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