Musings On Other has MOVED!

Hello, my Mayhem Misfits!!!

This is just a little message to let you know that Musings and Team Other have left the building...

.....We have left The Blogger....

 Change up your bookmarks, Lovelies! 

We have our own domain now.

We own our Otherness.

So please come visit our new home and read today's New Musings: A Revelatory Year

http://MusingsOnOtherQueens.com

I'll see you on the Other side!!! Always, KJ

http://MusingsOnOtherQueens.com

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

The weary traveler goes home

If you go, if you go...

leave me down here on my own...

I'll wait for you

--In My Place, Coldplay

We went about one month without seeing hide nor hair of Kristen. While it was vexatious in moments, I was content in knowing she was completely occupied embodying her role as Marylou for the already-legendary film On the Road. The knowledge that she was invested in her work and not hiding from the Vulture-Papz eased the ache just a teensy bit. Well, then suddenly, um. BAM. I think it was even just after I had posted Musings, late last Thursday night. Near Midnight here in Cali. We got a look at Kristen in her costume for Marylou. And then, holy mother, we got pics of Rob from the same day. Outside Kristen's trailer on the set for On the Road.

I was a bit conflicted as to whether I would post any of those pics, as I completely disagree with the invasive nature in which the Vultures typically obtain pics of Robert and Kristen (i.e. stalking, lurking, heckling, invading, ridiculing, then selling those images for an obscene amount of money to grocery store tabloids). But I figured I could post a few of the pictures...because I'm all for supporting Rob and Kristen in their quest to Communicate, Mofos! And I admittedly enjoy watching as Rob and Kristen concisely express their thoughts about papz and perhaps to some of their more extreme-clingy Not-A-Fan Stalkers, without saying a word. And we here at Team Other love Non-Verbal Communication! And besides: Rob sees you, you Stalker Lice.

You know that I can see you there, right?

And MarylouStew says:

I have cold cream, I will use it, Lurkers.

Just not in a way you hoped.

You will not enjoy it.

BeastieBoyRob Says to the Vultures:

"I can't stand it, I know you planned it...!

This is all your...Sabotage"

So the pictures of MarylouStew in her lovely strawberry-blonde locks caused some rejoicing in the Kristen fandom. And when the pics of Rob in his classic Beastie Boy t-shirt surfaced, I'm pretty sure I heard bodies hitting the floor in a faint. Rob was there. To see his Queen, our Queen, Kristen. As soon as he wrapped up filming for his own film Water for Elephants in Los Angeles, after his obligatory work accepting surfboards at the Teen Choice Awards, the dude was on a plane to Montreal to be with his lady love. In the two or three days after those first pictures emerged into the limelight, Kristen and Rob fans began receiving the most incredible gifts of nonverbal communication that it actually overwhelmed. There were The Nuzzle pics. There were the Kristen-is-practicing-her-Lindy Hop-moves pics, and there were about two hundred fan encounters and pictures that materialized. This one was my favorite:

I cant..I just...yesss...for so many reasons..gah!

I prefer this  for many reasons, one of them being that Rob and Kristen are in it...together. Also, this nice lady and her kids made this a family affair and she and her family (husband/dad snapped the picture, after asking Rob and Kristen's permission first) interacted respectfully with the couple, thus being rewarded with the singular shot of the night with both Rob and Kristen in it, intentionally. Well then, of course, THIS happened. And it became one of my favorites evah.

quite honestly, I think this is more revealing

than all of the others.

This picture led to the pics seen 'round the world, with a confirmation that for some reason people still needed: Kristen and Robert are together...as a couple. A K-I-S-S-I-N-G couple. If you haven't seen the grainy pictures yet a.) you're in the minority and b.) you will need to check out the gossip sites elsewhere to see 'em. That's the compromise I made with myself when alluding to The Kissing Pictures. Ok. So what will I post? How bout some more Communicating, my Other Rabble Rousers?!!

Nobody looks this good when walking. 

Nobody but them.

Going Home

So today's Musings is dedicated to the glorious moment of realizing we belong somewhere. That we have a place reserved only for ourselves where we can kick off our shoes, breathe deeply and share that space with what or whomever we choose.

This is something I know a whole lot about. Friends and family know me as "gypsy" or "bohemian nomad". I have the wanderlust pretty fiercely. It's a thirst in me that overtakes and overruns. Fortunately, I was raised by a woman who prescribed to the most incredible philosophy:

Travel is Education.

Travel is Important.

Travel is Life.

Also, with my Island Blood coursing through my veins, and my constant seeking for "belonging" as an Other..and a child of adoption, I was destined to explore and find my niche. Throw in the fact that smack dab in the middle of the years I simply refer to as: 2005 Thru 2007, I lost some major footing and was seeking grounding and direction. In the dark, dark time right after my "BreakThrough" as I lovingly refer to it (reference the Musings titled "Finding your voice..."), I needed to ...go away. To heal. To remind myself what I was doing here, what my direction was. What was worth preserving. I was scattered, lacking balance, and I was RUN RUN RUN RUNNNNING from everything. And "dating" enough people for my friends and family to jokingly refer to my dates as "the UN Panel". What? So I'm worldly. I've told you guys that before. Don't judge. In this particular time, I was granted an opportunity to travel to Asia for the first time. Oh I TRAVELED. I spent time in China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and finally, my own islands: The Philippines.

Nara, Japan.

World's Tallest Buddha.

un.be.lieve.able.

