“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
On Wednesday I put on construction boots and gear and got to go through a Grade II listed historic building site getting nicely dusted up. Yesterday we put on the event I’d been primary planner on at Somerset House and spent a few hours going around in heels and a LBD entertaining the super wealthy with caviar, champagne, and vodka (the sourcing of which on such short notice has rather consumed my work life for the last week and a half). In other words, the gig continues to be great!
It also continues to be terribly busy so here are your links, quick and dirty!
“Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.” ― Gustave Flaubert
It’s Friday, I’m putting the Russian event to bed and gearing up for one involving Rolls Royce. Life is surreal right now. It’s also Jeff’s 29th birthday and I get to tease him about being old (while wiser people roll their eyes at us). I have to say, he is aging marvelously.
We celebrated earlier in the week with an excellent dinner at a restaurant we’d both wanted to go to for over a year, and it was worth it! Tonight it’s pizza and movies with presents. Over the weekend it’s freelance, food, and writing/editing. I’m pleasantly tired and looking forward to it. If I could find a way to mix in regular exercise again, I would be downright impressive. Here are you links, with extra holiday cheer, and share anything else worth reading in the comments!
The view from Jeff’s birthday dinner. Not bad.
The John Lewis Christmas film has arrived. And I am in irrational love with it. Call me ridiculous, but as the companion of an intrepid and well loved teddy bear, I think this advert nails both the relationship and the general loveliness of the season. Sue me.
Sainsbury too?! Guys, my heart grew three sizes this day.
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” ― Sun Tzu
It’s been a very busy week, ducklings, and I’m properly knackered.
The sort term gig I have picked up through the end of the year is to be an interim marketing and sales coordinator at a rather impressive property development firm in West London. I’m one week in and I’ve been lucky enough to be decently trained by the outgoing individual in order to get a good grasp on the company and projects. I’m also helping to organize an event that is costing more money than I think I see in a year on extremely short notice–leading to odd non sequitur exclamations like, “Do we have vodka?!” and “More black marble!”–but it’s a good chance to prove myself both competent and useful. I’m actually having a pretty great time!
In the meantime, this weekend will be filled with freelancing and dates with Jeff who is similarly in a crunch time at work, meaning that hangout time is a priority. It’s all things business at the Small Dog residence. Here are your links, kittens, and let me know what you’re doing this weekend in the comments.
After a big and rewarding but demanding week, this list perked me right up.
Very interesting piece on the history of the job role of an executioner and his/his family’s place in society. There’s more to it than meets the eye, apparently.
“Don’t loaf and invite inspiration; light out after it with a club.” ― Jack London
Happy Halloween!
My life got extremely busy, extremely quickly the week. I just picked up a short term gig as a project and marketing assistant coordinator for a luxury retail design company–no exaggeration, Russian oligarchs may or may not be involved–and two temp assignments in my field over three days. I’m very pleased at the unexpected good fortune, just trying to schedule it all in. I also had a doctors appointment, a venue scouting, a creative onboarding meeting, and a mass of brand new freelance assignments all at pop up at once on my To Do list for tomorrow.
Translation? There is a pile of dishes in my sink that are just going to have to wait and heaven help the rest of the flat. Jeff’s right next to me in the weeds too, this week, and has been waking up a 5am to get some extra hours in at work. I foresee grumpiness until Sunday naps can rectify the situation. In the meantime, here are your links and let me know what you’re getting up to in the credits.
The 11th Duke of Marlborough passed away just a couple of weeks ago, which news caught my eye since we were so recently at Blenheim Palace, the Marlborough seat. Apparently the 12th Duke and his father had a major falling out (due to a rather public drug addiction issue and other problems) and steps were taken in the 1990s to make sure that though he gets the title, he isn’t entirely master of Blenheim. Who needs Downton Abbey, I ask you? Tatler has a look back at the 11th Duke’s admittedly full life.
Say it with me: freedom of religion does not mean the ability to force other people to conform to your religion. In fact, it’s kind of supposed to protect against that. This sort of new genuinely frightens me.
Interesting piece on my generation’s trend of not buying the things that our parents and grandparents considered necessities–and that traditionally pull nations out of Recessions. Truthfully, I don’t miss having a car at all and it will be years before we even think about the potential of buying instead of renting.
