Links 2/17

A links post with a one day delay. I’ve officially started on a two week break (but can’t get too excited because we have two exams the week we get back) and I’m debating whether I should go to The Catacombs today or take a joint trip to Maison de Balzac and the Monet Marmottan Museum. It’s a rough life full of hard choices.

• Yara Shahidi was on Stephen Colbert, is turning 18, having a voting party, and is an amazingly well-spoken individual. I know it’s a cliche to say this, but we need more people like her in the world.
• In spite of my issues with The Shape of Water, I do think it’s a bit unfair to sum it up as ‘the film where the woman has sex with a fish’. That being said, someone designed a dildo inspired by Fish God. You can find anything on the internet and this is why we don’t deserve nice things.
• The inspiring knitwear of Prabal Gurung’s Fall 2018 collection.
• The Obamas’ official portraits have been unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. They’re both pretty amazing, both from an historical and artistic standpoint.
  Buuuut: here’s a counterpoint and a deeper reading.
• Wisecrack on how Monty Python shaped modern comedy (via postmodernism, the comedy of the absurd, and political satire).
• A thought-provoking personal essay about an ‘accidental wedding dress’ and accepting that life rarely/never comes with the closure of a settled and final happy ending.
• Similarly, this comic on the numerous ways to fill your heart and live a meaningful and love-filled life.
• A surreal video of a very fluffy doggo swimming underwater.
• The Louvre has created a Valentine’s-inspired Pinterest board. I’m particularly in love (no pun intended) the Antonio Canova’s sculpture of Cupid and Psyche.
• I’m not planing on watching the newly reimagined/animated Peter Rabbit film ever, but there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle about a scene involving food allergies. I don’t think there’s much to be upset about but part of the reason I am steering clear of the film is that even from the trailer it struck me as being crass and mean-spirited. And I wasn’t even a Beatrix Potter kid.
• And… a Disneyland social club is being sued for using ‘mafia-like’ intimidation tactics. What even is this world and what are people? Watch out for the White Rabbits or you’ll be swimming with the… flounder?
• Reaffirming my goal to spend less time on my phone and computer.
• I didn’t cry at this animated short, but I won’t lie- it did give me the feels.

Books I Read Over Break

As this is my last full day in Boston and also a blizzard day (16-18″!), and as I have no books left from the library (I had to go back and cancel my extra holds yesterday 😥 ) this list isn’t going to go through any alterations before the actual end of the break tomorrow around 7 pm (at which point I will be at the airport) (unless I finish The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur SUPER QUICKLY), I can get away with posting this a bit prematurely.

I have packed my bags and read my last book.

• The Secret Lives of Color, Kassia St. Clair: An excellent and really interesting book about the histories of various culturally significant colors (like Mountbatten Pink, Lead White, Cerulean, et al.) featuring odd and various anecdotes from the past.  Each color discussed gets a few pages.  Very far from dry, perfect for increasing your store of random information for use at parties and family gatherings, and a very aesthetically pleasing book.
• Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature as an Adult, Bruce Handy: I’m a huge children’s lit reader. Possibly more so than I was as a child (and that’s saying something).  Watching the author discuss and examine childhood favorites (Goodnight Moon, Peter Rabbit, Green Eggs and Ham) through an adult lens, with an attention to various social/cultural movements, is so fascinating. It doesn’t hurt that the author is really witty. I think I audibly chuckled a few times.
• The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, Hyemin Sunim: Part of what inspired my very crunchy and zen resolution list (the other part being that I’m just a crunchy and zen person) (well, I try to be zen).  Beautiful illustrations and lots of crunchy and chewy food for thought. So glad I stumbled on this in Shakespeare and Co. (And so glad BPL carries it!)

Contrary to my usual preferences, if was a very nonfiction-heavy vacation.  But I feel edified, improved, and most importantly full of odd anecdotes to share.

New Year’s Resolutions

I’m too lazy to do a straight up transcription, so here’s a photo.

I don’t usually make resolutions because the bleak midwinter seems like a terrible time to stress out over lifestyle changes, but I was feeling a bit inspired to take a more holistic view of the process and this is what I came up with.

Do you have any resolutions?
If you could pick a month for the year to start,which would you choose?
I would go for April or May, when it starts warming up in this hemisphere. Or July, because my birthday really is what the year should revolve around.

Happy December (!) Links

I changed my desktop background (finally!). I was feeling the need for something pink and fluffy with unrealistic eyelashes.

• A brilliant deconstruction of the “woman are possible to understand” trope. Why women might have to be good dissemblers.
• The Lion King on a budget. I hope this is what the live action remake looks like.
• On discovering your story: “Obstacles you face come back to your belief system. They wouldn’t be obstacles if they weren’t challenging something within us.”
• “If you find yourself having to regularly indulge in consumer self-care, it’s because you are disconnected from actual self-care, which has very little to do with “treating yourself” and a whole lot do with parenting yourself and making choices for your long-term wellness.” What ‘self-care’ really means.
• Turning towards instead of away: the secret to an enduring marriage?
  Skip the first four intro paragraphs.
• Meet Liu Yifei, the new Mulan.
• I’m a sucker for Miss Piggy. What will she wear?
• Three Christmas markets in Paris! A vegan one?

Late (Again!) Links

No preamble. Down and dirty style.

