Princess jewels?

Magnet #688 - Glittery Snow White

Yesterday, we walked into a Target and I beelined to the dollar-store section, and my friend was like, Whhhhhy do you have to look there?

My question is, why not? I swear they put all the colorful items there just for the kids (and me) to pick up.

And, it's not like I'm picking up the crown jewels there or anything, just the odd Disney/Snoopy/Smurfs magnet set or two. Heh. What? I can't resist when they're just sitting there.

But, speaking of jewels, I just looked at this magnet closely. I wonder why the artist thought they should glitter and glorify the apple that poisoned Snow? Moreover, refresh my memory - did Snow White even include any princess jewels?

Very confusing magnet.

eta:
Oh! Speaking of confusing...a friend of mine shared this image of the Disney princesses dressed up as their Disney villains counterparts. Freaky!

Shining, shimmering splendor

Magnet #592 - Jasmine

Ah. The last of this particular Disney Princesses magnet set.

I wanted something happy for today. And you can't get any happier than a happy Disney Princess.

So, yay for happy Jasmine from Aladdin.

Right about now, I could use a happy, if somewhat annoying, magic genie in a bottle. And not the Christina Aguilera kind. Hell, I'd probably take the monkey, too.

Anyway, to recap: Nothing happier than the circle of Disney Princesses below. And if I use the word happy enough times, maybe I'll kick this bad, ticked-off and rather disgusted mood in the shins.


Huh. How'd that pink glittery apple get there. Wasn't Snow's apple red?

Happy.
Happy.
Happy.
Happy.
Happy.
Happy.

What? That's right. Next, I'll be spitting over my left shoulder, and walking in a counterclockwise circle three times backward.

Or. Coffee.

Or. Mountain Dew.

Those usually work.

The seventh sister of hell

Magnet #550 - Ariel

Dudes. I had plans for today's magnet, and I threw them out the door the second I saw jeftoon01's art on deviant art yesterday.

He has a whole series of superfreaky, but amazing Twisted Princesses. On this magnet, cheeky Ariel looks so sweet and innocent and demure. Yet, here's the seventh daughter of Triton - jeftoon01's Ariel.

Part of me thinks it's wicked cool.

The other part of me wants to cover up the eyes of every Disney lover out there.

Please, won't someone think of the children? Hahahaha.

Who's your favorite princess?

Magnet #508 - Belle

Ok. Several reasons to use this magnet. It was a few years ago now that I saw Beauty and the Beast with a guy I met over the internet. No, no. Not like that.

He and I met through a messageboard that I'd just joined a few months earlier, and both he and I wanted to see to see superhot Jacob Young play Lumiere.

For those of you who don't know, superhot Jacob Young, played Lucky on General Hospital, and is currently playing the ever-damaged JR on All My Children. So, we went through Playbill.com, which has some really fantastic discounts if you sign up for their free membership. We had a great time that night, and see? I'm still alive to talk about it. Mind you, both of us are still on that messageboard.

It's from that same messageboard that I met the child who would break my heart, the daughter of one of our other friends from that board. We've all gotten together several times now - and when we first met, her daughter was like 5, and the most adorable little princess ever. Fearless and sweet. At eight, she's still fearless and sweet.

But yesterday, they took her to the Magic Kingdom. And (sniffle) she didn't find it magical. Or the happiest place on earth. In fact, she was bored. Bored? How do you get bored at Disneyworld? Nooooooo. But, while they rode the usual rides, she just wasn't feelin' it.

In fact, she didn't even care about the characters. You know, the same characters that not three years ago, my buddies and I were putting down our drinks to take pictures with (Aladdin)? The ones we were mugging with (Three Caballeros)? The ones we got felt up by (Buzz Lightyear)? Sigh.

Bored. Seriously hurts my heart. I was absolutely sure that she'd fall in love with Disneyworld. Sigh. Boy, they do grow up.

But, here's something that made me laugh. Yesterday at work, I was telling my coworker's 10-year-old daughter and her BFF that I was headed to see an advance screening of Harry Potter (yay me, for not falling asleep, which means it was pretty good!), and I had told them about the girl who was bored at Disney. They laughed, and I asked the two girls who their favorite princess were.

