Colorful Combinations (or, Delight in Adjectives)

Oh, let me get my dork hat on and haul out the grammar wonk. Today’s little meditation is going to visit adjectives. And not just any adjectives, but colors, in particular.

You see, there are a handful of nouns that are seemingly non-existent without a particular color. However, when combined with said color, they often take on a remarkably more involved connotation than the simple adjective would produce on face value.

While recently reading Geek love: Dating while academic and other misadventures, I couldn’t help but be captured by the dynamic “ivory tower.” Probably the oldest color+noun combination I have today, this one has even been glorified in a chart-topping song (see, Garth Brooks’ Friends in Low Places). And in today’s rhetoric, this particular color+noun combo results in something with a very loose association to the basic visual the two words individually create.

So I move on. What about a “blue lagoon”? How often do you run into your basic, average, otherwise non-color-specific lagoon? You don’t. The bottom line is, all lagoons are blue. They just roll off your tongue better that way.

And of course, if you merely mention Cadillac, tell me that something 74′ long with fins and PINK doesn’t come to mind? Once again, thank you music world for helping us fill in the blank on this one (“…Pink Cadillac / crushed velvet seats / riding in the back / oozing down the streets…”). Then again, though, I could go on for days about the color pink…

But I have to ask on this last one though, why is it that lips can only be ruby red? Not just red. But ruby red. And not candy apple… that’s usually reserved for a convertible. Have you ever heard of rose red, scarlet, or crimson lips? Okay… I suppose there can also be blood red lips. But now we’re talking a whole different person than the one under the ruby red mouth.

Have a colorful day!

~M

People’s Republic of America (or, Closer Than We Think?)

Unless you failed to open Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Google, or any news source this week, you can’t help but know that Hollywood is pushing hard in the US Congress to pass two bills which would effectively result in web censorship.

Today’s post isn’t so much about the actual pieces of legislation as it is more about the stark contrast that I can’t avoid: are we becoming China? The world has marveled for years at the Chinese government’s quest to control information, yet it seems like Hollywood wants the same measures in place … only under the guise of intellectual property protection. (Which I generally support…as it currently is legislated. However, don’t even get me started on the fact that this proposes placing the IP defense burden on someone other than the copyright holder).

And where I struggle the most is, how can we be even traveling down the same path as China? I mean, in all reality, we are talking the difference between a country who literally turned a blind eye to a toddler’s very public and gruesome demise compared to a country who shunned a favorite son over a couple of dead dogs. (Don’t hate here; I am most certainly not condoning Mr. Vick’s actions by any means … I am simply pointing out the public outcry for his head to roll when the dog fighting ring blew up (and I am still in the “off with his head” party)).

For all our compassion and activism in this nation, and our courage to stand up to our own government, how is it that these two bills, which would ultimately compromise the basic infrastructure of the internet, have even made it this far? I mean, really … what would Al Gore have to say about this?

~M

The Little Things (or, Primal Grunts)

I’ll be honest with you: I miss the days of my early Meditations. (circa: “To the Guy at the Grocery Store (an Open Letter)“,  “Women Get Better with Age“, “At the Movies“). As life changes, so does my perception on things… and as Statesman pointed out the other night, it isn’t always a bad thing that my perspective has changed over the years, even though everything seems so serious to me right now.

le sigh

But, I sometimes yearn for the meditations of whimsy. The meditations of inconsequence. The thoughts on really random things.

Today, I meditate on something so cave-manish, I almost think I’m back to the good ol’ days!

While stopped at a busy corner downtown the other day at lunchtime (waiting for the walk signal to turn), I actually got a “beep beep” from a passing delivery truck while I was stopped at the corner.

The latent 30-something now smiles in my head. Well done you, girl! it says.

Because 10 years ago, I remember being seriously annoyed by my guy friend riding shotgun who would reach over and honk (as I’m driving) at girls he perceived as hot when we drove by.

Oh, wait. That’s me, now? Someone perceived me as worthy of a honk? Okay! And thank you! (I waived).

What is it about this silly little base move that can actually have an impact on a girl? It seems so silly that a guy acts so foolish as to honk as he drives by… but in turn, the physiological response I give, is about as silly. Heck yeah, I smile! I was feeling like I was having a skinny+good hair day and you just confirmed it!

Honk on, my guy friends! Because, at the end of the day… while we ladies may bitch about how boyish it is that you do that, we really are tickled deep down that you acknowledged us on the corner!

~M

Blissfully Unaware (or, Embracing Obliviousness)

This is an ode to the unaware. A toast to the clueless, the obtuse. Recognition for the ones sporting mental blinders right now. You all leave me in awe.

