Haiti
I have been consumed by the news today. I cannot stop watching the horrible images that keep flashing by on the television. The sadness, the unbelievable destruction, it just kills me to see it. Estimates are already at 100,000 casualties and the number is sure to rise. With collapsed hospitals, no food, water, or medicine, possible looting and riots, and a closed airport, Haiti is facing seemingly insurmountable challenges.
How can a country already attempting to recover from so many other natural disasters face yet another hurdle? How does a country dust themselves off and carry on again when 80% of its citizens already live below the poverty line ? Where do they even start?
No this isn’t the worst humanitarian crisis ever and unfortunately it won’t be the last, but for me this one really hits home. Living in California, this could easily be our crisis. And if scientists are right, it will be one day. So I have to ask myself…what would I do if an earthquake of this magnitude occurred here in Los Angeles? Since simply contemplating that question sends my brain into a panic, I cannot imagine the fear of those living through this nightmare.
It is during these types of crisis that I envy those who can physically help those in need. Those who can be present and make a difference – Doctors Without Borders, search and rescue teams, journalists, and the Red Cross Volunteers…these people just amaze and inspire me. I hope to be as talented and selfless as they are one day.
In the meantime I will do whatever I can to help from afar.
Care
To donate to the Haiti relief fund effort, go to Care.org or call 1-800-521-CARE.
American Red Cross
To donate: Go to RedCross.org, hit donate now button at top and then International Response Fund or call 1-800-Red-Cross.
Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)
To donate, go to doctorswithoutborders.org or call 1-888-392-0392.
To Splurge or Not to Splurge?
So my review yesterday on Bitter is the New Black got me thinking…am I as guilty of materialism as Jen Lancaster?
I would love to say no. I wish I could say that I have resisted the temptation to spend an astronomical amount of money on something as ridiculous as a pair of jeans. I wish I could say that despite living in quite possibly the shallowest city in the world, I have not succumbed to buying something just to be able to “keep up with the Joneses.” I wish I could say that I freely admire the dozens of Bentley’s I see daily, instead of wishing that I had one as well. But the truth is that I am guilty of all of these and I believe that the majority of others think along these lines as well.
Canada is one place where I believe that materialism is not the norm but rather the exception. I am a Canadian and despite living in Los Angeles for most of my life, when my flight lands in Toronto I feel like I am home. Why? Because I am at my happiest there.
My mom and I took Maya to Toronto last November and we had a fabulous time. It was so refreshing to be around people who don’t care if you have a Gucci bag or Tory Burch shoes. As a matter of fact, most of my friends don’t even know who Tory Burch is! It isn’t that they don’t dress well there, because they do. They just don’t care about the designer labels. They don’t obsess about things. They drive whatever is the most appropriate for battling copious amounts of salt and snow (and you can be sure that doesn’t include a Supercharged Range Rover Sport). Most of my Canadian friends live in the same house their whole lives and stay in the same jobs for about as long. They spend cash instead of living on credit and save most of their paycheck. Their lives are uncomplicated.
Canadians don’t feel the need to fall into the materialism trap because they are happy just being. I can’t speak for the entire city but the Toronto I know is a good, happy, wholesome place. People are satisfied with what they have and aren’t trying to obtain the unattainable. Toronto is also a great place to raise kids. Unlike, say, Los Angeles where kids walk around with iPhones at age nine and where True Religion is a right, not a luxury.
On our flight back from Toronto, Maya asked the flight attendant for sparkling water. Yes, my 4-year-old drinks Perrier. Since I prefer the carbon-particle filled water from my decade old Brita pitcher and Ali basically has an IV of Coke attached to him at all times, Maya obviously learned about sparkling water elsewhere. I guess preschoolers these days compare their preferred water brands instead of playing kickball. Normally I would refuse to spend $3 on a glass of Perrier but I figured that since we were on a five-hour flight and drinks were free, why not just indulge her? And so I did. Of course she ended up spilling it all over herself and her chair. And as I crouched beside her in an attempt to dry her beloved Dora backpack I had to wonder, when does a seemingly small splurge turn into something more?
