Celebrity Infatuation

“Miley’s New Diet”, “Tom & Katie: All About The Baby” “Ashlee and Pete: Now What?” These are just a few headlines of magazines I recently observed while standing in line at the grocery store. Six out of eight magazines that were displayed near the checkout stand were celebrity gossip related tabloid magazines. Us weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Star, People, all situated at the top of the row, while Time Magazine, Newsweek and a couple health related magazines held a place below. The reason for their placement is quite obvious; gossip magazines are superior in sales. There’s a reason why the first photograph of Jennifer Lopez holding her newborn babies was sold to a dozen different magazines at $30,000 a piece, earning the photographer more than a quarter of a million dollars for one photo. Americans continue purchasing these magazines, the paparazzi will continue snapping photographs and the celebrities continue to cash in. Movie stars get paid more than doctors & scientists, and soldiers trudging through the sand with bullets overhead are lucky to get a shiny nickel. These tabloids play the role of a drug, feeding societies cultural syndrome of celebrity infatuation. The passionate imaginary relationships through media and fantasy are a characteristic of contemporary American society. So why and how are we infected?

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Celebrity figures are precisely packaged through makeup, camera angles, airbrushing and film editing giving them godlike qualities that a human cannot maintain. There is a certain extreme some celebrity obsessed individuals will go to, and that extreme is trying to aquire their physical characteristics by going under the knife. Societies infatuation with celebrities and our desire to acquire these features has taken plastic surgery to a different level. There’s even a television show on MTV called “I Want A Famous Face”, where every week 2 individuals decide to go through plastic surgery to look like their favorite celebrity. A 16 year old girl lays on her bed looking around at the vast array of Shia Labeouf posters which now looks like one uniform wallpaper collage covering her bedroom walls. She collects magazine clippings, movies, pins, memorabilia & she would even buy Shia Labeouf toothpaste if it were available. Long imaginary conversations are held between her and a photograph of Labeouf. Daydreams of the day she meets him, dates him and eventually has his children take up a considerable fraction of her day. Long love letters are written to him and sent to his talent agency. Is her artificial love relationship any different from a relationship a 16 year old has with a real boyfriend? The intensity is definitely as strong as a real affair. What strikes her to give into these sort of relationships? Where does it all begin? The girl must be regularly carried away into dramatic social situations through the media. For example the girl in this case will see all of Shia Labeouf’s films, and in all of them she is exposed to him in a romantic emotion-envoking way. With each additional film she watches, her feelings are reinforced. His characters are constantly in the role of the hero & romancer. Shia Labeouf’s personality is now associated with these characters, and the positive feelings that his characters have brought her. A real relationship unfortunately consists of some negative features, while a fantasy relationship does not. So is it surprising that this teenage girl is keeping her fictional relationship?

Will our obsession with celebrities ever cease? As long as the media dedicates themselves to the glorification of the celebrity, the obsession will continue. We will continue to call upon celebrities to host red cross telethons and give the terminator the upper hand during a political election. We’ll hear about Tom Cruise’s rants on psychiatry and Angelina Jolie’s efforts to save third world countries one child at a time on shows such as The Insider, Entertainment Tonight & Access Hollywood. Headlines such as Mariah Carey's secret marriage will continue to overshadow newsworthy stories, and the tabloids will remain on the top row at the check-out stand.

Mother's Day W/o My Mum

How do you celebrate Mother's Day without ur mum? It's pretty tough ayt? It's been 8 years, 4 months and 11 days since the last time I celebrated Mother's Day with her......

I miss her so much...... her hugs, her loud voice everytime na nagagalit sya, her soft kisses, at ang food trip! (chinatown) ^_^



Fact: Malalaman mo lang ang importance ng isang tao kapag nawala sya.

I am not alone but I find that only other people who have lost their mothers understand the black hole that we stare in during Mother’s Day. We have to find within ourselves that place where we can focus on the beauty of our relationships with our moms that molded us. But some of us hit the angries. And when we get there, it’s always startling. It’s most surprising because we think we are over it. You never get over it. I still miss her like crazy. And I hope I haven't made up some fake, super happy version of her in my mind since she's been gone. I want to remember her reality. I still beg her to visit me in dreams. My friends all have problem relationships with their Mothers and I would give anything just to hug my Mum, once.