The blissfully unaware (or, BU, here on out) are a special breed. They have a remarkably stalwart fortitude for their own mission. Very little will derail the BU because, afterall, the BU is actually unaware that something may be attempting a derailment.

It appears as though the BU comes out on top, at least in the short term. Of course, why wouldn’t they, if they are unaware that they shouldn’t be succeeding at that very moment?

The BU are often a pleasant folk, seemingly oblivious to any ill sentiment harbored against them. They are the epitome of water off a duck’s back.

My observations on the BU stem from two very different circumstances, both of which are close to me at the moment:

Party A: Girlfriend who is wildly in love with a man who is unlikely to settle down. She pushes along blindly, planning future events together, and family gatherings. All the while he is (possibly) dating other women, and assures his people that it isn’t that serious with Girlfriend. Yet, for all his assertions of casual dating, Girlfriend is right where she wants to be: on the the path to her own happily ever after.

Party B: The college-aged IT staffer at my office, who continues to wear designer jeans with substantial (and likely expensive) holes in them paired with skin-tight tee-shirts on a daily basis. I only notice this when his hair isn’t dyed patchwork red and black, or the pegs in his ear-lobes aren’t sparkling. For a professional office that maintains a business-casual dress code daily, I am so amazed at the BU and how he is oblivious to the fact that his attire and personal grooming habits are far from appropriate.

I raise a glass to you, the BU! You manage to make it through life without getting bogged down in the minutiae of adverse actions. You seemingly cruise through a gauntlet each day while incoming blows simply glance off you, leaving no mark. Your mission and being are on track, and nothing is going to get in the way for you!

I, on the other hand, am hyper-aware of the atmosphere around me. Any change in proverbial air pressure causes a flurry of thoughts to race through my mind: am I impacting anyone else? is my action here going to result in X, Y, or Z? do I want to continue on this path, or should I reevaluate? … I can’t say that I am BU.

Although, given my acknowledged propensity to over-think, perhaps I need to embrace a little BU-ness for this new year? 2012: the year of obliviousness! Who knows? It could be fun!

Happy New Year!

~M

Pop Music Failure (or, A Step in the Wrong Direction)

I am declaring an impromptu Domestic Violence awareness moment. We apparently need it.

Whoa.

Stop.

Time Out.

Did M just lay that one out there? Yes, yes I did.

This is ignited by pop music. It’s all over the radio right now, so something must be going on, right? In the middle of the afternoon this week, there were back to back (to back!) songs that were seemingly glorifying, or at the least failing to condemn, physically violent relationships.  Observe the following 2:

• Florence & the Machine’s “Kiss with a Fist.”
  Do I even have to get past the title? Well, if I must, the songs opens with “You hit me once / I hit you back / You gave a kick / I gave a slap / You smashed a plate over my head / Then I set fire to our bed.”
• Fun’s “We are Young.”
  Not an excuse. It’s buried in the early part of the song but here they offer up “My seats been taken by some sunglasses / Asking ’bout a scar / And I know I gave it to you months ago / I know you’re trying to forget / But between the drinks and subtle things / The holes in my apologies / You know I’m trying hard to take it back.”

The third song in the mix adds a bit of redemption, as it squarely criticizes someone for his role in abusing a woman… but again, I am blown away by the fact that there is even a 3rd song on the top playlists right now that involves DV, even if it’s sort of speaking out against it!

Small kudos go to Red Jumpsuit Apparatus for “Face Down.” (“Cover up with makeup in the mirror / Tell yourself it’s never gonna happen again / You cry alone and then he swears he loves you // Do you feel like a man when you push her around? / Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground?”)

I have a very hard time listening to these songs. Until you meet a friend in the emergency room at 4am…Or accompany a woman to speak with a prosecuting attorney to go through with her testimony…Or join a friend in a group therapy session for battered women, DV seems like something that happens elsewhere. Perhaps to those other women. And even so, how big a deal is it?

It’s a very big deal.

And it’s never acceptable.

So why is pop radio glorifying it right now? I am incensed that the Florence and Fun songs are out there right now. Because some young guy is singing along mindlessly, not really paying attention to the lyrics, and all the while he is subconsciously singing himself into some sort of okayness about giving a woman a scar or a kick.

It has taken decades to get the support systems in place to help curb this problem. Advocacy groups have belabored the justice system and the hospitals and the police departments to take this crime seriously. And when headway has finally been made, pop culture takes a giant leap backwards.

Shame on you, Florence and Fun, for seemingly condoning this horrific offense. I invite you to volunteer at a battered woman’s safe house for one day, and then talk to me about your catchy little lyrics.

And don’t get me started on Foster the People’s über-catchy “Pumped Up Kicks.” Several million people are singing along to a teenage homicidal killing spree, without really paying attention.

~M