Fall-Guy Model

Life is too short not to wear crop tops. I finally purchased a crop top for the summer and I had to buy it in the 'Juniors' section of my local department store which immediately tells me that I am too old for such half-shirts but I just don't friggin' care ya'll. It's hot outside and this top is SUPER CUTE! Also, wearing a short shirt is a real ab work out, like, you gotta suck it in at all times. Whew! So, for that reason, I consider all crop tops to be athletic wear.

My husband was also very eager to jump on this trend, and by "very eager" I mean, I forced him to ruin one of his shirts for the comedic purposes of this demented blog. You know how there are certain 'types' of models? Runway models, athletic models, plus-size models and on and on goes this list of categorizing the human form. I think there should be a new category for models who are willing to do anything and look stupid doing it. Like, purposefully dumb. No one else is willing to look this dumb. We could call them 'Fall-Guy Models'. We all need a good fall-guy once in a while, someone who is willing to do the asinine.

I think my husband would be a great 'Fall-Guy Model' and not because he's stupid but rather because he truly believes that he looks fucking amazing in any form, wearing almost anything, while performing the stupidest of actions. I have never seen him embarrassed by anything. If you have ever seen the men's fashion at Zara then you know exactly what I am talking about. Who, in his right mind, would wear this crap? Let alone model it? Have you ever overheard a man say, "Hmmm, this button-down is great and all but it could really be improved by a graphic, detailing hordes of flamingos wearing sunglasses and drinking mai tais....also, pink glitter thread and gold buttons." No, you have never heard a man say that. What I am trying to say here is that Zara should hire my spouse as a 'Fall-Guy Model' for their men's spring collection. Sadly, Zara does not tailor clothes for the 6'3" dad bod but only the 5'3" Elvin hipster.

Taste the Rainbow, Bitch

Have you noticed that everyone you know or love has become some kind of specialist or expert on health/fitness and just life in general with absolutely NO credentials? I cannot leave my home or enter the information superhighway without being blasted with, "Sodas are bad for you!", "They contain a BILLION packets of sugar!!!"."You eat pre-packeged, manufactured foods?!! Oh my GOD, do you want to DIE?!!!!".  Let me explain a fun way of dealing with these people.

Years ago, I had a good friend who LOVED it when telemarketers would call the house. He would answer the phone and the telemarketer would launch into the incredible opportunity that awaited this random home owner. My friend would immediately reply, "WOW, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! THIS IS AMAZING!!! YOU CHOSE ME!!! SHARON GET IN HERE! *click*. Mid sentence and through the excitement, he would hang up on the telemarketer. This process was a joy to watch and has helped me deal with stupidity throughout my life. It's very easy to get angry at things like this, but ultimately you can't stop stupidity or annoyances so, why not have fun with it?

Now, telling me that sodas are bad for you is akin to informing me about the dangers of smoking. It is not a mystery that smoking is terrible for you. I see people smoking everyday and feel no need to inform them of the risks involved with smoking. These smokers are adults and are making an informed adult decision. So, when someone 'enlightens' me about the sugar content of sodas, I reply thusly, "WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!! NO ONE HAS EVER TOLD ME THIS BEFORE IN MY LIFE!!!! HOW LONG HAVE WE KNOWN?!!! DO OTHERS KNOW ABOUT THIS EPIDEMIC?!!!!!" Then, I slowly and calmly just fade away into the dark like Batman.

Here is another example. Buzz Kill: "How can you put processed foods into your body?" Me: "YOU TOLD ME TO MAKE MY DIET MORE COLORFUL SO NOW I ONLY EAT SKITTLES AND CHEETOS!!!! TASTE THE RAINBOW BITCH."

I hope this has helped. Now get out there and let's have some good old-fashioned fun! How do you deal with these Buzz Kills? I am open to new techniques.

Weirdly Specific Tarot Cards

Tarot cards are designed to be incredibly vague so that if you have any kind of imagination you can make the reading of the cards somehow about you and your life, past, present and future.

I want to create a deck of tarot cards that are alarmingly specific along with updated vernacular speech. Granted, these won't work on hardly anyone but when they do...

