Sociologique

Ariela Haro von Mogel April 27th, 2008

I met Marya Hornbacher last week on Thursday the 17th of April. I wish I was able to post about this sooner, but my blog was having some technical problems with the server.

For the first time in my life, I was honestly starstruck. I’d like to mention that I am from Los Angeles, and I have seen my share of stars. But it takes a lot for me to be starstruck. I absolutely adore Marya Hornbacher’s work. Her first book, Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, is my favorite book. I have read it many times. So I drove out all the way to Edina, Minneapolis from Madison, Wisconsin, and it was worth the trip. Continue Reading »

• Authors , Personal
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Ariela Haro von Mogel April 15th, 2008

I went to this party a few weeks ago and could not help but notice a young man (presumably a college freshman) say LOL in this dragged out, absurd way to anything he considered funny. Seriously, if any of you out there get this old school reference, he sounded like Joey from the 90’s show Blossom when he said it. LOL!

Maybe this guy spent way too much time typing away on AOL instant messenger and in chat rooms, that he somehow thought it was acceptable to say LOL in public. I mean, the next logical step would be for him to say ROFL and LMAO amongst mixed company. Actually, now that I think about it, that would be really funny to hear an adult human being say ROFL and LMAO in public. What would that sound like? Roffle? Lamow!

Anyways, next time I see this guy, I am tempted to sit him down and reason with him. Who knows, he might just get really mad at me and say WTF!

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Ariela Haro von Mogel April 11th, 2008

Thanks for the meme Karl. Now I’m going to have to answer your silly “survery.”

My hubby-to-be, Karl Mogel at The Inoculated Mind, infected me with a blog meme. Here are the rules.

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules here.

3. Share 7 random or weird facts about yourself.

1. When I die I want my ashes to be scattered over Mozart’s grave in St. Marx Cemetary in Vienna, Austria.

2. I am a Momma’s girl. I call my Mom every day just to shoot the breeze.

3. I have very diametrical tastes in media. I either love award winning films/sitcoms, or terribly banal and insipid programming. No middle ground.

4. I refer to Mozart as “Motzie” and Schubert as “Schoobie.”

5. I actually cheated on a Spanish test in high school and was chided by my teacher who taught my mom how to speak English when she first came to this country. (That one still gets me).

6. I make beeswax candles for sale at the Madison Farmer’s Market. Sometimes, when I think no one is looking, I like to take a bite out of some of the wax.

7. I am intrigued and sometimes obsessed with obscure and/or long words. People can often tell I used to be an English major.

4. Tag 7 random people at the end of the post, linking to them.

5. Leave a comment on their blog so that they know they’ve been tagged.

Okay, see, I just started blogging and I don’t know seven people who I feel I can send this stuff to. So, I’ll just answer these questions and go on about my merry way. Enjoy!

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Ariela Haro von Mogel March 13th, 2008

I’m getting married this year, and as such, a bunch of traditional bull plop is being heaped onto my lap like someone’s mangy dog. I know I’m being vitriolic - that’s the fun of being a feminist!

First, it was the White Dress. Yes, the sacrosanct virginal dress. I have never wanted a white wedding dress. It has always seemed boring to me (as a penguinal tux is boring to me also). Since I was an adolescent, my favorite color has been dark turquoise. I absolutely adore this color. So naturally, I want a dark turquoise wedding dress. When my Mom heard about it, she tried to bribe me into getting a white dress with some turquoise on it. She said to me, in a sing-song voice “I’ll pay for it!” To this I responded, “Mom, you are going to pay for my dress anyways!” Then sadly she said, “Oh yes, you have a point.” Continue Reading »

• Gender , Personal , Sociology
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Ariela Haro von Mogel March 7th, 2008

I have always thought that if someone is going to say something racist, sexist, homophobic, what have you, it should at least be funny. If there’s one thing I can’t stand is someone telling a racist and/or sexist joke and it not being funny. I figure that if you’re going to say something that makes you look really stupid, then you could at least make someone chuckle. I speak from experience on this. I had to deal for years with my dad and brother making the most ignorant and unfunny jokes ever. Like “Why are women’s feet smaller than men’s feet?” “So they can reach the sink easier when they wash the dishes!” Ba-da-boom. Definitely. Not. Funny.

