Author Archives: Hayley Rose

In Memory of Video Stores on HuffPost

Everyone is very sad and mourning the slow death of book stores, while video stores too are all but extinct. When I am elderly I will surely be telling tales of going to Blockbuster on a Friday night and browsing the aisles for the perfect weekend flick. “You mean there used to be stores where you would, go to to rent movies?” I can’t exactly imagine what type of movie technology we will have by that time, but I’m pretty sure the idea of going to Blockbuster on a Friday night will sound as alien as the stories my grandmother told me about the man who came around once a week to sell them big brick of ice for their ice box. Or how every other day, a milkman delivered fresh milk in slender glass bottles to her house. Or how each day they used to get two newspapers: one in the morning, the other in the evening. All of it sounds surreal.

I had a weird dream this morning. Aside from the beginning of it, where I was debating whether or not I should try out for American Idol, the rest of the dream was quite unusual. I was the passenger in a car. We drove through a shopping plaza parking lot. The sky was dark but then there was a rainbow that shot across it. My attention was diverted to the people who were walking on the sidewalk. There was something weird about them but at first I couldn’t figure out what it was, I squinted my eyes and looked harder, trying to perceive what it was that registered in my brain as odd-without-explanation, and then it hit me.

Please continue reading the article at The Huffington Post

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The N-Word, The B-Word, and Rihanna

 

A Dutch magazine claims to have used highly offensive terminology to refer to Rihanna in an affectionate manner. Oh really? Lots of people are offended and rightfully so. The two words, the “N-word” and “bitch,” share similarities when it comes to their evolution. Both are derogatory terms and both refer to very specific demographic groups. The “N word” has roots as old as our nation, while the root’s of the derogatory term “bitch” are even older.

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In Memory of Video Stores

Everyone is very sad and mourning the slow death of book stores, while video stores too are all but extinct. When I am elderly I will surely be telling tales of going to Blockbuster on a Friday night and browsing the aisles for the perfect weekend flicks. “You mean there used to be stores where you would, go to to rent movies?” I can’t exactly imagine what type of movie technology we will have by that time, but I’m pretty sure the idea of going to Blockbuster on a Friday night will sound as alien as the stories my grandmother told me about the man who came around once a week to sell them big brick of ice for their ice box. Or the how three times a week, a milk man delivered fresh milk in slender glass bottles to her house. Or how each day they used to get two newspapers: one in the morning, the other in the evening. All of it sounds surreal.

I had a weird dream this morning. Aside from the beginning of it, where I was debating whether or not I should try out for American Idol, the rest of the dream was quite unusual. I was the passenger in a car. We drove through a shopping plaza parking lot. The sky was dark but then there was a rainbow that shot across the sky. My attention was diverted to the people who were walking on the sidewalk. There was something weird about them but at first I couldn’t figure out what it was, I squinted my eyes and looked harder, trying to perceive what it was that registered in my brain as odd-without-explanation, and then it hit me,

“Why are those people in black and white?” I asked my Aunt who I now noticed was driving the car. Though the dream was in color and looked much like reality, the people in it were black and white like an old TV show or movie.

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Merry Christmas!

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Hayley Rose 2011
 This is in fact a genuine 50-something-year old genuine aluminum tree. This also happens to be my 2011 Christmas card. Card making is actually one of my favorite hobbies. More on that in the New Year! Merry Christmas!

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Art School Drop Out

Art school was everything it was expected to be; full of all the most eccentric-self-indulgent weirdos that one could handle. I tended to be more conservative in dress, aside from the glitter. I loved sparkles but I was still quieter than the general art school population. I had already gone through my goth, dark lipstick, green hair, pink hair, pot head faze in high school. Somehow, I made it to college, and now my education had a tab. I decided I would try not to waste anymore time or money. I immersed myself in the experience, eager to learn.

Most of my teachers were cool, but because of the curriculum, I was forced to take introductory courses. The assignments were very rigid and structured, and I didn’t do rigid or structured. We had one project which was based on Paint By Numbers. We had to first create an outline of our face, carefully divide it in the same way they divide topographical maps, number the various altitudes, and paint accordingly. I had to redo mine three times. I just couldn’t stay in the lines no matter how hard I tried.

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I Want You to Want Me

(This is actually from my first completed book- that is not yet published)

I remember when I was a teenager, I could never remember how old I was because I was always lying about my age (depending on what I was doing or who I was talking to). If it was an older guy I was dating, I’d say I was a few years older than I was. If it was a job that I needed to be legal for, it was 18. If it was a friend, it was my actual age. If I was trying to get into a bar it was 21. My lying about my age got so bad that there were times where I actually couldn’t remember how old I actually was.

