PrettyThin

July was a fairly slow month on the homepage. From one perspective anyway. We went through a website redesign, some madness over the banner change, a lot of confusion and opinion over color options, and though not a lot of words found there way on here, a lot of words, debate, and opinions swirled around like a hurricane across the site.

The artist who created the original of the paining above is Brian M Viveros. Check out his stuff. I figure as we're ending this month, I won't say too much and allow pictures to bring about emotions, reactions, ad conversation. Enjoy the rest of the month. August...hopefully new adventures await us all.

James

PrettyThin has been around for a little while. It's not the only site out there. It's certainly not the first nor will it be the last. PrettyThin will be here for as long as it can, for those who desire it; for those who rely on it.

But I think it's fair to say a couple things about PrettyThin. Not so much about what it is, but about what it is not...

PrettyThin is not a place where we disrespect one another. If you don't hav the maturity to discuss ideas without personally putting down another individual, I have one word for you: leave. You don't want to leave? Learn to respect others or I will find the door for you.

Disagree - such things are common in life; I often think they are what keeps the race moving forward. We disagree, we contemplate, we reevaluate, we define opinions and ourselves and continue to grow. I face disagreement all the time. Forget PT....I deal with it personally and professionally as part of who I am in both these worlds. But never in any of these disagreements have I disrespected somebody.

There is no Love in disrespect. It's as false as an adulterers love. It's rotten. It's selfish.

Perceptions on respect and the lack of respect vary. There is an entire discipline that studies the complexity of conflicts and their resolution. But there are certain things that go beyond any subjective interpretation. Certain words carry with them a label that can be interpreted in no other way than disrespect. It's a small set of works in our vocabulary. A small set of words in context of the 10,000+ words people use to express themselves.

PrettyThin DOES NOT welcome those who use those words regarding other people. If you call anyone on this site one of those words, you will not have an account on PrettyThin. And if you call me those words, the same applies.

The past is the past. Moving forward, this is what PrettyThin is.

To clarify - you can use whatever words you like on PT and talk about ANYTHING you like on PT, until it encroaches on the person of another. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees freedom of speech...to a limit. That limit is often illustrated by the concept that "your first stops where my nose starts." Swing away....but I will not allow PrettyThin to be an arena within which members swing away at each other.

Updated July 4, 2011
Voting has begun for a new tagline. Cast yours if you care to.

Updated July 2, 2011
Yes, I'm making a few design changes. Nope, I'm not done. It will look a lot more like it did before once I'm done.

One cool new feature. Double click any word on the site and see what happens :-)
It will find relevant content as well as images. Welcome to PrettyThin2.0

I have to admit that I was PrettyLame last month when it came to updating the site. No excuses - though I could throw a few out there. At the end of the day it really comes down to what you do and what you don't do. I remind myself of that all the time; being in the industry that I am, it's all about what you contribute to the world around you. The world will judge you - the world will challenge you - the world will misunderstand you - but who you are, who you truly are, is not defined by others false, adulterate eyes. For example, I'm terrible at spelling and even worse at proofreading. And that's just on the surface...

You are that you are; you're true beauty comes from the essence of your being and is reflected through your actions. So last month....James = Lame. This month, I hope James = (something else).

I'm about to go out to a barbeque. America is celebrating it's independence. The day is upon us when those Yanks of old kicked the Brits out for charging too many taxes and telling them how to live their lives. Well, not much has changed... I still pay taxes and am still told what to do, just by another government and another system, and somehow these new rulers have convinced us that it is all in the name of justice, freedom, and liberty. I feel pretty free and liberated without them, but I suppose I've never really lived in a world where they didn't exist.

For some it's all wonderful; for others it's horrid; for me it just is.

But I think for many - for those who love it or hate it - it defines who they are. The system within which we live constructs who we are. I suppose I fall into that same cycle from time to time where I let my surroundings define me. Sometimes I even let my desires take control, and then I am a product of them. But I try not to let it define me. I hope to be something else - not something that is in constant battle over my actions and thoughts, but something that feels in tune with what resonates within me. Even if through simple gestures; the ink that is now a part of my body, my desire to be a graffiti artist like Bansky and a nut-job like Sartre, Nietzsche, or Dali; a person who doesn't cheer for a sports team simply because they come from my back yard; independent of borders and barriers; free most of all from definitions that others have set up for me: what it means to be successful...what it means to be professional...what it means to be adult...what it means to be beautiful. It's all illusion, a story set in motion by someone else within the greatest illusion of all - our current state of reality. I wish to move within my own...free.

Today I'm celebrating my desire to be independent. To forge my own path; to define my own successes and periods in life. Judge me...misunderstand me...call me rotten or weak or lost. Maybe I am. I don't claim to know. I do claim to aspire to something greater.

At the end of my days I hope they put a mirror in front of me so that in those final moments I can stare right back into my own eyes and be able to say "you did well. You were the person you wanted to be. Rest now..."

Stay Beautiful my friends, on your own terms.
Find balance and peace in your own way.
Seek fulfillment and live your life intensely for you.
For no one else will share of your spoils nor feel the joy you will feel.
But by being you - by being true to yourself - and seeking to grow, you will make the world a better place. Simply by being...

Be.

Me?

Post Script - Member Photos is being worked on. I know you haven't see progress, but it is.
Post Post Script - Bracelets and merchandise announcement to come after the weekend. They are still on sale on the Unity page; I have the supplies and will make the first ones this weekend to share with everyone. Shipping soon... 

Want to learn more about Pro-Ana? Here are some stories and letters about pro-ana and how they pertain to PrettyThin.

(Update - this didn't last long - less than an hour)

I just turned PrettyThin pink. I did it for a reason.

Close your eyes for a second and ask yourself - have you changed?
Turn off the computer and go change your shirt. Have you changed?
Stand up, turn around 6 times really quick until you're dizzily. Have you changed?

In a way, in every one of these cases, you did change. And with the shirt change, I don't mean "change" as in changing your shirt; there is something about you that truly does change. When you go out, you wear different things to feel different ways. Maybe not "you," but people…the general public. I think it ridiculous that men wear these tailors suits and colorful ties and polished shoes, and they are now somehow more professional. It reminds me the military. Brainwashed to think that if you look a certain way - that if you're peacock'ed out - you're somehow a better person. A prettier person. A stronger person. A cooler person.

And yet, shed all of it…shed everything, all those accessories and jewelry and clothes and jump in the shower. Are you a different person now? Does your appearance really define you?

I know, for me, it's a difficult thing to answer, because somehow, it really does. The shirts, the pants, the boots, the gel I wear in my hair, all of them somehow "make" me. But it's sad, isn't it?

PrettyThin is Pink right now. If it defines you - if it defines me - if the color pink somehow changes who we are as a community, then we're nothing. Maybe this is why there is racism in the world even still. Why we judge people based on the clothes they wear rather than who they really are.

So who are you? Who are we? I dare you to sit naked for the rest of the night. Turn your web cam off!!!! But I dare you to not define who you are by the decorations. Define them by you - nothing more….nothing less - simply you….