Here are some examples

13: Death
"Girl, delete that old MySpace account. Seriously, kill it and any other outdated social media platforms that you had an account with. These are bad omens and only cause pain, misery and external judgment from others. Herald in the new day and halt the old before the past consumes you.

16:The Tower
"You are too concerned with the lives and gossip of others. Focus on yourself and your immediate goals. Do not isolate yourself. These are your tendencies. If you don't heed this warning you will end up just like that kid in GoT, peeping on that queen in the TOWER boning her brother and then you will be a paraplegic but also can see the future?"

2:The High Priestess
"There are some uppity-ass bitches in your life, Wanda! Excommunicate these whores from your life. You will thank me later, Wanda"

10:Wheel of Fortune
"A series of emojis will go here"

6:The Lovers
"Stay single and your pockets will jingle."

9:The Hermit
"When Netflix asks, 'Are you still watching?' it's because Netflix is afraid that you might be dead. Someone should really alert the authorities, at this point. Rather, you have become a hermit and are incapable of leaving your hobbit hole which contains many leather bound books (Which you don't read) and Netflix."

7:Wands
"Collect all the wands, pass GO and then you win at Tarot! Isn't that how this game works?"

These Colors Don't Run

Right after the Paris bombings many of us on social media turned our profile pictures into an Eiffel Tower or French slogan to show our support and solidarity with the French people. Soon afterwards, peoples of differing African nations and Middle Eastern countries cried out. Why not change the colors of your online avatar to those of the Afghani flag? Or the Sudanese flag? These are but a few examples of countries that face national atrocities and horrors on an almost daily basis and these occurrences are but a blip on western news. No one would light up the White House with the colors of the Nigerian flag or cover British Parliament in an Algerian banner. The bottom line is this. Westerners have turned a somewhat blind eye to the terrors of Africa. Be honest with yourself. We all do it. The horrors are sadly just too numerous and the issues that cause these problems can't all be solved with money or Doctors Without Borders. These issues are multi-faceted, some even ancient, political, religious, cultural and on and on and on. Because of this we choose to look in the other direction and to not dwell on such sadness. For good, evil or some weird grey area in between this is the way of the western news system and society itself.

Today my husband asked me if I had read the news stories about the shooting in Orlando or the rapist from Stanford University. I shrugged my shoulders and said,"I saw those headlines but I didn't read the stories". In that moment I realized that I didn't bother to actually read about those awful stories for the same reasons that I choose not to go any further than a headline into any of the awful situations in Africa or the Middle East...because the situations are just too numerous. Without knowing it, my mind has subconsciously placed America in with Africa and Atrocities. Obviously America is still safer and more stable than almost any African nation but I'm not sure anyone would glean that from the news headlines. There are shootings, seemingly, every day in the U.S., rapes, robberies, hate crimes, preposterous political campaigns, corruption, extreme wealth disparity and severe lack of charity. Has it gotten this bad?  So bad that when I read about a shooting in the news I just gloss over it as yet another American shooting? Yet another bombing in Africa? Who can keep up with this?

Perhaps it's time to get out of our comfortable suburban bubbles and talk with those that are different from us. Make a friend who is at a different economic level (up or down) from yourself. Talk to a Muslim. Befriend people of differing ethnicities, gender or sexual preference from yourself. Why? Because it's easy to hate a stranger. It's impossible to hate a friend. Get past the headline, make a friend and maybe the stories will begin to change.

BREAKING NEWS

Every presidential campaign season comes with it's own level of stupidity and annoyances from both parties but this year has added a new spice to the mix: BREAKING NEWS

Adjust your TV dial (I know it's not the 1960's, we don't have dials anymore) or AppleTV, news website, magazine or actual newspaper to any and I mean ANY news outlet and you will see the bold words: BREAKING NEWS. Underneath this headline you will then see any combination of the following: Obama supports Clinton for democratic nomination, Cruz supports Trump for republican nomination, Pelosi supports Clinton for democratic nomination, Palin supports for Trump for republican nomination and so on.