One girl, the tomboy, said, oh, I don't care about the princesses, joy.

The other, poked her thumb to her chest and said primly, and quite unapologetic:

ME.

Cinderella, Cinderella, all I hear is Cinderella

Magnet #497 - Cinderella

Hah.

I made the mistake of commenting on FlickFilosopher's blog that Disney's Princess Protection Program, wasn't terrible, as I mentioned here. Of course, of course, I got reamed by a couple of folks who were very anti-Princess, anti-Disney, anti-Disney Princesses.

Bite. Me.

I know there's an evil empire of commercialism. I know it probably sets womanhood back a thousand years.

You know what? I don't care. I love Disney's products, their movies, and yes, even their princesses.

If that makes me mindless, soulless and stupid, I don't care.

If that makes me, a single woman in the big city trying to make it on her own, less of a woman, I don't care.

They're fiction. If you can't teach children the difference, that's on you.

Mind you...my inner princess probably wouldn't have minded a prince of my own to do my 6 loads of laundry this morning, or a BFF to bring me a pretty dress to wear today, or little birds to help me get dressed, or a horse-drawn pumpkin to get me to the post office, or a dwarf to carry my packages.

Or a fairy godmother to do all of the above.

Welcome to Puerto Rico!

Magnet #492 - Puerto Rico

Here's something weird - whenever I think of Puerto Rico I think of that one travel commercial with Ricky Martin where he says, "WELcome to PUERto RIco!"

But now, I'm wondering if it's one of those false memories, particularly as I can't find the vid on YouTube. Hmmm. No one else remembers that commercial? Of Ricky in white linen, looking all hot and poetic justicy?

I think I'm just having one of those days, because I also can't for the life of me figure out who gave me this magnet. So if it's you, thanks very much!

I picked it because - and this won't surprise you in the least - I watched Disney's Princess Protection Program last night. The one with total (or Disney hype'd) BFFs Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato - filmed entirely on location in Puerto Rico. About the princess of Costa Luna (Demi) who had to be relo'd to the backwoods of Louisana with a covert agent and his daughter (Selena), and the trials and tribulations of a modern-day princess trying to blend in as a typical American teenager. Adorable concept.

What? I love DCOMs (Disney Channel Original Movies). They're great fun, you don't have to think about anything, they don't solve the world's problems, and every once in a while they make you sing.

But, there's a caveat to my DCOM love. It's basically anything pre-High School Musical. For some reason (other than singing a couple of their songs), I'm not on the HSM bandwagon. In fact, I didn't even really like Camp Rock all that much (which didn't stop me from buying the Camp Rock Band-Aids, but that's a whole other magnet, methinks.).

Yep, my favorites of the bunch are several years ago now, but movies like the Zenon series - the ones with pre-soap diva Kristen Storms, where she's a preteen in outer space, living in a spay-stay. Or, the one with pre-grown up Ryan Merriman, Luck of the Irish, about a basketball player who finds out he's half-Leprechaun. I know! It's crazy!

Up until last night, I would have said it was a function of me growing older (finally) and not liking the newer movies, but Princess Protection Program was kinda cute. Silly, but cute. And, they didn't solve anyone's problems, you didn't have to think too hard, and if I watched it more than once, I'd probably start singing the soundtrack. Of course, it didn't hurt that cutie Tom Verica was in it, playing the covert agent dad.

The one thing that I was absolutely in awe of the big Disney machine over, was the part where the whole thing centered around the concept of princesses...and how it's not about what you are, but who you are and what you can offer to the world. It dawned on me that they were totally adding another level of substance to their own Disney Princesses empire.

Whoa. C'mon, that's sheer genius.

And away to his castle we'll go

Magnet #480 - Snow White

So, I already explained where I got this Snow White Disney Princess magnet...yay for Target $1 aisle!

When I first moved to New York, I lived with my aunt and her young family for about 3 months, while I got acclimated to the big city, and looked for gainful employment. I slept in the daybed in the living room, which meant every morning, I could tell what time it was by the sounds of Nick, Jr. (bum-bum-bahhhhhmp!) and Gullah-Gullah Island.

