wtf? « Dee Savoy

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Apr

Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be floozies

Categories: entertainment and wtf?

I saw a disturbing report on one of the Morning News shows. Make-up being marketed to girls as young as four years old. I’m not talking about the fake dress up stuff many of us grew up with. I’m talking about real cosmetics coming in kits that cost as much as twenty-five dollars a pop. One popular place gives parties where young girls can dress up false eyelashes, hair extensions and all.

What killed me were the moms on this report. One said she wasn’t trying to make her five year old daughter “grown” yet, but this party was to make her feel good about herself. Sorry, but that’s a grown up motivation for putting on all that war paint. Here’s the report for you to judge for yourself.

I say, what the hell is wrong with us, America? Why do we have this need to sexualize our children at increasingly younger ages? Even Disney has gotten into the act offering spa treatments for children as young as 4. What message are we trying to send to our daughters–you’re nobody unless somebody thinks you’re hot–even if you’re only three years old? So, what happens when they are 13? They’re a candidate for that godaful Maury show.

To make myself feel better, I decided to post some sayings by kids that actually sound like kids.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY? (written by kids)

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming.

— Alan, age 10

No person really decides before they grow up who they’re going to marry… God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you’re stuck with.

— Kristen, age 10

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE TO GET MARRIED?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then.

— Camille, age 10

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.

— Derrick, age 8

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?

Both don’t want any more kids.

— Lori, age 8

WHAT DO MOST PEOPLE DO ON A DATE?

Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough.

— Lynnette, age 8 (isn’t she a treasure)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date.

— Martin, age 10

WHAT WOULD YOU DO ON A FIRST DATE THAT WAS TURNING SOUR?

I’d run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns.

— Craig, age 9

WHEN IS IT OKAY TO KISS SOMEONE?

When they’re rich.

— Pam, age 7

The law says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn’t want to mess with that.

– - Curt, age 7

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them and have kids with them. It’s the right thing to do.

— Howard, age 8

IS IT BETTER TO BE SINGLE OR MARRIED?

It’s better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them.

— Anita, age 9

HOW WOULD THE WORLD BE DIFFERENT IF PEOPLE DIDN’T GET MARRIED?

There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn’t there?

— Kelvin, age 8

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a dump truck.

— Ricky, age 10

Apr

Let’s Hear It for the Girls Redux

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: entertainment, paranormal, romance and wtf?

Those who know me know I’m a big fan of the romance heroine. In fact, my first agent wanted to represent my first book for that reason–most everyone else focused the story on the guy, not the girl. It’s not that I’ve got anything against the guys, but when it comes to telling a woman’s side of things, isn’t the best place for that a romance? If romances are supposedly written by, for, and about women, who do we still have to obsess about the man?

Angela T. over at Romancing the Blog asks roughly the same question. She’s comparing traditional romances, with their emphasis sometimes on male angst and the bumper crop of urban fantasies we’ve all been enjoying.

Despite the inherent differences between romance novels and urban fantasies, I feel there is room for complementary character arcs. And can we get rid of the word “bitch” regarding heroines who refuse to acquiesce to the hero’s journey?

Can I get an amen, folks? It puts me in mind of the end of the last movie of the second batch of Star Wars sagas (which is really the third story–damn George Lucas). I will NEVER watch another blessed thing the man makes after he took kick-ass QUEEN Amidala and turned into some wimpy-assed wuss that would allow herself to DIE, leaving her children to be raised by God only knows who, simply because the man she loved turned out to be a bastard. Come on, people. If every woman whose guy turned out to be a jerk wasted away the streets would be littered with female corpses.

Anyway, I digress. I’m still not over that travesty, but we’re talking romances here. Why can’t it be that both hero AND heroine have their own story arcs, their own desires, their own goals and let the man’s be subordinate for a change without him being a wimp and her being a, well, you know. I think it’s time we women allowed ourselves to be as unabashedly strong in fiction as we must be in our everyday lives without feeling the need to apologize for it or push the man out in front and say, but he’s the real hero. Like with anything else, if you don’t use it, you lose it and that includes our own impulses to see ourselves as heroic.

Apr

Next time, keep me occupied

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: fun stuff, the secret life of dee and wtf?

