Disney most prudent, Disney most chaste?

Physical representations of vowed purity have been around since the renaissance, most notably in the form of clunky iron wrought and super padlocked chastity belts. How convenient. Luckily for these Mary Sues & Bobby Jos in the more recent decade charismatic christians of the United States have been heavily advocating the chastity ring. The ring, aimed mainly towards adolescents, urges the individual - pardon me I mean "young adult" - (under religous tenets) to wait until marriage before entering into a sexual relationship. In my uber-Catholic grammar school (fit with your very own stereotypical nuns in habit, kicking it old school huh?) there was a program advocating this "way of life" through interactive storyline videos with their very own laptops. Was it educational? sure. Did I learn not to get knocked up by a skeezy kid straight out of a bad 90's commercial? you bet. Did I care? hell no. It was just another freebie slip out of some class I'd actually have to pay attention in. I highly doubt each and every kid took it the way I did. I guess I figured I was smart enough not to get into any life-altering trouble, but really, honestly! when you have to choose a button between "Follow Jack into the Basement Party" or "Say No" - come on! The icing on top of the cake for this program was the - wait for it - chastity rings they handed out to us at the end. In all honesty I had lost my silver braided finger band a month later, but that naive voice in the back of my head insisted I would fall into that "basement" trap in the near future just because I had lost the ring was seriously nagging. How superstitious we are at times.

If you're wondering what brought on this memory retrival it was good old hearty Disney: keeping it clean for your kids since 1923. Disney's latest summer movie "Camp Rock" has taken over my household, with the Jonas Brothers as the main attraction (I won't deny Joe's appeal and his eventual fate as my future ex-husband. jk). Watching the horridly directed movie with my absorbed sister reminded me of an article in which I read of the Jonas Brothers' out-in-the-open vowed chastity. A very enduring quality for such young and highly sought after boys, but also eerily unsettling. Why? I'm not sure. The pull of societal norms and taboos are surely present in my mindset at the moment. It's good to wait, so says the line "true love waits" which is emblazoned on almost every chastity ring. But how about human nature? How about the basic needs and drives which animals, as well as humans, are made for? - in the simplest thought of course. You know - the four f's: fighting, fleeing, feeding, and ..um..reproducing. But then what's waiting until marriage? In my head sometimes it's a beautiful thing, and sometimes it's just a facade to hide the quality trait of "man-whore" (Cynicism at it's best). But many young Disney stars are proudly shouting and hand swaying to their vows of abstinence. I wonder what's really going on...maybe she is a skank......hmm......You know what! I applaud you you young rich famous slightly beautiful Disney stars! Proudly go down your chaste paths! and as of yet I will humbly follow.

KELCIE

Give Us This Day Our Daily Dose.

After taking my daily dose of the usual sites I visit - you know the perez, boingboing, postsecret, etc. - it dawned on me: What is this fixation on delving into the lives of others? Sometimes I catch myself overly absorbed and immersed in someone else's life that I forget about my own. I forget to live my own life when I can instead make something happen or shoot some vigor into it. I'd hate to say that the lives of the celebrities, the ordinary people who boldly display their deep dark or silly secrets, or the jet-setters of the world have it way better than me. I guess it's all perspective. "Nothing is good or bad, it's thinking that makes it so" (I really need to stop alluding to Hamlet). Admit it, we all love to dip our paws into the grimy and sordid world of gossip columns and the oh so tempting game of telephone. We. Love. it. I love it. It's a common (and now thanks to the internet, viral) guilty pleasure that undoubtedly assists in the turning of societal corruption. But I just can't get enough. Can this addiction be overturned or is it just human nature - to look over the proverbial fence and just wish for the green ass lawn on the other side?

KELCIE

P.S. Norman Rockwell is a genius.

I'm getting way too cheesy for my own good. Argh?

With all this talk of "love" it doesn't help to stunt the thought, or rather questioning, of the existance of "the one". Is there even really a "one" for any individual or was it per chance that some happen to find that someone who fits the humdrum of their lot and that he/she is willing to walk that gray line with them (very pessimistc of me, I know)? Is the theory of a soulmate strictly a silver screen conspiracy and a front those happy suburban couples flaunt at socials? As of the moment I feel like we've all been duped! hoodwinked! bamboozled! into believing such a unicorn-esque thought - but still. Still here I am debating it's existance; in conquest to an "I told you so!" or in hopes for that someday? Who knows. If true and tangible I feel like it's going to be one of those imprinting type sequences (yes, I am an avid twilight fan and thats a whole 'nother blog(s) worth. lol). I don't know perhaps the earth will thunder and hades will hence forth open its chasm and engulf us both in flames and nothing will ever be the same or maybe it will be a subtle north wind. I know, I know. Ruminations! Hamlet would be proud.

KELCIE

Love, don't believe the hype.

For an expected homebody such as myself the school-less/social-less summer is the harbinger of lethargy, poisonous amounts of internet use, and slip-of-the-finger On Demand orders. lovely. But i WOULD like to pat myself on the back for opening the summer of '08 with a substantial amount and rapid rate of reading (John Green's Looking for Alaska & Orwell's 1984 were pretty kick-ass reads). Ok back on track. So with that all said I have also come across poisonous amounts of love. Yes poisonous. Poisonous to the romantic love deprived or killers - of which I am both an upstanding member. Being without a "summer love" in all honestly sorta sucks, but what irks me more is the fact that maybe for the first time in my life I am not utterly in like with someone, ANYONE. Lterally no one. It's an odd feeling when love is replaced with content. Isn't that supposed to happen when i'm old and gray, rocking chair, blahdy blahdy blah? So today I see Hairspray(2008): super hot dude falls for the "outcast", The Holiday: women switch homes for the holidays, find their unsuspecting soulmates and last but not least Gavin Rossdale's uber-heartwarming acoustic rendition of "Suspicious Minds" on Youtube: i swear i will meet my soulmate when i hear them playing this song. How much of a hopeless-romantic-love-killing-jerk am I? So Love? I don't believe the hype, but I listen intently on the buzz.

KELCIE