Winning You With Words

Winning you with words, because I have no other way

I'd love to look into your face  

without your eyes turning away

-Gray or Blue by Jaymay

Wellllll...I'm still writing in this forum because I've still some kinks to smooth out with the new blog site. Today's essay will also be abbreviated, compared to previous entries, and I'm considering making Musings a twice weekly posting so as to keep the essays and Featured Royal Rebels manageable.  I inadvertently gave a sneak peek of Musings' new home today via Twatter, when it was nowhere near ready for unveiling. Nonetheless, in the four minute window of exposure, my dear @deedreamer16 peeked at it and left a warm comment. She rejoiced at the new layout, which was so very kind of her, so I guess it's a good sign that an unfinished product is already garnering positive feedback. Hopefully next week, Lovelies, the new site for Musings will be up and running in it's intended gloriousness. In the meantime, I'll still write a little blurb today because I've swirling ideas in my brain that may need to get out onto paper before I combust. Let's check in with our Other Queen for a minute so we can set the stage for today's topic. 

Ahh. There she is. 

Last week, as Team Other applauded Kristen's communication of desiring privacy without making a sound, Kristen's partner Rob went home to England for a much-needed, much deserved break. Of course, all sorts of sightings blossomed, and therefore rumors, and therefore "editorials" as well, as is the usual when Kristen and Rob are out of the public spotlight. One particularly Rob-"focused" site (which will not be mentioned by name nor linked from here) published an extremely condescending (towards their idol Rob!) article in the format of a letter indicating that Kristen is trying to meld to and assume Rob's life and identity. I cringed and held back the bile that was building in the back of my throat as I read through said public declaration. The author of the ridiculous article declared Kristen a "clinger" and accused her of trying to infiltrate Rob's life by honing in on the relationship with Rob's best friend TomStu (um, Kristen's On the Road costar), and not only after publicity, but also Rob's father Richard (as in, GET OFF MY DICK).  

Do I look impressed by you? You insult my choices,

 insult my family and trash my girl. I SEE YOU. You are no "fans" of mine.

 Words are weapons

So after I finished giggle-snorting through that article, I of course, glanced at the responding comments. HOLY BEJEEBUS, BATMAN!! At last count, the responses were approaching five hundred. And, much like the comments left on the joint Entertainment Weekly interview in which strongly Rob defended and supported Kristen, the comments on this vomitous post were incredibly sexist, crude, and disrespectful not only of Kristen (don't even get me started on the commenters' responses about her physical anatomy) but of the very man they are "obsessed" over and idolize--Rob!  And they were nearly all women. And again, we're not talking a measly handful of comments, there were hundreds. It's quite probable that Rob was talking about the people running and commenting on these types of websites when he refers to the "nerdy bloggers" who "hide behind their computers" and take no responsibility for their words or claims, regardless of how ludicrous they are. 

While this is hardly groundbreaking news, I still am grappling with the irresponsibility that is rampant and most likely a constant thorn in Kristen and Rob's lives. Do people not recognize the power of their words any more? In this time of technology overload, have folks forgotten the impact and effect words have on shaping a situation, or effecting a person/system? Is there no accountability left? 

One day? Rob will wear THIS shirt.

 Then what, Ladies??

A Psych 101 Moment

A modern development among psychology treatment theories, Narrative therapy has the goal of changing a problem-saturated story to reflect a preferred one. In basic terms, we create our own stories, and we choose to make them as positive and truthful as we'd prefer. Conversely, we can, with our own words and behaviors, write a story of negativity, victimization and tragedy. Narrative therapists (I employ Narrative techniques in my own practice) do not believe that people are what they are labeled.

Can you see how calling a person a name (labeling): i.e., BITCH, SLUT, MAN-WHORE, LOSER, UGLY can shape that person's ability to view themselves? A reminder: You only have to hear or see written words once before the words start permeating your subconscious. Think about it: If you hear or read enough criticisms about yourself, when do you start to believe them?? Internalize them? Fall prey to them? Accept them?? Luckily, our Queen of Other Kristen, is a strong and resilient woman. But even she isn't immune. She has admitted several times how criticisms and googled words have cut her. For those of you projecting criticisms, double standards, hate and nonsense onto two people who you most likely do not know, is this indicative that you act similarly in your personal lives too?? But towards or  around people you DO know, who may even be close to you? The people surrounding you may or may not look like this:

But I assure you, your harsh judgments and voracious regurgitation has power to do this:

that is one sad pumelo

The words written and carelessly splashed across the internet and tabloids, like in the article mentioned above, is an example of Words as Weapons. Fantastically (*sarcasm*) folks utilize mediums such as Twatter and Facebook to spread the venom as well, further and faster. Dear commenters and mods on sites supporting the bashing of Rob and Kristen: Do you ever wonder what such public spewage conveys about you? To someone who doesn't know you from Adam, even your "joking" comments ripping apart a twenty year old girl because of shorts she wears, or nervousness she exudes at public events tells magnitudes about your story. You don't want to be labeled, you say?

