retrosexuality.

I've been saying, "Out with the metro-, in the retro-" for a really long time now. For those of you who aren't fimiliar with this terminology, allow me break it down.

metrosexual: (according to MSN Encarta)

young straight stylish urban man: a young, straight, sensitive urban man who is unashamed to enjoy good clothes, stylish living, the art of decorating, and improving his personal appearance ( informal )

[mid-20th century.]

retrosexual (according to the urban dictionary.)

A retrosexual is the opposite of a metrosexual. He is a guy who doesn't care about his looks.
I'm so over boys being prettier than me, my new boyfriend is totally retrosexual.

If that's still not clear, click here.

Okay, so maybe I'm a trend-follower or maybe I'm just growing up, but I completely agree. I'm tired of boys being prettier than me.

Once when giving Mike Alger some fashion advice I said, "I would never want to date a boy who dresses more carefully than I do... been there, done that. Look nice, but not too nice."

A few months ago, my brother, Carl, asked me for advice on what his new haircut should look like and within 5 minutes I was shaving his head with 1/2" clippers.

And I promise that I was saying all of this long before I met Josh. (It's just another one of those amazingly perfect things about him that he happens to be retrosexual.)The weirdest thing about my recent retrosexual trend is that I've become awfully retrosexual myself. It's true that my hair is still short and that I still don't like lacy things; but I recently bought my first pair of high heels (I like them so much that I'm planning a whole future entry around them), my first push-up bra, and my first non-grocery store makeup. I'm wearing perfume on a regular basis for the first time ever, and I've had my fingernails painted red for about 2 months straight with no plans of stopping anytime soon. I am loving it.

I'm not entirely sure what this says about me. An earlier version of myself may have been disgusted...

finished.

mike alger is ingenious.

Director Mike's notes: This was for a 24 hour competition, so it had to be shot and edited in 24 hours. Of course, we're awesome so I had it done in 18.
It had to have the theme of "Sacrifice," use the line of dialogue "Let me be your..." and use the object of a match at some point, but be no longer than 3 minutes.

obamarama.

This Common music video is the first place I heard of Barack Obama (you'll hear it at about 2:40.)

I used to joke that I was going to vote Obama because he liked hip hop. I thought it was really funny when my mom couldn't tell whether I was joking or not.

In all seriousness, however, I think that Obama's new term as leader of the free world will mark the beginning of an era in great hip hop.

All of my favorite hip hop albums were made around the turn of the century: Stuff like Blackstar, Common's "Like Water For Chocolate", Blackalicious's "Blazing Arrow", Mos Def's "Black on Both Sides", and definitely "Mama's Gun" by Erykah Badu.

In the midst of Hurricane Katrina, the Sean Bell scandal, and all of the turmoil that's surrounded every American citizen (War in Iraq, illegal government surveillance, etc.) a lot of the socially conscious artists that I like started to create a lot of pretty angry stuff.

Now they have something to celebrate. Can't wait to hear it...

i decided to embrace it.

If you don't get it, click here.

typography.

Found letters.
If you find anymore, let me know. I've gotta get all twenty-six.

new hobby.

As someone who has waved real signs protesting the Iraq war (the pic above is actually from a friend's surprise birthday party), it has been entertaining to collect the reactions of people who are catching word that I am dating a military guy.

When Whitney heard, she took me to see the movie, Valkyrie. She said that she loved good stories about good men trying to save the world.

I recently told some married friends about my news:

"Oh my gosh! We just barely saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. There's this girl in it who falls in love with a male model in her figure drawing class. I automatically thought of you and said something about how maybe that could be a dating strategy you could use... yeah, military... whoa, I never saw that coming."

I even try to even break it down gently for others who I think might feel particularly surprised. This was my method with my German friend (who tends to be a more left-leaning pacifist):

"So what is he like?"

"Uh, he speaks German; he actually lived in Germany for a while..."

"Oh, great!"

"Yeah, he actually also speaks French and Spanish...and he graduated from BYU in microbiology...

"Cool, cool..."

"And he's also serving in the military..."

"Oh...now that's, uh...different."

My brother (who's the Navy doc) explained, "Laura, if you're gonna date a military guy, you've gotta start learning some military vernacular." And then we talked for an hour just about how the military ranking systems work.

Yeah, I'll confess that there's a little culture shock involved for me. Even though this is just a paintballing pic, the whole feel of it strikes me as completely foreign (Josh is the one on the left):But as I've considered a relationship with a military guy, I've actually come to the conclusion that I may be well suited to it.

When I was married to someone with mental illness I joined NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness), volunteered, taught classes, attended support groups, read every book on Bipolar Disorder that I could possibly find (I am seriously an expert now), kept updated on new research and medications, and did my best to ensure that my spouse was receiving the best possible care that he had access to.

I think I can continue to demonstrate that kind of loyalty and support although the circumstances are different.

Furthermore, no matter how left-leaning I may be, I absolutely believe that the United States needs a military and that the military should be operated and run by quality people with a sincere desire to serve.

Here's a quote from the bottom of Josh's facebook page that sums up my sentiments (and probably Whitney's too):

We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
-George Orwell

Scary, but true.

I am likely to register as a Republican any time soon?
Nope.