Jessica Simpson

Easter was absolutely fine. People thought my dress was pretty (I was way over-dressed, but that's a common occurrence, not enough opportunity to get dressed up these days). They also assumed my bindi was a piece of jewelry, so no one questioned its meaning.

It was a little odd listening in on conversations about which Catholic school my boyfriend's baby niece will be going to, but that's the sort-of thing you just have to get used to in an inter-faith relationship.

Last night I was looking through my OnDemand stations and found Jessica Simpson's new show about beauty around the world. There was an episode taking place in Mumbai.

In case you haven't heard about it, this show is about Jessica Simpson and two of her friends traveling to different places around the world to learn about what that culture finds beautiful. They also try out different local beauty treatments and talk to people. I think it's a great idea.

It seems that a lot of people in America have a lack of understanding of diversity and it is so easy to get sucked into the Hollywood standard of beauty (and believe me, it's really bad if you actually live in Southern California!). It seems like it will be a great experience for Jessica Simpson to be able to learn about other standards of beauty and to bring other young girls along with her.

The Mumbai episode was a little disappointing because it was so brief and surface-level. That's how it is bound to be on a show like this, with only one episode in each place. It's too bad because there is so much complexity to India and the ideas of beauty.

Still, it did a nice job and I'm so happy to see India represented. One of Jessica Simpson's friends summed up their impression of Mumbai along the lines of, here inner beauty really matters and you can also enjoy outer beauty and can enjoy the trappings of outer beauty because it is a celebration of inner beauty. Something like that.

They also tried out a group of laughing yogis. I have never heard of this, but it looked pretty delightful, a whole group of Indian aunties and uncles just laughing uproariously in a park.

I'm looking forward to watching more episodes, but I'm curious (knowing how much was left out or not completely represented in this episode) what will be missing from the episodes I watch about cultures I am not familiar with. It might be a jumping off point for doing research and learning more.

No news yet on the India trip, but I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see if it really could be done. It's been a long time since I've wanted something this badly. I told my dad about it and he was concerned that this group would work me day and night and not let me see the sites or something like that. My mom was more excited about it. I'll let you know as soon as I know more!