music! v.v. brown "game over"

"my heart may be drunk, but my mind is sober"

completely amazing

quotable: fran lebowitz

"paris is a great beauty. as such it possesses all the qualities that one finds in any other great beauty; chic, sexiness, grandeur, arrogance and the absolute inability and refusal to listen to reason."

l-r: jardin du luxembourg; courtyard on rue clovis, i think, maybe; city skyline.

music! christina courtin "foreign country"

this girl's voice is so sweet and vintage-y. i love it! something very fresh. 


"if i was a foreign country, would you come visit me?" <<< cute!

buy it here! http://www.amazon.com/Christina-Courtin/dp/B0026J8LEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1247503088&sr=8-1

quotable: natalie portman

"i've mostly been listening to dirty rap lately. that's sort of my scene. really, really obscene hip-hop. i love it so much. it makes me laugh and then it makes me want to dance."

-to interview mag.
how great is she? kind of fantastic...

awesome blog: the uniform project

you must check this out!!!>>>  http://www.theuniformproject.com/

taken from the site:

The Idea

Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.

The Uniform Project is also a year-long fundraiser for the Akanksha Foundation, a grassroots movement that is revolutionizing education in India. At the end of the year, all contributions will go toward Akanksha’s School Project to fund uniforms and other educational expenses for children living in Indian slums.

The Story of Uniforms

I was raised and schooled in India where uniforms were a mandate in most public schools. Despite the imposed conformity, kids always found a way to bend the rules and flaunt a little personality. Boys rolled up their sleeves, wore over-sized swatches, and hiked up their pants to show off their high-tops. Girls obsessed over bangles, bindis and bad hairdos. Peaking through the sea of uniforms were the idiosyncrasies of teen style and individual flare. I now want to put the same rules to test again, only this time I'm trading in the catholic school fervor for an eBay addiction and relocating the school walls to this wonderful place called the internet.

The Dress

How do you design a dress that can be worn all year around? The mastermind behind the uniform dress is my friend and designer, Eliza Starbuck. We took inspiration from one of my staple dresses, improving upon the shape and fit to add on some seasonal versatility. The dress is designed so it can be worn both ways, front and back, and also as an open tunic. It’s made from a durable, breathable cotton, good for New York summers and good for layering in cooler seasons. With deep hidden pockets to appease my deep aversion for carrying purses. More photos of the dress and the dressmaking process coming soon to the Uniform Blog.

The Accessories

The hats and plumes, the dickeys and drapes, the shoes and slips, the belts and brooches – much of what you will see are byproducts of my cyber-slacking on eBay and Etsy, backed by visits to the many local vintage boutiques, thrift stores and flea markets of New York. I am also collaborating with other designers and friends to create original pieces. If you are looking to purge some of your old accessories or if you would like to design a piece or concept an ensemble for The Uniform Project, see Donate Accessories.

another useful food tip: prolonging the life of your berries.

this tends to be a problem in our house. we never eat our berries fast enough! so i will try this next time. :)


One of summer’s great pleasures is eating berries of all kinds by the basketful. One of summer’s great frustrations is having baskets of berries go moldy overnight, or even by nightfall.

Steven Senne/Associated Press

SPORES BE GONE To protect blueberries, pop them in a pot.

