On Tuesday night I read an article by Samantha Brick called “Why women hate me for being beautiful”. I actually found it after seeing VICE magazine has written a parody of it and I had to see what the fuss was about. I was curious based on the title, and thought it might prove insightful because I do think women can be rude and awful to other women out of jealousy. But then I started reading the article and couldn’t work out whether to laugh or fly into a furious rage. It took me about three attempts to finish the article because I’d get so bad tempered with it and had to look away.
I’m not even going to go into the fact she’s not nearly as beautiful as she proclaims to be. Beauty can be perceived in many differemt ways and I’m sure a lot of men, and probably women, find her extremely attractive (though I will admit I did wonder if it was all a joke after reading the first paragraph and seeing the first photo because neither really matched each other). Even if she had have been the most gorgeous women on Earth, if she looked like a beautiful combination of Megan Fox, Charlize Theron and Catherine Zeta Jones (all of whom i consider good examples of classic beauty), her article was the most self-deluded and condescending piece of rubbish I’ve ever wasted my time on.
Men apparently buy her things and fawn all over her for her “lovely smile”. Ok well you can’t hate her for that. I assume she’s just not very photogenic and actually does have a radiant smile, so her getting free things from admiring men isn’t so big a deal. But then she goes on to explain that women everywhere hate her for her stunning good looks, that she’s lost jobs over it, lost friends and made enemies, all because other women are so overwhelmed by jealousy and can’t bare the thought of their husbands meeting her because clearly she’ll knock them off their feet and they will leave them for her. Right.
She also wrote a follow up article detailing how terrible the 24 hours were since that article went live and how we’ve all basically proved her point that we’re all a bunch of jealous skanks who hate her for being too attractive. WTF? She does make a few good points, I’ll reluctantly admit. Women do act like jealous cows and hate on attractive women for no apparent reason. It’s a superficial thing though and almost always short-lived. I don’t know any woman who hates another female solely because she’s extremely attractive. Sure we might mutter “bloody bitch” when we see how amazing their figure is, how lovely their hair looks or how flawless their complexion is, but it’s a joke and it’s our weird way of paying a compliment to a woman who we perceive as very attractive.
Let’s face facts, love. Women do not hate you because you’re beautiful. They hate you for your abysmal personality. Women ARE daunted by beauty, but they’re able to get over it very quickly. I’ve met a lot of beautiful women and have noticed how men react to them within the first few minutes of meeting them and instantly felt threatened. But in most cases they prove themselves to be nice, down-to-earth and generally lovely women and that first pang of jealousy that deep down made me feel like there was some sort of good-looks contest going on, disappeared. If any of them were stuck-up or aloof with me, I’d get me back up and instantly dislike them, and it would take a little bit of coercion before I could change my opinion. Basically, if you’re up yourself or act better than me, I will not like you on first contact. You don’t even have to be beautiful, women tend to base their opinions of personalities and we’re actually more likely to feel threatened by an extremely self-confident woman than a beautiful one.
Which is Samantha’s problem, I guess. She has way too much self-confidence and absolutely no comprehension of what modesty is. i’m not saying women can’t acknowledge their good looks, but everyone prefers someone who’s humble in the good fortune than one who makes a big ol’ fuss about it. I would suggest it’s not her “good looks” that women dislike about her, it’s the fact she has a huge ego and projects her feelings that all women hate her for being attractive onto other women, and that’s what they sense and instantly dislike. Or maybe she has really terrible self-confidence and over compensates for it by being an obnoxious tart. After all, her previous articles about how her (revolting) husband will divorce her if she gets fat, how she blew all her money on an addiction to using psychics or how she’s flirted her way to the top of her profession, seem to convey someone who is insecure as hell. but maybe that’s just me, and I’m misinterpreting her shoddy journalism.
Like the old saying says, beauty is skin deep. There is absolutely no point primping and preening on the outside if you’re a horrible beast of a person on the inside. People, women especially, can see through your makeup and nice hairdo and see what kind of person you are and use that to decide if you’re truly beautiful. While we women can be a bitchy lot, for the most part we do not hate a person simply because of how they look, and use a lot of other factor to come to that conclusion. Sorry sam, but you’re an ugly moll on the inside and out and women don’t like you because you’re not worth liking. Soz!
