Man Hands

Firstly, happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope everyone got to spend time with family and/or friends and eat way too much yummy food. I know I did.

That out of the way, today's topic: Man hands. It may not be quite what you think. What I am referring  to is a personal ailment of mine that comes along every once in awhile.

In today's society, perfection is the goal. The most beautiful people are not only completely done up in professional make up and hair, but they are photoshop'd to shit so that we are left to compare our average selves to the perfection that is that small group of people. As a result, we are generally left with insecurities, many of them being completely ridiculous, like this one..

I like my hand well enough. They are maybe a little bigger than I'd like (I have pretty long fingers) but they are slender and when my nails are grown out, I paint them one of three colors (black, gun mental gray, or a deep burgundy). I would go as far to say that when my nails are long and painted, and I have my rings that I wear on a daily basis, my hands are down right nice looking. They are feminine and I feel good about them.

I have one problem and that is that when I am stressed, I tend to attack my nails. I also have a slight OCD about nails being the same length. So, this past week, despite it being a holiday, has been a little rough due to some personal problems and, of course, my nails that were looking pretty damn good have slowly been getting shorter by the day. I finally caved, like I always do, and cut them all in order to start fresh in growing them out.

The problem now becomes that my nails are short and here's where my insecurities come in... when my nails are short my hands go from being slender and, dare I say it, even attractive, to short, fat, man hands. They might as well be covered in hair and callouses. I get so uncomfortable about them. I won't even paint my nails because I feel like it will draw attention to the shortness and then to the resulting man hands. I realize that it makes me sound like a crazy person (I never promised I wasn't). All I know is what I feel.

The only good that I can take from this is that, due to my stress tick, I often times realize I am stressed before I even know why. I can't say how many times I have looked down, noticed my nice hands turned into man hands, and I say to myself, "Man, something must be wrong" and then I go on an introspective quest to figure out what's buggin.

It's really that simple

I just had a conversation with a dear friend who is dealing with the end of, what he knows I think, is a bad relationship. He is a wonderful guy.. he has big dreams and I think he will be very successful in his career. He's genuine, caring, and fun. He lives life big and is overall a really wonderful person.

That being said, this girl he has been with thinks he needs to dress better, have more money, get a "real" job, buy her more shit, take her more places... she seems to completely miss the fact that she has such an amazing guy who is willing to do anything for her, and has tried. But it's never enough. I met her once and she seemed nice enough, but hearing all of this makes me want to punch her little 5'2'' self in the face. He is so much better than this girl.

Anyway... I'm not a religious girl but I couldn't help of think of the bible verse Corinthians 13:4-7 (apologies if that's wrong?).. 

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

I think that kinda says it all.

Is there an option C?

Okay, so I have noticed an increase in posts on Facebook about the new scanning procedures that take place at airports. I don't travel a whole lot (only because I don't have the money) but I can tell you that what I am hearing really makes me not want to travel so I don't have to risk being practically strip searched.

For those like myself who have been in the dark until now, here's the deal: for various reasons, including random search, people are now being submitted to the new full body scanners. You can watch their video about it here. Now, in the video they specifically mention that the scanners CANNOT store or send images. However, here you can read an article about a group who seems to believe they are being "misleading" or, basically, lying. Clearly there is no hard evidence for this but search google and stuff pops up about scanner photos being leaked. I don't know if any of this is true or not, but if photos were leaked, then obviously they were saved or sent somewhere. If this is the case, I find this really upsetting. The fact that someone I don't know, or have truly given my permission to, is going to see my naked body is really upsetting to me. Even if it is briefly. I am not a prude by any means, but its my body and my choice who gets to see it stripped or not.

So that being said, there is an alternative. You can opt out of the scanners and instead vote for an even more intrusive "enhanced pat down". I tried going on the TSA website and finding their own words on what EXACTLY takes place in the new "enhanced" pat downs. But, go figure, I couldn't seem to find any sort of description anywhere. All I could find was these two descriptions here and here. They are the best warnings found for the kind of pat down you receive. The pages, respectively, state:

"You should be offered a private screening before the beginning of a pat-down inspection if the pat-down will require the lifting of clothing and/or display of a covered medical device."

and

"A pat-down inspection complements the hand-wand inspection. In order to ensure security, this inspection may include sensitive areas of the body. Security Officers are rigorously trained to maintain the highest levels of professionalism.  You may request that your pat-down inspection be conducted in private."

