The Sisterhood of the Destructive Sororities

Thanks to a friendly email this afternoon I was brought up to speed on an epidemic facing Ohio universities and the Greek Life that calls them home.  The epidemic is stupidity and it's completely undoing a system that I give a lot of credit too.

Yesterday afternoon some college (and current) friends of mine were watching the worst movie ever, Sorority Row.  Besides the SPOILER ALERT murdering valedictorian, there were a lot of untruths.  Keggers in a Sorority House? Dream on.  Gun-totting House Mom? Doubtful.  Renovations on a new wing? Hahahahahaha.  We got a new couch once. 

Anyway, we found ourselves wondering how Panhel deals with these movies? What do they do when they're offended by how Greek life is portrayed?  I was offended that any house, even a fictional one would ever let Audrina from the Hills wear their letters! 

Back to Ohio. I've been out of college almost four years and in that four years I feel as if the demographics of sororities has completely changed.  Sure we had our sluts and our lushes but that's just college.  I tend to think that the ABC Family show Greek is a great representation of Greek life at today's universities, minus the elaborate theme parties - we had them but we were pretty makeshift. 

Maybe that's not the case anymore.  Four Ohio Sororities are in big trouble for not only vandalism at every party venue between Dayton and West Virginia but also for VERY public sex and other nasty things that should really be kept private.  Two of those Sororities are at Miami, one at Dayton and one at my very own Ohio University where one sorority is being sued almost $50K. 

Way to keep it classy ladies. 

Greek Life Death Watch at Ohio University

Sigma Chi

SAE

Phi Mu

Delt

Fiji

and coming soon, Pi Phi

Links:
Third Ohio sorority in trouble over wild partying, The Associated Press
Sorority Girls Gone Wild, The Smoking Gun

Kiss On My List

Over the weekend I went and saw the screening of Letters to Juliet. I’m a hopeless romantic, following in the order of Nora Ephron, the Patron Saint of Rom-Com’s. Due to the lack of actual romance in my life, I get my fix from 80’s and 90’s staples as well as from some of the classics, The Apartment (“Shut up and deal,”) Roman Holiday and Sabrina.

Letters to Juliet begins with a lovely montage of classical art portraying The Kiss. Yes, The Kiss. Capital “T” Capital “K”. I immediately swooned, because, as noted above I’m a hopeless romantic. My hand goes to my cheek and my heart flutters. I’ve never looked at myself in a mirror while watching a romantic comedy but I’m pretty sure I blush as well. I literally can’t handle myself.

This got me thinking about a recent class I took talking about early film. One of the first films shown commercially to the public was called, The Kiss.  The Kiss (1896)  is 47 seconds long and was directed by William Heise for Thomas Edison. May Irwin and John Rice re-enact the final scene of the stage musical, The Widow Jones. The film was considered a scandal and one critic even wrote that “The spectacle of the prolonged pasturing on each other's lips was beastly enough in life size on the stage but magnified to gargantuan proportions and repeated three times over it is absolutely disgusting.” I guess someone didn’t have enough kisses in his life.

The Kiss was the most popular film produced in 1896 and in 1999 the Library of Congress deemed the short “culturally significant” and it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Admittedly, the kiss is slightly awkward and could use a crescendo that usually comes with a romantic soundtrack.  As the Edison catalog noted, “"They get ready to kiss, begin to kiss, and kiss and kiss and kiss in a way that brings down the house every time." Imagine how Victorian audiences would have reacted to the beach kiss in From Here to Eternity?

Watch The Kiss Here: The May-Irwin Kiss (Edison, 1896)
And just for the heck of it, here is the beach kiss in From Here to Eternity: YouTube - From Here to Eternity

And a Silver Sixpence for Her Shoe...

I apologize to all 15 or so of my loyal blog readers. I know once a month updates just don’t cut it and I promise to try and be better. I guess I’ve been lacking inspiration lately. Either that or I’ve been so desperate to find it that I don’t leave time for much else. In either case, I’m terribly sorry and am making a conscious effort to update three times a week.

What have I been up to? In case you haven’t noticed – it’s wedding season and I’ve been having lots of fun planning with friends the wonderful things we’re going to do for the brides in our life. Naturally, this has me thinking about my own wedding which is still firmly on the Someday List. I don’t know the who, where or when but I do know the important things such as the flowers (hydrangeas) and the perfect little Bridesmaids pick-me-up…

Essie Wedding Collection Nailpolish

I know my obsession with nailpolish is incredibly well documented and I surely won’t be giving up my favorite accessory when it comes time to walk down the aisle!

These pretty hues are simple, elegant and just plain lovely. I love a good neutral and these will be tenderly placed in the hands of all the pretty ladies who no doubt will be helping me get to the Alter. Or, more likely, City Hall.

Get the collection here: Essie.com
Always a Bridesmaid? Check out this wonderful article from someone who wasn’t: The Bridesmaid's Survival Guide By MP Dunleavey

P.S. For more Wedding etiquette, check out the 5th Edition of Emily Post’s Wedding Etiquette. It’s the definitive guide and makes a great gift for the newly engaged.