This is our 900th post.
It's very apt that it came during this time because holy crap we're posting a lot which explains a little of why we fell off schedule this month. I write this having just landed in Florida after spending a weekend in New York with Sweeney and Lion, hence the silence on the blog. And even with that, we still managed to post more times this month than in September. To put it in perspective in July we posted 36 times, 34 in August, 52 in September and 61 in October.
tl;dr MANY POSTS. MUCH BUSY.
Somewhere along the line, this blog transitioned from, "LOL, kids books are ridiculous when read as adults!" to, "Wow, there is a lot of dangerous, problematic messaging in our favorite media." It didn't happen on purpose and it didn't happen over night, but it definitely happened. Just as the blog has changed, it has also changed us in the process.
Marines: I don't think I'm ever approaching the material we cover with the mind-set, "let's find all the ways this is wrong." To be sure, our primary goal has always been about finding humor in the way we discuss the media we chose, and letting that be the common ground between us all as consumers. Things did change, though, as we found ourselves unable to look past problems without calling them out.
Marines: I don't think I'm ever approaching the material we cover with the mind-set, "let's find all the ways this is wrong." To be sure, our primary goal has always been about finding humor in the way we discuss the media we chose, and letting that be the common ground between us all as consumers. Things did change, though, as we found ourselves unable to look past problems without calling them out.
In TMYK tradition, here is the part where I explain why this month was crazy. This month was a boring kind of crazy, which is one of the worst kinds of crazy months - being beaten out for that title only by sad crazy. After a summer of adventures, my workload increased considerably and so did Lorraine's who not only got more work stuff, but also started school.
Lorraine: BOOOO. I mean, fine, yay education or whatever, but boo. My return to school has lined up with Sweeney's finally being done with it, which is strange for both of us, I think. If we keep trading off this way, though, you can just always assume that some of the time used putting together this blog should've been spent on schoolwork. Forever and ever.
Lorraine: BOOOO. I mean, fine, yay education or whatever, but boo. My return to school has lined up with Sweeney's finally being done with it, which is strange for both of us, I think. If we keep trading off this way, though, you can just always assume that some of the time used putting together this blog should've been spent on schoolwork. Forever and ever.
The most awkward thing about this video isn't even my list but just me, in general. As a human. I can't help that. This video is more fictional characters than people. I also made an egregious oversight by neglecting to mention The Green Power Ranger and also Johnny Depp, specifically from Edward Scissorhands, because this is a list of shame.
I'm about to use the term "celebrity" very lightly:
August was a crazy month (we tend to only have crazy months). After writing our TYMK post from Paris (!!!) we continued to drink lots of wine and have lots of fun for another 10 days. Then, sadly, we had to make our way back home and can we just say that neither of us are big fans? Leaving Paris, Sweeney and Harley was the saddest and I can honestly say that I've spent the last three weeks very frequently wishing it was vacation time again. Vacation all the days, all the time, always.
Sweeney: HOW ARE WE ALREADY SO FAR FROM VACATION? On the plus side, I can watch all the videos of us and, you know, cry into some chocolate or something.
Sweeney: HOW ARE WE ALREADY SO FAR FROM VACATION? On the plus side, I can watch all the videos of us and, you know, cry into some chocolate or something.
A new Hunger Games movie is upon us (well, a few months away, anyway), and the geniuses behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 have released seven Panem propaganda posters entitled "District Heroes." Each poster salutes a different district, as the Capitol implores its citizens to "love your labor" and, you know, generally stop supporting Katniss-inspired rebellions, I guess.
But since Snark Ladies know more about Panem than your average Lionsgate marketing genius, we thought it would be fun to tear these posters apart! Some are brilliant, others are bit off the mark, and the rest don't make any fucking sense at all. I will dole out Propaganda Points for how effective the poster would be at convincing the district citizens to support the Capitol, and Bullshit Ratings for how accurately it depicts life in that district (at least from the Capitol's point of view). Let the propaganda party begin!
But since Snark Ladies know more about Panem than your average Lionsgate marketing genius, we thought it would be fun to tear these posters apart! Some are brilliant, others are bit off the mark, and the rest don't make any fucking sense at all. I will dole out Propaganda Points for how effective the poster would be at convincing the district citizens to support the Capitol, and Bullshit Ratings for how accurately it depicts life in that district (at least from the Capitol's point of view). Let the propaganda party begin!
Dearest Traumateers, I am writing this recap from Paris! And sure, I like announcing that I'm in Paris as much as possible, but also, it's kind of relevant because this is where we tell you what we've been up to.
Sweeney was traveling a ton in July (check out her videos about it here and here) and I met her a week ago in Paris. Since then, we've been waking up late, eating lots of bread and pastries, discussing the merits of goat cheese, almost dying on the Eiffel Tower (me), working some (Sweeney), talking a lot about Snark Squad (we can't help it) and meeting a group of wonderfulamazing Traumateers!
Sweeney was traveling a ton in July (check out her videos about it here and here) and I met her a week ago in Paris. Since then, we've been waking up late, eating lots of bread and pastries, discussing the merits of goat cheese, almost dying on the Eiffel Tower (me), working some (Sweeney), talking a lot about Snark Squad (we can't help it) and meeting a group of wonderfulamazing Traumateers!
