Whateverlife Magazine- Your zine, your voice!

What Sex and the City, Tucker Max, and I have in common.
May 6th, 2008 @ 08:05 AM
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Feature Writer, Blasia Modawar, Whateverlife Magazine

It’s been said that “Behaved Women Rarely Make History”, the quote marking how woman are finally accepted in our formerly male-dominated society. We are now eligible (and arguably, better fit) for positions that we couldn’t possibly dream of, CEOs and such. While I still argue that women should remain domesticated (that’s the conservative edge speaking, so let’s negate that aspect), women are now considered equal to men. In our Western society, it took 200 fucking years for it to become egalitarian. In other countries, even small-scale societies; women were equal; if not superior to men. Whatever, who cares. We’re equal now, we get it.
If there is such a nature of the ‘beast’ that enables an explicit expression of sexual tension, urgency, and conduction; why is it a double-standard for a woman to possess this trait? Why is it that society can accept women as ‘chairperson’, but will not allot the right to let her dish out the ‘barstool’ conversation consisting of sexual tales, theories, and historic? I had to sleep on it.
Theoretically, it is the man that has this nature in an ascribed manner. It is said with the liberation of women that having this nature as a female is nothing but a mere adaptation. While I agree that men have set the example, I believe that women were like this all along. Look at Marilyn Monroe, she was known for her promiscuity. Up until our modern day, the skeletons in our closet consisted of our Rabbits and our Blackbooks.
Sex and the City

Ah, the classic 1997 display of women finally being able to have casual sex without any care in the world. These women are displayed as educated, successful individuals who see the value of ’shopping before stopping’ when it comes to men, even if they comes off as a commitment-o-phobes. What’s so wrong with that? They’re women, so they’re automatically sluts.
If there are any gentleman readers, please outline for me what a ’slut’ is? Is there a specific number of men she has slept with to become a slut? Is being a slut an intent, or a result of numerous amounts of misconceptions? What if you fell in and out of love, are we supposed to stop looking just because we’ve made mistakes? I don’t think so.
So you might as well drop that word out of your vocabulary, for it does not apply to any female.No, I’m not a feminist. I’m a realist. You consider someone a diabetic when they have a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dl or higher. You see, there’s a line that is drawn. The term whore, slut, or anything related has no set number to separate it from virginized innocence. So quit it.

Now onto a species that men can relate to.