Stop fashioning your OWN WEAPONS. 

STOP HANDING OUT THE DESCRIPTORS FOR YOUR STORY. 

At the very least, cultivate awareness when you're in a public setting (especially Twitter, Facebook, highly-followed blogs)...where you are responsible for influencing hundreds and thousands of "followers" to mindlessly label and bash a young woman...This woman may be someone's sister, cousin, aunt, mother, girlfriend or daughter because you essentially gave permission to folks who admire you to act as you do. CHOOSE. YOUR. WORDS. WISELY.

Words are wealthy

Because I'm all about balance...Let's take a moment to witness some positive words about Kristen Stewart, our perpetually awkward but consistently genuine Royal Rebel, to counterbalance the weaponry hurled by the anonymous and seemingly spiteful blog commenters.

Actor William Hurt says:

"I’ve defended her in public as regularly as I can. I think it’s absurd, that they’re not giving her a break. I think that she’s holding her own, that she’s courageous, that she’s inventive, and that she’s got character oozing out of her, and I say, “Give her a break. Who is she to pander to your idea of what she’s supposed to be?”

Actor/Director Sean Penn says:
She is “A truth machine".  Mr. Penn, who cast her as a folk singer with a  serious infatuation in “Into the Wild,” said reports Kristen as “magically easy to direct,” adding, “She is a real force with terrific instincts.”

Legendary Actor Bruce Dern says:
"She is a one-of-a-kinder. She has a beautiful, knowledgeable face... a hauntedness. Look at Kristen Stewart: she is unique. There are maybe only two other actresses like her, and they're much older than Kristen."

A Musings Playlist:

Well, since I wasn't able to completely move Musings to the new website, I won't start the Other Soundtrack Giveaway til next week either. But I did want to let you know the playlist is forming beautifully, and I will post a few songs on the playlist below, so you have an idea of what the finalized copy will look like.

the devils tears:: angus and julia stone

           wave of mutilation:: pixies

not afraid:: eminem

addicted to love:: florence + the machine

wake up:: arcade fire

hallelujah:: jeff buckley

....and others

The Featured Rebel Royal segment will also be on hiatus again this week, but we will continue where we left off in learning about new Rebels next week. We will continue to defend and support the awkward, the left-of-center, the unique, the odd, and the extraordinary as long as the detractors and doubters remain out there too. My hope is that we're finding that there are more of us OTHERS out there than ever. *big grin*. Wishing Rob some restful recuperation time in London with his family. Wishing Kristen luck and strength as she wraps up her On the Road filming sequences this week. Wishing you all continued celebration and acceptance of your Otherness. See you next week. Always, KJ

Rob is Other.

Kristen is Other.

Others choose their words wisely.

Embrace your Other. 

A Muselet Memo: Musical Giveaways & Communication, Mofos!

Well hello there, my Misfit Mayhem-makers, how have you been? I hope well, and happy and rested. Did I scare you off with my melt down last week? Was it unsettling for some of us who need a routine for normalcy? Musings posted on Friday and in two parts, concluding on Saturday. Wild, right? *smooths hand over your back to rub comfortingly*. I know. I'm all about thinking outside the box and spontaneity, but even I struggled with the wonky schedule last week, and I want to apologize to you. Between the two family emergencies and Blogger getting salty with me, I may have been ...uncouth. Well, as I've discussed in previous Musings, energy and The Universe has its way of communicating with us. Last Friday as I was wrestling with Blogger and dividing up the Wanderlust Musings post, I also was launching the website for the private practice. Oh and I was not sleeping a lot due being on standby for the family. So, I got sick. Really sick. Like, ask @Buff82 and @Bouffant how I was  constantly in tears and nearly catatonic. Yesterday was the first day where I didn't need to roll up in the fetal position to ward off the pain. Though I can't promise to stay away from cold meds today, you all know how I love me my cold meds. . . .

So due to the chaos of last week, I am releasing the first MUSELET MEMO today, because post-fever, I'm a smorgasbord of ideas and it's Thursday, our regular posting day, and I want to show some pretty pictures of Kristen, um, duh. Most importantly, I've missed you guys, so I crave the interaction. 

Guidelines for the following Musings Memo

1. It will be shorter than most of previous Musings (I know. You and Blogger are sighing in relief right now).

2.  It will consist of announcements regarding upcoming topics and Team Other Happenings.

3. It will encourage Reader participation. (I told you. I crave interaction with you all. You make my life with your feedback and comments.)

4. It will not feature a new Royal Rebel, though it will allude to potential FRR's in the approaching weeks. 

5. It will, however, always pay homage to the Reigning Ambassador of Other: The Stew.

Claro? Let's get our Muselet Memo on, kids!!

yessssssssss

Roadtrip Memories

Let's recap some Kristen-related news. After Bouffant's and my Musings last week regarding Rob's Road Trip towards Other Queen Kristen, he arrived safely with his Brit Boys TomStu (#TeamTommy FTW) and Sam Bradley in The Big Easy. Not that anyone saw them, but plenty of folks sure tried to produce manips indicating a sighting, with laughable results. But here's a manip/pic that I giggled over--as was the desired effect--for days upon first learning of the Road Trip, thanks to the brilliant @patronuska:

OICU Jella. Hang on tight, kitty!

