Category: Links

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture, Weekend

Weekend Links

“We have currently a built-in allergy to unpleasant or disturbing information. Our mass media reflect this. But unless we get up off our fat surpluses and recognize that television in the main is being used to distract, delude, amuse, and insulate us, then television and those who finance it, those who look at it, and those who work at it, may see a totally different picture too late. ” 
― Edward R. Murrow

Another riotous week of political news, but never fear! I shan’t let the confirmation that the President probably tried to fire the man investigating him derail our good humor this weekend. There is much to celebrate and cheer on, kittens, in spite of the fact that the Doomsday Clock hasn’t been this close to midnight since before I was born.

We are defiant, unbowed, and full of confidence. Let this gif of Judge Aquilina’s handling of Larry Nassar’s letter, stating how distressing it was for him to hear the stories of his victims, be your moodboard for this weekend and all of 2018:

Greatist put together a list of resources and content for survivors of sexual assault and the people who want to care for them.

This piece on Buzzfeed of life after a polygamous FLDS cult is hard to read but powerful.

No shit.

Whoa, bad news for the Y chromosome, scientifically speaking…

So, we’re doing this every year now, yes? Regardless of the party in power, yes? Good.

Irony is dead.

I am so excited for this return, as much as I’m apprehensive of the emotional roller coaster it’s going to send me on.

Waiting for them to get to Gemini!

UGH. (Update, the reaction to this piece has been so extraordinary that the Financial Times has removed the paywall. Good. The only treatment for systemic bullshit hidden in shadows is sunlight. Follow up is still rolling out.)

So you want to write a nonfiction book? Let Friend of the Blog Caitlin Kelly walk you through the process.

It’s weirdly charming to me to think of a leader who doesn’t default to Twitter. I mean, no excuse for the collective heart attack, though!

The FBI Director threatened to resign this week in our perfectly normal and functioning democracy, thank you very much.

Inclusivity in beauty pays. Literally.

There was another awful school shooting incident, made more awful by confirmation that it’s the 11th such event so far this year. We’re not out of January yet.

You can take the girl out of Utah, but you’ll pry the RadioWest podcast from Salt Lake City’s public radio station from my cold, dead fingers. This past week they covered the Sundance Film Festival with a series of filmmakers and subjects in interviews worth listening to. My favorites were Believer, about a major poprock artist who seeks to find a way to advocate for LGBT communities without alienating his own Mormon people, and Won’t You Be My Neighbor, a film about the life of Fred Rogers.

Suck a shedload of lemons, dude.

Humor, Links, News, Politics, Pop Culture

Weekend Links

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” 
― Robert J. Hanlon

Another wild week of news, with Russian-linked Twitter bots pressuring politicians, the presidential porn star affair continues apace while no one seems to care about it, and as I put the finishing touches on this post the fight is raging on about whether the government will shut down or not since our Master Negotiator has managed to destabilize even good faith efforts at compromise by revealing the animus that underpins his policy. Or at least his advisers’ animus, that bit is unclear. Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed, Hawaii was scared to death by a fake missile launch warning and kind of revealed how poorly prepared we are in the event of a real strike,

Oh and the government shut down, it turns out. So things are going great.

The #MeToo backlash has well and truly started, but Sam Bee has some thoughts:

This Buzzfeed deep dive into the world of Trump’s property deals in individual detail is also an interesting glimpse into how wealth moves around the world.

I loved this interview with Dapper Dan which dives into a lot of issues through the lens of fashion. “Everybody thinks about buying a house or a car, but an outfit transforms you the next day.”

Spring is coming…right? Whatever, here’s a warm weather bag of the absurd variety that I’m loving.

Here’s a #MeToo story that ends with an apology and forgiveness done, in my opinion, the right way. Let’s learn.

Go Oxfam! Shop second hand, people, the world opens up to you.

I have been receiving the best texts from my pals thanks to this app!

This link between Russia and American lobbying groups is incredible and needs to continue to be reported on.

The Awl is going away, and that matters.