Over the years I’ve come up with various strategies for limiting my losses, but this summer I came across a surprising one, the most effective I’ve ever tried. Thermotherapy, it’s been called. A very hot fruit bath.
Fruits go moldy because mold spores are everywhere, readily germinate on the humid surfaces of actively respiring, moisture-exhaling fruits, and easily penetrate the smallest breach of their thin skins.
The first thing I do with a haul of berries, after eating my fill straight from the basket, is to unpack the rest and spread them out on kitchen or paper towels, so they’re not pressing against one another and trapping moisture.
If I want to keep them overnight or longer, I refrigerate them, because cold temperatures slow fruit metabolism and mold growth. I repack the berries as sparsely as possible, nest each basket in a second empty one to leave an air space at the bottom, and inflate and tie off a plastic produce bag around the baskets, so there’s room for the berries to breathe and the bag itself doesn’t cling to their surfaces.
Even with these precautions I’ve had baskets mold overnight in the refrigerator. So I followed up right away when I saw a reference in an agricultural journal on extending the shelf life of strawberries not with a chemical treatment or gamma irradiation, but with heat.
I gathered a dozen or so reports that hot-water treatments suppress mold growth on berries, grapes and stone fruits. The test temperatures ranged from 113 to 145 degrees, with exposure times of a few minutes at the lower temperatures, and 12 seconds at the highest.
I found it hard to believe that any part of a plant could tolerate 145-degree water. My finger in the same water would get a third-degree burn in less than 5 seconds, and eventually reach medium rare.
I bought pints of various berries, divided each batch into two samples, and heated one by immersing and swishing its plastic basket in a pot of hot water. I emptied the heated sample onto towels to cool down and dry. Then I repacked it, and encouraged both baskets to spoil by wrapping them airtight and letting them sweat on the kitchen counter. After 24 hours I counted the moldy berries in each basket.
The strawberries fared best when I heated them at 125 degrees for 30 seconds. In two samples from different sources, this treatment gave a total of 1 moldy berry out of 30, where the untreated baskets had 14. I also treated some bruised berries, including one with a moldy tip. After 24 hours none were moldy. The tip mold not only hadn’t spread, it had disappeared.
I tried the same treatment, 125 degrees for 30 seconds, on raspberries and blackberries, and got the same good results. There were many fewer moldy berries in the heated samples.
For thicker-skinned blueberries, a Canadian study recommended a 140-degree treatment for 30 seconds. I tested it twice, with samples of around 150 berries each time. That heat took the bloom off. It melted the natural wax that gives the berries their whitish cast, and left them midnight blue. It also cut the number of moldy berries from around 20 per sample to 2.
Research has also shown that exposure to hot air slows fruit spoilage. But hot air can take several hours, and I found it harder than hot water to apply precisely in the kitchen. I did spread some raspberries out on a sheet pan lined with towels, and put them in a 150-degree non-convection oven for 20 minutes. The berry bottoms got hotter than the tops, which were cooled by evaporation. Still, only 1 out of 48 heated berries became moldy, compared with 7 out of 52 in the unheated basket.
Why is it that delicate berries can survive heat high enough to kill mold and injure fingers? Probably because they have to do so in the field. One study of tomatoes found that intense sunlight raised their interiors to 122 degrees. Such heat hurts the quality of growing fruits, but I couldn’t taste much of an effect on briefly heated ripe fruits.
So if you find yourself plagued by quickly spoiling fruits, start giving them a brief hot bath before you spread them out or chill them. Thermotherapy can be healthy for all concerned.

harold mcgee, nytimes.com

mixtape: songs about beauty

"pretty little angel eyes"

curtis lee

great song, not a good visual...

"PYT (pretty young thing)"

michael jackson

"she's a beauty"

the tubes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ_k_VG6Syc

"pretty baby"

blondie

"bette davis eyes"

kim carnes

leighton meester & gwyneth paltrow re-did this too, which is rando.

you can compare below. couldn't embed kim carnes' version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPOIS5taqA8

i gotta admit, i kinda like gwnnie's dancey version! i like kim's growly voice too. 

it's a toughie.

"lip gloss"

lil mama

heck yeah, i love this song

"devil's haircut"

beck

is the devil beautiful? it is rumored to be so, which is how he tempts ppl... idk.

"pretty persuasion"

r.e.m.

"oh! you pretty things"

david bowie

"beautiful"

christina aguilera

truly a beautiful song really. and a beautiful vid as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdYQX8J-FFo

compiled by AL, nylon.

maternal mortality

maternal mortality is a global concern, but it is not just under-developed countries where it is most prevalent. in 2007, the world health organization (WHO) reported that 40 countries have lower maternal death rates than the united states. FORTY countries? this is the u.s. ppl! this shouldn't happen! the world mortality rate is higher now than in 2000. as many as one in six women in parts of africa dies from pregnancy- or birth-related complications. every minute of every day, somewhere in the world, a woman dies of pregnancy- or birth-related complications. this adds up to more than half a million women each year.

