i'll never be picture perfect beyonce

so, pretty much, 2009 sucked for me. maybe it's because i had such high expectations. you know, change i can believe in, graduating from college, commencing life as a non-academic adult, etc. i thought this would be the year i could forget the rest of my life had ever even happened. you know, a year of clarity, renewal, evolution, and pure, unadulterated awesomeness, and i would be able to leave behind hurt, insecurity, and other assorted weaknesses. yeah...no. if anything, everything i wanted to let go ended up being magnified by trazillions. it was essentially a year of emotional/psychological terrorism perpetrated by others, tragic choices of my own making, with some circumstantial shenanigans out of my control thrown in for good measure.

however, i did learn some ish.

*moving to a city where a lot of people have the same ambitions as you in the middle of a recession is perhaps not the smartest idea.

*making a 19 year old endure 30 seconds of awkwardness is far more offensive than beating one's girlfriend. (I'M SORRY, KANYE. I OVERREACTED. I LOVE YOU AND 808s AND HEARTBREAK IS STILL AMAZING. chris brown, you still suck. so do your new songs. and learn how to speak, you undereducated, inarticulate wanker.)

*poor people don't deserve access to quality health care.

*because of barack obama's election, racism is officially eradicated.

*it is nearly impossible to give a tour of the us capitol without getting lost.

*"dirty diana" is the most epic michael jackson song of all time. OF ALL TIME.

*the phrase "we're not having sex tonight" is apparently not as clear as one might think.

*it is possible to rock heels in snow/ice and not take a tumble.

*every time i'm home for an extended period of time, i discover a new sex-oriented blog and feel compelled to read every single entry. maybe it's because for me, phoenix is a champagne room...if you don't get that reference, we will never be legitimate friends. :/

*knocking up an infamous governor's teenage daughter somehow entitles you to fame. seriously, why do i know who levi johnston is? and why was there demand to see his penis? america, can we get some standards? he isn't even cute. well, he's cute in that taylor lautner way...which is to say, paper bag status.

*you can have a 4-year intensely public meltdown, but then repair your image/career enough to go on a worldwide sold-out arena tour (because it's britney, bitch).

*any vaguely attractive woman has a shot to hit it with tiger woods. emphasis on the "vaguely", by the way.

*you have to be your own best friend to survive. others will, intentionally or not, destroy any part of yourself that you choose to put out there for their consumption. so you have to be able to comfort yourself, empower yourself, have fun with yourself, and make yourself feel special. if you leave that up to other people..no, just don't. thank you, 2009, for constantly reinforcing this.

*3008 > 2000 and late.

yo, next decade, i'ma let you finish, but just to let you know, the '00s was pretty awesome at the whole wrecking spirits thing, so you shouldn't even try to top it. the game needs changing, so be the cashier. let this recession peace out, let this world stop resisting progress, let people be good to themselves, and good to each other. and if you could possibly obliterate the existence of uggs, twilight, and glenn beck, that would be great.

xoxo.

i'm sensitive. when i'm hurt, i'm deeply hurt. i've gotten increasingly better at hiding it, glossing over it with humor and perkiness and engrossing myself in everyone else's lives to distract myself. sometimes i slip and crack, and emo jasmine is on display, and then people don't know how to talk to me, which i understand, but it still upsets me. but i shut it down, and turn on the charm again. because being sad is not cool. it's not cute. it's for emo losers. and i mean, "jasmine fierce" is supposed to present herself as FIERCE. she wears ridiculous hair accessories and heels even when it's snowing and goes camping in dresses and looks down on unstylish weirdos and worships beyonce and is kind of funny and doesn't let things like emotions slow her roll. it's so hard maintaining that, because when i feel pain, i feel it so profoundly and for prolonged periods of time. it takes forever for me to let anything go and move on. the stupidest, most minute events can trigger me into a spiral of bummed-outness.

for example, today, i saw that the first virginia boy to mindscrew me added this REALLY HOT girl as a friend on facebook. gorgeous hair, nice makeup, banging body (which she was showing off in a cami and underwear). of course, i compared myself to her and came up short, for i am merely "a'ight", and that's on a good day, and that was a tad/a lot misery-inducing. so what did i do? i made a facebook status about how if i had a hot body, i'd be nudie all the time, to the detriment of any kind of personality. even though what i really wanted to do was curl up into the fetal position and bawl my eyes out, for what could have been between me and va boy, what isn't, and what i will never be (a hot, sexy, seductive woman). all of that from a simple newsfeed update.

it's probably for the best that i have some semblance of a sense of humor. because i feel like with every second i exist, i am this close to stuffing my coat with rocks and drowning myself in a river.

emotions are difficult. and all the hot girls in the world? i love you, but you hurt my feelings with your hotness.