Killing time in Barnes and Noble today, I was looking through the self help aisles when I stumbled onto this title:
That’s right. Sex for DUMMIES, written by none other than world renown sexpert Dr. Ruth. I became afraid, very afraid. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m not sure I want to encourage dummies to have sex. I mean, there’s a reason people say stupid people shouldn’t breed. Think how much better off we’d be if George I and Barbara had been a little better at birth control.

Seriously though, the first time I heard Dr. Ruth speak it was while I was flipping channels on the radio. I thought I’d happened on a Gilda Radner Baba Wawa sketch. God, I miss Gilda Radner.

Actually, I like Dr Ruth. Despite the fact that I can’t decipher a word she says, she’s the only nationally known figure who’s shorter than I am. Now that’s saying something.

Apr

March Fools

By writerds Leave a Comment

Categories: industry, publishing, sounding off and wtf?

It’s the end of March, the time when every young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of — did you really think I was going to say spring? Actually the advent of warmer weather usually tends to bring on a spate of contentiousness in the publishing world and elsewhere. Two recent developments make my point.

Amazon.com flexed it’s considerable muscle and decided that only those POD books published through the company’s BookSurge program will be sold on Amazon. Other books will be listed, but their Buy Now buttons will be deactivated to prevent direct purchase. You can read more about it here.

You may not have noticed it, but I removed my links to Amazon from this blog and will remove all links to Amazon from my website when that is redone in my own brand of protest. In my opinion, Amazon has acted like the 800-pound gorilla since its inception a few short years ago. Yes children there was a time before Amazon. All I can wonder is, what’s next? Now that they have that ebook capacity on their pages, will they only sell ebooks they put out, too?

The second bit of contentiousness comes from the state of Indiana that suddenly has a bee in its bonnet over sexual content in books.

From the Publisher’s Weekly article:

The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) has blasted a new Indiana law that requires bookstores to register with the government if they sell what is considered “sexually explicit materials.” The new law, H.B. 1042, was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels on March 13, and calls for any bookseller that sells sexually explicit materials to register with the Secretary of State and provide a statement detailing the types of books to be sold. The Secretary of State must then identify those stores to local government officials and zoning boards. “Sexually explicit material” is defined as any product that is “harmful to minors” under existing law. There is a $250 registration fee. Failure to register is a misdemeanor.

I don’t know about you, but I think this is a bit extreme. If it is acknowledged that explicit material is not intended for minors and effort is made to keep it from minors, can’t the rest of us see it, please? For more information on this ridiculousness, you can go here.

According to IC 35-49-2-2, Indiana Code defines Matter or performance harmful to minors thusly:

Sec. 2. A matter or performance is harmful to minors for purposes of this article if:
(1) it describes or represents, in any form, nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse;
(2) considered as a whole, it appeals to the prurient interest in sex of minors;
(3) it is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable matter for or performance before minors; and
(4) considered as a whole, it lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
As added by P.L.311-1983, SEC.33.

My real question about this stems from who will decide what is prurient and what isn’t? Who will decide what has merit and what doesn’t? What’s to distinguish the nudity in an art book or a book about the human body from a series of pornographic photos. Is everyone suspect a smut peddler until proven otherwise?

By far, my favorite take on this mess has come from Seressia Glass’s blog:

Given the current heat level of everything but inspirational romance, even the local drugstore will have to register on the ~~sex offender~~ bookseller list. (After all, it isn’t fair for the Borders to have to register and not Bob’s Drugstore.) Or perhaps the store buyer will offer a questionnaire to publisher reps and distributors asking if a title has the sex in it and having them sign a declaration stating that it doesn’t so that it could be sold.

Hhm, maybe this will finally get all those clinches off the covers.

That’s what I’ve been hoping for for years now.At any rate, with April only gearing up now, I can’t wait to see what other foolishness will crop up this spring.

Mar

Is it a crime or just really, really stupid?

By writerds Leave a Comment

Categories: true crime and wtf?

Submitted for your appproval:

A Wichita, Kansas woman has been sitting on her boyfriend’s toilet for the past two years. No, it’s not the world’s worst case of diarrhea, but, to my mind, a case of something mental gone awry. Supposedly the boyfriend, whose name has not been released (but the house the couple lived in is listed in public records as belonging to Kory McFarren. According to police who were finally called in to help the poor woman, they found her skin had grown around the seat and her legs appeared to have atrophied.