“For Children: You will need to know the difference between Friday and a fried egg. It’s quite a simple difference, but an important one. Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
Must dash, quite busy today. Here are your links, and let me know what you’re getting up to this weekend in the comments!
This story broke last week, but I still think it’s important. First of all this happened in the county where my parents live so it immediately caught my personal attention, and secondly I think this piece does a really good job exploring its title question. Thrill? Experimentation? Ignorance? And the question, “Will this not be as big a deal someday and therefore less frightening?” is both an intriguing and odd one. On the one hand, a world where girls (and let’s face it, we are mostly talking about female exploitation and exposure here) aren’t stigmatized, bullied, or hounded into self-harm and suicide but allowed to move on with minimal negative impact seems like a pretty good one. But that means it’s also a world where sexualized images of real, non-consenting children are even more widely available. Weigh in in the comments, please, because I’m really curious to hear people’s reactions and thoughts.
An article about a time capsule. Nice in and of itself, but the first comment (more specifically the response to it) rather made me chuckle.
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― L.M. Montgomery
Another week, another weekend approaches! It’s been a somewhat slow one, which has left some time for other schemes and projects, some of which are bearing fruit nicely. How’s that for vague?
However, they still require my attention so here are you links. Add anything else worth knowing in the comments, and tell me what you’re getting up to this weekend. I’m hoping to snag some tickets to the Westminster Abbey choir’s Christmas concerts (good grief, it is that time of year), scout some new work potentials, and sorting (still!) through photos of our recent travels and excursions. I’m never going to catch up…
The mantua-makers of Colonial Williamsburg show us how the big hair of the late 18th century was actually done. One word: bump-its. Nothing is new under the sun.
Fascinating look at the relationship between the ballet and high fashion.
The big new in feminism is my old stomping grounds, Utah. Specifically Utah State University and a violent threat. I cannot for the life of me understand the mind that can logically hold this thought: “Video games don’t cause men to be violent to women and if you don’t stop saying they do, I’ll kill you, bitch.”
“There’s nowhere else like London. Nothing at all, anywhere.”
-Vivienne Westwood
It’s been good to be back at work again, but still an adjustment! All the same I’ve been working on a new client project, scouting for even more work, and recapping recent adventures with delight. Not a bad first week back to the grindstone. This weekend I’m going to see a new exhibit at the British Museum about witches in honor of the season, hopefully develop some pitches, and clean the house…which is fearsome to behold, trust.
Here are your links, add anything worth reading in the comments and let me know what you’re getting up to yourselves.
h/t to my friend Chris whose company and technology worked on this.
Fall is here and that means layers. I’ll take some of these.
xoVain is one of my favorite beauty sites. Though some of their pieces are misses for me, I enjoy the overall tone of the site great and delightfully BS free, and the comment community is downright magnificent. But this piece, by my favorite writer of theirs, should be required reading for teenage girls. Or anyone interested in makeup, for that matter.
Jeff is an odd man. His culinary aspirations are modest at best, but every once in a while he gets this Big Plan to make something Truly Impressive. Irritatingly enough, it always turns out delicious. His latest scheme is this, though I’m taking bets he’ll balk.
“God” weighs in. (The quotation marks alone in this story get me.)
“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.” ― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
September has been one of the toughest months of my life and I am powering through it for the simple reason that I have my first vacation in over a year coming up next week. I have been working almost daily for over a year now, including weekends and holidays. Occasionally I’ve been able to get a weekend away from my laptop or day off, but they have been rare. And kittens, I’m tired.
I’m also proud. I’ve gone from less than $100 a month to what WOULD be almost a living wage (if, you know, debt weren’t a thing and I didn’t live in one of the most expensive cities on earth) in less than two years. Not all freelancers can do that. But it’s absolutely taken a toll–on my health, my relationships, and my self-care. A lot of working for yourself is finding and keeping a healthy balance and it’s a constant learning curve for me. Long story, short? I’m really excited for my time off.