Tucker Max

“My name is Tucker Max, and I am an asshole.
I get excessively drunk at inappropriate times, disregard social norms, indulge every whim, ignore the consequences of my actions, mock idiots and posers, sleep with more women than is safe or reasonable, and just generally act like a raging dickhead.
But, I do contribute to humanity in one very important way. I share my adventures with the world.”–Front Page of TuckerMax.com
At least he is upfront about his crude behavior. Anyway, Tucker Max is known for his shit for a novel called “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell“, which contains his tales of college stupidity, mostly concerning his discarding of multiple women. He has a lot of respect because he is a man, and men can get away with being complete and total whores. It is the woman who loses value just like a new car after it’s barely driven off the lot.
I’m not quite sure what creates this double-standard, regardless of the supposed acceptance of women into society. I don’t know if it’s the change coming on so swiftly, and that men haven’t quite gotten used to it, or if it’s just truly in the nature of males. Whatever the case, you can fight your teachings and learn to accept what society has brought forth. Women are embracing the world, when it comes to her day job as being CEO of Johnson and Johnson, and later that night admitting how much she has anticipated to insert her man’s Johnson.
Let freedom ring. :)
Note: Below are some comments I had received from males on Facebook, further proving their ignorance :)
Danny Langan (Fairleigh Dickinson) wrote
at 11:53pm yesterday
Blasia,
Step off your fucking soap box and listen to me. After all, I am a man, which means i know better than you, a woman. By the way, isnt it about time you get into the kitchen to bake some cookies? But before you get there, might was well give me a blowjob, because that is all women are good for anyway. A slut is exactly who you are, or as Urban Dictionary defines it, “Someone who provides a very needed service for the community and sleeps with everyone, even the guy that has no shot at getting laid and everyone knows it. She will give him a sympathy fuck either because someone asked her to or she just has to fuck everyone she knows. These are great people, and without them sex crimes would definitly increase. Thank you slut, where ever you are.”
Danny Langan (Fairleigh Dickinson) wrote
at 11:53pm yesterday
So no, there is no predetermined number, but a mental state of mind. Sluts are what make the economy go, that kid that cant get laid? HE visits a slut, gets laid, feels better about himself, and goes out and buys a new computer to play Warcraft on. As to “falling in and out of love,” doing this twice a week in some cases may be a bit excessive. And women are mistakes. Period. In China, a female is lucky to survive if it is not smother in sand. Women are weaker, you know it, I know it and the chinks know it. As to Max, he fucks the sluts, it’s a zero sum game.Love ya,
DannyP.S. the CEO of Johnson and Johnson is William C. Weldon. You’re not Carrie Bradshaw, so stop with the puns. And anyway, a simple woman could not handle being CEO of such a job.
Blasia Modawar wrote
at 12:05am
Danny, I’m aware that the CEO of Johnson and Johnson is currently William C. Weldon. But what you’re not aware of is his wife’s plan to murder him, keep it clean, and claim his position. Drastic times call for drastic measures.P.S: If you read the blog title, dummy, I had to incorporate Sex and the City, Tucker Max, and MYSELF into this blog. Hence the Carrie Bradshaw-esque puns, and the parallels of Tucker Max and other male affiliates.Love you too, Danny! :)
Danny Langan (Fairleigh Dickinson) wrote
at 1:33am
Blasia,
You’re a whole
Danny
P.S. Blow me
Is love only a feeling? Is there a God? And other general doubts!
April 29th, 2008 @ 14:04 PM
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Yes, we all know that it’s the classic song from “The Darkness”, but is love truly only a chemical imbalance of pheromones and serotonin? Is love just the sense of impulsive urgency to be with that one person? It’s up for debate.In my Cultural Anthropology class, we were discussing marriage and its affiliations with the bride’s and groom’s kin. The two basic forms of marriage that I believe that the general public would be familiar with would be monogamy and polygamy. Now, in our Western ethnocentric view of polygamy, we find it to be sinful, and a considerable ground for divorce. What our Western society has not yet realized is that it is human nature to be with more than one person*.

*Before I go any further, please do not read this and be non-cultural realistic about it and accuse me of being a atheist, nor a promoter of infidelity. The idea of this blog is to your open your minds, just a bit.

Let’s think primitive, way back in the day. Dated about equal to the time of the Geico adverts. Before religion, governance, or any societal stratagem was even developed. Man had to survive, hence why we hunted and gathered. Man had to reproduce, that’s why he had sexual relations with women. It may sound a bit too simplistic, but all man had known was that he A.)Had to survive, and that he had to B)Create another to keep this cycle going.

My theory is this–man has made life to be complicated. We could of left it at survive and reproduce, but we had to go and ask the inevitable question as to why we had to produce. Was there an underlining meaning to our survival? Was there a premise to our existence? Well, that doubt went to our formulations of religion, because religion ‘answered’ the questions. The only thing was, because it could never truly be proven as to what religion has it all down pat–religion remains as a comfort zone, a motivator, and most importantly; it keeps you in line.

Before the government’s authority, religion was the first enactment of structured society. The idea was to people cooperate with one another to be productive. The people who sought outside of the box, these wisemen; if you will–were the first religious leaders. Religion was instilled with morals, acts that these leaders felt would be detrimental to their society overall. These morals, The Commandments, the Quran, the Torah; they’re all rules and regulations. And as we all know, people will not listen without threat–hence why the condemnation of the devil seemed to work well with get people to pay attention and stay orderly. The feeling of being inferior to something of that supernatural, the unknown.