Kristen is supposedly within days of wrapping as MarylouStew in on the road, as word on the street has her either finishing today....or working until Sept 26th. Regardless of whether or not she wraps today or in two weeks from now, it has been a pleasure witnessing the journey and transformation of our Other Queen from the Eclipse promo-ing, MTV Movie Award-winning, Oscar-buzz garnering twenty-year-old girl to the professional and esteemed actress portraying the iconic role of Marylou in the Walter Salles-directed film On the Road.  The film is already procuring early rave reviews and industry anticipation. Oh, and then there's the communicating. The nonverbal confirmations that I love so so much from our Royal Rebels. You may fondly recall:

media training? I don't think so!

Well. Yeah. Our Royal Rebels sure know how to multitask! *wipes tears of joy*. Communicating their solidarity as a couple, and also expressing exactly how they feel about the privacy-invaders, Vultures and overzealous "fans". . . in the same damn Beastie Boy t-shirt, made legend via Rob earlier this summer...Confirmed by Kristen yesterday, with such clarity and coolness, even the Coke Classic in her hand is envious. Yes,  she's wearing his shirt. As in, her man's shirt. 

If anyone has a right to wear this shirt, it's KStew

Upcoming Topics for Musings & Featured Royal Rebels

So the news on the Kristen (and Rob) front has been minimal, but that doesn't mean we don't have wonderful topics to contemplate and new Rebels from which we can gain infinite wisdom. While Kristen and Rob blaze trails and role model the very reasons why we adore our Other Warriors, I am constantly surveying the vast sea of candidates for Musings' next Featured Rebel. Some of you have written in and given suggestions, genius suggestions, which I studiously consider. You may have already seen your suggestion featured in previous essays. While I won't highlight a new Rebel today, I assure you, here are the names of a few folks we'll probably be locking smoldering gazes with in the approaching weeks:

JAVIER BARDEM...ZIYI ZHANG...ROBERT DOWNEY Jr...ZOE SALDANA....ELEANOR ROOSEVELT...STEVIE NICKS...JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT...AMERICA FERRERA...EMMA STONE...XENE CERVENKA...DREW BARRYMORE...JAMES FRANCO...MARTIN STARR

Basically, the entire brilliant cast of Adventureland

And upcoming topics for the exceedingly clever Musings Readers to sink their eager teeth into: 

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES...SHIFTING FILTERS OF PERCEPTION...JOSEPH CAMPBELL'S ARCHETYPES...DOING YOUR LIFE'S WORK...FAMILY GATHERINGS (INCLUDING EXES)...CREATIVE LIVING...JACK KEROUAC AND ON THE ROAD...

because just 3 years ago...

it was about a boy and a girl. 
Near impossible circumstances. 

We're Moving! 

No, we're not going to Hawaii (yet), as I had hoped, but give me time. This still could happen. The move I'm referring to now was  alluded to mid-sob in last week's A/N. Because Musings has deadlines, locquacious admins and jawp0rn-happy KJs, it has come to our attention that some hosts simply cannot handle what the Rebel Misfits dish out. Team Other is making preparations to transfer blog-hosts, leaving Blogger behind us. I have started tweaking with files and transferring archived Musings, and have tried to not hassle my beloved Buff anymore than necessary, since she has been off designing and prettifying my business's website along with KSIBTU (who is also exiting Blogger-ville). Hopefully next week, with a brand new Musings, we will be reporting from a brand new crib. Stay tuned, and hang with me, Rabble Rousers, because this is how we roll, and I really would love us to continue Rollin' with the Homies, ok?? 

K says: Chill out, KJ, you've rolled with me since at least 2007. 

The KStew Fandom is made of cool cats. We flow. 

Musings' Musical Madness Giveaway

And this is where reader participation is highly encouraged and welcomed. Also alluded to in last week's weepy A/N: The MusingsOnOther Soundtrack!! You all know what a music buff I am, and how it shapes all that I do for Musings. You also know, because I have a bit of a disclosure problem (and this is why I'm reining in giving out the website domain for the Magical Little Practice), I also am a back-burner musician. I have been playing classical piano since I was four years old, singing since I was five, and writing music since I was a pre-pubescent emo kid with frizzy hair and snaggle-teeth. Music informs my mood, beckons The Muse, and expresses beautifully what I can often not. A lot of the  Featured Rebel Others on Musings are musicians. And because mix-tapes were the epitome of love-declaring in the nineties and 00's while I grew up, I would like to declare my love to YOU. I am compiling a playlist of songs I've featured on Musings since June...These songs have inspired, provoked, encouraged and soothed me while writing each week's essay, and also have significance with the stories I've shared, and with the bios we've discovered in the Featured Rebels. Kristen and Rob are both musicians and demonstrate their exquisite taste and aptitude in music as often as they can (But why isn't I love Playing with Fire on The Runaways Soundtrack?!). *Oh, plus I'm pretty sure Kristen designed and arranged the soundtrack for Eclipse* 

