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Friday, February 28, 2014

Birds, books...


From http://kestrelart.wordpress.com/tag/murmuration/

This week, when I got a book stuck in my head, it was the memoir Wave, which I just read. (I also read several fine reviews of it, and because of this one, I think I am also going to give The Snow Leopard a try.) I was sitting in my car watching some birds flying, and some of the parts of the book that were about observing nature, anagrams, and things a child might say about being from another world seemed to sort of float up in my mind. The birds were doing that kind of flying where they dive and swoop and turn a lot. It's similar to some videos I found of starlings, except it was a much smaller group of birds than the large swarms that seem to be in most of the internet videos...

"Murmuration" video

Iberis sempervirens

Favorite common name off a plant list I am to memorize this week: Evergreen Candytuft.



oh, fleet & flown

Idear from 5 years ago: portrait of a hostess leaning on the appointment book podium, pointlessly jealous that she can't be the future self yet.

Curious about:


"The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983) (made-for-television)
Directed by Tony Maylam; screenplay by Ken August and Peter Lawrence
Starring Belinda Bauer as a female Dorian Gray; Anthony Perkins as Henry Lord
This version sees Dorian Gray as an actress who becomes immortal while an audition tape she made ages for her."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptations_of_The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray)

~~~~~

Some people seem more appealing on tape/film/video/CD, etc.

Feeding requirements

"The United Arab Emirates has passed a law requiring mothers to breastfeed their children until they are two years old. The clause was added to a children's rights law, but the social affairs minister, Mariam al-Roumi, said it raised the prospect of husbands suing wives who did not breastfeed."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/uae-law-mothers-breastfeed-first-two-years


"When children from different families were compared, the kids who were breast-fed did better on those 11 measures than kids who were not breast-fed. But, as Colen points out, mothers who breast-feed their kids are disproportionately advantaged—they tend to be wealthier and better educated. When children fed differently within the same family were compared—those discordant sibling pairs—there was no statistically significant difference in any of the measures, except for asthma. Children who were breast-fed were at a higher risk for asthma than children who drank formula."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/02/27/breast_feeding_study_benefits_of_breast_over_bottle_have_been_exaggerated.html

Laborsome yesterday

Hours of tying tomato plants caused nausea-inducing back ache and three major ideas: 1) repetitive motion discomfort can make one reconsider the importance of developing great people skills 2) is it because of the mild scoliosis? 3) oh my dear god how can I improve my posture! At about this time, several police officers were apparently yanking a student out of a classroom and handcuffing his hands behind his back so the rest of the class could be sufficiently traumatized. All the way home, police cars were everywhere, and they all said "Sheriff," including the one in the rearview mirror just before turning into the library...

music flashback

I really did wonder how the name of this new album came to this artist...the 2nd name makes me vaguely think of old late 60s, early 70s photographs, a very beautiful (modelesque?) blond woman, a former best friend, not mine, my relative's best friend when they were very very young...and even though I might be wrong about the name--maybe it was not the ex-best friend's name at all, maybe it was another women's name, actually the name of a cherished cousin--I have this idea that they split up for some reason (the 2 girls who thought they were best friends) and that there is something unrepentant about it...and I decided to look/listen at these again because they are Agent Orange / Doughnut Song / In The Springtime of his Voodoo...

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Monday, February 24, 2014

worldsostrange

"From 1998 to 2013, the percentage of female film writers dropped from 13 percent to 10; the percentage of female directors dropped from 9 to 6."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/02/19/women_s_media_center_2014_report_the_representation_of_women_in_journalism.html

http://www.anorak.co.uk/229042/strange-but-true/china-erects-pair-of-massive-breasts-attached-to-tiny-girl.html/

"But when I asked a group of actors, producers, writers, and casting directors about who’s to blame for reinforcing that standard, everyone pointed the finger in a different direction. It was like the Rashomon of sexual objectification."

