I have already given away my copy of Carry On to my babysitter’s fiance, so you cannot have it, please buy your own. It is a truly perfect book, perhaps the greatest YA novel I have ever read, and I know you will adore it as much as I did.
I forgot if we discussed Isaac Butler’s “Is Hamlet Fat?” but a) he IS, and b) let’s!
Billington is right: One does look for a Hamlet that is lean and pensive or, failing that, an action hero like Mel Gibson or Keanu Reeves, who both played the role in the 1990s. Cumberbatch combines aspects of both, having recently played both Sherlock Holmes and a genetically engineered supersoldier in Star Trek Into Darkness.
But what if our mental image of Hamlet is wrong? What if the grieving, vengeful prince is actually fat? Just because you’ve never considered the possibility doesn’t mean that Shakespeare scholars haven’t argued about it, just one front in a centuries-old debate about how you determine meaning in Shakespeare’s plays.
The Race in America panel at the New Yorker Festival was. out. of. control. good:
“You’re playing whack-a-mole with the symptoms and not the core thing,” Williams interjected. “Police are American citizens, they were born here, they were raised here and programmed here, as we all are. You go to public school and you spend 12 years learning white supremacy,” he continued. Known by many for his portrayal of Dr Jackson Avery on TV’s Grey’s Anatomy, Williams is at least as engaged with his activism around issues of race and social justice.
The theme of examining racism in systems it inhabits rather than in individuals infused much of the conversation, even as the discussion moved beyond the police. Indeed, while the panel was billed as one looking at “black identity and conditional citizenship”, it was the construct of whiteness that spent a good portion of the night under scrutiny.
Beloved Friend of The Toast Who Has Become My IRL Friend Because of The Internet Jasmine Guillory told Jezebel and the world not to get bangs (I might still get bangs but I know she’s right and wants the best for me):
With Kate Middleton’s recent destruction of her wonderful, perfect hair, we have yet another example of why bangs are the scourge of humanity. Look, I get the impulse. You want to do something different with your hair! But you don’t want to cut it all off, and good highlights are expensive, plus all of that bleaching can destroy your hair and feel so permanent. So you think: “Oh, I know! I’ll get bangs.” I am here to tell you: NO. Do not get bangs. They won’t look good on you, they’ll drive you crazy, they look good on virtually no one, don’t do it.
“But me! Bangs will look good on me!” you say. No, no they won’t. Not even Michelle Obama, acknowledged Best Lady in All of America, could pull off bangs, so what makes you think you can? (Michelle is totally going to text Kate in a few weeks all, “Hey Duchess, I know what you’re going through. Let me know if you need tips or just a shoulder to cry on while you deal with this fiasco.”)
RIP, Grace Lee Boggs
My friend Carrie’s new puppy is willing to LOOK in the direction of the baby:
Steve Friedman on the relationships between first responders and victims of the Boston Marathon bombing (this is plenty gory before it’s uplifting, FYI:
The cops watched the TV news inside the restaurant, then returned to the truck and stayed there until 11:45 p.m. Driving home, “as I put more and more miles between Boylston Street and myself,” Cottone again felt afraid. When she got home, her dog jumped up to greet her. It was only then, after a day of explosions and blood, of screaming for ambulances, of telling a dying woman she would be fine, of saying goodbye to her father, that the police officer let herself cry. “No one wants to see a crying cop,” she says. “I’ve seen my fair share of crazy and sick s–t at work. This was different. It was too much. It was a really lonely feeling that day.”
The next morning, Materia returned to the hospital, but no one would give out any information. “I told security I knew her name was Roseann,” says Materia. “Last name began with an S, probable leg amputee, had burn wounds to her right hand, the hand I was holding in the police vehicle. I just wanted to know if she was alive. A fellow fireman was with me and knew the MGH [Mass General] police officer from high school, which helped. The officer went to Roseann’s family, told them about the situation, and my request was answered immediately. And, it was the best news I ever heard: She was alive.”
I believe every word of this story about Brian Blessed:
“I’d been brought up with babies, a kind of working class background, and helping with babies. And I rushed across to her and she’d got her legs open and she knew me from Z Cars and said: ‘Please, help me I’m having a baby!’
“I said, ‘It’s alright dear, breathe deeply’, and gradually I got the baby out. I delivered it in Richmond Park. I pressed her belly and got rid of the clots, then I got the afterbirth out and I bit it off and tied it in the knot.
“Then I just called for help and eventually an ambulance came. I was covered in blood, I was wrapping her and wiping her and I was licking the baby’s face.
“I’ve never talked about it. It was natural, you just say “push, push, push, breathe deeply”, I’d seen my mother do it.”
It was a baby girl, but sadly we don’t know anything else about the child or what happened to her.
A longread about The Great British Bake Off:
Much of the tone of the show – as light and sweet as a sponge – is carried by its presenters, the impish Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc, and their end-of-pier, Carry On-style humour. “I’ve never eaten a nun before,” Sue remarked solemnly after the contestants were set the task of making a French choux pastry called a religieuse. If Mel and Sue give Bake Off its wit, the judges – the grandmotherly, somewhat patrician Mary Berry and the flinty-but-twinkly master baker Paul Hollywood – are its twin deities. “Alvin has really got to pull up his socks,” is a typically nannyish remark from Mary, who reacts to baking disasters more in sorrow than in anger; “Queen Victoria would be proud” represents the zenith of her lexicon of praise.
Did you see Misty Copeland and Yo-Yo Ma on the Late Show?
Definitely watched Misty Copeland and Yo-Yo Ma last night while in bed. They are perfect and everything is perfect.
The next Disney princess is native Hawaiian and being voiced by a 14-year-old native Hawaiian girl, which I find pretty neat.
I find it really impressive that you managed to celebrate the new Disney princess (as she should be!) without even mentioning that the music is being composed by current Toast hero Lin-Manuel Miranda.
And that the other main character is being voiced by Beloved of The Toast and consumer of Too Much Cod Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Basically, we need to have a Toast-wide screening of this film
YEP
WHAT Pray to God Disney execs are just hanging out at this site.
Everyone is invited to my house. Must tolerate dog hair. Someone help me get it on a screen in my living room. If enough interest, I’ll reserve a movie theater screen for us.
GUYS CAN WE PLEASE DISCUSS THE GBBO FINALE AND HOW IT WAS EVERYTHING I DREAMED IT WOULD BE AND THE FACT THAT TAMAL AND NADIYA ARE GOING TO BE FRIENDS FOREVER AND I NEED THEIR SPIN-OFF SHOW ASAP
IT MUST HAPPEN. IT WILL HAPPEN. I’M PETITIONING THE BBC AS WE SPEAK.
Nadiya. Oh Nadiya. I have so many thoughts and feels. I loved her speech, but I also loved one of the last interviews they did with her where she was speechless and everything she needed to say was in her face.
I was dying when they were interviewing her kids and her daughter was literally just listing off all the kinds of cake she liked.
Her daughter. OMG. That kid is a champion in the making. Did you see her when they announced Nadiya as the winner? She literally did the success baby face and hand. I love her.
You keep talking over the boys girl, your opinions on cake are far more important.
But then also, TAMAL AS A BABY. I died. I actually full on died.
Oh my God, when his sister started to cry talking about him? KILLED ME.
I CAN’T WAIT A YEAR FOR THIS SHOW TO COME BACK I NEED SEASON 7 ASAP. Or at least the Nadiya and Tamal and/or James and Tamal spin-offs
Nadiya and Tamal having dinner parties. That’s it, just the two of them going to eachothers houses and having dinner.
