Pursuit of youth

MSNBC.com's Julia Sommerfeld wrote a fluff piece called "Pursuit of youth isn’t always pretty." It's a delightfully shallow photo-essay, which makes no pretense of trying to have readable prose. The text is small and squished over to the side.

So maybe "wrote" is the wrong verb there. Should I say, Julia put together a collage? Searched around for aging stars like physicists on the Hubble? The gist is that her essay is like a reader's digest version of Awful Plastic Surgery (with the added bonus of decent design and formatting).

She interviewed Dr. Tony Youn, a Michigan-based board-certified plastic surgeon, and asked him to weigh in on aging stars and guess what plastic surgery they may or may not have had (none of whom he sees as patients). That's right. They're not even sure. Or if they are, they're not willing to get sued. Take it or leave it: these are aging stars, and we're not even sure they went under the knife.

The end result, to me, is interesting as a reflection on age and aging, and how far we're willing to push the boundaries of teenage-dom. It's creepy to see the slow, inexorable decay of familiar faces. Some of them morph into melting barbie doll faces (Bruce Jenner much?). It drags down America's pseudo-pantheon in a rude yet humanizing reality check ― no amount of money or fame can save you from death.

Or you know, just enjoy flipping through the good, the bad, and the ugly.Johnny Depp's gaunt cheeks: a sure sign of impending scurvy. Aaaaargh!

Sheryl Crow's ridiculous resistance to aging: natural stubbornness or chemical peel?

This Wayne Newton guy is allegedly famous. Be sure to print this out and present it to your children as a case study of a face that GOT STUCK THAT WAY. Then be sure to email him danke schoen for the obedient kids.