Thursday, December 13, 2012

Coruscate

New excellent word: to give off flashes of light; to sparkle or glitter; or to exhibit sparkling virtuosity. Here are some of the results if you image search:


Monday, December 3, 2012

I really want to like lifestyle bloggers, but then they say stuff like "this is really becoming my go-to look!" and I can't any longer. I just can't.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Squee, you guys. I really like this :)

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Shows like South Park and Louie do a good job of using socially charged and politically incorrect humor as a way of critiquing societal and systemic norms, rather than indirectly supporting that oppression through just mindlessly regurgitating stereotypes. 

Interesting. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Just read a hilarious interview with Bill Hader on the Billfold. This has to be one of his best impressions:

Tears at work, tears at WORK

"You would tell your younger sister, or your daughter, that she was beautiful. And you wouldn't be lying, because she is. And so are you."



Thursday, August 30, 2012

Trolls

"Does free speech tend to move toward the truth or away from it? When does it evolve into a better collective understanding? When does it collapse into the Babel of trolling, the pointless and eristic game of talking the other guy into crying “uncle”? Is the effort to control what’s said always a form of censorship, or might certain rules be compatible with our notions of free speech?"

Interesting stuff, this. 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Home Reno

I'm getting pretty sick of the dingy, beige walls in my otherwise charming apartment, so I'm using my three-day weekend to repaint. So much work after you've moved in! Fortunately since the background is so light I won't have to prime but I will 1) clean the walls with vinegar and water, 2) tape the window/door frames and 3) put down two coats.

The color I'm thinking? Grey.

Julianne Moore's Home via Emily Henderson via CasaSugar

With the glossy white paint on the two window frames, double closet doors and main door, I think it will pop like this photo. Plus, can't wait to get down to some manual labor! It's the greatest cure for boredom!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Billfold

Billfold is a new-ish blog in the Hairpin/Awl family. They do a great job of posting on a variety of finance-related and topics and best of all - it's relevant in the day-to-day. I think it's the first finance journalism I've read that applies to my life and experiences directly. Read it! 


Coming Soon: Pay to Pay!:
Last week, the two payment processors and major banks agreed to pay at least $6 billion to settle a suit that alleged they conspired to fix the fees that retailers must pay them whenever customers pay with credit cards. These “interchange” or “swipe” fees are typically a portion of the amount that customers charge to their cards, thus reducing the amount that retailers ultimately pocket.
As part of the settlement, stores such as Kroger and Rite Aid for the first time will also be able to charge customers a fee for paying with a credit card.
The idea is to discourage customers from paying with credit cards, and instead pay with cash, so that retailers wouldn’t have to fork over any fees to the card-issuing banks.
This happened on Friday. And then American Banker asked a bunch of industry experts and analysts what the settlement means. A lot of them said a lot of things! But one of them said something that spoke to ME AND MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND LIFE (e tu, maybe?).
Overall, surcharging is a bad idea for merchants. Surcharging can cause consumers to think twice about their purchase at the checkout counter, but there’s more to it than that. … Forcing consumers to use a given payment type makes them consider how much money is on-hand in cash, in a [checking] account, and available to pay for the purchase, a mindset that can reduce the amount of goods and services consumers will buy and lower the average ticket price of sales for merchants.
—That’s Madeline Aufseeser, senior analyst at Aite Group (great website), explaining that it’s bad for everyone, except, if you read between the lines, maybe for people who might have spent an amount of money with a credit card without thinking, but once forced to think about that same purchase in terms of dollars, will decide: Not worth it.
I asked myself, what do I think of this? And: I will happily (“happily,” okay, not happily—resignedly?) pay a surcharge to use my card instead of using cash. I never have cash, so the choice is really: Go to the ATM across the street and pay a fee to get cash, or stay here, don’t move and pay to swipe? I’ll stay, thanks. I would do this right now, FYI. Cash-only is terrible and also the worst. And bad, too.

Monday, July 16, 2012

I like this lady

Ms. Caitlin Moran, regarding a survey in which 71% of American Women did not identify as feminists:


"To all those women who recoil from the word feminist, she asks, 'What part of  ‘liberation for women’ is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? ‘Vogue’ by Madonna? Jeans? Did all that good shit GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY?'"


I've just pre-ordered her book. 

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Longform, by Slate

I've recently discovered this feature on Slate called Longform, from a website (www.longform.org) of the same name. They compile compelling long articles on a single topic chosen week to week. So far I've read about the Air France 447 crash, the plight of air traffic controllers, and the story of a man who tried to hijack a FedEx plane. Not to mention several harrowing articles on disease (smallpox, AIDS, swine flu), the most compelling of which moved me to tears at my desk. A woman is diagnosed with Stage IV(b) liver cancer at the age of 43.