I have just gotten my BF addicted to this show and now we get to go back and watch EVERY SEASON!!! I’m so excited!
And Ian’s kids in pots!
That was super cute! Although I’d have flipped if my kitchen got as messy as it showed in the picture. I mean, I suppose it was for a good cause and there were probably some tasty practice bakes to sample, but still it would have driven me bonkers.
And the middle kid was crawling into his shirt! I loved them. So cute.
NADIYA. Oh, I’m so happy for her. And Mary Berry crying too!
NADIYA!
I was doing so well and avoiding spoilers until I could get an hour to youtube the finale. The very first video that came up when I searched for it was “Nadiya’s Reaction to Winning GBBO!” I’m still not mad.
My boyfriend and I were both in tears. She was so happy!
*sigh* It was beautiful. Nadia deserved every ounce of her win, and was wonderful throughout. I WILL BE SO MAD IF THERE IS NO SPIN-OFF.
On a err, slightly different note, I felt an embarrassingly sexual pang when Tamal said he loved sticky toffee pudding. I mean, I knew I liked cake, but not quite that much…
Nadiya’s family is the cutest. That bearded guy (dad? father in law? whatever) jumping with joy for her stole my heart. So so wonderful.
I just finished watching it–I leave for work in 30 minutes and I have to redo my makeup because I was tearing up over her.
Yes, the jumping guy! I was already won over by the super cute kids and her husband all proud of her & everything, then they show the family reacting to the win and that uncle/dad/whatever was, like, jumping to the MOON in excitement. I FEEL YOU, JUMPING GUY, Nadiya is awesome.
I may have found a definitely, totally legal way to watch BBC iPlayer yesterday so that I could watch Bake Off live. I’m so glad Nadiya won. She improved so much throughout the competition, AND I think she will do more with her win– Tamal would have stayed a doctor, so he didn’t need it, and Ian would have… continued photographing the Dalai Lama? (I don’t care about Ian enough, whatever.) Plus, with all of Britain’s weird racist, conservative stuff going on right now, I am very pleased that the winner was a woman wearing a hijab who was taught to cook in her state school, because screw you Daily Mail.
Also, here for nostalgic gender construction:
“But if cake had lost its tether to an actual mealtime, it still became significant as a component of my mother’s carefully constructed domesticity. Likewise, cake-baking today invokes a spirit of play-acting. Professor Nicola Humble, the author of Cake: A Global History, argued that baking is now often “a kind of drag: playing at being feminine in a way we no longer know how to be.” The nostalgic cupcakes that became fashionable at the turn of the 21st century, she added, were perfect examples of what the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard called simulacra – postmodern copies of an original that no longer exists, and perhaps never did.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about how its great that a Muslim woman in a headscarf has been able to become known (and loved!) for something completely unrelated to her religion/culture. Nadiya is proof why diverse representation matters!
How many people before Nadiya would have never thought that a Muslim woman could bake? (In no way do I mean that anyone’s religion/race/culture means they can’t bake, I just mean that its something we haven’t been shown before in popular media and there are super racist pockets of the UK that will be reconsidering how they think about some of their neighbors because of Nadiya).
I hope she chooses to remain a public figure (although I’d totally understand if that’s not what she wants), I think she’d be an amazing voice to have in the media, and personally I think she’s an amazing example of modern Britain, someone who has embraced both her family heritage and the country she was born in and has become a part of!
I almost forgot my favorite moment of the finale! Paul asks “Happy, Nadiya?” Nadiya says yes, waits a few beats then asks “Happy, Paul?”
The shade. I wish I’d been able to talk like that to the Pauls of the world I’ve had to tolerate.
Omg yesssss people need to respond to Paul like that more often. Like when he picked up Flora’s horse mould, said “So you bought that then?” trying to pick holes, and when she said she made it, he immediately switched to mocking it. Like, two seconds ago, you thought it was a shop-bought item, and instead of having the decency to admit that’s impressive, you just find another way to snipe. HATEFUL.
That was a GREAT horse mold and he KNEW it.
I never get choked up over Bake Off but then Nadiya was there and she won and was sheer adorable perfection and her family was so adorably excited and Mary got teary and had to move off camera and OMG YOU GUYS. The second that moment with Tamal and Nadiya’s kids happened I was like “So, you’re gonna give Nadiya a show and Tamal will be a regular guest, right? RIGHT? I NEED THIS, BBC.”
I have not yet seen the finale, but these spoilers are bringing me nothing but joy.
I haven’t even seen this series yet and I’m absolutely delighted.
Yay to Nadiya, Yay to everyone in the final! Speaking as a pro though, this year is the highest standard final I’ve seen so far. I know they always say that but it was. No one choked when it came to the showstopper, they were all so good!
I cried like a goddamn baby. It was amazing! I have been team Nadiya from the beginning, mainly because I know it annoyed those UKIP jerks. Hooray for good people winning!!
I was so happy to see Nadiya win and Tamal talking to her adorable kids was amazing! I was pretty sure She was going to win after the first two rounds but got nervous when the judges were so enthusiastic about Ian’s mediocre looking carrot cakes
Why have I not named a pig Hamlet yet? That is the question.
Here is a video of a mini-pig named Hamlet learning to go down the stairs using a bowl of oatmeal
It is one of my very favorite things
Aaah that video just made my day! Especially the part where he LANDS IN THE BOWL :D:D:D
STORY TIME
As children, my mother and her many siblings often liked to act out plays together, as small children are wont to do. So they decided to play “Hamlet.” Hamlet, naturally, was about…a little ham. They would wrap the youngest sibling in a red towel, and she would be the little ham. The oldest sibling would declaim some words over her, and then they would just *leave her lying there wrapped in a towel.*
It’s been awhile since I had to read Hamlet in high school, but from what I remember of the plot that sounds pretty legit.
I TOTALLY can see Brian Blessed biting through an umbilicus after helping to deliver a baby. The man is a force of nature.
Brian Blessed is the closest thing we have to a real-world Tom Bombadil.
I will present the following hypothesis:
Brian Blessed IS actually Tom Bombadil. Brian Blessed exists in all universes, fictional and nonfictional, in all times and places.
I feel like if Brian Blessed told you to push that baby out, you would push that god damn baby out.
Me too.
He is an international treasure.
Probably all of you have seen this, but here he is on “Was it something I said” talking about
1.) Getting punched out by the Dalai Lama.
2.) Looking for abominable snowmen.
3.) Telling Picasso that the peace dove he had just drawn was rubbish.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYGzw7B_pvs
I would say out of all of the photos/replies I have in my autograph collection, Brian Blessed’s is probably the most charmingly enthusiastic.
Of course he did.
Baby’s belly though!
I’ll concede that a full fringe is a pain in the ass. But don’t you dare tell me I don’t look adorable as fuck with one
<a href=”https://instagram.com/p/maRUhcBxGN/?taken-by=selmapage” target=”_blank”>https://instagram.com/p/maRUhcBxGN/?taken-by=selmapage
Here! Here! And yes you do look adorable!
I look better with bangs. My head is too long without them.
I have a funky hairline and a looooooonng head, some form of fringe is required. This actually has reminded me that its time to cut my fringe again, its been about a year and its being scraped back with the rest of my hair and it just looks awful, side fringe here I come! (and for some reason, only I can cut my fringe, everytime I go to the hairdresser they just leave it as it pretty much and it still looks stupid.)
Plus we’re coming into winter so no more sweaty sticky forehead! Yuussss.
You look great!
I loved having bangs for the past five years but this spring I got tired of trimming them all the time so I’m attempting to grow them into a sideswept thing.
