Letters to the Editor
Quiet Type
Published Letters: 656 Editor's Choice: 32
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@cyannah - those voices
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Why do so many young actresses use the same insipid, soft-spoken, yet extremely nasal, speaking style? These voices have a hard time putting across energy or enthusiasm."
You've described exactly what annoys me about virtually every show I watch! If you're out in the world, you hear countless types of voices among women, each voice helping to create a real, individual, interesting person. So it has to be that these actresses are all being TAUGHT to deliver every line, every thought, in that same insipid style. No energy or enthusiasm -- you got that right!
Don't believe me? Next time you're watching a show, close your eyes and just listen. And then take note of the infinitely more interesting variety in the men's voices.
I used to think it was irritating as hell that all the cable news babes sounded alike (obviously they're all taught that voice), but at least those voices communicate a bit of intelligence.
That will be the next big breakthrough in television: Women allowed to use their own, real, personal voice.
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Selling out ourselves.
[Read the article: Selling (out) girls' self-esteem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be smokers. This PSA sponsored by Marlboro.
Advertisers, masters of the shell game. So what else is new?
When I was in 6th grade (a milion years ago), we had a unit on advertising and its methods. It was the coolest thing I ever learned in school -- loved it, and it made me grow up to laugh at would-be manipulators and to be smart and cynical and credit card debt-free.
Do schools still do that?
No?
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Selling out ourselves.
[Read the article: Selling (out) girls' self-esteem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be smokers. This PSA sponsored by Marlboro.
Advertisers, masters of the shell game. So what else is new?
When I was in 6th grade (a milion years ago), we had a unit on advertising and its methods. It was the coolest thing I ever learned in school -- loved it, and it made me grow up to laugh at would-be manipulators and to be smart and cynical and credit card debt-free.
Do schools still do that?
No?
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Toys by HGTV
[Read the article: Home-decorating dreams?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Just be glad HGTV isn't in the toy business (yet). There'd be granite countertops and built-in shelves. Have fun assembling THOSE, Dad!
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Pink Illusions
[Read the article: Home-decorating dreams?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I saw that commercial again tonight, so I watched really carefully. Guess what? There's very little pink. There's tons of blue and yellow and some green, and some pink. I think the first-time viewer is left with an impression of pink because the kid is wearing a pink top, so when she's prominent in the visual field you're left with pink on the brain. Watch again and see.
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That treehouse
[Read the article: My daughter has ADD and we need more space!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Except for the terribly unsafe fact that any 3-year-old and or 6-year-old should not be left alone in a treehouse while the parents enjoy their tranquility, it's a really good idea. Of course, one parent at a time could go and hide out there while the other watches the kids inside the house.
LW should turn on HGTV for a week or so to get some ideas about how to turn inefficient houses into happy homes. There's all kinds of add-on ideas, conversion ideas, alternate usage ideas that make the house bigger and better -- even things like color schemes that have calming effects, furniture arrangements that allow kids to run around without hurting themselves,materials that are kid-proof, etc. Then definitely talk to some interior design/architectural types who have experience in creating homes for rowdy kids.
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re: don't kill your trees
[Read the article: My daughter has ADD and we need more space!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]FYI: Treehouses can be built around and through the tree, requiring no nails at all and causing no injury to the tree. A wonderful exhibit of artists' treehouses designed around trees were on display at Morton Arboretum in Illinois a couple of years ago, and Dallas had a similar exhibit recently.
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Take him seriously. Take him very, very seriously.
[Read the article: It was a joke (we think)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Bush doesn't say anything he doesn't mean (except when he's saying something nice, like "I'm a compassionate conservative").
Remember that offhand remark in his "I won the election" speech, something to the effect of "I've got political capital, and now I'm going to spend it"? He wasn't kidding then, either.
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Gramma made it a case of the face.
[Read the article: Are our husbands really so helpless?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I hadn't given a thought to Mrs. McCann's looks until Gramma brought it up. Now that she has, and therefore I've taken a closer look -- I'm sorry, but Gramma's pretty laughable to me. Mommy is not attractive; she looks like an anorectic witch -- which has absolutely no bearing on whether I believe she's guilty or not. (For the record, from the moment I heard this story, not yet having seen what she or Dad looked like, I decided the both of them were guilty of stunning neglect for leaving the kids alone, if nothing else.)
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Net gain
[Read the article: Ellen, the dog bullies and me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is such an ugly story in every aspect, and at first I was truly disgusted with Ellen for making it a show topic, indulging herself with tears and creating so much ill will for an organization that loves animals. Why didn't she work out her personal story on a personal level, where it belonged?
But the more I read these letters, the more I think maybe some real good will have been done in the long run. If pet adopters can become more sensitized to their own ethical responsibilities once they commit to a living being, and if pet shelters can become more aware of the need to loosen unnecessarily rigid policies -- well, then maybe all this pain, scrutiny and sadness will yield better things for abandoned animals.
I want to think so.
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Mmm.... wincey,...
[Read the article: I Like to Watch]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Office doesn't have to be funny ha-ha. It has to be funny wince-wince. Which it is -- very, very wincey. I LOVE it. To me, it's better than ever. (And yes, it has few paper references, and yes, that makes its business kind of besides the point, which makes it kind of genius. What could be more throwaway, more temporal, more thin and flimsy and fragile, than paper, not mention our jobs?)
And you know what's been really cool and very surreal? Watching The Office, followed bt Mad Men. Now THAT'S the tv-watching experience, my friend!