David Frum’s excerpted new book in The Atlantic was a somber read for me. He gives his perspective on what current “conservatism” looks like and has become in recent years, and lays out his hope for what it should be instead. He also asks readers to consider what happens after Mr. Trump and the kind of ardent and mobilized anger he rode to power on dissipates? All very important questions, but the following quote is what stood out to me and landed like a lead weight in my stomach. A few years ago this would have read has hysterical hyperbole to me. These days, I wonder if it’s possible, if not probable.

That animus I mentioned, it runs deep. And it is ugly to think how much more widespread it is than I ever realized. I know I keep saying that, but the emotion continues to batter me.

So, who’s are they?!

A question for all the guys out there who are good dudes and more importantly, want to be.

Britain, Expat, Humor, Links, London, News, Politics

Weekend Links: We Aren’t Even Halfway Through January Edition

“I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.” 
― James Baldwin

Kittens, what a week. This could be written about any week for the past calendar year and a half but once again, it was a doozy and I’m not even going to attempt a recap. Who would have thought we’d get Oprah trending and yet more vulgarities from our vulgarian in chief? As I put the finishing touches on this post I glimpsed something from the Washington Post about an adult film star and Trump hush money? Whatever, I’m not clicking.

God, this man is humiliating. NPR had to send out a briefing memo to its news team today instructing them on the proper usage of the word “shithole” throughout the day. What a world.

MUST READ: If you wanted to avoid our rage, perhaps you shouldn’t have left us with so little to lose.

Many women wore black gowns for the Golden Globes as a statement of solidarity, protest, and attention direction this year. And to anyone who naysays fashion as frivolous, I say it has always been used as social and political statement, especially by women. As Tom and Lorenzo point out, far more articulately than I could, fashion and style choices are some of the most potent weapons some of these women can use in an industry that traffics in their images. I loved that several women also brought activists as guests. More of this in 2018, please.

Oprah Winfrey’s speech knocked it out of the bloody park at the Golden Globe Awards.

WGSN’s trend forecast for beauty this year is nicely optimistic to me.

I am poised and ready for the future discoveries of these documents in someone’s attic or in some abandoned vault. You all know I LIVE for those stories.

For your reading consideration this year.

Bad feminist confession, I adore the film The Women and love but have always questioned the technicolor fashion montage that appears halfway through it. Well, color me educated (see what I did there?).

David Frum cautions that the real threat to our democracy is not in, “…corrosion, not crisis. In a crisis, of course we’ll all be heroes—or so we assure ourselves. But in the muddy complexity of the slow misappropriation of the state for self-interested purposes, occasions for heroism do not present themselves.”

So help me god, 2018, if you take Trebek from us…

In Mormon news, the president of the LDS church passed away last week, and this write up from Harvard Divinity School is an excellent explanation as to why his ministry was important to the faith, what happens next in the organization, and what happened during his stewardship of the church.

Truly, which of us couldn’t use some more executive time?

This story on literal muckraking is great.

Senator Feinstein released transcripts of the interview of the man whose research firm was behind the infamous Steele Dossier, it’s a long read but political junkies should read it. Here’s ongoing NPR analysis for the pressed-for-time.

This take on the whole Fire and Fury situation and what the book reveals (he argues, whatever errors or faults in contains) by Ezra Klein of Vox *feels* fundamentally correct to me. It’s also weirdly sad, or it would be were not the stakes so damn high.

Wow, Steve. 2018 came at you fast, huh?

Hey! Some good news about the planet!

I like this list of things to declutter from your life in 2018.

A while back, as the sexual assault conversation was ramping up, a list made headlines. Created by an anonymous founder it was called the “Shitty Media Men” list and documented anonymous woman-to-woman heads up about potential bosses or work situations they might want to avoid. It broke into wider consciousness when it was discovered and shared on reddit. The thinkpieces, attacks, and defenses flowed. This past week on Twitter reports surfaced that the magazine Harper’s intended to publish a piece that revealed or “doxxed” the identity of the original creator. Feminist Twitter flew into a frenzy with writers pulling their pieces from the magazine and calls to protect the identity of this woman since backlashes against women have been so historically vicious and awful (see: Gamergate). But then…the creator of the list unveiled herself instead in The Cut. I have no idea what the backlash is going to be but I choose to read something into this decision and attribute it to the moment where women are collectively deciding that past terror cannot dictate future action.