To Review: The Musings On Other Soundtrack is composed of artists including (but not limited to):

TORI AMOS...RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS...INCUBUS...LAMB...JEFF BUCKLEY...EMINEM...THE SWELL SEASON...JENNY LEWIS...JACK JOHNSON...ANI DIFRANCO...MASSIVE ATTACK...FLORENCE + THE MACHINE...ROB PATTINSON...SUBLIME...PIXIES...

music.is.life.

Here's the delio: I wanna hear from you. I know you're there. I receive emails, tweets and some comments from you KStew Lovers and Other Rebels, and they rock my socks off. But there are more LURKERS than anything...Musings enjoys an incredible visitor tally averaging 1800-2000 each week. I know. It freaking BLOWS. MY. MIND. But you don't comment. But some of the hateful folks who actually don't read Musings  DO write me. They tell me how awful they think one of our Rebels is or, WORSE, how unworthy our Other Queen is (ah HELL to the NAH). So the haters have taken the time to leave their venom, but I want to hear the balancing Goodness from the OTHER REBELS and KSTEW supporters...

Because there are a gazillion of you. I'm finding you populating all corners of this beautiful planet of ours, and you somehow find me. So find each other here! Next week, I'll take all commenters' names and contact info and enter it into a raffle system that CC and/or Buff are going to have to guide me around, and give away 5 copies of the Musings On Other Queens Soundtrack. And to kick my own ass and remind me of my vow towards Creative Living, I plan to include one of my very own musical recordings on the Musings Soundtrack. (I just need to connect up with the right channels, i.e. ex-boyfriend/musical engineering genius). So dudes? Serio. I'm putting my own voice (literally) on the line here. I want to hear your voices too. You've all been embracing your Otherness with me on this journey...Let's make this a Convention of Otherness, shall we?? 

So start warming up now...Write me, Comment, Tweet (@MusingsOnOther), and tell me your thoughts on Kristen's Communication Skillz, on future topics of Musings, potential future Royal Rebels, and how you're embracing your Other.. Next week, the playlist will be shown and you're going in the Giveaway Drawing... Thanks for reading this Muselet Memo. I'll see you hopefully, from the new digs, next Thursday! As Always, Embrace your Other.  Many thanks & much love ,KJ

can you honestly say "no" to them? 

KJ is Other.

Kristen is Other.

Others are excellent Communicators...MoFos.

Embrace Your Other. 

Thoughts Amongst Wanderers: Part 2

Misfit Musings on Wanderlust: KJ

I was going to respond point by point to B’s lovely and eloquent essay about the romanticism of road trips, and about what I think is Rob’s public (and quite clever) quest in declaring his affection for Kristen while also showing appreciation to fans. But quite honestly, Bouffant has an ability unlike my own to be succinct and still contemplative and impassioned. So I will leave it be. Originally, I planned to talk a little about some of my experiences traveling on the road, and tell you how my first road trip as an "adult" occurred when I was 18 years old. I had traveled many times with the family when I was younger, in the station wagon. Saw Yellowstone, bits of Colorado and Montana...But this was the first time it was my trip.

A girlfriend and I hopped into the car and made the infamous (and famous) drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco, split across a couple days. Clam chowder, breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, Cheetos, cigarettes and Johnny Cash's heartbreak were our companions...Not only was I a thirsty, insatiable girl, eager for adventure, but I desired clarity, and first-hand experience of moving towards unfamiliar territory, outside my usual comforts. So I had hoped touch upon Jung's Archetypes and shed some light on that insatiable thirst I spoke about...to maybe apply to Rob's journey towards his girl..

That's me. Taking a picture. Along the Carmel Coast.

In her book, The Hero Within, author and scholar Carol Pearson takes the basic tenants of Jung’s archetypes and helps readrs see how our "collective unconscious" informs and frames our current stories/patterns of behaviors. Carl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst and thinker, postulated that we humans are framed by and follow deep and abiding patterns, called Archetypes. Archetypes are found everywhere, in dreams, art, literature, and mythology…

Have I lost you?

Are you wandering around in this French Maze?

Let me try to focus a bit. Pearson dubs folks like me..and probably Rob and probably you my rabble rousers, as Wanderers. We're not always one with our Wanderer Archetype, plus we may actually visit this Archetypal stage several times in and out of transitions with different archetypes. 

Wanderers choose to leave behind the unknown and standard, for the unknown and the extraordinary. In other words...Wanderers, (rebels) choose Other. They are compelled towards adventure and journeying for clarification and first hand experience, which I believe Mr Pattinson and his bandit Britpack are currently in the midst of. I, a fellow wanderer and Other am stationed along the road cheering them on, personally.