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/02/women_in_hollywood_are_female_executives_to_blame_for_the_industry_s_unrealistic.html

(Could it be time to finally watch Rashomon...)

ohinnernet

I'm glad you exist but you will make me drink while waiting for a chipotle chicken mac n' cheese frozen dinner to cook in the oven for 50 minutes theoldfashionedway....

http://www.policymic.com/articles/82997/olivia-wilde-takes-down-hollywood-s-sexist-double-standard-with-one-simple-sentence

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1bw75d_kimberle-crenshaw_news

http://ofmeansandends.com/2014/02/04/remembering-rosa-parks-anti-rape-activist/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olivia-wilde/haiti-cholera-documentary_b_1432841.html

https://twitter.com/oliviawilde/status/432192565413023744

http://www.thewire.com/culture/2014/02/men-are-fragile-and-do-not-need-your-common-courtesies/358451/

Also, to have listened to some young women enthusiastically concocting a story about a girl scheming to steal a boy away from another girl by lying about pregnancy and saying "ooooh, I'd read that!" in the a.m. was very

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Chucklesome TV

Feeling like "Parks & Rec" is my current favorite TV show...



http://rebloggy.com/post/k-parks-and-recreation-amy-poehler-aubrey-plaza-april-ludgate-leslie-knope-parks/47787397614

Maybe I'll eventually check out "My Little Pony" to see what the Bronies are watching.  

car weirdness

if a white car with a license plate frame that says "superiority" glides super close next to me, unlike other cars which give the pedestrians a respectable berth, i'm gonna look up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superiority_complex when I get home & think the driver either has issues or needs a new pair of glasses...

oh, nevermind

all because of cake rainbow

http://weheartit.com/entry/69316920

the pagan month of october version could be: an innocuous marbled fudge butterscotch loaf streaked with syrupy veins of brown sugar smothered in velvety vanilla cream cheese icing garnished with sanguine cinnamon dots spelling out ladymacbethusurpationisacrucialmust plus whipped cream and a cherry, followed by a ouija board session for the selection of tomes...

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that Shopping By Drone Could Be Good For The Environment.'"

(credit: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

"Racing with the moon / Midnight Cowboy in despair / decked out in his 'finery' / with tonic on his hair. Dubai Could Make Drone Deliveries Before Amazon Does." 

(credit: "Racing With The Moon" by T. Hawkins)

Monday, February 17, 2014

Delicious...

http://www.eatingfree.com/blog/2012/07/19/pichuberry-peru-exotic-fruit/

Kind of looks like a tomato? But more tart and more sweet simultaneously!

Plants & Deee-Lite

I like this one showing its roots in a mason jar:

http://paulcramactor.blogspot.com/2011/11/rooting-devils-ivy-plant-in-mason-jar.html

I meant to turn on Ice Dancing and got this instead: "Freshen Up Your Home With Houseplants" clip. I think it is worth watching. I don't know what's going on with the embed code; it kind of freaks me out...the actual TV was then about to give the Ice Dance results but I turned it off because of Spoiler Alert. Then I went on the internet...auuuugh...that's okay, even if I know who won, I don't know how it was won yet. I can save it for later tonight.

I've noticed that this one is almost always accompanied by an apology for the fuzzy quality:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1sskq_groove-is-in-the-heart-dee-lite_music

Thursday, February 13, 2014

sooo...read in the park at night...

from patheos

...you will end up talking to a guy who wants to tell you about a star society that sets up telescopes, then sedgeways into his childhood split between an orphanage and a millionaire grandmother, his love of breakdancing, and his personal acquaintance with M.J.'s choreographer Bruno Falcon a.k.a. "Pop N' Taco."

Pop N' Taco & Kento Mori: "I Can Make You Dance" and "Billie Jean"

book club idea?

From zenandnow.org
Because someone said, "You know, I worked for four hours on this last night, and that website you told me about really helped. Because I found out he was in the military, and I know what his problem was."

Last day...


 
Bandanas, flannel, short jean jackets, bustiers, sunglasses, hooping earrings, lipstick, names. Gargantuan empty tequila bottle. Dialogues: speak English, speak Spanish, I have your man, you're so bossy, she treats me right, you're hot and all, but I'll pass. Cat fights, machismo and cardboard motorcycle cutouts. Girls simulate doctoring drinks to serve to a rival gang. Rivals throw monopoly money at stripper. And of course...musical selections...

Sigh

Seems like it's my song sometimes...

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Of interest

As one who diligently and faithfully paid off her student loans prior to the recession and now owes more on them than was ever originally borrowed, this:

