02-03-2004 - 7:46 p.m.
So, everybody's talking about the Super Bowl halftime show. And of course I, being the self proclaimed Queen of Pop Culture, have my own opinions. And this being my personal forum for all my own opinions (good or bad, wrong or right), well... here we go.
First, a recap. We'll get to the boob in a minute guys, calm yourselves.
Janet Jackson just needs to stop having plastic surgery and admit she's nearing 40. Thank God she kept her stomache covered so that we didn't have to see her nasty ass ab implants. Seriously though, I'm all for a tight stomache but she somehow manages to make it look revolting. And if she's not careful, very soon her face is gonna be looking like Michael's.
Nelly and P. Diddy were by far the best part of the whole halftime debacle. Both gave solid performances as would be expected. And seriously, how can anyone deny loving Mr. Diddy??? How many men do you know that can pull off a white coat trimmed in fur? The one complaint I have though is why didn't they do some Shake Ya Tailfeather? I mean, they're onstage together yet don't perform what was undoubtedly one of the biggest hits of the summer?
Which brings me to my biggest complaint of all- Why was every song performed so freaking OLD??? Besides Rock Your Body, every song performed was at least as old as 2002. Like, was every singer and band with an actual current single booked that evening or what?
As for Kid Rock, he needs to either A) get a stylist and some plastic surgery (he could take a few tips from Janet) or B) just put himself and all of us who are subjected to his crap ass music out of our misery by shooting himself. Like, did he rip down that American flag on his way out of his dressing room and poke a hole in it for his head? He is just so amazingly gross and tacky. As is his music and stage show.
On a positive note, at least we didn't have to hear his winey ass sing that awful Picture song.
Justin... Justin, Justin, Justin. I love you baby, I really do. But did the boy not set his alarm on Sunday? Did he roll out of bed and jump on stage? I never thought these words would come from me, but he looked like CRAP. Could he have looked more disheveled? I mean, I'm totally all for the scruffy look- at the show I saw this summer he pulled it off nicely in Dickies, a tight vintage T-shirt and a trucker hat. But his clothes on Sunday weren't scruffy-chic, they were scruffy-trashy. I'm by no means suggesting he return to the rhinestone encrusted ensembles of his 'N Sync era, but for God's sake at least wear clothes that don't make you look homeless!
As for the Justin-assisted Janet Jackson peep show I didn't find the actual thing offensive- I mean, she just looked like Lil Kim on any given day. I was most offended that they did it on network television. I've come to expect that on MTV but certainly not on CBS. Both Justin and Janet should've had a little more tact and thought about the audience they'd be reaching when planning their little stunt. There were undoubtedly alot of kids watching when it all went down. Also, I think it's just one big publicity stunt to help boost Janet's currently non-existent music career. She's got a new album coming out this Spring, but for the past couple of years she's been more famous for hooking up with Justin and dating The Ugliest Man in the World aka Jermaine Dupri than she has for her voice. But personally, I don't think this episode will help her sell records. It kinda just makes her look desperate. If Britney or Christina did this they'd come across as youthful and reckless. Janet just comes across as being old and desperate to recapture her youth.
So, that's my take on the whole matter if you cared to know.
***
I've reached a point where I have some major decisions to make. To make a long story short, I'm very unhappy with my life at this point and I'm not sure what to do to make myself happy. Last weekend I was going through some of my stuff from last spring and found all the ads I had responded to when looking for a job. All the jobs were located up near where I went to college. Jane and I had planned on getting jobs in that area and living together. Of course, as luck would have it, neither one of us got a job in that area and both of us now live at home. Looking back, I'm so curious to know how different my life would be right now if I had gone ahead with the plan of staying near school. Quite a few doors in my life slammed shut when I moved home, yet very few new ones have opened. Friends were lost, not due to arguments or changes in values, but due to mileage and the old saying "out of sight, out of mind". I've felt my own spirit, which was once very bright, dimming over the past couple of months. Laughter, which used to spill out of me just about every 10 seconds, rarely finds a spot in my day.
So my dilemma is, what do I do? The simple response is... move! But the problem is that there's one aspect of my life that I love and don't want to give up. My job. The school I work in is so incredible, and I don't want to give that up. I can honestly say that working at my school for the past 5 months has taught me more than any college course ever did. Up until the age of 14, I lived in such a secluded bubble that I thought everyone in the world was white and Catholic. Then I went to public high school and encountered like 10 black people- woo hoo! My cultural horizons broadened a tad in college, but then I got this job and it's suddenly like WHOA! There's a whole world out there that I don't know about! Every classroom I walk into there's easily 3 or 4 different languages spoken, everything from Spanish, French, and Greek, to Arabic and Bengali. There are girls that come to school fully robed in traditional Muslim clothing with only their faces showing. There are kids with beautiful intricate henna designs painted on their hands. There are constantly kids out of school for weeks at a time because they're visiting their native countries. I'm constantly asking kids about the countries they're from, the languages they speak, and the different holidays and customs they have because I'm so interested to know about all these different cultures. Most days I feel like I'm the student, not the teacher.
But the point of that digression was that I really don't want to give up a job I adore and risk getting one I don't particularly care for. But at the same time I need to do something to get my social and personal life in something that resembles order. And of course I'm stressing out about all this shit. I've been getting chest pains alot lately (just writing about all this it's getting hard to breathe) and my digestive track (or is it tract???) is totally shot to hell.
I think I need acupuncture.
There's Gotta Be More to Life ~Stacie Orrico
I've got it all, but I feel so deprived
I go up, I come down and I'm emptier inside
Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing
And why can't I let it go
There's gotta be more to life...
Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me
Cause the more that I'm...
Tripping out thinking there must be more to life
Well there's life, but I'm sure... there's gotta be more
Than wanting more
