Tag: Humor

Friends, Humor, Writing

Emails With Friends: Self-Doubt and Theoretical Physics

When one of us is writing a YA novel and the other is bad at sympathy.

“So, I have put off revising (or completely rewriting) my synopsis for [name of project redacted to protect the author], but in order to query the next few agencies on my list I need to have it. And I SERIOUSLY am hitting a wall here. Everything sounds incredibly dumb when boiled down to two pages in the third person.”

“Boiling down the theory of the multiverse, the best way someone ever explained it to me was to compare it to either bread slices or Swiss cheese. But that doesn’t make it dumb!”
– Katarina and C.

 

Freelance, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Weekend, Work

Friday Links

“I’m a very ritualistic, routine-oriented person, and I discovered over the years that I love working Monday through Friday.”
– Edie Falco

It’s a Friday with a busy weekend ahead, Monday is my birthday (I’ll officially be in my late 20s, and therefore entirely mature and responsible, of course), and next week is my last at the Franklin House. The times they are a-changing.

Here are your links, add any others worth knowing in the comments and let me know what you’re getting up to this weekend!

First and foremost, I wrote a post this week that went a tiny bit viral (by my standards at least). It was in response to the Santa Barbara killing and why I find it so important to claim the title of “feminist,” in spite of and often because of the price I’ve paid for it. The response I’ve gotten to this post on social media and via email has been pretty awesome. Here’s one response post from another writer.

Nerd culture and misogyny, h/t to Ellie, a friend of mine who is an editor at Marvel.

Another good link (h/t my friend Molly) about a culture of toxic masculinity. It’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one. When I say Patriarchy hurts everyone, even men, this is what I mean. And as the author points out, in the last few months alone there have been a string of events where men and boys have hurt or killed women for refusing them dates, sexual advances, or proposals. This is not an isolated event, this is the latest and most visible in a pattern.

Lastly on this topic, Laurie Penny over at the New Statesman wrote a much better post than mine on the killing, and everyone needs to read.

Okay. Other links for the weekend, though please do continue the conversation at my link or elsewhere. Our culture really is starved for better conversation about gender violence and we need to recognize that genuine misogyny is not a problem for other geographic areas of the world, or different cultures, it’s everywhere. And we need to fix it.

I’ll just leave this Instagram find of the week right here.

A question I have wrestled with for most of my life.

I’m gearing up for another round of applications and pitches, and it turns out some friends and members of the minion coterie are in the same boat. Here’s a link Alanna sent me that I’ve really been enjoying and using to gut up and stay motivated.

The inspiring and lovely Bethany over at Love Grows Designs wrote a guest post this week that I also found helpful. Which of us has not had a “long dark tea time of the soul,” to both paraphrase and plagiarize (Douglas Adams in particular. One of my favorite books)?

Tying scarves like a Frenchwoman, because summer is coming and we need pretty, breezy looks.

Friend of the blog and writer over at Riding Bitch, Niva wrote a really beautiful piece about loss and friends.

I would very much like this hat for summer, please.

Oh man…right in the childhood! Long live Reading Rainbow! (PS, they are still taking donations, and as of typing this, they were at $1.8 million.)

Another gently thought provoking piece from Maxie McCoy over at Ilo Inspired. I was lucky enough to meet Maxie at a Levo League event, which only helped to solidify my girl crush. I’ve had to “give up” on a few things recently and, to quote Frost, “it has made all the difference.”

I’d watch an awful lot of these. Submit your own mashup ideas in the comments.

My tiny kitchen and I have yet to reach an understanding, 8 months into our relationship. I never understood my mother’s complaints about kitchen spaces “not working” in several of the various houses we lived in over the years until now. Some are simply planned better than others. And I’m not even a particularly domestic woman! But I found these tips helpful in thinking of new ways to tackle that space.

I like collaborative apps, so here’s one if you’re trying to eat healthier. FoodTweeks will help you cut unnecessary calories and make food donations every time you do so. Winning!

I lied. In continuing ridiculous sexism and women’s sexuality news, this high school induces headdesks.

Britain, Expat, Humor, London, Travel

London Snapshot

“London is a modern Babylon.”
– Benjamin Disraeli

It’s be a crazy couple of days here at SDS headquarters, but thanks to everyone who emailed or tweeted me about my last post. It was a bit scary to write, but the response really overwhelmed me, in a positive way. I’ll try to address it more articulately in a day or two, in the meantime we return you to your regularly scheduled programing. History, London, freelancing, and humor. Oh, and pics.

Where bad (or perhaps very good) skateboards go to die: a pylon in the Thames.
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Britain, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Weekend, Work, Writing

Friday Links (Summer Has Arrrived Edition)

“I’m leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it’s not raining.”
-Groucho Marx

This week has turned things around in a big way and much has been done, all of it . I had another cowork day with Alanna (who might soon be upping sticks on an adventure of her own), completed lots of  freelance work, went to a book launch (more on that later) and had an impromptu date night with Jeff. All things considered, that’s a banner week. Here are your links, kittens – short and dirty this week, so do link anything else worth knowing in the comments. For the benefit of the minion coterie, you understand!

I’ve only got six (!) working days left at the Franklin House, so there’s been a lot of gearing up for the Next Big Thing here at Small Dog headquaters, which of course includes a new round of pitches to editors. Here’s my confession: pitching irrationally terrifies me. It’s not at all as scary as my brain builds it up to be, which I understand intellectually, and I’ve got some new recent and impressive clips now to help me out, but still. Scary. Which is why this kick-in-the-pants post from Linda Formichelli was quite timely!

Another timely read from Garance.

