Friday Links 5/19

Hey my graduation is this weekend! (Except not really because I’m not going!).
Did you go to your graduation? Almost everyone I’ve talked to has been some combination of stunned or outraged to hear that I’m skipping it- which is a reaction that’s quite taken me by surprise.
Neither of my parents went to their graduations, so I think I just kind of grew up not thinking it was a big deal. My cousin Sean went to his graduation but sat with his family in the audience.  And I went to my high school one (but I was valedictorian *pats on back* so I kind of had to).  But there are so many things I’d rather do!
Namely: anything. Sitting around in a big group of people and listening to speeches just isn’t my thing and I know that makes me sound terribly unsentimental, except I’m also such a nostalgic person that I know that can’t be it.

But I’m looking forward to celebrating in my own way.

“If your third essay wasn’t about Trump, you ain’t woke.”
An AP English (Literature or Language, I don’t know, probably the latter) essay question about artifice in politics.

Mother’s Day has gotten a bit further away now, but it’s never the wrong time to appreciate your Mum (or Dad or any other loved one). Twenty Five Famous Women on their Mothers.

Is Wellness a Fad, and is it Over?
I have mixed feelings on this. It’s been great having the world join me in my wellness bent (I mean, I’m 21 and I’ve been vegan and into yoga for over a decade) but the extremes of woo woo and wellness for the sake of Instagram can be a bit disturbing.  I suspect that people who have found some actual sense of enjoyment and well-being through the wellness trend will hold onto it- at least I hope so.

More drama coming out of Yale. Personally I don’t think they should have accepted the apology of the new Pierson College dean- the problem isn’t the words she used but the mindset they evidence.  Her reviews have really strong and uncomfortable racist and classist undertones- her derogatory comments about New Haven, which I called home for four years, and it’s population (which is largely African American and somewhat poor) really pisses me off.

I love this article and largely agree that there are some aspects of ‘cool’ that come from treading very close to the ‘ugly’ or ‘bizarre’ line.  So how about you, have you succumbed to the siren song of unflattering pants? I admit I’m feeling the pull of a nice pair of cropped flares like these.

Back to lifestyle trends- from the lovely and satirical McSweeney’s: I don’t need democracy because I have hygge. I still need to read that hygge book.
“Are white nationalists running our government? Probably. But I don’t have time for that shit because I’m enjoying a slice of warm rhubarb cobbler.”
It’s excellent because it’s also an indictment of white and upper class privilege that allows some people to ignore the infringement of our rights because it has no impact on their everyday reality.

8 People Test their Accents on Siri, Echo, and Google Home. I won’t spoil which one wins, but I will say that people exaggerating their accents is hysterical and the Benedict Cumberbatch features prominently.

Who calls the shots when it comes to picking baby names? Honestly, me. In whatever relationship I’m in, it better be me. If my husband went around post-birth exhausted me and named my baby without any discussion, I would fucking end him.

Rompers for men? It could be fine if the didn’t look so bro/douchebag. I mean, salmon, really? It makes more physical sense than it does for women because the peeing issue is taken care of for men with the help of a simple zipper.
Another reason men should get romper time? There is an argument that rompers are infantilizing (I agree- they’re baby-style onesies that aren’t quite physically practical to wear, but I love them anyway because of the one-and-done thing) and there should be equal opportunity infantilization.

2016’s BABY NAME RANKINGS WERE RELEASED BY THE SSA! I know, I’m late because it happened last Saturday, just after my weekly round up. Noah and Emma are still tops. I have to admit to searching my favorite names to ensure that none were becoming too ubiquitous- only a few have caught on.
And from the same data source, your state’s quirky favorite baby names. My favorites? Etta, Alessia, Zinnia, and Iman.  I’m amused by how much I dislike all the names in the Midwest. For boys? Hiram and Aubrey.

Is the human sense of smell really better than we give it credit for?

Hope of reform for child psychopaths, and how they became who they are. A very interesting read.

Let’s talk about baring your nipples. Or even showing their outlines. How comfortable are you with it? Assuming you have nipples.
Personally, I’ve had a pretty detached view of my body and the sensuality of having a body for a while- I think the credit goes to the quick and semi-public changes necessary for dance performances.  And also having smallish breasts means I don’t wear bras much at all, and sometimes I skip the camisole with sheer or lace tops. If I don’t see my breasts as a scandal I wonder that other people should.

And back to graduations. An excellent and super necessary tutorial on how to make your hat thing (what are they called) work with natural hair. And an article on the violence of naming, the subtle ways we imply people are ‘other’ by being negligent of such an intrinsic part of their identity.
If you’re also graduating this year, I hope you name is pronounced correctly so everyone can hear its beauty!