Am I doing Maya any favors by letting her have things that she shouldn’t have, especially at age four? Sure, it’s just sparkling water now, but what about in a few years? Will indulging her now make it harder for her later in life as she comes to expect the finer things but can’t have them? Will growing up in the heart of Los Angeles turn her into a spoiled brat?
Am I completely over thinking this? Probably. But I guess what I’m wondering is, when does a splurge become too much of a splurge?
Book Review – Bitter is the New Black
Bitter is the New Black
by Jen Lancaster
My husband thinks that I have a really strange sense of humor because I don’t find traditional humor very funny (this coming from a person who finds Mr. Bean and random British comedy shows hysterical). He dragged me to a comedy club once but I didn’t find it very enjoyable. I did laugh out of politeness because, well, my mom raised me right, and because I had to give kudos to the comedian…I mean who else is willing to climb up on a stage and subject themselves to an audience’s complete and utter rejection? You couldn’t pay me enough to do that.
So I don’t find rehearsed jokes very amusing. Or reading embarrassing stories about people. Or Seinfeld (sorry). Cartoons in the Sunday times? The funnies are not funny. And I detest America’s Funniest Home Videos. No really I do. Why do people laugh at other people getting smacked in the face with a bat? How is getting hurt funny enough to merit a grand prize? As an aside, I believe that laughing at another’s misfortune may just be what is wrong with America.
It is the stuff that nobody else finds comical that cracks me up. Once my brother and I were at a fundraiser and during a speech an audience member sneezed loudly. No, loud is an understatement. I swear, it was the sneeze heard around the world. It literally echoed. But the funny thing was (pun intended) that as the echoes reverberated nobody else was doubled over with laughter except my brother and I. Everyone was staring at us trying to figure out what was so funny. Needless to say we sobered up pretty quickly.
As a sarcastic person myself, I also find sarcasm extremely humorous. If you read my blog at all you already know that I love to utilize sarcasm to make the unfunny funny. (If you didn’t know that and read regularly then I am really not doing a very good job on this blog, am I?) Anyway, apart from myself and a few other people I’ve met along the way, author Jen Lancaster is one of the most sarcastic people I have ever come across and hence one of the funniest.
Bitter is the New Black is the autobiography of an extremely spoiled, elitist Vice President at Corp.com (love her generalizations in this book) who unexpectedly gets laid off during the tough economic times that follow 9/11. This book chronicles her descent from a high-flying executive earning $250,000 a year to someone who can’t even score a temp position for which she is completely over qualified. Despite her perseverance she remains unemployed for 22 months and as a result, she and her boyfriend Fletch find themselves moving out of their unaffordable Chicago loft and into a far less desirable neighborhood. They can’t afford their groceries, health insurance, or medicine, and Jen’s attempts at finding employment are rebuffed at every opportunity.
One wouldn’t think that a book based on the struggle to find employment could be an enjoyable read, but because Jen Lancaster does not mince words and speaks from the heart no matter how shallow it makes her seem, she manages to do the impossible. What made me love the author was the fact that she never once gave up or felt sorry for herself. Faced with her circumstances, I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t be as motivated as her.
Though crass and arrogant at times, I think that everyone can find a little bit of themselves in the author. The truth is, there is a moral to this story for all of us. Especially during the current economic crisis. Who isn’t guilty of materialism at one point or another? Who doesn’t splurge on a Prada bag or justify $300 highlights on occasion? Who doesn’t take their financial status for granted, never thinking it could unexpectedly be taken away from them? Through her wit, brutal honesty, elitist remarks, and unique footnotes, Jen somehow manages to endear herself to her reader all the while reminding us to appreciate what is really important in life.
To sum it up, allow me to give you the full title of this book: Bitter is the New Black – Confessions of a condescending, egomaniacal, self-centered, smart-ass, or why you should never carry a Prada Bag to the unemployment office.
How can you not want to read it now?
While I'm not going to win Mother/Wife of the Year Award anytime soon, I haven't killed anyone yet or shot myself in the head. And that, my friends, is how I calculate success these days. 
FANCY THAT FANCY THIS 