And finally the president managed yet another revealing statement when he apparently referred to immigrant hopefuls from the global south, and Haiti and African nations in particular, as undesirable candidates for citizenship. I’m of course cleaning up his own language which was news-breakingly vulgar. 

All I can say is that I’m thrilled Mr. Trump cancelled his visit to London, as I was fully intending to protest and now I don’t need to request time off for that. I’m also endlessly bemused at how he lacks even the most basic grasp of history and facts (in this case regarding the plans and timeline of the new US embassy). I didn’t expect much from him, but does no one on his staff brief him on anything? At least one ambassador has resigned and several more have been summoned to their various host governments to explain the inexplicable.

And finally, Roxanne Gay has a word of warning.

Humor, Links, News, Politics

Weekend Links

“The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be.” 
― Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Season Two of the Trump Show kicked off this week! Will he pick a fight with Pakistan? Will he get in a metaphorical **** measuring competition with a global leader via nuclear warfare and the various buttons associated thereto? Will he deride climate change just before a weather pattern classified as a “bomb cyclone” (because even the weather is being extra now) hits the East Coast? Will a scandalous exposé drop, written by a questionable author, about a questionably honest man, featuring questionably honest sources? Will his former arch rival’s house catch fire?

Plot twist! The answer to all of these questions is yes!

Buckle up, we’ve got 51 weeks still to go!

I really liked this piece from Medium on how one millenial guy took steps to combat the oft-cited malaise many my age report experiencing. His ending on euthymia really touched something for me.

This list of little pleasures to seek in 2018 was nice to read.

This technology news seems…super not great?

The Trump-breaks-with-Bannon-or-maybe-vice-versa news moved quick, as did Mr. Trump’s lawyers. They went after the publisher as well. The publisher subsequently (ie, a few hours later) decided to release the book early due to skyrocketing demands.

Welp…

WELP…

“I am the picture of Dorian Kardashian,” writes R. Eric Thomas satirically, channeling us all in this strange pop-culture-political moment. I laugh cried reading this.

I am VERY here for the throwback vibe of the latest Bruno Mars and Cardi B!

More reasons to get excited about Black Panther, team.

Why women don’t speak up, part seven million. Here’s her verified GoFundMe campaign, if you are so inclined.

Color me enraged but not shocked to read that a female politician may be too flagrantly ambitious or openly want the job…to have the job…? God damn it, people, we just did this!

I’m on Team Remnick here. It was an open secret that Harvey Weinstein was trash, it’s an equally open secret that Mr. Trump is unfit for the office. We may bicker about the technicalities of that unfitness…but that to me only reinforces just HOW unfit he is that there are OPTIONS to choose from.

Humor, Links, Politics, Pop Culture, Weekend

Weekend Links: Come at Us Edition

“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come, 
Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” 
― Alfred Tennyson

Well, kittens, here we are: the last links of the year. It’s been a wild ride.

I had a nice long chat with Katarina the other day (a weekly occurrence and quite necessary to my happiness) and we were reflecting on the year that was. She mentioned, and I agree that 2017 really feels like a companion piece or sequel to 2016 which was, we agreed, a totally shit year. From the ridiculousness of global politics to the slew of pop culture deaths to my own personal background challenges, 2016 felt like something to be endured. Everyone just hunkered down as the blows kept raining down, never quite certain when the next one was going to land.

2017 by comparison, for all it has been awash in its own unrelenting ridiculousness, has felt like a response. From the Women’s Marches to #MeToo, a lot of simmering rage and pain on the part of women has gone from “open secrets” and back room whispers to full on mobilization. Communities of color, minority groups and faiths found themselves under siege from some quarters and in turn also mobilized in their own defense from kneeling at football games to showing up for elections. Allies and support systems coalesced when it became clear that they needed to be built. Hard conversations and revelations have been had across the social landscape. A lot of people like me who like to consider themselves “woke” realized that it’s not enough to have opinions, they must be married to actions and effort and put volunteer work, money, and talk into public spaces and areas where they may not have felt comfortable to do so before.

