Letters to the Editor
Allie_
Published Letters: 1252 Editor's Choice: 109
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hope for the future
[Read the article: Midlife crisis: I could have been a singer!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think Cary (and the other writers so far) kinda missed the point on this one. It appears to me that the LW doesn't need to explore self-expression nearly as much as she needs the possibility of a future that's not a big, steaming pile of crap like the present. It's probably difficult for most Salon readers to appreciate how dismal life in fly-over country can be. I have a brother-in-law who lives in Indiana. His crappy factory job is the highest-paying job in town. He can't figure out how to make enough money to get OUT of town, and like the LW, he has kids, which makes him reluctant to take chances.
Letter-writer: The most alarming thing about your letter was how you described your husband. No ambition beyond recording the latest reality show? There are women out there who would be fine with that. You don't sound like one of them. Contempt is a sure-fire relationship killer.
You mentioned debt. No one can live for very long without hope that the future will be better than the present. I'm guessing what you mean when you say he has no "ambition" is that he's fine with being in debt, living paycheck to paycheck at the borderline of misery, for the rest of your lives, and has no plan to change anything.
You can try to light a fire under him, but it probably won't work. The only fire you can really light is your own.
It's not going to be easy with a small child, but you need to make plans. They don't have to be huge "pick up and move to another state abandoning my child and becoming a famous singer" plans, and they don't have to be plans that will pay off right away. They just have to be plans that open up the possibility of change for the better. Start with plans that solve your concrete problems, a little bit at a time. How much debt do you have? How much more money than you are taking in would you need to be able to start gaining instead of losing? How can you get that money? Can you get it where you live now, or does your first plan need to be moving to a place that isn't a dump? You aren't really "stuck" in that small town, you know. There are indeed places in the world where people can make a living doing exciting things. Location makes a huge difference. One way to get around the location problem is to use the internet. Can you put your music on the internet? Can you do something else people will pay for over the internet? Figure out what it is you want, and then figure out how to get it, a step at a time.
In the meantime, yeah, sing. Sing every day. Spend a little bit of the money you don't have on bubble stuff and blow bubbles. Take care of your heart, whatever it takes.
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haha
[Read the article: "I'm not an overhyped luxury handbag"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oh gosh, I want the "I'm not a smug twat" bag. But it unfortunately conflicts with my personal "I'm not a walking billboard" policy.
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oh, by the way
[Read the article: "I'm not an overhyped luxury handbag"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd never buy a reusable bag, for the simple reason that people keep GIVING ME the bloody things. I have about twenty of them, I try to give them to friends, but my friends all have their own collection. Fight cancer bag. Local writer's guild bag. Listener-supported radio station bag. Anyone who needs to order one of these bags over the internet must be a hermit.
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article doesn't say what it claims to say
[Read the article: How young is too young for mascara?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From the article:
Among chemicals under scrutiny are parabens (para-hydroxybenzoic acids) which are preservatives used in products including soap, shampoo, deodorant and baby lotion. Traces of parabens have been found in breast tumour samples, although its link to the development of the cancer is disputed.
Sodium lauryl sulphate, used to help create lather in soaps, shampoo, shaving foam, toothpaste and bubble bath, can cause skin irritation.
That's all the article has to say about which chemicals are allegedly so dangerous. Funny, I feel like something's missing... what was it again? Oh yeah, any mention of actual MAKEUP! If we're supposed to stop wearing deodorant, bathing, and washing our hair (all things that men as well as women do) then that should be the headline. Instead we get this hysteria-driven garbage directed at women only.
By the way, the only thing I wear on my face on a daily basis is foundation - which contains sunscreen - which doctors say you should wear on a daily basis. Can't win for fucking losing, eh?
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I think pregnancy must damage the word-recognition centers of the brain
[Read the article: For now, the baby's name is "Baby"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you are pregnant and reading this site, please visit "Baby's named a bad, bad thing" (link in a letter below) before you sign anything legally binding. Then THINK! Do you really want your child to sound like the heroine of a Celtic bodice-ripper, or a porn star, or a pet?
I ran into a girl named Tequila the other day. Guess her parents named her after the reason they got together.
My husband used to work at a store that personalized gift items. The most appalling name he ever encountered was Contortia - obviously a girl born to be a side-show performer.
Also - if your son's name is Jacob or Caleb and I know it because you have a latte in one hand and a cell phone in the other so you are feebly yelling, "Jacob! Honey, mommy said to stop that ten times already!" while your spawn drools on my purse strap, I get to come over there and spay you with a blunt instrument. You have no individual personality, so there is no actual loss.