Weird News Items
People do some odd things with their hard-won liberty. I stumbled across a couple of weird items involving women and their physical appearance. Now as a long-time bachelor (by accident, not by intent), I know better than to make unsolicited comments on women's appearance (I have 4 little sisters and a mom), although silence can get one in the doghouse, too: one of the women I dated was pissed off I hadn't mentioned her hairdo which she had done for our first date. (We had met through church, and I hadn't seen her since Sunday.) I think physical attraction does play a role, but it's more of a "nice-to-have" than "must-have".Probably the woman I instantly fell in love with was a yeoman (think administrative secretary) while I was working in a JAG office in the Navy; military uniforms don't exactly flatter a woman's appearance. When we first met, it was like we had known each other all our lives; we didn't have to force a conversation. She thought I was hysterical; I loved to hear her laugh. Unfortunately, she was involved at the time with the wrong type of man (married), but I did respect her fidelity to the relationship. I guess my infatuation was apparent to all, wearing my heart on my sleeve; one of her colleagues came into the office one day and said, "Tell him to go and buy us some ice creams." My friend declined, saying something to the effect that she uses her power for the good.
She did have some insecurities about her appearance, especially her height. I hadn't really noticed; the average height difference between adult genders is about 5 inches; I'm within an inch of average height. The women in my own family are short to average, one sister being about 4'10". I really didn't notice; woman often wear heels which mitigate the height difference, but also quite often when we talked she was sitting at a desk. It wasn't until she mentioned it when we were walking together that I realized I was a full head taller than her. It never occurred to me to tease her about her stature, maybe because I remember being in fifth and sixth grade when many girls had hit puberty, some ridiculing my shorter stature. In my friend's case, she had a little sister 10 years younger and already taller.
Going back to personal preferences, I have a few personal turn-offs, like tattoos, piercings (nose, tongue, etc.), and unnatural hair coloring (I suppose the girl of my dreams could be into that, but I doubt it). I'm not a prude but I prefer more modest attire. I remember when I moved to Normal, IL (ISU), a colleague's wife was involved in local real estate and was showing me some condos for rent. She wore something for the tour with a plunging neckline. It made me very self-conscious while talking to her. (As a postscript, I really wanted to get an apartment. It turns out I was expected to pay water bills, but I was never told and never got the bills; the owner ignored them versus forwarding them to me. So I was exercising one morning before going to lecture, went to take a shower--and found my water was shut off. I didn't mind paying the water bill, but I didn't even know about them. They didn't send any notice or put a notice on my door.)
But in any event, I ran across a couple of news items which, in reference to one of Arsenio Hall's old bits, ranks among those things that make you go hmmm. The first case was this young woman who stood a full 6'9" and was involved in the tall encounter business. There are a lot of shorter guys who have a height fetish; you'll find videos on Youtube where, for example, you'll find petite barefoot women walking next to very tall women, often wearing massive heels to accentuate an already foot-plus natural height advantage (which seems rather pointless to me). They may compare body parts (like hands or feet), sometimes kneel down to show they are still nearly as tall or taller. And quite often these women would go on tour and a short person could book a (platonic) session to fulfill some fantasy of one-on-one time being with a tall woman. (I generally classify a tall women as taller than the average man just under 5'10" as tall.)
One of the fantasies these guys often have is being lifted and carried (unresolved Mommy issues?) So at any rate, this 6'9" woman, wearing heels (so some guy can fantasize being with a 7-foot woman?), tries lifting a a 190-lb. dude and falls, badly injuring one of her ankles. It was at that point she had second thoughts about being in the fetish encounter industry and left the profession. (A lot of tall women are very defensive over their right to wear heels. Me, it doesn't really bother me; I once dated a woman 2 inches taller. A few more inches isn't a problem. But I know it's hard enough to walk in heels even without trying to lift heavy objects.)
The second story I found via a link in a conservative-libertarian email service, talking about women's negative experiences with breast augmentation. (I'm generally not a fan. I can understand a breast cancer survivor wanting to have cosmetic surgery done, but I think a lot of these women have self-image problems probably better addressed by a psychologist. You can spend your whole life comparing yourself to others even fuller-figured, taller, etc. I find having a positive, confident self-image is more attractive.)