A bit of side-sweeping never goes amiss. The problem with full fringes is taht everyone looks 12 with one, but just sweep it to the side? Instant class.
I generally have a year-ish cycle; Full fringe, side-swept as it grows out, eventually some kind of chin-lengths side things going on. Then I get bored and go back to the blunt cut full fringe.
I seem to have developed a cowslick in the last few years, along with a funky hairline, and now I’m worried that a full fringe is going to end up as two bits of hair sticking out the side of my head. (FUN STORY: early attempts at cutting my own hair at age 10/11ish resulted in two separte fringes on either site of my face with a middle part. And hair down to my ass. I looked awesome.)
I read your first comment as ‘full fridge’, and wondered why you were wandering off-topic, unless it was a part of GGBO I missed, and I definitely would not want to try to say ‘blunt cut full frindge’ while in the slightest bit intoxicated.
I love my full fringe. Right now it’s grown out a little because I’m getting a professional cut in a couple of weeks and don’t want to mess with it, and the “sideswept” thing means constantly touching it because hair in my face like that drives me bonkers, and that means I break out way more. >:(
LOVE your bangs! I’d get your look in a hot second but alas, my hair is thick, wavy and full of annoying cowlicks.
Saaaaame I need to cover up my giant forehead and also they make my eyes pop.
Another giant-forehead-owner here. Without bangs I look like a serial killer.
Shiinnny shinnnny forehead. People could legit use mine as a mirror if needed.
I have three powerful pro-bang arguments: Phryne Fisher, Velma Kelly, and Harriet Walter as Harriet Vane.
TEAM BANGS
I would like to see a TV show about Brian Blessed appearing out of nowhere to save the day in improbable situations — often, but not always, by biting something.
As Dr. Who?
I second this motion, if we can also have him saving the day merely by using his voice. Maybe he can scare a pack of muggers (what is the collective noun for a group of muggers?) away by booming at them.
I would like Brian Blessed to say affirming things to me like “It’s going to be okay!” because I will believe anything he tells me.
The bangs debate — this set me all afire yesterday. #NotAllBangs
Nicole, get bangs they are awesome.
Yeah unlike the hilarious anti-maxi dress screed, I can’t get on board with the bangs hate. I felt like I had discovered my true best self when I finally got sideswept bangs as an adult.
Yes, I find it telling that she ignored the obvious major advantage of bangs, which is that they provide your forehead with protection from the sun and therefore protection from a) skin cancer on your forehead and b) wrinkles. WAKE UP SHEEPLE
Might I just say, as a curlyhead, I’m jealous of those who CAN get bangs? The idea of cutting any hair *that short* and not having it immediately sprout out from your head like an angry hedge, but instead sweep in front of your face, like a careless alt-rocker, is just amazing to me.
Yes, bangs are a very high-maintenance item for some of us! I might look cute with bangs, but we will never know, because I cannot commit to spending 20 minutes every single morning painstakingly making them lie down instead of looking like a dandelion. And my hair is only just aggressively wavy, nowhere near curly. Frankly I can’t even promise I’m going to brush my hair, which is why every last strand must be long enough to reach the bun.
So, I’m a big wrestling fan and I just wanted you guys to know that Bayley and Sasha Banks put on an incredible 30-minute Iron Man match last night, which is a huge deal!! Here is an article about why people should care even if they don’t care. http://www.workofwrestling.com/wowblog/2015/10/1/…
It was so great! Sasha is the best heel working in the WWE now, no question. I like Bayley just fine, but Sasha is everything.
Nothing much to add except YES, HOLY JEEZ IT WAS AN AMAZING FIGHT (Not gonna lie, though, I would have happily welcomed some overtime if Bayley hadn’t gotten that third fall — damn right you don’t just “call it a draw” when the thirty minutes are up, you keep going until it’s decided!)
My husband (who got me into wrestling and, like me, is over the moon at this new movement in women’s wrestling) and I both melted when the camera panned to the entire NXT family out for the two of them at the end — and how Sasha crumpled to the floor when they gave her her flowers! It was then that we both came to the conclusion that, for us, keeping up the kayfabe 24/7 among wrestlers actually distances us from them, and we’re more invested in them and their matches when we can see that they’re really there for each other behind the scenes and there’s a genuine sense of community and camaraderie there. This is especially true for me with women wrestlers. It’s like this: I see the story of women-as-enemies all the freaking time, and it exhausts me when it’s perpetuated to such an extent (as it seems to have been among the WWE Divas for the last several years or more). It’s boring and it doesn’t interest me and I get sad whenever I see it, because these women are already facing so much adversity in the industry — when I feel like they’re genuinely trying to keep each other down or stab each other in the back in real life, it just bums me the hell out.
But look at the Four Horsewomen: they all, unapologetically, unabashedly support each other. After Bayley won the title initially, Sasha — her opponent! — and her hugged and cried, and then the whole group came out and hugged and cried, and the sense of love and pride was palpable even through the television screen. I’ve literally never seen that in a women’s match, and it’s groundbreaking for so many reasons, but what excites me most is that such blatant shows of emotion — which is so, so feminine — is not punished or viewed as lesser or shameful. Rather, they’re given their moments to bask in the glory of what they’re doing, together, collectively. And they’re proving that their fans aren’t turned away by finding out that their storylines “aren’t real”; instead, the fans love them even more.
Tl;dr: It is such an exciting time to be a woman watching wrestling!
I know right!!! It was amazing. I was hoping for overtime too!!
Do you think they knew the whole roster would come out at the end, or was it a surprise? The way Sasha reacted I wasn’t sure she expected that. And it was so nice they got flowers. And the NXT crowd is just perfect, when they kept yelling stuff like “You deserve it” and “Women’s wrestling” and “Main event!” I was pretty impressed that Bayley and Sasha kept it together and didn’t cry. I cried like 10 times. It was so, so great.
I love the way the women support each other! Did you see the post-match interview? I can’t find the video now for some reason but they talked about meeting again at WrestleMania and I was like Yes please!
I agree that it may have been a surprise! Or perhaps they had an idea that they all might come out, but didn’t expect such a large number/bouquets for both of them/etc.? Regardless, it was so moving.
I KNOW, those crowd chants were reeeeallly getting me worked up, every once in a while we’d just look at each other and be like, “Do you hear what they’re saying?!” The fan support for this movement is so important, because it signals to the company that it’s both meaningful AND profitable/sustainable and thus increases its chances of truly taking hold.
I didn’t see the post-match interview, but I’ll definitely look for it! A WrestleMania with major women’s matches would be a dream come true. And I will absolutely be checking out Unfiltered! It sounds excellent, thanks for the rec.
Did you listen to The Mountain Goats’ most recent album, Beat the Champ? It’s a wrestling-themed concept album! It’s weird and wonderful.
I haven’t heard it yet, but I will!!! Thanks for the tip!
I write a monthly review blog for the library system around these parts, and I try to sneak in at least one wrestling item every time. So you just gave me my wrestling item for November. 🙂
Also, if you like camaraderie and people actually liking each other, check out Unfiltered with Renee Young! She does about a 15 minute show every couple weeks, interviewing a wrestler over breakfast or whatever. I never liked Summer Rae until seeing her on Unfiltered. And the Seth Rollins episode is good. And the Randy Orton one. And Kevin Owens. Well, just watch them all actually. 🙂
Oh, and Table for 3 last night had Cesaro and Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens, just sitting around acting normal talking. Good stuff!
