Bethany Larson

A Night on the Town

July 11, 2009

Dear Syracuseans,

Talk about bar diversity! Last night was my first night “on the town” in downtown Syracuse’s Armory Square. After going to see Bruno, several of my friends and I went downtown to find a place to have a drink and hang out for a bit. While walking around, we realized that literally every bar was packed to the hilt. Agreeing that none of us wanted to 1) yell at each other to have a conversation and 2) pay a cover fee, we headed toward The Blue Tusk, a place known for its large selection of beers on tap and mostly low-key environment….which we soon realized was impossible to even enter for the number of people inside the establishment. In a moment of frustration, someone said “Let’s just go to the place across the street.” And so we did….

This “pub and grill” (still confused as to how it is considered a pub) was PJ’s Pub and Grill. Upon entry we all realized that this was not the place we wanted to be. With hip hop/pop music remixes blaring, very muscular men ogling every woman in sight, and women who enjoyed being ogled by creepy steroid riddled men, my groups of friends and I realized that we were WAY out of our element. This was much more akin to the types of bars one tries to sneak their way into when they’re 19 and desperate for a night of fun rather than renting a movie once again. After having a couple rounds of drinks (why we even stayed that long, I do not know) we finally left.

Then, we headed about half a block away to a bar (lounge?) called OHM. I had been skeptical of entering this place at first because it looked swanky, which to me translates into “I have a cover fee and expensive drinks.” But after the PJ’s debacle, I was up for anything. Once we entered, we realized that this was definitely more our scene. Although it wasn’t devoid of the machismo and scantily clad women, it was at least low-key, had an indoor and outdoor bar, and a funky little cover band playing. Needless to say, once we finally stumbled (some of us literally) upon this place, we knew that we were in for a great time.

So, word to those who don’t want to attend, for lack of a better word, a frat party: avoid PJ’s…

Sincerely,
Bethany

Confession Time!

June 23, 2009

Dear Readership (if one exists…),

I feel that you guys don’t really know much about me….although I’ve revealed some stuff in earlier posts about my thoughts on various topics, you still don’t truly know me. So we’ll start here. I’m a huge nerd. This is something that I’ve decided to recently embrace, instead of only allowing those close to me to know about this nerdiness. So, let me explain in semi-chronological order the road to my embracing the inner Bethie nerd.

1. Harry Potter

I think my inner nerd seed was planted when I started reading this series. I began reading HP when I was about 12 or 13 and I became obsessed. I had to have the next book and then when I ran out of books, which was quickly because I think there were only 2 available at that time, I was miserable until the next one was released. At this point, HP wasn’t exactly the phenomenon that it is today, so I didn’t know many people who knew about it….which meant that I annoyed the hell out of my family by talking to them endlessly about it…and then read and re-read and re-read them.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Beginning in 9th grade, I began watching syndicated Buffy on the WB every afternoon after school. Quickly, I became quite attached to the dialogue, characters, and story line of this show that I still consider one of my favorites. I now own all 7 seasons of Buffy, have watched them through many times, and can quote not just certain lines, but the names and episode numbers of specific shows. I also frequently use Buffy as a point of reference in daily conversation. I made my boyfriend buy something at Best Buy so I could get the “free” copy of a panel reunion interview of the cast and crew. And when it was revealed to the public that Sarah Michelle Gellar is pregnant, I twittered that “Sarah Michelle Gellar + pregnant = Buffy baby!”…..I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate that. But, I dearly love Buffy and often wonder what the show would be like today if it were still on TV. Or what the comic book version would be like on TV. Or what it would be like if they made a movie. (BTW: I’ll probably write about the upcoming Buffy movie that isn’t connected to the show….grrrr). Suffice it to say that I really, truly love Buffy. I am a fervent and devoted fan.

3. Incubus

I love this band. I love, love, lovey, love them. I bought their newest album months in advance so I could buy advance concert tickets so I could be closer to the stage and therefore closer to what I consider to be brilliant musicians. Which sounds kind of fanatical. Possibly because it is fanatical. But…that’s the simple truth. I love this band. Always have, always will. I don’t care how “terrible” an album is, I’ll just say that it was experimental or that they were going through a growth period as musicians….which I will actually believe. Although I don’t love all of their albums equally, I don’t dislike any of them. I will defend them until I am blue in the face and will judge you if you don’t like them or admit that they are at least good musicians. That’s all.

4. Twilight

Since I’m already a Buffy nerd, this one just kind of makes sense. But, I will not lie, I fought it.

