Earn This

The title of this entry comes from the classic Steven Spielberg movie “Saving Private Ryan.” As my brother knows very well this line gets me every time. It’s sad because (spoiler alert) it’s muttered in the dying breathes of Tom Hanks’ character to Matt Damon- aka Private Ryan- as a reminder that so many men gave their lives so that he would live, so his mother didn’t have to face that three of her sons died in WWII.

I used to wonder how one person could earn that… how one man could live his life well enough to make up for those who lost theirs. Trying to earn it could drive one person so insane that they may give up as a result of never feeling good enough. Because how does one go about living their life to make up for everything that they gave up? These men, about the same age as Ryan (with the exception of Hanks, who already had a family), could have gone on to have wives, children, grandchildren, etc. and it was up to Ryan to earn everything they gave up. Private Ryan did, and as he visits the graves we see him with his wife, children, grandchildren and he questions whether he was a good man, whether he lived his life well enough. And I guess we’re supposed to feel like that’s enough, live your life to the best of your ability and that will have to suffice.

I don’t intend to give movie reviews here or to contemplate all of Spielberg’s classics (although I may revert to Schindler’s List when I finally visit Auschwitz or E.T. when I need to discuss possible alien life). I used Saving Private Ryan as an example because a) it’s a darn good movie b) it’s one of the few movies I’ve actually seen and c) the whole Earn This concept is quite fitting for the day.

It’s Remembrance Day. Growing up it was merely a day off school and a reason to waste half a school day at an assembly on the 10th. As I got older it was time and a half at work. Sure, I bought the poppies, and I replaced them when they fell off my lapel (which is quite often), I wore them as if the day was significant to me but felt mostly like a lemming, pinning it to my jackets or work clothes merely as a statement that I comply with this tradition.

In the past couple years, maybe as I educated myself more on the history of Canada in the wars or as I matured and realized what this day means, I began to think about why we have this day, why we pause at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month.

Canadian Military Personnel Killed
* First World War: 66,655
* Second World War: 44,893
* Korean conflict: 516
* Afghanistan: 159

During World War I Canada sent 620,000 soldiers to fight and over 66,000 were killed. There are few, if any (the internet gives me unreliable stats) WWI veterans still alive in Canada and their average age would be over 100.

In World War II over one million Canadians fought in World War II, most of whom were my age or younger and almost 45,000 of them did not return. There are fewer than 75,900 WWII veterans alive in Canada and their average age is over 90.

These men and women gave their lives – their futures – to protect our lives and freedom in conflicts that luckily many of us will never have to experience. We will never know what they had to fight against or the hell they lived through because they made this ultimate sacrifice for us, so that we would have the possibility for a future.

But why must we remember? Why must our generations – most of which have no memory of war or could never conceive of what life must be like to live through that- take a day to remember these men and women who are long gone?

Because we must remember what has been lost, what has been gained and what has been sacrificed in order for us to live this way. The memory of the lowest and most significant points in our human history pushes us forward; it evolves us as humans and hopefully prevents mankind from having to live through such violence again.

Remembrance Day makes us take pause in our busy lives, the lives in which we are free and able to do as we choose in our great country because of these men and women who worked so hard to protect that freedom.

We are here today because of them, we are here to honor them and we are here to thank them. I only hope that as a society we will continue to remember them and earn what they have so graciously given us.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday, it took us a bit to get ourselves together after the Liberals won the majority government.

There’s so much more to be said about this win and what it means for Canada and what it says about the electoral process here. But we’ll leave that to smarter blogs. Instead, let’s just rejoice that Harper is out.

We did it guys.

Vote

If you live in Canada, you’re aware there’s an upcoming Federal Election. Here’s one thing you should know about Andrea and Jen, we love to vote. We love democracy and the whole process of electing a new leader. And it’s important to note that last sentence, as we very much love electing a new Prime Minister. New. Prime Minister. That’s one small takeaways of this post.

