karmanotdharma

I ♥ Michael Pollen

Walmart's Latest Move to Crush the Competition.

Walmart loves to shock and awe. City-size stores, absurdly low prices ($8 jeans!) and everything from milk to Matchbox toys on its shelves. And with the recession forcing legions of stores into bankruptcy, the world's largest retailer now apparently wants to take out the remaining survivors.

Thus, the company is in the beginning stages of a massive store and strategy remodeling effort, which it has dubbed Project Impact.. One goal of Project Impact is cleaner, less cluttered stores that will improve the shopping experience. Another is friendlier customer service. A third: home in on categories where the competition can be killed. "They've got Kmart ready to take a standing eight-count next year," says retail consultant Burt Flickinger III, managing director for Strategic Resources Group and a veteran Walmart watcher. "Same with Rite Aid. They've knocked out four of the top five toy retailers, and are now going after the last one standing, Toys "R" Us. Project Impact will be the catalyst to wipe out a second round of national and regional retailers."

Though that's bad news for many smaller businesses that can't compete, Walmart investors have clamored for this push. Despite the company's consistently strong financial performance, Wall Street hasn't cheered Walmart's growth rates. During the 1990s, the company's stock price jumped 1,173%. In this decade, it's down around 24% (Walmart's stock closed at $51.74 per share on Sept. 3). "Walmart is under excruciating pressure from employees and frustrated institutional investors to get the stock up," says Flickinger..

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So does anyone here boycott Walmart? I can't say I think they're evil for expanding and growing as much as they can, but I do think it has an evil effect on our culture and the ability of other companies to do well. And for the friendly service? Maybe if they tried to ensure a good life at all for their employees instead of only worrying about their profits and expansion, perhaps they'd see a few more smiles.

Title: The Family
The Family

I got yelled at by a psychotic english teacher today. He came up to us, and as most people can't tell the difference between pre-paid tickets and purchase tickets I asked if he was looking to buy tickets. He goes, "NO I"M NOT LOOKING TO BUY TICKETS, I'M PLANNING ON BUYING TICKETS." Then he goes on a rant about the English language and how it's degenerating blah blah blah. Which is funny because I totally agreed with him, I just didn't appreciate being yelled at for it. And he ranted on and on about it. But he slopped together the problems of slang, public speaking, and bad grammer all together. My favorite was when the guy who was trying to sell him tickets misheard him, and said "My bad," and the psycho went, "you can't say that because you're caucasion, that's black slang." Now I'm in a small suburb of Cleveland, where I've seen maybe 2 black people, especially in my job in the box office for the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, but I come from SC, where there were more black kids than white kids in my school and everyone had the same basic vocabulary of slang. This guys talking about how he taught in inner city schools and how what is this world coming to when hip hop music is considered an art form. I responded to that with well, not all hip hop is, but the good stuff is a viable art form, and he goes, "well, aren't you judgemental." And he goes off on the kids who talk slang but dress up nice and wear expensive jewelry, and if you're going to talk low-class, you should really look low-class as well. He came back at intermission, and apologized for yelling at me, but then continued his rant. It was very entertaining, exept for the fact that my one job was to get people to put their email addresses into our computer since we're going paperless, and he was standing right in front of the computer! And each time he came back to rant, he would get so frustrated that he would walk off in the middle of it. Then he terrorized the musicians some. And this was the second night he had come to our performance because he thought it was so good. At one point in his rant, he was like maybe I should just drink more Jack Daniels and retire and just forget about the whole thing. I said Maybe really pointedly and went to help another customer. Ha!

I seem to have gotten myself into a little situation here, despite the fact that I've had at least 3 weeks to get myself out. A guy who plays in the orchestra that I work the box office for asked me to a nightclub to see live music. I said yes, and then realized that maybe he thinks it's a date. Now he's nice, but he's rediculously older than me, I'm 24 and I'd put him at at least 45. Some may be cool with that, but it's not where I'm at at the moment. So I'm still going, and I'm semi-dressed up even, a skirt, high heel bootlets, and a t-shirt with a fashionable brown jacket. And if it's awkward, it'll prolly be awkward every time I see him, which is at least once a month, which isn't so bad, and he'd prolly be really nice about it, but even so I'd feel bad cause he is a nice guy. He was the only one who talked to me at this hellish reception I had to go to so I could clean up after it was over. But at least he's a recovered alcoholic so he won't be drinking and neither will I, even if I am drinking a bit before I go to steel my nerves (I'm not so much nervous about going with him as I am that I'll freak out in the really crowded atmosphere), but there won't be any bad drunken decisions made, and at least I'd hope that wouldn't happen anyway (do people ever grow out of that?). And at least it's a crowded place so he can't try anything, but then again we'll prolly have to lean close to hear each other. Hmm. Anyways, I'd love to see my Dad's face if I told him I went on a date with an older man, since before he married his recent wife, he went out with a couple of really younger women.

