Vanity Fair

There have been a few.. uh, things swimming around in my head recently. Some people would consider them topical and interesting, and others, downright insulting. But there's one I'm sure a lot of people would ideally agree on. Vanity and its prevalence.

I guess we can't really escape it. As human beings, we're naturally attracted to things with aesthetic appeal - people, achievements, status, homes, lifestyles. We always find ourselves envisioning futures guided by vanity. But why has it become the focal point of futures?

Why do parents put pressure on their kids in school to get the DUX or become Head Girl or Head Boy to the extent that to not achieve it is seen as a failure? Does the fact that your child is not the DUX mean that they're academically incapable? Is fifth position, as opposed to first, really that detrimental? And why, exactly, do you want your child to be DUX of the school? So you can show off to friends and family?

Why, in terms of dating or even marriage proposals, is looks so important? Hormones aside, why on EARTH do we still hear the phrases 'oh, he's so fair' or 'does she have blue eyes'? Why do we allow physiques blind us against the important things like values or, simply, personalities? Why do we allow physical attraction crumble solid relationships that we've already built? (And why on earth is the 'prettiness' of our unborn, un-conceived babies so important?)

Why do we care about what cars we drive, the cars our friends drive, why their parents bought them such an expensive car and what our parents would've done? Is it really difficult to simply be happy for someone else's fortune? Why do we see the need to better someone else?

Why is the time spent planning an elaborate wedding longer than the duration of the actual marriage? Why has the detail on a serviette holder on the table twenty five of the reception hall become so important? A single person is not defined by their family or upbringing - so why do we place emphasis on the surname of the family our sons and daughters are marrying into, instead of looking at the qualities of the individuals they are marrying?

Why are the perceptions of others so important to us? And why do we scrutinize and criticize others?

I guess vanity and perception is something that is constantly drummed into us. Every male lead in a book or film is physically attractive, so young girls are brought up looking for their potential 'other-half' based on looks (and probably a dark, mysterious allure). Our economy has places emphasis on consumption, hence the use of marketing and upgrades to create trends. Shiny badges and braided blazers earn us pats on the head (and maybe even money).

Vanity is a veil that both covers and blinds us. It is outwardly. It is perception. And perception is not always reality.

* * *

In other news, I started (and completed) a book that has no relation to my degree of study whatsoever for the first time a few months. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I'm a sucker for fantasy novels, so it was a wonderful 12 hours. Keen to start City of Ashes!

Controversial or Disrespectful?

In my opinion, there are two types of controversial statements; one which offends a societal ideal and one which is downright disrespectful. I shamefully enjoy the first type of controversy; it's really interesting to see different ideology being challenged, particularly on a creative platform - my favourite being dramatic arts. But just reading up on Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses' was enough to make me cringe audibly.

Basically in 1988 author Salman Rushdie (I prefer not to refer to him by his newly acquired 'Knight' status) published this book and, though it is classified under the genre of 'magical realism' in fiction, it contains clear, controversial elements directly linked to the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), His life, His family and the Origins of the Holy Qur'aan. Rushdie is clearly well-read, but to use his talent and knowledge for blaspheme is petty and disrespectful. Perhaps he doesn't like Islam or its teachings, and that's okay. That's his opinion. But to intentionally include incorrect and offensive information about something that is important to someone else; where is the respect in that? How does he expect anyone to respect his work if he disrespects others?

At the time of publication, there was (naturally) a huge uproar in the Muslim world about the book. First it was band in several countries, which is acceptable. But a year later, the Iranian government released a Fatwa which ordered the execution of Rushdie and his publishers. As much as I dislike this man and his blaspheme, I really do think that this Fatwa is the worst thing that could have happened. Yes, the book is a clear crime against Islam, but to retaliate with violence doesn't exactly help to improve the image of our religion. The media has a wonderful talent of highlighting the extremist behaviour of people who call Islam their religion and occurrences like these only create a negative image. I understand the anger and frustration over the book and its content, but there was unnecessary loss of life that resulted from the Fatwa.

I came across this quote when I was reading up on the Rushdie Affair:

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” - Salman Rushdie

If expression simply means 'to offend', then you need to rethink your ideas, Mr. Rushdie. Literature and expression is about so much more that about being controversial and offensive. When I was in high school, one of my English teachers raved about Rushdie's work, but I'd remembered my mother telling me about a book he had written which insulted the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) and so I mentally cast him aside. Perhaps he is a fantastic writer and deserves those awards he has received for his works, but I cannot possibly enjoy the acclaimed literary merit of his writing when he has published such an atrocity.

Untouched Pages

So the sad truth of my holiday; excessive stress, unsurprising procrastination and a whole. stack. of. untouched. books. And, of course, today I unashamedly added another book to that stack. This one was well-worth it though. As soon as I'm done with Ms Austen's Sense and Sensibility, I'll be attacking this one.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. I mean J. K. Rowling. I would love to go into excruciating detail about the big reveal that my favourite author published a book under a pseudonym, but in light of keeping with my birthday "No Procrastinating" resolution, I want to keep this post short. You can read about it at MuggleNet. My wonderful friend managed to get me one of the last copies of the First Edition of this book - i.e.: the book has no traces of J. K. Rowling in it.

