Why so mean?

I spent the afternoon in bed with a fever watching Mean Girls which was written by Tina Fey (of SNL fame). My verdict: pretty fantastic all round. My only gripe was why Cady had to end up with “man-candy” at all? But I suppose the message of being happy with yourself and it spreading to all those around you, had to be hammered home. Though, I think it was the more subtle vignettes that really helped carried the intensity of the message in a more effective (and entertaining) manner.

It did make me ruminate the social aggression that takes place in human interactions and certainly, not only limited to one gender nor age group. When we are mean to someone else, I think that it says more about how we feel about ourselves than it does about how we feel about the rest of the world. What happens when a person believes that their status is determined solely by their peer relationships? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? Watch the movie, it’s much more hilarious and sassier than any long-winded explanation I could ever give.

Seven Types of Ambiguity

"There is ambiguity in most human relationships. Like a sequence of words, a relationship can be open to different interpretations. And when two people have differing views, not merely of the state of their relationship, but of its very nature, it can affect the entire course of their lives."

A compelling novel by Eliot Perlman.

"The culture of every man for himself has so triumphed that any concern for the common good is referred to a psychiatrist. Emotionally we live in the darkness of the shadows of ourselves" and '"This is the single greatest achievement of the last twenty-five years … the enslavement of millions of people under the aegis of globalisation … It is a cold and brutish age'" are two of Alex's (the psychiatrist) stinging indictments of the commercialisation of our age. I tend to agree with him. (And I hold a Commerce degree :p)

Eavesdropping on the neighbours

Here I was innocently sitting down in front of my computer writing about the future for Palestinians and the implications of Arafat’s death (when it does happen) and my thoughts are intruded and hindered by my neighbours’ arguments. At first, I am rather annoyed but as I continue to listen, I’m strangely intrigued by the nature of their argument. And my neighbours, they don’t actually care who hears it, they’re lovely people but very loud!

Anyway, so the young ‘un of the family (a girl still in high school) has been unwillingly engaged in a conversation with her mother and older brother. To get to the essence of it, they’re basically telling her that she should not sleep with her boyfriend because he would lose all respect for her. And that it doesn’t matter if she sleeps with one person or the entire populace, she will be labelled a “slut” by the community. The poor girl is trying to argue her perspective but is drowned out by the “wiser,” more opinionated voices. Eventually, she concedes defeat (albeit, she did put up a good fight).

Wow, people still think in that outdated mode? I mean, I have this strong urge to go over there and tell her that a man who judges her in such a manner is really not worth her time. There are far more important aspects to a person, like the content of their character (yes, I’m plagiarising Martin Luther King ;) ). I'm not advocating that she should sleep or not sleep with him. She should make up her own mind about that. What shouldn't happen is this poor girl should grow up thinking that somehow a person's worth is ultimately dependent on something as ridiculous as their sexual history. Pfft…there’s nothing wrong with being “slutty” regardless of gender, if that is your choice. Kind of like that Ben Harper song (that I think is applicable here):

My choice is what I choose to do,
And if I'm causing no harm, it shouldn't bother you.
Your choice is who you choose to be,
And if you're causin' no harm, then you're alright with me.

Oddly, tied into all this was something funny I read on Nancy's Xanga site. See, when you do it in public then it's a bit of a problem. Voyeuristic exhibitionism, not cool at all. It makes for a funny anecdote though. :p

Wingnut or loony leftie...

There are some things I do that are utterly inexplicable. The mind boggles at why I persist.

For example, reading the Sunday Telegraph (secretly, I buy it for Wil Andersen's "pop" column) and reading Piers Ackerman's column. Last week he took a swipe at Arundhati Roy, this week at Fairfax and ABC journalists (particularly Margo Kingston and Paul McKeogh). He even had the audacity to suggest there is no censorship regarding the media. Reading his work is like being drawn to a car accident, I know I shouldn’t take a look (not even a small peek) but some mysterious gravitational force compels me and the outcome is always one of disgust, disbelief and plain revulsion. Oh why did I look in the first place?

I suppose it could be worse, I could get my jollies out of listening to talkback the likes of Lawsey and Stan Zemanek. :D

Actually, political blogs are the best, the mud-slinging that goes on is fantastic (the best form of procrastination, keeps me amused for hours). There is this one blog that surely must be a farce and parody of young Liberal law students. It can be found here: Miranda Airey-Branson. Just look at the name! She must be taking the piss. If not, then the world is a scary scary place. ;)

(PS. This is going to be my prolific blogging month! This means subjecting you, dear readers, to the most prosaic, discursive, epic musings! ;))

Writing is a curse?