This extra special Friday blog post is all about why you should vote. And we’re not about to tell you who to vote for, but we will drop mad hints about who not to vote for (*cough*Conservatives*cough*).

Voter turnout over the past couple years has been sad across every level – Federal, Provincial, Municipal – and we don’t get it. Only 61% of Canadians voted in the last Federal election and it’s pathetic. It literally takes half an hour (at most!) to check a name off on a piece of paper at your local elementary school. You owe it to yourself, all Canadians, future generations and every person who has lived in this country to go do your civic duty.

Ok, rant over.

To help make the process easier, we have resources. Who doesn’t love resources!? Hopefully this will help you decide who to cast your vote for as well as help you get your shit together to make voting day as easy as possible. 

• First off, mark your calendar for October 19^th. That is Election Day and you have between 7am and 7pm to do it. Wake up half an hour early if you need to do this before work.
• Fun fact! Under the Canada Elections Act, all employees who are eligible to vote are entitled to have three (3) consecutive hours free from employment during voting hours on Election Day. That means if you ask for it, your company can change your shift/give you time off to make sure you have sufficient time to vote.
• If you’re a keener and want to vote early, guess why this was posted on a Friday? That’s right, it’s Friday October 9^th and it’s when advance polls open. You can also vote on the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th. You have no excuse for being too busy.
• Where do you vote? Who’s in your riding? We got you covered, boo. Go here for all that info: http://www.elections.ca/scripts/vis/FindED?L=e&PAGEID=20
• Need to register? Did you move? Go here: https://ereg.elections.ca/CWelcome.aspx
• Don’t forget your ID. Here’s everything you need: http://elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=stu&dir=id&document=index&lang=e
• No idea who to vote for? That’s cool, take 15 minutes on this site to see who your values align with: https://canada.isidewith.com/political-quiz
• And we can’t recommend this next site enough. Because a lot of ridings are pretty much a lockdown for some parties, others are still very much in the air. http://www.strategicvoting.ca/ helps you use your vote strategically to get ridings away from the Conservatives. You may need to switch your alliance from NDP to Liberal, or vice versa, but you have our permission to flip flop as needed. The reason why we’ve had Harper in power for so long is because the votes between Liberals and NDP are often split, meaning Conservatives win ridings because Canada can’t just make it easy and have a two party system like our friends in the US.
  

Ok, now that you know how to vote and who to vote for you might be wondering why you need to vote. And while it’s kinda concerning you’re not voting just because we told you to so here’s a top 10 list of reason why you should vote:

1. You can’t complain about the government if you don’t vote. And who doesn’t love to complain about the government? What will you talk about with coworkers or in grocery store line-ups if you don’t give yourself this right?
2. People fought for you to vote. People continue to fight for this right. If you’re a woman, think about how hard your foremothers fought for you to be recognized even as a person, not to mention your right to vote.
3. Because you should care, this is our future. Not only should you be voting, you should be making an educated vote. Read about the candidates, find out their positions and make an educated decision. Health care, arts education, tuition prices, amateur sports-funding, etc. Decide what you care about and vote accordingly.
4. You’re young. Prove people wrong when they say young people don’t vote. In fact less and less people are voting so it’s not just the problem with youth. But the more people who vote, the better chance we have for a government to be in power that is indicative of what the citizens want. If they want more of the same, so be it. Just don’t make this election turnout even lower than the last.
5. Someone else will. We get it, you’re busy or you don’t see the point. You probably have a million reasons not to vote, but you know who will vote… the people have the time. The unemployed. The elderly. The people who may or may not have the same political views as you.
6. Negate a vote. People won’t always vote the same way as you, your vote negates their vote. Take the power away from those people!
7. Send a message. So your party doesn’t get in power, you’ll be sending a message to those in power that the other party have something to offer. While they’re not always receptive to your message, if enough of us make noise the better chance we have for change. 
8. “I voted” stickers are the coolest fashion accessory.
9. It’s easy. Just show up at your voting place with your identification and if you still live in your childhood riding you might even get to check out your school gym. Marvel at how big you used to think it was! If you’re telling me that you’re not intelligent enough to show up with your ID and make a tick beside your choice, then I have no idea what benefit you find from this mega-intelligent and witty blog.
10. People are dying for this right. You see that? It’s bolded. Because if you read nothing else on this list you have to know that people around the world are literally giving their lives so that the people of their countries can vote. You think this government is a regime? You think you’re too busy to vote or you don’t think it’s important enough? Tell that to the millions of people who would die to have your right.

