Tag: Weekend

Britain, Freelance, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Writing

Friday Links

“There is little chance that meteorologists can solve the mysteries of weather until they gain an understanding of the mutual attraction of rain and weekends.”
~Arnot Sheppard

Another big week. We had our friend Lark in town last weekend and through the start of this week, it was delightful to see her! Beyond that I had meetings, copy writing, and work enough to make me glad for the weekend. Although the weather has turned cold and rainy lately and shows no signs of stopping. The notoriously short British summer might have already come and gone, kittens!

The links this week are quick and dirty, please add anything you’ve read or seen worth sharing in the comments and let me know what you get up to this weekend!

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Interesting piece about complaining!

As a military brat, I find this fascinating. Cheese?

I think I could really get up the nose of a future Home Owners Association with one of these gorgeous things!

A world of only Facebook “likes” is a world we don’t want to live in.

They shall remain nameless at present but I have multiple friends with manuscripts being reviewed by publishers and would just like to refer them to these. When I am so lucky as to join them, I shall certainly take inspiration.

Correct, because it is excellent.

Word changes are interesting to me, not just how their usage shifts around over the centuries, but their pronunciation as well. Grammar Girl has a great list of a few such developments.

This gorgeous handbag line was featured in Liberty a while back and I’ve started seeing it pop up elsewhere, so clearly we need to help get the word across the Pond as well.

Brace yourself for our future robot overlords.

It’s Shark Week and the annual controversy is alive and well.

HONY is out of New York this summer…and amazing, important things are happening.

There’s a lot in this piece that resonates with me. I grew up a military brat and worked in a police department for five years, and in that time I do feel I caught a glimpse of this militarized cop mentality which concerned me. In this country, soldiers are not cops and cops are not soldiers, and there is a reason for that.

Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, Weekend

Friday Links

“Weekends are a bit like rainbows; they look good from a distance but disappear when you get up close to them.”
~John Shirley

A frustrating but largely good week and an insufficiently restful weekend coming on. We’ve got friends in town, I’ve got a check in the mail, and we had another nephew born yesterday! As Jeff is the youngest of five siblings, I married into a pre-exisiting bunch of nieces and nephews where previously (as not only the oldest sibling but the oldest cousin) I had none, and the posse has continued to grow deliciously. The Woodland clan makes cute kids.

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There have been a lot of random visits from the neighboring cat as well. More on this later.

This Is Glamorous has some gorgeous shots of the Dolce & Gabbana couture collection, shown in Capri, Part II here. Italian fashion isn’t my personal mainstay, but those gowns are stunning and look like they move beautifully.

In other fashion news, a mom wrote a letter to Lands End about some of the clothing choices offered for her daughters. The company listened. High fives all around! Next stop, more variation for boys too – choices all around! The company is getting some criticism for being “too late,” but I think they should get credit for 1) acknowledging the validity of a criticism and 2) turning around a solution quickly. Another criticism is that they are only responding to stop negative press, to which I kind of say, “So?” They’re a business and someone pointed out that their marketing was costing them. So they amended their marketing and product to both reduce a stereotype and widen their market. That’s not just the right thing to do, it’s good business practice.

A surprisingly SFW list of 600 years of slang words for, in slang, making the beast with two backs. A very important vote now, which of these should be brought back immediately?

Political speculation time, is Romney going to run again? I hope not, but what do you think?

Yes. More advertising campaigns like this, thanks.

H/t to Ruth for this hilarious article. When we were at Teri’s for dinner last weekend, we all had a fascinating discussion about social media and perception that was quite fun.

Gigi New York’s released their fall handbag line and colors (it’s summer, retailers, calm down!), and I have to say, I am crushing hard on that kelly green.

Wedding gowns of yore; some pretty, some whacky.

What one take on living off the grid looks like.

Everybody else can go home, THIS is the best Women Against Feminism parody.

I’m currently off sugar and hating it. It is a drug and it is addicting. But in the midst of withdrawals, I find this Buzzfeed post intriguing.

Jeff and I have been doing something slightly out of the ordinary for us this year: going to summer blockbuster movies…and enjoying them! It’s inspired a lot of heated debate over the future of the movie industry vs. other forms of media, specifically streaming video, so this piece caught my eye. Weigh in.

