Cult of Personality: Celebrity

You know the irritation of having a song playing over and over in your head. Yesterday for me it was Living Color's, Cult of Personality. It bothered me so much that I got out of bed and went to the computer to look up the lyrics. I was startled.

The words were poetry, vital today as the day they were written. It is really the theme song for being a celebrity.

.....I know your anger, I know your dreams

I've been everything you want to be ....

We make a celebrity by seeing in them something we admire or desire. We put those things as well as that person on a pedestal. Smart celebrities know they are on that pedestal and display that "public image" that will keep them in the public's good graces.

.....Neon Lights, A Nobel Prize

Than the mirror speaks, the reflection lies

You won't have to follow me

Only you can set me free

We have seen countless celebrities rise and fall. (EX Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson) When celebrities "public image" cracks we are faced with reality, their humanity, which is that they are fallible, deeply flawed people. After we see them for who they are we then have a choice to follow or not. It is like a shooting star as it goes across the sky, it captivates us, but who pays attention to where it falls?

.....I see the things you need to be

I'm the smiling face on your TV

In reality the only power a celebrity has is the power we give them. If we did not follow them would we know or care about their products? Would celebrities get those million dollar endorsement deals? The worst thing for a celebrity to do is to tarnish their image and take their public for granted.

We are followers in the "cult of personality". We worship a graven image of celebrity, not the reality. It seems caution is in order....

Living Color, you were prophets!

Weekly Recap on Twitter and Life...

Well tommorow I have my family reunion out in what I lovingly call "the sticks". I will see people I haven't seen in ages and the wonderfully repetitive question will be asked, "What have you been doing?" "When are you getting married?" People have a knack for asking questions that are uncomfortable and obtrusive at family gatherings.

My answer will be the truth, "I've been on twitter and blogging about it along with my other passions everyday." I can imagine already the expressions of confusion that will garner to the equivelant expression as if I told them I took up stripping. Having my other job as a full-time caregiver for my grandfather would garner sympathetic looks of pity which I do not want. I am going with the first explaination. Usually if someone does not believe in what your doing they won't argue you with, or comment if your passionate enough in your explaination. I am glad I have been reading Plato and brushing up on my rhetoric. (why, can't they serve alcohol at these things. )

A gay relative I just finished talking to on facebook told me that he refused to come to the reunion because last year his uncle put his hands on him for his pro-Obama stance. Needless to say there isn't many democratics running around on that side of the family. I told him that I would happily ask that same uncle this year about his thoughts on gay marriage in New York. I am telling you there is nothing like potato salad and fireworks to make a reunion more exciting.

As far as Twitter, I look forward to the regular return of Jill Zarin. My favorite New York Housewife has been in London understandably enjoying merry old England! (limited Twittering) Hope you had a pint with some handsome English blokes, our beloved red queen! Also check out my review on Erica Negi's, My Life In Loubies, it is the best piece of fiction that I have read in a long time. It will help you get through the long week until the next episode of, The Real Housewives of NYC. And lastly, if your a fan of Hudson Leick and planning on attending the last Xena convention by Creation Entertainment in 2012, make sure you write to them. Hudson has not been confirmed and your tickets are not-refundable. You can go to the Hudson Leick offical facebook fanpage for all the contact e-mails addresses for Creation Entertainment.

I love you all and will let you know about the fireworks in "stick-ville". Remember "Standing up against hatred is the first step to overcoming it", xoxo - Kimberly

Mean Tweeting: 21st Century MudSlinging

We love. We hate. In this 21st century world Twitter has given us a new tool to communicate our feelings with people about what we love and hate. But the question is when does your tweet go from a form of communicating your opinion to just being down right mean and cruel? Also when does that cross the line into be a cyberbully?

Cyberbullying became a phrase popularized this season of "The RealHousewives of New York City". Jill Zarin claimed that Simon VanKampen cyberbullied her. Many people have made their negative opinions known about what they think on that situation but again people only looked at the surface of the issue. Faithful followers of twitter that watch all twitter accounts of the stars from that show have seen nasty comments go back and forth between all of them. Simon VanKampen has received a lot of nasty tweets since the airing of the episode. I can say that when Simon VanKampen asked his followers for any proof of nasty tweets he made about Jill Zarin, I did send him one. One comment that had stood out in my mind was after Jill had called the now infamous episode of Ramona/Mario and Alex/Simon soft core porn, Simon made a nasty remark that if it is porn that Jill should add it to Bobby's (Jill Zarin's husbands) porn collection. He also made "apologies" that the intimate moments were not based on the exchange of services rendered for expensive jewlery. (Read into that as you will)

I tweeted that remark in reponse to Simon's call for alledgedly nasty Jill tweets, he retweeted it, and I received fifteen mean tweets from his followers saying horrible, disgusting things. (We will just forget he asked for proof) We ,the faithful followers of our favorite celebrities, know no one is innocent or safe from nasty comments, but when does it really cross the line into cyberbullying?

Here is one of the cleaniest comments tweeted to me from a Simon follower after my pro-Jill stance:

"Simon is being real, Jill is being a Jew"

I was stunned and blocked them two seconds later but if I get this kind of comment I can not even begin to imagine the hateful comments and volume that celebrities get. People blame celebrities for blocking people? I do not blame anyone for not wanting to read hate from hateful people.

