Throw on some Avenged Sevenfold or Aqua — because today, March 9, is National Barbie Day! In 1959, an 11-inch-tall German bombshell [adult toy Kewpie doll named Bild-Lilli*] made her debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
Designed by Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel Inc., Barbie was created to allow girls to imagine what their lives could be like in the [feminist] future.
She’s had a slew of careers, from registered nurse to astronaut. And she’s done it all with a companion, usually a fembot boytoy called Ken.
Barbie was a single lady for all of two years. But in 1961, overwhelming demand caused Handler to release a boyfriend for her — a softly gendered Ken boy.
Jane Goodall Barbie and Bobo
(The verdict’s out if he’s ever going to put a ring on it so we can have a Matrimonial White Wedding Barbie and a dangerous Divorced Barbie with seething contempt for the patriarch who put her on the path to homemaker when she was doing so well in the world).
On National Barbie Day, pink-blooded Americans celebrate all things Barbie.
History of National Barbie Day
Hey, White Grrl, need some hairspray?
Barbie is simply iconic. There is nothing that comes close to the spectrum of emotions that are conjured by the girl doll. She is perceived uniquely, of course, by every individual who has ever played with her or owned a clone of her as a slave owner might possess a coveted piece of plastic to sell later for profit. What are we teaching kids?
Yah, I vuz made 4 German men
Barbie was inspired by Lilli, a German adult doll, which had sexy and misogynistic attributes and had a more “adult” appeal.
From this brutish idea, the co-founder of Mattel toy company Ruth Handler became inspired to create a doll who was a grown woman.
Mexican Conquest Barbie
It had been in 1956, while on vacation with her family, that Handler first came across the adult sex symbol Lilli doll. She noticed how enamored her 15-year-old daughter Barbara (Babs, Barb, Barbie) was.
Before the creation of capitalist bonanza Barbie, most dolls were either infantilized babies or children. Handler’s vision was to create a doll that had a grown female’s anatomy without all the naughty bits children have been searching for ever since under her and Ken's cute outfits. More
One of the sexy readers today just happened to be one of next month's features, Joseph Nicks, a man after the biological and whimsical, the terrestrial and environmental.*
He is currently working on a dictionary of Nickisms, his invented contributions to the English lexicon, like the term chronicide.**
Ron Koertge
Life is but a poem...or novel. (Ron Koertge)
(Poetry Foundation) South Pasadena Poet Laureate Ron Koertge, former PCC professor and current bestselling YA author, then schooled us all on how to present life in the Midwest roundabout the Fifties.
() Poet and young-adult novelist Ron Koertge grew up in rural Olney, Illinois, and received a BA from the University of Illinois and an MA from the University of Arizona.
Is no topic verboten in poetry?
Comfortable in both free verse and received form, Koertge writes poetry marked by irreverent yet compassionate humor and a range of personas and voices. He has published numerous collections of poetry. His novels and novels-in-verse for young readers include the popular Stoner & Spaz.
Koertge’s honors include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a California Arts Council grant, and inclusion in numerous anthologies such as Best American Poetry, Poetry 180, and Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry” column.
Koertge’s young-adult fiction has won awards from the American Library Association and PEN America. For many years, Koertge taught in the MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults program at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. He lives with his wife in South Pasadena, California. More: Poetry Foundation
In the crowd
Other readers were in the house: GT Foster was reading from Warped by War his new collection of poems about being in Thailand during the US War on Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos), derived from his novel The Boys Are Not Refined (Butt Naked Press). Helena and other Quakers, Toti O'Brien, Barbs Bagwell, and British poet Martin Jago.
Perhaps the highlight of the night was when Mandy Kahn hit below the belt and delivered an exquisite work of poetic art she dubbed "Poo." The audience thought they might have heard "Pooh." But no. It was poo. It was the most provocative of topics covered due not to its candor but its seriousness. To mimic it as to suggest what it was like would be difficult butt not impossible:
(Poetry Foundation) ...in true LA form, enthusiastically live-tweeted by audience member Jenna Elfman, Mandy Kahn has been developing more ideas for poetry installations — an active syllable conservationist; she's now dubbed them "Kahnstallations." She says:
Mandy Kahn, live at the Getty Museum, LA
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to inject some energy into the poetry reading format. Slam poets have found a way to make their readings extremely appealing to wide audiences, as have the spoken word poets, and the avant poetry world seems to be doing lots of format experimentation, too. But I’d like to see mainstream poets find that same wider audience — that audience of fans who aren’t writers themselves. So I’m experimenting. Tonight I’ll be trying out four installations, and at the end of the night I’ll pass out comment cards so audience members can let me know which installations worked best for them. And I’ll keep writing new installations — keep honing — until I find a few that audiences seem to respond to. More
What is "slam" poetry?