Sensitive areas of the body? Cut the bullshit and just call it what it is, we are going to get felt up. Here is a better description of what happens: "a TSA screener will use a front-of-the-hand, slide-down body screening " From what I can understand in reading various articles... the old pat down's consisted of a "palms up" technique. The new ones are palms down. They now check up the inner thighs, a genital "brush" can be expected, and women get a feel down between their lady lumps. In this TSA blog, they state that pat downs are conducted by same gender employees but in my short time of researching this, that doesn't seem to always be the case.

Ok, so I realize not everyone gets scanned when you go to the airport. However, this is just the beginning and I know that I would feel pretty violated going through either procedure. I realize the issue of safety is at hand, but I have got to believe that we can find a less intrusive way to check for these things. In the meantime, if anyone feels violated during one of these procedures, ACLU is conducting a survey to evaluate the chance of potential abuse of the new airport security. You can fill out a form here.

So, with all that being said.. travel safe these coming holidays. I'm just glad that I live a mere two hour drive from my family.

Drill bits, screws, and hammers.. oh my!

So here I am on a Thursday night watching Hidalgo on AMC. God only knows why since there are commercials every 10 minutes and I own the movie. Anyway, so a commercial comes on for the Jawhorse.

It is the latest and greatest in workbench technology! It holds that wood like no other (heh heh). Anyway, aside from the fact that it's a waste of money because all you really need is two stands and some clamps, what I really want to talk about is the commercial itself.

Unfortunately I couldn't find the one that aired for your viewing pleasure but it was nothing all that special. It's some manly sounding man talking about how awesome the Jawhorse is while showing clips of your average dad at home doing construction projects around the house. Maybe a few on actual construction sites too.

There was ONE woman who showed up in the commercial. It was specifically during the part when they talked about how EASY it is to set up (the Jawhorse breaks down for convenient traveling!). She is pulling all the legs out on a driveway. That's it. That's the only woman.

I'm realistic, most women do not do construction projects. Personally, I don't know tools. I know the basics: drills and screw drivers. Easy stuff but that's about it. However, that does not mean that I can't operate other tools, I just need to be shown how.

So to get to the point, either fairly represent women in the commercial or don't do it at all! I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it if there hadn't been any women present. I also wouldn't have thought twice if there had been women in other scenes, such as completing a project with her husband. But to throw a female in for that one scene... please. I felt like "So easy, even a woman can do it!" needed to flash across the screen in red.

I can't say I am even pissed off about it but I definitely noticed it. It drew my attention because it is subtle stereotypes like this that really form and influence the way people think. Not just for women but for sexual preference, race, religion, what have you. People in general need to be more aware of how they are representing others. Welcome to the 21st century people, women can construct and men can sew.

And frankly, if you are the kind of narrow minded man who thinks that I can't handle tools because I am a woman... I have a hammer and I can be very creative.

Be nice to the produce

Today I was at my local Trader Joe's picking up a few items. I buy a lot of fruit and vegetables, of which I am really picky about. I don't like bruises or little cuts. I realize that this is a weird, OCD-like thing but they really gross me out. So I am really careful when I pick my food out to make sure I get exactly what I want.

All this time and careful inspection leads me to one of my biggest pet peeves at the grocery store... when the cashier SLAMS or DROPS my food while they are ringing me up. It drives me insane! It's never just one item, it's a certain type of person and they will do it to every item. By the end of the transaction I've practically developed a twitch while watching it happen. After spending the time to pick the perfect fruits and veggies and then the cashier goes and ruins them. I can see the bruises forming in my mind with each bump.

The only thing that keeps me from saying anything is the risk of sounding completely insane. By the time I am ready to open my mouth, I am usually already all stressed out and don't know how to politely and calmly ask them to be more gentle.