2016 felt like a siege, but 2017 feels like a counter strike. I have no idea what 2018 will bring, but in spite of the roller coaster of emotions of this past year, I’m not worn out thinking of it: I’m energized. I like to think that the forces that may be counting on our/my apathy or exhaustion–whether personal issues I deal with in the background, the global state of affairs swirling around us, or any other challenges–will be sorely disappointed.

I hope the end of the year is treating you kindly, ducklings, and that you are looking ahead with if not wide eyed hope, then at least steely eyed determination. You are going to rock this year.

That’s right, we’re being positive!

A post written for me: book and lipstick pairings.

This is not only a correct summation of 2017, but could also be the title of my autobiography.

NPR’s list of the top 100 songs of 2018 makes a great playlist, if you are so inclined.

Hey, fellow political junkies, here are 100 women of color running for office next year to support.

My body is ready!

That is certainly one tax plan…

Headline of the week.

I find this to be a pretty fairminded assessment of the President’s learning curve one year into the job: namely that (unusual for a man who won the White House) he simply didn’t really understand a lot of aspects of the job and is having to learn by doing. Ditto for much of his staff. Whatever I think of his behavior or policies, I can empathize (briefly) with a whole administrative team being badly, badly out of their depth.

#MeToo rolls on.

As a former Mormon, polygamy fascinates, disturbs, and challenges me. This piece on its link to violence is not surprising to me, but is deeply interesting.

And suddenly, I want to bathe in Pitbull’s perfume. Who knew? As someone who knows herself to be a sucker for branding, I love the idea of this shop!

Gucci’s new ad campaign is even more gloriously extra than usual.

Well, thank goodness for late awakenings. Seriously, I applaud this, even if his last paragraph reveals he (and by extension a lot of us) still have a long way to go.

I’m among those who think automation may very well prove the next “industrial revolution,” probably to include the massive social upheaval that went along with the last one. I’m therefore very interested in programs or ideas built around minimizing the human cost of this potential change, and there is an interesting piece in the NYT about this worth reading if this is also something that keeps you up and night. …Just me?

Album of the week: Acoustic, by Betsy (and with this, I’ve met my goal of listening to one new album a week for a full year) 

Favorites, Humor, Links

Five Things I Loved in December

“What should we speak of
When we are old as you? when we shall hear
The rain and wind beat dark December? how,
In this our pinching cave, shall we discourse
The freezing hours away?…”
~William Shakespeare, Cymbeline 

There are two great themes to this month’s favorites and they are diametrically opposed: comfort and glam. So be it. It’s December when we vacillate between parties and hibernation, effort and laziness, being extra and being tired. So here is the list of things that got me through all the slings and arrows of the holiday season!

Flannel Pajama Bottoms
It’s the time of year that requires comfy and warm loungewear. A couple of years ago I wore out and ripped a trusty pair of flannel pajama bottoms and I simply never got around to replacing them. More fool me. I finally got another pair this winter and I believe that last winter I suffered unnecessarily without them. Joules has some excellent options for those inclined to traditional and British styles.

 

Estee Lauder x Victoria Beckham Cheek Cream in Blonde Mink
Ok, ok so I technically said I wasn’t going to buy anything from this collection. I caved, I was weak, sue me. And I actually regret nothing because I’ve been wearing this stuff every day for over a month now and I absolutely adore it. Late to the game as always, I am discovering only in my 30s why so many women wear brown or nude blushes rather than more vivid colors. It’s a great idea. I may not have Posh’s cut glass features, but this stuff allows me to pretend like I do and that’s quite enough!

 

& Other Stories Wrap Dress
I haven’t needed much less bought a party dress in ages, but this year it turned out that I had quite a few December bashes to attend. It was an excellent excuse for a new frock! This dress from & Other Stories is an absolute beauty and made this short girl look like she has legs for days. As a bonus, it also feels like a decent substitute for this completely gorgeous and completely out of all mere mortalss price range Ganni dress which I also feel in love with earlier this year. Perfect! I expect this dress to live in my closet for several years to come, goodness knows it’s already earning its keep.

