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I’m a little shocked at celebrity news today and I know I’m not alone. I know drugs and sex (as in, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll) have always been apart of the rich and famous lifestyle (Remember Joplin? Morrison? Monroe?) but it seems like celebrities are even more extreme about it now. Perhaps they are just worse at hiding it or don’t even care enough to try.

What’s more is that most celebrities seem to be interchangeable in this drama. It’s a soap opera in which everyone willingly directs, writes and stars and few are wise enough to stay away even though it’s going to bomb.

It seems as though the celebrity news sources (tv/radio/magazines/sites) could simply write a mad lib and pick random names periodically to fill in the blanks.

In fact, I think I will.

In other news, last night [Celebrity (A)] was seen flitting around [Place] with [Celeb B] and [Celeb C]. [He/She] seems to be enjoying spending time with [a/an] [adjective], mysterious [man/woman/person] who was wearing the world’s most [adjective] outfit.

[Celeb A] is most known as a [professional title] who also does [profession] on the side. Recently [he/she] has been involved with [his/her] ex-[noun] and their [#] children: [names of # of children.]

It is rumoured that [Mr/Mrs/Ms] [Celebrity’s last name] has been involved in [scandalous behaviour] with [Celeb B or C] , which has affected [his/her] professional career by costing [his/her] [movie/concert/other event] contract for [date] at [place]

It’s also been compromising [his/her] home life, too. One source tells us she witnessed [Celebrity] [verb] in one of [his/her] [behaviourial adjective] outburst toward [his/her] family. The children have become [emotional adjective] and friends and family worry that [Celebrity] is “out of control” and that this behaviour will result in [disasterous event] for [Celebrity].

What will it be, [Celebrity]? Will you make it to your next [event/milestone]? What will it take for you to stop gallivanting all over [place] while [adjective (unhealthy state of behaviour)] and [verb].

I was just thinking about.. things. Like the chemicals we put on our bodies. I think that, as a woman in general, I engage in more of this type of behaviour than someone of the opposite gender but I could be wrong.

I read an article not too long ago about a woman who stopped washing and using products for 6 weeks which, while it sounds disgusting, had an interesting result: she felt better. And, even though her bacteria levels were 5000 times what they had been previously, they were still within the safe range for humans.

She notes that her skin seemed to glow and an existing condition lessened.

For years, she has experienced Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), which bizarrely seemed to improve the longer she went without washing. Although there is no medical explanation for this, Nicky is convinced it is to do with a sudden break from the chemicals seeping into her body.

She’s back to using products and bathing frequently but she’s definitely learned a lesson and has “recovered” from her dependency on health and beauty aids. (Of course, whether or not this could be considered an addiction is an entirely separate subject). She doesn’t believe she needs all those products anymore, nor does she believe she needs to use them as much.

A topic of interest to me has always been how products (and those who benefit from sales of said products) will advise a person to use the product more than is necessary and sometimes more than is actually healthy. Shockingly enough, the people pushing us to use more than we need, can include our doctors.

But seek an unbiased, outside source which will have no monetary gain (or won’t lie to you regardless) and you might see a completely different answer.

For a few years I’ve used a toner and moisturizer on my face to clear away dead skin and to keep my skin moisturized but not greasy, respectively. Both of the products instruct me to use them twice a day; however, outside sources say I need only use the toner twice a week and the moisturizer daily. Although the moisturizer isn’t a large stretch, the directions for my toner tell me to use it 7 times more often than the outside source says is actually healthy for my skin! Crazy.

Needless to say, I don’t use it twice a day. I don’t actually use it twice a week because I usually forget but I remembered today and this subject popped into my mind. Of course, I understand that companies want to have money and if we buy their products and use them quickly, we have to buy more and more often which equates to more revenue (and possibly physical or mental addiction which leads to even more revenue). I can’t really blame them.

I can, however, blame medical professional and doctors who would do the same because of their affiliation with drugs companies, pharmacy and what-have-you. You wouldn’t want to believe it, but it’s just as common. Find a doctor who isn’t actually making money off you and his recommendations might vary drastically from someone who is. (Rian was wearing his contacts for 2 weeks per doctor’s orders until another doctor told him they can be used for twice as long.) These people, who are supposed to have our well being and health in mind, are too busy thinking about a buck in the pocket and this is absolutely unacceptable (and also bordering on being another topic completely).

So next time you reach for something in your medicine cabinet (or shower or makeup bag), take a look at the directions. Then, take a look at an unbiased source (say a health or education website). Do we really need all these chemicals on our bodies? And, even if we want them, do we need as much?

It’s easy to be anonymous online. Indeed, that’s the sole reason some people use it. And I don’t have anything against anonymity per se. I do, however, have something against those who would abuse this.

