Journal 71 So Hot, Bad Quality Everywhere, Old Movie

Hi girls. How are you? How was your week? 

The temperatures this week were brutal again. I have never experienced a summer this hot. Add to that, the quality of everything is going down to the point where it’s a significant part of everyday life.

For example, the quality of my cat’s food has plummeted. Every day we throw out about fifteen cans of food trying to find a good ones. Six years we have purchased this food and it used to smell so good I was tempted to eat it. But now it contains strange things, or it smells like cleaner or vinegar. 

Today I returned two packs of lamb chops that were supposed to be high quality, but smelled very bad when I opened them. Sometimes I buy groceries then at home realize that some items have been opened. These types of things used to be rare.

So I am not looking forward to buying new clothes I need. I haven’t bought clothes since the last time we talked about it. My partner’s mother bought me some indoor pants, but they were too tight. She likes to get deals... but it’s her blind spot. You could sell her an airplane if you put a sale sticker on it! I told her they were good at first, so she bought more. I was tied like a sausage in those pants. 

Shopping in the women’s department is excruciating. I can’t even. Like I can’t even. Like launching a satellite into space would be easier. Almost nothing off-the-rack in women’s tops fits me. I don’t understand. We take pictures of distant galaxies, but I can’t find an article of clothing that takes into account these mysterious things called breasts? Are they new? Do women not have breasts anymore? What. I. Can’t. Even.

Since we last talked about clothing, I have loosened about finding organic clothes. I don’t want to, because I want to support ethical practices, but the situation is so rough out now. Both for men’s and women’s clothing. I will now settle for non-organic natural materials. I also think reputable higher quality non-organic material is better than lower quality organic material. 

When you see a good item, take it and run! Nothing is made well anymore. The quality from stores I used to shop at is so shitty now. And somehow, everyone knows what is good! When a good item comes out, it sells out immediately. Same thing with cat food, same thing with groceries. 

Today I watched an old movie I have never seen before: The Vivacious Woman, 1938. It was very wholesome. I notice that in these old movies, lots of times the husband’s mother is kind to his wife and stands up for her. Not always, sometimes the character of the husband’s mother is actually dreadful. I think both are realistic portrayals.

But in movies and shows from the last --I don’t know– seventy years, the mother-in-law character in movies and shows is usually portrayed as unnecessarily bad. Rude, spiteful, mean, superficial, bitchy, just so nasty. Why? Does this reflect reality or does the movie influence the reality? Maybe both?

It’s sad when society and media influences relationships negatively where otherwise there would not be negative feelings or not to that degree. Many people are closer to their partner’s parents than to their own. I think Hallmark movies do an exceptional job of showing the good and the bad kinds of mothers and fathers and mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law.

You know what else sucks? The Wedding Industrial Complex. 

But I think that’s enough for today! 

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a good week! Please stay safe with the weather!

Asya