50 Most "Beautiful" People

People magazine is releasing its annual "50 Most Beautiful People" issue, and, to be honest, most of the candidates aren't exactly shocking. They've rounded up all of the usual suspects: Kate Hudson...Patrick Dempsey (shocker!)...Halle Berry (even though she had her baby two months ago and still (gasp!) hasn't lost all the weight, which is pretty much unheard of these days in Hollywood (ahem, Nicole Richie)). So yes, most of the faces gracing the issue are pretty much givens.

However, I myself was a little taken aback when they decided to honor one Rumer Willis for her...beauty.

Really?

Rumer Willis?

Listen, I don't want to sound like a schoolyard tween picking on the girl who takes a little too long to work through her awkward phase (mostly because that latter girl was, by all accounts, me), but...really? Rumer Willis?

It's not like me to pick fights with famous people, so I'll just say I was "surprised" to find out that she made the list. Wait, what's that you say? Rumer isn't famous, her parents are? Oh no, my friend. Need I remind you of her small, yet crucial roles in films like Now and Then, Striptease, The Whole Nine Yards, and Hostage? I mean, these aren't just small movies. They also starred major movie stars, like Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

And, I suppose I should remind you, that even if, say, you and I don't fancy Rumer a famous celebrity, she has very different ideas about her level of stardom. Ah yes, Rumer, I can imagine that fame is indeed a full time job. It's kind of like delusion in that sense, isn't it?

Of course, my all-time favorite portrayal of Rumer is this Michael Mouris video. He really captures her..."beautiful" spirit. Enjoy.

And, a sidenote to People magazine: Get it together people!!!

That is all.

Ah, Summer

A time of iced coffee and smocked bathing suit coverups worn around town as dresses by girls far too busty to be attempting such a feat. A time of long, lazy days at the beach, or, if one is stuck in, say, central Indiana, a time of long, lazy days spent at the community pool center where 40 year-old women say "To hell with cellulite!" and don neon string bikinis to chase their toddlers around a pool so over-chlorinated it could kill a water buffalo in a week.

Summer is a time of freedom. A time, as one Stacey Karosi stated so eloquently in the Miss Liberty Pageant, "of fireworks and fun, family and friends." Oh, Stacey. Who could have known that fifteen years later, you'd still be in the "news", you little scientology freak, you.

Anyways. Sure, summer means different things to different people, but if you're a recently-graduated, post-MFA poet, summer means...free time to blog!! I have the distinct suspicion that, in fact, my whole life might now consist of the free time needed to blog, what with the whole no job thing (where are all the listings for "poet" in the classifieds?), but I'll try and ignore my impending life of poverty and unemployment and distract myself with...blogging!

That's right. Pale Coin is back, bitches.

Now, let's not get all sad and think about the various things we COULD have blogged about over the last year or so, had we not been so consumed with silly little things like teaching classes and writing a thesis. In fact, maybe it's better that we didn't get to weigh in (no pun intended) on, say, the Britney "fiasco." Things are looking up for Ms. Spears, and at The Pale Coin, it's all about looking towards the future. Eyes wide open and straight ahead. No need to think about the Britney news we missed; we have the demise of Miley Cyrus to look forward to (and sooner rather than later, I'm inclined to think).

I leave you, on this first post, with this Guardian article in which Germaine Greer contemplates Mileygate in all its "pretty baby" glory.