Want your own photo that proclaims you will vote? Go to VoteNation.ca

What is your reason for voting? Anything to add to our list?

Secrets from an Introvert

I spent almost the entire weekend alone and it was heaven.

For the longest time, I thought there was something wrong with me. In my early-twenties my friends would be out every weekend, going to clubs and staying out until the wee hours of the morning. I’d join them from time to time and it was fun, but I usually would spend the night anxious and the next morning I’d be exhausted. It didn’t make sense, because we’re taught to believe that we’re supposed to be out every weekend, living it up and dancing the night away while we’re still young. But so often I would just want to be back at home, where I wouldn’t be wearing heels that make my feet hurt and I didn’t have to wait in line for a toilet.

I would spend entire nights at the club checking my watch and wondering when would be an okay time to leave, worried about how much sleep I would get and if I would be too tired the next day to do homework. I knew that a night out was going to take so much more out of me than my friends who seemed to do this every weekend. The only way I can really explain this is that when I went out I constantly felt like I had to be “on” and the outgoing, non-awkward, social genes that came to my friends so naturally were something I had to fake every time I went out. So the next day, not only would I be tired from being out late and drinking, but also exhausted from having to pretend I was someone I was not. To be clear, I would have fun when I went out but it came with a cost (and not just a hangover). So because of that, I had to learn to reserve my energy.

Eventually, my friends would stop inviting me out and I’d only tag along on the rarest of occasions. I spent a lot of time wondering if I was depressed, boring or unlikeable. I would meet new people and so shy, which was weird because around those that know me I’m talkative, funny and loud. I knew that I was different from many others, but I wasn’t sure what it was. There was a period where I thought I was agoraphobic (the fear of spaces and social situations… you know what, read the Wiki article, I can’t sum it up succinctly here), due to my inability to concentrate in loud places and wanting to hide in the bathroom at parties. Alas, I was not. I was just an introvert.

The great thing about age is that with it comes wisdom. As I’ve gotten older I’ve figured out why I’m attracted to quiet nights at home with a few friends and wine versus out at a noisy and crowded restaurant, and it’s not just because buying your own wine and drinking it in your home is cheaper than the same bottle at a restaurant. In the past few years I’ve been able to pinpoint why I want to stay at home, but not only that but become okay with it. In my twenties I’d make up excuses for staying at home or lie about having plans with others to get out of plans, but I don’t do that anymore (as much). I’ve also learned to leave a party when I want to, it used to be that if I was going out I was staying to the end (I believe this is what kids these days refer to as FOMO), but now I’m a fan of the Irish Exit. This also gives me time to get home at a respectable hour and the ability to transit home and avoid a costly cab ride.

Perhaps thats part of growing up and becoming an adult and owning your flaws… except being an introvert is not a flaw.

The past few weekends have been busy, friends birthdays and weddings, mixed in with dinners and nights out with friends. I love spending time with my friends but having absolutely no plans this weekend has been a dream. It gave me time to reenergize for the upcoming week and weekends as this upcoming month will have a calendar full of activities again.

 

Over time, I’ve cultivated a group of friends that I love and want to spend time with and I think this has been one of the best things that an introvert can do. I go out with them and while the act of going and being among people and in crowds can be stressful and tiring, it’s worth it because I’m with people I love. They also seem to be similar to me and like staying in as well, so a night in with a bottle of wine (or two), some gossip and Broad City is a perfectly acceptable way to spend a Friday night.