I was first exposed to Twilight in July 2007 while working at a summer camp for gifted students. The girls in my family group were all obsessed and when they visited my room for a late night, post-bedtime, manicure session, they discovered my seasons of Buffy, and then spent the next hour trying to convince me to read Twilight. I refused, telling them that I had school stuff to read (which was true) but the real reason was that I thought “They’re 12 and I’m 20. There’s no way I’ll like what they’re reading.” Well, in December 2007, I was really bored while on holiday break, and a friend of mine said “I’ve got a book I think you’ll enjoy that I’ll let you borrow” and lo and behold it was Twilight. Because I was bored, I figured why not, and the rest, as they say, is history. It became a full-blown obsession. I read the first three books in about 50 hours…and then joined various discussion boards online. And then I introduced the books to my sorority sisters. They love/hate me for it.

5. Heroes

OH. MY. GOD. THIS. SHOW. The way I became acquainted with this show can only be explained as fate. I had nothing to do at work one morning, so I decided that I would watch some TV online…but I was caught up on all the shows I typically watched and wasn’t sure what to do…so I went to a website I frequent and looked at the most viewed list. On that list was Heroes. I had heard about it before, the whole “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World” business, but had never had much of an interest. I knew Milo Ventimiglia was in the cast, and loved him on Gilmore Girls, so I figured why not. I decided to give it a shot and became crazy addicted. It has lead to my borderline worrisome crush on Zachary Quinto….this is another topic for another time.

There are several other things I could point to, like my love for Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars or my obsession with dogshows, Domo, Brotherhood 2.0, and gnomes. And although many would say that these things don’t make me nerdy as they are well-known, critically acclaimed, or at least best-sellers, I would say that it isn’t necessarily the subject that makes me nerdy: it’s how attached I become to the subject. I google for the most recent information on the cast, want to know the impetus for the show or book or whatever, consider buying merchandise (which I normally don’t buy, but may begin to since I’m finally embracing the inner nerd), internet stalk for random information, join discussion boards, and think about it when I should be concentrating on other things. These are things that I would normally not let people know, because I never wanted to be thought of as a crazy fanatic or “the obsessed girl”…but now I’m starting not to care. So, here comes Nerd Bethany! WATCH YO’ BACK!

Sincerely,

Bethany

How Lovely It Is

June 20, 2009

Dear Community,

In this time of economic recession, it seems that most stories are about how people, banks, companies, newspapers, and corporations are losing money and going out of business. But, something that has struck me is how much support there seems to be for charitable work. Several companies have begun to run commercials that, instead of featuring their new, snazzy product, feature a charity or organization that is doing things for the community and the world.

The True North Nut commercials, highlight different interesting and original ideas, such as Chicago’s Inspiration Cafe, which feeds the homeless with dignity, the woman whose goal it is to plant trees so as to bring natural beauty to The Bronx, and the man who challenges elementary school children to collect pennies to raise money that helps those in need within the community. True North sells nuts! You would never know that from their ads.

Then there is the AT&T/Toms commercial which features Toms Shoes. This organization sells fashionable and comfortable shoes, and for each pair bought, a pair is given to a child in need. But is reaches far beyond commercials. (www.tomsshoes.com)

On a website I browse frequently, freewilliamsburg.com, I found a story about a person in Williamsburg, Brooklyn who was going to be handing out free sunflowers for people to plant arond their neighborhood just because they wanted people to have the opportunity to plant and cultivate something beautiful that others can appreciate.

Another fantastic organziation, Puppies for Prisoners, allows federal inmates to train and care for a puppy that will become a service dog. This organization was featured on Oprah.com as well as CNN.com. It is simple ideas such as these that inspire people and make the world a much better and beautiful place.

The fact that these endeavors are flourishing in a time of economic crisis is absolutely fantastic, but more than that, it speaks of the benevolence and self-lessness of this country. People who are having to cut back in their own lives, who may not be able to eat out as often, or buy that new dress, are willing to sacrifice even more so as to make a contribution to a charity. To look around and see that these organizations and endeavors are still up and running during this time gives me hope in the nation and proves that people do care.

Sincerely,
Bethany

Exercises in Schadenfreude

March 18, 2009

Dear Society,

Recently I have learned a new word. And it is a word that I enjoy…a lot. Being a fan of the French language, and not the German language (even though a Germanic based language is my first and most used language) I had never been exposed to this amazing word. This word is schadenfreude.

