random fashion tip #5.

remember in middle school when you went school shopping and you got to pick out your new clothes for the whole school year? you got to decide would you dress grungy? preppy? hippie? and remember how going through rack after rack of the jc penny's junior section you felt like a cat with a fresh batch of cat nip? you never got to go there any other time, and this trip was totally on mom's dime. and everything felt so exciting, with all those new fashion options. and you had no inclination to dress sexy, but just to find something cool.

why can't shopping be like that anymore?

fashion tip #5: go shopping with your mom (or best friend) and pretend like it's middle school all over again and you've got the chance to pick out that first day of school outfit. (you may need to save up for this if you're anything like me, b/c i betcha mom or your best friend is not going to foot the bill).

random fashion tip #4.

#4: clothes that are too small? no. the jeans that you'll loose weight to fit in to? passé. buy clothes that fit and that are comfortable. this just happens to lead into that whole being comfortable in your own skin, because everyone is beautiful and sexy and sappy sappy sappy sap.

(just because i called it sappy doesn't make it any less true).

another step forward for men, and 3 back for women... ugh.

lately i've been obsessively reading jezebel.com

i have a lot of pseudo free time at work and with that time i decided to get informed. to me that meant a little real news & a little entertainment, and no corporate bull shit. hello, jezebel! also this means i get a healthy dose of feminism (making me even more of an aggressive, don't mess with me, kinda gal).

today i read this article: and it was just another example of when men get there first.

the article focuses on the fact that gay men don't need "fag hags" any more because it has become socially acceptable to be a gay man. in the past "fag hags" were the beard for gay men. they could go to a wedding and pretend to be straight with their giggling "girlfriend", introduce their lady friend to their mother, or have a photo on their desk at work.

however, this has changed. now you can be gay and have straight male friends, you can even come out pre puberty and you don't even have to be flamboyant. this is fantastic. really. not sarcastically--i am very happy for every step towards equality. of course none of these new stereotypes are across the board, i'm sure, there is still manystaps to take, but for some men they are true and therefore the "fag hag" is a passe accessory for gay men.

in the other half of this arrangement, women still want and need their gay male accomplice. this article explains that it may not necessarily be the fat, dorky, outsider women who want this sex-free male friend, but they are still desired by the paris hilton fashionistas--who need validation from a male face, but have no idea what being gay, or an outsider, is all about. in other words, women are still shallow, they NEED validation, and they can only get it from men--female opinions just won't do.

what this all boils down to is that in this country, yet again, women don't get theirs. men can be gay, a black man can be president, but women can't be women--even the straight and white variety. women are still insecure, still have to dress a certain way to be a serious politician (or a serious anybody), and still have to look to others to know when they are right. when will this change, you ask? women had to wait 50 years after non-white men got to vote (officially--although of course their were still reading tests and plenty of other discrimination that delayed voting rights), and racism is still prevalent even after we have a black man in the white house.

i believe the answer is, maybe by the end of my lifetime. maybe.


p.s. i've always hated the term "fag hag" so if that disappears? i'm not gonna tear up.

random fashion tip #3.

#3: when you can feel the wind in the hair on your legs, it's time to shave. but there is no obligation, rebel against the hairless and enjoy being a dainty sasquatch.

random fashion tip #2

i date depressed boys because my father is depressed. what a depressing fate.
back on subject,

fashion tip #2: DO NOT be afraid of bright colors. they make people happy.

liz's random fashion tip #1.

portland is hot.

no one can sleep, including me. i got in a huge tiff with my partner last night, only made worse by this heat. and despite all the exciting film related opportunities in my life, i feel quite negative. so i'm going to distract myself and you!

i am a fashion queen. or at least all the fawning i get when i walk into a room leads me to this conclusion. and being the amazing inspiration that i am, i feel that keeping all my knowledge to myself is selfish. and because i am not selfish, i shall share some of my fashionista secrets with you, one at a time.



#1: when you find a dress with pockets, buy it. do not question how cute it looks, what color it is, or any of those silly considerations. you'll make it work and you'll thank me later.

akward.

i feel like there's something crawling underneath my skin. i see ten different things in front of me, each one out of reach, and each one the wrong and right choice.

i left town. i was stressed, too busy, had too many commitments, and i left town. three weeks. gone. absent, not in contact, except to a few. nothings changed. my skin is still crawling and i still don't know where to turn. i want to run. i guess that's what i did, but i want to run again, more pertinently and further. the other side of the world, gone. disappeared. i wondering if i will always be haunted by the freedom i felt in japan?

that's what it was: freedom. from commitments, from talking to people, from making decisions. it's the cheaters way out. the cop-out. it's not something i believe in.

face your problems, demons, what have you; do not run. i am not lola.

it's probably the 3 hours of sleep last night, the jittery starbucks this morning, i'll be fine tomorrow, after i sleep.