General Musings, Part 28

Ahhh...so many things I want to write & so little time to do it (yeah, if you're one of those people constantly employing "Tl;dr" [too long, didn't read] you have no business reading this blog; morons can go for entertainment in plenty of other places).

So, some life updates first. I decided to buy my own domain name for this blog so now you can also get here by typing www.theangryredheadedlawyer.com

Makes it more official. After all, humanity will piss me off in some fashion probably even after I'm dead. No one will let me dye my hair or change it around. Those of you who get to dye your red have the luxury of changing it; I don't. I'll have to stick to wearing wigs if I want to change my hair color without screwing up the natural one I have. As for the lawyer part, people thought I acted like one long before I was officially licensed as one.

First off, I started a basic intermediate level acting class. It's been something else I've been meaning to do & felt that if I was going to build up training on my acting/performance resume, it would be a must have. Seeing a Living Social deal for one made the choice of where to go much easier, though talking to one of the instructors clinched the choice to buy.

In my entertainment experiences, I've also seen that whole circle start to overlap in my networking efforts. In fact, I was talking to an acting coach recently who said my name was familiar to him. People seem to know my business partners or someone I had a conversation with at a networking event or even people I know from networking groups. This particular article definitely rings true. If you think networking is a waste of time in entertainment, you either haven't been in this business very long or you're a moron.

I started noticing this maybe a year ago but it's become even more blatant & obvious to me now. Does that mean you've arrived or that your reputation is proceeding you in a profound way?

On that note, let's also point out for the hundredth millionth time that you need to behave like a civilized person to everyone you encounter. I take notes on who did what to me or mine & if someone says to me "Don't deal with that person b/c (s)he did X,Y & Z" I will take it seriously if it's coming from one of my contacts or someone like a producer, agent, director, etc. whose job consists of screening out the BS & making the creation of art as easy + painless as possible. This also holds true in the legal field & among lawyers. If one of my lawyer contacts says you're a prick, that's enough for me to not give you a chance.

One discovery in my day job: there are quite a few lawyers who don't answer the knocking door of opportunity or consider networking. With all you hear about networking in the legal community & how important it is (it's probably more important than a high GPA or what law school you attend), you'd think no one would be hanging up on me or not listening to what I had to say in that job. Some people desperately need to get out of their self-important bubbles.

Second, I need friends with money. Not to borrow any, mind you. I need friends with money so they WON'T ask me for it. They'd also understand people bugging them to borrow money. I've been in that boat quite recently & in a family situation to boot. Friends who understand families trying to guilt you after you've gotten injured trying to help them & then want to weasel out of paying you on time. If people have said you should be a loan shark, I could use the company. The irony here is that these same family members call other ones "takers"; I may end up saying "Look in the mirror. You're trying to take from ME!"

I have a little less attitude toward my aunt who got burned by them & hasn't been paid back but I still think she was a bitch when calling up my sister right after her first husband died & being completely insincere about it (at least in her tone of voice when she left her message). I said at the time that my father should have confronted her on her shit. I now totally understand people who say they don't loan money to friends or family. I get it! I also wondered if that was my future: getting pestered for money all the time, especially one I really have it.

Finally, my foot's been better but I'm now using a cane for crowded moments. Do you think most people are decent to you on public transit when you have a cane? Ha! I've come close to knocking people upside the head in the morning commute for being in my face or daring to get attitude with me when I don't move in (since I can't do that holding of the top poles even when I have 2 good legs & very little on me). Hubby says I should be off it soon but my foot will be sore for a while & the 1% of healing takes the longest. I wonder what will it be. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Or will it just be something that makes me an old lady even quicker?

So, now for those general musings:

Some of these are late but welcome to more stupidity among school authorities. You can see it here, here, here & here.

Here's my take on all this.

1. The cerebral palsy thing is just wrong, period. I don't think you have to say much more than that.

2. The "lesbian picture" story reminded me of a photo my mom saw in my senior yearbook of this lesbian couple in my class (who, by the way, I didn't know was a couple since I didn't keep track of them & wasn't friends with either of them plus I had my own shit to deal with). Nobody banned that one & my mother complained about it to us privately but didn't call the school, file a lawsuit or act like my little virgin eyes would explode from seeing it.

Are school administrators these days total pussies or should I blame the parents for not waking up to the realities of the real world? If my very strict, religious mother isn't naive to the realities of our modern times, why the hell can't these people get it together? I'll bet THEIR kids got to watch "The Simpsons" & "In Living Color" in reruns or when they were originally on.

3. The "no hugging" thing is also stupid. I'll guarantee this school doesn't have a drama department or their actors suck if they do. Touching people is part of the whole acting experience & being able to trust your fellow actors/truly do better work on stage. Not graphic touch but hugging would certainly be included.

Even my religious private school where you couldn't say "butt" & the cheerleaders had to wear knee length skirts didn't have such a rule!

4. The prom dress thing: personally, I have a more nuanced view here.

First off, you have to consider that in my prom going days longer dresses were in vogue. No one wore cocktail dresses. That's what most of these short dresses are: cocktail dresses.

I'm totally prejudiced to a long dress. Think about it: how many times are you ever going to get to wear one? You can wear cocktail dresses to clubs. You can wear them to networking events in bars or film screenings or other entertainment/cultural events. They're also perfect for bachelorette parties & if you have ugly legs or a fat waist, the right style of long gown will cover some of that. Some women have no business in a cocktail dress & should spare the rest of us. Hell, if you want to be an adult star or take your clothes off you could also wear one to Hugh Hefner's mansion.

I think short dresses are too casual for a prom or a formal. Plus, with so many other places you can wear them (unless you're going to be a teen mommy, not have a bachelorette party & never go out again) why the hell would you pick a cocktail dress for a prom? To me, it's gauche. It's like wearing your workout clothes or something.

Hell, if you're going to flaunt your wares go do it at some club where guys with money hang out or even in a college party! Go score a sugar daddy or at least a guy who might have some real skills if you want to get laid that badly. I doubt most of these kids go to school with the sons of multimillionaires so it's just going to waste, ladies. Plus, college doesn't have that dress code crap. No one ever turned us away from frat parties for short dresses.

However, that being said I do know the shorter dresses were the rage in the '80s. Did schools do this then? If they didn't, doesn't anyone else think it's needless bitching & whining? I do favor the long formal gown since you'll look like a princess but I also think it's pathetic to institute a "no cleavage at all" rule & think the "inappropriate" dresses aren't exactly porn star wear. I just think it's too casual. Aren't we also talking about 18 year olds? They could easily just go to a college party & to some clubs as well as sleep with adult men without the law being concerned unless it was rape.

I also find high school dress codes for women horribly sexist for the most part as well as not enforced consistently. I'll bet if some cheerleader showed up in one of these verboten dresses, she'd not have any problems.

Things like this just tells me more school administrators need to get laid. Maybe if they were having fulfilling sex lives, they'd stop being such pills to the students & the community at large. Same for some of these parents.

Finally, it's CHILDFREE bitch! This has pissed me off as well for reasons that have been explained a million times already here. Yes, I'm childfree. Now get over it.