Thursday, February 18, 2010

I'm a Barbie girl, in the real world

My name is Seema and I am a Barbie-holic. I adore Barbie dolls. They represent all things beautiful and pretty. A smiling face, a fab bod, gorgeous clothes, shiny hair, awesome accessories- what's not to like?

Though I do have the "deprived child syndrome" as I never had Barbie dolls growing up.
:( And after a certain age buying Barbies is kinda freaky and weird. So I do the next best thing- I buy Barbies for my nieces, friends daughters, etc. (My only regret about Sanil- can't play Barbies with him).

So today when I saw a "LBD (Little Black Dress for the uninformed) Barbie"- I was so tempted. But then I looked at the price tag of S$50. I'd rather put that to my LBD fund and buy myself a sexy LBD (and yes, even if it's a LBD Barbie, it's very freaky for a grown up woman to buy one).



Check this one out: the neckline reaches the navel! And some cleavage show there! But am sure it's a true representation- as I know girls who dress like that. Really. And no, for the guys reading this- you cannot get her number.

And don't miss the political correctness wrt race- all skin and hair color options available.


There were some 8 different ones- each sporting a different LBD.









This one is my favorite- a nice one-shoulder chic LBD. Not the tacky-yes-my-boobs-are-for-all-to-see dress. And she has the sweet-girl-next-door-but-can-be-fun look (don't ask how I can get all that from a plastic face- but that's how I think she is). And don't miss the heels. Nice!

The one behind has the "librarian-by-day-dominatrix-by-night" look complete with a China-doll fringe!







So there, my secret is out. I am a Barbie girl..... but in a real world. That means....

- No waist size of 23
- No never ending legs
- No glossy shampoo-ad hair
- No SJP-like wardrobe (Sarah Jessica Parker for the uninformed)
- No choice of 80 careers (Barbie till date has had every possible career from a rock star to a paleontologist to a presidential candidate*. Here's to woman power!)
- No pet horse (don't ask where that came from)
- And no Ken. Sigh! (though if Ken were a real person, he would be a himbo no? (Himbo= the male version of a bimbo, whore, or slut. Again for the uninformed. Its the urbandictionary definition, not mine)

*Barbie fun facts: http://collectdolls.about.com/library/blbarbiefacts.htm. My favorite one: Barbie doll has had more than a billion pair of shoes and over one hundred new additions to her wardrobe annually. Barbie world- I want to go to there!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentine’s Day (the movie, not the Day) - SPOILER ALERT!

Valentine’s Day (or as Sanil calls it Valentime’s day) spells cliché. And to release a movie on Valentine’s Day weekend titled ‘Valentine’s Day’ is cliché raised to the power of 10000.


And yes I am a sucker for rom coms especially with the ones which have pretty much all of my favourite actors in one place (Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Dempsey). So cliché or not, it had to be watched.

And it was wonderful- especially to see that non- cliché characterizations. Julia Roberts as a Captain in the USA Army, returning on V-day for merely 24 hours, to meet not her man, but her son. Needless to say that was the only part of the movie where I cried.

McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) as the smart, handsome, dashing heart surgeon (well this Grey’s Anatomy hangover will not get old too soon) playing a married conniving adulterous SOB. Though that was little expected.

Eric Dane- looking hotter than he does as McSteamy- playing a gay guy who comes out of the closet for love. Awwww. And who should be his love interest but Bradley Cooper. Wow! When all along you were led to believe that Bradley would fall for Julia on their plane journey as ‘just-happened-to-be-seated-next-to-each-other-fate-meets-chemistry- coincidences’ (why don’t I ever get co-passengers like this?!). But he simply believed in love and was not in love with Julia when he made the ‘grand gesture’ of loaning her his limo. Nice touch there!

For a rom com movie buff there were also some kinda hidden funny gems. Taylor making a gag about being embarrassed to take his T-Shirt off (cute!). And Julia Robert’s reference on shopping on Rodeo Drive was simply priceless (remember the famous scene in Pretty Woman where she goes shopping in the high end shopping district posing as Richard Gere’s niece?).

And of course there were usual-tick-the-box-romantic-must-haves with child-teacher crush, singletons hate valentine’s gang, cynic turns mushy romantic, footballer-dancer (instead of cheer leader, we can’t get too cliché can we?), married for 3 decades and the spark still shines and 2 best friends realising that after all they are meant for each other.

Not to mention the multi-racial environment of LA being bought to life in- yes you guessed it- a cliché fashion. Mexican immigrant worker living the American dream, an Indian wedding complete with an old sardarji uncleji, goras doing the balle-balle, the usual.

At the end of it, Valentine’s Day beat up some clichés, re-created some existing ones and flogged some dead ones. But it did what it was supposed to do- make you smile and believe that magic exists (or at least can be created for 2 hours when a fabulous cast and talented director come together).

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Quotable Quotes by Sanil

On his Kamal maama’s wedding:



“The wedding is over, now the ‘recession’ will start.”

On his Kamal maama’s wedding “reception”
________________________________________________________________________________


“What will I BE at Kamal’s maama’s wedding? Like a page boy, or ring bearer, what will I BE?”

_______________________________________________________________________________


On India


“When we were on the bridge it felt like we were in Singapore, after we crossed the bridge, we are now back in India.”

On the Bandra-Worli Sea Link

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“What I like most about India is that if you have dollars, everything is way cheaper."
On comparison between India and Singapore
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Me: India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world
Sanil: Is that why all the roads are broken?

________________________________________________________________________________On Cricket


Sanil: “Is Kamal mama the best cricketer in the world?”

Me (sarcastically): “YES. He is better than even Tendulkar.”

Sanil (in all innocence): “Who?”

__________________________________________________________________________________


“Can I be the batter?”

Well, as we are playing cricket and not baking, I assume you mean batsman?

________________________________________________________________________________

On Career Choices


Me: “I want to change my career. Do something different.”

Sanil: “Become an ice cream cooker!”
Me (contemplating sending my resume to Ben and Jerry)
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“I want to grow up and be a normal person. Not like a rockstar or race car driver, just a normal person who goes to office.”

On career plans that suddenly got very modest

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On stuff that makes me go “awwwwwww”


“You are the most importanest girl in my life”

About and to his mom (that’s me!)

________________________________________________________________________________


Sanil: “When I grow up I shall get 2 houses, one for you and one for me.”

Me (chocked up in tears): “Really? Wow!” But a house can cost more than a million dollars. Do you have a million dollars?”

Sanil (in all sincerity): “OK. I will go check my piggy bank.”
______________________________________________________________________________


“If you are scared you can hold my hand”

To his mom during a thunderstorm

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On girlfriends and such


“I will go for my honeymoon to Goa”

Talk about forward planning!
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Sanil (waving at the pretty girl across the street)

Me (in a teasing voice): “Is that your girlfriend?”

Sanil (matter of factly): She used to be.”

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And other random ones


“B maama is taking me to the hair designer to get my hair gelled”

Errrr its Hair Dresser, but I get the point

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"Whatever" is just a rude way of saying "Yes"
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“What if maama’s son is a daughter?”
On his keen desire to have a male cousin. Errr gender confusion?

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“I want to take a rocket ship and go to outer space where everything is FUNNER. Not like earth where everything is boring!”

On homework and other boring earthly stuff

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“Don’t say that! You are breaking my feelings!”

You mean ‘hurting’ your feelings, but I get the drift!


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Me: Congrats Sanil you came 3rd in the race (School sports day)
Sanil: Well I came ALMOST 2nd!
Me: That's a good spin on actually coming 3rd!