I might spend the summer going through the archives. It's incredible how many bizarre, unexpected things happen every day. We maintain the illusion of normalcy and order, but life could not be more spontaneous or random. Marjorie Williams had cancer throughout her entire body, and lived three times longer than doctors predicted. Missiles housing smallpox were tested by the USSR but they never figured out how to get them to the US. Thousands of planes come in and out of airports, and five people in a tower with a broken toilet make them miss collisions by seconds. Tiny miracles.

Monday, May 14, 2012

This is so horrifying, and so good.

Can you call a 9-year-old a psychopath?

"By the time he turned 5, Michael had developed an uncanny ability to switch from full-blown anger to moments of pure rationality or calculated charm — a facility that Anne describes as deeply unsettling. “You never know when you’re going to see a proper emotion,” she said. She recalled one argument, over a homework assignment, when Michael shrieked and wept as she tried to reason with him. “I said: ‘Michael, remember the brainstorming we did yesterday? All you have to do is take your thoughts from that and turn them into sentences, and you’re done!’ He’s still screaming bloody murder, so I say, ‘Michael, I thought we brainstormed so we could avoid all this drama today.’ He stopped dead, in the middle of the screaming, turned to me and said in this flat, adult voice, ‘Well, you didn’t think that through very clearly then, did you?'"

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How much do I love these dresses:

I'm tired of Glee everything, but this dress and styling is divine. 
Via Tom & Lorenzo.   

Don't care what anyone says, it's fabulous. Via Tom & Lorenzo.

Just for kicks, because I love this too. Via Tom & Lorenzo.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

I don't want a wedding, but I do want this g.d. dress:

Via Tom and Lorenzo

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Friday, April 13, 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Serodiscordancy

"As our first anniversary approaches, I call Melissa for myself. A week later, I take a seat in one of the health departments many windowless offices, where a sweet man talks to me about his partner of 20- (or it may have even been 30-) odd years as he slides a needle into my arm.


It's close to a 10-day wait, the free test. And it's 10 relatively worry-free days, too: I have faith in our adherence, in the precautions we've always taken. I have faith in prophylactics. The way his numbers have been dropping has confirmed to me what I suspected: that it is treatable, that it is quite live-with-able, after a month of vomiting and waking dreams. It wouldn't be that bad, a part of me says. Are you fucking crazy? another replies.

It's something you knew was a risk from the start. If you're smart about it, it's hardly a risk. Yes, but that doesn't mean you can permanently put it out of your head, can you? I don't worry it too hard, no. But now you can't help but worry. Worry is just an irrational byproduct of uncertainty. Keep telling yourself that.

Yes, I knew this was a possibility going in. Yes, I knew.

They don't call, the health department, at all; it's my responsibility to ring and check if the results for number 3948 are back. They are -- when can I come review them? Appointments. Always appointments with these people."


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Get Away

I can't shake this anxious, closed-in feeling I've got right now. The twix I just ate didn't seem to help, although maybe some peppermint tea? Part of me wants to rent a car this weekend and drive somewhere remote. Or just drive and drive. Not that I monopolized my parents' car that much in California, but there were plenty of opportunities to drive down Alpine Road into Portola, and there was always the tantalizing promise of the beach just on the other side of the hills. Why is it I can never remember what I did to feel better that last time I was this anxious? Somehow staying in my pjs all weekend seems to be the worst idea of all.

I'd really just like to be someplace like this:


But do you ever find, even when you "get away," that you can't really get away from anything? 



Monday, March 26, 2012

Maison et Objets

I found a couple of new blogs to love - one of them is an interior design blog from Patricia Gray, who took this photo at the Maison et Objets convention in Paris:



It looks like something I would make with  my Wellesley hoop - if I hadn't given it to my little sister!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

You're Welcome, World.


Don't you wish your girlfriend was weird like me?

Not being a couple-y person, and yet being one of a couple this year, Valentine's Day presented a bit of a challenge. I love celebrating with candy, spending time with my friends, and enjoying the generally cheesy atmosphere, but when it comes to doing something romantic with my significant other, I'm at a loss. I don't enjoy contrived romance, and romantic gestures actually make me kind of uncomfortable. So when challenged to create a V-Day gifty I came up with this:

A creepy horror-show of awkward
I'm a lucky girl, because I work with one badass crafter, perhaps known to you from from her blog, The Importance of Being Alix. We have all kinds of fun in the office,  including taking awkward staff photos for our new website. When I saw the montage of my face I knew I had the perfect gift opportunity to simultaneously amuse and horrify my poor, innocent boyfriend.

Here are instructions on how to create your own horror gift for that special moment with your special someone:

1) Don't make the mistake of going to a "real" camera shop. Take those suckers to CVS on a USB key and print them out - 9 each! - for the insignificant price of 20 bucks.

