Earring Porn: Fauna

I’ve written before about how I’m never going to get my ears pierced (well, never again) because it would add needless complexity to my life, largely via increased accessory options.

That still doesn’t stop me from marveling at great works of ear ornamentation, especially when it’s in the form of various animals hanging off your lobes, which is all any of us really ant in life.

 

Elizabeth Cole:

Seaman Schepps:

Anoushka:

Dolce & Gabbana:

Les Nereides:

Brent Neale:

Elizabeth Cole:

Links on a Monday

My links are 3 days late and I haven’t been posting but GUESS WHY !
I’ve been on a field trip.

More details coming soon.

• “We all harbor the knowledge, however covertly, that we’re going to die, but when it comes to small talk, I am the angel of death.”- What to Say When You Meet the Angel of Death at a Party, by Kate Bowler (a woman struggling with Stage IV cancer)
•  Game Over, Man looks terrible. But I kind of want to see it. ‘So bad it’s good’ potential?
• Speaking of ‘So bad it’s good’, do I need to watch the Oscar-nominated Boss Baby? Wisecrack just did a video on it’s ‘accidental’ philosophy, which I found really interesting.
• Some pretty jewelry– I’m particularly attracted to the thin gold chokers.
• I Had to Break Up With My Career Coach
• A hysterical survey of the problematic history of black actors dying (often first) onscreen. And congrats to LL Cool J!
• There is no snack more appropriate for the Me Too Generation than a chip that tells women to eat more damn quietly. Good job, Doritos.
  Will there also be a super-crunchy ship so that we can all be alerted when a Real Man is eating?

Listen to Why I’m Stressed

It occurred to me that today is a links day but guess what? I don’t have many links and I’m feeling stressed and over-stimulated, and I felt like writing a links post would be not an excellent thing for my brain.

So I want to do what I often do when I’m stressed and make a list of what’s bothering me.  It kind of helps.  Especially because when it comes down to it I’m kind of living my best life.  There’s nothing seriously wrong in any way whatsoever.

There are a few too many focuses and that’s a hard thing for me to handle because of who I am as a person.

So in the order in which they occur to me:

• We have three tests coming up in the next two weeks. For one I have to memorize approximately 100 synthetic molecules, their names, and the families they’re classified in. And recognize them by scent.  And review the 130 natural materials that will be trickily sprinkled in… For another I need to recognize something like 50 or 60 fine fragrances, with names and brands, and scent families.  I don’t even know what the other one is at this point. Maybe chemistry?
• There’s a French one coming up. Do I even have to take the French test? (My French is good enough that I’ve been told I don’t have to come to class).
• I finished my green beans but didn’t eat the broccoli I bought this week and I’m worried it will go bad.
• I need to go grocery shopping on Sunday and I’m slightly stressed about what recipes to shop for.
• In three weeks we have a field trip to Grasse for a few days to study the mimosa harvest. And most people (including me) are staying the extra weekend days. But that means I have some trip planning to do, and my last trip planning experience didn’t give me a huge amount of faith in my abilities.
• Speaking of trip planning, a week later is the start of our two week February break. I have no idea what is happening there.
• It’s hard to go back to working all day. I hate sitting so much and feeling so exhausted after. Smelling for 8 hours is actually really exhausting. I need more physical activity and stretching.
• I want to try a financier pastry but I don’t know what kind to buy. It looks like they come in almond, pistachio, and chocolate varieties.
• Speaking of which, what kind of bread should I get this week?
• Lol I need to find a summer internship.
• I discovered that Chipotles exist in Paris and I REALLY miss Mexican food so I’ve asked some friends to go with me tomorrow, which is kind of a worry for me. Just the planning and timing.
• Speaking of my plans tomorrow, there’s an exhibit at the Petit Palais that I have to get to (it closes Sunday) on the pastel art of Degas and Redon. Must make that happen.
• I left my favorite necklace and my iPod at home. I miss them.
• My grocery shopping? I need to get a jam but I’m torn between four types. (Figs or mirabelle or Reines Claudes or fruits rouges?)

I think that’s it! Stay posted for links (and hopefully sanity) tomorrow!

Last Links of 2017

Happy New Year’s (Eve) depending on where you are!

This is the last selection of links for the year of 2017, and it’s a blessedly short one.

Do you have New Year’s plans? It’s been bitterly cold here in Boston and will continue to be so tonight, so my evening looks like a cuddly warm stay at home affair. If I manage to stay up past 9:30. Jet lag. It’s still real.

• Speaking of 2017 (good riddance?) a parting look at all of the random pop culture moments you may have forgotten. Including the Sesame Street cover of Despacito.
• MovieBob trashes The Greatest Showman and I’m here for it.
• Other things that I’m here for? This beautiful collection of Italian cuisine-themed jewelry designed by Alison Lou. The collection name? Mama Mia.
• The importance of female creators in the niche perfume industry.
• The Reasonable Toddler, an adorable/hysterical series of illustrations by Lucy Kinsley.
• This Last Jedi training featurette (no spoilers) makes me want to be a badass.
• Loving Angelica Dass’s work (see top image). Here’s her Ted Talk.

Stocking Stuffers for a Girl like Me

Pictured: My stocking and Dad’s stocking with Mom’s substitute stocking in the middle (her traditional one is getting a tad delicate).

My stocking is the best stocking ever because my Mom sewed it around the time I was born.  It’s also kind of obnoxiously large compared to my parents’.  Dad has a small pharaoh-themed one because he spent a lot of time in Egypt in his twenties. Mom’s is old and scraggly and red with peeling glitter glue that spells her name.  It’s quite lovely, really.

I decorated the whole tree today to surprise them when they get back from work, and also as some much-needed post fans therapy.  It’s the worst thing about college finals.  I don’t like Christmas nearly so much as I love the lead up and anticipation and carols and crowds and whole season.  So now I’m going for full on immersion.
And don’t worry, I’m not neglecting my pleasure reading! I’ve already finished With Borges by Alberto Manguel today (recommended) and was inspired to add many similar books to my To Read list (currently an overstuffed 436).

But back to stockings! I remember when I was little there was always the wonderfulness of unearthing from my stocking handfuls of gelt, fruit, and delicious Hershey Kisses.  One of the worst things about growing up, or at least the particular way in which I grew up, and my struggles with anorexia, was the loss of this happiness.  We have to let go of a lot of things as we get older, because things change and sometimes because we change.

But thankfully there are still little treats that can make you smile. For someone like me, I think the following little odds and ends are nice ideas.

My Xmas Wishlist

(I edited the Christmas Specials list to include Trading Places with Eddie Murphy- not sure how I forgot about that one! I am amiss!)

But I’ve finished my finals- finished the last one 4 hours and twenty minutes ago as of right now and I’m celebrating with a blog post and not lighting up because of who I am as a person even though I’m going home (!) and marijuana is legal there now (!).

It’s time to enjoy my respite from not-numbing-enough anxiety and round the clock studying to bathe in the golden and bedecked rampant consumerism that is one of my favorite things about Christmas.  I really liked gifts. Both getting and giving.  If I don’t think too much about the whole confusion that is the nature of the reciprocity social contract. But it’s kind of okay on my side because I tend to be the kind of person who, no matter what, will get the best present for someone in any given circumstance. It’s okay to hate me.

How Old Are You Now?

Yesterday was my birthday, in case you didn’t know (I turned 21) so today I’m planning a brief list of the gifts I opened/received/bought for myself.

Featuring Miss Minerva Peaches desperately trying to beat the heat.  It’s a losing battle.