by Lexine

The Power Of Beauty

Penelope Cruz photographed by the late, great Herb Ritts for US Vogue, March 2001

When this cover hit newsstands 25 years ago this month, I gasped in awe. Not because of topless Penelope–that part didn’t catch my eye, actually. But it was the sultry pulchritude of Penelope with the blurb “The Power Of Beauty” that did. For as long as I’ve been reading women’s/fashion magazines, plenty of them, but especially Anna Wintour’s Vogue, have often touted beige-skinned, blue-eyed blondes with the thin lips and thinner hips as the “beauty ideal”. As a gullible teen who was none of that, there were times when those discriminating messages got to me. (Looking back at that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the ass-backwards rich white males that owned Conde Nast and Hearst influenced that racist bullshit in my fashion/women’s titles.) 

Then here comes Penelope, with her dark hair, brown eyes, sunkissed skin, and full lips, fronting Vogue’s March 2001 issue. Her look was the antithesis of the Paltrows and Kidmans of Hollywood, and I adored her upon first sight. Penelope instantly joined my list of beauty idols of the time: Lucy Liu (the lone female Asian star at the time), Jessica Alba, Tyra Banks, and Catherine Zeta-Jones (who would get her own Vogue cover later that year), to name a few. I think I bought two copies of that issue–one to read and one that I left sealed in its plastic wrapping for keepsakes. (These were days when Vogue’s March and September issues were, like, 700 pages and came with a supplemental issue, thus the plastic wrapping). I still have both issues to this day. 

By the way, I remember reading the readers’ letters of that issue (remember those sections?), and one reader did complain about Penelope being topless on the cover. For me, I found it a lot more tasteful and classy than, oh, Melania Trump wearing a full wedding gown on her cover in 2005. And don’t get me started on those who later got Vogue covers that shouldn’t have gotten them in the first place *cough*Nicki*cough*

(Side note: this could be the last month I do these throwback magazine cover posts, but if I find something good for next month…👀)

by Lexine

Pics From The 107 Days Book Tour (Oakland, CA)

I almost passed up on attending this event. It was two weeks ago when I found out MVP Kamala Harris scheduled an event in her hometown for her 107 Days Book Tour. My initial reason for not needing to attend was that I had already seen her, albeit for free and unexpectedly, and how could I beat that? In the two weeks since, well…plenty has happened here in the States. And I had a feeling Harris wanted to talk about all that, so I went!

 

It was a lot more packed at the event than this pic shows
A menu of the drinks served.

I didn’t get to see that drinks menu until after the event, and if I only knew they had mocktails, I would’ve gone for that!

Sign that tells attendees that our likeness can be used in any way for the event, that they may own it “for eternity”, and that we can’t sue the venue for this.
Our should-be First Gentleman, Doug Emhoff (Harris’ husband)
View of the stage from my balcony seats

 

She’s back! My President has returned!! If a smile was energy, hers could power all of the Bay Area for days.

Close-up of MVP Harris in discussion
Harris listening to Congressman Simon

Plenty was talked about. How Congressman Simon (who moderated the event) first knew Harris. MVP’s days as a prosecutor in SF and rising up all the way to Vice-President. The Orange guy (of course), his “totalitarian” regime, the new war he started, and his “feckless” ways. (I like how she said that feckless was the only “F” word she could say as there were kids present at the event. Now I wonder what would’ve been said had it been an 18+ over event 😆) She also spoke about voter suppression, ICE raids in Minneapolis and elsewhere, her experiences while touring the South in the past year, and how all this chaos we’re witnessing in real time has been decades in the making.

However, my favorite part of the event was when Harris answered questions from the audience. Two of them came from adolescents. The first teen recently lost her mother to cancer, and MVP told them while it’s always tough to lose a loved one, what can’t be taken away are the moments they’ve shared together. The second teen wants to organize his peers to vote when they can, and how to proceed with it. Everyone applauded him and Harris told that him to “remember” that applause, because there could be a time when his idea may be met with no support. 🥹

It’s that kind of encouragement to our youth alone that make me go…goddammit, she really should’ve been President. Like, she could’ve still done a book tour, but her book would’ve had a different ending and she would’ve held the tour four or eight years from now. Alas, the racism, misogyny, and willful ignorance that still plague this country…

One thing I’m glad I didn’t see were hecklers, as there were none (I’m pleased to report). I legit was ready to cuss them out! Didn’t even see any protestors outside, which was a relief because, mind you, Oakland is right next to both Berkeley and SF, both of which has its fair share of antisemitic idiots that still–in the year of our fascist 2026–think she and Biden are responsible for the mess in Gaza.