So where does religion tie into love? Love is fear. Love is not patient, kind, or any of that Buddhist proverb bullshit. Monogamy is a result of ORDER. The nature of the beast (human-nature) is to innately survive, and reproduce. Well, our primitive people became so entwined with these two concepts that they became radical and out of control. Man fucked every woman in sight! Population control, disease, and forcefulness; along with many other issues had never occurred to primitive man.

It was these wisemen, who saw the causes and effects of the problems in their society. And so, along with these rules and regs came the social norm to be with one person. In many cultures today, women are viewed as worthless if they had not had their chaste. Western society? Pah, you lose the belt coming out of the womb.

NOW FOR THE FINISHED SECTION:

As a side note, I have not finished this blog due to a combination of both busyness and laziness. Two topics I will go further towards the end of the blog.

Alright, so these wiseman and church clergy who formulated their own individual systems of order had mandated this; and that the societies that surrounded these men were to follow the conduct. It was great at first, because man became far more functional and productive. Again, I’m side tracked again but my inspiration from this blog was not only from my class lecture but also because of my dog Nestle. What does a dog have to do with it? EVERYTHING. A dog is the closest representation of primitive man.

My dog Nestle is a 7-month-old Chocolate Labrador Retriever. Cute as a button, as you can see.

As adorable as he is, he has recently obtained a terrible habit of humping me, and ONLY me. My own fault, because when this first started I said, “Ha, I can make him hump on command!”. And following, I’d stick my leg out and show everyone how quick he is to learn! Just three days ago, he had a surgical procedure that every alpha male pup has to face–he was neutered.With the removal of his testicles, I figured his humping days would be over. Boy, was I wrong! And it’s not like he even tries to flirt and ask me kindly, he just goes all out and mounts me! That is how primitive man was. The whole flirting, courting garbage came later when men had learned patience, (which patience for men is not an ascribed trait).

So once order was instilled, and the church/temple/mosque/any place of worship decided that being a ‘prophet’ wasn’t so ‘profitable’. There are lessons to be taught, arranges that must be made for you to be considered a particular faith. Along with that arrangement comes the most important–marriage.For a price of course, which helped transform our hunter-gatherer/trading society into a market economy. And with the patience observance, women were now told to hold onto their chaste for their status would be tainted forever. Men had to work (to obtain money to have legal rights to the woman of his choice). So ladies, how does that make you feel? You’re a product of desperation. Of course, nowadays men are back to their primitive ways–but at least they are upfront about it.

So what about this love thing that I started this whole blog with? Well, I’m not saying that love is non-existent, but if you were to see the attribution of marriage to love on the global scale, you would see that love is something that only Westerners rely on for determining who to marry. Other civilizations rely on parents for arranged marriage, and some indigenous cultures screw whoever is in their tribe because hey, that’s all they got.

Ever break up with your significant other due to that lost of feelings, the butterflies, whatever name you would like to attach? Is that a legitimate ground for parting ways with someone? Not according to other societies. And why is it that with our freedom to pick whomever we’d like to be married with, we have the highest rate of divorce? Is too much freedom a bad thing? Is it true that our parents know us better than we know ourselves? Hmm.

I’ve spoken with couples that have been married for a substantial amount of time, and I asked this anonymous woman if she still loved the man she was with. She then asked me to define love. I then assumed that she had lost everything until she said, “Well, love has it’s stages”. I guess she’s right. The initial feeling of butterflies dies right where it starts, so if you were to lose that I suppose it’s because you’ve now been far more than acquainted with this individual. The second stage is when you’re comfortable with the person. Ladies, you know exactly what I mean when I say that you walk around his place in his t-shirt, share the same toothbrush, burp and laugh it off. You know, the subtle things, or the ‘little things’, that indicate that we are on track to be destined with this individual. The third stage is the whole time element*.