A couple of amusing parodies that I’ve read (feel free to share any that you’ve found):
My name is Cara (but you can call me Ruby) and I like the colour pink, swearing, fist shaking, daggy dancing and 90s RnB music. Often all at once. I live in Brisbane which is always warm and is famous for its zombies.
Yesterday a report was released by Australia21 advising that the 40-year “War on Drugs” has failed and recomended decriminalising the use of illicit drugs which would mean it would not be subject to penalty under criminal law but dealt with under civil law. It also recommends the possibility of legalising, regulating and taxing illicit drugs, so that there is no longer a need for black-market, dodgy drug dealers who we all know are the problem behind drugs, not the ordinary folk who experiment with them. After all, drug use continues to increase and police resources are wasted on catching people taking drugs to music festivals or at nightclubs when they are more valuable at catching the awful people who make, sell and distibute the stuff.
I will admit right now that I am not an expert on drugs, and that I have always been in favour of legalising drugs, particularly ones like marijuana and ecstacy/MDMA. My reasoning is not because I am a pot head who wants to get high legally, but because I know for a fact that these drugs pose less of a danger on Australian society than alcohol and tobacco. I can see it now, it’s Friday night in Fortitude Valley and instead of there being dozen of drunken fist fights on the Brunswick St Mall, there are people getting along, chatting to strangers instead of starting yelling matches and throwing punches. Inside the clubs there’s fewer fights because some guy bumped into another guys girlfriend, instead disagreements will be resolved with a hug and everyone will be there to dance and have fun, not get smashed and cause trouble. OK OK so this is never going to happen, people will always drink alcohol and start fights. But imagine how nice it’d be if alcohol was only consumed by the minority while the rest of the party goers were on a pill that was safely manufactured and sold legally? One that made the taker loving and euphoric and a great deal more pleasant to be around? Sounds good to me!
I think there is way too much hysteria about experimentation with drugs. Of course there are a lot of people out there who start off on softer stuff and then progress to hard drugs and completely fuck up their lives with a heroin or crack habit. But so many people use drugs socially and do it safely and without ever forming a habit or getting all carried away. Most of the time it’s just experimentation and lasts only a couple of years during their partying days and then becomes a distant memory. I will be bold and say the majority of drug users in Australia are responsible, know their limits, and do it to enhance their experience while out clubbing, out in nature, at a festival or sitting on the couch at home.
Of course there are issues with changing the laws on illicit drugs. Decriminalising will stop the average joe from being arrested for posessing a small amount of weed or pills. But the drug manufacturers and dealers will still exist and they’re the ones who we need to really get rid of. That’s why I’d LOVE to see drugs made legal. If they’re made properly, the industry is regulated and they’re taxed, illegal drug manufacturing will become a thing of the past. After all, how can the dude who makes ecstasy in his bathtub compete when the chemist down the road is selling the same stuff for a smaller price? There’s also the fact a lot of businesses would suffer if people were given the option of taking a pill instead of only being able to drink alcohol. If bars and clubs can’t make profit from selling liquor any more, then they’ll close and we’d have nowhere to go for a dance and socialise while on our fancy new, legal drugs. Which would really suck… I don’t really have a solution for that problem, but it was something that was mentioned when discussing this issue with a friend and ought to be considered as well.
There is an awful lot to think about, but I honestly think legalisation is the answer. I could go on and on with other positive side effects of legalisation, but I’d rather hear what YOU have to say about it. What are your thoughts? Do you think drugs should be decriminalised, legalised or left as they are?
Today a friend expressed sadness at the news that books by Enid Blyton are being “updated” by the publisher who owns the rights to Blyton’s estate. Basically, they want to change certain phrases such as “golly gosh” and jolly japes” to make them more relevant to children today and encourage children to read the books that they might have otherwise have been put off by.
Now I’m sure you’re all sitting there, waiting for me to rant about how wrong this is. But… I actually agree and think it’s a good idea. SHOCK! I say this as a person who grew up reading Enid Blyton and I have very vivid, happy memories about games I used to play, imagining I was one of the characters from the Magic Faraway Tree or my favourite character of all, Pip. Her books meant a lot to me and they still do. All I know about Robin Hood is based on her book Tales of Robin Hood and my sister and I still talk about a character we created for a doll that was heavily influenced by Naughty Amelia Jane.
