Women, Media, and Power... or lack there of

A friend of mine posted this video on her Facebook and I immediately felt the need to share it with you. What do you think about media and the social perceptions of women? Did you feel pressure growing up and do you think that girls these days feel it even more?

Personally I think that Brazil has the same issue and then some. Hell, 4 yr old girls at my sons' school bring in make up to play with. 4 yr olds with make up at school?!

Your thoughts?

Is Facebook Ruining Relationships?

While reading the Brazilian Magazine Criativa, I stumbled upon an article called "Facebook and Sex: A new Etiquette for Romantic Relationships."

One thing came to mind: Awesome! Not only has Facebook made it uncomfortably convenient for all of us to have easy access to those people we may want to forget, it's also allowing love to screw with our heads much more efficiently.

You have all  seen at least one facebook couple fight. No easier way to get gossip flowing than by changing your relationship status. Married to it's complicated or in a relationship to engaged. The best being the complete removal of relationship status all together.

Go ahead, make your high school sweetheart's sister wonder if you are still with your husband. Make a comment on a picture and see if your old neighbor's cousin's wife questions the sexual history between the two. Let's rock the boat a bit.

And apparently Facebook brings out affairs! The Criativa article and the AAML site state these statistics:

 "An overwhelming 81% of the nation’s top divorce attorneys say they have seen an increase in the number of cases using social networking evidence during the past five years, according to a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML).   Facebook holds the distinction of being the unrivaled leader for online divorce evidence with 66% citing it as the primary source."

Way to raise the bar Facebook! Apparently people cheating on their spouses are even easier to catch with this wonderful social network.  In Brazil, I could totally see people accessing their facebook while on a tryst and accidntly checking in: So and So was at Love Time Motel April 24th at 3pm. Oops. 

It's just a matter of time people. If you would kindly refer back to my post on how 70% of Brazilian men cheat, the odds are not with us! Keep track of the relationship statuses of your friends people.

Sadly though, I'm a train wreck kind of girl. I find so much humor in these online back and forths. The status changes, arguing on posts, and/or comments made on a 3rd party's picture of someone else's lover. It's like listening to the neighbor's lovers spat but at your own convenience and with pictures.

I have to say, as the rest of the world starts sharing as much as I do on Facebook, skeletons are leaving closets and creating their own profiles. While high in entertainment factor, this does not always work for the greater good. 

What do you think, are we giving Facebook too much credit or is it taking away the essential mystery in relationships?

Wordless Wednesday: Facebook Profile Pictures

Mark Zuckerburg in control of Brazilian beef prices?!

Mark Zuckerburg is deciding the price of meat at my local Brazilian grocery store!

While cruising Supermercado (supermarket) Zona Sul, I saw that a great promotion on filet mignon. It was a brand that is normally quite expensive but with the discount was definitely worth the purchase. I grabbed the goods and went on shopping.

I finished up grabbing the odds and ends on my list and headed to the checkout line. I watched as she scanned the "on sale" meat. It did not show my discount. I pointed it out to her and she said it must not be on sale then. That kind of thing annoys me so I told her I no longer wanted it and maybe she should have someone go take the promotional sign down.

Upon further investigation, we were both wrong. Apparently there is a Facebook page for Zona Sul and if you are friends with them you get special discounts! I was horrified! These people are on Facebook and they are not my friends nor have they liked my blog?! That's it, they aren't allowed to scan my bread, butter, and deli meat any longer.

Seriously though, I was quite surprised. Facebook discounts for filet mignon. Random! Of course I looked for the group, community, or whatever else it could be on and it is nowhere to be found.

Have you heard of this? Do you know where the page is?

And more importantly, are we ok with Facebook taking over the world? Personally, it makes me a little nervous. 

Rio de Janeiro Carnaval 2011: Here We Come!

Carnaval is coming... Oh wait, it's already here. I know what you are thinking, Carnaval in Brazil is in March this year.

News flash, Carnaval is for like 5 weeks, not 1.  No, it's not official but is anything in Brazil ever official.  You see, Brazilians LOVE Carnaval so they start pre-partying weeks before.

Starting now, you will start seeing mini street blocos happening around Rio de Janeiro. There are also scheduled samba band practices that are more of a party then a rehearsal. And no, this is not just for the big samba schools your tour-guide friend loves taking people too.  The smaller bands have their own practices all over the city, and personally, those are the ones you really want to go to.