So when there’s something out there that is pretty questionable, but makes me laugh out loud, then they win in my book. The show The Office is a great example of this. Michael Scott, who plays an ignominious boss, is at least hilarious with his outbursts. He is sooo inapproriate that it is funny. I have recently found a blog on the internet called Stuff White People Like. (Via The Uncredible Hallq) I keep laughing to myself thinking “God, I fall into waaay too many of these categories” and “that is so true.” I think it’s interesting that Stuff White People Like is all about making fun of liberal, middle-to-upper class, educated yuppie/hippie types. Yet, the blog isn’t called Stuff Educated White People Like. I guess it just sounds funnier to say Stuff White People Like. Though, the author of this blog does make it clear that there are the right kind of white people and the wrong kind of white people. So I guess that answered my question!

• Race , Sociology
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Ariela Haro von Mogel January 11th, 2008

I just moved from Davis, California to Madison, Wisconsin, and as such, what I can and cannot recycle has changed. I’m talking about plastic recyclables. I’ve never had any problem with glass, paper, or metal recyclables anywhere. So I immediately looked up online what can be recycled in Madison. I was shocked to find out the city of Madison, and all the different environmental organizations/waste disposal centers only accept #1 and #2 plastics, as well as #5 plastics in the form of dairy tubs in select locations. There is no acceptance of #3 through #7 plastics. They must be disposed of and therefore end up in a landfill and/or be incinerated. Continue Reading »

• Environment , Sociology
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Ariela Haro von Mogel December 4th, 2007

Men, in pretty much all societies, are handed “all things sexual” on a silver platter, while women have to use their imaginations and come up with their own corny sex fantasies. Heterosexual men are given a disgusting plethora of pornography to which they have relatively free access to. They can visit prostitutes of the opposite gender who are there expressly for them. They visit strip clubs when their heart so desires. And, if that wasn’t enough, they can see women personified as sex incarnate everywhere in our culture – from television, movies, books, and advertisements. Women, on the other hand, are given the damn crumbs of the cake where it concerns their sexual fantasies. We don’t have sexual fantasies or desires, because we are the sexual fantasies and the desired. Continue Reading »

• Gender
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Ariela Haro von Mogel November 17th, 2007

Stephen Spielberg’s incredibly moving and thoughtful movie Schindler’s List, came out to theaters in 1993, when I was about 13 or 14 years old. My parents and I were very excited about seeing it since the movie got rave reviews. As Hispanics, we could also relate to the historical horror of being pushed off your land and systematically killed. We went to Westwood, California, right near UCLA, where a huge line awaited the movie. Continue Reading »

• Race
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Ariela Haro von Mogel October 31st, 2007

Seriously. What is up with slutty Halloween costumes for women? Ever since I began college, every year, without exception, I see half-naked, freezing women as scandalous Lil’ Bo Peeps or nasty Lil’ Red Ridin’ Hoods. In my humble opinion (it’s actually not very humble, but loud and uncouth), these Halloween outfits are for the uncreative, unimaginative, and the lazy.

But you know what really chafes my hide is the fact that they take legitimately cool costumes and ruin them (okay, maybe not for frat boys and other segments of the male population). It is NOT okay to wear a silver miniskirt, a silver shirt showing all your boobage, a little silver hat, and call yourself The Tin Man. That is a Tin Ho. Continue Reading »

• Gender
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Ariela Haro von Mogel October 25th, 2007

I am a nerdy and opinionated person, and as such I have a tendency to go on about things I love and things I despise. That being the case, I have a website/blog where I can post information and music of Mozart and other classical composers, the absolute passion of my life; and a website/blog where I can vent, rage and rant about things that piss me off or simply get me thinking! On the latter, there’s only so much my fiancée or my mother can tolerate listening to the evils of patriarchy. Hahaha. Continue Reading »

• Personal
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