I think what particular drew my attention was the case of a woman with natural F-cup breasts who had work done expanding her bust a full cup size. (I don't think I've even met a woman that size. I have no clue what sizes my former girlfriends wore but they had small to medium-size builds.) I've heard of a young sitcom actress that size who had reduction surgery done. In this case, the woman had cosmetic surgery which increased her breasts a cup size. And like a lot of people, I just don't get it. (I've always worried if I wrote anything, it might make a future significant other self-conscious. No, I'm not repulsed by the idea of dating a very well-endowed woman, and I've found some women with smaller breasts, like the tall girl I mentioned above, very attractive.)
So why did this woman have work done on her breasts? Apparently she wanted a perkier, fuller, more symmetrical appearance since gravity affected her large breasts since her late teens. But now she complains about having breasts bigger than her head in a case of being really careful what you wish for. (Um, I don't think growing an extra cup size was the issue; she already had a large bust going into the surgery. Some women grow a cup size through pregnancy and/or use of birth control.)
Women have the liberty to make decisions, even bad ones, about their appearance. Just use that freedom responsibly; voluntary transactions rule the day. Some shorter men almost never meet or get any attention from extremely tall women and are willing to pay a premium to meet one in person; for some women the market can provide nice compensation for fulfilling someone's fantasy for a few minutes, maybe taking some comparison photos, etc. (They probably already get approached all the time in the streets for free; why not charge money for the rare opportunity?) The women can stipulate conditions for that contract, e.g., no sexual touching, no lifting, etc. My guess is that the man in question would have waived that lifting fantasy (or paid a large premium, but even then she could have stipulated attempting any lift barefoot, limited the lifting activity to a weight she could comfortably handle, etc.). The same thing with the breast augmentation case; the woman in question could have sought reduction surgery to achieve similar cosmetic results. My inference is that she liked the attention she got from men with her natural breasts.
Just for the record, just in case my future significant other is tall or has a curvy figure, I don't consider those physical attributes negatively; it's just been missed opportunities. I can't say I have experienced similar issues, but I have a naturally large barrel chest (like the mid- to upper-50 inches), more of a V-shaped torso, even at my current weight. Buying suits has always been a hassle; if and when I find an athletic-cut suit, it often has to be extensively altered. I hate clothes shopping with a passion.
The few times women have complimented favorably on my appearance, it's usually been my blue eyes or my naturally curly hair (which, along with my academics, earned me the nickname of Einstein in high school). I don't get unsolicited favorable comments on a frequent basis; I do remember this Brazilian lady friend gushing that my eyes are so blue. Lady barbers almost invariably comment about my curls, as if it's a tragedy to cut them. [Trumpkins, male and female alike, personally attack my weight in tweets. I do take responsibility for my weight, but I also have a very real thyroid problem.]
Pro Wrestling Storytelling
I don't remember exactly when I started watching professional wrestling (and, yes, for the record I know it's largely scripted). I think it was in undergraduate school, a diversion from my studies. I remember visiting my maternal grandfather and godfather one Christmas (my Dad was stationed in Germany with the rest of our family). It turns out that Grandfather was a huge wrestling fan, particularly of Andre the Giant. And it turns out he wasn't alone; some 20 years later I discovered my grandaunt, his little sister, knew all the major wrestling stars and their finishing moves.Trump's pal, Vince McMahon, chairman of WWE, is the top kingpin of the pro wrestling world. He famously beat back a furious challenge by Turner's WCW promotion, eventually purchasing his rival competitor. I loved the storytelling. Some of McMahon's moves were inspired, like putting the sport's two biggest babyfaces, Hulk Hogon and Andre the Giant against each other. (The feud started when champion Hogan got awarded with a huge trophy, while unbeaten Andre was given a dinky one.) He later repeated the formula pitting Hogan against the Ultimate Warrior in a clash of babyface champions.
