I'm So Pretty That I Love Stereotypes...

Well, I'd imagine someone in JCPenney's design department may lose their job...

A great deal of brouhaha in the media has ensued over JCPenney's recent decision to market a girls' t-shirt that says, "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me." (Way to tell girls they're not worthy of achieving anything of consequence.) And the description of the shirt in the retailer's catalogue sends a terrific message:

"Who has time for homework when there’s a new Justin Bieber album out? She’ll love this tee that’s just as cute and sassy as she is."

Who comes up with these ideas? A few months ago, online retailer David&Goliath started marketing a t-shirt that says, "I'm too pretty to do math". And back in 2005, groups of teenage girls—and then the media—took on retailer Abercrombie & Fitch for marketing a line of t-shirts they felt degraded the girls who wore them, including shirts that read, "Who needs brains when you have these?" and "You better make more than I can spend."

After controversy erupted about the JCPenney t-shirt, the retailer removed the shirt from sale and released a statement that said, "JCPenney is committed to being America's destination for great style and great value for the whole family. We agree that the 'Too pretty' t-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale. Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them. We would like to apologize to our customers and are taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise that they have come to expect."

I just don't understand the thinking behind these shirts. Sure, cute and sassy might be appealing, but are these the attitudes we want to promote in preteen and teenage girls? While some say it's the choice of the parents or the girls themselves to purchase and wear the shirts, why promote messages that underachievement is cool or sexy, or it's good just to get by on your looks and sex appeal, that being smart is somehow less attractive?

I know that stereotypes exist because many people uphold them, but at the same time, not every gay person is like Sean Hayes' character on Will and Grace or Chris Colfer's character on Glee; not every Asian person takes pictures; and not every athlete is stupid. Why not embrace what makes each person different and special?

Gee, all that from a t-shirt. I guess I fall into the "Bloggers are cranky" stereotype, huh?

Super, Super Psyched...

As I've discussed before, I am a ginormous fan of the Hunger Games trilogy. I devoured all three books last year and was completely captivated by Katniss and Peeta's struggles through the Games.

Fortunately, I read the books before casting decisions were made for the movie adaptation, so I didn't have any vision of the characters in my heads. While I saw certain things, I didn't focus much on the characters' descriptions, so I didn't have the unhappy reactions some fans did when the roles were cast. (Clearly many of the books' fans have the inability to picture actors and actresses undergoing transformations for roles; if a person is blonde, they can't seem to picture them dying their hair or putting on muscle.)

Last night during the MTV Video Music Awards (which I missed because I haven't seen a music video in quite some time) the network premiered a teaser trailer for The Hunger Games, which is due out in March. While it is super-short (hence the word "teaser"), it rekindled the excitement I felt when the casting decisions were announced. I honestly CANNOT wait until the movie is released and hope that it is faithful to the book, while being a good movie on its own. The good news is that the trilogy's author, Suzanne Collins, has worked very closely with director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) on the film, so I am tremendously optimistic.

Check out the trailer below and know that I'll continue posting updates as they appear! (BTW, I'm totally Team Peeta.)

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music

Like I Didn't Feel Old Already...

Each August since 1998, Beloit College in Wisconsin has released the Beloit College Mindset List, which provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college each fall. The creation of Beloit’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride, it was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references, and quickly became a catalog of the rapidly changing worldview of each new generation.

The majority of the incoming class of 2015(!) was born in 1993. Bill Clinton was the president when they were born, so in their lifetime, only one Bush was president and they have no recollection of the Dan Quayle "potatoe" blunder. And for them, Arthur Ashe, Andre the Giant and River Phoenix have always been dead.

The whole list is available on Beloit's website, but here are some of the highlights. Hopefully this won't make you feel as old as it made me!

1. There have nearly always been at least two women on the Supreme Court, and women have always commanded US Navy ships
2. Amazon has never been just a river in South America
3. OJ Simpson has always been looking for the killers of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman
4. The Communist Party has never been the official political party in Russia
5. Video games have always had ratings
6. Music has always been available via free downloads
7. Major League Baseball has never had fewer than three divisions and never lacked a wild card entry in the playoffs
8. The expression "Don't touch that dial" means nothing...televisions have never had a dial as far as they know!

Scary, huh?

Book Review: "The Scorch Trials" by James Dashner

The second book in James Dashner's Maze Runner trilogy (I read the first, The Maze Runner, earlier this year) packed as much of a punch as its predecessor. Picking up where the first book left off, Thomas and his friends from The Glade have escaped the horrors of the maze and have been rescued by the folks from WICKED. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, as the Gladers start to learn exactly what purpose they serve to WICKED. And they are faced with an even more dangerous challenge: surviving the Scorch Trials.

