performing arts events. i'm that person that comes into my office in the morning raving (er, or ranting, usually) about a redskins or a nationals game...to blank stares, of course. i would say you could consider it being well-rounded, but that would mean i have to demonstrate equal participation in the arts.

some of my arts experiences haven't been great. sitting in a dark theater for like, four hours watching tamburlaine, wishing my legs would fall off to spare me the misery and maybe provide some excitement. and then pretend to like it afterwards. or that crazy ass attempt at a modern rock opera of the tempest that was so awful, i escaped at intermission...the only event i've ever bailed on. i'm just not a classics person.

but i've always loved woolly mammoth theater company. their plays are quirky, funny, sometimes incredibly weird and inappropriate - and their messaging and branding is just the same. i feel like you can be a normal person in their space. i don't go there enough.

because i found myself really excited about almost all of the plays for their 34th season, i bought a flex pass subscription this morning! this is the first time i've purchased a season subscription/tickets to anything, much less the performing arts.

i'm really really excited. and now i don't have to feel guilty about continuing to talk about the nationals and redskins*.

(*lorenzo alexander...sad face.)

this is what 22 years of friendship gets you

TJ: i should have known you were in a good mood b/c your status went from a link to a collapsing silo to a puppy in footy pajamas

amazon, i'm giving you the side-eye

oh, frank

so, backstory, for this to make sense: we have this thing in my family, where we use too much tape  on EVERYTHING. My dad more so than my mom, and apparently I picked up this habit. you should see the way our christmas presents are wrapped.

Before conference, a few of us were working late, and I was packing a couple of boxes while the others were in a meeting. As I was going about my business, packing, taping, packing, taping...I noticed they had stopped talking. I look over and see them staring back and me quizzically. they say "how much tape are you going to use on those things?!!?!" and i just laughed.

i thought this was funny, given that clearly i come by it honestly. so i emailed my parents to tell them. this was frank's email response:

"YES ! ! !

 

Most excellent young lady !  You can NEVER use too much tape - I'm so proud I'm crying on the keyboard - zzzzzzzzzzzzzztttttttt = ooops, I I I th ththink iiii mmmmssstt haaaveee jjjusttt sssshoorrrtttrfed itttt oooouuutttt

 

love - Papa"

at least this typing craziness was intentional. he's really come a long way in that respect. oh, frank.