Matinee Idyll

Qwickly

matineeidyll — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 05:37:19 +0000

It appears that Qwickly has bastardized my articles, without so much as an acknowledgement. My byline has been erased. I had a feeling they were going to pull a stunt like this. I hadn’t contributed any new material for quite a while, due to a dispute with my internet provider at the time, and they said it was okay, that they would wait for me. I haven’t decided whether I want to contest their decision (and give them a tongue lashing that would even make my foul-mouthed brother blush) or just let it go. I enjoyed researching for and writing these articles. I did learn a lot about the current dating climate which, as a single girl, is useful knowledge. Forewarned is forearmed, and all that. But at the same time, I was limited not only by the wordcount but the subjects. I could never speak as openly or as critically as I would have liked because I wasn’t writing an opinion piece – it was simply a resource summary. Considering that half of my time preparing these articles was spent looking for links, I felt that Google was writing them, not me.

I’d also like to add that, although I followed all instructions and did everything by the booked, I never earned a cent from my contributions to Qwickly (via a percentage I should have earned from Google AdSense), and I DO know that people were clicking on the ads. So was it a waste of time? In a financial sense, yes, I was royally screwed. And while I was able to improve my writing and editing skills (I did not only write for them, I was also their appointed Dating Editor), I can’t feel proud of the pieces because of where they ended up – in the hands of thieves.

For what it’s worth, here are the articles. And if somebody knows the home addresses of the Qwickly management staff, kindly drop me a line. A shit bomb may be childish but would certainly make me feel a little better.

Hooking Up – Then and Now
Breaking Up Via SMS
Dating A Bisexual Person
Dating Expectations – When To Cool Your Heels
Locationship (or The Vegas Syndrome)

The Kids Aren’t Alright

matineeidyll — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:43:46 +0000

On the surface, the friendships made in Celebrity World are glamorous, fast-paced and (especially for the female stars – Mischa, i’m looking at you) a great way of expanding your wardrobe. But take away the lacquered sheen and you may find that a great deal of these friendships are decayed, vulnerable and are about as safe to hold onto as a grenade without a pin. From Britney’s PND-fuelled insanity spree to Lindsay’s insistence on coming as close to disaster as possible, one has to wonder whether the pretty people are safe in Hollywood.

The A-list celebrities make sure they are surrounded by ‘yes’ people who will give them anything they want and will never say when enough is enough. With no steady support network of level-headed, genuine individuals, celebrities are turning into brats, and Hollywood is simply one big day-care centre. Who is going to teach the teenage and young adult stars about boundaries, limit and respect (including self-respect)? What role models do they have to look up to? Where are the positive influences? It’s almost impossible to find anybody in that environment who can counsel a young star without having an agenda of their own.

I feel you can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep. If that’s the case, I wonder what Britney saw in Paris that led her to think she would be a good buddy. The only thing Britney got out of that relationship was a string of hangovers and an assurance that whenever anybody wants to write anything about her, they will see those jaw-dropping crotch shots. But you have to give Britney some credit for realizing the error of her ways. She recently published a journal entry on her official website that ran as part-confessional, part-apology; she acknowledged that she wasn’t associating herself with the right people, and consequently, she wasn’t protected. I wonder if any of her so-called ‘friends’ bothered to notice the signs of Post-Natal Depression or other mental health issues. It’s telling of their relationships that the general public knew more about it than they did. Or if they knew, they failed to act. The blind leading the blind.

Many celebrities complain about feeling contempt and distrust for new people in their lives, and with perfectly good reasons. The trouble with forming alliances in the public eye is that, within a blink of said eye, alliances can – and will – break. Some treat their famous buddies as handbags: They are in style for one season, and will be disposed of when it’s over. The Handbag BFF gallery (how appropriate) ought to be retitled the BFFN (Best Friends For Now) parade, as it largely showcases public figures who have a nasty habit of picking up – and dropping – buddies according to what project they are plugging, or in some cases, what image they wish to project.

A long-lasting relationship in Celebrity World is such an anomaly that most cases are blamed on the PR reps, the spin doctors that drag their charges from one big name to another in the hopes of finding something mutually beneficial. Perhaps it will take the older generation to show the Hollywood kids how to maintain healthy relationships that will make you stronger, not weaker; fulfilled, not drained. The trouble with that is, when these examples are seen, they are criticized and labeled in the hopes of debasing the relationship. Oprah and Gayle enjoy a solid kinship, yet they are dogged by lesbian rumours. Is it so strange that two women in the public eye can be so close? According to gossip columns, it is, because it’s so obscure.

Friendships that defy the Tinseltown odds do exist. Take, for the sake of example, Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox-Arquette. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. So what have they worked out that nobody else has?

Just what makes a Hollywood relationship stick?

Hello, is it me you’re looking for?

matineeidyll — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:47:51 +0000

Consider this lonely post as a placeholder for all the brilliant and jolly entertaining posts to follow. This blog is in its infancy, and if you stick around, dear reader, you won’t be disappointed once it grows up.