Beauty versus Anger

I'm sure you've all seen this commercial by now that has been put out by Dove.








I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, to be quite honest. When it first came out, I applauded Dove's charisma and felt somehow vindicated. Like many women, it completely sickens me to no end that we live in a society where female perfection and beauty is so out of touch and out of reach. I look at my beautiful daughters and hurt for them as I know that they too will be bombarded with these images everyday and (like me) will have to figure out how to get past it and realize that the images portrayed aren't even worth the paper they are printed on. It's a long and on going process to remind yourself that the images we are fed and try to measure up to aren't even real. I'm sure I'm like most women and have good days and bad days with this.


I was watching a documentary not too long ago about a girl who went to New York to become a model and was shocked when her first print ad came out and she could tell that (among other more prominent things) her elbows had been airbrushed and enhanced. Her elbows. I mean, really, are we all that worried about the fact that this girls elbows might have been sticking out a quarter of and inch too far? She certainly was. For the next half an hour I listened to this fledgling model complain about her ugly elbows until I couldn't take it anymore and finally turned on "Deadliest Catch."

Although the main reason I reached for the clicker was to finally relieve my ears of all the whining, I knew there was a part of me that had to change the channel because I recognized a piece of myself in that girl. We all have impossible standards we are forever trying to live up to. It would be great to say I love my body for what it is and "embrace" myself whole heartedly, but frankly I would either be lying or completely delusional. However, I can recognize that no, I don't have to take whatever morphed, airbrushed and pinched face the current cosmetic line is shoving down my throat and swallow, I have a choice. Which brings me back to this ad...

At first it seems great. It's exposing the beauty industry for the lie that it is. Showing us first hand what we (deep down) knew all along. Then we get excited. Yeah, you tell 'em Dove. We're warped! We're a deluded society! We lie to women and make them feel ashamed of their natural looks! I'm so mad I'm going to shirk all my other products and go buy some Dove products right now!! Aha...

Don't get me wrong. I like Dove. I have nothing personal against Dove. I even use a few Dove products here and there. And, yes, I do applaud Dove for taking a different direction in advertising. But, that is just what it is; advertising. Dove makes a product. They need to sell that product. They have an image in which they are trying to portray onto their product. I'm just not sure if replacing the need for beauty with the anger over it is such a good idea.

I want my girls to grow up strong and self-assured and I want them to love themselves inside and out. I want them to feel good about themselves the way I never did until a few years ago. For that reason I hope Dove's Campain for Real Beauty is just that, a real voice of reason in this messed up image driven world. Unfortunately, so far, I feel as if its just another grab at my pocketbook.

Bacon

We sort of have a running joke in my house that everything is made better with bacon.

Sandwiches, better. Breakfast, better. Vegetables, better. Lately I've been finding recipes and culinary concoctions that take this notion right to it breaking point and back. Take this...


Yes, that's right. It's chocolate covered bacon (and at $17.00 a pound no less!) I have to say, I am a bit intrigued. It's a combination of sweet, salty, fatty, crispy, chewy. It's probably not half bad. The real question is, can you ever really live with yourself once you've crossed over into the chocolate and pork fat combination? Yeah, I think I could...


Here's some other rather interesting examples of the limitless (and possibly unnecessary) uses for bacon:

Candied Bacon

Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Apple Bacon Pie

Bacon Ice Cream

Bacon Cake


Some of these actually look pretty interesting. I'm very much a "don't knock it 'til you try it kinda girl" when it comes to most gastronomical adventures, so I am in no way condemning these recipes. I really just never thought of having bacon with ice cream...

Somedays, I feel like this cat...

If Giants were Artists

Like Paint by Numbers, Only Yummier...

Trying to figure out what on earth to make tonight? This website is great. Check off what you have on hand and it'll give you a recipe option. It's also pretty funny sometimes. I got a bit carried away and typed in a bunch of totally bizarre ingredients just to see what it would give me, and behold it game me Bacon Suprise which consisted only of cooking a rasher of bacon and then eating it. Hmmm... I'm not sure if that constitutes a recipe, but hey everything is better with bacon, right?

http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/frames.html

Manna from Heaven

I'm pretty sure this is the world's most perfect cereal.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Goodness all under the guise of a healthy breakfast. I remember when these first came out when I was in college and my roommate and I would save our pennies to buy a couple boxes each week. We loved them and ate them regularly for dinner.
So, they were on sale yesterday at the market and I thought, "hey, why not?" I'll tell you why not. I've have 4 bowls in less than 24 hours and I've already hidden the second box where the kids can't find it. I don't care, judge me if you will, but I'm pretty sure this is what manna had to have tasted like (probably just a little more nutritious.)

purple

A while back I saw these irises at the farmer's market and decided they were the most perfect color of purple that ever was. I even was motivated enough to photograph them (and for all of you who know the throws of the Genevieve saga, that's a pretty big deal.) I finally got around to finishing up the image to just how I like it. So here is the most perfect color of purple that ever was.