Diva Dethroned

It's been just over a week now since I was "let go" from my job, and I'm not feeling like much of a Diva. Actually, I'm feeling quite depressed. I'm eating too much, sleeping too much, and I am scared; scared of the future.

This is the first time in my life that I have ever been fired from a job, and it has really taken a toll on me. My parents, who I saw this weekend, agree that my skin is "the worst it's been in at least 10 years!" I guess it's all the stress and worrying that I do.

I hate the uncertainty of when I will get another job, and I am already feeling the financial "pinch" of September rent and bills being due without an income I can rely on. What I hate most, though, is having to ask my family for help. My parents don't seem to mind; they know that I am trying. But I mind. I am 26 years-old, I shouldn't need "help" from anyone.

My father, now retired, was a successful accountant for 30 years. He has always been "the example" for me and for what I wanted -- and still want -- to achieve. Unfortunately, I don't see myself aspiring to his level of success and achievement. I am afraid that I am destined to reside in the "lower-rung" of society -- a disappointment to myself, if not others.

On a more positive note, I really appreciate the lovely comments some of you have left me. Thank you. It gives me hope.

The Bad News Came...

Last night, just as I was leaving work for the day, I got the news: "Today," my boss said, "is your last day here."

It was hurtful, but not a total surprise; I had seen this coming. Though tempting, I will not go into details as to why I was "let go" and how (the reasons) I saw it coming. I left on good terms with my boss and coworkers, and I want it to remain that way. Thus, discussing the company's "back-office goings on" on the Internet wouldn't be appropriate.

Now I am back on the job market, and not looking forward to the whole ordeal of updating and sending out my resume and going on job interviews. That, and I am sad over losing a job that I enjoyed. I pray that I will not be out of work for long, but even if I am, I know that I am blessed with an amazing support group of friends and family who love and care about me, and who won't let me go without my basic necessities.

Damn Tourists!

I'm so glad that summer is finally coming to an end, and not just because I am excited over Fall fashions (though that is a part of it). The thing is, summertime is also tourist time here in NYC, and I can't stand tourists. Sure, they represent a major source of income for NYC -- that's pretty much the only good thing about them -- but they are so annoying!

For example, as I exited the 5th Avenue train station (at 58th street, Central Park South) last Saturday, there was this mob of people who weren't moving. The people just stood there, blocking the exit and taking up the sidewalk. As I struggled to get through the crowd, I figured that "something must be up" to create such gridlock -- but there wasn't. It was just a mass of tourists standing around, doing nothing but talking to one another and getting in my way. I was like, "What the f***k?"

Then, as I entered Bergdorf Goodman, where I work, I was "greeted" by another large grouping of tourists who were just standing around, looking at things and taking up space. I knew they were tourists (and not the regular Bergdorf clientele) because they dressed like crap. I kept thinking to myself, "Oh HELL no! I can't believe these people have the nerve to come into Bergdorf's looking like THAT!"

I tried to navigate through the crowd, but it took me several tries before I could get an elevator -- these people just DO NOT move! I was trying to be polite, saying "Excuse me" and all, but even being nice and asking them didn't get them to budge! They're just a bunch of low-class, poorly dressed, white trash hicks who don't belong in New York City, much less in an upscale establishment such as Bergdorf Goodman.

I'll be so gland when they're gone.

Oh...My...Gawd!

1.) What the heck are these parents thinking? First, Angelina Jolie's son Maddox, now Jennifer Connelly's two sons -- with MOHAWK HAIR!!


2.) I'm hoping it's just the picture and that Paris Hilton didn't really buy (much less go out in) such unnatural looking hair extensions.


3.) I really hate Lindsay Lohan's "new" skinny, blond look. I want the "old" Lindsay back!

Crown me crazy

It's been a few years since I competed in, judged, or directed a beauty pageant, but I get no less giddy when one comes on TV. Needless to say, I was over-the-moon when not one, but TWO pageants -- Miss Teen USA and a new, plus-size pageant, Mo'nique's Fat Chance -- aired this past Monday, August 8th, 2005.

Miss Teen USA

This year, like every year, the Miss Teen USA pageant boasted 51 of the most beautiful girls from across the nation. The girls, between the ages of 15 and 18 years old, were introduced alphabetically by the name of the state each was representing (plus the District of Columbia) and then quickly narrowed down to the top 15.

