on hot tubs, cherries and racks (but it's not what you think)

i used to think i was ambivalent about some things but then i realized that it's kind of a nuanced ambivalence. a lot of times, i like the concept of something but i don't like it in actuality or in practice. on the other hand, sometimes i have to admit to liking the thing even though the idea of it turns me off. examples:

bubble baths. i like the concept - they SOUND great, but think about it - unless you JUST cleaned your tub, there's a decent chance it may have some soap residue from last week or some dust or, if you're a shower-tooth-brusher, some spit and toothpaste residue on it. ok, so now you're getting ready to take a bath in this tub. you close the drain, which effectively traps any particles of nastiness, and you fill the tub with water, which loosens up and stirs around that nastiness, and you soak in it. IN THE NASTINESS! and to make matters dirtier, while you're reading your US weekly the water is pulling out the dirt and oil and dead skin cells from your skin. so now there's tub dirt and your own dirt swirling around in the water you're chillin in. i much prefer a shower, where the water whisks away any nastiness. or a hot tub with a filtration system and massaging jets and some wine in a chilled glass, but i'm not picky. :)

birds. i like things that are bird-esque. i like the symbols of peace and freedom and majesty that are commonly associated with birds. so i like depictions of birds in jewelry and art and clothes. but in the flesh - the feathery, beady-eyed flesh? no. i don't like their poop and its varying shades and textures, i don't like how they swoop down from out of nowhere and steal your PB&J, i don't like how they fly into glass doors, i don't like their dirty claws, i don't like how they eat roadkill, i'm scared of their beaks, i could go on and on. i do not like birds.

sale racks. when i hear people say, "i got this dress for like $15, marked down from like $4,567,856!!!" i get inspired to do the coupon hunting and sale rack scouring that she did. and then reality sets in. inevitably, the coupon i find is expiring in 24 hours. i hurry over there. the sale rack has been rummaged through and there's absolutely nothing left that i would buy even for my worst enemy, and the lines at the fitting rooms are long and it smells like something died in there anyway, and i drank too much diet coke at lunch so now i have to go to the bathroom in the midst of my rummaging and then once i do that, i just lose the motivation to keep going. so i start heading out to my car but then i notice the BCBG section and i grab something, and then i remember that there's an anthropologie in this mall so i make a pit-stop there, too. i end up coming home having bought plenty of good stuff, none of which was on sale.

on the other hand, there are some things that, philosophically, make me shudder. but i like 'em anyway. cases in point:

cherry flavored craisins. you know craisins, right? the dried cranberries? okay, so they have original craisins and cherry flavored ones. and i always saw them and thought it was so ridiculous to flavor one fruit with another fruit because, a) it makes an already artificial, packaged form of fruit even more artificial, and b) if you want the cherry flavor, just eat a cherry! BUT... then one fateful day i relented and tried the cherry flavored craisins, and i instantly converted. they are SO good. like candy.

SUVs. in some ways, SUVs are the image of everything that's wrong with our society. they're the epitome of excess. most of us don't need to drive anything that big. they don't fit well in parking spaces. they're hard to see over if you're in a small car behind one of them at a red light. they're not fuel efficient so they're ruining the environment. they usually have the worst blind spots. and they've become a "look at me" symbol of wealth and yuppiedom, which i hate. but i can't help it. i. love. SUVs. i like being high off the ground when i drive, i like having plenty of space to store stuff, i like knowing i can accommodate road trips, i like knowing that i'm in a sturdy car in case of an accident (which would undoubtedly not be my fault, of course), etc. so i've justified my love of SUVs by limiting it only to the small SUVs, and continuing to chastise the owners of hummers and suburbans for all of the above reasons. :) and i've promised myself that my next car will be eco-friendly. and lately i've been taking mainly public transpo so my carbon footprint's stride rite sized, anyway.

marriage. it seems to be more and more popular these days to disavow (ha!) marriage. and when the cameron diazes and the oprahs talk about why it's not for them, they make sense. yes, it's just a piece of paper. true, the wedding industry is a racket. of course you can have just as much of a commitment without the label of "married." there is truth in the argument that some people falsely convince themselves that their relationship will be more secure once they're married. and the brad pitt doctrine is a compelling one (don't get married until same-sex couples can get married and enjoy the benefits, too). so yeah, i know the flaws of the institution of marriage but at the same time, i totally buy into it. the extra oomph of loyalty (even if only on paper), the vows, the partnership of it, the kids and the dog and the white picket fence - it's hard to completely reject an ideal that we were raised to embrace, even though it's technically easy to form an argument against it.

i'm curious what some of your concept-faves and actual-faves are?

peace, x, and o.