imaginarycircus

I still can't believe there are $30 T-shirts, let alone ones with extra zeros.

As for your meme... um. I have really pretty toenails right now?

The deal with Hirst is that he was part of that group of Sensation artists who were backed by the Saatchi collection and made the big stink in the US around 1997-98. Do you remember the whole thing with Guiliani and Chris Offili's Madonna with the elephant dung in it? Same group. In that exhibition Hirst showed a cast of his head (I think it was hid) made out of blood. And there was something significant about the weight or the quantity of it. I don't remember what he did to make it stable - suspended it somehow?

Anyway, the moral of this thing to me is that Hirst is working out of a timeline in which he's one of the major stars of the contemporary art world (true) working in an art market without a cost ceiling (so not true these days). My feeling is that the change in economy will mean that no one will buy this thing and help Hirst see that the times they are a changing.

As for the work itself, I feel the exorbitant price of the thing offsets its conceptual merits (which I think it actually does have).

I think women in particular have trouble taking ownership of their accomplishments. Men are not encouraged as much as women to be humble.

I'm proud of my ability to think critically. I've never been one to just go with the flow or jump on board with a particular philosophy or movement. I like to question and examine from many angles. I think the lack of ability to do this in many people leads to serious problems and conflicts. Hello,
Red State / Blue State divide.

good lord, the idea of the skull is bad enough, but that's ART, so they can get away with it. a T-SHIRT? that's just stupid. "hello, i am greedy. please buy my shit that you will be too afraid to ever wear."

yeah, i'm really of the type that won't spend money on myself. i think ANY piece of clothing over $50 is overpriced, unless it's a really nice dress or suit or something. i don't see the point of wearing a $200 pair of jeans just because they make your butt look fantastic, isn't that just false advertising? i mean, maybe if they make you FEEL really great about yourself, but then wouldn't that just make you shallow? i very rarely buy clothes (or anything else, besides staples like food, etc) though, so i'm not really that helpful in this discussion.

i saw a meme like that once, but it was in context of "hey women, tell me something you love about your body, there is too much body-hate going around!" i'm not someone who values my experiences and accomplishments as much as i should. i always seem to have an excuse, like "oh, yeah, i went to the national championships in college rowing, but it wasn't really because i DESERVED it, it's just because my boat liked me," which in itself actually means i DID deserve it. things like that. but yeah, i am certainly of the latter of the 2 types. and it's not really because i think i'm a bad person or whatever, i don't know what it is. my parents were always very careful in always letting us know how proud they were of us and how much they loved us. and yeah, i went through the self-loathing thing, and still have issues with it at times, but i think i'm a pretty cool person most of the time. but still, i tend to be overly modest and to let other people take advantage of me by not standing up for myself. maybe it's just that i don't feel like i'm that important, not necessarily in a bad way, just that i'm just one little person, and i don't matter that much in the grand scheme of things?

but you know, i essentially put myself through college for 2 bachelor's degrees (and a minor) while being a varsity athlete. i married my best friend in what we still feel was the best way possible, and we own a great house that we've truly made our own and are constantly improving a little bit at a time. we have two adorable puppies that i searched for MONTHS to find and then convinced the people to adopt them to us. maybe i don't have a high-paying, prestigious job, or a masters or medical degree like a lot of my friends, but i have a job that i love and am good at, and it's a job that makes the world a little bit better of a place. it's a great feeling to be able to answer people's questions, give good advice, show them cool things, and educate them, and to have kids (and some adults) look up to you. i feel like my life is pretty simple and nice, and i try to live in a fairly sustainable manner. i don't have any outstanding talents or beauty or success, but i don't really care, because i don't need them. like i told my good friend (the one who has serious self-esteem issues), it's all in how you spin things. you can make any life or any thing sound amazing or shitty, depending on how you feel about it. so honestly, what more could i ask for? :)