Lorraine: Hello, friends! Long time no see in this dusty "Fifty Shades" corner of Snark Squad. In fact, the last time we were here, Charlie Hunnam was still slated to play Christian Grey.
Sweeney: I'm so glad we got to have this gif for the final Fifty Shades posts. It was so useful!
Lor: Fast forward to ten months later and the official release of the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer:
Sweeney: I'm so glad we got to have this gif for the final Fifty Shades posts. It was so useful!
Lor: Fast forward to ten months later and the official release of the Fifty Shades of Grey trailer:
Sorry this is late but I went out of town and blah, blah, blah. #excusesexcuses.
So, a few things:
1 - You can tell that I recorded this early with every intention of having it done before traveling, but that didn't happen. So basically, yes, I did drop the spirit stick.
To that end, we will also be skipping this week's Segue Magic as we are knee deep in scheduling ALL THE THINGS in preparation for some more travels coming up soon. Please forgive us.
So, a few things:
1 - You can tell that I recorded this early with every intention of having it done before traveling, but that didn't happen. So basically, yes, I did drop the spirit stick.
To that end, we will also be skipping this week's Segue Magic as we are knee deep in scheduling ALL THE THINGS in preparation for some more travels coming up soon. Please forgive us.
Last month's TMYK was called "Plan and Flail" because we had a lot of big things coming up, but they were just far enough down the road that we weren't sure what to do about those big plans. We've discovered that in our quest to blog everything ever, we actually do have to plan things; we're losing a little room for our standard practice of making shit up as we go. There's still a lot of that, of course, but some time management is maybe sort of coming into play. We're still really, really bad at that, but we're trying!
In other words: this TMYK is kind of a big one. Lots of things ended. Lots of new things are coming up in July. I started working on this post weeks ago because I'm little-kid-on-Christmas excited to share/start all of this.
In other words: this TMYK is kind of a big one. Lots of things ended. Lots of new things are coming up in July. I started working on this post weeks ago because I'm little-kid-on-Christmas excited to share/start all of this.
Going first is the mega worst because I'm generally left to come up with my thoughts on super short notice and I am the sort of person to obsess over whether I said the right thing and inevitably change my mind 16 more times.
That's my way of apologizing for this video and also all the videos. I need more days to think. I always need more days. Then there aren't more days and I am left to nervously stand in front of a camera thinking about the thing and then I edit the video and say, "WRONG! ALL WRONG!" but it's 2am and I have to edit it and go to bed so I can be a person the next day.
And that is my life.
That's my way of apologizing for this video and also all the videos. I need more days to think. I always need more days. Then there aren't more days and I am left to nervously stand in front of a camera thinking about the thing and then I edit the video and say, "WRONG! ALL WRONG!" but it's 2am and I have to edit it and go to bed so I can be a person the next day.
And that is my life.
I just want to tell you all the things, Internet. Don't run away! The video below does not actually contain all the things.
Here's what's not in this video, but are things you should know:
- I'm not watching TV outside of what I'm doing for Snark Squad. Not a thing.
- I talked a lot more about why I didn't like The Fault in Our Stars and my issues with John Green. And about how awful that movie experience was, but how nice the movie was. Maybe one day I will talk about that again. Also, I went to see TFioS twice, because YAY FREE TICKETS. I cried both times...
Here's what's not in this video, but are things you should know:
- I'm not watching TV outside of what I'm doing for Snark Squad. Not a thing.
- I talked a lot more about why I didn't like The Fault in Our Stars and my issues with John Green. And about how awful that movie experience was, but how nice the movie was. Maybe one day I will talk about that again. Also, I went to see TFioS twice, because YAY FREE TICKETS. I cried both times...
Welcome back to another edition of Snark Lady Ramblings. I swear I own a brush and I promise to use it before I record another video. Ideally I won't make a habit of waiting until 3am to record these.
Struggles aside, this week I didn't have a topic and so I decided to do another edition of Beyond Traumaland, which is a thing we tried to make a regular part of Segue Magic but we'd have to have kept up with Segue Magic with greater regularity to declare such things.
We're getting close, though, with two whole entries.
Struggles aside, this week I didn't have a topic and so I decided to do another edition of Beyond Traumaland, which is a thing we tried to make a regular part of Segue Magic but we'd have to have kept up with Segue Magic with greater regularity to declare such things.
We're getting close, though, with two whole entries.
I'm kicking off Segue Magic by veering off the topic considerably. Mostly because I haven't been enough places to have real favorites.
On the cutting room floor is a story about sitting with all the Sweeney siblings and a couple of cousins, listening to them talk about the number of places they've lived. When someone mentioned five (either for themselves or another cousin) there was good natured laughter. "Five is soooo low!"
...I've lived in two states my whole life, and one was only for like a hot minute while I broke teeth and learned to walk.
On the cutting room floor is a story about sitting with all the Sweeney siblings and a couple of cousins, listening to them talk about the number of places they've lived. When someone mentioned five (either for themselves or another cousin) there was good natured laughter. "Five is soooo low!"
...I've lived in two states my whole life, and one was only for like a hot minute while I broke teeth and learned to walk.