It’s also important to understand that you don’t even need to be with other people, you can totally spend Friday and/or Saturday night at home. And that’s 100% ok.

From the amazing Hyperbole and a Half, who gets it.

This weekend I spent it almost completely alone in my house, save for a visit from my parents and a brief meet-up with a friend on Sunday afternoon. I ran some errands and went to the store, but for the most part talked to no one (woohoo self checkouts!) and that’s just what I needed to get me ready for a busy October.

Does a weekend alone sound like heaven or is it the worst? Share your ultimate chill weekend plans in the comments! 

Fall

FINALLY. WE MADE IT.

Today marks the first day of autumn, and I for one am pretty damn happy about it. I’ve made no secret about it on this blog, I am not a fan of the summer months so this change of season is welcomed with open arms.

To celebrate, I want to share a love list specifically geared towards fall. Love lists are something I do from time to time to celebrate the little things in life that I love and make me happy. They help remind you to stop stressing about stupid stuff and focus on the awesome. Since fall is one of my great loves, why not celebrate what’s to love?

• Sweaters. There’s nothing better than being cozy and warm in a sweater.
• Boots. I bought two pairs of booties so far this past month, lets see how many more I can add to my collection.
• Honeycrisp apples. If you’ve never had one, this is your only mission this autumn. Life. Changing.
• Butternut squash. So I said this before, but I love it. I try to find new recipes weekly to explore with this ingredient.
• Rain. Spoken like a true Vancouverite, I love the rain. Sure it gets annoying when it’s been raining 30 days straight and your hair is constantly frizzy, but something about the sound of rain and the sight of it out my windows makes me feel at peace.

• Books. I don’t know why, I feel so guilty staying in and reading in the summer. But oh man, is there anything better than a good book and a cup of tea as it pours outside?
• New clothes. I never grew out of the idea that you get new clothes in the fall, you then have to wait the first few weeks of September for it to cool down so you can break them out. I bought this poncho at The Gap a few weeks back and I’m so excited to break it out.
•  The fact that I have never had a Pumpkin Spice Latte. It’s my own personal protest against the man or something (when in reality I love Starbucks).
• Soups. I made this lasagna soup from Skinnytaste yesterday, it’s legit the best comfort food that’s pretty low in calories and you make so much that you have leftovers for multiple work lunches.

• Fall colours. From the leaves and their beautiful changing colours to the jewel tones in clothing.
• Dark nail polish. I can’t wear dark polishes in the summer, I don’t know why. Ruby reds, black, dark purples and navy blue are permanent fixtures on my nails in the fall/winter.
• The chill in the air. I can say for a fact that there is absolutely nothing better than a crisp sunny fall morning, your breath hangs in the air and it smells like halloween is coming. Just add a park full of fallen leaves to kick your feet in and you’ve described heaven, my friend.

What would you add to your own fall love list?

The men of Late Night Comedy

I love Comedy.

There’s really nothing more to it, I just love comedy. And I think I’ve revealed that fact here in the past when I wrote about books you should read this summer and most of the list was some of my comedy heroines. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are my absolute favourites. Amy Schumer is killing the game right now, along with Melissa McCarthy. And we can all agree the women on Saturday Night Live have been running it for years.

But that picture up there doesn’t reflect that. The picture above is from Vanity Fair’s article Why Late-Night Television is Better Than Ever.  And you know what, it very well may be. I mean, Jay Leno is no longer on late night so that right there makes it 100% better than what it was just a few years ago. But that picture just pisses me off something fierce. I’ve known for a long time now that women aren’t represented in late night, but I think it’s all these men together for the shoot just drives the point home.

