"Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion" --David Bowie

Many years ago, I was on a business trip to Boston and had a little time on my hands before my conference started. So, I wandered around the streets looking at stuff. This was the era when women accessorized with a large scarf wrapped haphazardly around the neck. I passed a street vendor with some pretty scarf options and thought, why not have a souvenir of Boston? I picked out a nice black and white one. I loved it and wore it a lot.

That is, I loved it up until my sister saw it.

Sister, eyes growing wide: Oh my god! Are you wearing a keffiyeh?!
Me: ...what?
Sister, getting louder: You're wearing a keffiyeh!
Me: A what?
Sister: Don't you know what a keffiyeh is? That's what Yasser Arafat wears. Are you PLO now?!

Urg. I took it off and stuffed it in the closet and eventually gave it away. Because I wasn't trying to make a political statement, I just thought it was pretty. But Yasser? Not such a pretty fella.

Once you know something, you can't not know it. I couldn't see the scarf as pretty anymore.

[My sister may have yelled at Rachael Ray, too.]

This leads to the question du jour: Have you loved something until somebody told you something about it or just dissed it so incessantly that you couldn't love it anymore?*




* For the record, Narm, no matter how many times you tell me why Nickelback sucks, I still love them.**

** Has anybody else noticed that Daughtry and Nickelback are sounding suspiciously more and more alike? Check it.