Excuse me, but SOME of us have giant foreheads and glasses and look completely ridiculous with long hair swept to one side, constantly falling forward and making a nuisance of itself. I am adorable with my grown-out pixie cut and bangs and no one will tell me otherwise because I refuse to listen. SO THERE, TOAST!
Yes, I am ALSO adorable with bangs, just look at my avatar, come ON now!
Super cute!
yes!!! I grew my bangs out for a very obnoxious two years and then cut them back 6 months later because I just looked like a sad sad flop person without them
The Sad Sad Flop is the PERFECT way to describe what that hairstyle looks like on some of us!
Also, bangs hide my forehead wrinkles which are gradually growing more pronounced even though I am otherwise incredibly youthful and glowing.
Me, too: I have like two deep railroad lines between my eyebrows because apparently I furrow my brows too much? The rest of my face looks pretty youthful for 36, dammit.
Seconded. I, too, have a giant forehead and glasses. Bangs are the answer!
Sorry I missed this thread earlier.
MY PEOPLE
For real. I got sweepy bangs in 2005 and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.
and SOME of us have really small Marisa Tomei foreheads and getting bangs (that start way, way up on the head part of the face) give the *illusion* of having a not tiny forehead, it’s just that you can’t see it presently, because it’s covered by the bangs.
#teambangs
I have seen Fat Hamlet in the flesh – Fat Middle-Aged Hamlet actually. Paul Giamatti played him at Yale Repertory Theatre a few years ago. Overgrown manchild who lives with his parents and wears PJs all day and leches on a teenage Ophelia. It was hilarious and he totally sold it, but it left the audience unable to empathize with Hamlet as a character or get into the tragedy of the story, so the show fell kind of flat. One of those ideas that’s better on paper, oh well.
This is a wonderful story / analysis
I mean, “lives with his parents and wears PJs all day” sounds like any spoiled prince. Maybe the issue was the age? I don’t think I could buy a mid-40s Hamlet – he’s supposed to be university-age, which, ok, everyone does college a little differently, but his actions make more sense coming from someone in their early/mid-20s.
Hamlet is 30. Unless he and the gravedigger can’t do basic math, which is entirely possible. I think of him as a perpetual graduate student, like Prince Charles getting all hopped up about architecture because he’s got nothing else to do while he waits to be king.
The first Hamlet I ever saw was kind of in-between pudgy, in a way where it was easy to believe both that he spent most of his time reading and that he could hold his own in a fencing match if he had to. That always made much more sense to me than Mel Gibson or Keanu Reeves or even Kenneth Branagh; Hamlets who leap and run around a lot might make for fun cinematography, but I just don’t believe the Prince is that active.
Perfumery Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has Autumn-themed oils inspired by paintings that Toasties might love:
(The scent that matches this painting is “Bourbon vanilla, sweet red patchouli, oudh, goat’s milk accord, and white honey.”)
Ooooh that sounds lovely.
man Black Phoenix Alchemy has all kinds of good stuff
I always want to like them but almost all their perfumes are so musky!
Something about the chemistry of their perfumes has never worked for me.
The painting is great, though!
Yeah, there’s something I don’t like about the smell of their base, unfortunately, so they don’t do it for me.
But if anyone is interested in the idea of BPAL perfumes but doesn’t care for the actual result, someone on The Toast pointed me towards the For Strange Women brand and they are fascinating perfumes that I love. The name definitely fits the product, though, since I consider myself pretty adventurous but there were still some perfumes that I concluded “I am happy that this exists but I would never wear it”
oh thank you, I’ll have a look at For Strange Women! Always like sniffing samples of new perfumes, even if not all are wearable.
(I used to love to wear Bulgari Black, which smells delicious until you put on too much and you just smell like rubber tar or rubber tires — but up until that point is amazing! And, being honest, not *that* bad even after that point, ha…)
I used to love Bulgari Black too! And don’t get me wrong, some of the For Strange Women perfumes are very approachable. I love Winter Kitty and November in the Temperate Deciduous Forest a lot but Fossil is one of the weirdest perfumes I’ve ever smelled, right up there with Comme des Garcons Odeur 71’s space robot scent.
what’s up with the Nobel in Literature, guys? It really looks like a journalist has won for Literature 🙁 🙁 🙁
or does her chorale book on the voices of chernobyl actually rise from journalism/nonfiction into a literary art form?
(I am actually very interested in reading her Chernobyl book — but it doesn’t stave off the disappointment of the Nobel pontiffs apparently deciding literature does not have value anymore compared to journalism and their own political agendas — a stuffy propaganda prize for literature — except for Modiano, they have been doing such a bad job lately –)
I saw some of her works described (somewhere) as novels, but the official Nobel announcement doesn’t specify…
I feel a little differently… to me what’s interesting about the Nobel is kind of the collision between the political agenda (which has always been there) and a search for really interesting writing. Sometimes, it produces a massive yawn (eg Churchill) but other times, it turns a light on some fascinating corners. That’s what seems to have happened here. From what I read on the Guardian’s round-up of reactions, her work seems to be unquestionably literary and pretty fascinating.
The Nobel in Literature has always included nonfiction, though – the second ever laureate was a historian. And has the Nobel committee ever really done a great job? I think Alice Munro was a good choice last year, but they gave a Nobel to Pearl S. Buck and never gave one to Joyce or Tolstoy or Woolf.
Voices from Chernobyl was excerpted a bunch of places (i’m pretty sure including the paris review) and I remember being blown away by it if you want to get a taste of it
I thought the excerpts were fucking shattering. I have no idea why anyone would think that nonfiction can’t be literature.
http://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/5447…
holy moly, thanks for the link. “fucking shattering” is correct.
That Boston bombing article. Man, I hate crying at the office.
Amazing read.
Thanks to the Toast, I have been watching the one season of GBBO that is on Netflix, and I’ve fallen in love. Is there a way for US-ians to watch other seasons online?
My PBS station has the first few episodes of (I think?) the current season available online. I’ve been binge-ing on the Netflix season as well, and it really makes me crave a giant baguette and some butter. And also a pie.
Sadly it is not the current season. It’s two seasons old–but still wonderful!
Oh, boo. I’m still totally going to watch it after I finish the Netflix season, though. If I can get over Martha being eliminated, that is.
You *should* be able to watch on PBS, although we get it after it’s already aired. I know my PBS station started playing the last season sometime in late November/early December so even though it had already been broadcast and the winner decided, I ignored everything about it on the internet and my husband and I obsessively watched it ever Sunday night.
A lot of episodes are on youtube but you have to wade through a lot of bullshit “click over to this totally legit website to watch!” to find actual episodes.
It didn’t use to be that bad! There are a lot of false leads with this new season, though. 🙁 I never did find the season premiere, which makes me sad.
It’s finally on Netflix??? This is the BEST NEWS, I can finally get my parents to watch it. 😀 And surely all he other seasons will follow in time!
But yeah, YouTube has been my best bet otherwise, and the quality is often poor.
iplayer has most of it and you can tunnelbear in to get to that
Today’s obligatory Hamilton thread – can we talk about how Eliza should have DTMFA? I mean, AHam may have been a great thinker but he was a shit husband. Leaves his wife home with a newborn to be secretary of the treasury (which – why didn’t they all just move to DC? Also on a related note – if DC was the capital then – it was, right?? – why is all the political action happening in New York??), has an emotional affair with her sister, cheats on her in their own damn bed and then confesses it publicly (did he at least have the decency to tell her first? unclear from the soundtrack), gives his son advice about how to play the duel rather than locking him in the house and saving his life, skips out on Eliza for his own stupid duel and gets himself killed leaving her a widow with seven kids. Yeah I’d rather focus on her founding an orphanage than telling her husband’s damn story. I mean I know he was a sick MC but seriously.
