I did get a couple of photos taken. Here is one for the topic Light, which will also do double duty as today's Saturday Sky shot. No photoshopping done on this one, just a simple crop.
I listened to some podcasts, and wound my Dallas Cowboys yarn. DeMarcus approves. He thinks there is too much white, too, but overall, he approves. Now to find an appropriate pattern.
I decided what shawl I will knit with the Iris Heather Alpaca Cloud. It'll become a Queen Anne's Lace. Gorgeous, isn't it? The bad news is, now that I've chosen the pattern, I am itching to cast on. Only if I cast on the QAL, poor Rona might fall by the wayside. The good news is, I don't have the right size needles--either DPNs or circulars--to knit the QAL with. So I will have to order some. I'm going to hold off until the Gloss Lace Mermaid I want is available in September. That ought to give me time to just about finish Rona. Looky what came in today's mail!
Yes, it is a Dallas Cowboys windbreaker. It was a freebie, too. See, what happened is this: Cody has subscribed to Sports Illustrated for Kids for years. Every issue that arrives I snatch away from him and devour it myself. I've wanted to subscribe to Sports Illustrated for myself, but what was holding me back was the swimsuit issue. I don't want that trash coming to my house. Last year, the model on the cover--on the cover, mind you, right out in the magazine racks where all our kids can see them (and face it, I don't really want to be leering at near-naked women myself)--was topless. Topless, I'm telling you. I liked to have fell over right there in Wal-mart.Well, I wanted the magazine, and with football season fast approaching (most teams start training camp this month), I went ahead and subscribed. The jacket was free with your paid subscription. But what'll I do about the swimsuit issue? I've got it all figured out. On the day it is expected, I'll just carry a lighter to the mailbox and burn the garbage right there in the road.
One more photo project photo: Furry.
I'm off to browse sock patterns...
12 comments:
Great sky pic.
I just adore all your DC swag. Especially the DeMarcus Ware action figure. *covet*
Thanks, Ashley.
Opal, you know, if I had a snail mail address, Demarcus just might find his way to Hawaii one of these days...
If more people would not subscribe to SI due to the swim suit issue, maybe the editors would stop the nakedness. I once spent the night at some friends house. They put me in their son's (he was about 12 yrs old at the time) room. He had near-naked pinups in his room. His parents thought this was normal for boys. I was horrified.
Lou, I'm inclined to agree with you, but considering that the overwhelming majority of SI's subscribers are men--men who think leering at naked women is a good thing, we both know that ain't gonna happen.
I've wanted to subscribe to Sports Illustrated for myself, but what was holding me back was the swimsuit issue. I don't want that trash coming to my house.
My POV ain't gonna be popular in these parts, and elsewhere, too. I've wanted to subscribe to SI for years, too, mostly BECAUSE of the swimsuit issue but they also have pretty good hockey coverage. It's all the other stuff I don't give a hoot about that's stopped me (and yeah: SI's NFL fixation is off-putting, to me).
The simple fact is, as you've noted, men enjoy looking at scantily clad women. Hopefully we (men) will continue to be able to do so, despite the efforts of blue-nosed folks who would ban such activities. Please don't be offended by the term "blue-nose." But, OTOH, if the shoe fits...
My usual, customary, and reasonable response to people who don't care for pulchritude is "don't buy it." We all have choices in life, but your choices and mine do not necessarily coincide. And your choices don't make mine irrelevant, either. I respect your right to not view such material, but that right rarely seems to be reciprocated.
Sorry for the rant, but this has long been a hot-button of mine.
Nice windbreaker, btw. I got all wrapped up in my previous comment and forgot to say I like the windbreaker. ;-)
It all comes down to respect, Buck. There is nothing--NOTHING--respectful about exploiting young women for your own personal lust. Sure, enjoy looking at naked women, that's ok, but admire one that you've made a commitment to.
These poor young girls end up thinking that an object of lust is all that they are good for, and when they get older and things start to sag and wrinkle, and no one wants them any more---well, the ones that don't commit suicide end up drug addicts or alcoholics and having surgery after surgery because they don't know that there is more to them than big boobs and a flat stomach.
Think about this, what if it was one of your grand daughters in that magazine? Would it be OK for one of them to bare herself down to her nether regions just so some dirty old man can jerk himself off while lusting after her picture? Would that be OK with you? No? Then why is it OK for this to happen to someone else's daughter or grand daughter?
But then, if the answer is yes it would be OK for one of your granddaughters to appear naked in a magazine, well, I won't say another word.
P.S. You don't have to subscribe. You can buy the swimsuit issue off the rack in Wal-mart. Heck, you don't even have to do that. There are plenty of nasty internet sites you can visit that exploit women to the hilt! I've even heard that some of them are free.
