Category Archives: Trends

Check My Profile: Social Media Madness

General Weirdness, Trends, , , , , , ,

Now that we’ve all been in the social media game for awhile, it’s becoming evident that there are some “Dont’s” involved. Lately, some Facebook and Twitter profile photos have been standing out as some serious Dont’s for me so I decided to catalog them:

1. The Shadow Face

face in shadow

Perfectly fine if your name is Shadow Face and you are an enemy of Batman’s. Otherwise, no.

2. Look Into My Eyes

eyes close up

Seems like you have something to hide. Either you gained a lot of weight since high school or you were disfigured in a helicopter crash.

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Special “S” Challenge*

General Weirdness, Trends, , , ,

Are you familiar with the “Special K Challenge,” brought to us by Special K cereal? Maybe you’ve seen the TV commercials in which a pretty normal looking woman starts eating cereal all the time and then turns into what might best be described as a “lady of the night?” Meaning, she goes from wearing jeans and a blouse to a red dress and garish make-up while twirling around her kitchen waiting for her 9 p.m. “appointment” to show up.

I’ve been aware of the “Challenge” for awhile. It’s one of those things that flies by me in my media-soaked days – Christine O’Donnell is a witch, The Social Network was number one at the box office, Special K Challenge.

But then I saw a magazine ad that actually laid out what one is supposed to do on the Challenge.

The first page says, “Jeans don’t lie. The best way to tell how great you look is in your jeans. Drop a jean size in 2 weeks. Take the Special K Challenge.”

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Jeggings and Jitneys: NYC Part I

Fashion!, Shopping, Travel: The Ins & The Outs, Trends, , , , , , , ,

tiny hello kittyBack from NYC, a whirlwind tour of Manhattan by subway and foot. There would have been a ferry involved as well if the wait to get on it had not been an hour and a half.

Now back in the Midwest, I bring stories to my Midwestern brethren. Stories about jeggings (and leggings) and buses called jitneys. And lots of things lying on curbs and clothes, glorious clothes, and people who are not at all well in the head.

But first, jeggings.

I never took this trend seriously. Jeggings? Leggings made to look like jeans only tight, tight like leggings with no real zipper or buttons but perhaps the imitation of them, plus seams, drawn onto the fabric? Yes.

If I were, say, Great Britain during the time when GB controlled India, jeggings would be Ghandi. Someone, something, that I didn’t take very seriously at first and then… and then… oh, shit. Something like that.

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Minimalism Is The New Glam

Trends, , , , ,

BuddhaAnd, yeah, probably the new black as well. Although that’s such a tired joke.

Minimalism is where it’s at today. It’s more than a trend, it’s a lifestyle.

Let’s start with fashion. Not just paired-down style but a paired-down wardrobe. There are all kinds of sites online extolling the virtues of making due with less. In these uncertain times, etc.

Last year, Sheena Matheiken launched The Uniform Project, in which she wore seven identical black dresses every day of the week for a year and did a hell of a lot of accessorizing. However, the accessories were all vintage, thrifted, donated items so she wasn’t out shopping for new stuff. She also raised money for children living in Indian slums by putting aside a dollar each day and asking blog visitors for donations. Now through with her year, the Uniform Project has moved on to some other “pilot projects” of what seems to be other women taking the challenge.

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I Am the Strength Inside My Strength Heart. I STAND TALL!

General Weirdness, Trends, , , ,

Annoying Ways In Which Annoying People Use Twitter

1. People who are on Twitter to promote things, probably for pay, who think they are being clever in the way they do it:

“Just flattened my hair with the new Blacksmith Iron by Hair Thing Maker and it’s fabulous. My hair hasn’t looked this good since my senior picture.”

“Made a sandwich and didn’t know what to put it in and then saw my new box of ZIPLOC  Super Zip sandwich bags!”

“I love the indie band SOFT PALETTE and their new album KNOCK YOUR TEETH OUT. Got it at WalMart for $8.99.”

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Please Stop Talking.

General Weirdness, Trends, , , , , ,

Some phrases and words that bother me a great deal…

Event listing descriptions that begin “Get thee to XXX tonight…” Yeah, I don’t know why this is common enough that I’ve noticed it. Drives me mad. Like, ha ha, I’m funny and Olde English and I’m doing a take-off on the line, “Get thee to a nunnery!” Which might have been effective once but not 234 times. Get thee to the Jagged Edge Bar tonight for the wet t-shirt contest. Get thee to the feminist spoken word slam. I just received an event announcement via email with one of the listings beginning, “Get thee to Uptown this frigid January eve for a hot, hot set by melodic indie supergroup, Communist Daughter.” Get thee to Uptown? Snort. And get thee to Uptown on this frigid night? No fucking way, anyway. I’m not even going to touch “melodic indie supergroup.” OK, yeah I am. Indie or supergroup… which is it? Supergroup makes me think of Boston or Air Supply. Or… Aerosmith. Communist Daughter… not so much.

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Climbing Up on The Sandal Soapbox

Fashion!, Trends

sportsandal-1.jpgI’m not going to name any names here but I must put this out there: Men, pay attention to what you wear on your feet! Especially in summer.

Men and sandals… the age-old problem. Some wear socks with their sandals. Some wear leather sandals with so many straps and buckles, you can’t tell what’s going on down there. And then… there is the “sport sandal.” The sport sandal has its place. Like, outside when sporting. I think the same rules apply to sport sandals for men as to flip flops for women. Outside, going to the store, in the backyard, at the beach, cleaning the car… etc.

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American Apparel Off Our Backs!

Shopping, Stuff I Like, Trends

powerfist.jpgI went into American Apparel: The Store about a month ago. While there, I felt very uncomfortable. It could have been the blaring rap music with lyrics that went something like this: “When you see a fine nigga, holla, don’t trip!” Wow, that gets me in the mood to spend, spend, spend! Apparently, AA hasn’t heard about the market research that’s been done on what kind of music makes people want to open their wallets.

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Lucky: My Love/Hate Relationship

Trends

Lucky Magazine is completely ridiculous. And I read it. Well, “read” might be going a bit far. Is there anything to read in this magazine? No. I look at the pictures. Lucky is a picture book for adult women. Sometimes, if I’ve had a stressful day, I can feel my blood pressure go down as I ogle its pages, much the way they say petting a dog or cat can do. I guess this is one of the pros for Lucky. Also:

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It’s Almost Time…

Trends

uglyorangecroc.jpg As I was walking my dog the other morning, I noticed that the birds were singing. This is quite a change from the deathly silence of morning walks in January and February. Spring can’t be far away now. I do look forward to it so. But… with the coming of spring comes something else not so pleasant (besides slush and puddles). It wakes the sleeping CROC-odiles.

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