Pray I get over the initial booksniffing stage, then perhaps I'll get down to the reading.

Roadworthy

I was just reading a blog post about a stressed out matriculant who will be writing trials in under a month and thought back to my trials period and realized my stress levels were nothing then compared to how I felt when I took my drivers test a week and a half ago. Whilst America was enjoying their Independence Day, I spent most of my morning feeling nauseous and hysterical, clutching onto every shred of faith and Divine Intervention I could get before doing my drivers test.

Now, let me explain why the stress levels over 9000. In South Africa, we have this wonderful method of getting your license through the payment of bribes. The bribe generally 'sees to it' that your inspector will overlook any minor or slight mistakes you make when doing your test - basically they'll overlook anything that isn't apparently an automatic fail. 

According to my instructor, if you do not pay the bribe, you are guaranteed to fail. And for two weeks prior to my test, I was continuously subjected to this mantra, purely because I refused to pay the bribe. Firstly, it's unethical and, call me old-fashioned or (sarcastically) 'holy', but I do not believe that there is an Barkat or Blessing in anything that's done unIslamically. And paying a bribe is pretty unholy to me. Secondly, I couldn't afford to pay the bribe - paying for my driving lessons myself was wearing out my bank account. So the mantra was the main reason behind my ridiculously high stress levels that morning. 

So I go into the test, with the feeling that I was about to vomit and I make the wonderful rookie mistake of mixing up the indicators and the wipers for my pre-trip inspection. And my groundwork. And on the road.

Luckily that was the only mistake I made and, by some Miracle of God, I passed my drivers test. My reaction to my pass: Shock to Disbelief to Numbness to Relief to BURSTING INTO TEARS IN FRONT OF THE INSPECTOR to Disbelief (at this point, I had my temporary license in my hand). [Fast Foward to the next afternoon] OMG MOM I CAN DRIVE ON THE ROAD LEGALLY.

Of course my mother still wont let me use her car, but that's okay. My faith that integrity does get you  somewhere has been restored and to all those instructors who pester your learners into paying the bribe: take that. It is possible to get your drivers license in an honest fashion in South Africa.

Oh, and to the matrics who are preparing for trials - good luck! I know it currently seems like the end of the world if you don't get all A's, but you'll be laughing at yourself next year when you write your first university exams, I promise.

Review: Myspace

So the other day, as I was stalking Taylor Swift's personal social profiles for news (which is perfectly normal behaviour, mind you), I decided to visit her Myspace page. Remember that? Yes, where most new artists start out, adding their music to their profiles, creating a fanbase, etc. The one with quite an ordinary, blue homepage which has the latest news from the music industry, where your own page has a typically NING type of feel with your blog posts, Top Friends, all your top five songs, albums and movies, a comment wall; and, quite blatantly, a certified death wish.

Well, it's gone.

No, not Myspace. Just the ordinarynessness. I didn't take their emails about the change seriously when they had sent them a few months ago, and I'm glad I didn't. It was a wonderful surprise when I did see the change. Apparently Taylor took their emails seriously though; although she didn't add the entire RED album onto her page, she updated her profile picture, cover page (yes, cover page), as well as her bio. Unfortunately it's not the personal message that she usually has up, but pretty much something that would have been written by her agent.

Firstly, Myspace is white! Seriously, the profile pages pretty much have a white palette. I quite like it; the white gives the page a rather... clean finish. The profile set up has also changed completely. And by completely, I mean it's gone 90 degrees anti-clockwise. You now have to scroll to the right to see the entire page (this is for the entire site). There is now a cover page facility and, unlike Facebook, if you choose not to put a cover page, Myspace puts a cover for you, mostly landscapes, which change every time you refresh the page.

When I first signed up for a Myspace account, back in 2008, once you chose a username/url extension, you could never ever NEVEREVEREVEREVEREVER change it and Myspace made that very clear when you chose your username/url extension. It appears that they have changed their policy (probably in an attempt to revive themselves), because I successfully changed my extension from harrypotternutter  to mishfics. Not that I don't like Harry Potter anymore - how dare you even think such a thing - I just needed to streamline all my social networks and using one username makes things easier. I still retain the title of the Harry Potter Nutter.

There are, naturally, a few things I don't like about the new Myspace. Firstly, I had absolutely NO idea how to locate my settings page, library or anything other than my profile page. Everything, as I later learned, is located on the Myspace homepage, which makes profile editing a little frustrating. Another thing, I couldn't figure out how to change my bio or likes, etc, as it wasn't under settings. I eventually managed to edit mine by going to Taylor's bio and looking at the url. But really, I shouldn't have needed to do that. They could have included these things in their introductory video or setup process after logging in. Also, what happened to the blog?

I suppose with regard to anything new and computer related, the best thing to do is to play around and figure out things, which is what I've been doing and it's been fun. Final verdict: I think Myspace is on the right track to becoming one of the social network kings it once was. They just need to... get out there more, I guess.