So, I've started taking Effexor, which really seems to be working out for me, I've got a part-time job recently that forces me to work on how I relate to the world outside of me without sending me into total panic, and I've lost 12 pounds in an effort to get healthier and at a good weight (8 more pounds to go!). So I'm at a decently good place that I can try to increase my productivity while staying calm. But I had this plan to start working out in the morning before work, instead of at night, because it will be more useful in burning calories during the rest of the day, and I actually went last Friday at 9:30 AM! Now the times I want to go at are the times that the gym is the least busy, so there was hardly any people there then and after working out I felt a lot better for the rest of the day. The snag was that the guy who works at the smoothie place is really cute and every time we see each other we give each other eyes and say hi flirtaciously, which is fine, but I am filled with dread before I know that I'm going to see him again. It wasn't so bad before because the smoothie place was on the second floor where I never go, but now they've moved it to the first floor just a little farther from the front desk. So I would be standing 3 feet away from him and have to walk by him to get the exercise floor. Now ok, I try to think positively, that hey if I talk to him, maybe we'd hit it off and get together, but I don't really want to deal with all those issues while feeling nasty and sweaty from working out, and worrying about whether or not I shouldn't have worn those tight pants. Also, I'm pretty sure he's a college student and younger than I am, and that is not what I want to be in contact with right now. So I've decided that until I get up the nerve, I am going back to the gym at night, so at least I get the exercise. :(

So, hi! I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow or the next day, and I've been wanting really short hair for a really long time now, so I figured since I'm jobless and friendless at the moment this would be a good time to do it, and if it looks awful I'll just hide in my room until it grows back lol. I had it cut really short one time, but I didn't want it, I asked for a chin length bob and my evil stepmother bribed the hairdresser to cut it above my ears. It was a bad cut, and people thought I was a boy the first time they saw me, which now might not be such a bad thing (androgeny is cool sometimes) but was rather traumatizing in 6th grade. When I was younger I kept my hair really long, but in the last few years I've been having it cut to my chin, and really loved it, and now I'm really thinking about going even shorter. The one thing I know is that I need bangs. The evil stepmother wouldn't let me grow my bangs out when I was a kid, so when I got older I grew them out and kept them out, but now, grr, I realize she was right. Anyways, I was hoping for advice, and if you could tell me if it would be really stupid to go short? Thanks in advance!


( This is me )

I've always thought my face was too big for a short cut, like my cheeks are too chubby...thoughts? Help!

P.S. This is the first time I've tried to put anything in an lj cut, so I'm sorry if it doesn't work.

I went to the library today. First off, I wanted something by Jasper Fforde because I was interested. I could only find Something Rotten, and the cover said it was the fourth of the Thursday Next novels, so I was wondering if they should be read in order or if I can start with this one, or is there a better one?

Second, I've had a rule ever since I was a kid, that I could only bring home as many books as I could carry, or else I would be bringing the entire library/bookstore home with me. Which often means that I nearly break my back with all the books I want. lol. So at the library today, of course all the books I want are huge hardcovers, and I'm trying to walk around without looking like I'm going to hurt myself. But as I was heading to the checkout people kept giving me looks, and I suddenly felt very conscious that I totally look like I have no life (which is mostly true lol but I like to keep up appearances!). I mean noone else had hardly any books at all. Has anyone else ever felt embarrassed by the amount of books they're getting? I mean I know I shouldn't, whatever, who really cares what everyone else thinks, but still I wish that the one thing I absolutely love to do wasn't something that it seems tons and tons of people don't do, and think it's weird when they see someone who does like to read. I remember in elementary school they had those mail order programs where you get a catalogue and you can order and pay for the books you want, and then they come in the teachers hand them out, and I was always the one with a stack of books that would fall over if I didn't keep an eye on them, much much taller than everyone else's. I loved that program, and my Mom would always pay for as many as I wanted because she loves to read and she understands, but I always got teased for the amount of books I got. Not that that has ever actually deterred me, my love of books being much more than my love of people who don't get me lol. That's one of the reasons I love these communities because they are the only places really where I can find other people who read.