And the scotch. For some reason the scotch makes me angriest. It’s like they’re this old boys club and they get together, drink their scotch and I guess the only role for women is that they did the make-up for the shoot? And steamed the suits, I assume. If it weren’t for the inclusion of Trevor Noah and Larry Wilmore I would almost confuse this shot for Mad Men.

Late Night has come quite far in the past few years, as mentioned Trevor Noah and Larry Wilmore have their own shows. For the longest time you couldn’t imagine a man of colour succeeding in Late Night (well, we’re not sure about how well Noah is doing as his show hasn’t yet started). In fact, in America they basically don’t think a man of colour could run the country despite the fact that he’s been doing it for almost a decade.

But women are still really underrepresented. In 2016 there will be shows from Chelsea Handler and Samantha Bee debuting and I’m excited, I also don’t get why they weren’t included here. Sure, their shows aren’t airing yet, but again neither is Trevor Noah’s.

I love most of these men. Seth Meyers has been a favourite from early in his SNL days, and I have such high hopes for Colbert. And I can’t even put into words my love for John Oliver, his dimples and Last Week Tonight. I’ve watched some of Trevor’s stand-up and despite some controversial tweets (that I really don’t think are a good judge of how he’ll be at The Daily Show) and misguided ideas on women in comedy, I look forward to him taking over Jon Stewarts throne.

I don’t blame these funny guys for the lack of women in late night or the struggles women still have trying to prove they can be funny too. It’s the network execs and corporations who won’t take a chance on women. But I also hate that this photo exists and while these guys don’t have much say over who gets hired, they’re also not the best at giving women jobs in comedy. Stephen Colbert, who wrote a fantastic essay for Glamour about women, still only employs two women versus his 17 men on his writing staff. And this video, an imaginary group text between the men is funny, but you can’t help but wince when Stephen Colbert asks “where the women at?” and they respond “ha” and “lol.” Maybe it’s a tongue in cheek joke that there are no women in late night, but it’s also a sad reminder of our underrepresentation.

What say you… am I overreacting or do you want more women in late night? Who would you like to see with her own talk show?

#basic

I don’t know when I first heard the term basic. I also don’t think that I ever found out what it truly meant (until I started researching this post). It just seems like it’s one of those words that kids these days just throw around and somehow it gets figured out.

Here’s what I do know, I hated the term basic. From what I’ve cobbled together on Twitter, Buzzfeed and some of my younger coworkers and friends, this is what it means to be a basic white girl (because basic and white girl are apparently mutually exclusive):

• You wear leggings
• You wear Uggs
• You own a North Face vest
• You worship the Pumpkin Spice Latte
• You quote Mean Girls
• You Instagram selfies and quotes
• You have a Tumblr
• You shorten words or speak in acronyms (totes, brillz, adrobs)
• You have an iPhone
• You like Nutella
• You worship Beyoncé
• You love wine
• You wear make-up to the gym

We have a blog, one of the ads is for J Crew. #basic

Because I live in Vancouver, there is a plethora of leggings, Uggs, puffy North Face vests and Starbucks around. But we’ve also got a large array of different cultures. And some of the most basic people I know are not white.

When I first started writing this post a few months ago I was insulted by the term basic, but now not so much. You could say I’m basic. So is my partner-in-blog Annie. This isn’t a bad thing. And I think if I were to try and fight it people would just persist more. Plus, I do some pretty basic shit. Look at my Friday for example…

• Andrea and I spent Friday night at IKEA, where we picked up cute glasses and a carafe for my almond milk making.
• Annie wore leggings, I wore skinny jeans and Converse. My hair was piled on my head in a messy bun.
• Afterwards, we went out for dinner and proceeded to drink a bottle of wine
• I Instagrammed said bottle of wine

• I recommended we get Beyoncé tattoos in honour of her birthday (we did not)
• We went to the liquor store to do some grocery shopping and I wanted to get a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate Bey’s bday (they were sold out)
• I was a little sad when I realized they were sold out of the Prosecco I wanted. Annie was sad when they were sold out of her favourite red.
• I think about 50% of Andrea’s spoken word are shortened, and I completely understand them

 

Now, there’s a lot more I do that can be labelled as basic, but it can also just be called attempting to be trendy. And for everything that I do that’s basic, there’s a lot of things I don’t do.

