Half of the Brain :
the place all those random thoughts that flit through my head each day go to die

UP ALL NIGHT

Yep I've been plagued by an odd bout of insomnia recently--odd in the fact that I can't identify what's causing it and usually I can at least pinpoint the problem (even if I have no solution).

queer eye for the straight guy--
I'm enjoying watching the show. I think it offers a somewhat stilted and stereotypical picture of gay culture (which the series has chosen to accentuate by making Carson the centerpiece)as well as a fairly stereotypical presentation of the no-style straight guy. But I appreciate the fact that it's on the air at all. I have one major sticking point with the show, though (and it's not really an issue as it is more of concept that as a viewer I'm not willing to buy into): in the 2 episodes I've seen the decorator, the food guru, and to some extent the culture guy end up to be little more than glorified housekeepers. Today's straight guy is a Richard Marx look-alike and his Long Island apartment is just a pig sty and the fab 5 start out by cleaning out the fridge, loading the dishwasher, and bagging up all the old pizza boxes and food cartons.

you did abadbad thing

and made poor, poor editorial choices

drum roll pleeeeeeeaaaaasssseeee.....

the SHAME-ON-YOU award goes to--
all of those tv networks that have chosen to air the death pictures of the Hussein boys without warning to viewers.

really, those pics are quite gruesome and nothing I'd want the kiddos to see.

They generally give you warning before they report the sport scores of tape-delayed events, networks post advisories that "tonight's episode of Dawson's Creek is intended for our mature audiences". Is it expecting too much that the anchors give us a heads up?

MSNBC really has me scratching my head, though, but not simply because of the Hussein pics. A week or so back they ran a story on cat decapitations in Texas and in their reporting actually showed video of the mutilations-- yep, heads rolling. (And I'll be the first to admit that if I hadn't seen the report myself I'd chalk this one up to Urban Legend)

In the case of the Hussein brothers, I understand the importance--especially for the Iraqi people--of confirming the deaths AND in the scope of continuing media coverage of the military operation in Iraq I understand the story's newsworthiness. . . . but dead and decapitated cat bodies....

Anything worth having in life is worth working hard for...

Do you think so? Sentiments like that are a direct outgrowth of the now-famous Protestant Work Ethic-- an important part of America's ideological history from James Smith's "if you don't work you won't eat" to Benjamin Franklin's list of virtues, to Horatio Alger pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps stories, to the entire mythic construct of the American dream.....

but again I have to ask, do you really think so?

We live in a world that judges us first and foremost by what we do for a living-- gotta go to work, work overtime, work weekends, bring work home. So many of us walk around in a perpetual state of exhaustion, develop medical problems because we've overtaxed and/or neglected our bodies, and are all the while miserable becuase our lives are somehow lacking-- lacking something meaning ful or something important.

So I have a suggestion for a new kind of work ethic: Anything worth having (worth doing, or worth devoting yourself to )shouldn't feel like work.

I'm not idealistic enough to think that we can reach a state of enlightenment that chores don't feel like chores. But what kind of world might we live in if most people did more with their life than just get up and go to work? What if our education system wasn't focused around teaching a set of specific skills to do a specific job? What if instead we focused on teaching an avocation? My sense is that folks in general will work unflaggingly for things they're passionate about.

What's your passion?

Its thoughts like these that make me wish socialism could work. I imagine more of us would work for our passions if it wasn't for the fact that so many of us have passions that won't net us any money. Alas... the benefits of living in a STAR TREK society, part 2: Does anyone aboard the enterprise ever worry about money?

But the thing is, it's not just careers.

How many times have I heard some kind of relationship counselor espouse something along the lines the "friendships that are worth anything are worth working for".

really?, I question as I raise my eyebrows. Seems to me any friendship or relationship I've ever had that is worth anything is based on respect and love, not work.

My oldest and dearest friends... the one who actually shares half of my brain, the one who lives half-a-world away but shares through e-mail all the familiarity of a neighborhood cafe, the one I haven't seen for years but greets me like we just had dinner last week, the one I know will share in every important milestone in my life, the one who keeps reminding me I'm destined for greatness, and then the one I don't call if I don't know that I've got 2 hours and a cuppa to settle in. . . All of those....

they weren't work, even in the beginning. They were just there. On some level, we shared one of our passions which made it natural for us to do life together. And we have. And we will. . . Those friendships are without a doubt worth having. In fact, I'd hazard they're much of what makes life worth living.

Celebrity

Why are we so fascinated by it? Why are there dozens of shows scattered over all the networks whose bread and butter is presenting celebrity. Some networks like E and MTV package it with glitz while Bravo and A&E attempt to keep the salaciousness muted and I imagine are targeting older and perhaps more sophisticated audiences. But differences in style aside... young or old, why do we care. Why do I need to know about Faith Hill's childhood or why devote an entire hour to "Beaus of Gwyneth."

Those of you who know me know I'm a movie/entertainment fan and know that I have a love-and-love-some-more relationship with pop-culture. I am the true gimmik girl. Yep, I buy the DVD's for the commentary and behind-the scenes info. Yep, I'll go to the Harry Potter midnight book buying party. Yep, I'll queue up for Star Wars tickets the day they go on sale--three weeks before release. But, I was a tad bit disgusted this morning when I logged on and began perusing the internet headlines only to be besieged by banners toting "Britney's NOT like a Virgin." -- and it's not simply the teen mags or entertainment industry venues picking up the "twentysomething-girl-has-sex- with-her-boyriend" story, but mainstream, "serious" news outlets. I'm befuzzled, really....

1) Why do I care about Britney's sex life?
2) Why oh why is it news?!?!?