I would not at all mind coming across one of these.

To round off the week, a thought provoking piece from The Federalist. Who guards the guardians when we don’t acknowledge the guardians anymore?

Freelance, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Weekend

Friday Links (Chose the wrong month to go off sugar, Edition)

“What hath night to do with sleep?”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

The links post is a text heavy one this week. Why you ask? Because I’ve spent nearly three days on a massive editing project that turned out to be much more labor intensive than anyone anticipated and was up to four in the morning reconciling drafts. I have digested a lot of text this week (including three books, surprisingly), so must you. It good for us.

This weekend I’m doing some volunteering and some napping and am pretty excited about both. Dinner this evening with Ruth and Teri also promises to be a much needed delight, though I might turn into a pumpkin and plead bed at a shockingly early hour. Here are your links, tell me what you’re up to this weekend in the comments!

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Goodness, are we already doing this? Live in the moment, entertainment industry! (That being said, I’m fairly intrigued by the next Pixar film…and In Heart of the Sea…and Crimson Peak…okay. Guilty.)

In related news, the first promotional images from the film adaptation of Into the Woods are out.

This woman has turned Beyonce songs into dramatic monolog. Required viewing, obviously.

Occasionally, yes, it does happen, someone needs to be rewarded for their online excellence. There’s a site for that.

Hooray, we’re doomed!

Interesting short piece on a Burmese skin/beauty product you’ve never heard of before.

A truly excellent response to the Women Against Feminism tumblr, which I will not link to here. (I initially thought I was reblogging and linking to it on my tumblr, which I use mostly for fun and to track images and stories I think are interesting and beautiful, but I didn’t realize that I had accidentally reblogged it on WordPress. The trial of too many media sites! That happened on Tuesday, and I took the post down, in case you saw it and wondered where it went. I’ve got nothing against reblogging in general, but I’ve never done it here so I thought it best not to start. Plus I want this author to get the clicks and the credit in her own right, because she basically dropped the mic.)

Congratulations. We have advanced to new and surprising levels of narcissism.

Interesting piece from The Atlantic on how we have too many lawyers…and several of them are trying to get out of the profession.

Science!

 

 

Britain, Expat, Food, Humor, Husband, London, Shopping, Weekend

I scream, you scream, etc.

“Forget art. Put your trust in ice cream.”
― Charles Baxter, The Feast of Love

One of the great tourist-y pleasurable things you can enjoy in London is exploring the famed shopping area in the West End. Bond Street, Regent Street, and Oxford Street have a bunch of high street shops that are plenty interesting, plus the city of Westminster goes to great lengths to make it accessible, especially during the summer, but the ream gems are the remarkable department stores like Liberty and Selfridges. Not only are they noted for stocking all the luxury brands, but many of the great British department stores are great at forming partnerships with brands (some big, some new) for events and launches. This year the European ice cream company Magnum is celebrating 25 years, and apparently this is a Really Big Deal on this side of the Atlantic. I thought the idea of throwing a celebrity-studded bash over ice cream was a bit much myself…but my grinch-like heart softened eventually. Because, ice cream.

Last Sunday, Regent Street closed to traffic (something they’ve done every Sunday in July) and Magnum set up booths by the dozen to give away thousands of free ice cream bars.

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However, Jeff and I didn’t feel like standing in one of these lines. We decided to stand in a much snootier line instead!

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Selfridges had a super-fancy exhibit for Magnum in their famous Wonder Room, where participants could create their own ice cream bars with super-fancy dipping chocolate and super-fancy toppings. Alas these were not free, but we figured that VIP ice cream would be a fun weekend treat so we sprung for it anyway.
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The decor was, of course, delightful. Selfridges is famous for their displays, primarily in their windows; I love their emphasis on visual design and engagement. But on to the main event!

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Toppings were tossed together in cocktail shakers before being lovingly spread over the hand dipped bars. Jeff and I managed a combination of ice cream, dip, and drizzle that included all the chocolate variations, plus toppings that were just wacky enough to be interesting—hazelnuts, brownie bits…and cornflowers!
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Too weird for your taste? Trust me, it was delicious.

Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, Wedding, Weekend

Friday Links

“Cheers to the freaking weekend…”
– Rhianna

Busy Friday prepping for a busy weekend. Here are your links, kittens, and tell me what you’re getting up to in the comments!

Fascinating story on the tale of a viral tweet.

Interesting and important piece from the NYT about the financial realities of freelancing and how writers are opening up about it. Finances are a constant presence for me since going freelance full time and in my first year, there have been plenty of months where I didn’t make what I wanted or needed to and our savings has had to come into play. Luckily I’m finally in a place where starvation isn’t a glaring possibility, but it still feels like a constant threat. In spite of recent successes and steady work!

The history of a severely undervalued garment.

For those interested on a longer view of Mormon Feminism (a history that dates back to the suffragettes) plus some perspective of it in the digital age, Nancy Ross, an acquaintance of mine does an admirable job of laying it out.

A video game idea generator, shared on Seth Godin’s blog and emailed to me from friend and Friend of the Blog Caitlin.

Your tumblr find of the week. (h/t Jeff)

H/t to my sister-in-law Camille for this series on wardrobe building. I edited down everything I owned to two suitcases when we moved to London and it was a great experience that’s really made me rethink clothes and possessions, so the idea of capsule wardrobes really interests me.

Existential Comics. Does what it says on the tin.

Rejoice, for Kate Beaton has posted new comics at Hark, a Vagrant and teased a new book. I particularly enjoy the Greek mythology one.

I can never resist a good batch of art remakes.

Or infographics of classical literature!

Feminism, Friday, Humor, Journalism, Linkstorm, Religion, Weekend

Friday Links (New York Times, Edition)

“I don’t think intelligent reports are all that hot. Some days I get more out of the New York Times.”
– President John F. Kennedy

It’s been a busy week, as you may have suspected. I’m afraid that makes for an even busier Friday, so here are your links. Share anything else worth reading, plus what you’re getting up to this weekend, in the comments and enjoy high summer!

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Had to wait an extra day to get it over here, though the original is currently winging its way to me thanks to friends.

Headline of the week.

Teri, over at The Lovely Drawer, has shared another design freebie: beautiful desktop wallpapers.

Interesting story about an unexpected sumo wrestler.

Marvel is changing the comic book character Thor to a woman and certain parts of the internet reacted to the news…internet-ish-ly. Luckily the blog Texts from Superheroes had the perfect response.

Art remixes where new and old subjects and pieces are mashed up beautifully. (Warning for pearl-clutchers, nude forms are present!)

This video of a person playing with a platypus is exactly what it says on the tin and much cuter than you’d think. Almost makes you forget those odd beasties have poisonous spines!

A giveaway I assume most US based minions will want to know about.

Interesting development from Amazon, what do we think about this? Janssen, our resident book aficionada needs to weigh in!

A Facebook friend, moderator of a freelancer forum I belong to, and a writer herself penned this hugely useful piece on the realities of how to do your taxes when you work for yourself.

I could never persuade Jeff to this, he’s all about lofts and modern space, but I’m currently house-lusting over this 14th century home.

And, the biggest news for me personally, in case you missed it, I wrote an op ed for the New York Times that was published on Tuesday. It contains my perspective on Kate Kelly’s excommunication, its place in the “Mormon Moment,” and what I feel to be the larger implications for the church. It was not easy to write, and it was very scary to share, but I’ve been really overwhelmed at the positive and sincere feedback I’ve received from it. A huge and heartfelt thank you to friend and Friend of the Blog Caitlin Kelly (unrelated to Kate) who urged me to write a piece after many emails on the subjects of Mormonism, feminism, and religion in general, and who helped me to place it.

Family, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Weekend

Friday Links

“But, soft! methinks I do digress too much,”
― William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus

Big week. I might have two personal pieces published here shortly, saying no more to avoid jinxing either, and freelancing projects have continued to be hectic. What sleep?! Plus we’ve been having adventures that you need to be caught up on, plus I need to do laundry and dry cleaning, plus we have some of Jeff’s family in town visiting, plus I’m pretty sure there is no food in the house. The life of the modern woman is a many splendid thing, kittens.

Proper posts forthcoming but I leave you with this preview!
Proper posts forthcoming but I leave you with this preview!