I'm gonna ride it, all night long...

As I was saying, I was going to go into detail about roadtripping, Archetypes, and Wanderers. But then my beloved grandmother went in for an unexpected quadruple bypass surgery on Tuesday morning. My adored brother Chew went into the ER for an assessment of unexpected blood clotting yesterday, and this all occurred while I was trying to organize a business plan, website and sole proprietorship of the Magical Little Practice. Suffice to say, I dropped everything this week so I could address these urgent matters of my heart..of Family Other. I did not get to develop my thoughts as wholly as I would have liked. Bouffant, the Goddess she is, stepped in and wrote some of her Musings down. *Please refer to the beautiful, articulate and sensical first half of this essay. * Quite honestly, when it comes down to it: What is the biggest source and motivator of all? Why drive across country? Why drop everything you've had planned to rush to hospital bed-sides?

At least I formulated a response to B's beautiful Musings... I agree. This is the loudest NONVERBAL CONFIRMATION we may ever receive regarding Rob and Kristen’s private relationship. They both have consistently expressed their wishes to keep their personal lives and their relationship off the table. They also have both publicly expressed their affection and gratitude to their fans (perhaps not the clingy ones who make threats and rip off arm hair), and their disdain of the paparazzi and media outlets who aim to make a profit off of their likenesses, and their personal lives. The solution? A road trip, through the U.S.’s southern towns, where there is little chance of Vultures awaiting their arrival at off-the-beaten-path watering holes. Instead, kind and welcoming locals, greet the boys with their warm smiles and BBQ platters and opportunities for karaoke wishes to come true. And jam sessions with fiddle players?? COME THE FUCK ON?! How could you turn down that kind of opportunity? That sounds like a riotously good time to me! I have a feeling our Featured Rebel Royals this week would be fantastic Road Trip mates. 

An impromptu jam session in a Houston bar have never looked so pretty

Featured Rebel Royal: Carey Mulligan

The lovely Ms Mulligan is a 25 year old actress from London, England. A self admitted "Shy tomboy", Carey debuted her acting career in the beautiful film adaption of a favorite Austen Classic, Pride and Prejudice as Kitty when she was just eighteen years old. She confesses to having little interest in acting before she was 15 years old instead more compelled by academics and reporting being quite content to serve as audience to Broadway shows in New York, as her mother would encourage Carey and her siblings to appreciate art in all its incarnations. She saw her older brother Owain performing in a school play, a version of The King & I, and realized in that moment acting "is all I've ever wanted to do", her realization dawning when she felt devastation at not sharing the stage with her brother. In 2007, Carey garnered massive critical acclaim in portrayal of Nina in the play The Seagull, in which theater critics proclaimed her performance as "extraordinarily radiating" and "almost unbearably affecting". Pretty impressive accolades for a young Royal-in-Training sharing the stage with well known and prestigious actors such as Kristen Scott Thomas and Chiwetel Ejiofor. 

When Carey traveled with The Seagull to Broadway to reprise her role, she received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Actress. Looks like our shy tomboy caused a stir among her peers in 2007, but she had already filmed the seminal role as Jenny in The Education over a year earlier. 

In this movie Carey portrayed a precocious and impressionable 16-yr-old schoolgirl falling for the charms of a con man. With this role, Ms. Mulligan snagged the attention of the film world. This role also bestowed upon her critical acclaim and nominations from The Academy Awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Screen Actors' Guild. She received the Best Actress BAFTA award on the same night that our Reigning Other Queen Kristen Stewart received her Orange Rising Star Award. 

Much like her fellow Rebel Queen Kristen, Carey exudes a refreshing vivacity that allows her to stand apart from her contemporaries, and even measure up to her predecessors. She emanates an effortless poise and grace (she has been likened to the incomparable Audrey Hepburn) while simultaneously remaining unaffected by the fame game and the burgeoning interest in her by the Hollywood Media Machine.

Again, like her peer and friend Queen Kristen, Carey prefers to keep her private life to herself, rarely if ever speaking about her relationship with actor Shia LeBeouf, whom she met when working with him in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, telling Vogue for their October issue on which Carey is the CoverGirl:

"Posing on the red carpet feels like you're selling something that has nothing to do with you. It's like we're saying 'Oh! We come as a pair! Would you like to buy both of us? We're available for weddings and Bar Mitzvahs!'"

Carey is devastatingly gifted in her craft, abundantly charming, but she carries herself in a way that is unassuming and humble. She defies all the antiquated standards prescribed to her by a surreal Hollywood. She has a great fondness for the show Glee (as do I), though when she wanted to do a cameo for the musical show, she was told she was "not famous enough". (And now Glee has slipped a little in my eyes). Undeterred, she continues to march to the Rebel beat in a variety of ways: preferring supportive film roles over lead roles; refusing participation in competition; denouncing adherence to the industry's perspective on body image. "I don't want to look like an actress; I want to look like a person!" She tells Vogue. Darling, you do. You look like a Royal Rebel kinda person, but a person all the same. And she has a new independent movie with Ryan Gosling and Christina Hendricks--two previously Featured Royal Rebels!!-- in the works. I say girlfriend is coasting brilliantly on her journey.

