Filed under: Animation — posted by Chris @ 9:05 am
Nice Guy: The Movie! In this 2-minute Breakup Girl animation, she meets a Nice Guy — the kind of “teddy bear” no one wants to sleep with — and helps him finish first.
Filed under: Holiday,Treats — posted by Rose @ 5:10 pm
Catchphrase for V-Day ’09: Frugal is the new flirty. (What Mia said!) Which is why we’re having a giggle over these custom candy hearts thought up by the folks at BusinessPundit.com, created online via the ACME Heart Maker site*. STMU L8ME!
A new poll by The Daily Beast seems to indicate that Americans don’t actually believe “All You Need Is Love.” With everyone suffering in the new economy, they’re not going out on dates, or taking the next big economy-pumping steps like getting married, taking vacations, moving in together, having babies (in whatever order).
In fact, people who took the poll reported more fighting with their mate, having less sex, and being more careful with their birth control. Couples even report staying together to avoid the expense of a breakup, because of the cost of moving and paying separate rents, child support or alimony. (Women almost always suffer a huge drop in the quality of living post-split.)
Eesh. So bleak.
People are hunkering down. As they should. But I’m still an optimist. I hope (there’s that word again) that thrift is the new normal and that people won’t feel ashamed or awkward if they have no cash to flash.
Make special dinners at home? Play those old games you had to have and then forgot about (eh hem, Wii much?), have friends over, go for walks, share books, Google “free condoms,” watch movies and TV online.
Remember when you first liked someone (friend or more) and it didn’t matter what you did together? Their time and effort mattered more than anything else (well, unless you really are that kind of girl). In the new economy, a link to a personally chosen movie on Hulu should be worth more than expensive flowers that die and an argument about money that doesn’t.
Auction catalogs can tell you a lot about a person—their passions and vanities, peccadilloes and aesthetics; their flush years and lean. Think of the collections of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Truman Capote, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
In Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry, Leanne Shapton’s marvelously inventive and invented auction catalog, the 325 lots up for auction are what remain from the relationship between Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris (who aren’t real people, but might as well be). Through photographs of the couple’s personal effects—the usual auction items (jewelry, fine art, and rare furniture) and the seemingly worthless (pajamas, Post-it notes, worn paperbacks)—the story of a failed love affair vividly (and cleverly) emerges. From first meeting to final separation, the progress and rituals of intimacy are revealed through the couple’s accumulated relics and memorabilia. And a love story, in all its tenderness and struggle, emerges from the evidence that has been left behind, laid out for us to appraise and appreciate.
They compared notes on their AP classes. He knocked her cavalry into the ocean. Their first date was at a book fair…Wii controllers topped their wedding cake. Monday’s Chicago Sun-Times tells the story of these — and other — geeks in love, all of whom met through Chicago singles group Nerds at Heart. By way of context, the piece notes correctly (though belatedly) that “niche dating — narrowing down prospects according to religion, say, or ethnicity — is on the rise, judging from the evidence online.” But what it glosses over is the fact that so many inherently, gloriously nerdy pursuits — multi-player games, sci-fi conventions, space travel — are inherently social. Groups like Nerds at Heart are great; may they proliferate like fractals in ChaosPro. But it’s not like geeks need them in order to get out.
When comic-book fans last saw Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, he was pushed from a speeding jet without his cape or face mask and was presumed to be dead. The Independent reports now on his replacement — Batwoman, a.k.a. Kathy Kane…[whose] debut marks a cultural landmark for the gay rights movement and is part of DC Comics’ concerted effort to introduce an ethnically and sexually diverse range of characters. “We’ve been waiting to unlock her. It’s long overdue,” said writer Greg Rucka. “Yes, she’s a lesbian. She’s also a redhead. It is an element of her character. It is not her character. If people are going to have problems with it, that’s their issue.”
Speaking of issues, Batwoman will be the subject of at least 12.
Today’s New York Post reports that — given the unhappy marriage of Valentine’s Day and economic downturn — the number of Internet searches for “cheap engagement rings” has gone through the roof. Perhaps would-be knee-benders should also consider recycling?
Filed under: Psychology,Treats — posted by Breakup Girl @ 8:02 am
A seriously inspiring story for V-day: BG’s alter ego had the pleasure and privilege of getting to know Lindsey Nebeker and Dave Hamrick, who both have autism — a diagnosis that makes conventional relationship skills particularly challenging — and getting to tell their love story in Glamour Magazine. The moral of their story is not that “love conquers autism.” It’s that two deeply committed and passionate people can, with a great deal of work, have both.