*Time-element: Substantial amount of time. This can be healthy or unhealthy, but in either case it’s enough evidence to convince you two to stay together.

So what do I mean by this time-element theory? How long is not as important as to how many excuses can be bared off of the time-element. To make this clearer, I’ll use an example. You know the couple that is completely beyond repair, they’re constantly ‘breaking up’ but they’ve been involved for months, maybe even years–and when shit goes down they hold onto to the fact that they were exclusive with that person, so they proceed ‘to work things out’, when this is just a never-ending of cycle. At this state, you people are in denial. The longer you stay in something, the harder it is for you to get out of it!

The fourth element, you’ve survived. You’ve made it past the good times and the bad, and yet you still don’t get quite sick of the person. Is this TRUE love? At this point, you’re either married or engaged. So even though you’ve went through all of your troubles, this is the stage that often falls apart. Like I said earlier, 50% of marriages end in divorce. WHY!? It’s because people push right along the relationship track. There were signs all through the relationship, you just ignored them. Whether it was stage three’s time element, or stage two’s reassurance, or maybe just maybe those butterflies were just a chemical reaction, not a fate-link. The more you think about it, the more it makes you over analyze.

As much as you have intended to read this blog to find the answers to these questions, I believe the answers you will find on your own. I cannot tell you what to think, or how to feel on certain areas of discussion.

I did not write this blog to negate love, relationships, god, or anything else I have discussed (Oh yes, men. Whoops!). I wrote this to expand the reader’s mind, and to make sure you look before you jump. Do follow your heart, but open your eyes too.

:)

IM BACK!!!
April 8th, 2008 @ 11:04 AM
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A million apologies to you all!!! I have been absent for quite a while. As we grow up life takes you on unexpected journeys. As for me, life took me on one of those emotional trips where it required me to let go of some important things (such as this…) in order to get my life back on track and where it belongs. In my abscence I have gained more experience and knowldege that it was ever possible. I reinvented and reinforced myself and because of that I can bring you better, bigger, bolder advice. So in short Im back in full swing!! email me your questions and comments and ill be sure to answer in the shortest time possible.

Love all!!!!

hotwings516@hotmail.com

Spice Girls, Jonas Brothers, Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson & More?
February 19th, 2008 @ 11:02 AM
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Hey everyone, it’s AshBo! I decided to write on here to gather your comments. I recently saw the Spice Girls in concert (Saturday) and it brought a huge wave of “you’re eight again” through my mind. I loved it. It’s sad to think we were the second before last show before they canceled their tour!

In other music news, I hope to be working with Ingrid Michaelson soon (you can hear her songs on the radio and also in previous Grey’s Anatomy episodes). Did you guys see the shout-out from Jordin Sparks and Prima J on WhateverLife?! There are tons of artists who dig WhateverLife, it’s awesome!!!

Also, this Saturday Sara Bareilles (I’m not gonna write you a loveee song…you know it!) is coming to a Borders near me- I hope I get to go and see her. BUT, we’ll be going to hang out/interview the Jonas Brothers Saturday evening- So if you have any questions for them, post below…and they might be answered!!!

Any other artist you’d like to see work with WhateverLife?!
xoxo

AshBo

Everything happens for a reason.
January 24th, 2008 @ 00:01 AM
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Question: okay so this has two parts;

I had a boyfriend not too long ago, and I liked him more than I’ve ever liked anyone, but he broke it off without a reason. He won’t tell me why, and the only thing he focus’s on is the fact that people are “telling lies” though I fully know that he said every word they’ve told me (They told me that he didn’t want to hang out around all of us if I was there, and simple stuff like that. He lives in another town, as well as a lot of my other friends). Whenever I confront him about something he changes the subject, or won’t talk to me. I haven’t shed one tear over him breaking up with me, but i miss him so much it makes my stomach hurt. I’ve written him numerous notes that i’m not gutsy enough to send. I just don’t know how to get him to talk to me, and give me straight answers. Also I’m not sure how to get over him. Help?