I don't even understand why it has to be asked. Why would you go and throw someones food around? I guess it's one of those things, some people just aren't the most gentle. I had a roommate once who was about 5'6''ish and couldn't have weighed over 125lbs. She didn't walk around the apartment, she stomped. You would have thought there was a 300lb football player in the room and yes, she seemed totally unaware of it. I think it's like that. While they are practically spiking my food into the other end of the checkout, the cashiers who do it probably aren't aware that they are so rough with my produce.

Luckily for me, today wasn't one of those days. But every time I shop, it's certainly a gamble.

Fuzzy tipped paper sticks

Q-tips are ridiculous... honestly. First of all, how did they even come up with that name? Where does the "Q" come from? There's cotton at the end of the tip, C-Tip seems way more appropriate (though that sounds really dirty). Ridiculous. I decided to turn to the highly reliable website, Wikipedia, and found this little piece of information:

" The cotton swab was invented in the 1920s by Leo Gerstenzang^[1] after he attached wads of cotton to toothpicks.^[2] His product, which he named "Baby Gays", went on to become the most widely sold brand name, "Q-tip", with the Q standing for "quality". The term "Q-tip" is often used as a genericized trademark for cotton swabs in the USA. Although doctors have said for years that usage of the cotton swab for ear cleaning is not safe, that use remains the most common."

Leo, why did you name them "Baby Gays"? That makes no sense. How it turned into "Quality Tips" is really just as absurd. Unfortunately for us, Wiki didn't have an answer to that question.

As for the use of the QT, I use them for my ears. I don't know anyone who doesn't use them for their ears. The reason doctors tell you not to do that? It's USER ERROR. People like to jam the QT in their ear and damage their ear drum. Do people not know how to be gentle?! I don't understand how it's not common sense to approach with gentle care. Still, like most companies here in the great US, they have to protect their asses from being sued due to the idiocy of people and therefore QT are officially NOT for cleaning your ears.

So what are they for? This is taken directly from the QT website:

1. Family care. "Q-tips^® are convenient family care tools for those hard-to-reach places." 

Okay, family + QT + hard to reach places = somewhere I don't want to go. I don't know what they are thinking but nothing I can think of seems kosher.

2. Home care. "Q-tips^® cotton swabs are perfect when you want to clean anything down to the last detail. They are a great tool to use anywhere around the house, from cleaning to touching up in those tiny hard-to reach places."

Really? This makes using a tooth brush to clean the kitchen counters seem like a dream. Think of all the coverage it gets compared to a QT!

3. Art projects. "Perfect for experts and even art novices, Q-tips^® cotton swabs are perfect for any art project. Whether creating a child’s masterpiece or doing touch-ups on delicate paintings"

That's what paintbrushes are for. Bottom line. Unless I am going to use my QT as my poor man's version of Lincoln Logs, I can't imagine any art project that these are essential.

Already?

Am I the only one in shock that it is already November? 2010.. where did you go? Now that Halloween has come and gone, the rest of the year will simply fly by with the rest of the holidays. It's like that every year.

Anyway, I experienced the West Hollywood carnival/parade/whatever you want to call it for the first time this year. It was pretty awesome. My friends and I dressed up as post apocalyptic Super Mario Bros. We got a lot of positive feedback on our costumes. We took lots of photos, saw lots of amazing costumes. We left around 10, which was perfect. It was about an hour before the whole thing closed and it went from being crowded to being ridiculous.

The only disappointing part was when we saw other people dressed as Mario and friends. We got really excited and so many of them seemed really weirded out. As a group we came to the decision that the others, with their store bought costumes, were intimidated by our bad ass, home made costumes. There was on group that were Mario Kart, they all dressed up as their characters and then had little cars hanging off their waists. It was AWESOME. They were just as impressed with us as we were with them. That was a great moment to end the night.

On a side note, I am watching Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. It was made in 1993 which is clearly reflected in the thong worn at the beginning of the film. The waist of the thong literally reaches her belly button. Classic. The rest of the film is pretty ridiculous... they blow up Jason at the very start. The man doing the autopsy gets this overwhelming urge to eat the heart, becomes possessed with the essence of Jason, and then.. well, I am still watching so I will have to tell you the exciting end later. Something tells me he goes to Hell..