Cecilyinmemphis’s Weblog

10 Worst Crime Cities

In 2007, Memphis ranked second in violent crime per capita in cities of more than 500,000 people.

1. Detroit: 2,286*

2. Memphis: 1,950

3. Baltimore: 1,631

4. Nashville: 1,509

5. Philadelphia: 1,475

6. Milwaukee: 1,403

7. Indianapolis: 1,234

8. Houston: 1,132

9. Boston: 1,155

10. Dallas: 1,069

* Number of violent crimes per 100,000 people.

Awesome!  I live in the second most dangerous city in the country!

I find it so fascinating how truly obsessed we are with celebrities.

It’s not just Americans, but all across Europe, Asia, Australia…it really encompasses the full gamut.  Why is it that we always have updates about who celebrities are dating, if they are too fat or too skinny, who is pregnant, who is in rehab…this type of information is literally front page news in some instances!  In the bigger scheme of things, how is the birth of Jessica Alba’s baby fall just under gas prices and before floods in Wisconsin?  How is this big news that we cannot live without?

Of course on the other hand, there is full blown obsession.  For example, I occasionally check www.imdb.com for updates on what movies certain actors and actresses are filming.  I checked one guy in particular to see what upcoming projects he was slated for, and saw at the bottom that there were discussion boards about his current love life.  Apparently he was engaged for a few months and then suddenly broke it off.  These “discussion forums” were filled with speculation and controversy and I began to get a little curious as to how far this reaches.  So I did a google search and, wow, it was frightening to see the sheer amount of INSANITY that is out there.  This actor is a TV actor who has a show with another guy who plays his brother.  There are sites dedicated to the possibility that he and his brother co-star are actually lovers.  There are sites dedicated to the star and his ex-fiancé with messages about how they were too perfect and why did they break up and what was more scary, was that now that he is single, some think they have a chance.  There are over 6 million pages on this one guy who is not considered an A-list celebrity.

Are our lives that empty that we really think we as normal people have a chance with celebrities?  There is about a .01% chance this would ever happen, people, and I’m not saying that to be harsh.  Why do we entertain these fantasies that somehow, magically, one day, we might happen to run into a famous person and they will fall in love with us?  Why do we care who is hooking up and who is pregnant and who is on crack?  Why do we spend so much time (and money!!) on this kind of nonsense?  We all do it in some form or another.  Whether it is checking online sites for gossip or watching TV shows like Access Hollywood or standing in line at the grocery store and reading the latest US Weekly, we all are very curious about the lifestyles of the rich and famous.  I do it, too (my lunch breaks usually entail going to Barnes and Noble to read In Touch and People) and it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but let’s be honest. 

We do this because it is hard to admit sometimes that our lives are so very ordinary.

Or because we need to escape from the stresses of life and our jobs and families.

Or because secretly (or not secretly) we envy them and how most of them don’t have the kinds of stresses and burdens that we deal with daily.  And we somehow wish we could get a break like they did. 

Whatever the reason, it is very obvious that for some, celebrity obsession is a lifestyle, not just a curiosity.