second part;

My friend from Texas, Bill*, has had a malignant brain tumor for 3 years. This summer he had a seizure and fell off of his horse, he was in critical condition for 2 weeks afterwards. He stopped talking to me shortly after summer ended, then he’d start again, and right after he told me that he reall liked me and that he was going to come up and see me this up coming summer he stopped talking to me. I have talked to him about it, now, and I now know why he wouldn’t talk to me. He’s found out that he’s dying, and the doctors think it’s going to be soon. I’m terrified… I don’t know how to handle this. I’ve been through alot of stuff in the past, and I have alot of losses piled on my shoulders.

The whole reason this last part needs serious advice consideration is the fact that I’m a recovered cutter. Once a cutter always a cutter is what I’ve been told. That’s not fair though, I’ve hung on strong for 4 and a half months. But I’m not sure how much more stress I can take. I don’t want to cut again, but I’m also not sure how to stop myself.

*Denotes names have been changed.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry for the absence!
January 23rd, 2008 @ 22:01 PM
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Hey all, sorry for the absence, I just started college so I am going through all different experiences. I’m still here to offer a helping hand! Again, feel free to add my Myspace and ask any question. Be sure to specify if you mind if it is included on this website or not!

Prayers are appreciated to go out towards my mom. As some of you know, she has breast cancer, but she has now been diagnosed with heart failure and her lung collapsed a couple of weeks ago. So any prayers are appreciated, as said.

 -Sheri

Bon Jovi!?
January 10th, 2008 @ 22:01 PM
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  First off, I would like to apoligize for the extreme lack of posts. Life has gotten pretty hectic lately (I made varsity soccer guys!! *yay*) but this time I PROMISE to do better.

   The idea for this post started about 3 hours ago when I discovered Bon Jovi was coming to OKC (That’s right by where I live) and I immediately got online to figure out how to get tickets. I discovered that through Ticketmaster I could get VIP seats, which include

 ~1 Premium Floor Seat
~The opportunity to stand on stage for 3 songs during the show*
~1 autographed program per ticket
~1 $100 gift certificate per ticket, redeemable for Bon Jovi merchandise.

 Yeah, it sounded WONDERFULL to me too, until I discovered it costed 1,000 dollers.

“Yes,” I thought to myself, “The world IS coming to an end.”

But I will be able to buy a plain old regular seat, which will make another article in April. Until then, I thought I would let you know some other things I have in mind.

-Liz Lohnes interview.

-lots of album reviews.

-concert reviews, bands including As I Lay Dying, Van Halen(MABEY) and many more.

I don’t think I can count this as an ACTUAL article but I just wanted you guys to know what to expect and that IM STILL ALIVE!!

:D

have a great day, week, whatever.

In response to..
December 18th, 2007 @ 19:12 PM
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I see that a lot of people have responded to my determinism article. Many seemed offended by my comments, but please remember that if you take offense to something that has been said by another person, you don’t have much merit in your argument if you say it solely out of the emotion I provoked by saying something against your beliefs. I appreciate those who had structured arguments to back up their responses.

I was not attacking any one religion; rather, I was criticizing the idea that responsibility for everything ought to be taken by a “higher power”. Back in the olden days, people would leave the success of crops, for example, up to God. Even today, with teens and their performances and such, they leave it “in God’s hands”. I am going to choose not to debate religion in my articles because it is a touchy subject for many, and I don’t mean to offend anyone at all, I just want to offer a philosophy on a topic. Anyway, back to the determinism concept: when it is in the realm of religion, it applies to the concepts I mentioned beforehand.

One poster mentioned that we did not “choose” to be born in America, have brown eyes, etc. The reason you were born in America is because your mother gave birth to you here, not because “God” placed your “soul” here. Colors of eyes are determined by genetics, not by religion. I understand that many people here are reverent of a religion, so my anti-determinism post probably will not align with your beliefs, because most religions attribute at least some responsibility to a “higher power”.