Though I guess “you’ll sleep in your office instead” is the 18th-century version of DTMFA….
DC wasn’t the capital yet at that point. Before 1800 Congress met in a ton of different places, primarily Philadelphia and New York, but occasionally major cities in Maryland and New Jersey. The song Room Where it Happened references the meeting between Hamilton, Madison, and Jefferson in which they agreed to move the capital to DC, where it is today (it didn’t exist as a city until they decided to put the capital there, and there was a lot of grumbling from other politicians about how it just happened to be so close to Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Montpelier)! I agree though, Eliza definitely deserved better than Hamilton!
Jumping on this to add that political action was happening everywhere! When Philadelphia got to be the capital for a little while at the very beginning of the 19th century, the city also made a serious play to be the financial capital as well. It might have worked–New York’s banks were still new and getting established too–but it didn’t.
That’s one of the things that has got me so obsessed about the musical. The early nation was a hot mess and it was really hard to figure out how to govern, how to share power among states, how to do funds at a state level and a federal level, how to enforce laws, etc. And if any number of hotheaded young men had kept their guns in their holsters, the balance could have swung in any number of directions.
Oh, and yeah, I wished Eliza had a better time of it, but I have to say that she probably had a lot more resources and authority to launch all her many projects as a widow than she would have had as a divorcee. I actually don’t know a ton about divorce law in the early republic but I have a vague memory of a Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, briefly married to a relative of Napoleon, who was forced to have an “annulment” (even though she had a son with her husband!) and she was an absolute walking scandal in early 19thC Baltimore. A formidable woman but not the kind that gets public support for philantropy.
That is an excellent point. I had thought about how obviously divorce wasn’t an option for Eliza because of the time period and the social stigma that would have surrounded it, but I hadn’t even considered what effect something like that would have had on her future projects. I hadn’t heard of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte before, but I am going to dive into her history now! She sounds fascinating!
And yeah, the early nation was a mess. It’s really interesting to see how it all managed to come together, and to read about all the factors that led to one particular decision over another. Another fun fact about DC: after the burning of Washington in 1814, there was a huge push to move the capital back to Philadelphia or New York, or to start a brand new city again but further West to coincide with westward expansion. Madison was super not into that idea though (he was one of the three who had decided it was going to be where it is today in the first place), and specifically moved back into the city, though into temporary housing, as soon as he possibly could (the burning was in August 1814, and I’m pretty sure he was back in the city by September) to show everyone that the capital was going to stay where it was. All the government offices had to meet in temporary locations around the city until after the War of 1812 ended, and they were able to begin really rebuilding. But the capital could easily have been moved at that point if some of the other politicians had gotten their way.
Divorce could and did happen in the time period! Maria Reynolds of Reynolds-pamphlet fame got divorced; Aaron Burr remarried late in life and that marriage ended in divorce. I don’t know a lot about the grounds that you would need to file for divorce, but a publicly admitted infidelity seems like a pretty solid basis to proceed.
So, assuming divorce is a possibility, is Eliza being complacent when she decides not to get one? She doesn’t just take her lumps; her anger is incandescent, and she forgives her husband only when both of them are in horrible emotional pain and in need of support. (Something you don’t get on the soundtrack is just how long she is standing silent onstage in her mourning clothes during “It’s Quiet Uptown,” and how very, very slowly she finally allows her husband to take her hand.) But she also pretty directly refuses us permission to decide what she ought to do or feel–us as in the public (“the world has no place in our bed”) and us as in posterity (“let future historians wonder”).
I completely forgot about Maria Reynolds getting divorced! I just read something about that the other day, too! Wasn’t Aaron Burr her lawyer during the case? I did not know that about Burr’s later marriage though, very interesting!
You bring up excellent points about Eliza. I do think a lot of that is lost just listening to the soundtrack (I haven’t seen the play). Does Chernow cover any of that in his biography at all? I have it checked out from my library but I haven’t gotten to start it yet, and from what I’ve heard I don’t think he covers a lot about Eliza during that time period (because there isn’t a lot of primary sources about her during that period I think… she took herself out of the narrative). I should really get started reading that biography, if only to learn more about Angelica and Eliza! Another thing to consider, when exactly did the Reynolds scandal actually hit the fan? I know it all happened in 1791/1792 but I think it didn’t come out until like 1797? Depending on when in 1797, Eliza would have been pregnant with one of her sons, or had just had him (he was born in August), I wonder how that might have influenced her decision to not pursue a divorce as well.
I don’t know about Colonial America but children in England would have been the property of the father and she would have lost them in a divorce. So there’s that.
To answer your question about DC: While the Compromise of 1790 made land from Maryland and VA into the capital (as told in The Room Where It Happens) Congress didn’t hold it’s first session in DC until November of 1800 with only a year left in the Adams administration. So the seat of government was in New York for the entirety of the Washington administration (and would have continued on to be the seat of Government if not for the deal between Jefferson/Madison/Hamilton)
So if you’re interested in a bit more about the first half of your question, about the politics DC and New York and the like, there’s a great biography about Abigail Adams that talks quite a bit about her situation when John left for DC and she was stuck womanning the home front. It’s a great read because (1) Abby was a BAMF and really fascinating and (2) it is interesting to read about the political climate and what it was like to be a First Lady during that time period. Highly suggest it.
Do you remember the author? I want to check this out and Abigail Adams has a lot of bios written about her.
I am about 90% certain it was this book http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/152495.Dearest…. I cannot remember the exact title/author and of course I sold the book during my poorer days so I could buy more books–the reviews on it seem like they are good enough that even if it isn’t the one I read, it should be a good book nonetheless! She’s such a fascinating person, and the letters between her and John are wonderful.
Thank you! I remember quite a bit from the McCullough bio of John Adams, but have been looking for a good bio of Abigail.
Also, super-hoping there’s a revival of interest in the Schuyler sisters!
I love Abigail Adams. Her will left all her assets to women. Not a penny to her sons.
DC was a malarial swamp back then – not a good place for a baby. Or anybody, really.
Yeah, that’s a big part of the reason Abigail Adams spent a lot of time in Massachusetts while her husband was president. I mean, not the baby thing, her children were grown up by then, but she felt her health suffered from spending time in Washington during the summer.
My health suffered there.
So, the real AHam actually wrote sweet, totally stinking of guilt letters to Eliza urging her to stay upstate with her father/not visit while sleeping with Maria Reynolds. Which was SUCH A DICK MOVE, ALEX.
Also, she maintained a grudge against James Monroe for releasing the letters her whole life, even after he was president. But we don’t have any evidence she actually blamed AHam for cheating in the first place, which is either a sign of self-abegnation or, perhaps, pragmatism?
oh god help the people in my office are talking about guns and the second amendment
heeelllllllllllp meeeeeeeeeee
Are headphones an option? Here’s a link to a free white noise generator: https://simplynoise.com/
stay strong, you can do this
Sadly, I do not have headphones, or anything to listen to with them. ALSO I am a compulsive busybody which makes it very hard for me to hear things that I know are wrong without intervening and FURTHERMORE the tasks assigned to me today are incredibly boring.
The good news is that it’s also Shred Day, and now everyone is talking about which boxes of old paperwork need to get shredded.
Oh goooooddddd I totally know how you feel. I sit near the owner of my company’s office and sometimes I can hear him in open-door meetings when they’ve moved on from business into discussing politics. I disagree VERY STRONGLY with everything that is said but it would be totally inappropriate to stomp in and tell them they are all wrong. But I also can’t stop listening so I just sit at my desk simmering with rage.
