Gossip Magazines = Losers!

I think I'm going to write a hate-mail letter to one of the norwegian gossip magazines.  Honestly, it sucks.  It's also the most-read teen magazine in Norway.  How on earth does that work?

Anyhow, my reasons for disliking this magazine are as follows:  First, everything (fashion tips and music) is completely outdated by the time you get it.  For example, if my friends and I start listening to a good song that we discovered, the magazine won't print anything about it until months later when the song has become a hit and everybody is already tired of it.  

Second of all, what is the point of criticizing celebrities?  I know they may do the darnest things, but honestly, they're people, too.  I think it's pathetic that some people live off of making snide remarks about the way people dress. 

I mean, sometimes people might wear the ugliest things, but nobody looks good all the time.  Not even celebs.  And anyway, the editors of the magazine definitely don't wear anything much better than the stuff they criticize!

My perception of style is as follows:  Style is an expression of personality.  The way you dress, your makeup, the way you do your hair--you do it all according to your personal taste and style.  Judging the way someone dresses, even if it might be against your own personal taste, is like judging someone's personality, more or less.  

And besides, the editors claim they have knowledge of the latest "trends".  You can't judge personal taste based on trends!  Encouraging someone to stay true to themselves, yet also criticizing them for not dressing according to what someone else decided was "in", is an utter contradiction.

Lastly, the thing that irks me is how the magazine encourages teens to have an active sex life.  Teens should choose for themselves, but personally I think that an active sex life at a young age can be extremely harmful, with enormous consequences, both long and short term.  Therefore I don't think an active sex life in your teen years should be promoted.  

Then again, the editors were probably so afraid of being labeled as "uncool" for sounding like concerned parents that they just went along with the flow.  The thing that scares me is that there might be some twelve-year-old out there reading the magazine, being nurtured with a critical, judgmental nature and a great list of distorted perceptions about sex, popularity and acceptance.  *Sigh*

Unfortunately, since I'm not a very aggressive person I don't think this letter will ever be written.  At least now I've gotten to vent a bit ;)

Take care everyone!

New Novel and Random Speculations

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything.  Huh.  It feels kind of weird, because A LOT has happened since the last time I wrote.  Anyway, my life has been a rollercoaster these days.  The nice thing is that I'm mainly satisfied with my physical appearance, and it doesn't bother me that much anymore.  I no longer go around, thinking, "Oh, I'm so fat, I'm so fat."  Instead, I think about my NEW BOOK!

Around two weeks ago I started writing my second novel.  Instead of being in the fantasy genre, however, this one is more like Realistic Fiction and it's pretty sweet.  It's really sad, but I love writing it because I can vent all of my negative feelings.  

Basically, my best friend and I (in real life) are growing apart, it feels like.  We have been "best friends" for a year, but I feel like our relationship is fake and that I can't be myself with her.  In my book, I'm writing about a girl who is tired of pretending and who decides that it's time to take her life in her own direction and go a separate path. But enough about my book (you'll probably be hearing more about it later.)  

I have a topic I'd like to discuss.  I was flipping through one of my cousin's gossip magazines and looking at pictures of celebrities embarrassing themselves in front of the camera when a thought suddenly struck me:  I might be skeptical of them and their foolish ways, but I certainly prefer celebs to models because they are actually real people.  

Don't get me wrong, models are people too, but that's not what I meant.  I was talking about the people who models represent, like the girls in commercials and in ads.  We might only see them for a few seconds, but they always strike us with their beauty and perfection.  I can't stand advertisements, because they show us LIES.  The kind of lies you feed yourself with in an eating disorder.

The girl in the advertisement exists only on paper.  She doesn't have problems or bad hair days, she's just frozen in a moment of perpetual perfection.  No matter how hard we strive to attain that same level of perfection, we'll never be as good as the commercials tell us we need to be.

I know that no one goes around, sees a commercial and thinks, "Oh, gosh, I'm going to try to be like her" but I do believe that when we're surrounded by so many fake images and faulty ideals that it does have a subconscious effect. 

Basically, my conclusion is that even though we see celebrities on the red carpet, looking gorgeous as always and wearing plastic-perfect smiles, they're just real people with real everyday problems, issues and bad hair days who have been through a few hours of makeup.  

Birthday and Olympics

So, about a month ago I had my birthday.  It was supposed to be awesome.  *Sigh* apparently not so!  My mom arranged for us to have the family party at my aunts cabin on this little island!  It was nice, but she did so without asking my opinion.  

When we arrived, there were a bunch of strangers at the cabin.  I was like, "What the--"  It turns out they were my aunt's distant relatives who just happened to stop by.  Oh, how "

'fun'!  We only have to share the cake with 20 more people!  (Haha :D I'm a little possessive when it comes to my desserts!)

So, after I had eaten a disgusting amount, suddenly more people start showing up.  More strangers.  See, my aunt and her family have had the cabin for over 20 years.  The people on this island who own cabins there have their own little community, and they always drop by for a casual visit (in this case, meal) when they find out that the neighbors are around.  