 

Abel & Cole
2017 was the year I discovered grocery delivery services and I will never, ever look back. I don’t regret our loss of car one whit since moving to London, but it would be a lie to say that it wouldn’t make some things simpler. Like grocery shopping. If we were better organised, more disciplined, or frankly didn’t work some ridiculous hours, we might try to do more frequent smaller shopping trips…but as none of those things are the case, we tend to still do big shops and end up with a bit more to carry home than we’d often like. Meaning that the ability to order my groceries online and have a helpful and friendly delivery person cart them straight to my door has been downright revolutionary, if occasionally pricey. This month, though, I feel like I found the healthy medium. I signed up for weekly delivery of a box of seasonal produce and a box of fish/meat. With the big things auto scheduled for me the occasional store run is now a much smaller and less heavy proposition.

 

Patch
This year I was determined to have an actual, proper Christmas tree for the first time in nearly a decade of married life. We’ve been the lucky recipients of family members’ generosity for almost every holiday season but one, and for that I got a tiny little fir in a pot to make due. Not this year, I wanted a British style Christmas tree and nothing was going to dissuade me. Like unto groceries, I wanted easy so I used Patch to order our Christmas tree, including a stand, and also schedule a handy collection after the holiday so we don’t have to drag a full sized tree down the road to the rubbish bins. Patch is a online garden shop specializing in plants for the urban dweller and were I not poor, they would take a lot more of my money. I have grand ambitions for them in the new year, however, as our front room continues to come together!

Holidays, Humor, Links

Weekend Links: Good Tidings Edition

“Mistletoe,” said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s head. He jumped out from under it. 
“Good thinking,” said Luna seriously. “It’s often infested with nargles.” 
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Kittens, I don’t know about you but I hit a wall in early December. This has been an overwhelmingly positive year (especially compared to last), but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t had its challenges and rough points. My batteries are a bit drained.

As happy as I am for the holidays, I’ve had a bit of trouble mustering the Christmas spirit. The placement of the holidays this year doesn’t help either, as both Christmas and New Year fall on Mondays meaning that syncing up work weeks, time off requests, and To Do lists was a bit more complex than usual. And of course, I’m dreadful at switching off which doesn’t help the batteries metaphor.

But I’m now officially on holiday and plotting our Christmas week. Our shopping is finally done, most of our parties and events are behind us, our tree is trimmed, and I’m plotting on pie making. The elf-like gleam is creeping back into my eye.

You’ll get a couple more posts from me before the end of the year, but in the meantime, let me wish you a joyous holiday season, kittens. I’m very glad you’re along for the ride.

giphy (17)

 

Hi, I’m C., and I’m a glutton for “stop shopping” stories. Probably because I’m approaching my third annual 3-month shopping hiatus and have given myself some pretty lofty anti-consumerism goals for 2018…

This week I learned that in the 1920s, Utah proposed a bill that would ban women’s shoes with heels higher than one and a half inches and could impose fines for those who wore such scandalous footwear. Utah would have made millions off of me had it the good sense to have homed me 90 years earlier. Missed opportunity, space-time continuum!

I’m also always a reliable sucker for a, “Oh hey, we unearthed a priceless treasure that someone literally forgot or just left lying around somewhere,” story.

Bugs Bunny’s creator has passed away.

Well hey, take all my feelings.

Want to go dark, at least for web browsing? Wired has the details.

SHUT UP, MATT DAMON.

I laughed, but I also cried a bit, because 2017 is so wild that no one is talking about the UFOs, guys.

Well, hon, if you bungle your PR so badly that your company has to issue a statement clarifying that it doesn’t support Nazis… This whole situation has made me angry, both as a citizen and as a military brat. Kneeling was never about the military.

The engagement photos of Prince Harry and Ms. Markle are gorgeous. Thank god we get a nice wedding to look forward to.