Stay strong.
I encourage leaving them to their own idiocy, blocking them out with headphones. But if you want to engage, here is an excellent way to make them stop and think (if that’s possible):
Yesterday a bystander opened fire on a shoplifter. No threat to life or limb until she pulled out her gun. The end of the article includes quotes from three firearms instructors *condemning* her actions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp…
And in Houston a couple weeks ago a ‘helpful’ bystander shot a carjacking victim in the head while trying to hit the carjackers. Yaay. (The guy shot did not die, but I haven’t seen any follow-ups on his condition.)
if you close your eyes and wish really hard maybe Brian Blessed will appear in your office and bite them all.
henceforth all of my prayers are directed towards Brian Blessed
it’s right there in his name
On Saturday I have to have lunch with my FIL who thinks guns are the answer to everything. Stay strong, we can get through this together.
NOOOOOOO.
Gun violence is something that really gets to me, more than any other hot-button topic, and it’s one of the things for which I’ll break my self-imposed rule about not fighting on FB.
Then last week there was the Roseburg shooting, which is actually close to me now in Oregon. That same day my department had a celebratory lunch at a restaurant, but of course the celebration was muted by the breaking news. And then the discussion — not even vehement, just casual comments on how this keeps happening and what can be done about it, why the shooters succeed in killing so many people — and I just sat there with a polite, blank expression. Because my real feelings are, shall we say, not work appropriate. But it’s miserable to have to repress all of that.
About how awful they are?
Forget bangs, I’m at the point of fantasizing about chopping off all my hair. I know I would instantly regret it – I love my long hair and it took ages to grow out, plus with winter coming I need the extra warmth that it provides – but every time I put it up in a bun I think “So this is more or less what I’d look like with a pixie cut… hmmmmmm…”
Do it. Hair grows back and everyone should experience short hair for awhile at least!
Do it! I’ve slowly progressed to asymmetrical bob -> asymmetrical short cut -> full pixie in a span of a year, and it’s been FANTASTIC.
I’m trying to grow it out again though for a whole set of other reasons, but it wasn’t because I hated the pixie.
I refused to cut my hair for years because I was worried about loss of warmth. What i’ve found is it’s easier to wear hats and scarves when I don’t have to try to also juggle a whole lot of hair, and that my hair wasn’t providing THAT much insulation.
Seconded. When I had long hair it was always limp and staticky all winter. With short hair I can rock warm knitted headgear without worrying about that. It’s much more comfortable for me in every respect and the only danger is that I like it so much I may never grow it out again.
“danger”
Agreed. It’s much easier to wear nice warm hats when my hair isn’t getting in the way. I’ve been thinking of knitting myself a new one just to accomodate all the hair.
YES, scarves and purse straps all play so much better with short hair.
I had waist-length hair throughout my childhood (in fact, until I was 21, at which point I got it buzzed). Not getting my hair stuck on metal bits of chairs and bus windows was a revelation.
I don’t have the buzz cut anymore, but I’ve never felt any desire to have it long again.
Ok, so it’s almost Halloween so I suggest buying a cheap, short-haired wig and trying it on to see what you look like with short hair. It won’t be exact due to texture and all that, but it will give you an idea. I used to keep my hair long and I was always frustrated because it was so fine I could barely braid it without it slipping out. It also WILL NOT hold a curl.
Then I discovered the A-line bob and I was freed. Every few years I grow it out and wonder why. I think I’ve finally learned and it’s short hair from now on. I can’t do fancy braids, but I do look great in a cloche hat.
Heh. Sophomore year of college, I hated my life, so I walked into a SuperCuts, pointed to my hip-length hair, and said “chop it off.”
I only went shoulder-length then; my default cut is now chin-length semi-bob, and I can tell when I need a cut because I start fantasizing about shaving my head. (Sadly, that would be unacceptable for professional reasons, but geez it’s tempting sometimes.)
Anyway. I don’t remember that my long hair provided that much extra warmth (and I have very thick, dense hair), but if you’re not sold on the idea, it’s cool, it’s your head.
DO IT! I chopped off all my hair into a super cute pixie cut three years ago and I haven’t looked back. I may never grow it out again, I love it that much.
heyyyyy everybody telling me to cut my hair: I know you mean well but there’s a reason my initial comment contained the words “I would instantly regret it” and “I love my long hair” so could you maybe not?
I’m so sorry, I read your initial post as being a bit more on the fence about it, and I do like to evangelize for short hair. But if it’s not your thing, definitely DON’T do it! It’s your hair, after all.
Loving your long hair is a very good reason to not cut it!
If you know you love your long hair, probably do not chop off all your hairs. Try highlights or colors or learn a new easy updo if you’re jonesing for something new?
I’m on the opposite end of your problem. I have short hair. I’m growing it out long. Even though I know (a) the mullet stage is unspeakable and (b) I don’t like how I look with longer hair. And yet, and yet. We are all human and sometimes wonder “What if I looked completely different than I did right now?” Probably why richer people than I deploy wigs and weaves.
I, too, am growing out my hair. It takes soooo looooong.
There are less expensive wigs out there that do not look awful. Look around the internet, including amazon, and read lots of reviews. I have a wig that looks a hell of a lot like my own hair but a little longer and styled much nicer, and it has fooled people who’ve known me for years.
I feel you. I know it would be a terrible awkward disaster, but the temptation is always there, made so much worse by all the fey toasties with their magical pixie hairs.
DO IT
I buzzed mine back to 1/4 inch a couple weeks ago and while I regret doing this right before cool weather set in, I love having basically no hair.
I am chopping mine soon too! Not a pixie (tried that, NOT a good idea for my face shape) but from boob-length back up to my shoulders. I just need something lower maintenance – I blow-dry my hair every morning – which a lot of people find shocking, but IDK, I’ve been doing it since I was in middle school – and now that I’m traveling more I just don’t want to deal with lugging my hair dryer with me every single place I go. I haven’t booked the appt yet but I think I need to do it before a wedding on the 24th.
don’t do it! because if you will miss long hair, going short is a good way to guarantee you will miss it forever just to avoid the awkward in-between stage or long-hair-related inconveniences! (I don’t miss it myself, but if it were possible to grow it long in as little time as it takes to cut it off, I’d enjoy that.)
I know that struggle. I have had short hair in the past, and it always looks awful on me (I have a very round face and look about 6 years old with short hair), but it’s so incredibly tempting. I’ve been watching Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries the past couple of days, and it’s making me desperately want a short bob like that. But I know it will look terrible. It looked terrible before, it will look terrible now. But I want to do it so badly!!!!
This seems like a good place to brag that my ringtone is Brian Blessed singing the Nokia ringtone. I have had it for a couple months now and I still laugh every time the phone rings.
😀 what a DELIGHT. how did this glorious thing happen? was it a download, or did you record him singing it for you??
BEHOLD: http://www.blessedoriginals.co.uk/listen.php It’s the one titled “Annoying.”
(I, sadly, am not so lucky to’ve been able to record Brian Blessed singing me anything, ringtones or otherwise.)
I really love Jasmine, but I don’t think she understands how serious my fivehead situation is. BANGS ARE MY ONLY RECOURSE.
[I know I should just love it but I tried that for 23 years and it didn’t take.]
ETA: I just re-read the end again and decided that my bangs are just going to be a part of me, forever, and therefore the piece is not applicable to me. Especially since it was only last year when my stylist and I figured out the optimal styling and thickness.
