Ramblings of a Menopausal Broad

Author: jenniestoltz (Page 4 of 15)

Bye Bye, Spotify

February 2, 2022 / / 0 Comments

In this corner, weighing in at 165 pounds, we have Hall of Famer, Grammy winning Neil Young, clocking in at a spry 76 years old.

And in this corner, weighing 194 pounds and clocking in at a sturdy 54, we have Joe Rogan, backed by his 11 million anti-vax Spotify listeners.

It was a David and Goliath moment to be sure and Goliath was the victor.

Wait, that’s not the way it’s supposed to work. God damned Spotify.

But here they come, over the hills, like the calvary in an old politically incorrect western who ride in at the last minute. Only this calvary are canceling their accounts in droves along with a few other big name artists who have joined Neil Young and asked to have their music removed from the Music behemoth.

Joe Rogan must have been a little concerned about his image taking a hit because he “apologized” and said that he would have more mainstream people on his show. Then four hours later he promptly posted more misinformation on Twitter. Yeah, he’s a twat.

If you want to show your support for Neil Young, along with Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, Brene Brown, Wendy Zukerman & Blythe Terrell, India Arie, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills (aka Crosby, Stills & Nash), Mary Trump and Roxane Gay here’s what you can do….

“CANCEL” YOUR SPOTIFY ACCOUNT!

Since I’ve already done so myself I thought I’d give you a few tips.

First off, I put “cancel” in quotation marks because you can’t actually cancel your account. What you can is change your plan from a paid plan to the free one.

To do this

1. Log into Spotify
2. Click on your name in the top right corner and choose Account
3. Choose the Available Plans tab
4. Select the Change Plans button
5. Choose the free plan, they will make you confirm it like three times

They give you an opportunity to tell them WHY you are changing to the free plan. I said it was because I support Neil Young and that Spotify isn’t doing enough to stop the spread of misinformation.

Spotify is pretty shitty for not letting people delete their accounts but at least this way they won’t be getting your money.

There are other streaming services you can use instead of Spotify – Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, etc.. Here’s a list of options. Admittedly, I don’t think any of them have everything Spotify does (which is why it has become the most popular service), but you need to make the decision – which is more important, bells & whistles or your principles?

Before I cancelled my account I hesitated because I had put so much work into creating my playlists. Then I found out I could easily transfer my playlists and changed from Spotify in the flash of an eye.

Turns out there’s an app for that!

I chose Songshift but there are other options that most likely work equally well. I chose this particular app because I’ll be able to use it to share playlists with people even after I’m done transferring my playlists from Spotify – which makes the investment worthwhile (I’ll explain in a moment). AND if by some miracle, if Spotify does a huge overhaul in how it runs its company, I can easily move my playlists back.

Now, if you don’t have a lot of playlists you could probably just use the free version of Songshift but I had about 25 of them so I could to subscribe. Subscription (I think it’s $4.99/month which I can cancel at any time) gives me the ability to transfer multiple playlists at one time. Otherwise it will only do one at a time. So, like I said, if you have 5 or 6, the free version will probably be fine, much more than 8 or 9 and you’re probably going to want to make the investment, at least for one month.

It also gives me the ability to share playlists with anyone on multiple music streaming services – Pandora, Amazon Music, Apple Music, just to name a few. I’m curious to see how that works.

Anyway, transferring is super easy – you sign in to both your Spotify account and whatever new music streaming service you’ve chosen then you selection one service as the one you are transferring from and one that you are transferring to and that you choose which playlists you want to transfer. (Like I mentioned, you need the premium version if you want to do more than one at a time.)

It wills start the process and look for matches. A lot of the songs will match without problems but some of them you will need to approve and some of them you may need to help find matches for. You can choose to ignore songs that your new service can’t find a match for if you don’t want to spend the time looking.

Once all the songs have matches you hit the “Confirm Matches” button…

Once it has “shifted” all the songs you will see that it has finished and you need to hit the “Continue” button.