Album of the week: Late Bloomer, by Malia

Humor, Links, News, Weekend

Weekend Links

“After luncheon the sun, conscious that it was Saturday, would blaze an hour longer in the zenith,…” 
― Marcel Proust, Swann’s Way

Good lord, it’s been another massive news week, so what follows is the links added in mostly chronological order. I started before the Alabama election, the FCC vote, before the rumors that Paul Ryan might be contemplating retirement, before Omarosa was fired/quit… Regardless, I think the lesson of not just this past week but the whole past year is that journalism–investigative, exhausting reporting–matters. Less punditry, more reporting, please.

But fear not, kittens, there are fun links this week too! We need to finalize some Christmas shopping this weekend, enjoy our Christmas tree, probably see the new Star Wars film, and stay bundled up because London is cold these days. Let me know what your plans are for the weekend in the comments, and I hope they are merry and bright.

An attempted terrorist attack in New York City.

While we’re talking about Alabama, let’s talk about this! There is a long an ugly history of voter suppression of people of color and it must be fought.

Reminder: there are 16 separate accusations on record.

I am on the one hand, very pleased that trans people who are already serving in our military will be allowed to continue to serve (until the inevitable court cases at least), and that others who come after and wish to serve will be able to do so. However. The precedent of the Pentagon overruling a president should chill us, regardless who sits in the Oval Office. Generals side stepping or disregarding elected officials is an historically dangerous move with a several thousand year history.

This is a fascinating piece about whether Vladmir Putin is the mastermind his is often credited as, or a man trying desperately to stay one step ahead of crisis who has occasionally gotten lucky with a ploy or two.

The Creep Purge of 2017 hits the food world.

Also a bit chilled that people think this is how juries work. A bit more chilled to consider they may be right.

The president (probably deliberately) sends a tweet out which could easily be read to imply that a senator may have given sexual favors for campaign contributions. Because he is the literal worst.

Lipstick is the answer.

Cat Person exploded all over the internet, as did the think pieces. I liked this Man Repeller one a lot.

As the Alabama election was still in full swing, this writer looked into and pondered on the zealotry of Roy Moore’s version of Christianity.

Speaking of, this interview clip was extraordinary, sad, and a bit scary.

The jewels are stunning, but more importantly, I need to learn to recreate this beauty look for the rest of the winter.

This pop culture thread? Completely hilarious.

Oh my god, Alabama come through!

There was immediately a huge amount of praise for the black community for the political mobilization, particularly women, but others saw this as perpetuating the “magical negro” trope. It’s an important discussion to have. In the meantime, how to truly support women of color and thank them for political action and involvement. Talk and tweets are cheap.

God damn it. So few heroes left to root for…

The FCC voted on Net Neutrality.

If this is true, he is an arsonist who helped to set a country on fire and then first looked then ran the other way.

The #MeToo backlash is here, here’s some thoughts on fighting back.

Rebecca Traister knocks it out of the park again: this moment is not (just) about sex.

Interesting piece on millennials and buying expensive jewelry. Spoiler: we’re buying less of it. Double Spoiler: we have nothing like the disposable income our parents had and this continues to shock people somehow.

Goodreads have released their reader-picked list of the best books of 2017!

Album of the week: Revival by Eminem

Humor, Links, News, Pop Culture, Weekend

Weekend Links

When we shall hear
The rain and wind beat dark December, how,
In this our pinching cave, shall we discourse
The freezing hours away? 
– William Shakespeare

Another week, another round of resignations by dude outed as absolute creeps, another round of Brexit talks…the news continues to be a bit grim. Remember how we all were sick of 2016 and looking forward to 2017? LOLZ, as the kids say.

But hey! It wasn’t all bad! I did some Christmas shopping and shipping this week, I had our first ever proper Christmas tree delivered, and I have grand ambitions for holiday-style cooking this weekend. We’re also trying a new grocery delivery service (I know, very decadent times in the Small Dog residence), so I’m interested in sourcing opinions of minions who have tried similar services. Let me know how you source your holiday food in the comments, along with anything else on the internet worth sharing!

Helena Fitzgerald knocks it out of the park again.

Living the actual dream.