According to the AP report:

“She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body,” Whipple said. “It is hard to imagine. … I still have a hard time imagining it myself.”

Even though this case is bizarre, I feel for this young woman.

And now it seems authorities may be looking into pressing charges against the boyfriend for not getting her out of there sooner. According to reports, he brought her food everyday and asked her when she was going to come out of the bathroom. Her answer was always “maybe, tomorrow.”

I don’t know why, but her response reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner and the older couple who decided their fates on the whim of a fortune telling machine–maybe it’s because her rationale for her behavior seems just as incomprehensible to me.

What do you think of this case? Is the boyfriend partly responsible? Why didn’t anyone else notice they hadn’t seen her in TWO YEARS?

Mar

More proof that testosterone in the wrong, um, hands, just leads to trouble

By writerds Leave a Comment

Categories: my work, romantic suspense, sounding off, true crime, writing and wtf?

Here in New York State, we’re dealing with yet another scandal. Our governor, Eliot Spitzer was found to have been a patron of prostitutes in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The same hotel has been linked to two infamous former Presidents: Kennedy held trysts there, while Lewinsky stayed there during Clinton’s impeachment trials. Maybe a smart guy would have picked a less notorious love nest for his clandestine meetings, but there you have it.

I never liked Spitzer, despite his squeaky clean reputation. He just didn’t do it for me and besides, there’s something about the word “spit” in a person’s name that gives me the willies. There are just some bodily functions I’d rather not know about. But what really disturbs me, particularly of late, is that it seems to be those people who campaign and win on their vows to clean up corruption are the very ones that are proven to be most deeply entrenched in it. I doubt I’m the only one on overload.

And now, from what I understand, Spitzer has no choice but to resign. What he did was similar to, but not quite the same, as other recent sex scandals. Not only did he deal with an organized prostitution ring (illegal) he flew one of said high-class hookers from NY to DC at his expense (very illegal). Just in case anyone forgot, the Mann Act, which bars the transport of young lovelies across state lines for a little suh-um suh-um, is still in effect.

Last I heard on the news, Spitzer may be trying to trade his resignation for a guarantee of no prosecution. I know I wouldn’t want to take that deal if I were the one able to prosecute him. Those who make their name exposing others ought to have to suffer the same kind of scrutiny themselves should they take a fall.

Two further ironies come out of this scandal, however. The first is that if Spitzer resigns, David Paterson, currently the Lt. Governor will become the first ever black Governor of the state of New York and only the third overall since Reconstruction. Paterson, who has been legally blind since infancy, would also be the first visually impaired person to preside over the folks in Albany. Aside from that, he’s credited with being a true man of integrity who can reach across the divide that is NY State politics to get everyone to get along. Sounds like there’s no downside to this deal to me.

The second is that Spitzer was a superdelegate pledged to Hilary Clinton at the upcoming convention. The old girl can’t get a break can she? Well, Paterson has also been in her corner, though I don’t know if he is a superdelegate or if superdelegatedom is transferable thataway.

Now I know I pledged to keep this blog more about the writing, so I don’t want to leave out that connection either. I was having trouble figuring out the crime and the motive for the crime for a romantic suspense I’m working on. Usually with RS, the crime sort of comes first, then the characters, then more details. For this one, the characters came first so I was like, okay folks, what’s going on? And they were like, hey, you’re the writer. You tell us. This is the kind of rebelliousness I have to deal with. But anyway, I started thinking high-class hookers, hmm, I could do something with that. You’ve got to take your inspiration where you can get it, right?

Feb

Sad, but probably true

By writerds Leave a Comment

Categories: wtf?

This one is for the educator in me. I saw this on one of my lists and thought I’d share.

School Days: 1957 vs. 2007

1957 – Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack’s
shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to
show Jack.

2007 – School goes into lock down. FBI called. Jack
hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun
again. Counselors called in for traumatized
students and teachers.

Scenario : Gary and Mark get into a fist fight after
school.

1957 – Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Gary and Mark
shake hands and end up buddies.

2007 – Police called. SWAT team arrives, arrests
Gary and Mark. Charges them with assault. Both
expelled even though Gary started it.

