Books and Beauty Products

As I started unpacking my stuff at home, I realized that I was struggling to find room for two things: books and beauty products (jeans too, but we're going to ignore that thought because it doesn't work with my metaphor...damn you, denim for destroying my analogies!) While everything ended up fitting, I had to get slightly innovative...and if I ever loan you a book that's covered in dust, you'll know why:

I had to find an innovative jeans home as well

But then you look across the closet, and see this:

Ganesha is destructing the obstacle of fitting everything into one room

A normal person would think "oh, I have a lot of stuff; I should probably give some away," then they would tralalala to have a cup of coffee that's covered in bees (respect if you get the reference). But me, being the strange-minded person that I am, I decided to take this series of events, and transcend it to some thinking about stereotypes.

'Cause everyone loves to be bombarded with stereotypes at 9A.M. right?

I once ran into a classmate on the CATA Bus. He was majoring in awkward comments it seemed, as calling someone's braids sexy wasn't exactly CATA passenger protocol last time I checked. But there I was, covered in sparkles and eyeshadow and eyeliner, smelling like "Paris Amour" perfume. And this guy was all "oh, are you a party girl? Because you kinda seem like one."

I went on to tell him, "yes, I do like to wreak some havoc with some Kelly Clarkson CD's in my bedroom every now and again."

Except I didn't, because I'm not minoring in awkward retaliations.

Why is it that a bottle of spray perfume and black liquid stuff on our face makes us seem like we just wanna have fun, and being armed with a poetry anthology makes us seem all stuffy and "academic"? If I fit into both categories, does that mean I don't really fall into either?

The way I dress is very "ooh, ahh, bonjour! Tralalala! Let's go frolic in the forest!" But I'm not at all a flighty person. Okay, I'm not a very flighty person.

Sometimes, I exhibit non-flighty moments. There.

However, in my reading/writing/eating pie, I am very analytical. I think serious thoughts like, was there perhaps, not large enough of a chocolate to crust ratio in that pie? Important stuff, you know?

There's this weird balance in the way we look in relationship to the way we act. Are more academic people normally inclined to wear pant suits and ties? Maybe. If we saw someone like that on the street we'd think either "oh, he must be smart!" or "oh, he's a fuck-off businessman."

Or he's got a discount at Ralph Lauren. The world will never know.

I had a substitute English professor who wore like 6 inch heels with a million colors to work. Then she started spouting off theories and facts and cool-sounding things about rhetoric. And she didn't trip once.

In theory, we accept that smart people can wear outlandish clothing, but we still make these assumptions on the street. You can be an appreciator of all things sparkly and be intelligent too.

We call this "smarkly."

So to all those smarklies out there,

Namaste.