Category: Beauty
Pink Cadillac
I have been waiting to tell you guys about this until it posted, but, er… It was posted on July 31 and I missed it! I saw it today, and I am telling you about it now. Jezebel ran my story of having been an Early 90s Mary Kay Lady.
1992 was a VERY bad year for me. Ha! My time as a Mary Kay Lady was just a great, big, pink cherry on top.
Confident, or Arrogant?
I keep trying and trying to write this post. It shouldn’t be that hard! See, a coworker/friend of mine complimented my confidence the other day, and while I was flattered and appreciative, it made me start to think about what confidence is and isn’t. Or maybe what confidence should be? Or why it is so difficult to appear confident?
Society makes it difficult because we live in a world where we raise people up, just to tear them down. Take a woman like Giselle. Stunning. Great legs. Gorgeous hair. Perfect skin. We can look and appreciate how stunning she is. We can tell her she is stunning all day long, and so long as she says thank you, we’re good. But the moment she says, “I know,” we are in trouble. The moment she says, “I have great legs, gorgeous hair, and perfect skin,” we will be out for blood. How dare she acknowledge her own gorgeousity?! How dare she enjoy her good looks?!
Why is it like that?
Because confidence in others shows us our insecurities. Nothing shines a spotlight on how I feel about my belly fat like someone saying, “My abs are looking good!” And if I feel bad about myself, it hurts to hear someone else feeling good about themselves. I have choices there. I can choose to celebrate my friend’s abs, acknowledging that my belly looks like it does because of my lack of interest in doing crunches and my affection for donuts. Then, I can take myself out of the equation and appreciate my friend’s hard work, or I can choose to wallow in my jiggle and be offended that my friend has made me aware of my jiggle by pointing out her rock solidness, and lash out at her, calling her an arrogant so-and-so for daring to bring up the fact of her fitness.
Arrogance only comes in to play when we start believing that what makes us sensational, also makes us superior. I am confident that I have good skin. My good skin doesn’t make me superior in any way. It’s just a fact, like the grass being green. You can be Mother Theresa and someone will find a reason to call you arrogant. You can’t pay attention to that. Haters gonna hate is another grass-is-green fact.
But all that is beside the point. The thing I really want to say is that I have great friends. I have friends in my life who are secure and confident in themselves, so it doesn’t bother them that I am secure and confident in myself. My friends celebrate my victories far more than they enjoy my failures–and honeys, let me tell you, you will know who your true friends are when you achieve something. It’s easy to be the hero and swoop in to help someone when they are down. You get to feel good about yourself for doing something. But when someone is standing in the limelight, and all you can do is stand in their shadow and applaud their success? It takes a strong, confident person to be that friend.
My friends don’t feel like they’ve lost anything when I gain something. My friends cheer me on when I’m feeling good about myself, and remind me of my wins when I am down. My friends want me at my best because it makes them better by proximity–and I feel that way, too. I want my friends to be at their best, and I am delighted for every gain they make. My friends make confidence easy.
That’s where a lot of confidence comes from, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank my friends for being those people. I’m not afraid of what’s said behind my back because I know what is said to my front. I love and appreciate you.
Peacocks and Pea Brains
Ladies, when men like Joe Peacock self-identify as jackholes through their derisive ranting about women who aren’t exactly like what they think women should be like, or who don’t act exactly as they think women should act, don’t be offended. Be thankful. He has weeded himself out of polite society and the dating pool, as have his hangers-on.
What I find really amusing about the Booth Babe rant is that he is angry at good looking women for putting on costumes to get attention at comic conventions. You’re only allowed to wear a costume if you are a Level 24 magic dwarf with the Flaming Sword of Moronico and 1500+ hours of WOW under your belt in the past 2 month period. You may not wear a costume and attend a con if you just happen to like the costume, dressing up, and hanging out with other likeminded cosplayers. No cred? No costume for you! Bless his heart.
It’s the equivalent of saying that if you haven’t played college football and can quote stats from SuperBowl III, you shouldn’t wear a team jersey. It is ridiculous. It is sad. Peacock is clearly afraid that his once underappreciated territory is going to be overrun with with Princesses, Jocks, and Socs. In other words, Peacock is clearly afraid of being stuffed in a locker.
The thing that is supposed to be so fantastic about being an adult is no longer having to conform to the identities forced upon us by adolescence, when our brain chemistry is so awash with growth hormones that few of us can multi-task beyond being either a Goat Roper or a Goth. God forbid you be fifteen, love the Cure and Randy Travis. In Peacock’s world, God forbid you be a grown-up who isn’t fully devoted to the nuance of the Star Fleet uniform. You can’t be a Geek and a Princess at the same time.
Although, there is great potential for Geek/Furry crossover if you’re into Ewoks.
Anyway: Don’t be mad at Mr. Peacock. His name is indicative of his issues. Especially if it’s his joystick he uses for thinking.
Hungry in the Summer and in Sahel
If you have eaten a meal in the last few days, please take a moment to consider your good fortune. If you have been able to feed your children, please take a moment to consider yourself very blessed. Remember that there are people around you who are starving, and who watch their children starve, and please remember that summertime is one of the worst times for hungry families.
During the school year, kiddos at least have access to school breakfast and lunch. In the summer…those are just two more meals for families to try to figure out. The North Texas Food Bank offers children meals during the summer at their Kids Cafe. This is a great place to share what you have, even if you are donating just a dollar or two every month. Every cent helps.
The North Texas Food Bank has a program to help children at risk of food insecurity and chronic hunger over the weekends, as well. Doesn’t “chronic hunger” just break your heart? I can’t stand it when I think Thor has been hungry for more than an hour. I can’t imagine him being hungry for days on end.
Lainey, of Lainey Gossip, posted this today and I want to share it with you. First and foremost, I recommend helping the hungry where you are, but we must also always remember the people who live in other nations, who have less than nothing.
Last year we saw the worst hunger crisis this century in the Horn of Africa. Now a similar crisis is spreading across the continent’s Sahel zone.The hunger has reached crisis levels in countries including Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Chad. Across the region, erratic rainfall, endemic poverty, low crop yields, and rising prices for staple foods have combined to create this crisis.
The Humanitarian Coalition member agencies are already hard at work across the Sahel. Their ongoing projects in the areas of water and sanitation, food security, education, and women’s empowerment are helping vulnerable communities counter the effects of food shortages.
The Humanitarian Coalition is currently appealing for support to address the drought and food crisis in the Sahel. 80% of donors give on-line. Here’s how your gift would help:
$50 – buy milk to treat a severely malnourished child for 3 weeks
$100 – feed a family for 5 months
$250 – feed 5 families for a month
$500 – pay a nurse for a month, to care for malnourished childrenPlease click here to support the Humanitarian Coalition.
Again, I encourage you to share as you can. Even the smallest donation helps. And if you can encourage your friends to donate, so much the better. Ten friends with a dollar each can make an impact. Ten friends with five dollars each can feed hungry, little children. Ten friends with ten dollars each can feed one of those hungry families for 5 months.
The Outside Lane 