Crossposted to a few places :)

So I went for a walk with my mom today, and as we were going to cross the road at one point, a car drove by, and I could see three people inside of it laughing and yelling and as it passed the driver leaned towards me and yelled "whore!" WTF? I wasn't even dressed provocatively. I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, with a sweater over it, a skirt, and sneakers. When I got home I realized that my skirt, which has slits to make walking easier, had torn a little so the slits went higher up, but not high enough to be scandalous in any way. But still. It was a nice neighborhood and everything, and I was with my mother. This is the second time that we've gone on a walk and somebody's been rude from the safety and anonymity of a car. I hate people sometimes. All we wanted to do was take a nice walk on a nice day. That shouldn't make us fair game for whoever wants to be assholes.

"I distrust camels, and anyone else who can go for a week without a drink."
-Joe E Lewis


"Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me."
-Winston Churchill
->I read in a biography that he didn't really drink that much, but felt he had to act like he did for his image.

So I was walking across the room to go to the bathroom, and decided suddenly that it was time to rearrange the bookshelf that holds all my history books in it. It took awhile, but it got done. And then I really had to pee. I'm weird sometimes.

I went to Blockbuster 5 months ago, and was going to get a Band of Brothers episode, but decided to go with another movie instead so I put it down in the drama section and forgot about it. I remembered that I wanted to see it again today when I went so I went to look for it and it wasn't there. Then, lo and behold, walking through the drama section I found it. Exactly where I had put it down 5 months ago. Apparently Blockbuster doesn't go through their racks often, judging by that, and how many movies were completely out of place (which I've noticed they tend to stay that way). Anyways, I picked up another movie to look at the back, and realized it had a sticker on the front that I'm pretty sure wasn't put there by anyone associated with Blockbuster. It had a woman's face with bones crossed underneath, and it said something like, "there's violence against women in this film, do you really want to support this with your hard earned money?" I noticed some more after that one. So I wasn't sure how I felt about this. I understand the intent, and agree with it to an extent, but where I run into murky water is how it was done.
1) As I'm pretty sure whoever was placing the stickers didn't have permission to do so, he/she is defiling property that doesn't belong to them. Yeah, I know, it's Blockbuster, screw them. But that doesn't really change the point. And it's not such a huge point, but it'd be bigger in a small independently run video store right? And not only that...I have an issue with people putting stickers on covers that covers up what you want to see on the cover, if that makes any sense. Why do people always put stickers on the actors face, or on one of the important words. I have an issue with that in bookstores too. Put stickers in blank spaces people!
2) Will this work? It seems like an issue that hasn't had so much publicity if you have to actually put stickers on the movies themselves to get people to understand. What could work better?
3) It seems unfair that you can't put these stickers on all deserving movies, so only the ones that you can get to before running out of stickers, or getting thrown out of the store, or just get sick of the whole deal, might be good movies. And who gets to decide what movies get the stickers? I have seen a couple of the ones that had stickers, and they weren't bad movies, that I recall. I don't remember the violence in them, or if the violence against the women was particularly gratuitous, since I'm sure I hadn't been watching them through a viewpoint, and they were a long time ago.
4) Wouldn't you run out of paper to print stickers on if you put stickers on every single movie with violence towards women? And who's worrying about violence towards men? Anyone? I guess the action sections out lol. This points more of a joke, but still.

Perhaps I'm wrong and Blockbuster did allow the stickers. I don't know. They seemed a bit belligerent, or aggressive, for corporate sponsorship though. Has anyone heard of like a group doing or condoning this? Cause I'd be more interested to know their ideology and what else they are doing to spread awareness about the issue. And I don't completely disagree with this message or the way it was put out there, I'm more just interested on other's thoughts about it. Maybe it's just one person, or not. And I hope that this post doesn't seem angry or anything, cause I'm definately not outraged or anything. Maybe it's small potatoes. Just thinking about it. Interested in other's opinions.

To add to the discussion, what movies troubled you in regards to violence against women? It seems like a touchy topic with no absolutes, but it'd be interesting to know. Thinking about this issue, I've decided that I won't see Hostel 2, not only cause the first one sucked IMO, I find that I absolutely don't need the experience doubled, this time with women! Not that I would have seen it if I hadn't seen these stickers, but maybe now I'll be a little pissy about it too!