I’ve also instagrammed my feet in the bath. #basic

• I don’t like Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I don’t even know if I’ve ever tried it, but the idea just disgusts me. I’ll be over here waiting for Egg Nog season.
• I don’t own Uggs. I used to have knockoffs and I almost bought a pair last year, because that shit is so comfortable. But for the first time reasoning actually kicked in and I did not make the purchase. I do own Ugg slippers though and they’re the best, I’ll be asking for another pair for Christmas this year.
• I have never and probably will never own a puffy vest. I don’t really need to add puff to the already puffy body that I have. Besides, I don’t get vests. Don’t your arms get cold?
• I could do with or without Nutella. Like I get it, but I’m not about to kill a bitch for it. Chrissy Teigen got it right.

 

So, after a few minutes of deliberation, I think I’m now just going to embrace my basic self. Basic is just a insult people try to use to make you feel like a follower, but I think it’s just about being yourself, no matter how popular the trends you follow are. Bring me a bottle of wine and join me, won’t you.

Lower back tattoo, the black and white shot makes it look slightly classier. One day I’ll have it removed and send the bill to Vince Vaughn. #basic

Share in the comments – what do you do that’s considered Basic? Were there any glaring omissions of basic behaviour from our list? 

 

 

We need to talk about Kim Kardashian

Here’s what I know for sure, I’m not Oprah. And also, for the most part my partner in blogging, Andrea, is a much better human person than I am. She’s kind, generous, selfless and reliable (to name a small handful of her excellent qualities). She has an internal filter, that actually stops her from saying everything that comes to mind whereas my instinct is throw out every thought in my brain and apologize after I’ve offended the room.

But there’s one thing that makes me better than her. It’s superficial, but I’ll take it. You see, Andrea follows all of the Kardashian sisters and one of the Jenner sisters on Instagram. One of the things I’m proudest of in life is that I still can’t tell you which Jenner sister is which, I just refer to them as “the model one” and “the infant who looks 40”, Andrea doesn’t follow the infant one. This, along with the fact that up until last week she followed the two married Duggar girls, makes me feel like I’m a better person in the social media world. It’s the little things guys.

On Friday, Andrea sent me this photo that Kim posted on Instagram.

What is this?

What the hell am I looking at?

I stared at this for a good two minutes when Annie first texted it to me. I put in another 5 minutes of staring as I write this post. 

You’re going to visit Hillary Clinton and this is how you hype it? There’s about 5 coats of lip gloss on those lip injections. This girl is contoured within an inch of her life and those lips are plumped beyond belief. Are lip injections cool while you’re pregnant?

I personally believe she’s getting in a bunch of selfies now, before her last round of botox wears off and she can’t get new injections until the baby is born.

Anyways, Andrea sent me this because she’s super jealous that Kim got to meet Hillary. Which I get, we both love Hils and beg of all you Americans to vote for her. But if you’re choosing to support Hillary in the election, there’s so many better ways to do it rather than post a duck face selfie.

So congrats to Kim, she got her selfie.

What do you think they talked about? Healthcare and foreign policy? Education? How Kim can’t spell her future president’s name correctly? (the original photo had her spelling the name wrong, she went back and edited)

I love her caption, I don’t know what Hillary was speaking about or what this event was, but if the caption wasn’t accompanied by the photo I would assume it was written by a 13 year old who spent the whole time texting her friends about how bored she was. So that makes sense.

After getting this sneak peek to Kim’s Instagram, I went through to look at some of her other captivating and interesting photos.

This one was posted after she got “42 million” followers. None of which were paid for, I’m sure.

I guess it’s a gift for following? Or a reminder that her followers need to re-evaluate their life choices?