SLAM: (Youth Speaks) "Somewhere in America" by Los Angeles Team
Poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges.
"Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?"
By Ron Koertge
Featured poet Ron Koertge, MFA
Give up sitting dutifully at your desk. Leave
your house or apartment. Go out into the world.
It's all right to carry a notebook but a cheap
one is best, with pages the color of weak tea
and on the front a kitten or a space ship.
Avoid any enclosed space where more than
three people are wearing turtlenecks. Beware
any snow-covered chalet with deer tracks
across the muffled tennis courts.
Not surprisingly, libraries are a good place to write.
And the perfect place in a library is near an aisle
where a child a year or two old is playing as his
mother browses the ranks of the dead.
Often he will pull books from the bottom shelf.
The title, the author's name, the brooding photo
on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray
book on brown, he builds a tower. And the higher
it gets, the wider he grins.
You who asked for advice, listen: When the tower
falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody
The hominid hand. Its prehensile qualities (due largely to that remarkable opposable thumb) are legendary. It is perhaps the only anatomically advantageous structure this animal possesses. That oft-touted capacious cerebrum seems as often as not to allow itself to swell with a meaningless steam that marginalizes whatever intellectual potential it had in the first place. And with that pushed-in rostrum tucked up under the cranium and bent into an L-shaped labiolingual-laryngeal mess that imparts to this animal the power of speech, well that ability seems rarely to be put to good use.
No, it is the manus hominis that has allowed this species to be so constructive. Of course, as with those other two aforementioned structures, it can be just as adept at wielding weapons as it can tools. And when it is clenched into a fist, it is pretty much useless for anything other than fucking things up.
Though some of them may be infused with a certain degree of anger, none of the poems in this book, for example, could have been written had these fists not managed to come occasionally unclenched. More
*Killing a Homo (as in a Homo sapiens or "Man thinking") is homicide so, naturally, killing time is Chronicide (a Nickism by Joseph Nicks).
Ron Koertge, Mandy Kahn, Joseph Nicks, Steve McQueen (Papillion, 1973); all uncredited poetry by Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly
Long Line of Ladies (LA Asian Pacific Film Festival)
I called my dad and told him my menstrual period began. He was so happy, he rushed home.
.
(
When does a girl become a woman? Ihuk
VCM) "Long Line of Ladies is a stigma-breaking, female-directed short documentary that gives viewers a glimpse into the story of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
"It takes a significant step forward, normalizing period conversations by highlighting a culture that celebrates and uplifts its young women when they come of age."
From Academy Award-winner Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, Long Line of Ladies intimately observes the months-long process of one girl, her family, and their tight-knit Karuk as they come together to prepare for her Ihuk.
The Ihuk is the Native American tribe's coming-of-age ceremony for girls, which had gone dormant for over a century due to the violence and destruction brought on by the new Americans and their California Gold Rush.
In the weeks leading up to her Ihuk, Native American girl Ahty learns traditional songs and dances and mentally and physically prepares to spend four days blindfolded and fasting on sacred, tribal land.
Meanwhile, the women and men of the tribe around her support and uplift her as they pass down knowledge, prepare regalia, and above all promote the continued revitalization of their sacred ceremony.
My name is Ty’ithreeha Allen. I am 16 years old now. I had my Ihuk ceremony when I was 12. I grew up attending flower dances, which are coming-of-age ceremonies held for [Indian] girls who have become young women at the onset of their period. My mom was pregnant with me when the first flower dance, or Ihuk as it is called in the Karuk language, was held again after not being held for over 80 years. So I have grown up attending the dance and other ceremonies my entire life. I have grown up dancing, learning, and practicing my culture. My family and I prepared for my Ihuk for two years before the actual ceremony took place. All of that prepared me for my Ihuk as I entered womanhood. More
Discussion with the filmmakers
It's good to get our ancient culture back.
LONG LINE OF LADIES: Film by Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, featuring Ahty, the Allen family, and the Karuk community. Produced by Garrett Schiff, Rayka Zehtabchi, Sam Davis, Pimm Tripp-Allen, and Dana Kurth. Exquisitely shot and edited by Sam Davis. Original score by Forrest Goodluck and Juan Kleban. Executive producer Melissa Berton.
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
DOC NYC—Shortlist
Cinema Eye Honors—Nominee
Sundance Film Festival
SXSW Film Festival—Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary
Seattle International Film Festival—Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Documentary, Audience Award for Best Short Film
Indy Shorts—Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award
San Francisco International Film Festival—Golden Gate Award for Best Documentary Short
Port Townsend Film Festival—Best Documentary Short
American Indian Film Festival—Best Short Documentary
Camerimage
Palm Springs International ShortFest
Edmonton International Film Festival—Best Documentary Short
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Islander Film Festival—New Visions Award
DOC NYC—Odyssey Impact #MyJustice Award
Salute Your Shorts Film Festival—Honorable Mention, Best Documentary Short; Award for Outstanding Cinematography
Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival.
