Sociologique

Ahmadinejad is Hot

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:35:26 +0000

Okay, this post is gonna sound wrong in so many ways. But, based purely on looks, the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is kinda hot. He’s a good looking fellow. If he wasn’t such a crazy, nonsense-talkin’ Anti-Semite (insert other horrible social attributes here) and I wasn’t married, I would go out with him. True, he may not want to go out with a loud- mouthed uncouth American girl - but what do I care? I have interesting tastes in men! I have other friends that can back me up on this one. I can’t be the only one who thinks he’s cute. Ladies (and some Gents), am I right?

Karl thinks he looks like an Iranian Steve Carell.

Feel Good About Where You Don’t Shop

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:42:48 +0000

I am going to write a really mean post, stereotype a lot of people, and I’m sure, offend a few. But I’ll say it anyways! When my husband and I go into our neighborhood Whole Foods for some specialty items, we notice these huge banners and little signs everywhere (like on the meat counter and dairy shelves) that read Feel Good About Where You Shop. Now, there are several interesting things about this supposedly innocuous statement. (more…)

Scrapbookin’ Subculture

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:43:22 +0000

I am seriously under the impression that there is a subculture for everything. There’s a subculture to motorcycles, teeny bopper music, cupcake artistry, Ancient Chinese vase collecting, even scrapbooking. There will be always be groups of people who are really into their craft or collection that they become obsessed. There’s books written for these people.

So anyways, I got into scrapbooking. Yes, despite years of making fun of women for doing this type of thing, I am scrapbooking. I have joined the Dark Side. For years, I kept so many newspaper clippings, pictures, ticket stubs, what-have-you of Mozart. And I thought to myself, “Wait, there’s a legitimate, organized space that you can put all this stuff into, and it’s called a scrapbook.” So, I am pretty well into finishing my Mozart scrapbook, and I love it to death. Then, as people noticed my newfound hobby, I started getting scrapbooks as gifts. I have a “wedding” and “travel” scrapbook so far. That’s fine. Those are for special occassions and a scrapbook would be nice for that. (more…)

Typical A** Movies

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:33:27 +0000

Okay, I have a bone to pick right now. Last weekend, I made the mistake of watching Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. Well, not really a mistake. I did enjoy most of it. The movie played on a lot of stereotypes and the scenes with Doogie Howser were pretty funny. But, if there’s one thing I can’t stand is when a movie shows partial or total female nudity and only shows an ugly guy naked or totally hides some essential schlong shots from you. God, it makes me sick!! (more…)

Everything Happens for a Reason…

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:55:35 +0000

If there’s one phrase I can’t stand and find completely odious is “everything happens for a reason.” What exactly does this mean? I have thought about this long and hard, and have completely offended close friends and family members with my less than objective perspective on it.

Some pretty horrible things happened to me as a teenager and, in turn, I did some horrible things to myself. Whenever I would turn to my mother and ask her for help in understanding the world, she would say “everything happens for a reason.” Now, my mom is a devout Catholic who has attended church every single Sunday of her life, but she is still pretty liberal and open to reason and debate. When I asked her what that phrase means, she made a very nebulous comment that god doesn’t give us “tests” that we can’t handle and horrible things happen to make us better people. This made no sense to me at the time and makes no sense to me now. Why do some people get b.s. heaped on them like no other, and many other people go though life relatively unscathed? And the people who have had the most heaped onto them generally do not become fantastic people, but withdrawn, depressed and defeated individuals. There are a few great exceptions to this. Ayaan Hirsi Ali became a terrific social advocate because of nasty experiences with her religion and society. But Hirsi Ali is a truly exceptional case and most people are not like her.

Bottom line: There needs to be evil in order for good to come out of it. (more…)

Interracial Dating

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:20:14 +0000

It is often argued that interracial romantic relationships are considered taboo in a lot of sectors of society, and that it is better to go out with someone of your own race in order to keep it safe. I would highly disagree. Interracial dating is a lot more complicated than that. My fiance is an American of European heritage and I am an American of Mexican heritage. We are technically an interracial couple, except, I am white-looking, so we are considered acceptable as a couple pretty much anywhere we go. If I was an American of Mexican heritage that looked Mexican, we would be classified as an interracial couple and deemed unacceptable in most circles. I am of course, speaking for society in very general terms. (more…)

The Innocence of Youth

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:15:58 +0000

When I was in third grade, I thought the first man on the moon was Louis Armstrong, a rotund-cheeked black man. This didn’t seem odd to me in the least. It wasn’t only until later on in my youth that I saw a picture of Neil Armstrong and clearly saw that he was a white man. Oops. Inconsequential, I thought. When I shared this knowledge with my peers, they all laughed at me and stared in wild bemusement as to how, exactly, did I ever think the first American on the moon was a black man? Dunno. Innocence, I guess. Aaahh, I miss those days when possibilities seemed endless and the first person on the moon being black did not seem weird… I just wanted to share that thought!

Notions of Race in Eating Disorders

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Thu, 29 May 2008 18:14:05 +0000

For about 20 percent of my life, I suffered from anorexia and binge eating. I went for days eating like a bird, and then I would eventually scarf down a voluminous amount of food in one sitting. This, of course, caused me an incredible amount of pain. I would usually crouch in a fetal position, holding my faux-pregnant belly, yowling in pain. This was my own private pain. Only once was I caught. My mother found me on the floor when she came home from work early one day, and it caught me off guard. She was very worried and asked what was wrong with me. I told her that I just had an extremely bad stomach pain. She told me that stomach pain that extreme is not normal, so she called a doctor and made an appointment. The next day, I went to the doctor with my mom. (more…)

I Got Sold Out by Co-Op America

Ariela Haro von Mogel — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:43:37 +0000

So several years ago while in college, one of my Sociology professors raved about a charity called Co-op America. Co-op America is a social justice and environmental organization. They even have their own version of the Yellow Pages called the “Green Pages” for environmental and socially responsible businesses and services. So about two years ago, I decided to donate $20 to them. This seemed to be on one of my whims. Initially, I was quite pleased with the results. I got their Green Pages and a lot of information about microloans - which I was very interested in investing money into. (more…)

In which someone notices I’m a man

kjhvm — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:11:31 +0000

Yesterday morning, Ariela and I were up at the crack of, no, actually we were up before dawn, racing down to WORT 89.9 fm in downtown Madison for a show of Other Voices. From 5-8 AM Ariela was playing some classical music performed by and/or conducted by women. This was, after all, a show intended to highlight the contributions of women to classical music.

You can listen to the show online here at this link, but it is not available to be downloaded as an mp3. (This will be available from now through May 4th 2008 - on May 5th next week’s show will record over it)

For the first hour and forty-five minutes, Ariela went solo, playing music performed by women, and its good stuff if you want to listen to it. At the 105 minute mark (you can skip ahead if you want to), Ariela cut the music that was playing to introduce the next topic: Holst’s The Planets, and some of its influence on science fiction film music. Let me tell you a little about its genesis, and what happened off the air during the show. (more…)