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial-new-lower-interest-on-student-loans-past-due-1.7047470

Spent $$ on a Thai tea drink and heard something by Flying Lotus in the tea shop today. It was worth it.

Ha ha: If there's a HUGE...


Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Thursday, February 06, 2014

Four4FridayLaydayzzz7



Quilt ~ Arctic Shark


Sam the Sham and the Pharaos ~ Wooly Bully


"You know, the sad thing is the raffle only raised 6 dollars 72 cents and a button."


Shrew you

There is something about Stephen Holden's review of The Invisible Woman that I find really nauseating.

3 mos!

"The task force has about three months to determine the best ways for colleges and universities to deal with these crimes."

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/article_0273b20e-8d5c-11e3-a3d2-0017a43b2370.html

Ugh

Getting pregnant is the best thing one could ever possibly attain, unless of course you're not married...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/04/catholic-teacher-fired-over-pregnancy/

Monday, February 03, 2014

dundundun...

From janeaustenfilmclub

"Scott Thomas is mesmerisingly beautiful, but she refers to herself as an 'ageing actress' and keeps saying, 'I'm terribly old' or, 'I'm positively ancient.' In fact, being ancient might make things slightly easier, for she adds, 'I'm sort of, as the French would say, 'stuck between two chairs', because I'm no longer 40 and sort of a seductress, and I'm not yet a granny.' She got a terrible shock a few years ago when a close-up portrait taken for this newspaper was reprinted in a glossy magazine, without being digitally retouched. 'It was a really great picture, and looked fine on a grainy piece of paper in black-and-white,' she says now. 'But on the gloss of a magazine cover, without being retouched, it was the most terrifying thing. It really brought home to me how the images of women we see are so manipulated.' Accustomed these days to seeing faces digitally perfected, anyone who saw the magazine would, she groans, have thought: 'My God, Kristin Scott Thomas, she's so ancient!'

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/31/kristin-scott-thomas-interview


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10198039/Kristin-Scott-Thomas-Men-will-run-when-they-see-this.html


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-kristin-scott-thomas-ryan-gosling-only-god-forgives-20130806,0,1290221.story#axzz2sKTlUXNO


http://blogs.indiewire.com/womenandhollywood/no-meaningful-change-over-time-in-female-filmmaker-participation-among-new-research-released-today-at-the-sundance

California guys in the '60s




"During recording sessions for 'Incense and Peppermints,' the band expressed a dislike for the song's lyrics (written by John S. Carter), so the lead vocals were sung by a friend of the band, Greg Munford, who was attending the recording session as a visitor. The regular vocalists in the band were relegated to providing background and harmony vocals on the record.[7]"

~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incense_and_Peppermints_(song)

The bookish on twitter

Wondered if this was the famous horror story writer sense-of-humor I've heard about (I live with someone who loves his books...)

"Boy, I'm stumped on that one. I don't like to think it's true, and there's an element of palpable bitchery there, but..."

https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/430468906243735552

"Hold up yall. Stephen King is no misogynist, nor advocate of rape. We can disagree on this w/o ad hominem attacks"

https://twitter.com/marykarrlit/status/430512569313677312

"Oh who knows. Stephen King is no misogynist tho. 140 characters catches us all. Complex issue"

https://twitter.com/marykarrlit/status/430516194375122944

"Maybe he thinks the editorial writer bitchy. Or even me. I don't think it's his response to yng woman's letter"

https://twitter.com/marykarrlit/status/430517713384259584

hint...pls clarify!!!

(I'm just guessing the "palpable bitchery" (ad hominemy?) referred to mia farrow since I kind of remember from way back in, say, junior high?...ah, reading newsweek in social studies class...that everyone thought the mother was putting her young daughter "up to" the accusations out of bitterness...)

Update:

"Have no opinion on the accusations; hope they're not true. Probably used the wrong word."

https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/430515420836024320

"Still learning my way around this thing. Mercy, please."

https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/430522554021711872

~~~~~

OK, well who knows. "Palpable bitchery" somehow alighted on a tweet, I guess.


96 characters for #You
your cliches
your little tweets
your stereotypes
your twitter soundbites


~~~~~

Oops, do spaces count as characters...

96 Tears---?

~~~~~~~~~

"... used the wrong word to describe...a sad and painful mess."

~ http://www.stephenking.com/news_archive/article429.html

Mistakes happen.