It was a fun few months, mainly because I had a blast living with my cousins at the time, a five-year-old and a two-year-old. Thank goodness it was before the Disney Princesses had started to become the huge branded machine they are now. Back then, all we had were the big honkin' VHS tapes in the white plastic collector cases.

The best part was the toddler who looooooooved Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. Actually, that's not true. She loved Dopey. Seriously. Her mom would be headed off to work, the little girl would cry and cry and cry, until we'd sit down on the white wicker rocker and turn on Doooo-pey! Dooooo-pey! Again. Totally adorable.

Never mind the fact that that two-year-old is in high school now, and I haven't watched Snow White since. Heh.

Anyway, I picked this one for today's magnet, because I found this photographer, Dina Goldstein, who did a whole series on Disney's Fallen Princesses. It's a slightly disturbing, but very interesting photo series that's apparently two more away from being complete. I just loved her interpretation of poor Snow White, after her happily ever after.

Away to his castle, indeed.

Sleeping giant

Magnet #467 - Disney's Princess Aurora

So, I was thinking that Vicki was right yesterday, when she suggested having happy magnets this month. We'll see how long this Happy Magnets month lasts. Heh. I might not make it past this post.

I picked up this Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty magnet - and the other Disney Princesses - as a set from the $1 aisle at Target. Hello, jackpot! I'm only sorry I didn't pick up the Cars set, too! No worries, I'm sparing you a full Disney Princesses week...or rather, I'll be using them sparingly this month. Hahahaha.

Anyway, here's my happy (or, actually more grateful), thought of the day. Every once in a while, I hear or read something that just makes me damned happy that my parents came to America and had me.

All politics aside, you can't deny that we're damned lucky that we don't have a government that's censoring our communications.

Case in point. Today, I read this Britannica blogpost and I learned that my friend at Your Nose Is Quite Big living in China has had her access to all things social networking blocked.

Blocked. Seriously.

She can't Tweet. She can't YouTube. She can't blog on Blogger or Wordpress. She can't upload images to flickr. Dudes. She can't even use Hotmail!

Apparently, they've banned the entire nation (!!!!) from these social networks to help curb any talk about tomorrow's 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. Well, I guess they don't call it the Great Firewall of China for nothing.

Still, how frustrating! And how much does it make you appreciate the (mostly) free reign we have here to speak our minds?

Ah, China. Napoleon once called you the sleeping giant, saying something like "Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world."

Huh. Uhhh, good morning, I guess.

Damsels in distress

Magnet #389 - Disney Princesses Crowned with Beauty

As far as I can tell, except for smiling really pretty and cajoling the hell out of someone, I try not use my so-called feminine wiles to get what I want. It's mostly because I'm not a pretty, pretty princess type.

I don't play the silly git who can't add two and two (even though I can't).

I don't flaunt my so-called wares to score a free round of drinks or dinner.

And I most certainly don't like playing damsel in distress, waiting for the big bad hero to come and save me.

And yet. These last five days in Tampa have seen me playing the damsel in distress more times than I'd like to count.

Seriously. I hate it. I hate being dependent on someone else. I hate taking up someone else's valuable time with something that's my responsibility, but that I can't physically can't do. I hate imposing on someone to stop what they're doing and go out of their way they're doing to help me get some stuff done.

I just hate asking for help, is really what it boils down to.

But sometimes, you just can't run a forklift to move some skids. You can't run electricity yourself. You can't lift heavy crates on your own. You can't blame yourself for not bringing a Philips screwdriver on site. Gah.

And sometimes, you find yourself needing a hero. Or two. Or ten.

What is it about guys in production being like the most helpful, get it done guys in the world? Whether it's designing and producing a million ads in New York, or printing a million banners or grabbing a forklift to run some pallets around for us Tampa, the production guys I work with are truly spectacular. I'm telling ya'll, without the local team here, I probably would have packed up five days ago.

At some point, the word thanks doesn't cover it. But, thanks soooo much, guys. Mwah!!!

Wait. That wasn't a wile, I swear.