I Have Nothing To Hide Except the Truth

Yeah, the timestamp is right. I'm starting this all of 45 seconds after I finished my last post.

So, just surfed and realized I'm on my boss's blogroll, which also features several other people from the office. I'll tell you what I'm not going to do. I'm not going to look over all of the posts that are still probably on this blog's homepage to see exactly what I've said about work before. I think I've said mostly good things...but certainly not delicately worded things. I'm not a woman of delicate words! I'm also not sure whether I should be embarrassed by how much of a diary this blog is as opposed to world commentary. I have a fair bit of philosophy scattered about, but most of that's before I started working anyway. So how about I at least throw a little bit of thought on this post, eh? Then I'll comment on the world at large. And the world at small.

Thought: I don't identify with one of the greatest theatrical character cliches, and I'm wondering if anyone does. This character is the one (more often than not, or at least a plurality of the time, a middle-aged woman) who needs everything to be perfect. Usually this hides some greater fear and then things end up not perfect and everything comes tumbling out because she's so damn DEEP her emotions can only be expressed in needing to make something perfect.

Does ANYONE identify with this woman? Please, tell me if you do! Also, tell me if you identify with the characters who express their emotions through other physical activities...not, like, rubbing the dishes really hard because their angry, but the ones who have to sew or cook or (in the greatest cliche) clean just to keep sane. These are theatrical cliches that are so tried and true that nobody looks down on them. Everyone praises them again and again. But I just fail to find these people real. Do you find them real? Or is this sort of thing just a very convenient and effective way to let emotions come through in a theatrical setting? Is this no longer a cliche but rather a trope?

I'm a big fan of tropes, and I always love to throw them in the face of cliche-criticizers. (Please note that I am not criticizing these characters because they're cliches, but rather because I don't find them effective or poignant and they make up such a huge body of theater. Plus everyone else likes them.) The low-born girl who wants to be a princess? Totally a trope. Someone slipping on a banana? Totally a trope. Extrapolate. When I saw The Beach with my mom, she thought it was a Lottery ripoff. I disagree. I think that story's gone from brilliant original to uncriticizable trope in 55 years flat. We now take these things not to have merit in themselves, but to be wonderful starting points that put us in a mindset that will direct the way we perceive th rest of the work. I love these things.

That was it for the observation. Really, please tell me how you react to these "can't stop cleaning, lest I face how I feel"-"must be perfect or my world will go to hell" characters.

World at Large: It precesses and nutates. What a crazy world! Oh, and Harrient Miers hasn't got a snowball's chance in the Amish country (too obscure?). They sent back her questionnaire with a big "Redo" on it. I haven't had that happen to me since 6th grade, and that was just because my handwriting was illegible. The Daily Show had a pretty funny spoof about that last night ("Maybe she shouldn't have answered question 6, in what states are you certified to practice law?, with 'Leahy is gea-hy!'") The conspiracy theorist in me says that this whole nomination was a Karl Rove plot to have one nominee get struck down so Bush would have a much easier time sneaking an arch-conservative in for round two. I mean, it would work! I think. And if I were Karl Rove, that's what I'd do. I'd do a lot of other things, too. And then I'd go to the innermost circle of hell. Yup.

World at Small: I've been redoing Paul Cameron's research. In case you didn't click the link, Paul Cameron is this hardcore anti-gay researcher who was kicked out of the American Psychological Association. If you've ever heard the statistic "gay parents are 11 times more likely than straight parents to abuse their children," that's his handiwork. So, anyway, I spoke to him for an hour last week, and I've spent a good portion of this week trying to figure out how I can analyze the data he analyzed for his most recent study. So I did a bunch of that today and found some interesting stuff. I would tell you more, but I want to keep your breath bated so you'll read the article when it comes out.

And for those of you who've been wondering (Chris A, George B and any others), the site hasn't launched yet. I'll keep you updated, I promise.