Blythe!

I've been fascinated with Blythe, the doll, for oh, about 17 years. I remember in the early 90s seeing a picture of one at some kind of art show and I loved it immediately. Blythe dolls are an early 70s creation. They stand about a foot tall and have these super large eyes that blink and change direction when you pull the cord attached to the back. They weren't really popular when they first emerged in 1972. Their production only lasted about a year. Some 27 years later, the doll has had a resurgence in popularity and Hasbro allowed a Japanese company to make the dolls again. And they took off like wildfire. Originally inspired by the art work of Margaret Keane, who painted kids with big eyes, Blythe now has a whole army of people who are fascinated by her.


Original Blythes from the 70s are rare, but sought after, and can be worth hundreds of dollars.
The Takara remakes are also worth a pretty penny. Ashton Drake, the US company that is replicating them, charges about $60 for their Blythe. All of them have slight variation in skin tone, shiny-ness, and eye color, but the basic shape of the doll is the same.

Here is a 1972 Kenner Blythe:
I think she struck me as interesting because most dolls are happy faced, and she seems to be kind of pensive. Also, I loved Margaret Keane and mod 60s style, so she fit into a lot of my design requirements. What has happened since the resurgence in the 90s is a total explosion of Blythe. People who are into Blythe not only buy the dolls, they remake them, which is amazing! They not only buy clothes, accesories and wigs for her:


They make them over completely, changing eyes, sanding the faces to reapply makeup. Here's goth Blythe:


To do this, of course, you have to kill Blythe. Some models easily come apart with a little prying. Others require cutting open her head! There are tons of websites devoted to helping you figure out what doll requires which kind of surgery to get apart. And then, what you can do is limitless. Some go as far as to resculpt the face, to give lips a new shape.


Eye chips allow you to play with eye color, and with an airbrush, you can change little white Blythe into any number of skin tones.

There's a number of Flickr groups devoted to Blythes of color with names like Black Blythe is Beautiful.
This is one of those beautiful cultural moments where people take something aimed at one group of people and totally transform it to fit their own needs and desires, ignoring the intentions of the creator. A whole subculture has grown out of this. People who make and sell clothing, wigs, trade techniques and post images on Flickr and Blythe websites like This is Blythe, What's Blythe. There are tutorial sites like the Pucci Collective, and YouTube has tons of videos explaining how to customize your doll. But...well, most of the big Blythe aficionados don't refer to Blythe as a doll. It's not like they think she's a real person, like they are divorced from reality (at least not most of them), but they seem to participate in the fantasy of her realness. They call her "my girl" and sometimes name her, giving her a personality. Some photograph their Blythes in tiny dollhouse like settings, like kitchens or living rooms, as though she has her own life. She has long days at work, has to get ready for tonight's party, that kind of stuff. And though Blythe is definitely big in Japan, and probably has a few fans under 18, most of these websites seem to be by middle aged women. Fascinating.

Oh yeah, I'm one of them now. I don't call her "my girl" nor do I play with Blythe, but the idea of a customized doll was right up my alley! I had a fantasy of transforming her into a mini-me, but that didn't happen. Once I found a cheap enough doll, I did what I could with what I had. I didn't want to cut it and open up the skull, so I decided to just do minor adjustments. Here's my original doll, the Aztec Arrival Blythe:

I, being me, made her all gothy. I cut her hair, painted her face (girl needed some eyebrows, for sure), and made her a tiny little dress.



I think these would be great dolls to give a kid who doesn't see herself in the dolls at the store. You could make a really beautiful gift for someone by customizing the doll to look like a kid or just look like they could be related!

If I have time and money, maybe one day I'll get more of these babies. But for now, Vampire Blythe will be my little companion. I don't have the heart to pack her up yet, so she might be the last thing to get boxed up before our move.>var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
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Good Advice

So do you remember a few months ago when I recommended the blog called I Could Kill Her? And then they went on hiatus, like, immediately afterward? Well, the ladies in charge of that blog now do an advice column blog called Miss In Your Business. Not surprisingly, they give the best advice of all time. Here are my favorites from the past few months:


Dear Elaine and Sarah,

I love to watch trashy reality TV (“Rock of Love,” “Mommas Boys” and “Real Housewives of Orange County” are my current favorites). The trashier the better. Watching these ridiculous programs allows me to unwind and forget about life’s stresses.

My best friend is one of those people who doesn’t own a TV (I know how you feel about this type of individual, but otherwise she’s a really cool chick). She has a million hobbies and doesn’t find television interesting.