Scenario : Jeffrey won’t be still in class, disrupts
other students.

1957 – Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling
by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does
not disrupt class again.

2007 – Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes
a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money
from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario : Billy breaks a window in his neighbor’s
car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1957 – Billy apologizes to the neighbor and take
a summer job to pay for the window. He also never
breaks any windows, car or otherwise, again.

2007 – Police called, Dad is arrested for child abuse.
Mother divorces Dad. Billy undergoes years of therapy.

Scenario : Harry gets a headache and takes some
aspirin to school .

1957 – Harry shares aspirin with Principal out on the
smoking dock.

2007 – Police called, Harry expelled from school for
drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario : Jose fails high school English.

1957 – Jose goes to summer school, passes English,
goes to college.

2007 – Jose’s cause is taken up by state. Newspaper
articles appear nationally explaining that teaching
English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU
files class action lawsuit against state school system
and Jose’s English teacher. English banned from core
curriculum. Jose given diploma anyway but ends up
mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak
English.

Scenario : Richie takes apart leftover firecrackers from
4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle,
blows up a red ant bed.

1957 – Ants die.

2007 – BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Richie
charged with domestic terrorism. FBI investigates
parents. Siblings removed from home, computers
confiscated. Richie’s Dad goes on a terror watch list
and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario : Bobbie falls while running during recess
and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his
teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1957 – In a short time, Bobbie feels better and goes
on playing.

2007 – Mary is accused of being a sexual predator
and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.
Bobbie undergoes 5 years of therapy.

Jan

Lazy Days and Fridays

By writerds 3 Comments

Categories: blogosphere, entertainment, industry, mystery, publishing, romance, romantic suspense, writing and wtf?

Okay, not exactly lazy, just busy. instead of posting I’ve culled a few interesting posts for you to ponder.

The first comes from Editorrent, dealing with story reversals, Charles Dickens and a few other useful tidbits.

Angela Jefferson’s blog pointed me toward NY Times coverage of the Cassie Edwards brouhaha. Personally, I’ve never read any of Ms. Edwards work and have been offended myself by the use of the word savage in many of her bajillion titles (which is why I didn’t read her). I don’t know what she did or didn’t do, but it is an important discussion, since few folks seem to know what the P word is or even if they do, they don’t care. I was pleased the other day, though, when my daughter had a research paper to write for her English class (high school, you know) and her teacher told her that she had to be careful how she paraphrased or incorporated research material so as not to plagiarize. Send that teacher an apple!

Getting back to Angela for a minute. She claims herself to be a font of useless information. I was a font of useless information way before she came around. But I digress.

Don’t know much about the writer’s strike in Hollywood, but Booksquare posts some interesting information on the ramifications of all these indie deals on whatever the major settlement turns out to be. My message to the studios: pay the two dollars and get your houses back in order.

And finally–the Edgars are coming, the Edgars are coming. Or the nominations for the awards have been announced. You can find commentary on who’ll win at Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, or if you just want the list of nominees, go here.

Nov

Norman Mailer, he dead. A penny for the old guy

By writerds Leave a Comment

Categories: industry, writing and wtf?

I realize I have bowdlerized a bit of T.S Elliot here (who in turn referenced Joseph Conrad) but when I looked at the picture of Mailer plastered on the covers of the New York papers all I could think about was damn, could you find a less flattering photo? Wrinkly, scraggly, unkempt and kinda freaky looking, especially as a close up. Damn.

I’ve never met Norman Mailer, but I can guarantee we wouldn’t have agreed on one damn thing. I lost all tolerance for macho myopia back when I had to read Hemingway in high school. Still, can’t we accord folks a little dignity? Sheesh!

Nov

Just wondering . . .

By writerds 3 Comments

Categories: entertainment and wtf?

As promos of the latest Decision House dance across my TV screen, the question comes into my mind — is there any show Todd Bridges has too much shame to appear on? As I said, just wondering.


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A skewed sense of humor has kept me sane through 10+ years of teaching and almost as many writing. I invite you to come in and look around. Leave a comment if you like. My goal is to leave you with a smile on your face and a few new thoughts to mull over. If you like the blog, please tell your friends. If not, tell your enemies.