Now, go check your voter registration, everyone. MVP said so! If you want to restore democracy, make sure you’re still registered to vote for it!

by Lexine

Puck Those Guys

I’d leave it at this, but I feel like I need to put in my two cents, too (even if I already said enough about it on my Bluesky 😆)

I had been a fan of the pro men’s hockey league since 2009, and I tossed my fan card into the trash last summer when the pro-Trump Florida Panthers won another Stanley Cup. In between those times, I had witnessed some ugly things come out of an otherwise fun sport to watch. Tim Thomas skipping his White House visit during the Obama years when his Bruins won the Cup in 2011. The rampant racism that black players faced, despite the league promoting the message that “Hockey Is For Everyone”. (My grown ass!) Coaches harassing players, getting fired from their job, only to work as head coach again a few years later.  The sexual assault scandal that tainted the Blackhawks championship teams. Watching teams celebrate their Stanley Cup wins with Trump during the late 2010s, thinking it was no big deal. (Seeing the Penguins–my team–do that was a big blow, to say the least.) Seeing players, coaching staff, and even general managers out themselves as MAGA.

And yet I kept watching the sport. I was a sucker. But this sucker knew that the league wasn’t going to keep me as a fan for long if they kept staying ignorant to their white male privilege. Then the Panthers chose to celebrate their 2024 Cup win with the rapist pedo convicted felon in 2025, and then won another Cup months later. (They went back to visit the Fascist Grandpa again, by the way.) Not a single person in the league (not even broadcasters) spoke out against them. That summer of 2025, amidst ICE raids and blue cities like Los Angeles facing terrorism from Trump’s lackeys, I became a former fan of the men’s pro league.

Before everyone found out the US Men’s Hockey Team were a bunch of MAGA chuds, I had seen Bluesky posts from accounts that I thought were anti-MAGA being stoked over the men’s team winning Gold. (Because USA! USA!, y’know. 😒) I could tell who didn’t closely follow hockey, because if they knew about the Tkachuk goofies at least, they would not have given props to that team in the first place. But I knew. It’s why I chose not to root for them the entire time (a move that I think is aging well). I knew what would happen if the men’s team went all the way: they’d be insufferable, the closeted MAGAts would be out in the open, and they’d likely visit the Convicted Felon’s White House. What I didn’t know, however, was how quick they would all out themselves as MAGA to the rest of the world. Like, literally minutes after they got their Gold medals, when Psycho Eyes Patel started partying with them in the locker room. Even the “good guys” Hughes brothers laughed at that Trump phone call that mocked the women’s team. And just because a few of them chose not to go to the White House doesn’t absolve them from laughing at that phone call and getting drunk with Psycho Eyes. The Category 5 damage has been done. Every single person on that US men’s hockey team has shown who they are in 4K and what they support. And they support everything the Trump regime supports: fascism, bigotry, racism, sexism, homophobia/transphobia, rape culture, tariffs, ICE raids, misinformation masked as “news”, the quackery of RFK Jr., the rich getting richer, the economy going to hell, the death of fact-based journalism, and the deaths of Keith Porter Jr., Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and others killed by ICE. Among many other vile things. That’s your Gold medalists US Men’s Hockey team, everyone.

I’m done with those incels on ice. If you still like the sport of hockey, the PWHL is back. Show them your support!

 

by Lexine

The Time I Saved A Life

Five years ago yesterday (according to my Google Photos), I got the first of the two original Covid vaccines. But me getting the vax is not why I gave this entry its title. What took place two days before that is why. And anytime loud noise is involved, I remember the moment more.

I had woken up all of a sudden around 4AM on Valentine’s Day, 2021, to loud banging on the walls. It came from the side of a neighbor who was an old, former homeless drug addict (he told me so) but had been sober for years. (Only vice he had was smoking cigarettes.) The noises weren’t consistent, but that he kept banging on the walls (it sounded like he was hitting the walls with something?) every other minute drove me to call & email my then-property manager about it. It’s always a horrid inconvenience to have your sleep interrupted, but worse when you also have to wake up early that day for both a Covid testing (to make sure I didn’t have “The Rona” before getting my Covid shot) and work (I worked a temp job during pandemic lockdown).

I turned up my sleep noise machine (which I must always have on when I hit the hay), put on some earplugs, and managed to get a little bit of sleep before needing to wake up at 7am. While I was at the drive-thru for Covid testing, my property manager emailed me back. Here was her reply:

The gasp that I gasped in my car when I read that. I had no clue my neighbor had an emergency. I had to report him over noise disturbances in the past, but what happened to him that early morning was unusual. (His previous noise issues were things he could’ve controlled, like turning down his TV or music player, or not talking to himself too loudly.) I later talked with my property manager about this, and she told me he had a heart attack that morning.