The top 15 delegates, in the order that they were announced: California, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, West Virginia, Minnesota, New York, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Michigan, Alaska, and Georgia.

The first actual competition was the evening wear competition; my favorite gown was the white tier gown with brown satin sash (tied into a bow around the waist) worn by the delegate from Kentucky. My picks at that point of the competition: 1) Kentucky, 2) West Virginia, 3) Kansas, 4) Oklahoma and 5) Ohio. The judges must have agreed with me, because when they narrowed the field down to the top 10 delegates following the evening gown segment, four of my five choices were in there.

The top 10 semi-finalists, in order of how they were announced: Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Kansas, California, Georgia, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Michigan, and Illinois.

Kudos to the pageant committee for keeping the cheesy performances to a minimum. Aaron Carter, little brother to Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys, and Kimberley Locke from American Idol both sung one short song each while the contestants changed in-between segments. In past Miss Teen USA pageants, as with most other televised pageants, the D-list "entertainers" invited to perform at the event seemed to drag on forever. Luckily, this year that all changed, so viewers such as myself didn't get bored and change the channel.

After Aaron Carter and a commercial break, the Miss Teen USA delegates re-emerged for the swimsuit competition. All the girls looked great, but some stood out from the rest by "playing it up" to the crowd and to the judges with their sparkling personalities, attitude, and great modeling.

Before the field was narrowed down again, this time to the top 5, two smaller awards were handed out: Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality. Miss Photogenic, which was chosen by the public by voting on the official Miss Teen USA website, was awarded to the delegate from Kansas; Miss Congeniality, which was chosen by the contestants themselves, was awarded to the representative from Missouri.

Then, the top 5 were announced: Illinois, California, Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. After a brief interview with each of the top 5 remaining contestants, it was time for the Final Question. The question each delegate would answer for this segment was written ahead of time by each of the 51 original contestants (one question per girl) and put into a black velvet bag. The top 5 finalists then (blindly) drew a question from the bag and gave it to the host to be read out loud. Here were the questions:


• Question for Illinois: Why do you think they say the high school years are the best years of your life?
  
  
• Question for California: Do you think (your) generation is growing up too fast?
  
  
• Question for Ohio: How do we get younger students to want a better education for themselves?
  
  
• Question for Michigan: If you could be anybody for one day, who would you be and why?
  
  
• Question for West Virginia: What do you spend the majority of your time thinking about?


The most difficult aspect of judging the Final Question answers is that it is all very subjective; I almost never agree with the (other) judges as to who answered the question best and why. This time I was just a viewer, but I have been a pageant judge in the past.

In this case, I thought Illinois was the best; she answered her question thoroughly and articulately, outlining and explaining her reasons. California faired well in the beginning, but when she realize she still had time left (each girl had 30 seconds to answer the question, then a buzz would sound) she started to try to "fill in" the rest of time with what turned out to be (what I consider to be) useless babble. Ohio was slightly off her question; she talked about how she felt education was important, but the question was HOW do we get younger students TO WANT a better education for themselves. Michigan and West Virginia both had short, 5 second answers: Michigan said (even if she could be anybody for one day) "(She) would only want to be (herself)" and West Virginia said (what she spends the majority of the time thinking about is) "What (I am) going to do next." My choices were as follows: 1) Illinois, 2)California, 3) Ohio, 4) Michigan and West Virginia (tie).

As I stated before, though, judging Final Question answers is completely subjective. Here was the official result: 4th Runner-Up: California, 3rd Runner-Up: Illinois, 2nd Runner-Up: West Virginia, 1st Runner-UP: Michigan, and the new Miss Teen USA: OHIO!!!

Monique's Fat Chance

This was advertised as a "plus size beauty pageant" but was, in fact, more of a reality show. The concept was a noble one: Take "average" women -- many with self-esteem issues -- and transform them into beauty queens.

The show followed the ten selected semi-finalists as they trained for the "pageant" by learning how to model, getting makeovers, learning to feel good about themselves...and some other stuff (I got bored and lost interest). There were a couple of problems, though, as I saw it: First, the show was boring. Even the potentially intriguing segments, like the women learning to pole dance, fell flat because the contestants really didn't have much personality. Second, most of the women were ugly; even the "final products" that appeared in the pageant were average looking, at best. The lowlight: a 44 year-old contestant who was as bald as celebrity guest judge Shaquille O'Neil -- and yes, she competed in the pageant that way as well. Ew. And their clothes -- even their competition clothes -- were hideous looking! I can't imagine where they dug those things up from.