in the united states, the post-birth care has significantly decreased, making complications that could easily have been treated in a hospital immediately fatal instead. some common problems are infection, hypertension, septic shock, and amniotic-fluid embolism. the centers for disease control (CDC) has estimated that more than half of these deaths could have been prevented with diagnosis and treatment. Ina May Gaskin, a certified professional midwife explains, "they used to keep women in the hospital for 10 days after birth because they were so worried about complications. by the 60's, they shortened that to five days, and in the early 90's suddenly the hospitals switched and made everyone get out in two or three days." two days is not enough. "you're home, you're still hurting, you could be infected, you could still have something in your uterus. all these things can be dangerous, and they can be easily fixed if you spot the trouble in time."

so how do we lower our percentage of deaths? a simple combo of rest and at-home check-ins by a postpartum nurse or midwife for several days after delivery. this kind of program is de rigueur in the netherlands where the risk of dying by pregnancy and childbirth-related complications is one in 10,200. the united states' number is one in 4,800. <<

sarah brown, wife of the british prime minister and co-chair of the maternal mortality leadership group puts it best: "when you save a mother's life, you save the best person to raise her children, feed, clothe, vaccinate, and educate them, and also contribute to her community, her economy, her environment. ***save the mothers and you can save the world."

what can you do to help? support the white ribbon alliance for safe motherhood (WRA) which is a coalition of medical professionals and others from 140 countries who are working on behalf of women worldwide. visit whiteribbonalliance.org
also, you can write to your congressperson or local newspaper in support of maternal health legislation.

info from jenna gabrial gallagher, harper's bazaar.

andré leon talley hearts the golden girls

from time out new york:

Do you watch television at home?
I only watch MSNBC for the news. Keith, Rachel and Chris. And reruns of The Golden Girls. It’s my favorite show.

That’s really funny. What great fashion, too, no?
Oh, great, great. They have a sense of being at home, always wearing different robes and nightgowns. For me it’s one of the greatest shows ever. Helmut Lang loves The Golden Girls too. He told me he used to rush home to watch it. It’s very uplifting and fresh, it just takes you away from the fashionable world.

the september issue: queen of the undead vs. mother hubbard

from NYmag.com by david edelstein

R.J. Cutler’s slick new behind-the-scenes-of-Vogue documentary The September Issue is alternately depressing and “amusing” — the latter adjective, in this context, loaded, since editor Anna Wintour cites it as her highbrow, politically progressive family’s characterization of her superficial specialty. The film presents itself as a fly-on-the-wall look at the most powerful woman in the fashion industry as she prepares the most titanic magazine issue (September 2007) of her career. But vérité-shmérité, this thing is crafty. It’s shaped as a battle between darkness and light.

Almost from the start, Cutler creates a competition for the viewer’s affections between the brusque, chill, dictatorial Brit Wintour and the endearingly transparent Wales-born creative director Grace Coddington. It is, of course, no contest. Under her Prince Valiant coiffure and big, omnipresent sunglasses, Wintour resembles the transvestite razor slasher of Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill, while the ex-model Coddington has a face in which the lines of passion and heartbreak are deeply etched. Wintour never enthuses or examines her own aesthetic; she simply accepts or, more frequently, rejects others’ work; whereas Coddington’s eyes are always open, searching out new colors, patterns, ways of using the space. The case is finally clinched when Coddington, commanded by Wintour to do a last-minute reshoot, has a surge of inspiration and casts the documentary’s cameraman, Bob Richman, in a startlingly kinetic shot of a black-clad cinematographer, his face hidden behind the camera, leaping in sync with a young model. Stunning! Later, Wintour, scrutinizing Richman’s slight paunch in the photo, turns to the movie camera and suggests that he (standing in for us) go the gym, then orders his tum-tum airbrushed out. When she leaves, Coddington tells him (standing in for us) not to go the gym (“Nobody’s perfect!”) and countermands the airbrushing order. Take that, toothpick Ice Queen!

Watching The September Issue, I learned less about fashion than about business and office politics. In their studios, celebrity designers fawn over Wintour as they would Queen Elizabeth (the First!), sometimes pleading certain pieces aren’t finished while she freezes them with her stare. The average exchange with her employees goes something like this:

Underling: Now this photo … I think is interesting.
Wintour: No, it’s ugly, it’s wrong.
Underling: No, that’s what I what I was thinking, too, it’s ugly.