Offenses of Otherness:

*Refuses to sell herself or relationships as product

*Admittedly fears the idea of being "known"

*Prefers supporting roles to lead roles

Reigning Other Queen: Kristen Stewart

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...While Rob makes his way across the south toward his Other Queen, her majesty has maintained a rather low profile, which is exactly how she prefers it. She is in New Orleans, preparing for her scenes with the incomparably talented actors Viggo Mortensen, Amy Adams and Elizabeth Moss (from Mad Men). The last documented pictures of her boast my favorite Kristen candid that I’ve seen in a long while:

While our Queen is off being professional, dedicated and effortlessly sexy, a previously well-enough liked actor and former co-star of Ms Stewart did some apologizing. In an interview with director/writer Diablo Cody,  

Adam Brody implied that our humble, though often misunderstood Other Queen should quit acting ("here's the door") if she "moans all the time" about being a "celebrity" [which she doesn't, we all know this]. Of course, his less than flattering remarks triggered the Anti-Brody campaign and I can only imagine the badgering and backlash he received from Kristen fans (we tend to be locquacious and passionate in defense of our Stewie, legit), Adam issued an honest statement in response. "I sounded like an idiot...I sounded like a jackass...I sounded ungentlemanly." All the while, our girl is happily unaffected by her former co-star's unfavorable verbal vomit, because she is busy. Working. She is  an integral part of an already legendary film production, produced by the great Francis For Coppola, folks.  She is gathering an impressive bevy of colleagues and legends in her craft expressing admiration and praise for the "unique", "insanely gifted actress". Industry giants such as Sean Penn, Bruce Dern, Melissa Leo, Jody Foster and Sandra Bullock proclaim their fascination and compliments of  our Royal Rebel Kristen. And she has a fellow Wanderer, a Nomadic Trailblazer publicly driving across the country to spend some time with her. It's why she is Queen, everyone. Just so you know.

Offenses of Otherness:

*Refuses to sell herself or relationships as product

*Declines the label of being "celebrity"

*Chooses roles of broken, imperfect, flawed Wanderers

Because he and his boys hopped in a car to seek clarity, experience and perhaps give the most public verbalization of his devotion to Queen Kristen, Rob is in a suit and donning a crown on the Royal Float.

Because she doesn't let Glee determine whether she is truly famous enough, Carey is Rebel Royalty personified.

Because she is effortless, calm, poised and unaffected by a former colleague's misinformed verbiage, immersed in work she finds valuable and unique, Kristen is our Reigning Other Queen.

Carey is Other.

Kristen is Other.

Others are compelled towards adventures

of the Unknown and Extraordinary.

Embrace your Other.

Question: Tell me about your extraordinary compulsions. How have you "pulled a Rebel Rob" and hit the road seeking Adventure and Love?

A/N: Short one, for I'm exhausted. At the time of writing this, there was a house explosion and fire in my old neighborhood. Tweets, calls, texts came pouring in checking on me. It would have been a shitty shitty week if I had an exploding house too, but thank you so much for checking, my friends. THANK YOU. Family Other is ok. No more ICU stays or ER visits this week. I'm just home with yet another painful head cold. But I am blessed. 

**Sisters/Readers, Kathryn, ProRobsten, bouffant, Bellasmummy86, JolieJessa, Julie, Buff and CC: You Sustained me this week.**

MUSICAL A/N: Music is such an essential part of my life, as it is for Musings. I know each week I change the playlist, so we don't get a chance to revel in some of the fantastic songs placed on here for more than a week at a time. I'm compiling a MusingsOnOther Soundtrack and may include my own contribution, if I can get my hands on the proper permissions (the engineer/recorder is the only one who has an accessible copy). I'd like to give away copies of the Soundtrack once finalized, to readers/commenters. Should be available very soon. Keep checking back, mmmkay? 

HOUSEKEEPING A/N: Because I've had an increasingly difficult time with this current host: BLOGGER, I will most likely be moving. Stay tuned, as Team Other packs up and makes way to a new, easier, prettier web domain. Again, I'll keep you posted. 

As Always, you all are pretty freakin fantastic. I love hearing from you. Your emails, tweets, and comments make my life. Truly this is an incredible community. See you next week. Yours, KJ

Go forth..with blessings

Well, hello there! Happy Thursday, no, um, Friday , ok, Saturday, my Misfit Pioneers! It's been quite a time these past days since I've Mused with you last. Thank you muchly for being kind with me as I adjust to all the changes this week. I hope you enjoyed Bouffant’s Other Queen Retrospective yesterday on the stunning rabble rouser EllenBurstyn. If you did, leave a comment here on Musings or find Bouffant @bouffant00 on Twatter to share your reactions, mmmkay?