Anyway, if you aren't already partaking in the Carnaval Holiday Season, here are some things to remember about Carnaval:

1. If you are prude, stay home. There will be making out, sometimes more. Skin is everywhere and it's a-ok. Drinking is almost a must. Not a holiday for the born-again Christian.

2. You can always wear a costume. It does not matter if it's a costume bloco or not, crazy costumes are always welcome.

3. Men, if it's traditionally a cross-dressing bloco, cross-dress already! The Machismo men of Brazil go all out when it's socially ok to dress as women. Join the fun, women will still make out with you.

4. Blocos happen rain or shine.  Do not bring an umbrella.

5. They are arresting people for urinating on the street.  Crazy, huh.  You can urinate on the street any other time of the year but not when you are at a party with 300,000 people and there are only 2 port-a-potties.  Don't try to argue logic, just wait in line or hide behind a tree.

6. Condoms, condoms, and did I say condoms?  Wear them if you are getting it on. I don't care if it's with your wife. You don't know where anyone has been during carnaval!

7. Have fun! Take pictures! Don't get the camera stolen or it'll be hard to post said pictures onto Facebook.

8. Get your costumes now and avoid Saara at all cost the 2 weeks prior to Carnaval. It turns into craziness personified.

Good luck pre-carnaval partiers and to those prepping to come in March. It is always a good time so I don't see why it would be any different this year!

How to Become a Professional Blogger

For my New Years resolution, I decided to stop half-assing it with my blog and start dedicating serious time to it.  Organize it.  Clean up all the widgets and add on stuff. Oh, and mustn't forget organizing blog posts and categorizing them for easier reading.

But today is the first so I'm going to start tomorrow. Then again, Mr. Rant travels tomorrow night so we'll be busy. The 3rd. Definitely going to start the 3rd, once the kids are in bed.

Have I mentioned that I suck at New Years Resolutions?

At the same time, I am pretty damn good at googling. And as the professional half-asser that I am, I decided that I should share some of my finds with people who may actually use them.

Maybe I'm not a half-asser but more of an information finder for other people.  That's a nice way of looking at it.  Let's try that line of thinking again.  Maybe I'm not lazy but just don't want to take up the gym slots that other people need more than I do...

Sweet!  New New Years Resolution, keep up with putting a positive spin on things!

As for the links, here we go:

I would start with rating your blog first:

At http://blog.grader.com/ they will grade your blog and give you some great improvement tips. I recommend pouring a stiff drink first. I was like 437,000 out of 547,000 or something like that.  Sure, I beat out around 100,000 bloggers but am still 300,000 peoples' bitch.  Try putting a positive spin on that! Anyway, live and learn.

Next check out these widget, gadgets, gizmos, whatever the hell you want to call them links:


http://www.kludgymom.com/great-articles-on-blog-plugins-and-widgets-b2sb2b-extra-credit/  A friend of mine (The Little Hen House) did the "Back to School, Back to Blogging" thing mentioned on this page. Her blog is now read by the entire world.  It also helps that she rocks.  I swear, I will get around to doing it to.  Remember, I am not a procrastinator, I just like to let other people go first. It makes them feel good.


http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/facebook-share  Here's a facebook share link. I'm not 100% sure how good it is. I already have a like button on my page (which I like because of low self-esteem issues).  Let's face it, Facebook is cooler than all our Moms combined and everyone who's anyone restricts their number of friends on it.  So dude, plug in and be rejected like all the cool kids.


http://www.addthis.com/web-button-select This is an add button site where you can get the buttons for people to share, or not share, your page on a number of things. I love these!  It's like the opportunity for your blog popularity to spread, even though it won't really work unless your blog rocks in the first place.  It's like buying the cool shoes in high school. Just because you have them doesn't mean you still won't be the last one picked for dodge ball teams. Trust me on that one.

http://www.tipsblogger.com/2008/11/how-to-add-feedburner-email-subscription-widget-to-your-blog/ This is a link for you to add the blog straight to your email feature. That way your Grandma doesn't have to surf the web to find your site.  It'll go straight into her email.  I'm going to add this right now and call mine to let her know!

And last but certainly not least:


http://www.scarymommy.com/a-better-blog/  Essentially this page is the same post as mine, only written better and with more direct points. Again, laziness just bit not only my ass, but yours too. That is, unless you check out her post.  Seriously though, it does break down strengthening your blog to the basics, ones we should all follow. Now to add to my to do list...