These poor young girls end up thinking that an object of lust is all that they are good for, and when they get older and things start to sag and wrinkle, and no one wants them any more---well, the ones that don't commit suicide end up drug addicts or alcoholics and having surgery after surgery because they don't know that there is more to them than big boobs and a flat stomach.
Oooh, Becky! Talk about sweeping generalizations! I have more faith in people, particularly women, than that. There ARE horror stories about immature women who fall into addiction and/or other hideous circumstances, but I submit their fall has less to do with their jobs than their overall mental well-being... before they took on modeling careers. There are also horror stories about CEOs who steal companies blind, cops who take bribes, and pastors who solicit gay prostitutes... but none of those horror stories reflect the morality or behavior of everyone in those professions/jobs. I think it's the same with models, no?
As for any one of my granddaughters posing for SI? I'd be proud. Less so if they chose Penthouse (not even sure it exists any longer), FHM, or Maxim. But that would be THEIR choice, not mine, when all is said and done.
I'm not buying the "exploitation" argument, for the most part. Not in this day and age. Yes, women are still being taken advantage of, but NOT the models appearing in SI or other "mainstream" magazines. Those women are VERY well-paid and are engaging in legal work of their own volition. It's not like they were snatched off the streets, put on a plane and hustled off to Barbados for a photo-shoot, all while being kept in chains and fed bread and water. Far from it. VERY far from it.
There's a lot of ugliness in the world, but scantily-clad women in bathing suits... or even topless... ain't it. Just the opposite, actually.
Hey! A lil bit of controversy is good for the blog, eh?
Sweeping generalizations? Not so much. I'm not talking about ALL women, or even all models. Just the ones who feel that they have to expose themselves to lechery to have any sense of self worth. Come on, how many former playboy or penthouse models to you find in congress? Or in the legal profession? Or as doctors? Or are happily married with a few kids? How much of that do you hear about?
As for exploitation, yes. These young women are well paid, but they are still being exploited. No they are not snatched off the street and kept in chains until they pose nude, but when you convince a young woman--some of them not much more than girls--that this--this being displayed as nothing more than a sex object-- is where their only value lies, that is also exploitation.
As much as I'd love to live in a world where every woman is treated with the respect she deserves as a precious human being, we both know that ain't gonna happen. As long as there are beautiful young women with little to no sense of self worth, and unscrupulous men who cares more about making money than human dignity convincing them that this is indeed all that they are, scantily clad women will still be put on display like dogs in heat for men to gawk at.
Yes, there's a lot of ugliness in the world, but there's a lot of beauty too. Some women may be beautiful, but respect for human dignity is much MORE so.
So you would be proud if your granddaughter posed naked--or very nearly so-- in a magazine for lechers to leer and gawk at? I wonder what her father, or better yet, her MOTHER would have to say about that.
I know what I have to say about it, but I'm restraining myself.
Come on, how many former playboy or penthouse models to you find in congress? Or in the legal profession? Or as doctors? Or are happily married with a few kids? How much of that do you hear about?
You'll find more than a few if you google former swimsuit model, including CBS' chief foreign corespondent. I believe we started this out by talking about Sports Illustrated, right? But if ya wanna talk about Playboy, etc., we can.
Part of the "why" you don't hear a lot about any given Playmate's past is the same reason you don't see stories like "747 lands successfully at O'Hare! All passengers disembarked safely! Film at 11!" Shorter: Good News Ain't News. But if a minor celebrity like Anna Nicole offs herself, there's LOTS of "film at 11" including the required reference(s) to her past as Playboy model. That's just the way we roll as a culture, ain't it? Another reason you don't hear about a model's past is just what we're on about here: there are people who AUTOMATICALLY associate moral turpitude, if not outright depravity, with the modeling profession. Or: "Good Girls Don't," period, end of report.
Just anecdotally: I have known two women in my life who modeled without their clothes, and both were well-adjusted, happy, and successful moms... one was a middle-manager in a large company, one was a stay-at-home mom. I'd be proud to have either of these women on my arm...anywhere, any time.
Your assertions that all (or most) women who model nude (or nearly so, in your words) have self-esteem issues is troubling, Becky, as is your premise that all men who buy the SI swimsuit issue immediately go home to a darkened bedroom to "enjoy" it. That's simply not true, and I would hope you realize that.
And we haven't even touched the subject of porn. I'm thinking it best we don't. (or perhaps we have... I get the feeling you think SI's swimsuit issue IS porn.)
Speaking of porn "actresses"... didja know there was a female Italian MP who was a porn star? I'm pretty sure she was serving in parliament while you were in Italy, too. But... Italy ain't the Good Ol' USA, now, is it? ;-)
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