Mixed Messages

First, the obligatory SATC post-game analysis:

Sharp, smart, witty writing, thoughtful acting, believable character development, and an honest portrayal of relationships. MPK, SJP, you done us proud. Finally somebody stops trying to shove the stereotypical happy ending down our throats.

And then there were the outfits. The color shocking, pattern mixing, sandal wielding, studs featuring, coif wrangling, bluebird perching outfits! Patricia Field understands fashion better than anybody: its capacity for pure, exuberant self-expression, whether your vehicle is Gucci or Goodwill. By the time the credits hit, I wanted to run home, swaddle myself in celebratory rainbow-flavored shantung and spend the rest of the weekend recombining my separates.

But oh, the hangover! Fashion and sustainability are inherently at odds (no matter how many Rogan Gregory pills you swallow). I guess I had hoped to cure myself of the former in order to be true to the latter. But at this point, that seems about as likely as Naomi Campbell becoming a nice person.

At heart, I'm an all-or-nothing kind of girl. Every new tidbit I gather about the state of our world pushes me closer to the edge of the proverbial grid. To wit: in light of TOD, I've been running around all weekend alerting innocent strangers (and ever-patient friends) of the evil empire of number two corn, and threatening HCB with dismissal if he dares touch another piece of feedlot-raised beef to his villainously mustachioed lips.

When what's at stake is nothing less than our collective future, accepting half measures like organic industrial farming or rabid consignment shopping seems foolhardy. But what's the alternative? How do I--how do we--save ourselves without losing our sense of self? And our access to chocolate?