Fashion naïf that I am (Wintour would tell me to go the gym, get a hair transplant, see a tailor, and leave her office), I was unaware of the ties (or collusion) between Vogue and big clothing stores like the Gap, but I guess that’s inevitable when many women read the magazine with one foot out the door for Neiman Marcus.

Scary as he shows her to be, Cutler does probe Wintour’s hard surface, suggesting her demeanor is rooted in a titanic inferiority complex. (Even her daughter, Bee, planning a career in law, labels her mother’s career “amusing” — ooh, the pain.) Still, I found myself wishing the director would go on and make some kind of case for her creative vision (by which I mean have someone else make the case for it) and not just her fearsome authority. There’s an unspoken subtext: For years it has been rumored that Wintour is on her way out, and The September Issue must have seemed to her a way to cement her celebrity and thereby make her even more difficult to dump. (Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada — inspired by Wintour but as played by Meryl Streep nothing like her — did her more good than harm.) So the movie-camera-shy Wintour is basically there under duress, with those of us who’d quake in her presence invited to feel superior to her. It’s an uncomfortable dynamic — but in spite of everything a guilty pleasure.

DYING TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!

how to pick your fruits & veggies

i never know how to shop for fresh fruits and veggies. too firm? too soft? what color? IDK!!!
i found this article on nutrisystem's website. so there ya go. :)

Here are some tips for picking and enjoying the best produce for yourself and your family.

Apples: Apples should be firm, without bruising, and bright colored. When it comes to storing apples, cooler is better. Refrigerated apples will keep much longer than those left at room temperature.

Asparagus: Look for stalks that are a bright green color and have firm, stiff tips. Store in the refrigerator and eat within a few days.

Bananas: Most bananas sold in the U.S. are imported. Look for bananas that are a vibrant yellow, with a minimum of bruising or dark spots. Store bananas at room temperature, where they will continue to ripen. Bananas should be eaten within a few days of purchase.

Berries: Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries should have vibrant color, with no visible wrinkling or bruising. Once you’re home, remove any bad fruit from the bunch; one bad berry can cause the rest to spoil. Berries should be refrigerated and washed just before using. 

Broccoli: Fresh broccoli will have heads that are dark green in color, without any flowering. It should be stored in the refrigerator.

Corn: You’ll want the husks to be a fresh green. Pick medium to large ears, and feel around on the top to be sure the kernels are fully formed. Corn should ideally be eaten as soon as possible after it’s harvested.

Green Beans: These should be bright green. Avoid beans that are limp or have dark spots.

Melon: Ripe melons are one of the distinct pleasures of summer (or warm months). With cantaloupe or honeydew melons, you’ll want fruit that has no soft spots or bruising. When ripe, both melons have a fragrant smell; honeydews are a pale yellow, and cantaloupes tend to be a golden orange color. Both melons will continue to ripen at room temperature, so if you leave an unripe melon out a few days, it will be ready to eat. As far as watermelons, they seem to have no discernible aroma, so it can be difficult to tell when they are at their peak of flavor. Once cut, all melons should be refrigerated. 

Mushrooms: There are a number of edible mushrooms, but the one most commonly found in grocery stores and markets is the button mushroom. These will be white in color, without bruising or wrinkling. Mushrooms should be refrigerated and be brushed rather than washed just prior to using.

Peaches: When you’re selecting fresh peaches, first make sure they’re free of soft spots or bruises. They should be fragrant but not over-ripe. Peaches don’t continue to get sweeter once they’ve been picked, so you want to be sure you get fruit at the peak of flavor. Also, they tend to spoil quickly, so don’t buy more than you’re going to eat in a few days.

Pears: Just as with apples, there are several varieties of pears. You’ll want to find fruit that smells sweet, is blemish-free and gives slightly to the touch. Pears stored at room temperature will continue to ripen, or you can refrigerate for longer freshness. Handle pears gently, because they will bruise easily.

Peppers: Sweet bell peppers come in a variety of colors—red, green, yellow and orange. Look for peppers that have thick skin with no spots or wrinkling. Peppers can be stored in the refrigerator.