Lately she’s been giving me a lot of shit about my “habit.” At first she would just tease me a little (we both went to Ivy League schools and have graduate degrees). But lately it’s become annoying.

Their advice?

Excerpt:

The next time your friend brings it up, say this: “Why do you care what I do with my free time?”

She will say something like, “I’m just giving you shit. Don’t get defensive.”

You should then say, “I’m not defensive. But given how frequently you talk about my hobby, I’m starting to think there’s a bigger issue here and frankly, I’m getting tired of it.”

To which she will say, “I didn’t realize you were so sensitive. God. Excuse me for trying to be funny.”

To which you should say, “I’m not sensitive and if it was funny, it would be fine, but it’s not funny. It’s annoying and you try to embarrass me by telling everyone how dumb it is that I enjoy these shows.” Get over yourself. I think the African tribal dance class you take at the community center with all the other poser white chicks is retarded but hey, it’s something you enjoy, so who am I to judge?” (Even if she doesn’t do African tribal dance, I’m SURE she does some kind of self-empowerment/diversity/women’s class on a regular basis that you can make fun of.)

Guaranteed, you’ll shut her down and that will be the end of that.

This one is my favorite:

Miss In Your Business,

My girlfriend of three years loves all things celebrity. At first I thought this was cute—her subscriptions to People, US Weekly and Vanity Fair; her devastation over the Brad/Jen breakup (she cried for days), and her five-day self imposed mourning period when Heath Ledger died.

Now I find it annoying and embarrassing. I work in academia – my colleagues are PhDs and scientists. That last few work functions we’ve attended have been downright uncomfortable. I feel like my GF has nothing else to contribute to conversations.

Should I cut my losses and dump her?

Abe

Abe,

Joint answer tonight - Sarah has a date with a mime – she keeps referring to him as a thought-provoking “performance artist.” Basically the dude makes his living miming at various hippy festivals throughout Oregon and Washington – you do the math. And I have a date with Hugh Jackman and a brie/bread/apple plate.

And, we both agree, so why not do this together.

We know girls like your GF. And we, too, think it’s cute at first; and then it quickly gets annoying. Our concern is that she’s unhappy with the day-to-day events of her life so she’s getting sucked into the “glamorous” lives of entertainers.

Recently we’ve had a lot of discussions about the general mundaneness of life. To summarize, once you hit a certain age, life is mundane. It’s semi Ground-Hog Day-ish. You do the same shit over and over again and it’s easy to lose yourself in the idea of a life so different – a life like Brad’s or Jen’s or that crazy mofo, Joaquin Phoenix.

But really, after three years you’re willing to “cut your losses” because your girlfriend spends too much time reading about famous people? Show some compassion. Maybe she’s unhappy. Maybe you are so boring in your “academia” that she’s forced to find something more interesting.

Talk to her. And don’t judge. Tell her that her “hobby” has become increasingly obsessive and you’re concerned she’s unhappy. Whatever you do DON’T TELL HER THAT YOU’RE EMBARRASED BY HER WHEN SHE’S WITH YOUR BIG-BRAIN FRIENDS.

And maybe she should dump you, Abe – you sound dumb.

One that made me think I was hearing myself:

Dear Elaine,

(Sorry, Sarah, but asking you for help on this one is like asking a priest for advice on spicing up my sex life.)

My boyfriend plays poker a few times a month with a regular group of guys. I love playing cards and am actually quite good at it; and I want in on the game.

Whenever I mention that I’d like to play, my boyfriend makes up some lame excuse as to why I can’t come (“We have a full house,” “We’ve stopped inviting new people because Dave’s coworker was a colossal ass who spent the whole night trying to convince us to go in on a hooker,” etc.).

I’m starting to get pissed. I kick ass at Texas Hold Em and I think a regular card game would be so much fun. Should I press the issue? My boyfriend and I rarely fight and I’d hate for this to be the thing that causes a major blow up, but I’m getting tired of the excuses.

Bev

Bev,

Really? You don’t understand why your boyfriend doesn’t want you to spend an evening with a group of GUYS playing CARDS? You’re perplexed, Bev? You can’t figure it out, Bev? Are you twelve, Bev?

Your boyfriend simply doesn’t want you to there, and you need to get over it.

Your mad card playing skills are irrelevant.

His regular poker nights are times for him to hang out with his boys. Not only does he not want you to come, the rest of the guys would be SUPER PISSED if you showed up.