I was reading on the Vibewire Forums that a few vibies are partaking in something called the National Novel Writing Month. Very very ambitious. 50 000 words in one month!! The emphasis is on quantity, not quality. But for someone like myself (a recovering perfectionist), I still cringe at just about everything I write. And I am, emphatically, not a bona fide writer, I much prefer reading. The only sort of pieces I'm happy to write are fluffy pieces of crap because:

1. there's no real need for objectivity (or even to operate under a guise of such ;) )
2. I can harangue!! hehe (Like I do here: Who is Monitoring the Multinational?

However, to write a novel! What a feat and imagine a Pulitzer-Prize winning novel! :) I couldn't do it. Particularly, you know, my ideas for a novel would mean writing something that is personal, something that would resonate emotionally. I also don't have the inspiration to write for an audience, I think, I'll just stick to writing for myself. It’s always a struggle to capture the intent, the passion, the imagery, the nature of thoughts. I curse those born with a natural mastery of language and its subtleties.

Speaking of novels, I spent this morning re-reading Bridget Jones': The Edge of Reason in my backyard and ridiculously laughing my head off at her predicaments. It's not that I completely identify with Bridget (she's a bit too neurotic) but I think she's a terribly likeable protagonist (in the same league as Liz Bennett). I do see parts of myself in her though eg. making an arse of myself in public, being terribly inarticulate in the most inopportune moments, indulging in food in times of desperation ;).

Anyway, there is a fatal fatal mistake in that book. There's no possible way that Darcy could ever vote Tory!! It's about as probable as my joining the Liberal Party tomorrow. I mean it, he's a human rights lawyer goddamnit!

By the way, Johnny Warren died today. Very sad. He did great things for soccer in this country. Good man. RIP.

Top 5 Cravings

I can't concentrate. My mind keeps wandering to these 5 things:

1. Oportos (mmmm... chilli sauce...)
2. Chicken Bulgogi (at the place in Sussex Centre)
3. Krispy Kremes (so saccharine-sweet, I can feel my arteries tightening just thinking about them)
4. Kim Chi Soup (at that restaurant in Surry Hills)
5. Chips and gravy

Mmmmmm.......I'm going to go eat now! :)

Arundhati Roy: Sydney Peace Prize

Arundhati Roy will be presenting Sydney Peace Prize lecture tonight at the Seymour Centre.

When I grow up, I want to be just like her! ;)

She’s just so incredibly insightful, intelligent, dynamic, compassionate, articulate, an eloquent communicator, very authentic in what she believes in. When she argues her point of view, it’s in a much understated compellingly peaceful manner. I’ve read some criticism about her, dismissing her as overly-naïve, overly-dogmatic, lack of understanding of human complexities but I don’t see that. I mean when you get to crux of her arguments, they’re really not that simplistic nor black-and-white, in fact, she rails against that sort of vision. Although, I guess I’m biased because the subject matters she identifies with and the way she views them resonate with me; they closely mirror my own perspective on life, on politics, on humanity and the hope she speaks of, I truly believe in. I think she’s beautiful, not beautiful as in fortunate-quirk-of-genes beautiful, but you know how some people, you look at them, you just realise that they’re gracefully beautiful human beings. Ahem, gushing fangirl moment over.

I have read articles she has written on social, political, & environmental issues and I just love her work. And The God of Small Things is a fantastic book, I highly recommend it.

"What shall we choose? Violence or non-violence? We have to choose knowing that when we are violent to our enemies, we do violence to ourselves. When we brutalise others, we brutalise ourselves. And eventually we run the risk of becoming our oppressors."

She is up there with Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.

In other news: US ELECTION!!! *crossing fingers*. If it's Bush and Cheney again, 2004 will go down as the worst year on record voting-wise. (I mean Ricki-Lee got voted out of Idol last month, like hello!)

It's back! Hurrah!

Finally, this is back online, inspired by everyone else. I've managed to wipe out half of everything I've ever written, not to mention the adding comments feature and it's going for the whole unique too-cool-for-school minimalist effect. ;) Also, hmm, I'm having trouble collating a list of links.

I've been reading people's blogs and online journals all day (feeling slightly guilty but it is Monday and my head hurts too much to think of real work). :)

I've decided that my previous sporadic blog was too political after all the hatemail I got. (Yeah, thanks for that guys). So I'm going to make this personal, update it more frequently and yes, I will re-enable the comments feature BUT I reserve the right to edit all comments. :D