Her lips are legit causing me pain. And how is there none of her hair in all that gloss?

By the way, the comments on her photos are immensely more interesting than the actual photos.

And I feel like I need to state right now that I don’t agree with a lot of the comments that she shouldn’t be posting these photos because she’s a mom or with child. I don’t have a problem with women expressing their sexuality and think it’s awesome that women celebrate that they feel sexy after a baby, so many people think that after you have a baby you have to be covered up and exist only as “North’s mom” or whatever stupid name you choose for your baby.

But here’s my problem with Kim and the rest of her Kardashian/Jenner Klan. They’re beautiful women, I’m not denying that, but it’s just that they have nothing to add to any conversation. I also think they’re huge liars, first off in the fact that they refuse to admit why they’re famous in the first place (a shitty sex tape, can they just admit they got famous because Kris pimped out her daughter’s sex tape). Secondly, the fact that they say their beauty is because of self-tan, hard work and contouring. I don’t deny they work hard at the gym, they have to do something when not taking selfies, but looking at any past photos you have to admit there has been botox and other work done. My biggest issue is that the infant one had her lips done and denied it for months, harming a lot of young girls that assumed they could achieve the same look with a shot glass and some clever make up tricks.

Reading is hard Model Jenner. 

They’re just dangerous to society. The fact that young girls look up to them and young boys think this is a beauty/intelligence standard has me scared for the future. They’ve made it cool to base your self worth on how hot you can look in a photo and that shilling diet tea’s and teeth whitening products on social media is a legit job. If you’ve ever read or seen one of their interviews or watched them try to string together a sentence, it’s obvious that Kris has never promoted education to her daughters and this is teaching a generation that you can get by on your looks (see above video). But the problem is that not everyone has Kardashian money to afford eight different colours of foundation to contour everyday (or have someone to do it for you), as well as fake eyelashes and designer outfits and monthly visits to dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Their body doesn’t come from designer teas, pills or waist training, they have trainers to work them out and plastic surgeons to nip and tuck as necessary and add enhancements to their booty and boobs.

It’s the little things that bug me, like this photo that she’s captioned that it was taken right before she cut her hair. She did not cut her hair. She took out her extensions. Don’t lie to young girls and tell them that you can grown your hair that long after it was short mere months ago. I’d like to think that most people can figure this out on their own, put you’ve just read what I said about being concerned about future generations.

And I agree with commenter kay_suicidal up there, you couldn’t name one Ramones song Kim, take that shirt off.

Here was Kim’s hair this past May, when she was going through Kanye’s awful bleach blonde phase

Her hair did not grow that long just because she went back to her natural hair colour. All the Hairfinity in the world isn’t going to do that for you, trust me I’ve tried.

Side note: I hate when celebs post photos to Instagram that the paparazzi took, then bitch about not being able to live without them following you around… even though you probably called them.

I remember reading once that Kanye and Kim’s song was Lana Del Ray’s Young and Beautiful and I actually felt sad for her for a second or two. Then I told myself to stop being an asshole and laughed at the whole situation. Because the thing is, once Kim is no longer young and beautiful I’m sure that her fans and Kanye won’t be there. Look, Kanye could love her, but when you make a 20 minute speech at your wedding about how it was the merging of two brands and calling your wife things like “the ideal celebrity” and “ideal art” I tend to think that you’re not going to be as interested when her beauty fades.

Guys! She wore the same thing twice, this looks like the same top she wore in the Hilary selfies!

I wonder if the surprise was that Kanye finally got to see her without the inch of make-up on her face?

I gotta admit, I do have eyebrow envy.