Well…this is grim.

Interesting piece in the New Statesmen about writing the female experience.

For days when words fail you.

And also for when you need to feel better.

Fellow expat and freelancer (plus notable foodie!) Andrea over at This New View has tracked down a recipe that I feel we collectively, as a group need to master. Because just look at that beauty…

In the 19th century, the humble bicycle became a major tool and symbol of mobility and freedom, especially for women. They were discouraged from riding them for a number of reasons and in a variety of ways, but this article depicts what is my new favorite: “bicycle face.” Ladies, beware!

Two of my beauty/fashion loves have just combined forces in a dangerous way.

Evolution is such fun!

Darling buddy Caitlin has written a fascinating post about the time cost of living in China, which might inspire my own somewhere down the road because this is all truth.

If you’re new to SDS, religion and feminism are kind of a thing around here, so here’s an excellent piece from an orthodox Jewish woman’s perspective on engaging with her faith in ways considered traditionally male.

…this is a thing?

These designs, especially the cloud chandeliers, are giving me life.

Britain, Expat, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Travel, Weekend

Friday Links (Expats and Independence Day, Edition)

“I want to grill something!”
– Jeff

Happy Independence Day for Yank minions. I’m currently celebrating our freedom from Britain by eating the most British thing possible for summer, strawberries and cream, and admiring my view of the London skyline while I work. Hashtag traitor, or something.

In any event, it’s a gorgeous Friday with blue skies and bright sun. We’re hoping it stays fine since Jeff’s brother and sister-in-law are coming into town and we have great hopes of showing off our tiny flat and the big city. In the meantime, I’ve got about 10,000 projects to try and bang out before they get here. My freelance team has taken on new clients so we’re all terribly busy and important. Enjoy your links, add anything worth reading in the comments and let me know how you are spending the weekend. Stateside kittens eat barbeque for me, please.

But please, in your celebrations, remember dignity.
But please, in your celebrations, remember dignity.

These would not typically be my art style at all, but I’m finding these pieces summery. I’m also wishing it were physically possible to hang paintings and photos in our concrete walls.

Also crushing on the gallery wall from this apartment tour. We’re acquiring a staggering collection of prints and papery goodness living in London that are going to need to be prominently displayed someday.

I’ve had marriage on the brain this week, so I really enjoyed this unexpected piece on an arranged one.

In the list of attributes I thought I would never really admire in a wedding getup, shorts rank pretty high. Olivia Palermo shatters my preconceived notions.

…everyone has a skill…

Holy cow, this should stock my links list for at least the rest of the summer!

Sherlock returns! …in 2016. I swear, that show feels more like the Olympics than anything else.

In other public broadcasting news, This American Life is taking a couple of gambles on their production. Their first one is the biggest, but I’m also excited about their show Serial. I’m a huge fan of the radio show, let’s bring it back!

This photographer is just 15. And what have you done with your life, lately?

Disney will be thrilled, children who actually read the original tales will be traumatazied. 500 new German fairy tales have been discovered!

Tomato Nation is doing the work of the righteous and ranking Wimbledon players by hotness on your behalf. You are welcome.

Lastly, some pretty for your weekend: films inspired by art.

Freelance, Friday, Humor, Linkstorm, Religion, Weekend, Writing

Friday Links (slightly overwhelmed in a good way, edition)

“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers & cities; but to know someone who thinks & feels with us, & who, though distant, is close to us in spirit, this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You people are wonderful, thank you for all the lovely comments and emails from my last post. I’ve really been blown away by how something that felt so personal and unique to one community has turned out to be a pretty universal emotion and feeling. Such is the way of all fear and trepidation, I suppose. Either way, reading through those was the most cheered I felt in a week.

In the meantime, while one aspect of life has been a pit of turmoil, others have been tripping quite merrily on without time to waste. The human experience is a strange, fractal thing… Currently I’m working on one project that might or might not have anything to do with the Miss America contest, another involves wrestling through multiple layers of online security which makes me feel much more advanced and technologically impressive than I am. Nifty things and amazing work happening over in freelance territory.

Also our five year (!) wedding anniversary is coming up Tuesday. Don’t ask me where the time went.