(By the way, I was surprised that I didn’t make a single spelling or grammatical error in my 4AM email to my property manager. I thought there’d be at least some incoherence in my email that was written when I was half-awake.)

While my neighbor survived that incident, he would sadly pass away a year later. I found out from another neighbor that he passed away (of a stroke, unfortunately) while I was out-of-town for a few days. It’s a shame, but I felt like his fate was inevitable. Even after that heart attack, the guy still kept smoking till the very end. Dude just didn’t care. Just as sad was finding out he didn’t get a proper leave–no funeral or wake whatsoever.

RIP to my neighbor. 🕊️

To this day, I’m still that chick who will say something if I see or hear something (unusual or suspect). Who knows–it could end up saving another life.

by Lexine

A Prince-ly Valentine’s

I’ve been listening to Prince the past couple of days, and it’s fitting I’m still in the mood for His Purple Badness on this Valentine’s Day. 💜❤️

(Side note: I first heard this song from the OG Beavis & Butthead run, and their commentary on this song will ruin your mood…from lots of laughing! Don’t ask what they thought the music video had a close-up of.)

(The guitar at the end of this is delicious.) 

I’ll end this on an upbeat note…

The ultimate Serve in one video & song: vocals, instruments, beats, clothes, face, and HAIR! 

By the way, remember the days of YouTube when it was beyond tough to find a Prince song on the site because he was that protective of his work (and rightfully so)? 

I also have my own story on him that I’ll share as it gets close to the anniversary date of it. (No, I never knew him personally, but it’s still a cool story.) In the meantime, have a Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!🩷

by Lexine

Happy 4th Ketoversary!

Me in January 2022, as I was starting out on the keto train.
Me today, four years into going low-carb!

 

Has it been four years (and a month) since I started going low-carb?

Prior to that, I–who had been in double-digit size clothing since my teen years–had tried many things to get rid of the excess blubber. Skipping meals. Eating only vegetables for dinner. Lots of exercise. Slim Fast. “Weight loss teas.” Even Hydroxycut before it got pulled off the shelves. Nothing worked. And while I’ve heard of low-carb eating since the 2000s, I originally scoffed at the idea. I knew I was addicted to starches, but little did I know that “healthy” foods like potatoes, rice, and low-fat crackers were making me gain weight.

I originally tried keto out back in January 2022 to do what some others had vowed for their New Year’s resolution: to lose weight. To my surprise, cutting out refined carbs and sugar ended up working for me. By the end of 2022, I had worn a size two. A size two! I had not been in single-digit sizes in all of my adulthood. And I did all this without the assistance of drugs (Ozempic who?!) or surgery or even skipping meals. Sheeit, I was eating a lot more fat than usual, the only exercise I did (outside of my physical job) was walking and yoga, and the pounds kept coming off. 😭

I’ve since gained some weight, but I’m still maintaining and still in single-digit sizes (4-6 petite). I’m more low-carb than keto these days. Still, no cheat meals and I refuse to fall off the wagon. I can eat a bit of a baguette or regular chocolate, but just a bit. And the big (pardon the expression) reason why you’ll no longer see me devour Dunkin donuts or brown rice nowadays is simply because I don’t want to go back to what I was pre-low-carb. My eating habits were bad, I felt lousy, and, of course, I looked out-of-shape. My weight had been a long-time struggle of mine, and I occasionally cringe when I see throwback pics of me from, say, five, six years ago. It’s why I intend to stay the course and keep on celebrating these “keto-versaries” for as long as I can. 💪🏼

PS: YMMV with going low-carb. Refined carbs/sugars just happen to be my culprit, and I wish I knew this years ago.

by Lexine

Sir Charles

Charles Barkley on George magazine, February/March 1996

I have this issue! Got it for $1 at Half Price Books a while back. Sir Charles looking like George Washington ready to hit the hardwood sans jersey caught my eye, but knowing Barkley and how opinionated he is, I had to read his (dated) interview. Here’s a snippet of it as he talks with the late John F. Kennedy Jr. about (among other things) wanting to run for Governor of Alabama (his home state), and what he thought about the OJ Simpson verdict:

Make what you will of this 30-year-old interview. Barkley has since been more critical of Repugs while supporting Democrats lately, but if there’s one constant, he’ll always have an opinion of whatever topic you throw at him.

This issue also has an article on how the possible presidential candidates of 1996 would benefit from some plastic surgery:

Never mind what their stance is on universal health care–let’s see how they’d look if they got an acid wash!

source for cover image, article pics are mine