Honestly, I can’t believe the Kardashians are still famous. I assumed they’d go away just as fast as Paris Hilton did. So I guess that could say something about them, but it probably says more about us as a society. I can’t even blame the young girls and Andrea’s of the world who follow them on social media, therefore perpetuating that we want more from these women. I’m just as guilty for clicking the links on gossip sites for stories about them, as much as I feel shame for doing so. I just wish that we’d all think about why we’re so obsessed with the Kardashian/Jenners so much. I have no problem with liking superficial things, I myself am obsessed with celebrity gossip, but I think we all have to think about what we’re taking away from the images we’re seeing and take them for more than face value (even if the people who post them likely don’t).

So go on and continue to follow the Kardashian’s and Model Jenner on Instagram, I’ll be over here pretending to be morally superior to y’all. Even though I follow Coco on Twitter and our blog is a slight tribute to Courtney Stodden.

Leave your thoughts! Are you following the Kardashian/Jenners on social media? What’s your opinion on why we’re all so fascinated and/or horrified by them?

Just say no to pigtails

Here’s something you need to know about me if we’re going to be friends… I’m brutally honest. I generally try to wait until we have a strong friendship going on, but once I feel comfortable with you, I will give my honest opinion if I don’t like something.

My fellow Rill Girl, Andrea, is one of the lucky ones who gets my absolute honest opinion. I am lucky that she appreciates it, or at least I think she does. I assume she does because she asks for it. But she’s a tough chick who can handle it, I’ve also found myself in trouble when I don’t sugarcoat my opinions.

The other night, we were out for dinner and she casually mentioned she was thinking of cutting her hair shorter. As someone who had their hair brutally chopped off years ago (I’ll tell that story eventually), I have a lot of cautionary advice. Specifically to a Rill Girl, the most important factor to take into mind is what you’ll do with your hair when you don’t want to spend time on it. Both Annie and I have textured hair (mine super curly, hers wavy) and if we don’t want to style it it’s simple to throw it up in a top knot or some sort of braided hairstyle. If you cut your hair short you need to make sure you have a contingency plan for the mornings your bed is more important than your straightening iron.

So I posed this question to my sweet little Annie and she said so innocently and matter-of-factly “I’ll put my hair pigtails.”

Me at an acceptable age for pigtails, wearing more makeup than I have in my entire adult life combined. #ballerina

This is when I lost it.

I took about five minutes to complete my rant.

I have very strong opinions about grown women wearing pigtails, and that is that they shouldn’t. Well actually, it’s ok if you have short hair and need it off your neck in the gym. Or you’re alone in your house. But that’s it.

Andrea was convinced that wearing pigtails to a university campus would be acceptable.

It’s important to note that the only person above 12 wearing them in public is Tori Spelling… her husband even has a tattoo of her in pigtails… and every time I looked at the photos I think of how bad they looked. And no one should be taking style tips from Tori.

Said tattoo.

Pigtails are cute on young girls, but once you hit puberty they need to stop. I feel like they’re not attractive and they’re degrading.

I think this stems back to the fact that I hate when people (mainly women) infantilize themselves. I just feel like by using baby talk, dressing like a child or inflecting your tone to make yourself fit into society’s idea of “feminism” is reducing ourselves and insulting. I also question the intentions of anyone who would be attracted to this, essentially I think it’s that Chris Hanson would like you to pull up a chair.

So accept this as my call to action, if I can have one person rethink the pigtail as an adult then my mission here is done.

And because I’m dedicated to the cause, here’s a quick and easy quiz to see if you should quit wearing pigtails (please answer yes or no):

• Deep down, do you feel like you’re too old?
• Do you look in the mirror and think you look like a 5 year old?
• Have you hit puberty? Do you curse your reproductive organs once a month and have strong opinions on tampon brands?
• Does your birth certificate say you were born in 2002 or earlier?

If you answered yes to 1 or more of these questions, I’m going to ask you to remove the elastics that are creating two ponytails on the side of your head and have you create a topknot.

Please note: braided pigtails will not stand either.

I thank you for your attention to the cause.

Tell me, do you still wear pigtails (before taking the above quiz)? If you’re a gentleman reading this (hi Diego!), do you find pigtails attractive?