A Return to Challenges Based on Fear

After two visual media related challenges, I've decided to return to physical objects. Namely, either my fear of certain textures, either fabric or plasticized stuff, or my fear of animate inanimate objects.

Textures that I don't like include raw chicken, as conquered earlier, and fuzzy stringy children's toys. I also don't like the feel of certain plastic products or gooey things. It's pretty general.

Animate inanimate objects are those objects that are not alive, but move without human control. Examples of these include reindeer made out of lights at Christmas, witches that stand outside of doors and talk and move during Halloween, and nearly anything with motion censors.

Obviously, I can't check these out from the library or eat them, so I either need to purchase them and keep them or find a way to try them out without keeping them. Luckly, both the textures and animate inanimate objects are available at Wal-Mart in the toy section. Most of these things are in packages that allow them to be touched or tried out, so I'm thinking this is the most efficient and least scary way to do this. And it means that Jackie could view it while at work, or that I could go with my sisters over my Spring Break.

The Outcome: Sex and the City v. Anna

Um, yeah. Jackie is a liar. She showed me the wrong episode and somehow thought I'd want to watch another to see if it was the right one. Um, nah, I think I'll pass.

So before I watched this show, I had set myself certain goals. These goals were not to say the following phrases while watching:
"Bimbos."
"Why the long face, Sarah Jessica Parker?"
"Bimbos."
"What in the hell does that mean?"
"This is stupid."

And, like I tell the unwilling students in my class, you can't call something stupid if you've never tried it. I can, as of last night, call Sex in the City stupid.

I did succeed in not saying most of those phrases. I did say "What in the hell does that mean?" and "Why would someone do that?", but I did not say "bimbos", "This is stupid", or "Why the long face, Sarah Jessica Parker?". I did, on another note, figure out why her face is so long. Not as in an accident or something, but where the actual extra length is. It's that space between her cheekbones and cheeks - that's why her nose is the right distance from her eyes and mouth, but it's really long. It's like there is a stretching of just that one inch of face into three.

In all fairness, I did laugh. There was a gift-wrapped sex toy with a bow on it. That was pretty funny. But the rest of it was annoying. I didn't understand the situations or why the characters would do what they did.

The score is: Anna, 1. Sex in the City, 1. That's because I did laugh, so the show gets a point, but I also was still just as annoyed, so I get a point.

The Challenge of "Things other women like that I don't get"

Maybe I'm just a little too butch. Maybe I'm just too Western. Maybe, just maybe, I don't like shoes as much as other women. But for whatever reason, I can't stand most of the shows that other women in my demographic like. Examples would be Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City.

It's not that I don't enjoy quality entertainment. It's just that I don't understand the allure of these shows. I've watched a few episodes of both, well, snippets really, but I don't get it.

So this next challenge is less about fear and more about extreme annoyance and dislike. Jackie has promised to find me a really funny episode of Sex in the City that is supposed to involve lesbians and humor. Well, that's better than shoe shopping, I suppose.

This will be happening soon, so wish me luck.

The Cat Finale

Okay, so I'm watching it, and luckily I chose to drink some wine beforehand. I do not understand why this movie was made or, really, how many mushrooms the writer had to eat before they thought up this bizarre story.

Jackie was here for this challenge as well. But, instead of giggling this time, she just looked up from her computer from time to time and said things like "What the f---? When did she become a cat? Why?"

Anyways, I'm not sure what the hell it was about. And I wasn't freaked out the entire time, but I was really annoyed and confused. I'm going to call this one a draw - I watched it, yes, but it was pretty horrible.

First of all, I would like to point out that humans don't marry cats. I would also like to point out that the beginning is exactly like The Princess Diaries, but not as good. Anne Hathaway voices the same character, basically, who is also a student at a private school in a major city with on primary best friend. She's got a crush on some ultra-cool guy, who she doesn't end up liking in the end.

Anyways, I don't recommend it. I don't think I conquered my fear or that the film conquered me. It was like how I would feel after taking the driver's exam and having the car catch fire at the first stop sign - it kind of makes the entire process useless.

A Change of Plans

So, luck have it, Princess Mononoke is checked out. What would have been my second option, Spirited Away, was lost by a patron. Arg.

Anyways, I consulted my co-worker Hannah, who knows of such things as anime, helped me chose a film that does not have really quick movements a fewer big scary eyes. It's called The Cat Returns.

It's about some girl who saves a cat and goes to the land of cats. She's voiced by Anne Hathaway. It's also got Tim Curry and Elliot Gould.

The Second Challenge

I realize that calling my attempts to overcome fears challenges makes it sound like I'm participating in the Triwizard Tournament like Harry Potter. Bear with me. There are no dragons, merpeople, or He-who-must-not-be-named in my blog.

My second challenge is to overcome my fear of anime. I am more afraid of anime than raw chicken, partly because raw chicken is almost completely avoidable. Anime turns up nearly everywhere.

So, a bit about anime. I do not care about the difference between manga and anime, nor do I care about the reasons why people love it so much. Don't argue with me about the value of anime - my argument against it is that I don't like faces made mostly of eyes and screamed phrases like "It is time for the war of the weasel to begin!"

So, as far as anime goes, I choose to watch the best. Normally I would opt to go for the worst to tackle the full range of fear, but I want to have a chance to enjoy myself. I'm choosing the movie Princess Mononoke.

Moped Rules of the Road

After an irritating week of near-misses while riding the moped, I've decided to make my first podcast a nice reminder about not hitting small engine vehicles and their riders.