Tomatoes: When these are in peak season, look for tomatoes that are a bright, vibrant red. Make sure they don’t have any bruises or soft spots. Tomatoes should be stored at room temperature before they’re cut and are best when they’re eaten within a few days.

Zucchini: This vegetable, also called summer squash, should have dark green skin without any soft spots. Buy squash that is medium in size, and store it in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. For maximum freshness, it should be eaten within a week.

funny fwd.

1) I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

2) More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

3) Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

4) I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Well, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

5) Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

6) That's enough, Nickelback.

7) I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

8) Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

9) Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

10) There is a great need for sarcasm font.

11) Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.

12) I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

13) How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

14) I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

15) I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

16) The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.

17) A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

18) Was learning cursive really necessary?

19) LoL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

20) I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

21) Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

22) Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

23) How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

24) I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

25) Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

26) What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

27) While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

28) MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

29) Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

30) I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

31)Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

32) I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

33) I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

34) Bad decisions make good stories

35) Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

36) Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

37) If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

38) Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

39) You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

40) Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

41) There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

42) I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

43) "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

44) I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

45) I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

46) I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

47) When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

48) I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

49) Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

50) As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

51) Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

52) I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

53) Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

54) Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

55) My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

56) It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

57) I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

58) I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

59) The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

the healthcare mess. my thoughts...

now, i am not a blind follower of anything. i don't think obama is god. i'm not fanatical. but i'm about to get real left-wing here for a sec...

ppl who think health care needs no reform are idiots. according to the independent, 50 million americans can't afford health care. we are "the only major, industrialized country that does not provide regular healthcare to all its citizens." SOMETHING needs to be done. all these fanatic republicans are doing is spreading panic and misinformation. it's completely ridiculous!!! there was a quote from the president that i felt summed this situation up nicely. "where we do disagree, let's disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to what's actually been proposed." alright ppl???? it's getting a lil bit ridic. and all the hassling that's been going on at the town hall meetings are only stunting any kind of debate that could happen.


http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-republicans-religion-and-the-triumph-of-unreason-1773994.html


this is an interesting article showcasing the ridiculousness of the republican party right now. love the bill maher quote. "the democrats have moved to the right, and the republicans have moved to the mental hospital." they are truly imagining an alternate reality full of complete untruths! 


http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/settingtherecord


here are some lies that are being propagated by the republican party. and if you don't want to believe a pro-obama site, check out http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/. They are a non-partisan site that gets to the bottom of all the hype ppl are spewing, on BOTH sides. 


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16obama.html?_r=1


this is an op-ed piece written by the president for the new york times. straight from the horse's mouth, if you will.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-brutal-truth-about-americarsquos-healthcare-1772580.html


if you need further evidence, this article will do it for you. a mobile charity called remote area medical set up a field hospital at the l.a. forum for eight days. ppl came from all over, spending the night in their cars, just for the opportunity to get some medical help. 10,000 ppl were expected to get help by the end of the eight days. these ppl were not just lazy bums, these were hard-working individuals that had to choose between paying rent or going to the doctor or dentist.


where did compassion go? i am not a socialist (and neither is obama guys, read up a little, really) but i believe in helping others. why must we all be so GREEDY?! friends, it's not all about money. as much as i'd like more of it and i'd like nice things and nice trips, we are STILL soooooo much better off than many, many other countries' peoples. our country is not war-torn, plagued by genocide or famine. we have clean drinking water readily available!!! these are huge things. it's not all harder, better, faster, stronger, ok? now i'm getting all hippie over here (and i'm a lil tired, so i may be rambling), but my point is valid.

appreciate what you have people.

help others. 

don't be greedy.

 live simply.

 you'll be happier in the end. 

promise. 

music!: the saturdays "forever is over"

vocabulary is cool: furbelow

furbelow \FUR-buh-low\ noun


1. a pleated or gathered flounce on a woman's garment; a ruffle.
2. something showy or superfluous; a bit of showy ornamentation.

Quotes:

In a season of ruffles, frills and furbelows, simple cuts in neutral shades stand out.

-- "Designers Head for Neutral Territory", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 27, 1997

Patience is required to get past some of the director's more baroque cinematic touches, decorating the story's dark center with visual furbelows . . . and aural gimmicks.