So I looked at the books I am currently reading, and realized that I was trying to read 6 books and getting nowhere in any of them. So the only solution was to go to the library and get a whole stack more. It was fun though, I had some time so I spent a looooong time just going through all the books. I think I spent something like 4 hours there. Yeah too much time on my hands, but it was time well spent imho.
Anyways, while I was in the movie section there was this guy who looked to be maybe almost 30? and his son, or at least a little boy who happened to be with him, and they were speaking in a strange language. It wasn't anything I recognized but it sounded so cool!! Anyways, I gradually realized that everything the boy said included the word popsicle. It went sdajfh asdjgaui sdgha popseeeeckle fshg? And the father would respond, in a tone of trying to look at movies and keep the kid near him. And the kid kept saying it. Someone walked by and said you want a popsicle? And the man responded yeah he's going to buy a popsicle. But it was sooooo cute. At one point another little boy walked by with his mother, and the the first kid went up to him and said the whole thing, shdgh sdjghu esjg popseeeeckle hsfjgh? Like he didn't realize that everybody didn't speak the same language! I just about died he was sooo cute.
Later, I was looking in the young adult section for a couple of books that I wanted to reread from childhood. I went by the vending machine, and looked at the stuff inside, and I thought hey almost everything in there is healthy, and it's all priced cheap. Like it had 3 choices of soda but they were all diet, and everything else was pure healthy, or at least a lot healthier than what you find in most machines, so I decided I'd buy something, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted. There were two girls in front of me, trying to decide as well. I'd say they were maybe 8 or 9, one a little older than the other. When the older girl saw me standing behind them, she practically shoved the other out of the way to let me go. So I told them I was still trying to decide. So the younger girl gets a diet coke, and I hear her say this isn't good for my diet, and I look at her and I go you don't need to be on a diet. Sure she was kinda chubby, but she was really pretty, and I think, still at the age when baby fat hasn't left. She looks at me and goes, yeah I do, I'm fat. My jaw nearly hit the ground. Her friend was like you shouldn't say that, and I was like you're not fat, and if you're worried about your weight you should just concentrate on eating well and staying active. I told her that I thought that I was fat when I was her age, and that now I look at pictures and think I missed the time in my life when I wasn't actually overweight. But I would never have gone on a diet. I just think it's sad. 8 year olds shouldn't be restricting themselves to a diet. Yeah precautions and healthy choices are good, but not diets! I know kids are supposedly growing up too fast these days, but...that's not a good thing. Not to mention the whole thing made me feel old! lol.
When I left I went to the grocery store for some juice, as I was leaving, I was walking behind 3 college age kids, walking out with their beer. You know how stores have the automatic in and out doors? The college kids were heading towards the in door, which obviously you can't get out of, and at the last minute veered off towards the correct door. Well, a woman from outside was trying to get in, and I think she saw them heading for the in door, so assumed that the other door was the one to get in, so she walked up to it expecting it to open. Well this is just when the college kids headed for the same door, realizing it was the one that went out, and just as the woman got close, they activated the door, and it swung out into her. She wasn't hurt, I think she managed to kind of duck slash step behind the door. But just as the door opened and you could see what was going to happen, the guy behind the two girls was like WOH HOH HOH! and started laughing his ass off. The other two girls were a little embarrassed I think, but none of them acknowledged the woman or apologized, or anything. Granted, it wasn't exactly their fault, but the guy made a joke out of it, and the poor woman just had to walk by them. I was so ashamed. I was walking behind them, and of course I probably looked like I was with them. This woman was probably 70 years old, this little old woman. Argh. I tried to smile really nice at her when she walked by but she was looking down at the ground.
What I mean to say by this horribly long post at 4 in the morning, is what the hell happens from childhood to adulthood? What goes wrong?

