Show to Watch: Dollhouse

Yes, Joss Whedon did it again.  Yet another of his shows lasted on TV for a mere two seasons.  In fact, rumor has it that he only got the second season because Fox forgot to cancel the show.  This inability of good TV to get high ratings is the bane of all cult TV fans.  The infamous cancellation of Firefly after only one season is a shining (or shiny…) example of the way in which TV networks disregard the needs and desires of the most passionate of fans in favor of more numerous viewers.

So we were lucky to get two seasons of Dollhouse despite its relative lack of commercial success.  And lucky is right because the show is, in my humble opinion, remarkable.  It has its weaknesses, sure, like the rushed ending of the season…but that’s hardly Mr. Whedon’s fault.  As usual, I blame this one on Fox.

Anyways, Dollhouse tells the story of a pharmaceutical corporation with the power to wipe individuals’ minds and re-program them at will.  They put this power to use providing the rich with “not what they want…but what they need.”  Which means most of the time, the dolls, or actives, are programmed to be their lovers, in all senses of the word.  It means that not only are clients able to pay to use the actives’ bodies, but also to have their minds made to order.

Why Women Should Lift Weights

I recently returned from a fabulous trip with fabulous people…an excursion to an extreme metal festival in the Netherlands called Neurotic Deathfest.  Festivals like these take a toll on you physically…all day standing, screaming, headbanging, and my favorite part…moshing.

This particular festival was exciting for me for a lot of reasons related to bands I finally got the opportunity to see, but also because I realized something amazing.  My many hours of working out have finally paid off.  Yes, I realized that I could lift heavy things much more easily than before, and my clubbell has become an extension of my arm now, but the strength I’ve gained really seemed to sink in while I was in the middle of the moshpit pushing over guys twice my size.  Win.

In case you aren’t quite sure what a moshpit is…here’s a pretty good example.

On Graduating College and “It’s-Time-for-Real-Life”

It’s about graduation time again, and with every accepted graduation request I see posted on Facebook I find myself feeling (of course) incredibly excited for everyone but also more than a little envious.

I remember this time last year, the anxiety and stress of writing my thesis, of Capstone presentations, and of course, the sheer joy of being done with all of it. Senioritis is a beautiful and a horrible thing. It makes every little task seem unbearable but it makes even the most relentless perfectionist feel just fine about slacking off a little.

Now, a year later, I’m realizing that the rest of life might just be Senior year. Or there’s just no end in sight, I’m not sure. All I know is that now I’m having nightmares about falling into the deep dark endless black hole of the Job Market while Student Loans cackle hideously and poke me with pitchforks (plus there’s Fixed Interest down there draining away my life blood but at this point I’ve already sold my soul for a Master’s degree and who cares?). This time last year I was dreaming of mountains to climb, sharp rocky mountains with views even more beautiful than the one on top of the mountain I’d already scaled.

An Introduction to Cheap Travel in Europe

Traveling in Europe can be an overwhelming experience, especially for those of us who grew up in the midwest United States.

The way I see it, if you’re paying for the flight all the way over the big blue, you’re going to want to get the most you possibly can for your money.  First of all, don’t plan on being there for any less than two weeks.  You will need all of that time, trust me.

You’ll also need to pick between two types of trips.  One involves landing in a major European city and seeing that city in depth, plus a few daytrips outside the city to see the surrounding area.  The other involves a more backpacking-esque experience in which you try to see as much of Europe as possible during your time there.

Here are my general tips for making the most of your time and seeing as much as possible for very little money if you decide to take the second option.

How to be a Perpetual Wanderer

My mom always used to (semi) jokingly tell me that I was her ‘gypsy child’.

What she meant by this was that I was always on the go, and that I was always dragging an enormous purse full of half of my worldly belongings with me.  By the time I had a car, I was storing half my closet in the trunk and on the back seat.  I could undergo a wardrobe change like Superman, going from family-appropriate outfits that covered (most of) my tattoos and made me look like a respectable member of society, to hippie-punk-hobo-metalhead in the blink of an eye.

Now that I live in the big city, meaning no car, I lug as much as possible around with me in my purse and backpack. But the nickname (non-politically-correct that it is) has taken on another meaning.

I’m not quite sure where ‘home’ is. Or maybe I have three of them. All I know is that I have a tendency to refer to ‘home’ as wherever I am not, which is a testament to the nostalgia inherent in the word, one which, in the English language, is clearly differentiated from the term ‘house’, indicating only the structure.

On Men and Women

Dear Men of the World,

This letter goes out to those of you who are ignorant. I’m not writing this because I’m a man-hater, or because I’m crazy, or because I’m overly sensitive. I’m writing this because I am tired. I am tired of your ignorance and your arrogance.

I am tired of you thinking that you can call me and my friends bitches and whores. I’m tired of you telling us to ‘chill out’ because it’s ‘just a word’.  Words are a system of signs with very powerful meanings. And those meanings hurt. Those meanings make women like me afraid to speak my mind. They terrorize us on a daily basis. This is your fault, not ours.

I am tired of you thinking you can stare at my ass in the gym. I’m tired of you touching me without my permission. I am tired of feeling like I’m in a warzone every time I pass a group of men, and I’m tired of mentally preparing myself to take verbal or even physical abuse because I dare to walk the streets alone.

I am tired of seeing you post demeaning bullshit on the internet and I’m tired of your companies playing the same images on TV. I’m tired of seeing an endless progression of plastic bodies, fake smiles, and I’m tired of seeing sex that reeks of rape.

I am tired of living in a world where I would never want to raise a daughter.

On Climbing

Now for something a bit more fun than usual.  With all of this school-ing and working and the writing of many formal or semi-formal things, I have let slip my creative writing.  But no more! Here, for your reading pleasure, is a lovely microfiction.  And please forgive me if the rust shows, it really has been a while.

The truck rumbled down the frozen road just a little too fast.  She concentrated on her breathing and ran her fingers across the seatbelt that ran over her hipbones.  On her right, Marc blew cigarette smoke out the window, and Aaron drummed away on the steering wheel as they slipped their way past trees and mailboxes.

They skidded up in front of a hill surrounded by a high barbed wire fence and a thick growth of trees and bushes.

On Ronda Rousey versus Liz Carmouche

Just a couple days ago, Dana White finally ate his smirky comment that women would never fight in the UFC.

Rousey and Carmouche went head-to-head in the octagon on February 23 for the women’s bantamweight championship.  A lot can be said here about their incredible athleticism, and how excitingly empowering it is for women to break into such a hyper-masculine environment as UFC.

In the midst of the expected assholish comments (the funniest being about how women can’t fight from men who would tap in 5 seconds flat if they were put in the ring with either one of these ladies), one thing stood out to me the most.  As usual, women on TV are judged primarily for their physical attributes.  And not just because there is some huge conspiracy created by all of humanity to hate on women who don’t fall neatly into norms.  The truth is, we are just plain not used to seeing women who look like this on TV.

10 TV Shows to Spend All Your Time Watching

Lately all I seem to do in my spare time is watch TV shows. I’m an addict, its true, capable of watching an entire season of one show in one day. At a certain point the clicking of the next episode becomes automatic and I leave my bed only when really forced to. My other favorite activity, apart from watching lots of TV, is telling other people what shows they should watch. So here’s a list of my top ten picks, in order, for those days when you have nothing better to do than follow my advice.

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I may have come a little late to the Buffy obsession, it’s true.  When everyone else was going crazy over Joss Whedon’s masterpiece (well, one of many), I was occupied with Power Rangers and Sonic the Hedgehog and a whole range of other (much more age appropriate) forms of media.