So. Let's review the past week since we last hung together. Our girl NinjaStew was low-pro for several days, though speculation and unsubstantiated sightings ran amok since she left Argentina. The mob at the South American airports was a little disconcerting and per usual, I avoid showing pics that are acquired through sketchy channels. However, I did want to note a couple pictures that made me smile, including one Vulture pic because homage must be paid to Sweet, Sweet Sam...

Have you seen the picture where Sam is essentially tucking Kristen into him as they rush through the airport? Though he is not as familiar with the hectic "fiending" that Kristen encounters every day (hey, good going to whomever tweets Kristen's exact location *sarcasm*), he stayed close to her, offering protection and support. Sam, because you let our Reigning Other Queen take shelter under your umbrella, you are a HERO. Thank you for keeping an eye on our girl in an honorary roll of Protector a la ASB (John) and Protective Rob. Thank you for trying to preserve one of our Precious Resources...a rare Royal Rebel.

She may be flying under the radar as she does best, but Kristen sure is cropping up and soothing the ache a bit in her absence. I am just getting a glimpse at the Australian Marie Claire story in which Kristen speaks about the maturing Bella in Eclipse, and Kristen's love for her work.

Work to Live

I wanted to talk a little about that today, about loving work, and following the path of Creative Living, surveying the blessings in our lives despite setbacks, obstacles and challenges. While our Queen Stew's detractors criticize her for "not handling fame well" or forfeiting her happiness and privacy because she picked acting as her career, she reports in the lovely Marie Claire article:
"I love to work. I'm so passionate about the process. Because I get to play strong personalities [Joan Jett in The Runaways, Mallory in Welcome to the Rileys'], different characters from what I am most known for [Bella Swan], I get to choose now to do good projects in the future."

You see what she did there? Kristen took an idea or a concept and reframed the negative connotation and injected optimism. In psychology, a technique based out of the post-modernist theories called Reframing is used for assessing strengths and motivation for change. It simply is a shift in perspective. A well known reframe:

From "the glass is half empty" to "that glass is half full"

We here on Team Other live for reframes, hence Beauty Marks and Offenses of Otherness.

Offenses of Otherness // Reframes (BeautyMarks):

Kristen is brash and direct // She is honest and makes her wishes known

Kristen stutters and fidgets // She is careful with words and initially shy

See where I'm going with this? The interviewer in this magazine article asks Kristen:

"Do you feel exhausted by the attention you have to deal with?"

Kristen's reframing answer:

"It's hard for me to talk about that without giving the impression I am being negative. I love acting and I'm so grateful for Twilight and the opportunities it's given me."

Kristen's reframes have always manifested in the form of gratitude and humility. She firstly thanks her fans and she reports how blessed she is in even having a job. She humbly accepts the chances to participate in projects with which she feels a personal connection. How much more gracious and Royal can this girl be??

Kristen works to live, she does not live to work. She recognizes that her chosen career is amongst the public arena, and that she'll occasionally encounter some challenges (Vulture Papz, inquiry into her private life, overzealous, entitled "fans"), but she recognizes that the positive rewards far outweigh those bumps. She shyly reports to the Marie Claire interviewer:

"I'm just not very good at dealing with the idea of being followed everywhere."

Fair enough, my friend, fair enough. Once you glimpse the chance to reframe a situation, it becomes evident that optimism, and opportunity is everrah where. Try it. Look around. There are signs in every interaction, every reaction, every moment for a shot of positivity, or a shift in perspective. I've discovered signs on a daily basis that urge me to keep moving forward, despite bumps in the road. The signs that I am doing the right thing, following my bliss, are everywhere. Everywhere. Like Kristen, I've found that doing what I love, sharing it all with everyone I've chosen in my life has rewarded me immensely. I am happier than I have been in years. Let me tell you a little about this past week to illustrate the goodness...

The signs are everywhere...

Last week, after hopping on a plane and writing Musings, I dove head-first into the busiest most wonderfully chaotic five days which included a childhood bestie's wedding (and an open bar), a birthday gathering with KSIBTU Crew gals, a meeting with a business accountant, dates with soul sisters @Robkris13 and @ProRobsten and copious amounts of alcohol. Not only was I merging my splintered fragments together (whaa? I told my childhood besties that I write a blog about KStew and Unconventional Beauty?) but I kept seeing signs that I was was going to be OK...and opportunities for reframes were everywhere! You may have caught my tweets when I was bowling with @Just2CUSmile and the birfday grrl @kimmcarr...bahaha.

We should have just put a straw in the pitcher.

Not 0 for "no points".

"O" for Double OTHERNESS

Or how bout, for no foreseeable reason, I received a gift, an original painting from the insanely talented @Jhiggs86 to remind me of The First Muse, and of blessings she's bestowed upon me...

I may have moved into Gloating Territory here.

Oh and not to mention the fed-exed envelopes I received containing cards, letters, gifts, funds, whispers of luck and love, tokens of affection from my Sisters/Readers and Beloveds.