• Fortnum & Mason has a superbly beautiful (and fittingly spendy) Rare Tea Wooden Advent Calendar. All I can say is “GIVE ME THAT FUDONG WHITE PEONY KING!!”
• Remember dying of dysentery on the Oregon Trail? Well, now it’s a computer game and you can be a yoga instructor.
• As a seltzer lover, I came to the right place.
• Just some photos of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the only celebrity couple that has ever mattered.
• Can we move my next raw materials exam to 9 pm?
• This might be my favorite HONY post ever. This man is the person I aspire to be. I’m ready to be illumined.
• I want this book.
• Sephora’s got a cool new campaign featuring its own employees.
• A quick video with Charlotte Olympia, she of the near-masterpiece footwear (plus bonus puppies!).
• Call me crazy, but I like What’s Happening Down There.
• Find someone who spits water on you the way Jon Stewart spits water on Stephen Colbert (and vice versa).
• Do you play that game where you imagine the stories of strangers you see? If so, this is the Instagram account for you.

Last Friday in America: 9/8

Fuck, that’s scary.

Lots of links, though!

Friday Links 8/18

Hi all.
Boy has it been an eventful week. I hope you’re well and taking care of yourself in the best ways you can.

There are a bunch of links this week, some just for fun and some about current events.

Friday Links 7/7

As always when it’s the first links installment of the month, the above photo is my new monthly desktop background (tiled, of course!)
It’s Friday and the weekend and I seem to be living my best life- at least that’s how it feels when things go your way for a few days. I’ve been doing a lot of cooking, found the perfect denim dress (finally!) and have some nice plans for the days ahead (Hopefully involving watching some horse racing! And possibly a film).  And my birthday is coming up! I’ll be 22, which is a nice even palindrome.

There are a lot of potential posts in the offing, which means that I need to gather my thoughts into a more orderly order and then proceed. You may have noticed that my Baby Driver thoughts yesterday were a bit scattered- but I was feeling guilty for not mentioning it, as it’s a really great independent film, and we need more of them.

Let’s get down to business!

• First a McSweeney’s link about sexual harassment that will either get any misogynistic assholes reading to a) leave or b) write me a nasty comment. Five times you thought you were sexually harassed but actually weren’t. How many sound familiar?
• The top names in Spain have just been released! I’m feeling intrigued by Leire and Valeria, both for girls.
• The Parenting Series has begun again at Cup of Jo, with 17 Surprising Things About Parents in Namibia.
• Elizabeth Gilbert (she of Eat, Pray, Love fame) writes about a spiritual truth learned from a bus driver: “anyone can be the light, at any moment”. Really a lovely story, of the ‘not all heroes wear capes’ variety.
• Just Dance: a sun-soaked portrait of the dance craze sweeping Brazil.
• You know the trolley problem? That particular moral poser regarding who dies if you have the opportunity to sacrifice one to save the lives of five? What would Buddha do? Here’s how Buddhist monks respond to moral quandaries and ‘trolleyology’,
• Some Trump supporters got mighty pissed at the Declaration of Independence (which they didn’t recognize). Oh, the irony.
• Curly girl comics. Pretty adorable, and pretty relatable even if my hair has calmed down in recent years. Plus it reminds me of Gabriella.
• Linda Chambers speaks out on being fired from Vogue. Even if you’re not into fashion, I really recommend reading this. It’s an interesting meditation on ‘failure’, judgment, self-doubt, and the power of your own narrative. And if you do like Vogue- then yes, it’s a bit dishy, which is why it was briefly taken down.
• The Guardian thinks ‘post-horror’ movies are taking over the cinema and I think that’s ridiculous. The presence of a few films eschewing stereotypical horror tropes does not mean we’re entering a post-horror genre. There have been unusual horror films since the beginning of cinema and there is nothing new under the sun. Stop being stupid, Guardian.

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Wellness on a $0 Budget

I talk about wellness way too frequently.  It’s getting to be one of my favorite topics, along with the inexhaustible lists of books and movies.  Partly it’s me (what kind of millennial yoga-loving anorexia-surviving introspective vegan would I be if I didn’t?) and part of it is the current craze for wellness, mindfulness, and all of the associated paraphernalia (rose quartz lamps).

Interrupting this broadcast: I HEAR THUNDER THANK GOD FINALLY

Anyway…

I have ambivalent feeling about the current cultural boom being experienced by wellness.  On the positive side, it’s helped me find more people who share my interests and brought my niche interests to a much wider audience.  Yay! An opportunity for new friends with new shared interests!
Additionally, as society and the market adapts to appeal more to this current cultural climate, it also suits me better.  There are increased vegan dining options, more articles around that I find compelling…. more things are available that resonate with my lifestyle and mindset.

Regretted Classes and Fate

I’ve been thinking a lot about going with the flow recently.  One of my downfalls is that I have a tendency to become too obsessed with what I envision, which can make me inflexible and anxious when things don’t go as planned.  This applies to major life changes, like college admissions, and very trivial things, like planning a sandwich day and then discovering the dining hall has absolutely no bread.

A lot of different things have been said about accepting fate.  Go with the flow. Leave it to God.  And also admitting that sometimes it’s just not a sandwich day, and that that’s fine.

I’ve also seen one of those pseudo-inspirational quotes (if you love it I apologize in advance) saying “Only dead fish go with the flow.”  I have a few problems with this- the fist being that it’s patently false.  Fish frequently go with the flow.  That’s what makes it so remarkable when salmon swim upriver to spawn.  The second is that I think the quote’s moral is very ill-advised.  “Fight fate or you might as well be dead.”  “Make your life one of never-ending struggle and pain just because.”
There’s nothing inherently wrong with ‘the easy way’, and what’s more, life is rarely divided so simplistically into an easy way and hard way.  The ways are all just… different.