So the local artsy theater was putting on a screening of Taxi Driver tonight. I went. I was nervous, cause I didn't have anyone to go with as I know no one in Cleveland. I almost psyched myself out of going. I don't mind going to movies by myself, but I feel like there's a stigma against it. It was fun though. I was slightly bored through it, however. I also started freaking out towards the end, cause I had to park at the back of the parking lot, and I started thinking about what if someone broke into my car or was waiting to jump me when I got out. Nothing bad happened though, thank God. Seriously, I love the movie, but I think that possibly the main thing I love for it is Robert De Niro and his incredible acting. Some parts are just kinda slow, and I felt like a couple of scenes were dragged out a bit too long. He's amazing. I want to have his babies. He's incredible, in everything I've seen him in. I think that the recent comedies he's made have sucked though, and I'm super glad The Good Shepard came out, which I thought was amazing, even if others didn't think so. I hope it means a return to good movies, or at least an end to sucky ones.

A couple of guys showed up to the theater with mohawks...there was free popcorn for anyone with a mohawk. Between Bobby and those guys, I have to say mohawks are hot! I kind of like the ones that aren't so extreme, the ones that aren't completely bald, but the hair still comes to a point in the middle. And kids with mohawks are adorable. Almost makes me want to have a little boy so that I can give him a faux mohawk. Which makes me think of people with poodles who give them ridiculous haircuts. So, obviously no kids for me until I think of a better reason for having them. LOL. I also want a little girl so I can name her Karma. I wonder just how screwed up my kids will be if I ever have any. In the end, I think I would settle for simply kissing a guy with a mohawk. And a guy with a lip ring, just to see how it would feel. Even better: a guy with a mohawk and a lip ring!!

I'm writing this for me, and anybody who happens to look at my site for some reason. More just cause I feel like writing into oblivia. I wish that was a real word. It sounds so much better than what it's supposed to be.

I finished a biography on Simone de Beauvoir a couple of days ago. It seemed weird to read her biography when I haven't actually read all that much by her. I had read She Came to Stay maybe a year and a half ago, and I read her introduction to The Second Sex for my women's history class in college, which was what introduced me to her. I do consider myself lucky that I happened on her first, rather than becoming aware of her through Jean-Paul Sartre, for while he did play a tremendous role in her life, she is worthy to be considered alone, and for her own right. The biography was extremely interesting and well-written, well deserved by her. She fascinates me as a woman, as an intellectual, as a role-model. I wish there were more women like her. I do believe society has advanced in the question of equality between the sexes, but there seems so much that has been forgotten, or vanished. I wish I lived in a world where people thought that literature and ideas could actually make an impact. I'm sure there are pockets in which they still exist, but they're nowhere near me. All I see around me are people who would rather watch tv than read a book, would rather get drunk than think for themselves or have a conversation. And I can't say that I'm above any of it myself, not at all. What gets me, is that she moved in the same group, she lived through all their escapades, she dealt with Sartre sleeping with every young thing he could seduce, the petty ways that people can be, and she stayed. I'm reading The Mandarins now, I'm about halfway through (I was inspired to read everything she's written), and there's a scene where a young girl dares the male main character to drink two glasses of champagne to prove he won't get drunk, and he wakes up in a hotel room with her the next morning when she tells him she spiked the drinks with brandy so that he would sleep with her, and in the end she only wanted to sleep with him so that he would take her with him to Spain. His only problem with it was that he wished he could remember sleeping with her. I try to see those types of stories as they are, in the context, and how she wants to portray them, but it seems a bit much. Anyways, I'm madly jealous to know there existed such a beautiful woman who could think and think for herself, when it's all I want to be. It gives me something to aspire to, a reason to write, to think, to be.

I saw Pan's Labyrinth last night. I was so determined to see it. I saw it was set in Barcelona, my favorite place in the entire world so far, and I was so excited to see it. Even if it turned out not to show so much of it. I loved the fantasy part, and I thought the real world part was intriguing as well. My only problem was with the violence. I'm not usually against violence, I have no problem with it, but it seemed greatly exaggerated in this film. The Captain was an archetype character, a perfect foil to use as the villain in real life, as you would expect in a story dealing with fairy tales, so I didn't think all the extremely violent scenes that he was in served a purpose. You know he's bad, you know he's evil. You don't need to see him do something evil 10 times to get it thoroughly drilled into your head. Not that the scenes were badly done, but I think if they were perhaps fewer they would be more moving and horrifying. And since it was a story about a young girl, I thought more of that evil energy could have been used in a more personal relationship between the two characters. She doesn't see these horrible acts, it seems her conflict is more about losing her real father and being forced to move, and peripherally knowing that it was a bad situation her mother was in. What I thought was that the two worlds could have been better linked together, that of the girl and the captain, as well as the real world and the fantasy one.