"Addicted to Celebrities"

"Fame after death is the noblest of goals," says Beowulf, right before he goes off to tangle with Grendel's mother.

(No, not that Grendel's mother!)

Well, what good is fame going to do us after death, that's what I'd like to know. I just gave you an article by spoilsport Chris Hedges, who argues that our current obsession with fame is not good for us -- it fills us with false values and distracts us from important things.

But then I came across this article, which clued me into a phenomenon of which I was wholly unaware -- "haul videos". Apparently there are young girls who go out shopping, and then post videos on YouTube about what they buy. I watched the one about Blair all the way through -- man, does that girl ever stop talking -- but I have to give her credit: jeans for $6.99? I've paid as much as $35.00 for a pair of jeans. And the girl obviously has something on the ball -- she has makes and post these videos on two YouTube channels, some of them are tutorials and not just hauls. I just wonder where's she's going to be in ten years. Is this enough to build a life on? Or maybe it's just a hobby.

And click on the link for SoCal Ashley Danielle. It turns out fame can be a bummer. Ashley's been getting all these negative comments from people (including mothers, apparently), calling her a spoiled brat. She doesn't mind if poeple call her ugly, but it hurts her when people criticize her personality, because, she says, despite these videos about clothes and makeup, she's more concerned with what's on the inside than on the outside.

Anyway, I found the article interesting, and the videos, in a strange way, fascinating.