This is a book about courage, faith, friendship, trust and confronting your fears. I'm deliberately obtuse in my description of the plot because I don't want to give anything away, and one of the great strengths of this book (in fact, the entire series to date) is that, much like the characters, you have no idea what to expect or what will happen next, and you don't even know if what happens is actually happening. I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the third and supposedly final book in the series later this fall, although I'll be faced with the inevitable battle between wanting to read it quickly and wanting to savor it, as I was with the Hunger Games and Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogies.

All in all, this is a fascinating, action-packed and captivating book that keeps you guessing.

We Have Angered Mother Nature...

...and this woman is serious.

Earlier in the week, the East Coast was hit by the most powerful earthquake in 67 years, with a 5.8 magnitude quake epicentered in Mineral, VA, near Richmond. Apart from some historical buildings—including the Washington Monument, Smithsonian Castle and the Washington National Cathedral—sustaining damage, the area was left mostly unharmed, although shaken.

And now, up the coast, comes Hurricane Irene. The storm, which was once as strong as a Category 3 hurricane, has hit Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, and as of this post, is battering North Carolina's Outer Banks and the Virginia Beach area. It's expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the DC area, and hit the New Jersey/New York area a bit harder.

As with any storm, the media is going crazy. I'll admit I don't quite understand what value having news reporters being interviewed as they're nearly blown off their feet by storm winds and pelted by heavy rain, but we've already seen plenty of that. And of course, as early as Thursday night, you could barely find bottled water and there was nary a "D" battery in sight.

It's my hope that the amount of media hype will be inversely proportional to the storm's actual effect, and I'm hoping we might be able to withstand losing power. But we have bottled water and peanut butter and an emergency stash of peanut M&M's, so we'll be ok.

Be safe everyone.

I Love to Rock and Roll...

...it's the "rattle and roll" part I'm not so fond of.

In case you were under a rock yesterday (and that might not have been such a good idea), you probably heard that the East Coast was struck by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, which had its epicenter in Mineral, VA, near Richmond. The earthquake was felt as far north as Toronto and as far south as Florida, but was felt most strongly from the Washington, DC area up to New York and New Jersey.

While Californians are mocking the East Coast for reacting so strongly, this was the most powerful earthquake to hit us in 67 years. And while there were no serious injuries, there was some damage—at the Washington National Cathedral, at least three of the four top stones on the central tower fell off, and cracks appeared in the flying buttresses at the cathedral's east end, the oldest part of the structure. The top of the Washington Monument has a crack. Historic buildings such as Union Station and the Smithsonian Castle sustained some damage, although nothing significant.

Working in the middle of Washington, DC, our office building was rocked by the quake. At first, since our building is undergoing renovations, we thought it was construction-related, but as the rattling got stronger and stronger, we figured it was an earthquake, so we quickly walked down five flights of stairs and got out of the building. People poured out of nearby buildings, everyone was trying to make calls on their cell phones or check the internet to see what happened, it was total chaos.

Sadly, the day's events reminded me a lot of 9/11. Yesterday was another absolutely beautiful day, the building rattled without warning (I was working in Old Town Alexandria 10 years ago, not far from the Pentagon, so we felt the impact of the plane crash), and I wasn't able to get through to my family or friends for some time. And in this case, I had no idea whether our house sustained any damage or if our dog was safe at doggie daycare.

In the end, everything turned out fine. Our house sustained no structural damage; apart from a few broken tchotchkes, nothing insurmountable occurred. And Quinn was none the worse for wear, although I'd imagine the rattling probably made doggie daycare an even louder place to be!

It's funny...I've thought about moving to California many times, but one of the things that has kept me from it was the threat of earthquakes. And now, here I am, in the area where I've lived for nearly 25 years, post-earthquake. Go figure.

Can I request a little less eventful day today??

Book Review: "Very Bad Men" by Harry Dolan

Harry Dolan's debut novel, Bad Things Happen, was one of the best books I read last year. Needless to say, I was very excited to read his new book, which again features David Loogan and his girlfriend, Ann Arbor police detective Elizabeth Waishkey, and I'm pleased to say that Dolan didn't disappoint this time out.

David Loogan is the editor of Grey Streets, a mystery magazine, and has settled into a comfortable existence with his girlfriend and her teenage daughter, Sarah. One night he finds a manuscript at his office door, which begins, "I killed Henry Kormoran." After describing how Kormoran was killed, the manuscript divulges details about another murder, and warns that another is impending—and even gives the name of the killer's next victim. The manuscript and the corresponding murders draw David and Elizabeth into an ever-widening circle, as they discover that all three men on the killer's list were involved in a bank robbery nearly 20 years earlier, and all are linked in other ways as well.

The story hooked me from the start, and as it unfolded, I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The characters are intriguing and unique but fallible, which makes them even more complex and interesting. While I felt like Dolan threw in one or two twists too many toward the end, it didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the story. I really enjoy Dolan's storytelling ability, and can't wait for his next book. Definitely a book you'll want to race through.