We’ve all asked an embarrassing question and were glad we weren’t asking our closest confidantes face to face and the internet is full of helpful advice from strangers who might know our situation better than our friends and family think they do. A lot can be gleaned when someone’s reply isn’t depend end upon your identity and this is certainly all, well mostly, positive.

And that’s not my issue. My issue arises when people use anonymity, not to save a little embarrassment or get an unbiased opinion but to hide who they really are, to be deceitful to others, to avoid a life they can’t won’t change.

When is it okay to use anonymity to one’s advantage when it means the shirking of all responsibility?

When one can change his name every time one logs on, how can we put any faith in the internet? When one can fake a relationship, throw insults or wreak havoc on others without owning up to the damage caused or the real people involved, does anonymity serve any purpose? Is there a certain amount of it which is “good” versus an amount that is “bad?”

Who’s the be the judge? Whose morals shall become the standard. I can just as easily sit here and say “You shouldn’t do that” as someone else can say “It’s only the internet; they can walk away from the computer if they cannot handle it.” And, that’s just that. How can we enforce guidelines or punishment (if we can even determine them) when all one has to do to avoid them is turn off or log out?

How do you feel about it? Have you even been glad to be anonymous? Have you ever used it against someone or to avoid placing your name to unscrupulous actions? Have you ever wished you could see behind someone’s else’s mask and make them face up and be responsible for their own words or actions? Overall, is anonymity positive or negative?

One of the things which I hate most about the Internet is the lack of permanence. People and things never really seem to stay around indefinitely or, at the very least, in the same place. Certainly good does come from change and form the levity of the internet, but good also comes when things stay the same.

For instance, if you agreed, you couldn’t comment on even sign my guestbook because Enetation is a piece of shit which doesn’t work half the time (and, consequently, causes my site to load like ass) and my guestbook service just shut down! But, you never really think when you sign up for a site “When will this shut down? Will I lose all my information? Will the service become unavailable someday? Will I lose all the friends and contacts I’ve made here?”

And there you have it. Online, as well as in life, the only thing you can really depend on is yourself, eh?

A few years back, I was active in a certain community but I stopped because the owner was always shutting it down or starting it over for one reason or another. For a while, the community moved to an entirely different site then moved back recently so I see it’s not stopped. I grew sick of losing my status and forum posts but, more importantly, I was sick of constantly having to re-sign up at the same site!

People do it, too. Of course, I know that not everyone can stick around the internet forever but it’s almost scary to think I could be chatting away with and enjoying spending time with someone who could disappear the next day, never to return. Of course, it’s happened to me numerous times.

And, though it’s not disappearing entirely, I am just as aggravated when people move their sites around. Closing one only to open 3 more which will be closed. Though I have had more than one host, my site has almost always been the same and content has been carried over so anyone can see that I am here to stay and my site is extant.

Even worse is sites which still exists but the owners of which who have left the scene. Comments and e-mails sit unread and without response for days, weeks, even months as the site rots and becomes stagnant or, until the host finally shuts it down. Of course, some will never be shut down and will drift aimlessly in the sea of faces that is the endless network of information pouring into our computer ports and spilling out onto our screens.

All that aside, I’m sure we’ve all shared the frustration of trying to locate a resource only to be directed to a 404 error or to stumble around the internet trying to find its new location. To know someone once existed and may yet exist but cannot be located is absurdly angering.

But what can we do? Can we make someone stay despite real life which interferes with our internet personalities and lives? Can we force someone to keep a website, a resource or an object online? No. But neither can we save everything we’d like to see once again in the future. I guess some things will just become lost in the abyss and that is permanent.

I receive dictionary.com‘s word of the day. I find it interesting but I don’t have the retention I’d like so I’d figure I would try to remedy that by using several in a blog post and what better way to do so than to provide some information on myself? Because this is my first time using some of these words, please forgive my solecisms. After this exegesis, feel free to read on. (Or not.)

Being a peripatetic, my main mode of local transportation is my own 2 feet. I love to feel the sun or rain (though not so much the wind) to breathe the air, especially cold winter air and to bask in the feeling that is the outdoors surrounding me. Certainly, I am not always graceful and my walks are much more of a galumph than anything else. Of course, anyone who knows me would think this tidbit pellucid.

Often during these walks I cogitate, sometimes letting my mind wander or something focusing on something that has become an idee fixe for the time being. This is often helped by the fact that I am listening to music on my MP3 player; often, someone can pass me by in vehicle and try to gain my attention but I am so focused – sometimes on my chimerical daydreams- that I do not notice.

This activity is often efficacious in helping me to clear my mind, calm down or just unwind myself, even as times when I might seem disconsolate. My love of taking walks is not always enjoyed by myself, however. It’s a gregarious fondness and I enjoy walking with someone else, sometimes enjoying conversation from mindless to meaningful and other times we may remain taciturn.

While for some, walking is no more than unpleasant moil, it is quite sapid to me.

Because I love language, I fear this entry has become too prolix or abstruse and this shall be its terminus.