While everyone was outside or in the front yard, I receded to the back yard, feeling forgotten, abandoned and terribly FAT!!!  I felt too bloated to mingle with the new guests, a little hurt that they had forgotten I existed (it was MY birthday after all!) and very uncomfortable, so I called a friend and complained for half an hour (like I'm doing now :P)

On a happier note, I just read the MOST AMAZING book EVER!!! It is called Twilight.  It seems like EVERYONE has read it except me, hahaha!  I ordered the next 3 books and I can't wait for them to arrive.  So on days like today, when I feel, fat, ugly, stupid and useless at least I have something to look forward to.  

Today has been... interesting.  I got to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics (always completely awesome!) for an hour or so, before receiving a call from a friend that Russia and Georgia are now at war.  Oh joy. 

I'm a pacifist.  War scares me.  And one of my friends, he has been telling me for quite some time now that Russia is planning to invade Norway!  For my own benefit, I usually choose not to believe him.  So, he called today to tell me "I told you so!" and now he's claiming that it's going to be the start of WW3.  Why are all my friends such jerks? 

Well, anyways, I'm going to have to go to bed now, I have to get my sleep tonight so I can watch all those top-trained athletic hunks on TV tomorrow!!! Bye <33

"Sticks and stones can break my bones..."

"...but words can never hurt me."  Whoever made up that saying should be shot.  It should be more like "sticks and stones can break your bones, but Bulimia will KILL YOU."  Sure, sticks and stones can break your bones and hurt alot, but words trigger eating disorders and lead to death.

Ok, not all words trigger eating disorders, but I'm talking about being called fat.  I'd rather get punched in the gut than be called fat.  See, I'm a recovered bulimic.  I used to throw up after meals, never eat candy, pizza, cake, yoghurt or jam.  I would weigh myself every day and thought I was terribly fat.  I'm much better now, but it would be a heck of a lot easier to cope if it weren't for the things people say.

It seems that all the guys at school have discovered my sensitive spot.  They call me fat.  It's not that I'm fat, it's just that they know I think I am.  Usually I can put up with the lame comments, for example when I'm sitting on the school bus.  They'll ask the person sitting next to me, "How on earth do you get enough room to sit when you're next to Michelle?" I know they don't mean anything truly harmful by it, but it still gets to me.  I don't think they know how serious it is.  They don't know about the bulimia, or how I sometimes cry myself to sleep over their insults.

I mean, even if you tell a woman who is happy with her body that she is fat, she'll get hurt.  Ok, then what about the girl who hates herself?  How does she feel when someone tells her she's fat? I was coping until last Thursday, when one of these comments totally crossed the line.

I was ironically wearing a T-shirt that said, "Eat More.  Worry Less." with a picture of an ice cream cone printed on it.  The guys, of course, came up with a bunch of loser statements.  Suddenly, out of the blue, two of my guy friends burst out laughing.  They look at me.  I wasn't listening, so another friend says to me, "Good thing you didn't hear that, Michelle."  He was laughing too.

"I'm glad I didn't hear it, and I don't want to know," I said, sick of their teasing.  They told me anyway.  See, we had made commercials as a school project and I was starring in one.  We would be presenting them in the next period.  The joke was:  "The school better have a 52" screen or else Michelle will have trouble fitting into the commercial."  

Ok, that one totally crossed the line.  These guys are supposed to be my friends, and instead they nearly bring me to tears.  One of them came and apologized afterwards, but the other one was too embarrassed.  I've forgiven them both, but honestly, how tactless can you get? I'm gonna be okay.  My support system is so strong I'm not afraid of relapsing.  But I just know that there might be some other girl out there who is constantly getting the same comments, only she doesn't have a mom who understands and friends to talk to.  

What about her? 

Wife vs. Husband

This is just some e-mail I got a while back that made me laugh.  Enjoy! 

1. A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word.  An earlier discussion had let to an argument and neither of them wanted to concede their position.  As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"

"Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."

2.  A husband read an article aloud to his wife about how many words women use a day: 30,000 to a man's 15,000.  The wife replied, "The reason is that we have to repeat everything to men." The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

3.  A man said to his wife one day, "I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful at the same time."  

The wife responded, "Allow me to explain.  God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; he also made me stupid so I would be attracted to you!"

4.  A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.  The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."

The husband said, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."

The woman replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, the Bible says that the man should brew the coffee."

"I can't believe that.  Show me," the man demands.

The woman fetches the Bible, opens it and shows him the top of the page.  It says indeed: "HEBREWS".  

5.  A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment.  Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight.  Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a pice of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM."  He left it where he knew she would find it. 

The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight.  Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.  The paper said, "It's 5:00 AM.  Wake up."

(Men are just not equipped for these contests.)

God may have created man before the woman, but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece!