Author Archives: Christene

Selfies

I just read another article describing the selfie photo as a psychological disorder running rampant in our society. While the phenomenon is definitely reaching new heights I don’t believe it is a product of psychological issues as much as an innovation of technology. I think those who are predisposed to selfies now in no way outnumber those who had the same propensities for generations, but unlike before, now there is the medium and method in existence to cater to such desires.

When I was in high school girls loved being photographed as much as they do today, but photographs had to be taken. Girls would dress up, go to the mall and enter photo booths, or get cheap portraits taken of themselves or with friends, later to be distributed among said friends. But the actual selfie was ineffectual. Film was expensive. Then there were development fees for photographs, and the actual waiting period associated with taking your film to Thrifty’s (now Rite Aid), or to whatever local camera shop was available. From start to finish a roll of film could cost up to $30 at a time where minimum wage was $4.5o. And cameras did not offer editing. There was no knowing what pictures you took until well after the fact, and with each click you were spending several dollars while potentially capturing nothing more than the wall behind you. In was not an economical or viable means of self exposure.

Then the digital camera came along that made the process much easier, but carrying a camera along, digital or not, was cumbersome, and few did it. Not to mention you would upload the pictures onto your computer only to print them out later because social networks didn’t yet exist. Facebook was not a thing, and the closest thing to online distribution was to upload a photo to a friend via ICQ while your internet connection squawked at you.

When Facebook started it was only open to college students whose accounts would be authenticated by institutions. At the time I knew only two other people with an account, and we would in fact post pictures. Of each other. To each other.  The idea that you could use FB to associate with people you haven’t seen in more than ten hours hadn’t yet sunk in. The first time I “reconnected” with someone I hadn’t spoken to in a long time, despite that we were FB friends, I still felt like I was stalking them. So why in God’s name would I randomly post pictures of myself? Fast forward 10 years and my little FB account is alive and thriving and there are hundreds of pictures of me floating around the Internets. And yes, there are at least 2 dozen selfies of me somewhere (probably in the profile section of whatever account).

My point is that if the technology and means of distribution existed, my high school self and my friends would have been just as much into self exposure via selfies as others are today, and it would by no means have stopped at commencement. It has less to do with age as it does with ingrained behavior. Since I did not grow up with the equipment necessary for selfies, I am not used to taking them, and constantly fumble (and while I know some people are faster learners than others, as far as technology is concerned, if you make it, I can probably break it). Every once in a while I will take a good one, and immediately get excited like a three year old because “look! I did it!” Nevermind that my phone has a reversible camera.

Phones now have better and easier to use cameras than actual cameras used to have. Which is another reason selfies are everywhere – they are not a psychological disorder, but a product of convenience. Selfies cost nothing and can be immediately disseminated to hundreds, if not thousands of people. If you think your new top or make-up looks particularly cute one day, well… take a picture. Or, in my case, try to actually aim at yourself. And, if you are like me, you hoard your selfies as if they were some sort of precious commodity because you may not get another good one for a long time.

Speaking of which, since I don’t actually have anything worth posting, here is an adorable picture of Bix after I gave him a bath the other night.

BixBath

I am currently  waiting on psychologists to claim taking pictures of cute cats is also a psychological disorder and I will follow that up with a post on ancient renderings in tombs and pyramids  since people have obviously been suffering of this for a long time.

Grading Soundtrack

I have been grading papers every night all week. Sean, who is apparently doing the same thing, recently posted a grading soundtrack. I laughed, thinking he was being silly. He probably was. But, well, why not?

Since I do not foresee this ending anytime soon, and I do need a break, I have created a grading soundtrack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok… back to work…

 

The Red Bribe

covet cartoon girl with red hair_full

Some of you already know this (because God knows I complain about it enough), but my daughter recently turned four, and she absolutely refuses to use the toilet. This is far beyond a potty training issue, as she knows *how* to use the toilet, but will not. I have tried everything you can image, and have consulted all those around me. My pediatrician is out of ideas. My day care provider who has been in the business for nearly 2o years has never seen such a stubborn child. My friends and family have attempted helping as best they could. Ally is a resilient little thing.

My most recent efforts involved placing her on the toilet and not allowing her to leave until she has accomplished something, repeated over several days. Each time she will hold it all in until after the trial is over, up to five or six hours, and sometimes the entire day. This is obviously not healthy. She is fighting me on it to the point where I am actually worried about harming her if we keep this up, so of course I relent.

I have tried talking, ordering, threatening, bribing, but none of these methods work. We talk, and she promises she will try, but never does. I have ordered and she has done nothing. I threatened, but how am I supposed to follow through? I have bribed, but there is nothing she wants enough to give in for. Until now.

For almost a year she has been practically obsessed with my red hair. She has collected every red haired doll she could find (and Disney has done a great job recently with providing her with such things). She constantly asks about it, and has shown disappointment at not having any of her own. I have shown her pictures of younger me with blond hair just like hers, but her four year old mind cannot understand that my red hair is produced from a bottle. She wants to be like her mother which of course is very endearing to me. However, the older she gets, the more obsessive she has become about it. I have several times assured her that once she grows up, should she still want it, she can have it.

The other day she said that she wants to shave her head because she does not have red hair. My first reaction was to the extreme nature of her statement. I told Tanya about it who then related it to her husband, and he had an amazing idea. This is the one thing she has been asking about that is not fleeting (as in some of her interests that have lasted all of two days). This is something that she *really* wants.

Well, as it happens, there is something I really want. Hrm….

I immediately started researching different types of hair dye since the ones I use are pretty harsh. I found some organic henna ones that would work pretty well and have less chemicals than most commercial dyes. This is not to say they are totally not harmful, but considering I was only a few years older than Ally when my mother started dying my hair, I am sure she will be fine. And let’s just say my mom wasn’t too concerned with safety – little me got to experience peroxide at its best. However this does not mean I want to do that to her, so I found some that won’t damage her hair almost at all, will wash and fade over time, and won’t burn her skin. I am not saying this will be a regular thing, because it won’t. And she most certainly will not be dying her hair every three to four weeks like me. More like once a year at most. But, as I have now told her, if she uses the toilet regularly for an entire month, she gets to have red hair.

If this doesn’t work… I give up.