But let’s face it, some of the phrases used in her books are… well, daggy. Even as a kid in the 80s and 90s, I thought the wording was a bit outdated. But like many kids my age I got on with it and could always ask my parents if I needed one of the more outdated words translated to me. But I still used to giggle at her use of the word “gay” and character names like Dick and Fanny. I mean come on, it’s HILARIOUS!
Now while I don’t feel kids are necessarily too stupid to read her books in their original format, it’s pretty clear that the modern seven year old is going to read a book that makes better sense to them, than to read an Enid Blyton tale where half the words and phrases used are foreign to them, or else have completely changed meaning. There are SO many books out there these days that kids can identify with easier, and as much as I loved Blyton’s books, they’d be hard pressed to keep up with modern society if they were to stay exactly as they were written.
The publishers have assured us all that the storylines themselves will remain unchanged but they will convert some key sayings and words to more timeless alternatives and will not use modern slang or refer to things like mobile phones. So the only things that will be affected are words that haven’t remained in our modern vocabulary and will be changed to words that we recognise now (a good example is changing “awful swotter” into “bookworm”). I feel a pang of sadness that kids won’t learn these wonderful old words and expand their vocabulary like we did, but in the end it’s better they read the books at all then have them scoff at words like “housemistress” (instead of “teacher”) and then discard them as old-fashioned rubbish. Just so long as the original versions keep getting printed for us older folk who want to reminisce then I al all for revamping Enid Blyton’s amazing books!
What are your thoughts? Do you oppose the plans to update Enid Blyton’s books? Or do you think that it’ll get more kids to read these classics from our childhood?
Hi guys, many apologies for not blogging lately. Basically life has been a tad hectic, as my work moved buildings which I helped co-ordinate, and my internet has crapped itself at home so I’ve just not had much time beyond using my phone on the commute to and from work to get online!
Never fear though, because on Sunday my sister and I filmed, edited and uploaded our “Shit Bogan Girls Say” video. If you haven seen the original “Shit Girls Say” video then please check it out here. There are tonnes of other variations, such as Shit Black Girls Say and my favourite Shit Asian Dads Say. Naturally I found these to be completely hilarious and decided to make my own version. But of what? Since it was nearing Australia Day and I have a bit of a soft spot for bogans, I knew that was what I had to do!
This video is the result of the 2nd attempt to make this video as my three years at film school was not enough to help me remember to change settings on a camera before filming the first time. Luckily though my sister wanted to be involved and made this version about 1000x better than I could have ever anticipated! We had so much fun making it and are already planning the sequel.
Please Note: There is a LOT of swearing and it’s pretty damn obnoxious. If you’re offended by crass behaviour, swearing or bad mullet wigs, please do NOT watch this video!
There’s a lot of press surrounding a music festival that’s happening in Brisbane in February and for once it’s not about recreational drugs or the ridiculous cost of alcohol. This time it’s about the fact this is a neo-nazi festival. Hammered occurs on (or around) Hitler’s birthday and attracts neo-nazi skinhe and white supremacists people from all over the world to listen to music and generally meet up with like-minded people. It’s the 3rd year that it’s been held in Queensland and the 20th year that these guys have been organising events and gigs in Australia.
Let me be clear: I loathe and detest racism and especially white supremacy. It is abhorrent in every conceivable way and in my opinion they should just blow up the venue where the festival is being held to rid of the words of the these revolting people. It boggles my mind that there are enough neo-nazi’s in Australia that they can hold an entire festival, though admittedly you can call just about anything a festival these days, so long as there’s a few bands and some merch and food stalls.
People are petitioning for the festival to be banned, and I don’t blame them. The thought of a large group of like-minded, bigoted idiots coming together to share their racist ideals and opinions leaves me cold. But can it be banned? Apparently the State Government can’t ban the festival because in itself, the festival is not illegal. Which is fair enough. While the festival and the people attending go against everything I believe it, they have the right to their own beliefs. Hate speech, while deplorable, is not illegal unless someone is directly victimised. But on the other hand, how likely is it that this festival will result in some form of illegal activity? Sure, you have to apply directly to the promoters to be interviewed before they will disclose the location of the festival to you, but surely the location will slip out and there will be people going to protest the event which could easily result in verbal attacks or physical violence.