-- Lisa Schwarzbaum, "Movies: The Evil That Men Do", Entertainment Weekly, October 23, 1998

It is a story that, for all its hyper-animatedness, all its flips and furbelows of style, is confusing and wearisome.

-- Christine Stansell, "Details, Details", New Republic, December 10, 2001

Origin:

Furbelow is perhaps an alteration of Italian faldella.

12 most annoying types of facebook users. from cnn.com

i'm totally the paparazzo... lol.

(CNN) -- Facebook, for better or worse, is like being at a big party with all your friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers.

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, the 160-character message that users post in response to the question, "What's on your mind?" An artful, witty or newsy status update is a pleasure -- a real-time, tiny window into a friend's life.There are lots of fun, interesting people you're happy to talk to when they stroll up. Then there are the other people, the ones who make you cringe when you see them coming. This article is about those people.

But far more posts read like navel-gazing diary entries, or worse, spam. A recent study categorized 40 percent of Twitter tweets as "pointless babble," and it wouldn't be surprising if updates on Facebook, still a fast-growing social network, break down in a similar way.

Combine dull status updates with shameless self-promoters, "friend-padders" and that friend of a friend who sends you quizzes every day, and Facebook becomes a daily reminder of why some people can get on your nerves.

Here are 12 of the most annoying types of Facebook users:

The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.

The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.

The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.

The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.

The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.

The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.

The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.

The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.

The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.

The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.

The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?" 

You probably mean well, but stop. Just stop. I don't care what president I am -- can't we simply be friends? Now excuse me while I go post the link to this story on my Facebook page.

the history of weed. from nylon mag.

"marijuana has a long and storied history. the very first mention of cannabis was in 6000 BC china when ppl used the seeds as food, and it was introduced in northern europe as early as 500 BC. it has been used as an offering in royal tombs, as a medication, and, of course, for recreational purposes. and it wasn't ntil the early part of the 20th century that cannabis began to be banned--in 1935 a famous propaganda film, reefer madness, was even made to discourage american youth from touching the stuff. but cannabis remains a distinct part of our culture--it has, of late, even inspired a successful tv show [weeds]."

now, you can even buy perfumes in a cannabis scent!
it's interesting, no? whether or not you're a fan of the stuff...

quotable: sophia loren

"everything you see, i owe to spaghetti." sophia loren

^^^this bitch is SEVENTY-FREAKING-TWO!!!

unbelievable. the pirelli calendar. i hope i look that good at her age!!!

mixtape: twenty-two tunes toutin' the tush (woooo alliteration!)

"baby got back"

sir mix-a-lot

(duh)

"bootylicious"

destiny's child

(p.s. love that that word is in the dictionary and my comp recognizes it as being spelt correctly)

"fat-bottomed girls"

queen

"shake ya bum-bum"

lil kim

"ass like that"

eminem

"da booty"

a tribe called quest"

"shake your rump"

beastie boys

"big booty"

willie nelson

"humpty bump"

the vibrettes

"shake your moneymaker"

elmore james

(which is not to be confused wiiiiith........)

"money maker"

ludacris

"ms. fat booty"

mos def

"big buns"

grand funk railroad

"tush"

zz top

"rump shaker"

wreckx-n-effect

(oh man... brings. me. back. srsly.)

"da' butt"

e.u.

"shake your pom pom"

missy elliott

(lyrics: "see the booty shake like an earthquake. there is no escape when i shake it in your face.")

"my humps"

black eyed peas

(allegedly written in 5 minutes on a tour bus. pretty much brilliant.)

"(shake, shake, shake) shake your booty"

kc & the sunshine band

"big bottom"

spinal tap

(*this is spinal tap!*)

"the bertha butt boogie"

jimmy castor bunch

"shake ya tailfeather"

murphy lee, nelly & p. diddy

anyone else have some good ones? i know there are a ton more. ppl like butts... hmm. thoughts?

hello friends!

long time, no chat, i know. but i was less than pleased to be leaving my beloved paris...

i kind of missed having a place to write my random, funny, useful, thoughts/things i've found/read, so i decided to just add to this blog with more stuff. :) when i find something i like, i'll put it here.

so that's that. a, b, c. easy as 1, 2, 3. as simple as do, re, me. (mj-rip dude. seems like you need it...)