Just Jeans.

I am experiencing a fashion crises again. I have those once in while, often when the seasons change. As a typical woman, I love clothes and I love the idea of putting together outfits that just work, because they are unusual in colours and style. Well, these days all I can decide on wearing with certainty each morning are my jeans. I wonder how many people out there do not own at least one pair of jeans. Even more interesting would be to know, how many do. This must be by far the most successful piece of attire ever created. Sturdy, durable, comfortable and endlessly fashionable.

The word "jeans" comes from the French phrase bleu de Gênes, literally meaning the blue of Genoa. Jeans fabric, or denim, originated independently in two places: the French town of Nîmes, which denim owes its name to; and in India, where trousers made of denim material were worn by the sailors of Dhunga, which came to be known as dungarees.

Traditionally, jeans are dyed to a blue color using indigo dye. Initially, blue jeans were work trousers worn by factory workers during World War II. Popularized by Hollywood and movies such as the Rebel Without a Cause, blue jeans became a symbol of youth rebellion during the 1950s. As the decade passed, the relaxed atmosphere of the 60's made wearing of blue jeans more acceptable and by the 70's, they became a general fashion, at least for informal wear.

I myself have owned many pairs of jeans in my life and many different brands and types as well. Even today I wear them almost every day. When I was in my early twenties, with the arrival of Cable TV to Scandinavia in the 80's, Levi's sultry and sensual commercials made jeans an absolutely sought after item. These adds even launched carriers of young actors and performers, such as Brad Pitt and Nick Kamen.

The below is a favorite Levi's commercial of mine from that decade. Featuring a Levi's classic with a classic tune and sensual theme, it feels as timeless as a pair of jeans.

Annoying Voice.

For a few months now, I have been experiencing something very odd with my computer. I use a mac laptop and it has been talking to me. Talking might not be the right word actually; shouting out would be more appropriate. When I least expected it, a very desperate, scary voice would come out of the speakers yelling in the most terrifying way; "Oh my god, no way!"

To begin with, I ignored it. I even thought at first that I imagined it. It used to happen only a couple of times a week at first, but then it started to happen almost every day. That strange sentence gave me the chills. Finally I decided to investigate.

There could be several possibilities explaining the source. The worst one would be that my computer has been infected with a virus or spy-ware. That thought was definitely a very unpleasant one. Another possibility could be some strange adds that would pop up in the windows opened in my browser. Those "interactive" ones, that so often startle me. Those that will start talking or playing music, as soon as the mouse cursor runs over them. I have even experienced one that was truly surreal; each time my cursor passed the add, a slapping sound could be heard and the face of a man shown in the add looked as if it has been beaten up. Although it amused me to begin with, I found it quiet quickly terribly distasteful. It was an add for a car dealership; I guess they must be getting desperate with the decline in their sales.

But back to the scary voice. Finally, last week, I did one sensible thing left to do: a google search. And behold, many out there have been experiencing the exact problems with the computers shouting out this odd sentence. And the culprit is a "Smiley Add". A pop up add that appears on my webmail, advertising for a site where one can download animated smileys. The funny thing is that the voice is not triggered by the cursor, so how it comes on remains a mystery to me. One, which I have to accept and live with, as well as the annoying sound. Or the alternative is to stop checking my email.