After that there’s one more button to hit and you’re finished with the process.

I moved to Apple Music because I used iTunes for so many years. I had a bunch of playlists there already so I merged the duplicate playlists together. (More decluttering!)

Hope this helps those of you who want to drop Spotify but have been hesitating.

Do it! You’ll feel better. And remember, Spotify is not a music company, it’s the Netflix of audio.

Addendum (2-2-22)

A friend of mine (thanks Ann!) shared this post with me. If you are having a hard time making a decision on which music platform to go with this may help you out…

I wanted to make sure I was reading this correctly. Basically it’s saying:
if P!nk had a song streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music, the song would have to be streamed 128 times on Apple Music for her to earn a dollar, the song would have to be streamed 315 times on Spotify for her to earn a dollar, and the song would have to be streamed a whoppin’ 1,250 times on YouTube Music for her to earn that same dollar.

I’m not familiar with Tidal Music and I didn’t even know Napster was still around but seems to me that, of the options I was considering, Apple Music is the best deal for musicians. I’d definitely avoid YouTube Music and Pandora.

And if you are still hesitating, here’s one last article to read.

Oops, for real, now this is the last article. It seems that India.Arie left Spotify because Rogan used the N-word 24 times.

Seven Things that I Love (1-31-22)

February 1, 2022 / / 2 Comments

I’ve been on a decluttering binge the past few weeks so right now my FAVORITE thing is my HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477 series, which has a kick-ass scanner. I’ve been scanning and recycling, scanning and recycling, scanning and recycling. It’s true what they say – decluttering your house does declutter your brain. Such a good feeling.

Coincidentally, one of my favorite illustrator/cartoonists posted this tonight…

Ran across these things recently…

1. This Website Where You Can Generate Your Own Song Lyric Hand Washing Posters – Wash Your Lyrics is the best way to make sure you wash your hands for that full 20 seconds. Google the lyrics to your favorite song, paste them into the text box on the website, hit the “generate” button, and either print your poster or save it as a graphic file.

My dentist has it in a small frame right above the sink in her office loo. I tape mine onto the mirror in my bathroom because I switch it a lot.

‘Feelin’ Good’ by Nina Simone

[Yet another cool thing found at my dentist’s office]

2. This Lion Who Lived in the Milwaukee Public Library – The building that is now the Milwaukee Public Library’s Central Library was built in 1895, but back then then it didn’t just house the library. The building was designed to be a shared facility that housed both the Milwaukee Public Library and the Milwaukee Public Museum.

The staffs from both the library and the museum often worked together and in 1928, a group from both the library and the museum made a cultural trip to Africa and to bring items back for the museum.

While there a local Maasai tribe gifted the group a rescued lion cub named Simba (Swahili for lion.) The group traveled with the lion cub and became attached to him so at the end of their trip they had him shipped home.

He lived for a while in the library/museum – even roaming free on occasion – until he got a such a bad tooth abscess that it required a veterinarian. At that point he was moved to the Milwaukee Zoo. Simba lived until he was 14 years old, which is not bad considering the lifespan for a lion in the wild is 10 to 15 years.
(Still, animals are always better off in their natural habitats than zoos.)

Samuel Barrett with Simba on the Milwaukee Public Museum Roof | Photo: Milwaukee Public Museum

3. This Dolly Party Cake Mix – I can’t tell you the last time I made a cake from a mix but I damn well will be buying some of this!

Unfortunately, they are already SOLD OUT but you can sign up here to be notified when they are back in stock. “Duncan Hines says the cake mixes and frostings will hit grocery stores and mass retailers starting in March and sell for about $2 each.”

[Found via Tom and Lorenzo – they are my gurus]

4. This Tweet that’s Simply Oozing with Sarcasm – who doesn’t love good satire?

The responses are equally as good – this one caught my eye for obvious reasons…

5. This Chess Set Ring – By Joe Turner, 2015. Both ridiculous and astonishing at the same time. I mean, who thinks to do this? Fossil ivory and ebony chessboard set in a silver ring. The pieces are cast in silver and fit snugly into a leather case inside a hinged compartment.

