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Monday, July 5, 2010

Rich White Girl Problems

On Friday afternoon, I was on the computer, doing what I do--dipping into your stories, commenting, mulling over my own daily overshare. The normal stuff.

And then. rather suddenly,  I lost my "w." It plumb popped off my keyboard, and despite my best efforts, the key was worthless.

I soldiered on, figuring that there were plenty of synonyms out there. I could substitute. I could be creative. It was just a mental challenge, courtesy of Dell and The Universe. No biggie.

Five minutes in, I realized that I use the word "awesome" a lot. Like, all the time. I also say "wonderful" with surprising frequency. I was lost without my "w," a consonant I had never before considered important. More important than "x" perhaps, but certainly not the game-changer of letters.

I hit my Waterloo when Salt asked a general question about our Blog Titles/Names. I simply could not discuss the meaning behind "Away We Go," because I couldn't write it. HORRORS! (By the way, it's a statement on how life goes in random directions. You can either fight the tide or just smile, release, and say, "Away We Go!"

So, yes, this was quite the serious problem. I told Paul we needed a new computer immediately---we could always harvest from our Money Shrubbery, after all. 

He gently suggested an alternative. Ten dollars later, we have this workable, if not elegant solution:


In other Rich White Girl Problems, I was standing in my bathroom yesterday, and found myself thinking, "If I just lost a little more weight, the bones in my chest would stick out."

What's that all about?

I know this isn't attractive. This is too thin and it is sickly and dangerous. I know the pernicious nature of eating disorders.

And yet, the thought was there. It came from somewhere.

I thought about it again after reading Frank Bruni's Born Round, an engaging memoir about his rocky relationship with food. He commented he and his sister struggled with weight much more than his two brothers. He suggested that this preoccupation might have been connected to the fact that he and his sister are both attracted to men.

I thought that was really interesting. I wonder if lesbian women have less body issues? Does it go away because the male ideal is out of the picture?

Is our society still that patriarchal? Or do women do this to each other?

Or is this just one guy's opinion?

For my final rich white girl problem, let me share this: my red highlights are fading way too fast because I've been swimming in my friend's swimming pools.

Life is a struggle, indeed.

30 comments:

adrienzgirl said...

A missing "w" would be quite an issue for me as well. I know with all certainty that I use the word awesome far too frequently. However, really....there isn't another word to really explain the awesomeness that is some things!

Bekah said...

It was good for me to wallow in someone else's problems for a while! (4 w's in that one little sentence- who knew??!!)

LB said...

I can't believe he burst your computer acquisition bubble like that! LOL! Great, immediately... I'm trying to challenge myself by not using that letter. Very hard!

michelle said...

I tried to blog-on with a busted m. Me didn't get very far.

As for bones? They're not all they're cracked up to be. I just had 3 scoops of butter pecan with hot fudge for lunch.

Yum

Coby said...

I laughed out loud at the "bones in my chest" thought! I gained 52 lbs. with the twins, and lost over 60. When my cousin told me that I looked "really thin" and that the bones in my chest were sticking out, I smiled inwardly. Just recently I found myself examining my collarbone to see if it jutted. SICKO! I laugh, but REALLY? I guess I've always been more padded than I'd like; I know I'm not overweight, that I'm actually right where I want to be, but it's taking so long for my mind to catch up with reality...I still see myself as the sophomore in high school who was a pound away from 200 lbs.

I'm the rich half white girl. ;-)

Unknown said...

LOL White Rich Girl problems--

Maggie May said...

i can't do a capital z!

Cheeseboy said...

W is a lame letter anyway. Who cares about it.

in other news, you have the same Elephant Dung Collector ad as I do on your blog and that is a_esome!

Stephanie said...

Sorry but I got a bit of a giggle from your W issue. I loved your solution!
I'm thinking this could be a weekly blog post:) Rich White Girl Problems. I know I've got them:)

Lothiriel said...

lol

I have a keyboard attached to my laptop as well...not becuase I'm missing letters but because I hate the keyboard on my laptop. I also have an attached mouse!!!

J said...

I just had to check to make sure I had bones in my chest. I do. Phwew!

Organic Motherhood with Cool Whip said...

All my life I've struggled with my body self concept and so when you wrote that about the bones in your chest, I totally knew what you meant. I really don't understand our societal obsession with thinness, as if it a barometer of success. But I buy into it. I really do.

Great post btw!! I have plenty of rich white girl problems myself.

Anonymous said...

