personalised plates are tacky.

NB: my aim is not to insult, rather to educate, and perhaps to entertain. here's a grain of salt. take it or leave it. 

the above image says it all. really, unless you are driving a car used for a business of some kind which demands that you advertise on your car, thus such plates are a requisite, then really, you should stick with the randomised number/letter combination that comes with your vehicle. personalised number plates are tacky, ostentatious, and advertise to the world quite blithely that you are a twat with an IQ of zero. 


seriously, think about it. idiots with personalised plates either get their name/some inane version of their name that makes them sound like they're twelve, or some other ridiculous word that either seeks to insult their fellow motorists, is a pathetic attempt at a weak joke, or declares that they are a 'CUTIE!!' or 'sexy!'. which is really just arrogance in its purest form. not to mention, personalised plates are more often than not obnoxious and in some cases, potentially a safety hazard to oneself and other drivers. 


there are so many things wrong with all of the above options for personalised plates that i really don't know where to begin. but, i shall try. because unlike those who insist on telling the driving world whenever they get into their car that they are named 'Melz!' or that they want to 'FUMAN', i have a higher intelligence level than that stated on the accurately chosen, however misguided, plates above belonging to a QLD-residing fellow.


1. personalised plates with a name/nickname:
why would you want everyone else on the road to know your name? are you trying to pick up? are you in some kind of freeway-located alcoholics anonymous meeting? are you working at a drive-through in some kind of parallel universe where the employees are in the car as well as the customers? or perhaps you're just overly friendly? because i can't really think of many other situations in which you would want to tell the whole world your name, or worse, your ill-begotten nickname. the nickname plates in particular, may be taken to imply that you have regressed permanently into childhood/adolescence. which is totally contradictory of your ability to own and drive a car, since, unless i am mistaken, is a privilege belonging to adults? it's stupid, it's immature, it's unnecessary, it's a little dangerous because paedophiles and stalkers do exist, and also nobody cares. go home. 


2. insults:
why would having a lisence plate bearing an insult be a bad idea? oh i don't know, maybe because it's RUDE? it's also immature, very much like the name/nickname scenario. grow up.


3. jokes:
nobody else gets them. and even if they do, jokes grow old fast. you lack originality. you are making a ridiculous impression of yourself on your fellow motorists and anyone else who might happen to see your car. you might even offend someone. if you want to be comical, get a red nose and some oversized shoes and invest in a large tent. or better yet, find a brick wall. 


4. descriptors:
i couldn't really find an umbrella term for those plates that surpass the other types of personalised plates in the category of moronic. but really, i shouldn't have to explain why it's utterly idiotic to have a lisence plate with the word 'QT93' or '2QL4SQL' or 'LGND22' on it. in doing so, you are telling the world a number of things. one, you can't spell. two, you are extremely conceited to want to declare to the general public that you are of the opinion that you're 'cute', 'sexy', or a 'legend'. thirdly, once again, you are extremely immature and have not progressed from adolescence. vacant, ditsy, self-centred and obnoxious are also words that come to mind.


i have neither the time nor the inclination to continue this rant, suffice it to say that i think this post has served its purpose well enough. i hope i have imparted some semblence of wisdom unto those planning to purchase personalised plates in the near future, as well as those already in ownership of such offensive articles. they're a waste of money, they portray oneself as a twat, and really they're just stupid.


goodnight. 

potterhead #2

being a potterhead on my blog #1

NB: click post to view properly and recieve full comedic effect

... i laugh. i laughed. i have laughed.

ATS2715

What i wanted to write as my introduction for my research essay for Sexuality and Society. however, sadly, i fear i cannot, so instead i will subject my readers (if any) to what i think is some decent writing from me (which these days, is few and far between)
enjoy.


“Don’t have sex. Or you will get pregnant, and die.” These famous wise words were uttered by the character of Coach Carr as he teaches health class in the ever-popular teen movie “Mean Girls” (directed by Mark Waters, screenplay by Tina Fey, based on the book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman, starring actress and role model Lindsay Lohan). Apart from serving as testament to Tina Fey’s comedic genius, the well-known and many-times quoted line is a shining example (albeit somewhat exaggerated) of one of the all-too-common discourses of school-based sex education (SBSE) that is found in many classrooms the world over. Evidence of such a discourse is found in Michelle Fine’s works which focus on the “missing discourse of desire” (Fine, 1988) in SBSE, however she terms it the discourse of “sexuality as violence, defined as focusing on the potential risks adolescents – in particular, adolescent females – face should they become involved in sexual activity. Supporting Fine’s argument and validating the research topic to present-day is Laina Bay-Cheng, in her article “The Trouble of Teen Sex: the construction of adolescent sexuality through school-based sexuality education” (2010). In Bay-Cheng’s article, she argues that current SBSE programs in the U.S are negatively focused, narrow-minded in terms of definitions of sexuality (reinforcing heteronormative concepts of sexuality), and proliferating racist, sexist and classist notions of sexuality. All this from my favourite Mean Girls quote... oi vey.

other?