After much inner debate I feel that the festival, as wretched as it is, should be allowed to go ahead. Allow me to explain why before you shake your fist at me! First of all, these people will be neo-nazi’s/white supremacists no mater whether the event happens or not. Cancelling it will not make them say “Maybe I shouldn’t be a neo-nazi any more, since it’s clearly not welcome in Queensland, therefore I am going to change my racist ways immediately”. In fact it will probably just anger them more and there’s nothing worse than an angry bigot! Then there’s a fact a lot of the attendees probably lead quiet lives and use this event as an outlet for their beliefs. While most people disagree with their beliefs, if they are otherwise decent, contributing members of the society then what harm does it do if they attend a festival such as this? Then there’s the fact I have not heard of any issues arising from previous events and after a bit of searching couldn’t find any news articles about there being multiple arrests because of fights between these guys and protesters.
I had a look through a forum where they promote the festival from last year, and while their whole philosophy (ie. the fourteen words) enrages me beyond belief, they don’t seem to be worried about anything but having a good time. So while I wish people like this did not exist, I have to reluctantly admit there is no good reason to cancel this event. All this media attention has done is spread the word to many more people which undoubtedly means it’s been exposed to a heap more racists who were previously unaware of the event/sub culture. Ideally I’d rather hear nothing about it in the press and let them do their thing and let it remain a small sub culture that will eventually die out and be a distant, embarrassing memory.
What are your thoughts on banning the Hammered festival?
Once again, I’m not sure why I waste my time reading the so-called articles on news.com.au because I get far too angry. And that’s before I even get to the reader comments! Today’s little gem is the article about a three year old getting swooped by a magpie, who may or may not lose some/all vision in one eye as the magpie wasn’t deterred by the child’s yells. There’s been a fair bit of publicity about swooping magpies this season, and naturally there are two distinct sides as to what to do about it.
The comments on this particular article are a fine example of the two vastly different opinions. On one hand, some share my view that this is what happens every year for as long as these birds have existed and that you need to be cautious when in an area known to contain nesting magpies. After all, this only happens for just over one month a year (between late-August early-October), so it shouldn’t be such a big deal that we keep away from affected areas or at least wear appropriate headwear when passing through.
But no, the jerks all come out, declaring them to be a horrible pest who maim and kill our precious children, so they must all be culled so we can live in peace. Never mind the fact there’s only ever been reports of one kid dying from a magpie attack back in 1946 and that was from tetanus. A kid died from being hit by a car after being swooped by a magpie last year, but the magpie didn’t intend for that to happen, he just wanted to protect his territory. But nah, that’s not good enough, and won’t somebody PLEASE think of the CHILDREN??!!
Look, it sucks for anyone who’s been hurt by a magpie. Personally I’ve never been attacked and as far as I’m aware, never even been swooped. I lived in the country for the first 9 years of my life, and then on the back of a huge park next to a creek, surrounded by bushland until I was in my early 20s. I visit my mum every other week and we go on long walks in various parks and I’ve never been attacked once (I have been swooped by plovers but I was trying to spy on the cute little babies and I carried a branch above my head, so I knew what I was in for). In fact I can only think of one person ever claiming to have been hurt while being swooped and while it did draw some blood, he had no real misgivings about it because that’s what happens in Australia this time of year. FANCY THAT!
My fear is that the boon’s will all be out trying to kill poor magpie’s after this extra publicity and so hundreds of innocent birds will be tortured because one kid got a peck in the eye in Toowoomba. I was horrified when I heard about how many flying foxes were killed, tortured, mutilated and left to die because of the Hendra virus scare we had in Queensland a few months ago, just because horses can catch the virus from bat poop which affected about four humans and a dog. I dread to think how many magpies will be harmed as a result of this “bad press”.
Anyway, my comment got published (which is rare for me, my comments rarely make the cut) and fortunately most of the commenters seem to be against culling these magnificent birds as well.
I saw this in today’s newspaper and was relieved to see that I’m not the only person who feels this way. In fact I’d been planning to write an open letter to Brisbane City Council about the state of Fortitude Valley for some time, but never made the effort to sit down and write about it. But upon seeing this, I have been motivated to finally have my say:
Dear Brisbane City Council,
I live in Fortitude Valley and have done so for a number of years. I love the convenience and how close I am to everything in the inner-City. Plus I love the fact I can go out for a night on the town and it’s only a short stumble home afterwards. I don’t intend to move away from the Valley anytime soon, but there are days when I wonder why I live there when I am confronted with the worst this suburb has to offer, more often than not.