I can't even...don't have the words

I can happily report to you that I was able to move forward in launching The Magical Little Practice on September 1, despite having lost a huge chunk of start-up capital and the support of a most beloved source, if only for a brief moment. Another confirming sign that I was going to be ok? That despite some of the obstacles in front of me, I was doing the right thing? One of those Levi's Jeans print ads that are circulating, quoting Walt Whitman. I was sitting on the train, en route to my new office on my first day, my nose pressed against the window, when we stopped at an intersection. This was the poster on the wall directly in front of me:

Go. Forth.

Topless.

Everrah where, you guys. See what I mean? Take a moment, open your eyes. Channel your inner ReframeStew. Look at all the amazing possibilities for optimism and creativity surrounding us. Let's meet the Featured Rebel today...a woman who is fierce but fragile, optimistic and brilliant. A girl who has gracefully and very publicly fought to overcome unspeakably agonizing drawbacks.

Featured Royal Rebel: Michelle Williams

Thanks again to one of my comrades in creativity and inspiration, @theurbanwhisk, I was able to explore my fascination with this notoriously shy but courageous lady. She clearly embodies and beautifully represents the qualities of a Rebel Queen: shy, cerebral, weary of intrusive press, dedicated student of her craft, insatiably pursuing knowledge, soulful and unique. While she may be publicly known as the former fiancee of fellow Royal Rebel Heath Ledger (featured in last week's Musings), she has been on my radar ever since she played Jen on the WB/CW/What-ever-the hell-network-it-is network's teen soap opera Dawson's Creek.

Michelle was sixteen years old when she first took on the role of Jen, and she admittedly reported confusing the ideas and concepts of "beauty" at that impressionable age. She told Vogue in the fall of 2009 that Jen's beauty was "sexy and pretty", but that there was "something bad" about that too. "I got it in my head that my beauty was not worthwhile." She shied away from playing anymore "pretty girl roles" after the completion of Creek, choosing instead to "play the opposite".

She is anything but the opposite of beauty. She is an Oscar-nominated, respected and revered actor, and more importantly, she is the fiercely determined single mother to her three-year-old daughter, Mathilda, whose father is the late, great actor Heath Ledger. Michelle now says she navigates the tricky position of being a working single mother with the help and support of friends and family. Her focus remains first and foremost on her daughter. She tells Vogue, "I think she deserves the bulk of my attention. We're lucky. I can work. She can go to a good school, there's a lot available for her." As Michelle moved through the stages of grief in the aftermath of Mr Ledger's death, she found that caution around intrusive reporters and paparazzi has served well, as has immersing herself in work. She appeared in Scorsese's Shutter Island this year and is preparing to be featured with Ryan Gosling (another Royal Rebel) in the indie film Blue Valentine, which has already received rave critical and audience reviews from the Sundance and Cannes film festivals.

Offenses of Otherness

* Extremely reticent to participate in press interviews

* Remarkably grounded in here-and-now awareness

* Refuses to minimize her intelligence

Reigning Other Queen: Kristen Stewart

So while she was low-pro and underground for awhile there, we caught glimpses of our reigning Queen on the On the Road set in New Orleans. With her gloriously light hair and her casual attitude, Kristen looked gooood. I mean, who looks this good when they're just, y'know, chillin?

Effortless, calm, engaged in conversation, I think she looks better than ever. It might have to do with the fact that she's involved in a film project based on a book she refers to as one of her "very favorites", in the company of elite acting royalty (you know about Viggo, Steve Buscemi and Amy Adams, right? Good Lawd!) It might be because she was stealth and unseen for several days and perhaps met up with her beautiful partner Rob at some point. She may look this rested and lovely because she recognizes that the blessings in her life clearly outnumber the challenges...Or her contentedness may be because she knows that even with challenges, she will always, push onward.

Offenses of Otherness:

*Cautious and protective of the details in her private life

*Extraordinarily down to earth and genuine

*Only accepts projects she feels a personal connection to

Go Forth...

Because she embodies resilience, grace and beauty in the face of adversity, Michelle wears a crown on the Royal Court.

Because she continuously represents graciousness, humility and awareness, despite detractors constantly watching for a stumble, Kristen is our Reigning Other Queen.

Michelle is Other.

Kristen is Other.

Others continuously
Work To Live.

Embrace Your Other.

Question: Are you living to work? Or Working to Live?

A/N: I will actually write sappy love letters directly to the peeps who have held my hand and given me such joy and love these days. Possum Besties, Tebby, ProRobsten...all of you know who you girls are to me. Just a couple thoughts: Thank you, my beloved CC of @KSIBTU for pre-reading tonight's midnight drop. And @Buff_82 for so patiently coddling me in the foreign world of website design. To @Bouffant for taking it for the team and posting her lovely essay when I could not. To my sisters/Readers...You make me laugh. You make me strong. I'll respond to comments and tweets and emails this week. Going forward...SEE YOU NEXT THURSDAY! xo, Kj