Season Two, Episode Six: Yes, I’ll have an order of that plate of BS

Jed Wolpaw of the LoveDub fame has got to be one of the best column writers that have graced the pages of the Synapse through the years; it's one of the first things that I read when I proofread copies every Tuesday. His last week's column, entitled "As Advertised", is chockfull of his trademark East-Coast-like humor. However, I took a particular "disliking" to his assertion that "we dress, shave, and perfume ourselves up for one main reason (to attract a mate). Maybe it hit a little closer to home, or that I felt that I was being called out. But for me, I like looking good for the sake of looking good.

Just to make sure that I'm not completely off-base, I asked around my friends to try and get a bigger perspective and to make sure that 1) I'm not completely crazy and 2) I am not alone in this thinking.

I usually go out with a group of friends when I go out, and the LAST thing that I'm thinking about is trying to pick someone up. Maybe it's the superficiality of it all, or maybe the dim lighting + the state of inebriation does not make for a good combination, but I just don't think that we are putting our best foot forward when we're out and about at clubs and bars, at least in terms of finding a mate; a mate for the night, on the other hand, now that's a different subject.

There's a certain truth to the saying "you are what you wear". Like it or not, the way that we dress plays a role in how other people perceive us and plays a pivotal role in the formation of first impressions. And the way that we dress is "dictated" by the environment that we are presented with. For instance, I would dress differently if I were going to a charity ball versus if I were to play ball.
When people complement me for what I'm wearing, it makes me feel good. Whenever I have exams, I try to dress up. My self-confidence goes up; I can do anything. Even if I didn't do so hot on the midterm, at least I looked good doing it.

I actually like going shopping by myself. It's one of those solitary moments that I treasure. When I go shopping for clothes, there's three things that I consider; 1) the price, 2) if it looks good on me (good fit, good color, etc), and 3) if it matches with clothes that I already do own. The "This-shirt-should-bring-all-the-boys-to-the-yard" phrase is not part of my vernacular, nor does it influence my shopping decisions.

How about them not so-single ladies and gentlemen? Does the extra effort to get ready, to look nice, a sign of possible mischievous concoction? Does the fact that you have a significant other preclude you from attempting to look your best, especially when you go out with your friends on a night out?

Now, I'm not saying that he's completely incorrect; I'm sure that there are people that do put the extra effort for the purposes of attracting potential mates. Of course, when you have found that potential mate, it is well within reason to put in the extra effort to look your best. I just think that this dilemma is more of the "chicken-or-egg" variety.

I still heart you Jed, aka LoveDub guy, but apparently not as much as I heart myself.

 

Season Two, Episode Five: West Fest Provides Only a Faint Echo of Woodstock

One of the many things that I love about San Francisco are the outdoor festivals that seem to be going on throughout the year. This past weekend, hundreds of San Francisco stars and musical luminaries performed at Speedway Meadows for West Fest, commemorating the 40th anniversary of Woodstock Festival.

I was volunteering for the health fair that was being held at the concert site in the morning, and I didn't think that I was going to miss out on much, figuring that the bigger events will be going on later on during the day. The two things that I was looking forward to seeing was the tribute to Jimi Hendrix, who headlined the festival in 1969 (3,000 guitar players were going to try to break the World's Record for the Largest Guitar Ensemble playing "Purple Haze"), and Ray Manzanek from the Doors; unfortunately, both went on stage while I was volunteering for the health fair.

Serves me right for not looking up the lineup online.

I did get to hear Native American folk/rock artist Jeremy Goodfeather, who's apparently up for a Grammy for Best New Folk Artist. I'm a sucker for acoustic sounds, and he had that rock-star-soothing voice. I also got to listen to some sick afro-beats while I was dancing with a hoop. At first, I couldn't do it for longer than a few seconds, but I got the hang of it as the song wore on.

The weather cooperated quite beautifully with the event. It's the classic San Francisco October, our own version of the summer. While testing people's blood glucose levels, I felt that my face was burning up because our tent was exposed to the always-welcomed presence of the sun.

I also got a chance to look around the festival to see what was going on. One of the more curiously interesting displays they had was a replica of the "Love Bus", complete with a complementary oatmeal raisin cookie! I overheard a conversation with the "Love Bus" owner and one of the inquisitive festival-goer, and it seemed that the "Love Bus" owner had a little bit too much of the "60's experience" to be cognitively coherent. There were a variety of booths catering to the "hippie" crowd: legalize marijuana petition, henna painting, hemp products and the like. There were also some entrepreneurial people selling their home-made brownies, hemp clothing and accessories and drug paraphernalia. There was also a banana-costumed man passing out Jamba Juice coupons, and a tin-man posing for photos with whoever was interested.

For part of the health fair, I had a box of condoms, and I was handing them out to fellow festival goers. If I have to do a hair sample drug test, I'm almost positive that I'll fail due to the immense second hand exposure that I've managed to accrue while I was walking around.

Which got me thinking, to what extent does this festival reflect on the original spirit of Woodstock? How relevant is this festival today? As it is now, the '60s were turbulent times; Woodstock was that pivotal moment of realization not just for that generation but for the country as a whole. Artists were empowered to make a difference and spread that message through the masses through their music. Have we gotten too complacent in the world that we currently live in? As I watched over the crowd as the performers spat out their generic message of love and peace, I saw glazed looks. Yes, I think that festivals like West Fest are great in bringing like-minded people together but I'm not sure the result is what I expected. It's probably too much to ask that the Woodstock spirit be re-captured, even with 3,000 guitars on hand, channeling Jimi Hendrix.