For those of you who, up until this juncture in your life, were unfamiliar with schadenfreude, here is the definition from dictionary.com: “satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else’s misfortune.” This is indeed a fantastic and surprisingly useful word because it speaks the truth.

Look at the Colosseum. People died and people watched. Medieval public torture and executions. Again, people died and people watched. We know from history that people showed up by the hundreds and thousands to watch people die in front of them and it was considered entertainment. Skip several generations and look at the Faces of Death videos. These are videos in which real people (not actors who get up after the scene and get massages and buy ridiculously expensive things) die in horrendous ways. And people LOVE these videos. Another example, the Darwin Awards. These “awards” are given to people who have either been removed or have removed themselves from the gene pool (which, incidentally, does not always require death) by doing very stupid things that even a toddler knows not to do. Again, this is about people being maimed or killed and it’s considered entertainment. But, my favorite example of society’s schadenfreude-istic nature, is the newest Internet phenomenon: fmylife.com

This website serves as a place where people can post ways in which their lives are worse than yours which include random things that happen, embarassing moments, pathetic moments, unfortunate circumstances, etc. And I have become obsessed with this website. I can’t get enough of other people’s misfortune. I love reading about how other people are having extremely bad days. It makes me feel like my life isn’t so bad, and that I’m quite lucky because I haven’t been robbed or mocked or forgotten by my peers or family that particular day. When laughing about a disgusting moment when a girl accidentally popped her boyfriend’s pimple in her mouth when biting his neck, I realized: THIS is schadenfreude.
Even though I’m not actively watching people die, I’m taking pleasure in other people’s pain (or in this case, disgust). I’m laughing, copying/pasting links into emails to my friends and family, and even having conversations about this website with people. These people who post their circumstances simply want to have a cathartic outlet where they can express their sadness, embarassment, frustration, or anger and people are reading it and laughing. To add to the schadenfreude, the website has a feature under each post where people can rate whether you “agree your life is f***ed” or think that “you deserved that one”. The sheer fact that someone can choose to tell the post-er that thy deserved what happened to the them when they obviously don’t think that they deserved to be in the unfortunate circumstance is further humiliating and would, most thinkably, result in the person feeling even worse about the situation, while the person who rated it simply goes on with their day, probably not thinking twice about how that person somewhere other the other side of a computer is feeling.

This website is the epitome of schadenfreude-ism. This one website out of the millions out there, showcases exactly how mean spirited people are.* They can enter a web address, read, and taunt those who are hurting by laughing, spreading the stories, or voting on whether or not the person deserved the situation. If ever asked if I agree with Locke or Hobbes, I know what my answer will be, and I can credit this complicated answer to fmylife.com.

Sincerely,
Bethany

*Previously, my vote would have gone to juicycampus.com, but it has been shut down due to the fact that it was SO MEAN.

Pet Cemetery?

March 13, 2009

Dear fellow drivers,

Be on the look-out for a billboard on New Mexico’s I-25 toward downtown.

While in Albuquerque for a conference I was attending, I took the liberty of driving around so as to see more of Albuquerque than just the conference center. While driving, I happened upon a very appalling billboard. Now, I typically try to block billboards out because I’m not the greatest driver in the world and getting distracted by a billboard is quite detrimental for me and those around me. However, this one caught my attention because of the adorable Dalmatian puppy in the center of the billboard. Then, I read the text: “Are you prepared for your pet’s death?”

I was shocked! Being a animal lover, the thought of my pet dying is both unpalatable and depressing. I couldn’t believe that someone would make such a billboard! Then, I had a thought: “What would I do if Zeke (my dog) died?” My boyfriend’s answer to this question would be to stuff him in a burlap sack and bury him in the yard, but I’m a bit more sentimental….although the outcome would probably be similar. I would be very sad and I honestly wouldn’t be prepared. Would I leave him where he lay? Who would I call? What’s the proper pet disposal procedure? Is there a proper procedure? I became quite distressed with the thought of it all, and then I realized something.

This billboard made me think about a subject that had never truly crossed my mind before, and I spent a good five minutes contemplating the unsavory topic of pet burial procedures. Then, I had another thought: this billboard works! If I remember correctly, the company was advertising pet cremation services, which seems a little extreme to me because imagining my beloved Zeke being incinerated is not a pleasant thought, but that is exactly the point. This billboard caught my attention, made me think about a topic I don’t find particularly pleasant, and kept me thinking it for weeks after my trip.

Never have I been so affected by a simple picture with some text around it.

Sincerely,

Bethany