People who faithfully follow Jill Zarin and read her last blog at Jill Zarin.com will remember reading that she alluded to Simon consorting with a certain individual that bullied and stalked her family. While many people claim Jill was being over dramatic I happened onto that website one day of that individual in question and how do I even know it was that individual in question? On her website she pretty much bragged about it, of course from a victimized perspective. She claimed she was a target, but what is her whole website devoted to, hate! Her entire website was dedicated to her hatred of Jill Zarin. I am not a therapist but I think a line is crossed when you devote a whole entired website to your hatred of one person, especially when it is not someone you know personally. Honestly, who has the time or energy for that? Could you imagine what a person could do with all the energy they spend on what they hate and redirected it to something they love, they could be making the world a better place.

My only thoughts are this, if you are making nasty tweets, question yourself why? Would you want people sending you that stuff. Secondly if you continually are sending nasty tweets to someone ask yourself why do I feel the need to do this? What inside of you is prompting you to do this? Again if you would not want someone doing it to you, why do you want to do it? As Jill Zarin said in response to criticism about blocking haters, "why give hatred room to breathe?" Hatred is a disease to your soul and is one of the most destructive emotions of humanity. (Remember Hitler?) Hatred causes only harm in this world and to participate in it is to destroy the world, even if it is one mean tweet at a time. I offer you the antidote to that nasty disease though and that is love. Acting in love will make the world a better place, wouldn't you like to live in a better place? (I know I would)

Question:

To Gossip Girl - there are no confirmed reports about Jill moving to London. Bravo seems to stick to a tight budget, unwilling to fork over the money for a copy right for Lisa Wexler's(Jill's sister) song to air that she sang at Jill's birthday. The cost of producing a show in London would be astronomical...my guess no.

Get Ready for the Housewives HoDown for all the juiciest LoDown!

To travel in the jungle of Bravo's Real Housewives gossip is like going into an overgrown forrest without any tools to cut a path. Consider Megan, of the Housewives Hodown, your one and only tour guide through this jungle and with its wildcats. She gives you the most updated, indepth, information and perspective on your favorite housewives. She speaks her mind and asks and listens to her fans so you don't miss out. You don't want to get lost out there!

Her blog is the best 411 on the web so check it out at:

Housewiveshoedown.blogspot.com

And to keep in touch with her follow her daily journey on Twitter

@houswiveshodown

He Said What?: Enough Already, A Rant...of Sorts

He Said What?: Enough Already, A Rant...of Sorts: "While zipping down the highway of information, I became aware of Rep. Weiner's Twitter page. So out of morbid curiosity, I read a few of hi..."

Excellent post! A must read by Lucien, a voice of reason...

In this world it seems that we are getting more desensitized to sex and violence. I believe Mr. Wiener is a product of this desensitized society. But if we make that an excuse for ourselves or public figures where does society have to go but down in flames. We all need a voice of reason! Lucien is a welcomed change.

Please follow him on twitter @mintedroyality for updates of his new blogs from: He Said What?

Warning about Social Media

I was explaining the other day to my mom about what Twitter was and that I started a blog. She looked at me like I just said a barrage of foul, dirty words. Her immediate concerns ranged from privacy issues to legal implications of what I could possibily write and how it could come back to bite me. I quickly dismissed most of the concerns but than later that night it hit me, "what could be the down falls of social media?"

It was late and I was not sleeping (as usual) so I went on Google and searched my name. I know that a lot of people tease saying that is narcissistic but it was really was an eye opener. You do not know what is on the web until you search. I scrolled through about five pages and found most shockingly a website that was devoted to statistically complying my information on Twitter. (Website hint: buzz) It gave a pie chart of all the people that I talked to most, how many tweets that I did that month and the hash tags (#) I most often used in my tweets. I found out that big brother was watching and he indeed wants to know everything I tweet.

My grandfather always had a saying, "never write anything you don't want the whole world to see". We all know the more experienced we get on Twitter, everything we tweet is there for the whole world to see. (i.e. mean tweets) I have made it a priority to say only things that I mean. People have false comfort in thinking they can take back a tweet by a delete because as we have seen with famous celebrities in the news, there is always someone watching and ready to jump on you.

Another powerful tool on Twitter is the hash tag. They are great for people who want to search out others with common interests. I did though have one celebrity find one of my tweets and replied even though I never used their handle and hence they would of had to go out of their way to find. I was suprised they had the time to find it, but if I publicly say it, they have the right to find it.

I devote my blog to my Twitter interactions but I have to say someting about Facebook. If you publicly like any celebrity or public figure page by clicking the like button, anything you say or do on that page from there on in is for the world wide web to see. I have never been ashamed of anything I've publicly liked. (I am really too old to be shy about much of anything) But be aware of what you do, knowlege being power, since there has been too many news stories about people who do or say something that later gets them fired because their employer found it, not hired because a future employer found it, or you don't get into the college of your dreams because an admission officer finds it.

My only real advice is "Tweeters beware" and Google yourself once in a while. ;-)

Introduction to Twitter

I said I would never go on Twitter. I made jokes upon jokes many times that I would only do Facebook. You know when you say "never", somehow in your heart you know eventually your going to try it or really do want to try it. Well about a month ago I did and I can honestly say I have been hooked ever since.

People ask me now "What's so great about Twitter?" Answer: It is an instant connection with the whole wide world from your common joe to your favorite celebrity. In the past month since starting Twitter I have gotten tweets from my favorite celebrites and childhood heros. I have also made incredible friends that in yester-year would not of had the slightest possibility of meeting let alone talking to and becoming friends.

Twitter is a community connecting the whole world and I finally feel like I have come home. Thank you Twitter and readers I hope you enjoy reading my wild adventures through its land.