I had no choice.

It's The Great Wall of China!

I raced to the highest peak and screamed "HELLLLLO"

What is the saying? You don't know what you have until it's gone...? Or...You must travel so far away to realize you were home all along.... There's no place like Home....All of this was true for me. This could be the same for Rob and Kristen. Home. Home. Home. I discovered in my lengthy travels, even having a week on my own in The Philippines to discover my culture, that HOME is where my heart soared. Home did not have a mailbox with my name attached to it. Home was in my suitcase, with my flip flops, in my iPod. Home was where I made it. Home was shared with whatever or whomever I wanted to share it with. Home became to which I referred as my inner contentedness. A certainty that I was ok being a female, adopted and bi-racial and pierced and tattooed and voluptuous and a fan of both Rage Against the Machine AND Fergie...a confidence that wherever I was...I was OK. I didn't need to go in search of my biological parents when I went to the Philippines...But I did go and find my culture.. I ate the cuisine, I listened to the music, I spoke with families and had meals with folks who wanted nothing more than to share their family recipe and fresh mangoes from the tree. It makes perfect sense that I managed to meet my future husband N while I was traveling all over the world and realizing that not only did I fit a standard of "beauty" in some parts of the world, but that I was just fine doing so on my own. He did not complete some unfinished project that I represented. He stands beside me. Home. 

So this week, I'd say Rob went where he was content. To be with the person who seems to be ok with everything that he is. And he seems to be ok with everything that Kristen is. All in her Other Queen gloriousness. Home. 

Featured Rebel Royal: Jenny Lewis

Well, kids, you know how I love me my gingers. Here's another lovely red-headed rebel I wanted to introduce you to. Her name is Jenny, and she is a singer, songwriter and former child actor. You may recognize her from her work in one of my very favorite childhood movies: Troop Beverly Hills but, perhaps you adore her for being the near-primary front-woman for the indie-rock band Rilo Kiley.

While she made her show business debut in a JELL-O commercial, and appeared in over a dozen teen-themed TV movies and films, including The Wizard, it was in 1998 that Jenny stopped acting in favor of forming a band with friends. She is a singer/songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player for the band that has released five albums. She also has released two solo albums, appearing with The Watson Twins in her debut album Rabbit Fur Coat and then later, sans the twins in the country-tinged, indie-rock flavored Acid Tongue. 

Offenses of Otherness:

*has "girlishly seductive & versatile vocals"

*formed a band for the love of music, 

having no financial backing

*in-demand vocal collaborator with musicians:

Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, and

Elvis Costello

Miss Lewis has an admirer in our Reigning Other Queen Kristen! Kristen reported once having admired Jenny's stage presence and performance abilities. When asked by MTV during the promo tour for The Runaways, Kristen reported that one of her favorite musicians was "Jenny Lewis". Pretty fantastic endorsement coming from Rebel Royalty, and one who has famously pristine taste in music. 

Reigning Other Queen: Kristen Stewart

In this epic week of Kristen sightings, MarylouStew sightings, and Kristen and Rob "home-comings", her film On the Road is gaining much attention, not only for the incredible cast attached to it, and not  just because it's an iconic book in American literature, but because of Kristen's participation in it. Naysayers claim that Kristen's well-known partnership with Rob, or her involvement with Twilight  is responsible for her "fame", but Kristen's impressive colleagues from previous movies tout and praise Kristen's acting ferocity, disputing the naysayers. "She is utterly fierce" says Melissa Leo, Kristen's Welcome to the Rileys co-star.   Maria Bello, of The Yellow Handkerchief describes Kristen as "wonderful to work with, and a wonderful actress".  And early movie critics have hailed Kristen's casting as Marylou as "wise". 

Offenses of Otherness:

*willingly displays her vulnerability


*seeks honest and authentic colleagues as her support network


*unabashedly direct in giving her opinion

Because I ran ran ran ran far from home to realize I could never shake what was always mine, I am making the steps towards Other Queendom.

Because she picked up a guitar and sang for an unsigned, unknown musical union of friends, having walked away from a potentially successful acting career, Jenny is a fierce Rebel Queen.

Because Kristen has made her opinion on parasitic creatures preying on her personal life--including her relationship with Rob--abundantly clear, without having to say a word, Kristen is Reigning Other Queen.

Jenny is Other.

Kristen is Other.

Others recognize Home not as a location,

but a state of being.

Embrace your Other. 

Question: Who, what, where is Home for You?

A/N: Thank you to Bouffant, as always for pre-reading and perusing the Thesaurus with me--it's like fucking Christmas when I'm using a thesaurus, and B played. Thank you to @Buff82 for making this whole thing pretty. I still tear up when I pull up the page and see her art. As always, thank you to CC, as her joy in writing KSIBTU inspires me daily. To Iris @Just2CUSmile, who holds my hands while I cry through the night..while reading stories. Thank you to my beloved Sisters &Readers including Sail, Julie, Lowkey, Brothaa (Missy) and as always, the Clog Wielding Queen. I want to thank two writers who have broken my heart and surpassed all that is beautiful this week with words they've written: H32M who writes Disappear Here and Danieller123, author of the staggering Under the Apple Tree. You teach me more. You teach me about Exquisite Poetry. I bow down to you.  Thank you to Kathryn, my Welsh Muse, Manager and friend. And to her outrageously gifted husband, my friend Keiron. You INSPIRE. See you all next Thursday.