While I try to walk to work every morning, I sometimes have to catch a train which means taking the escalators from Wickham St up to Valley Metro and am constantly appalled by the state of things in such a small space. First of all, you have to avoid a close encounter with some of the Valley’s least desirable residents who take to sitting on the ground outside Cafe One, yelling at each other and in some cases, getting into fist fights and dealing drugs. Then you have to deal with the escalators which do not work 99% of the time and are caked in filth, only to be greeted with the disgusting mess that is the walkway between McWhirters building and the Metro food court. I have literally never seen it clean. There are inches of dust and grime coating old rubbish and fast food containers. I once saw a pie that has been smeared into the wall last about a month before it was cleaned (or most likely, fell off on its own accord). Considering Fortitude Valley station is the 3rdbusiest in Queensland, this is appalling.
Imagine being a tourist, who has taken the train to the (in)famous Fortitude Valley and that is what they see. Or if they choose to enter the Valley via the main exit they get to witness another nasty side of the Valley which is Brunswick St between the five-ways and Wickham Street. This is another area that I’ve never seen clean and always has a range of dodgy looking people hovering around, asking for change and then abusing you if you refuse. On one side of the street you have dank old cheap shops that you can smell from a mile off and haven’t been updated since the building used to be a Walton’s, facing $1 peepshows, strip joints, nightclubs and the dingy Chopstix Arcade.
The rest of the Valley ain’t much better either. Footpath’s are in a terrible state (though some have been totally replaced near our unit which was a nice surprise), the Brunswick St Mall is ridiculously outdated and the TCB arcade that was probably meant to raise the mall’s profile echoes as it’s almost completely empty. The China Town mall has been updated and looks kind of cool (if not a bit barren) but otherwsie I haven’t seen anything in the public areas of the Valley updated since I’ve lived here. Most of China Town is revolting too. How most of those restaurants haven’t been shut down for health and safety violations is beyond me. Some mornings as I walk to work, I gag on the smell emanating out of the bins sitting out on the footpath and can only imagine what the kitchen’s look like if that’s what was taken out.
I’m not saying the entire Valley needs to be cleaned up, renovated and changed. All I’m asking for is a bit of a spruce up and disciplining the daggy shops for stinking up the place so badly. Fix the shitty footpaths’s, replace the devastated street furniture, jazz up the Brunswick St mall and make shop owners fix up their shit because seeing massive holes in the overhangs of shops, many of which still bear the names of shops from 25 years ago is nasty. The Valley should retain some of its slightly derelict charm, but overall it needs some serious updating, a good scrub down and if possible, PLEASE move the drunks and druggo’s elsewhere so I don’t have to fear for my safety anytime after 8pm. It’s shouldn’t just be about the nightlife on Friday and Saturday nights, it should be a place for people to visit at any time of the day, on any day of the week. After all, those Valley markets on Saturday’s aren’t even worth a second glance these days and every other retail outlet is having a closing down sale because no one wants to spend time in the Valley any more.
It has struck me that the greatest term ever invented, “Cara Rage” has never really been used properly on my blog! Sacrilege! So from now on, my ragey, things-that-piss-me-off posts will be called CARA RAGE!
Included in things that have enraged me this week:
OXFAM COLLECTORS
I work in the CBD of Brisbane City, so I know there are always people around collecting money for various charities and organisations. Many of them have regular hangout’s, so if I’m in a hurry I know where to avoid. I’m not a total bastard though, I do donate when I have spare change and am not feeling my usual money woes. Most of them are pretty decent and don’t harass or target you especially when it’s clear you’re in a rush.
The Oxfam ones though, oooh they drive me insane. They’re not around every day, so you have a few days or even weeks to forget about them. But then BAM, there they are, all six of them on each street corner of the intersection you need to cross, armed with compliments to disarm you and then they beg for a moment of your time to reel you in. Plus they’re all smiley and chirpy and way to pipper for a cold an overcast morning and they TARGET you from afar so you have to keep walking towards them, knowing they’re going to POUNCE.
Look, I understand that is one of the worst jobs all times (I once tried something similar when desperate in London but just couldn’t hack the rejection) but it is really fucking annoying because you either have to stop and pretend to care or else look like a total jerk and brush them off. I don’t need that while powering through the City to run errands, I already feel like a big enough twat for not buying the Big Issue from every vendor I pass so PLEASE stop ruining my day with guilt trips, Oxfam!
