Celebrating 'Murrica

     Wishing all my readers a wonderfully red, white, and blue HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! I sincerely hope you learned about the founding of our country like this ...

When Wonder Woman Tells You To Touch Your Boobies ... You Touch Your Boobies (Like Your Life Depended On It).

     You don't need superhuman powers like X-Ray vision or gamma-radiation-inundated strength to give yourself a monthly self-breast exam ...

     At least that is what a new advertising campaign out of South Africa is trying to tell you! The new campaign by Associação da Luta Contra o Cancer features four ads - each with a different girl super hero, drawn from their chin down to their mid-torso, feeling up her boobies for lumps! 

     The lucky ladies which are featured in these ads (suggested by their artfully rendered uniforms, of course) are ... Catwoman, She-Hulk, Wonder Woman, and Storm (of X-Men fame for you non-nerdy people, out there).

     The ads also all feature a comic-book looking caption that reads: Nobody's Immune To Breast Cancer.

     It goes on to say: When we talk about breast cancer, there’s no women or superwomen. Everybody has to do the self-examination monthly. Fight with us against this enemy and, when in doubt, talk with your doctor.

I would suggest clipping your nails before a monthly self-exam.

She-Hulk is Hella-Endowed. Just saying.

Leather and all that super hero clothing is cool ...
But I would suggest any type of metal be removed before a monthly exam.

Storm could totally donate her hair to women with cancer.

     I love this ad campaign. It not only has a positive message outwardly ... But it also has another message in the imagery ...
     These super hero women are all women who prevent crises from occurring on an everyday basis based on the actions they choose to do --- I mean let's face it, no one's forcing them to save the world. By choosing to perform breast self-exams, you are choosing to take a preventative step against cancer. You are choosing to check yourself for lumps and bumps and funniness and to report it to a doctor when you find it.
      Basically, you are being your own super hero. To yourself. To your friends. To your family. To all your loved ones.
     So, please do me a favor, ladies ... And gentlemen ... Go ahead - be my hero and go touch your boobies ...
     Just not at Happy Hour like this song suggests ... It won't end well. Trust me.


There's boobies of all different kinds but do you know the warning signs!? I touch my boobies for any strange lumps. I touch my boobies for any weird bumps. Touching is key to being lumpy free. So, please touch your boobies, touch your boobies, for me! [Touch Your Boobies (I Touch Mine!) - Taryn Southern]

Side Note: If you have discovered a lump or have any other signs of breast cancer, visit your doctor right away. You can access information about the disease here. If you would like to donate to breast cancer research, you can do so here. Or, if you have some long tresses you are willing to donate in order to have wigs made for those who have been affected by cancer, check out Pantene Pro-V's Beautiful Lengths Program (I'll post my before and after pictures next month!). 

What's Wrong With The World Today? - Cyber Protests and Causes

     I want you to stop reading this right now ... before you even begin to get to the good stuff ... because there are kids in Africa and India and Uzbekistan who can't read good and we need to spread literacy to them as soon as possible. Now what I need you to do is log on to your Facebook and change your default picture to this:

     As the caption for your picture, please write "If YOU care about spreading literacy to kids in Africa and India and Uzbekistan too, please change your profile picture to LeVar Burton creepily jumping up in front of his very own Reading Rainbow."

     Did you do it? I sure hope so. Don't you feel accomplished and super good about yourself?

     SERIOUSLY PEOPLE! We all need to get it together. These crazy cyber protests and causes are ridiculous. When did we (yes, we ... I am guilty of a few of those "change your default for blah blah blahs" too) get so lazy (or stupid) that we decided that this was the best way to show our support for the things we supposedly believe in?

     Remember a few months ago, when it seemed like every other person on Facebook changed their profile picture to their favorite childhood cartoon character in order to end violence against children? ... 

     Well, guess what people ... NOT EFFECTIVE. Unfortunately, Cinderella is not going to make Child Abuse end by the stroke of midnight. 

     That campaign was off on so many levels ... For one, it didn't make clear whether or not it was affiliated with a national/international Child Abuse Organization so it left a lot of people questioning it (ummmm hello ... Cartoon Face Campaign? Like it should be a question?). On top of that, it was held in December and not that you need to limit child abuse awareness to a certain month, but National Child Abuse Prevention Month is actually in April (at least in the US). And lastly, if you want to make a real difference in a child's life - GO OUT AND MAKE ONE! Volunteer at a home, a shelter, something. Or if you really don't have the time to do something along those lines, donate. Every bit helps. 

     This past Tuesday night millions of people "attended" a Facebook event called "Porch lights on for Caylee Marie Anthony." 

      While I know that the "attendees" hearts were in the right place, what was the purpose of this? How is this waste of energy all over the world (2 million strong) a good way to memorialize this little girl? Go to your house of worship, light a candle, say a prayer, and once again, donate money to end violence against children (donate it in Caylee's name!). 

     These cyber protests that have us changing our profile pictures and turning on our porch lights and playing a certain song at a certain hour ... What are they really accomplishing? .... Nothing ... Except forming a group of people, who don't really like their profile pictures, and are listening to crappy music at some random hour of the night with their porch lights on, when they'd probably prefer to sleeping.

     And that's what's wrong with the world today.

Can you practice what you preach and would you turn the other cheek? Father, Father, Father, help us. Send us some guidance from above 'cause people got me, got me questionin' where is the love? Where is the love? (Where Is The Love, Black Eyed Peas)

Sidenote: If you or someone you know (or if you suspect that a child you know) is being abused, please check the following sites for information:

Prevent Child Abuse America

ChildHelp

The National Child Abuse Hotline is: 1-800-4-A-Child

Calvin and Hobbes Go To War ... And Learn A Lesson

     Calvin and Hobbes has been my favorite cartoon for as long as I can remember ... It not only entertains with its silliness and the funny relationship between the characters ... But it also boils down the most complicated of issues to the simplest of terms. Here's a perfect example ...

     So, if you want some laughs and some profound thought ... Get to reading!

War! HUH, yeah. What is good for? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ... War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker. War, friend only to the undertaker. (War, Edwin Starr)