The Meghan Effect has commenced and honestly, I’m not mad. She seems to have lovely taste.

The New York Times released their list of the best books of 2017, and for a change I’ve read only one of them! Can anyone report back from any of the picks?

Mother McGrath shares her manifesto, and I’m ready for it!

I don’t see what the problem is here…

The murder of Heather Heyer by white supremacists was a preventable one. I mean, no kidding, but nice to have it confirmed anyway.

How to worry better. Seriously.

The trifecta: teaching girls to defend themselves, boys to be allies, and everyone what health consent is.

I love this: cinematic archaeology!

The Atlantic asks, will Mr. Pence and the religious right be (divinely?) rewarded for backing Mr. Trump?

There’s a lot to be mad about. Here’s something else: according to Moms Demand Action, this is the 57th school shooting in the US this year.

The Weinstein story got WORSE this week, if you can believe it.

What the hell is this?! I mean, boy bye, but we are officially in the Upside Down.

Luckily there was a tiny bit of redemption that the #MeToo movement and the “Silence Breakers” were awarded “Person of the Year.”

Anyone want to buy me this for Christmas?

2018’s color of the year is…

Album of the week last week (which I forgot to add): Rest by Charlotte Gainsbourg

Album of the week: Everyday is Christmas, by Sia 

Favorites, Humor, Links

Five Things I Loved In November

“LONDON. Michaelmas Term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Implacable November weather.”
– Charles Dickens, Bleak House

November was kind of an awful month in a pretty awful year, news-wise and the first couple of days of December don’t make me feel much better or safer. But there were still good things to celebrate which should be celebrated so here is my monthly round of up what I loved last month both petty and profound. Share what you loved in November in the comments, with links if you can! Let’s spread some of the good things around.

 

Glossier You
My fangirling for this brand is a matter of public record, but their new perfume is truly gorgeous. It’s by no means the longest lasting fragrance I’ve ever tried or owned, but I have gotten compliments every single time I’ve worn it. The concept is that it’s based on traditional basenotes so that all the scents adhere to the wearer’s skin; there are topnotes but they are a nice break from all the floral and sweet stuff out there.

 

Alias Grace, on Netflix
This show is aggressively female and doesn’t flinch away from the fact. Unreliable narrator or no (and boy is the main character unreliable), it is fascinating to watch men in the story interact with her. They dismiss her, analyse her, abuse her, sexualize her, medicalize her, mistrust her, believe her…but are they really listening to her, or do they all just hear what they want to? The narrative is shown through her conversations with a doctor in the early days of psychology trying to figure out if the main character is guilty of the murder for which she’s been convicted or just a very good liar. No one in this story comes off a hero and you’re never sure who you are supposed to being rooting for.

 

Pat McGrath Lust 004 Lip Kit in Venom
This is old hat and was a limited edition purchase from a year ago, but I’ve been using the darker Venom matte lipstick from Pat McGrath almost daily this past month. There’s something about the weather turning cold that calls for gold eyeshadow and devil-dark lips to me. PmG has launched a permanent makeup line since that I enjoy looking at from afar (the Sublime palette in particular) but genuinely cringe at when I consider the prices. I’ll stick with a dangerous looking lipstick for now!

 

Best Friends
I have two BFFs, both of whom I’ve known for nearly 20 years. They are very different woman, but both entirely necessary to my happiness and I’m privileged to have them in my life. One of them is basically my adopted older sister and we have been watching out for one another for two decades now with no signs of stopping. She was able to come visit for Thanksgiving this year with her boyfriend and it was one of the highlights of my year. A lot of bad news went down while she was visiting but, much as it was when we were 13 years old, just being around each other made it a bit easier to bear and it was good knowing someone was in our respective corners.

 

Thanksgiving
I love this holiday. I love the food, I love the spirit of gratitude it’s meant to engender and celebrate, I love the notion of gathering with friends and family…and again, I love the food. It was wonderful to have friends in town to celebrate it with this year. We did our usual thing of heading to The Mayflower pub for dinner before a night out on the town and stay up until the wee hours talking about life, the universe, and everything.