JUMPING INTO THE GOSSIP POOL - JUST THIS ONCE...

I have maintained my 2012 resolution to steer clear of gossip sites and TV and have become rather blissfully

Mia and Woody with Dylan and Ronin.

and mostly unaware of  many things.  I have occasionally made an effort to find out the details of some items that the media hyped up ( twerking); and  felt glad to be a bit in the know and also found that it was hard to turn it off once I opened myself to the subject.  So I have made more of an effort to remain unenlightened.

So when all the crap started up again about Woody Allen allegedly molesting his adopted daughter immediately upon an honor bestowed upon him at the Golden Globes - I did read this extremely informed and well researched and smart article published on the Daily Beast blog.  I recalled much of this information from the investigations which were done 20 years ago.

If you have any doubts that that young woman has been brainwashed and that Mia Farrow is still a self centered whack job - read it...

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.)  I have heard a remarkable number of people saying they won't ever go on a cruise after the news this week out of Italy.  It's funny how people react to these infrequent incidents yet jump behind the wheel of a car each day.

2.) It's only 3 weeks into the new year but I have been diligent about my resolution and  have clicked away from programs and not clicked over to read more about celebrities. I do continue to hear things now and again but I am doing pretty well at avoiding the stories and gossip.  It actually feels really good, this not knowing stuff!

3.)  I noticed that the Chico's stores are now expanding their sizing to include 18 to 20.  Since they have the reputation as a store for  adult women, I am glad that they recognise that not all women can mange to remain as slim as Diane Keaton, their current advertising model.  Seems like a smart move to carry  larger sizes.

4.)  Looks like the public outcry, the internet blackout and the forced education of members of congress has worked:

“I have heard from the critics, and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.)  said in a statement. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”  

Let's hope that the next attempt doesn't give the Justice Department so much undefined power.  From what I have learned, the best solution to the problem is the Wyden-Issa (OPEN) bill. It does not tamper with the internet, but uses an existing agency already devoted to the purpose of preventing foreign intellectual property infringement. The International Trade Commission, is empowered by the bill to investigate foreign sites and to block financial payment for the infringing and counterfeit products they offer.

This will not necessarily satisfy the entertainment industry because they want to control digital technology, not just physical copies of their products.  They want to control digital works being traded and claim that it interferes with their business model - I have a problem with that.  I understand the desire to make money off of everything they had a hand in, but the entertainment industry needs to adapt its business models to the advance of technology and not try to make the government turn into their own Big Brother.

5.)  Go Niners!

RESOLUTION - TO KNOW LESS

Christmas has been put away so I guess it's time to get focused on the year ahead.  As trite as it is, resolutions or any other sort of plan makes sense.  Otherwise, the year just seems to pass with no markers, no successes or failures to recognise.

This past year I was pretty much adrift.  There were milestones in the family, but for myself, with no set goals except to be employed full time and get those damned benefits, there was nothing else on my radar.  The get myself together and lose weight thing is perennial.  Will the fact that my 40th high school  reunion is this year make a difference?  It didn't for the 30th...

No, it is time to move on to bigger things. Things with more weight than my ass. I read about the dismantling of  women's reproductive rights and I get mad, but don't do anything - and that is why those rights are eroding - we who believe sit and don't do anything about it.

It ticks me off that I know about the damned Kardashians even though I have never watched their show(s) on TV.  I am sick of reports about Dancing with the Stars on the morning news shows.  And why is Entertainment Tonight reporting on political scandals?    In my line of site at the gym is the Maury show which is apparently a program "helping" women determine who is the father of their baby.  I don't plug in to hear the show, in fact I have taken to using my exercise machine with my eyes closed rather than see the daily parade of sloppy, swearing, angry, tacky and defiant people on the screen. And worse yet, the cheering and jeering audience.

On The View a while back Whoopie Goldberg said instead of petitioning to get the Kardashian show off the air (which some people are trying to do) just don't watch the shows.  Well, I don't watch a lot of shows that I end up knowing about.  I end up knowing about "celebrities", toddler beauty shows and dance moms.  I hear about weddings, divorces, bankruptcies, thefts, car crashes, hook ups, break-ups, trials,  text messages,  and tweets.  I wonder how far underground I have to go to avoid Snooki, the bachelor, the singers, the housewives, the losers and the makeovers?

So this year - that is what I plan to find out.  It means I can't watch The Today Show which I have enjoyed for years - or at least up until the past 4 or 5 years when seems to have left the news department. If another show I happen to be watching - like The View - starts in on the gossip or features people from those tacky shows, I will turn them off.  It means no more Bravo because the programming I watch isn't worth seeing the commercials for the shows I don't.  I can record the shows and speed through the crap commercials when Project Runway, Work of Art or Mad Fashion is on. 

On the internet I will stop reading the Huffington Post, Jezabel and avoid clicking on  many of the links I run across here and there.  There is so much smart content out there I will have more time to seek out.

My resolution this year is to become more ignorant of some things in the world around me - but it is also to get involved in the stuff that matters.  That part I'm not so sure about, aside from blogging (preaching to the choir for the most part) I will need to explore ways to make a mark and make a difference.

That and reduce the size of my ass.