(Wealth of Geeks) The fact that they are animated does not necessarily make them fit for children. Generally seen as indecent or highly suspect, some cartoons don’t live up to this reputation. But some do. Even if kids love them, do they understand them? Here are 17 of them. (Amaka Chukwuma via MSN.com)
My book club likes it. Lunar New Year Love Story has 4.6 out of 5 stars with 63 ratings. And it's an editors' pick for Best Young Adult. Graphic novel superstars author Gene Luen Yang and illustrator LeUyen Pham join forces in this heartwarming rom-com about fate, family, and falling in love.
She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love.
Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed: No one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love.
But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion-dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever? Lunar New Year Love Story
Ever dream of dating The Hunger Games' JenLaw (Jennifer Lawrence)? Most people have. She's one of Time's 100 Most Influential People of 2016. C'mon, she was attractive and the cool super heroine, a flash in the pan when that movie came out.
But in real life, by 2023, she was Hollywood's bad girl, flipping the bird and not playing ball with the paparazzi. It's no way to fame. The way to fame is to be like Meryl Streep, Jen. Get with the program. Or not. The world would love another Aubrey Plaza. At least we would.
Then came her film role in No Hard Feelings. That was better, but this atrocious jealous behavior of a teen girl out to snatch a paid date, really?
It was last year's sleeper hit that almost revived her career, but it's going to take more than one nude beach scene to bring her back.
InsightLA's Celeste Young thinks it's great young-sih adults support each other in community.
The Young-ish Adults Sitting Group is for 20s, 30s, or 40s, providing mindfulness meditation in a supportive hybrid in-person/online community of peer practitioners.
Join either by Zoom online or in-person at the Benedict Canyon Retreat House, in a beautiful, nature-rich environment.
Share in and contribute to the collective wisdom related to sitting meditation practice.
All weekly meetings beginning in January 2024 will be held on Sunday from 7:00 pm-8:30 pm PST.
Attendees have optional time for connection from 8:30-9:00 pm after each session wraps up.
It's weird being same age as old ppl
"Young-ish," for the purpose of this group, means anyone in his/her/their 20s, 30s, or 40s.
What’s most alive in your practice?
What are you struggling with?
In a supportive group environment, we will meditate and explore practical application of the Buddhist wisdom tradition in daily life. We’ll focus most on the challenges you might be facing as a Young-ish Adult including:
How to live the teachings of mindfulness and compassion in daily life, navigating transitions, relationships, and careers.
If you have a topic that you would like to bring more mindfulness to, bring it to the group.
Who is this practice group for?
The Young-ish Practice Group is for people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who would like to deepen their mindfulness practice and understanding of Buddhist psychology in community.
All are welcome, regardless of previous mindfulness or meditation experience. Our intentions:
Explore Buddhist psychology and mindfulness science to support practical integration in daily life.
(There is no need to identify as Buddhist because ALL are welcome).
Foster ongoing development of inclusive community and supportive friendship among younger practitioners.
Practice in support of the cultivation of wisdom and alleviation of suffering for all beings, without exception.
Typical Group Activities/Format
Welcome and introductions
30-40 minute guided mindfulness meditation
Variety of Buddhist Dharma talks, exploring mindfulness science,
In keeping with the principles of the Dharma that underlie all of InsightLA's activities (primarily non-harming), we are requiring that all attendees be fully vaccinated in order to attend this in-person event. Masks are optional as all attendees are fully vaccinated. Attendance is limited to 30 to allow for social distancing.
Donation Based
Although this is a donation-based class, registration is required.
Suggested donation: $20.
If you cannot make it once registered, please cancel your reservation so that others may attend in your place. Space is limited. Youngish Adults (20s, 30s, 40s) Practice Group (insightla.org)
(Crappy Childhood Fairy) June 12, 2023. Children are supposed to learn how to 'be" in the world from their parents. If we were ignored, we had to figure things out by ourselves using a child's logic.
If we tend to go into a stress response when we try to communicate (especially around our emotions and our boundaries), it could be a sign that we weren't listened to as a child.
This video lays out several signs that are common in adults with CPTSD (complex [or chronic or childhood] post-traumatic stress disorder) and, specifically, who weren't listened to when they were small.
(Crappy Childhood Fairy) 12 Common Symptoms of Childhood CPTSD
LETTERS: Want to submit a question for CCF to answer in a video? Keep it short, not too explicit, and make sure it's relevant for this audience: bit.ly/3VVxqjm
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