My in-laws are coming to visit and after a few days in London we are taking the party to the road touring the southwest of England. Updates forthcoming but for the next couple of weeks I’ve been saving up past adventures to keep you entertained. Here are you links and let me know what you’re up to this weekend!
Online friend and really incredible designer Bethany Grow has launched her blogizine, The Collaboreat! As the name suggests, it’s a collaborative travel and food site and it’s already lengthening my list of places to visit and nosh within.
Excellent Youtube video from The Brain Scoop on the history of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon. I’ve been pondering on proactive vs. reactive conservation efforts ever since my trip to an urban beekeeping facility in London and learning more about the rapid decline of insect populations in Britain. We humans are responsible for the greatest mass extinction since the last Ice Age. Though a lot of that is fairly recent and related to our quests for more energy and raw materials, the truth is we’ve been negatively affecting other species populations for about 10,000 year total, which is sobering.
Holy hell. I believe in counseling. THIS is NOT counseling. (Side note, there is not a day that goes by that I am not grateful to have been born when and where I was. I recognize exactly how lucky I am. In another century I’d have been burnt at the stake.)
The call for 10 books that changed your life that went around Facebook recently (and that I responded to) was pretty popular and the data miners who work there collated the most popular results. I haven’t read five on this list but need to!
The 18th century might have been wacky, but I’ve always secretly been in awe of early 19th century headgear, of the Wives and Daughters variety. I would definitely have been burnt at the stake, both for refusing to sport those styles and for shredding my corsets in public.
Better days are coming. They are called Saturday and Sunday.
~Author Unknown
Another grim week for news. The ranks of ISIS are growing and the NFL’s pathetic standards for behavioral expectations of their players were exposed. Scotland’s voting on independence next week leading to fears of longterm effects for Britain and the EU, people are speculating that Romney will run again (please benevolent universal forces, no!), and Pistorius has been found guilty of culpable homicide.
On the home front, things are better this week. I’m working towards a much needed break here in a couple of weeks, though unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to the States for the funeral. It’s been a largely rewarding but financially frustrating year in a lot of ways. I may have to write a post or two about it. In the meantime, here are your links, kittens, and thanks so much for the lovely comments and emails last week. I really appreciated them.
Interesting piece about the rise and decline of the iPod and what role it played in much of our current technical realities. I remember getting an iPod for Christmas one year, it was my big request and I got good use out of it. But I had never really considered its long term impact before this. I still use my iPod, but instead of music it’s mostly stocked with podcasts these days. How about yours?
This prank is amazing, and you just know this dog is baffled as to why people are running screeching.
The great mystery solved? Fun fact, I actually live shockingly close to Whitechapel, land of Ripper-hysteria and now Ripper-tourism.
Unexpected photos of Really Big Deal events. And some silly ones. The London Underground shot is equally amazing and scary, not sure I would have trusted the early models (the present day ones can be dubious enough!).
“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.” ― Audrey Hepburn
It’s been a bad week. Work was tricky, some private concerns caused stress, and my grandfather passed on Wednesday. You’ll understand if I’m not around for a bit? Here are you links, have a good weekend and try and put something positive into the universe.
An old, old post but one I was just alerted to by the hilarious Kerry over at PT&P. The problem with algorithms (her own post on how it affects writing and content creation is worth a look in too, I think!)
Fascinating story on what people actually see after their blindness has been cured or corrected. Sight is a skill and requires a degree of neurological experience for the brain to learn to process the incoming information.
Britain’s Crown Jewels live a mere 30-minute or so walk from me and they are pretty impressive. But I don’t think anything beats the famous troves of imperialist Russia, most of which were confiscated by revolutionaries and have been lost to time. But this post over at the Court Jeweler, a reprint of a 1920s article on the gems, is a lot of fun, shows what the imperial jewels would have looked like, and the links are jaw-dropping. Frankly I feel the same way about the spread of egg sized rubies as I do about Versailles: looking at both you think, “Yeah, I’d absolutely have revolted too.”
Obligatory women in religion news update, this story on the decline of nuns was fascinating and significant to me. When the religious contributions and work of women is separate, largely without fanfare or recognition, and devoid of a lot of autonomy and authority…women opt out. They take their time, talents, and even faith elsewhere.
Small Dog Syndrome 