2) Get yourself a frame. I was looking for a tacky, montage-y thing (wedding style, but not so wedding that it looks like I'm getting my boyfriend a wedding present, can you dig?), but I couldn't find one suitable! Can you imagine!? Instead, I bought a modest, three wallet-sized black frame.

3) Embellish, embellish, embellish. I cannot stress this enough. Buy glittery nail polish, not one bottle, but two. Get those LED stars with sticker backs that you can switch on and off, for maximum tacky effect.

4) Take some time to subtlety slip away from your desk during the work day, so you can apply two coats on nail polish to your frame without anyone noticing. Advance preparation is for the weak!

5) Realize your failure to be subtle when you come back with a dry, but incredibly smelly frame that immediately stinks up the whole office.

6) Wrap it in that leftover tissue paper and ribbon your boss used for your Christmas present.

7) Surprise and delight horrify your unsuspecting love interest by forcing him to open his present while trying to order dinner.

See!? You too can have the perfect, romantic Valentine's date with these simply, easy-to-follow instructions (works best if your boyfriend accidentally knocks water all over himself immediately after).

Yours with love,
Awkward-sauce Truly


Friday, February 3, 2012

Desktops

I always love changing up my desktop background - the plain blue makes me a little crazy and I like to have something new and fresh every once in a while. It's a little like buying myself flowers (but free)! This is a recent find for simple, creative backgrounds that I love. Check them out here. And a couple of my favorites:

Created by Pezinho
Created by Chiara V.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Susan G. Koman: Race for the Politicization of Women's Health

My good friend and former roomie can more personally, articulately and accurately discuss this controversy than I. Please check out her post at The Mcdermott Minute.

It started out like this:

"Once, an old lady called the desk to ask me if she could donate her husband's body to the university for scientific research, and in the background, I could hear a man shouting, 'I'm not dead yet!'"


and I laughed, and then it got scary and really, really good. Check it out:



We're All Murderers Inside Our Own Heads, or The Time My Boss Wanted to Kill Me - by Mike Dang, via The Hairpin

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Three things you should read today

1. On Being an Object, And Then Not Being an Object, from Finslippy, by Wellesley Alum Alice Bradley:

"To be a young woman in our culture means that you exist, from an alarmingly young age, for the appreciation of others. Therefore, your every feature is fair game for public appraisal. 

It means you become accustomed to a certain kind of gaze: a cold survey of your merits and deficits. 


It means you tense up when you walk past a group, any group, of men, because you know they're going to say something, it may or may not be positive, and either way it's not going to leave you feeling good about yourself. 

It means you can't look sad or even neutral in public because a stranger, a man, will inevitably order you to smile. 

It means you automatically flinch when a guy looking at you passes a little too closely, because you know he's going to murmur something in your ear. You know it. And then he does, he murmurs damply into your ear, and you feel like you need to disinfect that entire side of your head and you turn and shout, "WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME," but by then you're invisible. He's done. He doesn't bother to acknowledge you. No one does. "


2. A High-Profile Executive Job as Defense Against Mental Ills, from The New York Times, by Benedict Carey:

"'For years, we as psychiatrists have been telling people with a diagnosis what to expect; we’ve been telling them who they are, how to change their lives — and it was bad information' for many people.
No more so, perhaps, than for Ms. Myrick, who after years of devastating mental trials learned that she needed a high-profile position, not a low-key one, to face down her spells of paranoia and despair. Her treatment regimen, like most others’ in the study, is a combination of medication as needed and personal supports, including an intuitive pet dog, the occasional weekend stay at a luxury hotel — and, not least, a strong alliance with a local psychiatrist.
'I feel my brain is damaged; I don’t know any other way to say it,' Ms. Myrick said. “I don’t know if it’s from the illness, the medications, all those side effects or what. I only know that I do need certain things in my life, and for a long time — well, I had to get to know myself first.'"

More than 600 million girls live in the developing world, and approximately a quarter do not attend school. "In Nicaragua, 45 percent of girls with no schooling are married before age 18 versus only 16 percent of their educated counterparts. In Mozambique, the figures are 60 percent versus 10; in Senegal, 41 percent versus 6." Additionally, when women earn income, they reinvest around three times more of it in their families as compared to men. 

Confession: Never Used Photoshop

But I really want to learn. Below is the most basic thing I could do - somebody get me one of those idiot guide books. 

Photos from Tom and Lorenzo


Monday, January 23, 2012

Interesting article on America's manufacturing capabilities...

"But the dollar cost of manufacturing in America isn't the biggest issue that's driving Apple's decision to outsource manufacturing to China. Instead, it's about who can build the greatest number of iPhones within the shortest period of time, all while remaining flexible and instantaneously adaptable to Apple's needs. According to one current Apple executive, "The US has stopped producing people with the skills we need." 