Here are your links for the week, add anything else worth reading about and let me know what you’re getting up to in the comments!

The tumblr find of the week reminds us that not all advice is helpful.

Interesting portraits of first year college students. We’re coming up on the 10th anniversary of me starting college (clutches self a bit to realize that) but I don’t have many photos from that time period still hanging around. I’ve never been a big picture taker until we moved to London, and even then very few of myself or Jeff. I wish I had more from my college days.

Everything about this story is pretty horrifying.

Really interesting TED talk on how we as a society are using people with disabilities as motivation, which on its face seems good but as the speaker points out, has a pretty bad side effect.

Longtime readers know I simply cannot resist a good art mystery!

This American Life did another live show (their last one was one of my favorite things of 2012, so I was too excited not to share).

I bear witness of the high heel insert, personally.

A source of some confusion to various friends and acquaintances, I have never been to Disney World/Land. I have been to Euro Disney, but those in the know tell me that this is Not At All the Same Thing. So, people who know better than I, tell me what you think of Disney Land’s original prospectus?

If you are suffering from an insufficiency of cuteness this Friday, may I offer this as a balm?

I would kill to get my hands on one of these 18th century pattern books on fabrics and textiles to sift through on a rainy afternoon.

A cover letter from Leonardo da Vinci.

I loved this piece on the world of incredibly valuable but often invisible work and how much we rely on it.

Summer sales are lovely, forbidden things. Some of you go and buy something fabulous from GiGi New York for my sake, please. Let me live vicariously.

Freelance, Humor, Linkstorm, London, Weekend, Work, Writing

Friday Weeks (Making it after all, edition)

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
― George Eliot

Big week! Huge existing projects, potential new projects, and scheduled meetups and meetings with people for even more potential new projects. Freelancing is an interesting business, there are some weeks that are very standard and uneventful but you get good work done, and others that just set you up for leaps and bounds of growth if you make smart decisions. Hopefully this has been the latter.

This weekend I’m meeting up with a bunch of academic friends (usually scattered from London to Cambridge, but convening in the capital for food and talk), editing and updating my recently expanded portfolio, and hopefully hitting up some new museum exhibitions with Jeff. We walk on the wild side, kittens. Here are your links, share anything else worth knowing in the comments, and let me know what your weekend plans are!

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From my latest urban agriculture profile over on The Thrifty Homesteader.

The tumblr find of the week is a source of unending hilarity and delight to me. One feed, one singular purpose. (Also, he was all kinds of dishy back in the day, was he not? Insert a sort of humming, growl-y noise here.)

People. Fundamentally decent.

Even now I have Teddy, a well worn and well loved, formerly pink bear I got the day I was born. She was my best friend and partner in crime in childhood, and still beloved to this day. (When we were dating, Jeff once commented on the less than pristine state of her fur and had to spend a lot of time apologizing to make up for it. He may be my greatest, but she was my first love.)

An excellent piece on the importance of boredom, very thought provoking.

As of tomorrow it is officially summer. Would that I were not two feet too short to wear this dress in celebration.

This is my favorite headline to come out of the World Cup thus far.

One of my cousins recently got engaged in a spectacular fashion and a photographer was on hand to capture the moment. Unsurprisingly, since my cousin happens to be a model, the shots turned out gorgeous so you’ll forgive me if I shamelessly share them.

I already posted a PSA, but for those who missed it, online buddy Kim Curran’s fabulous new novel GLAZE is now available on Kindle for $.99! It’s only for two more days, though, so get cracking.

I am still supremely annoyed that we had to forgo Ascot this year, but the Fug Girls are providing the necessary hat commentary until next summer. When we WILL be going.

I sincerely love human beings seemingly innate desire to make functional things beautiful – though I doubt the wisdom of silver finger protectors to avoid harm coming from picking strawberries (possibly the world’s least dangerous summertime delicacy) out of a bowl.

Essie nail polishes are easily my favorite, but the story of the woman behind the company is just as good in my opinion.

Pretty pieces of custom embroidery.

Last week I shared a piece from the New York Times about Mormon activists facing church discipline. This week an exceptionally good post on one of the most famous stories of dissent from within the Mormon faith community, Nazis are involved.