Do You Know What Jeans You’re Wearing?
Posted on 18 February 2011 | 2 responses
Earlier today, I looked down and realized I wasn’t wearing the jeans I thought I was wearing. Why is this so disconcerting? I don’t know but it is. And not just to me:
12:58:48 PM Tania: this sounds weird but i just realized i was wearing completely different jeans than i thought
12:59:00 PM Tania: like, all morning i thought i was wearing one pair, then realized i wasn’t at all
12:59:07 PM elsie: if that happened to me i would probably go home sick
Chinese Moms, Iraqi Moms and Your Mom
Posted on 13 January 2011 | 5 responses
Being a mom isn’t easy. I say that not from experience, but from countless hours watching Life Goes On and exactly six months of babysitting in middle school.
You have to make some tough calls. Let. Me. Tell. You.
Which is probably why everyone’s up in a tizzy over this Wall Street Journal column from Amy Chua, Chinese mom extraordinaire whose idea of good parenting is to starve her children until they can play the piano. On her long list of things her kids were not allowed to do: attend sleepovers, watch TV, or come home with any grade lower than an A.
This type of strict parenting is, according to Chua, proof that she cares more about her kids than Western parents “who seem perfectly content to let their children turn out badly.”
Yikes.
Based on the reactions to her article, I can gather that Chinese moms are feeling a little stereotyped (or vindicated), and that a lot of too-soft “Western” moms are wondering if all those DUIs and D-minuses might be their fault after all. Or not. I’m not taking sides here.
What Chua is describing, though, isn’t so much Chinese parenting as it is immigrant parenting, something I’m extremely familiar with as the daughter of two Middle Easterners. Don’t get me wrong — my mom never forced me to sit at the piano bench with no food or drink for hours at a time, and she most certainly didn’t tell me I was a “disgrace” (at least not until I was in my 20s). My parents were actually quite lax compared to the others in our cultural circle. Read more ⇒
Clothes That Exercise For You
Posted on 11 January 2011 | No responses
I almost bought toning shoes once.
To be fair, they were the less offensive New Balance variety, and I was a vulnerable, newly-minted bride-to-be, convinced I needed to get gown ready in a few short months. What better way than to squeeze a power walk into my lunch break? And yeah, I just said “power walk” and “gown ready.” What do you want from me? I’M VULNERABLE.
Anyway, my resolution was quashed when, on my second walk, a homeless guy threw up on me. Lunch time walks were just too dangerous a proposition after that. And since I don’t need performance footwear to eat microwave pizza at my desk while surfing the web (or do I?), out went my interest in those fancy new shoes.
Perfect from Now On
Posted on 9 January 2011 | No responses
What’s Built to Spill up to these days? The reason I ask is that the past couple of days, everyone’s been talking about new years resolutions, which always makes me think of the album Perfect from Now On, one of my college favorites (and one that I still love despite being ten years older and realizing how slow and whiny it is).
I never really make resolutions at the new year, mostly because I’m the type of neurotic, self-berating person who makes them on a daily basis. Any day of the year is potentially a fresh start for me, every subsequent day the one I fall off the wagon. Which is why I always loved that album title and track. Not sure what it meant to Doug Martsch and the gang, but to me it’s about the unrealistic promises I make to myself all the time:
“From now on, I’m going to be perfect. I’m gonna work out 3-5 times a week, go to museums, be outside more, read tons of books, get organized and relax. I will never again eat food that’s bad for me (after all, my body is a temple). I’m going to be less wasteful. I’m going to be the type of person who doesn’t talk about people behind their backs and who stands up for my principles. I’m going to have principles. Starting now.”
Never quite works out that way, probably because I’m human. So this year I’m setting the bar low. My only resolution is to drink more water. And by more I mean some.
Happy New Year!
Best. Morning. Ever.
Posted on 20 December 2010 | 1 response
When I was a kid I used to celebrate Christmas all year round. Well into July, A Chipmunks Christmas played from my Boombox, my room adorned with mom’s discarded tinsel and mistletoe.
And in December, when it was finally appropriate to celebrate my favorite holiday, I was so damned excited I barely slept at all.
It’s been a while since I’ve felt that kind of anticipation for the holidays, or anything for that matter.
That’s why I love this ad.