But he bungled some moves. The acquisition of WCW began promising enough as son Shane led the acquisition in a timeless story of father vs. son. But WWE soon shed some of the marquee PPV's like Halloween Havoc and Starrcade, and it looked like McMahon was repeatedly having WCW veterans job to WWE performers as if he was getting revenge over his former rivals.
Tomorrow is the last PPV before the annual signature PPV, Wrestlemania where it's widely expected that "Universal Champion" Kevin Owens will drop his title to WCW legend Goldberg, setting up Goldberg-Lesnar III. (It's not out of the question that WWE will swerve the fans by having Lesnar interfere in the match, costing Goldberg the championship and giving Goldberg the motive for a rematch. Goldberg holds a 2-0 record over the monster Lesnar in PPV's, and has no motive for granting a rematch.) I don't see the logic in putting the belt on a part-time, aging talent.
It's a shame if they take the title off Owens. Owens had been booked as a monster NXT (WWE's junior territory) champion who ruthlessly turned on his long-term friend and then champion Sami Zahn. But something happened in his transition to the main roster. He was booked into losing his NXT belt to cruiserweight Balor (and a rematch). He was booked as anything but invincible on the main roster winning and then losing a minor championship and then a series of Zahn rematches where Zahn held his own. Owens was basically handed the championship by HHH, McMahon's son-in-law, and since then he has been booked into a series of dubious championship defense wins, made possible by "his (new) best friend", Chris Jericho. The run made Owens look like a weak champion, having to resort outside interference (Jericho) to retain his belt.
In a certain sense, the writing was on the wall as Owens turned on Jericho just as he had his former best friend Zahn, although I thought after Jericho's winning the minor US championship, he himself might soon lust to regain the marquee championship for himself. I don't put it past Jericho, who has been MIA since Owens' assault, to be booked to return tomorrow and cost Owens the belt to prove Owens only held the championship because of his help. The only logical way to book Owens into a loss without losing his badass reputation is by not having him lose cleanly to Goldberg.
With Owens finally being booked as the monster champion once again, I don't see the logic of having to job to Goldberg, but then I never expected McMahon to have monster Lesnar job to Goldberg in a squash match. So having Goldberg dismantle two monsters does have a weird logic of its own.
Another weird booking angle was having Randy Orton voluntarily concede his right as the Royal Rumble winner to challenge his "master", Bray Wyatt, for the WWE championship, only to have him turn on Wyatt right after Styles won the right to Orton's spot against Wyatt. That "Viper" Orton would turn on Wyatt was totally in character; what's not clear is why they booked Styles in the middle of the feud.
I've Basically Stopped Watching Primetime TV
I've rediscovered series like "Parks & Recreation" on streaming services like Hulu. I have to admit I love the Ron Swanson character; I now understand all the Internet memes featuring this proto-libertarian character (although I don't get why he ever fell in love with and married the infamous Tammies).Probably my biggest misconception involved the series "Grimm". I initially inferred that it was a series patterned after the "Once Upon a Time" series on ABC on the infamous horrific fairy tales--sort of an eclectic horror stories anthology. (I have a fondness for the old "Twilight Zone" series.) I often watch TV while surfing on the Internet, and I often get so zoned into what I'm doing, that someone can genuinely startle me if he or she interrupts me at work. I do a fairly good job multitasking, but there are times I've seen a movie a dozen times and see something that I hadn't noticed before.
For those who don't follow the series, "Grimm" features detective Nick Burkhardt who is linked by blood to the Grimm tribe, arch-enemies to Wesen, mythical creatures from the dark side who often assume a human form. Nick's closest friend is Monroe, the unlikely werewolf-like Wesen ally. I'm not going to be a spoiler on the plotline, except there are genuinely bizarre plot twists, like Adelin, a witch who assumes the form of Juliette, Nick's live-in lover, and is impregnated in their encounter. Juliette herself becomes a Wesen Hexenbiest in the process of helping Nick regain his lost Grimm powers (allowing him to see and battle Wesen despite their human form). The series is in its sixth and final abbreviated season.