At the time, I worked at a few bars under the pretense of being old enough to serve alcohol. One of the bars I worked at was pretty big and hosted different bands and radio stations every weekend night. After working there long enough, it became evident that the cover bands all played a lot of the same songs, Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me,” seemed to be on every band’s set list.

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Kim Kardashian: Domestic Abuser?

Please check out my article, “Kim Kardashian: Domestic Abuser?” on The Huffington Post

People are horrified over the episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashian’s in which Kim Kardashian takes a closed fist swing at husband Kris Humphries. Despite the entire scenario being caught on camera, many viewers are still wondering — is this domestic violence?

How is this a disputable question? Though some have tried to downplay her violent reaction by calling it “playful,” throwing a fist at your husband is not playful and technically falls under the category of domestic violence. It seems that because Kim is a woman people are confused as to whether or not her action falls into the “domestic violence” category. My answer: yes, it absolutely does.

Here is the dictionary definition of domestic violence “violence committed by one family or household member against another — see also restraining order.” They are husband and wife therefore it certainly qualifies. If they were strangers and she did this is would still be labeled violence just not domestic violence.

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So The Holidays Are Depressing for Some People?

So The Holidays Are Depressing for Some People? That’s what I hear…and this year I might be joining the ranks of the Scrooges and the lonely who curse the holidays all the way to New Year’s Day. Why? Many reasons, but today I am going to talk about one reason in particular.

A week or so ago when I was tuning my guitar, I broke the E-string (the little one on the end). I have been so busy this past week I did not have time to get a new one until tonight. I finally made the long drive to the music shop, upon pulling into the plaza I was very confused. I looked from one side to the other but did not see the sign for Daddy Junky’s anywhere…Crap…So then I drove to the mall where I was lucky to find a set of generic strings at one of those big box “music stores” where not one of the clerks could help me figure out what strings were best for an acoustic/ electric- in fact, no one on staff knew anything about guitars or instruments at all!

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Domestic Violence and Kim Kardashian

People are horrified over the episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashian’s in which Kim Kardashian takes a closed fist swing at then husband Kris Humprhies. Yet many viewers are still wondering- is this domestic violence?

How is this a disputable question? Though the media has tried to spin her violent reaction as “playful violence” throwing a fist is just that: domestic violence. I believe that because Kim is a woman people are confused whether or not her action falls into the “domestic violence” category. My answer: yes, it absolutely does.

Here is the Dictionary.com definition of domestic violenceviolence committed by one family or household member against another —see also restraining order.” They are husband and wife therefore it certainly qualifies. If they were strangers and she did this is would still be entitled violence just not domestic violence.

Are people quick to defend her because she is physically smaller and weaker than her husband and he could possibly “take it?” Keep your judgements to yourself people, no man deserves the humiliation that goes along with being beat up by a woman despite whether or not he can physically “take it.” It is the emotional and psychological impact that lasts long after the physical bruises have faded. Men are often silent victims when it comes to being victims of rape and/or domestic violence.  For male victims of domestic abuse and rape it is even more stigmatized by society than it is for female victims (though neither have it easy). Society unfairly labels men who complain about violence from a partner as “not real men” or just plain weak. This is wrong. Anytime a person is abused by a family member it is domestic violence whether it is a female or male throwing the punches.

The other thing that really alarms me about the whole scenario is her immediate reaction- to throw a closed fist punch at him. If it was as “playful” as her public relations team would like you to believe, she may have swatted him away, even lightly smacked him. Those reactions are not necessarily acceptable, but certainly not as shocking as throwing a punch. And just imagine how outraged Americans would be if it was the other way around: Kris throwing the punch at Kim. Just my two cents…

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Filed under Domestic Violence, Entertainment News, relationships

Cat Ladies and Romance Novels? Get Real! on HuffPost

Please check out my article, “No, I’m not a Crazy Cat Lady Who Writes Romance Novels” on The Huffington Post

Gymboree’s indiscretion last week continues to offend me. If you haven’t heard about it, some moms were in an uproar because the children’s outfitter sold a variety of onesies in which “Smart like Dad,” was written on the boy’s version and “Pretty like Mommy” on the girl’s. An article about the onesies on Salon mentions some of the backlash this controversy created citing one writer’s words, “if we get hysterical over every perceived slight, we won’t get anywhere. Choose your battle, ladies.” The article on the onesies goes on to include a commenter’s response to that statement, “These moms obviously have nothing better to do.”

These moms have nothing better to do? I’ve seen what moms do and they are usually very busy people. I’m sure they have plenty of better things to do than continue to fight an uphill battle in which for every step women in the US take in the direction of equality (outnumbering male enrollment in universities, even) they are thrown backwards by petty, yet offensive distractions like this type of children’s wear. I do not fault the mothers across the U.S. who spoke out against exposing their daughters to gender discrimination at increasingly younger and younger ages. Is being valued for our intelligence too much for a woman to ask for?

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