Happy 2011 to all you Readers and Bloggers out there!  I hope this post helps you as it will eventually help me, once I get around to do all these things.

Please feel free to share reviews of the above sites and/or recommend your own.

Internet Girl in an Internet World

We are an internet civilization now.  There is no denying it.  I read a funny post on Ka entre nos that made me think... and laugh.  Oh, and practice my Portuguese!  It's like tricking your brain into learning science by reading the Magic School Bus books.

Brazilians are crack head addicted to the internet, so much so that they took over Orkut before Americans even knew what it was.  And I bet if you check out nationalities on Twitter, Brazilians would have a pretty damn good percentage.  I fit right in down here!

But that's not what I've come here to talk about. I came, inspired by Ká Entre nós, to talk about the facebook photo tagger. You know that person that is posting horrible pictures of you on facebook, the ones you have to untag and make you question your friendship with said person.  Yeah, well that would be me.  I am the notorious photo poster out of my friends here in Rio. It's a problem I have acknowledged and refuse to do anything about!  I love posting photos.

Well, a friend of mine got even...

I was a little drunk, Mommy night out, and I was mocking my friend for buying the Bump it. Of course, I let her try it out on my hair and posed for a photo. I should of known.   It was posted on facebook the next day. 

So, there you go friends who question my sanity after I post and tag unflattering photos of you in bikinis.  It's not that I'm a snatch, it's that I have no personal shame and thus don't get it. I hope this makes it a little better.

And got to love the random tags of blast in the past pics:

My husband and I in Curitiba pre-babies. I guess I really can't use kids as an excuse for letting myself go.  Apparently I was already doing it in my early 20s. 

Since, I do have a little bit of shame, I'm feeling just a tingle of it in my toes.  Here's a picture to show what I really look like:

Happy Friday internet people! Now that I got a much needed hit of my internet, I'm off to enjoy the Rio de Janeiro sun!

Facebook Exclusion Theory

I'm loving the Facebook exclusion that's going on nowadays.  At the beginning everyone was accepting everyone.  Oh I think you're the second cousin of my ex-girlfriend's dog groomer, let's be friends.

I can't say I'm much better. I have 700+ Facebook friends. I do know all of them. You ask me and I can tell you how I know whichever person you point out. That does not mean I have an intimate relationship with that person.  For example, I'm friends with the social director from the trip my husband and I took with friends to Chillán, Chile in 2007.  I did see her daily for 10 fun filled days!

What I think is so funny is being dropped as a friend. Oh, I'm being exclusive now.  Not VIP? No entry.  It's a social website for heaven's sake. If you're going to only let your close circle be your friend on Facebook why have it? You see them every day!  You are posting photos you got off their camera. They've seen them, they know what you are up to, they were there.

I do know one person who did the opposite. They excluded anyone that they saw somewhat regularly. That, of course, did not count their best friends, family, spouse, spouse's family, and spouse's best friend. Again, I don't really get the point.  Is it cooler to say you have 50 friends and you chose them carefully?  I don't think so. I also don't think it's cool to have 1,000 friends including that creepy stalker guy that keeps asking you what color you've painted your toe nails recently.

I just don't get all the thought put into it. It's Facebook. A social  network.  

Personally, I'm a Facebook addict. I love it.  All my friends outside of Brazil can follow my family and I on it. Saves me from writing those annoying bulk emails.

And I don't accept just anyone. If I see your friend request and I don't recognize you, I ask how I know you.  It's not like people are lining up around the corner to be my Facebook friend. If it comes to any sort of doubt, I don't add you.  I put family photos up, no pervs need apply. 

I find it cool that I have met 700 + people and I know who they are. I find it even cooler that I've met 700 + people and they know who I am!   I think it's amazing that people follow my life in Rio de Janeiro, that they are curious enough to spend those 5 minutes looking at my 1,000 photos.  I'm not exaggerating, I post A LOT of photos on Facebook. 

So we've left the 6th grade to find ourselves in the 6th grade of Facebook. The difference, no one except the excluder cares.  Good for you for having the time to filter your friends in such a detailed and thoughtful way!  Have at it!  Just know that I have a good laugh when I look up at that little box in the upper right hand corner, the one that says "Friend Recommendation", and I see you.  Opps, I already thought we were, my bad.