Post earthquake Haiti there was a lot of talk of Lespa fe viv [hope makes life] and lately I’ve been thinking about the concept of choosing hope. I don’t mean hope like wish or some wimpy thing in greeting cards. I mean hard-assed, real live, hard worked for hope. Watching completely traumatized kids be kids (if even for a moment) again, reminds me that wallowing in sadness/anger about the state of the world or even the state of our sometimes fractured community isn’t actually changing anything. I’m asking myself: if I thought of hope as a verb, what would that look like?

Last time I posted my resume on monster, I somehow opted in to their Excelle Newsletter which is a career zine for women (get it, “excel + le” to feminize it, since excelling isn’t naturally a feminine quality) and it’s a real sexist piece of crap.

Their most recent feature was “10 Wardrobe Items Every Woman Should Have” which is, of course, just an excuse for links to retailers where you can buy those oh so essential items.

Just the same, is this really necessary:

Item # 5

A closet staple, the “little black dress” should be made of a sturdy but lightweight fabric like a cotton/rayon blend. Avoid heavy wool fabrics that counteract the slimming effects of the color and limit wear during the warmer seasons.

Because
1. Women look like this when they are walking across the desert
2. Women are too stupid to know, without coaching, that wool will be too hot to wear during the summer (perhaps this is what motivated the desert illustration?)
3. The whole purpose of the little black dress = slimming.
4. And that’s really the most important thing for all women.

They also suggest women own one pair of sneakers for working out and also casual activities like shopping.
Direct damn quote.

Because that’s the only activity women really like. Don’t get me wrong, I know lots of women who love a black dress and can totally rock some shopping. But not a single one of them would list “shopping” first on their “casual activity” lists.

I would understand this from Good Housekeeping or Better Homes and Tighter Vaginas or whatever. But a career website? Really?

And the article had more than 37,000 views so far. I feel like I want to sue Monster for career guidance malpractice. Although I guess technically, promoting stupidity probably isn’t against any actual laws except for the ones I’ve written in my head.

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Alas, they are not that easy to find, so I had basically gven up and said “oh who wants stupid cheeto balls anyway.” Then I went to Rite Aid this afternoon, and there right beside the half priced Halloween Candy was a cornocopia of Cheeto Balls. Mmmm. Tasty. Sometimes I think The Secret is totally bullshit, Or maybe just where Cheeto Balls are concerned.

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Some random observations:
A. Are all older movies homoerotic or just the ones I pick out? I watched Jesus Christ Superstar right after A Chorus Line and I really do think that the former was even gayer than the latter. Which is no small feat considering even the women in A Chorus Line look like gay men.

B. Yes, I know I’m five years behind, but I hadn’t seen any of Trans-Generation and was glad the BPL had the series on their shelves. It’s definitely firmly seated in the Well, That Could Have Been Much Worse category. You know what was intensely weird about that series? How much they showed all the subjects brushing their teeth. I mean, why all the B reel of oral hygiene? That Lucas kid especially, every single time they had a voiceover there he was, toothbrush in hand. Okay LOGO/Sundance, we get it: Transfolk have minty clean breath. There are worse stereotypes, I suppose.