How, I ask you, is this BREAKING NEWS? All democrats will support all democrats and all republicans will support all republicans. The republican nominee could be the Dark Lord Cthulhu and ALL republicans will support him. Ragnarok, Bringer of Armageddon, could be the democratic nominee and ALL democrats will support him/It. How is this information 'news' let alone BREAKING NEWS?

Here are some examples of ACCEPTABLE BREAKING NEWS!: Obama supports Trump as republican presidential candidate!, Palin supports Clinton as democratic presidential candidate! Haters NOT gonna hate!, Trump calls on Cthulu as vice presidential running mate!, Clinton names Ragnarok as ambassador to Norway!

I also want you to know that I am saying all of these fictitious headlines, in my head, with that transatlantic accent from the 1950's and it is hilarious....you should try it, like, right now.

Explorers' Club

Smoking cigars, surrounded by leather furniture in an atmosphere of thick storytelling has been a dream of mine for quite some time. When I was 6, my dream was to become a unicorn, sadly that dream never came to fruition but becoming a member of the Explorers Club is a fantasy which is actually within reach.

In order to become a member of this prestigious group there are several requirements. First and foremost you need to be more than just a tourist; so unfortunately, I can't put my trip to Dollywood on my application. You must have been an active participant in at least 2 scientific expeditions. Lucky for me, I plan on going on an archaeological dig in Israel and, even more lucky, I have 2 community college credits in BOTH archaeology AND astronomical geology. BOOM! Pretty much an expert at this point. In addition, I have seen ALL the Indiana Jones movies including the terrible 'Crystal Skull' installment of the franchise. I still need to work on my whip technique and (people tell me) that I have an atrocious American accent when I speak Hindi and Bengali.

This club doesn't initiate poor people either. You have to pay dues, which are pretty steep. I guess they just want to keep the riff raff, of the scientific community, out of the club. Can't have a bunch of Dr. Zoidbergs running around. This poses an immediate hindrance to me seeing as I am 'poor'. There is currently no medical cure for 'poor' but I have faith in the medical community. There should really be more 5k's raising money for the cure to 'poor'. Every dollar helps.

Not quite sure how I should conduct my second scientific expedition though? I imagine that I might have to leave the couch and put pants on, which could create a problem. Also, why does "field work" require so many pants? It's like, I'm in the FIELD dude! No one knows if I was wearing pants or not so just chill out. When Jonas Edward Salk created the cure for polio did anyone ask him if he was wearing pants at the time? NO! (Ok, pants rant over) Maybe I should start out small. Like, I really need to explore the dollar menu more at Wendy's. I mean, don't you want to know which side item will pair best with a small frosty and chili? I am conducting this research for you, really. This is for science people.

What are some other Value Menu's, err...I mean "expedition sites" that I should explore? Leave your ideas in the comments and let's explore together!

Remember When Your Life Was in Shambles? Facebook Remembers

Facebook mathematicians have stumbled upon the exact algorithms to find the worst possible photos of you during the most shameful part of your life, and no one is safe. You could be Chris Pratt and FB will only "share memories" from that time you were on the show "Parks and Recreation" and were a little tubby and pasty. It won't mention the fact that people still thought you were adorable, funny and oh yeah...a millionaire, nope the only noteworthy aspect of your life at that time, according to FB, was the fact that you were husky, and people NEED to remember how chunky you were. Will FB remember that you were in the award-winning film "Zero Dark Thirty"? No. Can FB recall the time that you starred in the graphically stunning "Lego Movie?" Nah.

This is sounding like I am creeping on Chris Pratt, which I am....the #creepening, but this example just shows that we are are all pawns in Facebook's elaborate shame game, the #shamening.

Here is my shame...and yes, I did the girl thing and didn't REALLY find the most terrible photo of myself, but a somewhat horrendous one, none the less. I didn't want to render my beloved readers blind after witnessing the ACTUAL worst photo of me, but don't worry Facebook will find it.

Also, shout out to home slice Chris Pratt for being my shame partner in this blog. #shamening