The biggest problem, though, was the fact that it did NOTHING to improve the image of plus size women. Any "big" girl who tuned in to the show in hopes of seeing a beautiful, full-figured woman to look up to had to be sorely disappointed. If anything, Mo'nique's Fat Chance only substantiated the opinions of mass-media and society in general that fat people don't care about how they look!

I'm sticking to the REAL pageants!

Go Go Gastineau

There are certain web logs I read on a daily basis. One of those blogs is "A Socialite's Life", a celebrity gossip blog offering insight and playful commentary on the people in the entertainment industry. Recently, while reading the latest entry of A Socialite's Life, I came across the following editorial comment:

"Why on earth does Lisa Gastineau even exist?"

Following that statement was a link to the New York Post's Page Six website with this article:

August 7, 2005 -- LISA Gastineau is not the busty, blond golddigger she appears to be. "One of the biggest misconceptions about me," she tells Social Life magazine for its cover story, "is that I am looking for a sugar daddy. Please, I have enough diamond bracelets. I am a real woman who is looking for a man stronger than me - without a whip and a chair, of course. But he has to have a soft heart. It's too bad Russell Crowe is married." The star of "The Gastineau Girls" with her brunette daughter, Brittny, says she's surprisingly still best friends with all of her ex-boyfriends, and she still dates most of them. Voracious Lisa compares men to food, saying she's never sure which dish to order and wants everything on the left side of the menu. As for her ex-husband, troubled former Jets defensive lineman Mark Gastineau, they are not friends, although she wishes him well. "I just outgrew the guy. I married him at 19," she tells the mag. "But he did give me the most beautiful thing in my life, Brittny."

Seems to me that Lisa Gastineau "exists" to serve as an inspiration to women everywhere; to say "you don't need a man, you can make it without one." I solute you, Lisa Gastineau, for being a "diamond bracelet diva" AND a good role model to young girls.

Catch Lisa and Brittny Gastineau on their reality series Gastineau Girls on "E! Entertainment Television."

Bergdorf Girl

Usually, the only "literature" I read are magazines -- celebrity gossip and fashion magazines, to be exact -- but that may be changing. After all of the fashion magazines "raved" about this book, Bergdorf Blondes, I decided to get it and check it out for myself.

It's awesome! I love it!

The main character starts out as the only down-to-earth person amongst rich, high-society socialites (all women) who is trying to stay grounded and develop her career as a writer. Of course, things don't stay that way (it wouldn't be very interesting if they did) and she ends up being taken all over the world and put into unusual circumstances by intriguing, yet loser guys. Lucky for her, her seemingly superficial friends always seem to help her out in whatever mess she gets herself into (and she does get into A LOT) turning what could be a very tragic story into a very funny one. If you are a twenty-something year-old diva living in New York City, like I am, you may even find yourself relating to parts of it. Whoever you are, though, you will love this book!

Click on the link below to go to Amazon.com and learn more about Bergdorf Blondes, I highly recommend it!

The Classless Masses

It's about time Paris Hilton got some respect! In a recent issue if In Touch magazine, Paris was featured in the weekly staple article, "Who Wore It Better?" Not that this is anything new for Paris -- she is featured in the pictorial spread (nearly) every week. In this particular issue, though, Ms. Hilton is credited with being the "classy" one -- now that is new!

Granted, Paris Hilton is being compared to Janice Dickinson on how each of the two women wore the same, green/leopard-print dress...but for whatever reason, America loves to hate Ms. Hilton, so I was surprised to read that the publication referred to how Paris wore the dress as being "classy" (see picture, below).



While I have never actually met Paris Hilton, I like her based on what I've seen and read. I think the reason she gets so much "heat" from society in general is because she freely expresses her sexuality. It's always been a double standard: When a guy "gets around" with a lot of women (like Colin Farrell) he's a "ladies man" or a "playboy," but when a female does the same thing she's a "slut" and a "whore." It's unfair. So to Paris Hilton, I say, "Go on with your bad self!"