Random Thoughts 21

It's hard to be on social media when you're an extrovert.   All your friends constantly talk about how much they hate people and don't want to be around people, and how cool and smart introverts are.  In fact, those friends are all saying how much they like the pandemic because it means they don't have to interact with live people anymore. 

Meanwhile, I'm over here, waving my arms screaming, "Over here.  Talk to me!  I can't wait to see you in person again and hug you.  I miss you.  I need company.  I'm going to hug you so hard when I see you.  This pandemic needs to end now."  I want company, but my friends are all saying they never want to see me again.  

You know what?  I don't even need coffee or alcohol to tolerate seeing you!  I just want to see people in person again.  It's not easy being an extrovert!

Women wear shirts.  They wear blouses.  They wear sweaters.  But in general, they wear "tops".  It seems anything that covers a woman's upper body is a "top".  How come men don't wear tops?  A woman's shirt - whether it's a blouse, a sweater, a t-shirt, or a sweatshirt - can be called a "top", but men never wear tops.  Ever wonder why not?

When the pandemic first hit, I was like many of my peers and did a lot of online shopping.  I bought a lot of stuff that was related to my denial of how long I would be stuck at home (like clothing that is meant to be worn in public).  After a few months I stopped wanting or needing much stuff, so shopping slowed down.  Recently I had had a flurry of online shopping activity.  What amazes me is that it still thrills me.  I get that dopamine hit every time I expect a package to arrive.  Shopping is a powerful drug.  No wonder people get addicted.  

Are Waldo and Harry Potter related?  I realized recently they look a lot alike.  Maybe Waldo is Harry's long-lost older brother, or non-magical cousin.  Maybe he has no magical talents so he was kicked out of the family and is forced to wander the earth, lost in the crowd forever (or J.K. Rowling needs to be sued for copyright infringement).

I wish people would stop comparing Bridgerton to Downton Abbey.  This is the ultimate example of False Equivalency (see my previous post for more information on that).  Both take place in England in a historical time period, but that's the only thing they have in common.  They don't even take place in the same era.  They are 100 years apart.  The former may have some authentic historical elements, but it's bodice-ripping piece of magical realism.  The latter is an attempt is an actual historical drama (although the Queen likes to watch it to nitpick over historical inaccuracies).  Nothing wrong with either type of entertainment, but stop putting them in the same category. 

(Not for nothing, but I guessed the identity of Lady Whistledown halfway through the first season.  They cast threw me off the scent for a couple of episodes, but I learned my first guess was correct.)

Honestly, my biggest concern about Bridgerton is its potential to teach young people that the pullout method is a reliable form of birth control.

Why is it when someone's underpants are visible, anyone viewing them can see an entire country, but only one major city of another country?  Is underwear in general only big enough to compare all of France, but not all of England?  

As a feminist it pains me to see the way the entertainment industries chews up and spits out female entertainers.  I am embarrassed to say I have often bought into the media narratives of female celebrities that painted them as unstable or self-destructive.  I see now the way the masses are fed a cultivated public persona that can be difficult to maintain and how devastating it can be when the mask is ripped away.  Most of us have no idea the kinds of private pain public figures have to go through. 

That being said, even if I am trying to be non-judgmental and have more sympathy, am I still allowed to hate an unfairly-maligned celebrity's body of work?