Another poster asked me why I think I can choose what’s good and what’s not for another person. Again, I am not here to make choices for you; I offer an opinion on a topic, and although I think you *should* agree, I realize that people use different mediums of judgment, and therefore, people have varying opinions. This same person also thinks I am Ashley (the owner of this magazine), which I am not. If you have any concerns for her, please direct them to the appropriate links.

It doesn’t matter how much a religion relies on determinism, I am not debating whether religion is correct or not; I am stating an opinion on determinism, which is a part of many, many religions. Any religion that you can think of that believes that their higher power created the Earth, or that the outcome of events are determined by the higher power, etc., utilizes determinism.

Basically, if you believe that you are responsible for your own actions and believe in evolution, then you are anti-determinist. If you believe in creation and believe that society is responsible for your actions, then you are determinist. I welcome any responses to this topic, but please be civil in your statements and have reasoning, rather than using “just because” statements. :) I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday season~!

Don’t Pause, Push Play
November 25th, 2007 @ 21:11 PM
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Push Play

The title says it all. Don’t understand? Well listen up! Push Play is a band from New York and if you haven’t heard them yet, you don’t know what you’re missing!

Recently, I was lucky enough to ask CJ Baran, the bands lead vocalist, some questions for Whateverlife Magazine.

So first off, can you tell everyone a little bit about Push Play?

Push Play is a pop-edge-rock band from Long Island that has been together for 14 months.

How did you guys get together?
We got together after my band, Kaution, broke up and I was looking for a new lead guitarist and drummer. Nick(bassist) and me(lead singer and rhythm guitarist) were hanging out at the recording studio we recorded our old album from when we were 11 and asked the engineer if he knew of any good drummers and lead guitarists and he introduced us to Derek and Steve!

Push Play is a cool name! Is there any story to how you came up with that name for the band?

Push Play was initially supposed to be Press Play but P-diddy had an album done by that name. We came up with the name while we were in Derek’s car trying to listen to a CD and I said to Nick: “Just press play! Hey that’s a good name!”

Do you have any details on the event for your CD release on December 22? I know a lot of people are excited for it! I’ll be home from college on Christmas break and I can’t wait!

The CD release will be the culmination of a great deal of work! We are pulling out all the stops for this show and want our fans to know how much we appreciate their support. We are making it a true before party and afterparty(for those involved in the contest). At both parties we are serving food and drink and making everyone feel at home. And then we will perform our hearts out!
Can you tell us something people don’t already know about you?

People don’t know that we are very honorable people and thankful for our success. Without all the fans we would be very sad guys. We want everyone to know that life is a 2 way street and we want to support our fans as well through charity benefit, etc.

Finally, what would you say to get someone to listen to your music for the first time?
We always come in contact with people who have not heard our music(especially some older people) and we consistently say to sit, listen and absorb ’cause you’re in for a really nice ride!

If you’d like to know more about Push Play please check out their myspace and website

If you have any questions/comments on the article or would like to see Push Play featured on Whateverlife again, please send me a message on myspace.

no excuses.
November 9th, 2007 @ 10:11 AM
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Wow, it seems like no one has posted here in quite a while. I’ll try to keep this updated a bit more, but everyone’s busy this time of year with school.

Anyway, today I’d like to talk about determinism. Basically, determinism is the belief that a higher power is responsible for our actions. This is a load of crap. We are all responsible for our actions and our actions only. By attributing (or blaming) everything to others, you are evading responsibility. Many religions incorporate determinism, but yet they also advocate responsibility. Do you see the hypocrisy in this? I don’t mean to attack religion at all, but determinism, a subset of [most] religions, is neither realistic nor correct. I think that we all would like to believe in things that are true. No one is responsible for you except for YOU, not God, not your teachers, not your parents, YOU. Self-reliance is man’s way to survive and a direct product of responsibility.