Humming the melody of life
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The Politics of Perfection
The Barbie movie is fun, feminine, and very very pink. But its portrayal of feminism is shallow and unsatisfying. The movie has many great jokes but they are only funny in the moment and not in the greater constructed context of the movie universe. The Barbie movie definitely has its moments but it is definitely…
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Believing In The Beauty – Act 3
As I experiment with more looks, I become more comfortable with myself. Staring at my face as a canvas forces me to think of makeup as paint and myself as art. I remember the techniques: shade the receding curves, lighten to highlight, let the colors complement and not compete. This is not my final look…
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Believing In The Beauty – Act 2
Seeing myself again gives me confidence. The colors are slightly different, the hair is parted, and my face is contoured. The changes are subtle but I feel much more comfortable and myself. But this is not yet the final look! I had forgotten that I made a wedding color palette but my matron of honor…
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Believing In The Beauty
It’s bad luck to show your spouse-to-be the wedding dress but I know nothing about showing the Internet your different attempts at hair and makeup. There’s nothing wrong with this look, except maybe my hair needs a touchup, but I am upset with my face, my fat, and my general inability to be stunning today.…
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The Tick Tock
I was hit by a car when I was 16. Now at the age of 38, I have repeated that line so often, it feels insignificant. The passage of time has worn down the edges of trauma, has healed the wounds so only faint scars line my psyche. Once disabled, I am always disabled. But…
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Pills and Sex
I take pills four times a day: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime. The bulk of my medication I take over breakfast, a handful of colorful pills with my coffee, while I take my psychiatric medication at night, since drowsiness is a side effect. I have been stable (for bipolar) on my current cocktail so I…
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Hello, Internet!
My name is Amber Ying. I am almost 39 years old, and I want to write a memoir. But it’s way too bad that I have a traumatic brain injury and thus have the memory capacity of a sieve. So blogging is the next best thing. I enjoy typing into the void. The void doesn’t…
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