But seriously though, I have a significant fivehead that made me the receiving end of a lot of negative comments about my looks from family, strangers, and classmates. -_-;
Jasmine is blinded by her small-forehead privilege.
Or proportional forehead privilege! I haven’t seen a picture of her yet. ^^;
Your bangs are super-cute, you should def keep them.
I was brushing up on Brian Blessed info (OK, gorging on photos) when I discovered he is less than 5′ 10″ tall. How is this possible? He is a giant. I have always seen him as enormous. It’s his huge voice, face, and hands, I guess, and the roles he tends to inhabit, the loud and in-charge types. Anyone else shocked by this revelation? No? Just me? OK. I’ll show myself out.
You are not the only one surprised; I would’ve sworn he was 6’2″ at least. Though, as a short person, even 5’10” seems pretty tall to me anyway.
Husband is 6’4″ so I always assumed that Blessed was at least 6’6″!
What?? No, that can’t be right. He’s at least 7 feet tall.
That cannot be. Brian Blessed bestrides the English channel and his voice rings down from the heavens.
I refuse to believe it. He must be 7 foot tall.
It’s National Poetry Day! So I shall thread-jack with one of my favorite poems, by Katha Pollitt:
Small Comfort
Coffee and cigarettes in a clean cafe,
forsythia lit like a damp match against
a thundery sky drunk on its own ozone,
the laundry cool and crisp and folded away
again in the lavender closet-too late to find
comfort enough in such small daily moments
of beauty, renewal, calm, too late to imagine
people would rather be happy than suffering
and inflicting suffering. We’re near the end,
but O before the end, as the sparrows wing
each night to their secret nests in the elm’s green dome
O let the last bus bring
love to lover, let the starveling
dog turn the corner and lope suddenly
miraculously, down its own street, home.
Oh, me too!
“Love Letters from Helen of Troy,” by Elisabeth Hewer (source: http://elisabethhewer.co.uk/post/53930766170 )
you always feared god-born achilles
the most of all your fellows.
his divinity wove him taller,
better, quicker, stronger.
well here’s a secret for you:
my father was a swan,
and the monthly blood on my thighs
is two-parts ichor.
you think achilles was of impressive descent?
touch me one more time.
maybe it’s time we found out
what the daughter of the mightiest god
can do.
look to your kingdoms.
i am coming for them all.
when you have forgotten Sunday: the love story
BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS
—And when you have forgotten the bright bedclothes on a Wednesday and a Saturday,
And most especially when you have forgotten Sunday—
When you have forgotten Sunday halves in bed,
Or me sitting on the front-room radiator in the limping afternoon
Looking off down the long street
To nowhere,
Hugged by my plain old wrapper of no-expectation
And nothing-I-have-to-do and I’m-happy-why?
And if-Monday-never-had-to-come—
When you have forgotten that, I say,
And how you swore, if somebody beeped the bell,
And how my heart played hopscotch if the telephone rang;
And how we finally went in to Sunday dinner,
That is to say, went across the front room floor to the ink-spotted table in the southwest corner
To Sunday dinner, which was always chicken and noodles
Or chicken and rice
And salad and rye bread and tea
And chocolate chip cookies—
I say, when you have forgotten that,
When you have forgotten my little presentiment
That the war would be over before they got to you;
And how we finally undressed and whipped out the light and flowed into bed,
And lay loose-limbed for a moment in the week-end
Bright bedclothes,
Then gently folded into each other—
When you have, I say, forgotten all that,
Then you may tell,
Then I may believe
You have forgotten me well.
That IS excellent, thanks.
The Gwendolyn Brooks poem evokes Chicago incredibly strongly for me. I had to Google to remind myself whether she was from Chicago, and sure enough, she spent most of her life there. Maybe it’s confirmation bias because I’m sure that fact was in my mind somewhere, but still. I think I need to go back for a visit.
Oh no I read the last three lines and burst into tears at work.
I choked up too.
gosh, that is lovely. holding on to it for National Poetry Month in April 🙂
Toasts, I completely FORGOT to call into my conference call this morning. Just straight up wasn’t paying attention. Just in time for annual evalation season.
🙁
I commiserate! Today I was 15 minutes late for a meeting in a hotel where I was staying. How did I even manage such a fail?
I feel you, I made a big mistake at work a couple of days ago and it was a whole fiasco and now I feel like a dog that got caught chewing on the sofa. Here’s to a stiff drink as soon as 5’o clock hits tomorrow.
I was late for the one I run because fucking traffic. I feel you.
I completely forgot to thank the PTA for the $2000 they gave to the school library at a meeting last night. I was too busy trying to get volunteers and just completely forgot. I feel really bad about it.
A couple weeks ago I was an hour late for a training because I straight up forgot about it. So you’re not the only one.
A while back I forgot to call into a call where I was going to be the only member of my organization present. So the whole call was canceled and I didn’t find out until I got to work. It blew over, but man, I felt shitty for a while.
Ugh. So my kid’s school was locked down during the Chardon school shooting,( same county, one town over) and now he’s in college, and the dorm/apartments where his three best friends live at their college just had 23 bullets sprayed at it. One story below last year’s dorm window. No one was hurt, but no one was caught, either, and can I please stop having kids I love almost get shot, please?
Hugs. I’m reaching the point of truly worrying about losing my kids in a shooting. Yes, I know, absolute risk is low, but the stakes are unbelievably high.
I wish there was a good answer. I’m trying to figure out which gun control group is the most effective to donate to.
I signed up for Moms Demand Action on FB immediately after last week’s shooting and was pleasantly surprised to find out my mom was already liking it on FB. I haven’t donated yet but I like their MO.
Last night I nearly had a panic attack when a white man drove up unexpectedly to a house we were viewing. That the possibility that he had a gun and a vendetta against the realtor seemed faint but real. I’ve got to do something or go insane from fear.
NPR interviewed Kelly Sue DeConnick about Bitch Planet! Why they don’t yet have a weekly feature about comics and society is a mystery to me.
Hello yes everyone should check out that interview. (Also YES to a regular comics feature on NPR!) I went to Kelly Sue’s launch party for the TPB of Bitch Planet last night and she was the best, as always. I also happened to get my NC tattoo about two hours prior, and then she took a picture and posted it all over her internets, so basically I’m just swooning, she is divine, THE END
Not gonna lie, I haven’t read any of BP yet but I read that NPR piece and saw the bit about the NC tattoos, and I was like….maybe I should make an appointment to get me one.
You and me both, and I’ve never seriously considered getting a tattoo before.
I’m firmly in the camp that bangs are awesome. But even if they don’t work out, you can just pin your hair back! I have long, side swept bangs. Once my hairdresser trimmed them a little too short–no big deal! I wore a bobby pin for a month and then they were great! Get bangs!!!!
I cannot bangs. Hair too unruly, would require constant flat-ironing, D- would not bangs again
I bought Carry On yesterday and I already love it so much. Favorite line so far: ‘his face is so symmetrical you could summon a demon on it’
I think the grass is always greener– I’m more of a three-head, my hairline is trying so hard to touch my eyebrows. I’ve always been sort of bitter that I can’t pull off bangs (or pull my hair back much without highlighting my swarthiness)
I really don’t like bangs. (This was probably cemented by that hideous mid-late 90s trend of 1 cm long bangs.) I am consistent in my hatred of all bangs.
My sister always gets bangs. (Probably she looks adorable in them but I am blinded by my hatred.) And then she will come to me and say “Look at my new haircut! Do you like the bangs?” and she can see the internal polite vs honest war that I wage, where honesty wins out every time. Then she gets upset every time. Then everyone who knows us tells her to stop asking because she knows she is going to get an answer she doesn’t like.