From Chris Rawson at TUAW

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Golden Globes Style

I missed the red carpet this year - but I actually watched the awards! It was more or less entertaining. Funny how the gowns I love in motion aren't always the ones that photograph best. Still, below are
the favorites overall. [Photos from Tom and Lorenzo]

I used to not like Claire Danes. Now she looks so lovely all the time
I have no choice. Damn you Danes, and your deliciously adorable husband!
It kind of makes me think of Josie and the Pussycat Dolls, but it's so damn cute
and it really suits her. Especially the bandeau!
Helen Mirren is divine, always.
Who is this woman? What show/movie is she from? I love the canary yellow with
the red lips, apparently against popular opinion.
Bah. I want to be best friends with her and simultaneously steal her life. She's
fantastic and so well dressed. Don't know if I've mentioned this yet but
WATCH EASY A. 
Audrey Hepburn-esque, but marvelous color and shape.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Color Me Blue Courtesy Color Me Katie

This I must do for the people of Washington.

From Color Me Katie dot blogspot dot com
From Color Me Katie dot blogspot dot com

This Model

She's everywhere now! I saw her in a third campaign but I can't remember where.

















Aaaand a little more research proves that she is, indeed, becoming a thing.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

WTH, Blogger

I just had a heart attack when blogger offered me "dynamic views" for my blog template...neglecting to mention that it IS A DIFFERENT TEMPLATE ALL TOGETHER. Now I realize the one I have is a little cheesy but I like the bookshelf! Alas, though I got the basic template back, my customized colors are lost forever...

But anyway, on with the show. I've been a little confused lately, temperature-wise. My down jacket has been too heavy for the light winter, but my fall coat isn't heavy enough. In the interest of filling the gap in my winter wardrobe I went on a wee online shopping hunt. To no avail. Did you know the price of wool has increased drastically this year? And that, as a result, all the winter coats people are selling are but a measly 40-60% wool coats, lightly lined with polyester. It's basically what I already have, except maybe without so many holes (I will wear my red coat until it falls off my body). I made my way to J.Crew, knowing that they tend to have 100% wool garments...and I found the coat below. It's orange. Really orange. I think I like it a lot, but it's quite a step up from the cherry red coat I'm used to wearing. Still, it's 94% wool and lined with thinsulate, so January/February bring it on!

What do you all think, can I pull it off?


Incredible, Incredibly Creepy

"I’d first heard of Dennis more than 25 years ago. In 1978, I was 22 and backpacking around the world when I’d crashed with a Peace Corps volunteer in Samoa named Bruce McKenzie. He said that a year or so back in the Kingdom of Tonga, a tiny island nation in a crook of the date line, a male Peace Corps volunteer had killed a female volunteer....People said she was the prettiest girl in the Peace Corps."

-Read this from Philip Weiss at NY Mag...horrifying and fascinating.

Virelangue

My brother-in-law J gave me a daily calendar of French tongue twisters (virelangues) for Christmas. Here's January 12th:

Ton bon bonbon rond fond (repeat 10 times).

Translation: I can't make sense of it. I think...your good candy makes your bottom round. Maybe?

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Natalie Wood



"Wood didn’t have tragedy mapped on her body the way that Marilyn Monroe or Judy Garland did. The signs of her struggle were far less obvious, in part because her rise was less mercurial, her handling of stardom somehow more balanced. She was a survivor, as cliched and Hallmark-movie-of-the-week as that sounds, and at various points in her career wielded more power than any of her male co-stars. She wasn’t a tremendous talent. She couldn’t really sing or dance. But she was a sex symbol for twenty years in a time when "sexual" was simultaneously the best and the worst thing a girl could possibly be, and she lived to tell the sad, screwy tale."


-Anne Helen Peterson writes one fascinating piece after the next...

Friday, January 6, 2012

Tonight, tonight

I am incredibly excited for tonight. Tonight is the night I get to go straight home from work, put the kettle on, take out my latest knitting project (in the home stretch!) and watch Downton Abbey, Series 2.

Does this sound sad to you? Objectively, sitting alone in pjs and knitting while watching a British period drama on a Friday night is a little sad. But I am ever so excited to do it! Also on the menu: laundry, cheese/apple consumption, vacuuming/swiffering.

Also, coveting the fashions of 1912:


Genius Indian Inventor

Right now, 88% of women in India resort to using dirty rags, newspapers, dried leaves, and even ashes during their periods, because they just can’t afford sanitary napkins, according to "Sanitation protection: Every Women’s Health Right," a study by AC Nielsen. Typically, girls who attain puberty in rural areas either miss school for a couple of days a month or simply drop out altogether.
-From An Indian Inventor Disrupts The Period Industry, by Lakshmi Sandhana