NB: i realise that the initial view does not show the full image. please click on the image before reading this post to view the entire image. :)
just thought i'd share this, because i thought it was absolutely fantastic. i am currently taking a unit called 'sexuality and society' at uni, which is a branch of sociology. it looks at many aspects of sexuality in relation to societal norms and such, for example we have so far looked at sexual citizenship, Ruben's sexual hierarchy, sexual scripts, relationships and intimacy, polygamous and polyamorous relationships,  and our most recent topic was transgender people and others who identify as something outside of the male/female binary. it's an absolutely fascinating subject, and it has opened my eyes to just how restrictive our society is, how utterly exclusive we can be towards those who identify with anything outside of our narrow, heteronormative, nuclear societal laws and opinions. this exclusion can be illustrated in something as simple as a form on which we must specify our gender. has anyone else noticed that most forms only ever offer two options - male or female? and how rarely we are allowed to leave these blank? before this particular class i never gave it a second thought, but now that i am aware of how many people feel that they cannot tick either of those two options, or want to tick both, i realise just how controlling and restrictive our society can be, and is. so when i saw this picture, which is one a friend of mine took of a survey she had to complete for university, i was quite excited to see that there are at least some insitituions, however few and far between, that do offer a third option. 


even then, as my lecturer argued, the option 'other' so often holds the negative connotation of being unusual, socially deviant, or problematic. however, it is progress, and that's always a great start. 
well done, whoever made this survey.


cheers. 

Hello, My Name Is...

Seriously Fucked-up Individual.

it's true. it's also quite evident from this blog.

if you don't believe be just see for yourself. 

disclaimer: this is not a pity party. this is me venting. hopefully it will be theraputic. if not, it will at least result in boring anyone who is bothering to read this (and if you don't, i don't blame you) to tears.

i have issues. i think i peaked too soon in my academic career. and now, when it's supposed to matter the most, i've lost all motivation. i'll probably end up working at my crappy hospitality job for the rest of my life. what a sad thought. 

when i look back on my former self, there are so many things i yearn to be now, that i probably didn't even appreciate when i had them.

1. i was thin. 

2. i was motivated, i did my work, i got good grades. i was a good student.

3. i was a nerd. i wish i still was...

i know it's stupid to dwell on the past and live in the land of if only. but that doesn't stop me. some days, all i want to do is curl up in bed and lose myself in the world of books, where i can pretend i'm a part of some fictional character's life and leave my own behind. 

sigh.

all i am now is selfish, angry, unmotivated, depressed, unattractive, unwanted, unseen, underachieving, and a whole myriad of other 'un' words. 

it's really quite upsetting. 

my playlist

so this is totally cliche and unoriginal but i feel i should do it. plus, i want to. this is a list of all the artists in my itunes. GO


Agnes Obel
Alana Grace
Angus & Julia
Anna Nalick
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Arrah & the Ferns
Art vs Science
Audrey Hepburn
Ball Park Music
Band of Skulls
Barry Louis Polisar
Beach Fossils
Belle & Sebastian
Benjamin Francis Leftwich
Bishop Allen
Bombay Bicycle Club
Bon Iver
Boy & Bear
Brie Larson
Cher
Christina Aguilera
City & Colour
Colourblind
The Cure
Damien Jurado
Darwin Deez
Devendra Banhart
Ellie Goulding
Elliott Smith
Elton John
Emiliana Torrini
Fionn Regan
Fleet Foxes
Florence and the Machine
Foster the People
French Films
Goo Goo Dolls
The Good Scissors
Gotye
Gregory and the Hawk
Grizzly Bear
Gypsy and the Cat
The Honey Trees
HUSKY
Ingrid Michaelson
Iwan Rheon
James Blunt
Jinja Safari
Joe Hisaishi
Joel Fenton
Josh Pyke
Justin Timberlake
Kate Nash
Kate Voegele
The Kinks
The Kooks
La Dispute
Landon Pigg
Lenka
The Libertines
Lily Allen
A Lion Named Roar
Lisa Mitchell
Little Red
Marble Sounds
Matt Corby
Matthew and the Atlas
Mika
Mindy Gledhill
Modest Mouse
The Naked and Famous
Noah and the Whale
Norah Jones
Oren Lavie
Owl Eyes
The Paper Kites
Paul Tiernan
Peter, Bjorn & John
Phoenix
P!nk
Plumtree
Princess Chelsea
Rachael Yamagata
Red Berry Plum
Regina Spektor
Ron Pope
The Ronettes
Rosie and Me
The Script
Semisonic
Seth Sentry
She & Him
Shout Out Louds
Simple Minds
Sleepyhands
The Submarines
Teddy Geiger
Tom Milek
The Troggs
Two Door Cinema Club
Vampire Weekend
Vetiver
We Are Scientists
Wheatus
The Wombats
Young the Giant