How do you not know this? People need time away from their partners – and it’s nothing that should offend you. Can you honestly tell me that you haven’t wondered why these games are comprised only of men? Do you really think it’s a coincidence? Well it’s not. They don’t want you there. They don’t want Angelina Jolie there. They want to have some bro time. Stay out of it.

If you love playing cards, start a card game. This is 2009, and plenty of women know how to play poker. I’m sure some of your friends would love the idea of a girls’ poker night.

Stop hounding your boyfriend.

As for your boyfriend, I’m a little concerned that he’s too big of a pussy to tell you that he doesn’t want you there. Why the excuses? What’s going on in your relationship? How is the communication?

‘Cause I’ll tell you this, if I told Nathan I wanted in on his poker game…once he stopped laughing his ass off, he would tell me, “There’s no way you’re coming to my poker game. If you want to play poker with me, I’m happy to play with you at home.”

Your boyfriend needs to man up and you need to realize that spending time apart is a wonderful part of any successful relationship.

So go check it out. Put it on your RSS feed.

Reliving Horrible Moments of Embarrassment

Not much to blog about this weekend. I didn't do much interesting stuff. My mother-in-law treated me to a new coat. I found a great deal at Macys on a peacoat. My last, very lovely peacoat was lost in a rental car mishap. I left it in a rental car and in the 20 minutes it took to realize it was gone and call, the coat had gone missing. Or gone STOLEN. Whatever. My new coat is beautiful, but it will be about 90 degrees this week so I won't be wearing it for a while. Sad. When is fall supposed to get here?

Interesting web linkage re the title of the blog:

Mortified is this amazing sort of open-mic type event in which grown men and women read excerpts from notes, diaries, poems and songs written in their youth. I know, totally mortifying. But hilariously funny. Or so I hear. I really want to go see one. The next events in LA are on October 15 and Nov 3rd. If anyone wants to go, let me know.

I also found this hilarious blog: Stuff Korean Moms Like

Created by a self-described "Korean mom in training," the site is "dedicated to psycho-analyzing our moms, reliving horrible memories of embarrassment and dread for the benefit of the public...all the while laughing like a wheezy grandpa. Someone needs to pay for our therapy..."

Take a moment and read it for yourself. It's hilarious. And most of it is just plain old mom stuff, like my personal favorites:

#47 Arguing over the bill

#42 Paper and plastic bags

#37 Bargaining

#35 Snooping

#20 Marrying people off

#19 Pointing out physical deformities

#5 Stank Eye

She explains them so hilariously that I tried to come up with a similar list for Cuban Americans in general. It turned out that I loved her list more than my own. So go. See her list!

Parlez-vous goth?

I took a few online quizzes, and I am apparently not really all that goth. I got "old goth" on one of them, which indicated that I probably don't try too hard to be goth (true), and on one site I got "corporate goth" because I apparently don't wear enough black lipstick. The times they are a changing. I am, however, a hipster. If you look it up on the urban dictionary, the third definition says:

You, for reading ironic, pseudo-intellectual dictionary entries on the word "hipster".

Whatevs.

GothorNot.com

I forgot about this amazing site where you rate goths on their gothiness. Based on Hot or Not.com, which is also pure evil. It totally rules because most goths won't give high praise to others, and so you could literally be someone who shape-shifts into a bat and still get maybe 50%.

Speaking of bats, I was talking to M. about my expectations of the crowd at the Nick Cave show Weds afternoon, and he asked if I would be surrounded by "people crying into their bat-shaped pillows." Which was funny, but also made me want one, you know, just for tears.

I will settle for this pillow:

PSA

Great sites to check out:

http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/
Great site with quotes from notable women on progress and feminism, as well as the thoughts of everyday women around the country about Sarah Palin.

IMPALIN'
hee

Palin on the Issues
I love this "on the issues" site. Check out anyone you want!

Register to Vote
Seriously, it's a big deal. Vote. If you don't think it matters, vote anyway. What's the worst that could happen? If you vote absentee you don't even have to leave your house. VOTE.

But my new "must check" blog is Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong

My faves?








Speaking of food, I had Korean BBQ with M. on Thursday and I'm still thinking about it. So yummy.
I had the pork bulgogi and seafood-tofu soup that came out boiling in a cauldron. Spicy and really tasty.



True Blood is on tonight. Even though I have a ton of work to do for class tomorrow, that is foremost on my mind. It is deviating from the books in interesting ways. Has anyone seen any paranormal, mythical, fantasy type shows that I might like to start watching?? Pass your recommendations here. I have TiVo, but not Showtime.

Happy Sunday.