For those of you, who have lost a Mum or another loved one, try to remember the wonderful memories you shared with them and build new memories to share with those living.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

xoxo,

ash

Happyness

I recently joined this cool online group "ILuvRizal"

I know na Im not that type of person na mahilig sumali sa mga groups and I know that I dn't have enough time to mingle around and stay active online with them, however I find this group very refreshing....

I met a lot of good and fun people and yeah Im enjoying my stay here! I hope lumaki pa ang group nato para mas masaya..... and I hope hindi ako I banned for not having time to visit this group's thread hehe. (I know they won't hehe)

Ok I have a new job in a new location, new friends, new school, new life (I guess) and NO new relationship of course! lol. Im happy even though single ako Im satisfied with my life now.

although syempre mas masarap yung may honey bunch luvsy doodles (terms of endearment ng two cheesy friends ko) Im kinda not thinking bout it now.....

I dn't know why pero lately ang dami kong friends na:

1. depperessed kasi they dont have any partners...ang dull daw ng life..

(anu ba yun!? hehe) talaga bang ganun?? or nasanay lang sila ng may partner to depend on?

2. deppressed kasi iniwan ng bf/gf... pathetic daw sila... (pangit ako, mas deserving yung pinalit sakin and all of those crappy stuff)

I believe na we dn't actualy need to have a partner to be happy in this life eh... I mean there are so many fun things out there! you have your friends and family to spend time with... try to appreciate the things around you and stop thinking na loser ka for being single....yup it is hard to fight loneliness... ^_^ but kung makakahanap ka ng ibang bagay to divert that loneliness magiging happy ka at blooming pa! :p who knows dahil sa"fun spirit" that you have makakilala ka pa ng susunod mong partner... ^_^ I posted these things not just for my friends, para din po to sa inyong mga readers...I know some of you are experiencing this right now..... be happy ok?! ^_^ I made a list of things that you can do to help urself grow and boost your self esteem... I hope this will come handy....

Take stock of yourself.
Begin by asking yourself which areas of your life and personality need the most work. What changes would you be most proud of, and find most fulfilling? Compose a list of them—five, perhaps, or ten at the most (if you’re really self-critical!). Rank them. Think about how you can go about improving each point.

Build yourself up.
Don’t get discouraged, dwelling too much on the areas you want to improve. Remind yourself of the progress you’ve made thus far in life. Pat yourself on the back for having enough determination to try self-improvement in the first place. You’re on the right track!

How will you get there?
It’s not enough to decide where you want to go in terms of self-esteem; it’s more important to ask how you’re going to get there. Also, who can help get you there? Who can you trust for help, and for counsel, and even for a shoulder to cry on, if you have a temporary setback?

Counter-attack.
Tired of suffering the blows of fate? Tired of feeling like the football of the gods? Go on the counter-attack! Take action! Formulate a battle-plan, and assert yourself. You can make things happen. You can dish it too, instead of just absorbing blows.

Spread the wealth.
Self-esteem is something of incomparable value. At the same time, it’s something you’ve got to give in order to get. The more you build up the people around you, the more that same enthusiasm and confidence will reflect back on you. Spread that sense of optimism and excitement to every member of your team.

Branch out.
Extend your sphere of influence, and allow yourself to be influenced by interesting and stimulating new people, as you become a member of new organizations and interest groups. Find people who share your passions, and exchange ideas.

Engage in extra-curricular activities.
Take up a new side project, something you’ll enjoy. Make it something you’ll find relaxing, and yet exhilarating at the same time. Something that will improve you and make you a more well-rounded person. Perhaps it’ll be a hobby or club or recreational activity.

Never stop learning.
Don’t allow your thinking to stagnate. Join a class, on some topic you’re interested in—even if it’s something not directly connected with, say, your career, or your primary goal in life. As long as you’re passionate about it, you’ll benefit from this intellectual stimulation. Its positive effects on your main interests may surprise you.

and do not forget to:

Count your blessings.
Never forget to remind yourself of how blessed and, ultimately, how happy you really are. Consider it an added bonus if your dreams come true; if they don’t, right away at least, you’ll enjoy the challenge, at the very least.