As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, possibly ad nauseum, I deal with kids, 625 of 'em approximately, ages 4-18 and beyond for many. I’ve noticed that the thing that most plagues middle schoolers is the issue of negative attribution. When we consider the worst of intentions and meaning. I deal with it all day and carry it at night, in hopes of finding a way to get kids to notice it in themselves and their friends. Also, how to handle it when they receive such fallout. Big subject in my life. Also work at a jail. Just got home from 12 short hours of heaven. I don’t know if any of you reacted to my comments about makeup thusly; but I feel that may have happened. I hope I’m not negatively attributing of you. But, in a thread meant to be lighthearted to go this way is a shame.
At any rate, I’ll do what I tell /show/demonstrate and have them act it out when they feel negatively attributed and catch that red flag in my mind and heart, and refuse to carry the weight of others and practice what stops that negativity in me in its tracks: finding the good in the other. I see you as nice people, all y’all. I’ll just leave this thread hanging because I can’t carry more than I do. Makeup turned into this. I’ll try to be more careful in the future. Hope you’ll forgive me. Gddam it, I said"try." “Trying is lying” are the words kids will recognize as mine. Sorry to offend.
Oh, before I’m gone, you used another great middle school irrationality. “Always” and “never” don’t exist in this reality we call life. There is no always. Negative attribution. Read the article if you dare.
Boys have been wearing makeup , in my memory, since the 80’s. Boy George liberated a lot of looks when I was in HS. Yeah, personal preference. You do you. All I can really ask. Middle schoolers have major reservations about being themselves. Why you get the, oft adorable, attempts at new looks, name changes, etc.
This goes back much further than the 80s. David Bowie & others did this in the late 60s / early 70s. That doesn’t mean it was acceptable or ‘smart’ doing so as some rando in some podunk town, nor is it safe now. Probably even less so. But that would veer into the political.
I enjoy putting on makeup bc it’s the equivalent of blinging out my face, and I like shiny things. Plus it’s almost necessary on stage due to the lighting.
Should see a 7th grade girl come right in the door , hair fresh curled, and hear “you look great!” Same with a boy with a new look. The fact that you notice them every day and say their names, every day, is what works in the long haul. Whatever they believe, look like, listen to, want otta life, pray for, have faith in…that’s the butter. Not tricky. Hear 'em. Kinda what you do for a living, too, no?
Not sure what it is you think that I do — besides absolutely excelling at being a friend & letting people be who they want to be… unless they’re being assholes, bullies, gaslighters, virtue signalers, or similarly unpleasant folk. Those I just give a wide berth.
Don’t get me started. I have a lot of Bowie vinyl. Love him, always. Boy was late in the shaw; but he pushed it up a little further. “Ashes to Ashes” was among the first videos I recorded on the ole VHS. Yes, I’m elderly.
Translation work has slowed down significantly. EN/GER/EN isn’t a very rare combo, and plenty of translation farms offer rates I won’t work for. Add to that the beautiful AI.
Thankfully, it’s just one of many hats I wear, though none of them are lucrative by any means.
I have to find the words that work for them. I translate E-S,S-E a lot, but an older fart talking to kids needs to find the right words at the right time. Makeup has been used since forever. One of my grads is a theatre makeup artist. He’s so far out east, I can’t go to see his work.
A tale of two 