One dad has made some artwork based on the crazy things he has said because of his children, and some of them are pretty giggle worthy. Parents, weigh in. Accurate or not?

I’m a little bit in love with these animal pun illustrations for cards, etc.

My inner five year old is thrilled, a new gigantic dinosaur fossil has been unearthed in Argentina and to dates it’s the largest dinosaur ever discovered.

Pineapple earrings. Which might be necessary to my happiness, as my birthday is just over a week away…

As a person with a hard won and complex relationship with faith and spirituality, I found this short Buzzfeed piece written by a young woman who has lost hers interesting.

Janssen’s Summer 2014 Tell Me What To Read list has begun over at Everyday Reading. I love her reviews and she influences my own To Read list heavily, but her comment threads are also excellent places to pick up recommendations.

Britain, Expat, Food, Friends, Humor, London, Travel

London Barbeque

“Whenever I travel to the South, the first thing I do is visit the best barbecue place between the airport and my hotel. An hour or two later I visit the best barbecue place between my hotel and dinner.”
― Jeffrey Steingarten, The Man Who Ate Everything

Carnaby Street is justly famous, but running parallel to it is an equally fabulous path called Newburgh Street. This gem is stuffed with excellent stores and, what else, food. Welcome, kittens, to Pitt Cue, an actual barbeque joint in the heart of Soho.

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It’s paradoxical perhaps, but it’s quite a good idea in London to pick a place to eat based on how long the line is – in reverse order. If no one’s trying to eat there, there’s probably a reason. And if you have to stand in line for 30-45 minutes, it’s generally well worth the wait. Pitt Cue is no different. This small (almost unbelievably tiny) rib place accepts no reservation and operates on a first come, first serve basis.
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The table markers used to confirm your spot on the waiting list are also kind of adorable.

When Jeff and I made plans to meet up with Adam for dinner (lo these many months ago, and I’ve just now got around to writing about it…), we had a decent wait before they managed to squeeze us inside. This almost was worse than waiting outside because due to lack of standing space I was crammed up at the bar entrance, almost behind the counter, and having to dodge the waiters and their trays full of truly heroic/suicidal amounts of whiskey – which Pitt Cue stocks in famous amounts and which I had no desire to see spilled all over me. It was a narrow escape. But the food immediately made up for the danger, we snacked on an order of pig’s crackling which promised good things to come, and checked out the scene.
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Which, due to the aforementioned tininess wasn’t very viewer friendly…I was about seven feet away from the door.
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Except for this gentleman and his heavy use of plaid, which tickled us all to no end. Where does his shirt end and his jacket begin, we wondered!

In the end we were served a delicious twist on slaw, heavy on the spice, and a plate each of brisket. Jeff and I became brisket snobs in Utah of all places, where we discovered a magnificent hole in the wall of a place that ended up supplying at least one meal a week during high summer. And my parents in Virginia certainly have access to their share of tasty meats for us to enjoy, so how would a London attempt hold up?
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The fact that I got to this point before even thinking to snap a picture ought to tell you. My line theory is confirmed: this place is worth a wait!

Britain, Expat, Freelance, Humor, London, Work, Writing

Friday Links

“There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear — the city of London and the South Seas.”
-Herman Melville

This has been one of those weeks that mixes fantastic highs with crippling self-doubt. Imposter syndrome is alive, well, and living in London, my friends. But enough with the first world problems, they’re nothing hard work and gumption won’t cure, on to links. They’re all quick and dirty this week. Share anything worth knowing in the comments and let me know what you’re getting up to this weekend.
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(Feeling rather like the goose!)

Pantone before there was Pantone. By which I mean the 17th century.

My love for the blogging pair Tom and Lorenzo is well documented, so I loved this interview with them in Bitch Magazine.

I would play the heck out of this. House rules, you cannot ask questions about physical appearance. Terrible life choices, House allegiances, potential terrible fates only.

This new cartoon find amuses me greatly: (mostly) conversations betwixt inner organs and body parts, without being nearly as gross as it sounds. For example, the irritable bowel is…irritable.

A photography project to make you smile.

Either everything is a conspiracy or nothing has meaning. You decide.

Nate Silver, a quantifiably  intelligent guy, has some interesting thoughts and data on the 2014 election. Vote, people, you lose your right to complain otherwise.

Sick of Buzzfeed quizzes? Here’s a new, kind of trippy alternative one h/t of Katarina, and it nailed us both.

Paging all book loving minions – which is the vast majority of you, let’s be honest. I’m a bit in love with this little boutique collection. Someone with an iPhone get that cover so I can live vicariously and enthuse about your purchase with you.

“The greatest threat to extremism isn’t drones firing missiles, but girls reading books.”

“You won’t allow me to go to school.
I won’t become a doctor.
Remember this:
One day you will be sick.”
– Poem written by an 11 year old Afghan girl
Britain, History, Humor, London

Other Gems of Rotherhithe

“The powers of a man’s mind are directly proportioned to the quantity of coffee he drinks.”
― James Mackintosh

I live three minutes away from the Thames via leisurely stroll (which technically forfeits my right to complain about anything ever). Not only is the pretty great in and of itself, but the Thames is a fascinatingly historic river in a fascinatingly historic city. Come wandering with me this week as I show you a bit of the fantastic history within twenty minutes of my flat.

Finishing up with our week’s tour and circling back to St Mary’s, a charity school was instituted right next door to the church in the 18th century. The charming figures of a boy and girl still stand sentinel above the door and right along side it resides the early 19th century watch house. Today this functions as a small coffee shop and bakery – and may I say, the cookies are delicious!

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