BRISBANE IS NOT VERY LIVABLE So the Economist Intelligence Unit revealed this week that the most livable city in the world is Melbourne. Vancouver has topped the list for a number of years but is now #3 while Melbourne takes top place. It’s not a surprise, Melbourne is a wonderful City and if it wasn’t for my family and friends being up here, I’d move down there in a flash. Sydney is also on there at #7 while Perth and Adelaide both take out the 8th position. So where’s Brisbane? NUMBER BLOODY 21, THAT’S WHERE! Considering how the slogans for Brisbane and Queensland have always been about how livable and perfect it is up here, we’re pretty shit, if you ask me.
Brisbane, you have so much work to do to make the top 10 of that list. I don’t know what criteria these guys use to rank a city’s livability but I have a fair idea of where Brisbane let everyone down. How about the high cost of living we have up here vs the lack of entertainment available most days of the week. How about how all of our restaurants close by about 9pm so if you want to go out for a meal after 10pm, it’s greasy fast food or cheap Asian or nothing. What about the fact the Valley, our entertainment district, is a smelly, dirty hell hole by day and a drunken, noisy mess on Friday and Saturday nights? There’s plenty of bitch about, but the bottom line is, we’re still a big Country Town that isn’t coping with how many people keep moving up here from the southern states so rent is ridiculous and the average salary does not reflect our high cost of living! Well…in my case anyway.
I am very fond of Brisbane and love living here, but it needs to get its act together. The only thing we have to boast about to other states is the Worlds’s Biggest Zombie Walk (which will be official after the walk in October, just so you know)!
COLD SEASON
This is my 2nd cold of the season and I’VE HAD IT. Life is too short to spend 2-3 weeks of the year feeling like a snot monster, coughing and sneezing everywhere and being unable to function properly. I also miss having makeup on/around my nose :(
WHITE RUNNERS WITH JEANS/SUITS
I just saw a few examples of this during my walk through the City yesterday, much to my horror. Firstly, let’s be honest, you haven’t actually ever worn those shoes for their intended purpose (ie. running) before, have you ? Secondly, have you NO TASTE? I admit I occasionally wear my ugly, white walking shoes to and from work with my work clothes but it is with great shame and literally because it hurts my back to wear my usual flats for such a long distance. I actually realised how dreadful the look was after a short while though and now wear my wicked-cool Vans instead. Not as comfy, but so much better looking.
I see people wearing their graying, out-of-style runners as actual fashion staples and it makes me want to die. If you’re that obsessed with comfort, get a pair of something colourful and fashionable (like these magnificent specimens). Never, ever wear white running shoes out in public unless you are exercising!
Boy howdy, I have been neglecting the link love! I’ve been a very good girl and don’t surf the net at work, so I don’t come across as much as I used to. At least, not enough to justify a decent little post about. But I’ve rounded a few up for your enjoyment, so here goes:
Which Brisbane Roller Derby team do I support? Sun State Roller Girls, of course. They help us so much with the zombie walk and can’t thank them enough.
I have a confession. Pink might be my favourite colour but purple has been taking over my life lately. It’s so in and so cute right now! Agent Lover and her blog about lavender has only made my affair worse.
What a sad day. A talented musician plagued with a deep sadness that prevented her from successfully fighting her battle with drugs and alcohol passed away at the tender age of 27. As Tammy said, “She sang the blues so well because she knew it so well”.
It saddens me that so many people think “Oh well, she was a drug addict, it’s no surprise really and I don’t feel bad for her”. In my opinion, people don’t choose to be come drug addicts, there is something inside them that makes them feel the need to kill themselves slowly with harmful substances. I’m sure she didn’t wake up one day and say “I am going to start doing drugs for a bit of a laugh so that it makes me extremely sick and ruins my career”. She was a tormented soul who couldn’t deal with the fame and the horrific paparazzi who hounded her ceaselessly. Her outlet was drinking and taking drugs and it eventually killed her.
She was so extremely talented and until the addictions ravaged her, she was a gorgeous young woman who had a bright future ahead of her. If only singing about her woes had been enough to get her through the dark times. I try not to look at the photos of her where she is emaciated and a shadow of her former self, because that was not who she was. Instead I look at her in happier times and listen to her music and think about what could have been had she had the strength to pull through.