We’re fun to hang out with obviously.
Guys, I told my mom about the Iowa MOOC, and I found and read her first assignment and it’s so good and I am all *heart eyes* about it and how great my mom is.
Awww that is so great! Yay!
I feel that way about my mom’s paintings. Heart eyes indeed!
I’m in the MOOC too, but it turns out that I was too ambitious in checking the “I’ll do the assignments!” box… and now I can’t find how to uncheck it! I feel bad…
Me too, and I feel ridiculous and like there is going to be some big strike through my name and nobody at Iowa will ever like me ever.
This is the best comment.
Aww!
I have been a bangs person for awhile, but now I am trying the “embrace your curls, no heat!” method. Which is great! Much less work overall, but the bangs are kinda unruly… *le sigh*
I have always embraced my curls no heat etc, but a few years back I did try bangs and really loved it. By the time I got tired of styling it straight, they were long enough to swoop to the side, and that was dead sexy.
Curly hair is fun but yes unruly… makes me feel less professional… I was just thinking I need to learn some updos, if that’s what the youtube youth are still calling it.
The classic French Twist will never go out of style for a reason. Depending on your hair’s texture* you may need to invest in professional-grade bobby pins instead of the basic drugstore ones. *I’m assuming your hair isn’t particularly fine since you didn’t end your story about straightening your hair with “and then it all started breaking off so I went back to no-heat” which is how my brief foray into hair straightening ended.
I hate the idea that curly hair is “unprofessional.” How in the hell are we supposed to ever get to the point of African-American women (and many women of other geographic family backgrounds) being able to wear their hair in its natural texture at the office if we can’t even be okay with the mildly-Irish curls a bunch of us have? (This isn’t a slam at you, dearest Goomaly, it’s a slam at the cruel and incorrect vagaries of the Anglo-patriarchy.)
Whenever I have bangs, they wind up curling outward at the ends, which looks stupid.
I just got back to the states yesterday from seeing Benedict as Hamlet in London and trust me, it’s perfect as is.
Argument for fat Hamlet: his name is HAMlet. Tell me that was an accident.
Toasties: someone at my university organized a “sex positivity” event called, inexplicably and confoundingly, I am not in the least kidding, “Oreos not Whoreos.”
My brain is broken.
I’ve been staring at that title for a while now and I still can’t figure out what on earth they could possibly mean by it. How are cookies and sex work even remotely related?
I think I just lost the ability to can.
I wonder what they think “sex positivity” means.
I mean if there’s free oreos: hold me back but that is baffling.
WHAT?
Yes, the bangs article! I have learned my lesson about bangs. I have a fairly tall forehead and I think they were reasonably flattering on me, but 1) I have a cow-lick on one side which required constant flat-iron vigilance, 2) my face is a GREASE FACTORY which meant that my bangs always looked oily and stringy and limp within like an hour, and 3) I think I have pretty great eyebrows and bangs obscured them!
Unfortunately, The Great Bangs Experiment of 2010 also coincided with getting a new driver’s license photo. Still paying for that mistake.
And yet STILL I find myself occasionally wondering if I should try it again but with side-bangs this time? NO.
For me it was 2009, but I had all the same issues you did. And yet, like you, I still think maybe I should try again. One of the reasons I stick with my stylist is because every time I go ‘Maybe I should get bangs…?’ she just says ‘No. We know how that goes.’
Also, in 2009 I had a really annoying boss who loved to comment about how my bangs were ever-so-slightly different from day to day and it drove me nuts and that in addition to everything else meant I wore them pinned back until they grew out.
Oh my sweet Jesus, the thing with your boss would have driven me bananas.
I have a widow’s peak, which for me includes a cowlick on each side of my forehead. This means bangs are always a NO because they never lie right, even when I have just finished styling them. All of those responses on that article talking about how great bangs are for widow’s peaks are confusing the hell out of me — my widow’s peak is exactly the reason I remain bangs-less.
Do I not know what a widow’s peak actually is?
I feel it’s worth pointing out that Brian Blessed also claimed to remember his own birth: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/oct/07/bria… So, I’m taking a sceptical line on all of this.
Blessed was not born; he sprang full-grown from the head of Sir Edmund Hillary.
Well, I’d definitely remember that .
I had bangs as a little kid and hated them. The last time I had them was 8th grade… until I was 24 and about to move to NYC, so I had them cut back in again and LOVED them for 3 solid years. I’ve grown them out again just because it’s easier to not-style bangs, but I would totally get them again. YOU DO YOU, NICOLE.
But guys I have bangs and they are the best and I love them? I’ve had bangs for years? BANGS4LYFE YO
yeah yeah, I’m always thinking, “ooh bangs” and then coming to my senses. but! in more important news! patti smith on democracy now! two of my favorites at once!
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/8/legendary_p…
I want to be patti when I grow up. and amy goodman.
I have wanted to be Patti Smith when I grow up for approximately 40 years now.
that is 100% legit. I have fantasies where we casually meet somewhere in nyc on a cloudy day, and end up becoming best friends over coffee and it’s beautiful.
It’s pretty awesome when someone you idolized at the age of 16 is still idolizable when you’re 56.
Wait, wait, you guys. Ok, I get everything else, but licking the baby? I’m not sure I’d allow even Brian Blessed is His Name to lick my baby, newborn or otherwise.
A bit of Hamilton news! http://www.broadway.com/buzz/182185/tony-nominee-…
Jonathan Groff, who has been singing the role of King George, will be leaving the cast briefly to film a movie. (But as of Dec. 1, he’ll be back.)
Wait. Rainbow Rowell wrote Carry On?!?!?!?!?!
Bangs for the win. Especially since I just got poison ivy for the first time in 42 years, and I have a conference tomorrow and Saturday. The poison ivy is on my forehead. I am really hoping the bangs will cover it!!!!!
Lies! I look amazing with bangs. I’ve been rocking bangs for over six years now, both with long hair and variations on a layered bob. I was 28 when I got them and then I started getting ID’ed for alcohol again, so there.
I don’t care if I soon look outdated, I’m gonna be that lady with the out-of-date hairstyle 5-ever because I love my bangs. I have naturally straight hair so all they need is a quick wash every day (whether in the shower or when I wash my face) and voila. And despite having acne, they do NOT make my forehead break out.
Hell, I’m getting my hair cut even shorter than usual in a couple of weeks and I’ve been googling shorter haircuts WITH BANGS.
I’m not Bene Gesserit, which I would gladly sign up to be if they were to approach me. Beats working at Walmart.
Until then I’m keeping my bangs.
I'm not Bene Gesserit, which I would gladly sign up to be if they were to approach me. Beats working at Walmart.
Until then I'm keeping my bangs.
Late to this party, but about Hamlet, who is definitely fat, please cast him thus:
The article’s analysis of why directors and audiences are so resistant to fat Hamlet is well-delineated but, I think, incomplete. Our picture of what a hero ought to be is part of it. But I wouldn’t call Hamlet a hero. More like a sympathetic shitbaby. To sympathize with him you need to read a certain amount of complexity into his motivations. Which people tend not to do for a fat character? Even sympathetic depictions often portray fat people as very id-centric and simple in their motivations. The idea of ascribing deep moral/emotional conflict to a fat character–and taking that conflict seriously–is, I think, so foreign that in many cases it wouldn’t occur to a viewer at all not to take a fat character’s actions/words at face value? And if you do that with Hamlet he’s kind of unbearable. (Fat Toast reader with many thoughts on the portrayal of fat characters out!)