LOL. Love the rich white girl problems! If these are your worst, then, yes, you are doing ok.

My macbook has a y that has never worked quite right. I usually am in the habit of hitting it twice when I need it. Which is also more often than you'd think. Above, you will find no less than 6 y's (not including the one needed to identify the letter with the missing key). Also, my last name has a y in it. So. Yeah. Life is hard.

Claudya Martinez said...

I'm glad you came up with a workable solution to the "w" issue otherwise you might have been doing " ordless ednesdays".

Ms. Moon said...

I call mine "middle-class white-girl problems." Same-same.
But hell- they're our problems. They suck. Whatever.
And you can't type "whatever" without a "W" now can you?

Rebecca said...

I totally thought about you today because of this story http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=150322

And problems are problems because they are things that are important to YOU.

Ducky said...

I'd have to figure out a substitue for WTF?....probably wouldn't have been pretty.

I like your solution though!

Amy said...

I'd be more troubled by a missing F than a missing W.

I work with several lesbians. Maybe I should ask them about the body issues thing?

The hair color is only one reason I don't put my head under water.

Muliebrity said...

I feel your pain. This reminds me of the time the Little Einstein's DVD got jammed in the 5 disc DVD player in my fully loaded min-van. Can you believe we could only listen to satellite radio for the 20 mins it took us to drive to Whole Foods? Luckily, the monsters had Rice Dream bars to keep them quiet on the way home. Talk about dodging a bullet.

Holly Lefevre said...

Losing your w would stink...I would be lost with my L!

I may have to ask my lesbian friends about their body image issues...he and you may be onto something!

Caution/Lisa said...

That computer solution is quite similar to a solution my husband would come up with. It really would be so much more fun to spend the $$ for a new computer.

Body image issues plague all of us, I think. What's interesting is how those image problems morph as we go through various life stages.

Melani said...

Nice idea to fix the computer problem...

as for the weight thing, yeah I weighed all of 100 lbs in high school and I know I will never ever be that thin again, unless I am ill, I mean come one I have 4 kids! LOL I go thru that too, my bones sticking out on my chest, they do and I think I look just OK. I need to adjust my weekend drinks, by about 1/2 but I love me some beer!

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

Loving the perspective. A lil' whining never hurt anyone. I'm currently whining about not having an espresso machine...a tragedy indeed. HA!

p.s. Thank you so much for following BonBon Rose Girls. We hope you'll follow us over at our new site too! We recently moved to our own URL: http://www.bonbonrosegirls.com/ AND we started our own network called the Rosebud Network! Members are eligible for weekly "Freshly Picked Rosebud" features and, in addition, we're linking to network members when we can tie one of their posts into ours! In celebration of this we've been having giveaways galore that included Kate Spade, House of Harlow and Hapari swimwear among others...Our most recent one is for 3 sets of adorable notecards and a Starbucks gift card: http://www.bonbonrosegirls.com/2010/06/bonbonrosegirlsnetwork.html
Sorry for the epic comment and I hope to see you over at the new site! Hugs, Kristin

Salt said...

I'm not going to lie...I've had that exact same thought about my chest bones. Many times. Sometimes in the right light, I can see them and then I feel a little happy about it even though it's probably pretty gross.

My father did the exact same rig up on one of his laptops when the spacebar quit on him!!!

cheatymoon said...

Hmmmm, I just found myself wondering if I could afford new highlights this month. Then chastised myself for feeling the 'need' for them in the first place. Ack.

Bones jutting out? Really?

:-)

Tracie said...

I demanded a new laptop because the n, l, and s'es on my laptop are scratched off. My husband handed me a sharpy.

Teachinfourth said...

I have that EXACT same model! After the zero popped off and the mousepad started working only haphazardly, I bought a

Mac.

Still getting used to it.

I miss my PC sometimes.

Anonymous said...

When I was in high school, there was a golden rule every girl knew: if any part of your stomach touched a ruler that was resting on your hip bones when you were laying down, you were too fat.

There are so many things wrong with that rule I wouldn't even know how to begin. But I KNEW I was fat all through school because that ruler was always, always touching my tummy.

All my keys work, but some are too dirty to identify their letter...going to get the cleaner right now!

Anonymous said...

I am always trying to lose weight too. My mom makes sure to point it out when Ive gone too far though. She hates it when my collar bone sticks out.

Anonymous said...

OMG, your blog post reminds me sooo much of this Twitter feed I started following last April. Love it!

http://twitter.com/whitegrlproblem