6. This Autograph – I posted this on Facebook but I’m putting it on here for those who aren’t my FB friend or who don’t look at FB anymore.

I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Louie Anderson. I have been a fan for years. But actually, I really became more aware of him / a huge fan after he wrote his book ‘Dear Dad: Letters from an Adult Child.’ It’s about growing up the child of an abusive alcoholic father. The book is excellent. Neither of my parents were alcoholics or physically abusive but I still connected with the book.

Louie passed away ten days ago. He was only 68 years old. It felt like losing a friend I haven’t seen in a while. You know, the ones you feel guilty you haven’t tried calling or texting or emailing. That’s what it felt like.

I met Louie Anderson at a library conference. It was around 1990. He was signing copies of his book “Dear Dad” so I bought a copy and stood in line. When I finally got to the front of the line he looked at my name tag (it said Jennie) and asked if my name was pronounced “Jenny” or “Jeanie”. I told him it was “Jenny” and then told him the story of my name .

I explained that it had at one time been J-E-N-N-Y but that in 3rd grade I looked up Jenny in the dictionary and it said, “female jackass” so I promptly changed the spelling to J-E-N-N-I-E. I also told him that my Mom refused to accept the new spelling, despite this discovery, and always spelled it with a “y.” She’d say, “I gave birth to you, I can spell it whatever way I want.” He must have enjoyed this story because he signed my book with a very sweet message and he signed the promotional card for the event like this:

I had it framed and it has been hanging on my wall for, jeez, over 30 years. Pardon about the funky blemish on his photo – I couldn’t avoid the glare from the glass of the photo.

7. This Embroidered Tablecloth – Her other tablecloths are equally gorgeous and pretty much all sold out, despite being fantastically expensive.

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Seven Things I Love (1-24-2022)

January 25, 2022 / / 2 Comments

1. This Recipe for Drop Scones – Sent by Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in January 1960, this piece of correspondence is part of the Letters of Note project: “nothing but history’s most famous letters.”

I love ‘Letters of Note,’ (LON) both for the history and the literary finesse. This one has an added treat – the addition of an audio clip (at the top of the page) with the absolutely wonderful Olivia Colman, in her role as QEII from ‘The Crown‘, narrating both the letter and the recipe.

You can subscribe to receive one Letter of Note per day in your inbox here. There are also several print books – two general collections and several themed collections. Those are available for purchase here but be aware, they ship from the U.K. and the postage is a bit high.

The ‘Letters of Note‘ audiobooks are available through Chirp, Google Play, Audible, and other audiobook streaming services. Letters of Note: Correspondance Deserving of a Wider Audience contains not only the Queen Elizabeth drop scone letter & recipe read by Olivia Colman, but letters read by Benedict Cumberbath, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Cummings, Gillian Anderson, and Mark Strong, among others.

Queen Elizabeth II’s recipe for drop scones. From Letters of Note.

2. These Hats of HBO’s The Gilded Age – I watched the first episode, which premiered tonight (January 24th). I’m hooked. And not just because of the hats. I also loved the dressed and the jewelry and the furniture too. Seriously, the story is pretty good. I’m currently watching several series and none of them have me very excited. In fact, I even stopped watching one of them – and I really wanted to like it – but none of the characters were remotely likeable.

The Gilded Age is the newest series by Julian Fellowes. If you are unfamiliar with him, he also created Downton Abbey. There will be ten episodes and new episodes will air at 8 pm (CST) on Mondays.

(FYI, the young blond woman in the straw hat – second photo below – is Louisa Jacobson, Meryl Streep’s daughter.)

3. This “Starter” Apartment in Paris – Fairly well-appointed for a first apartment, don’t you think?

The 90-square-meter (968-square feet) flat is on the ground floor of a late-19th century, two-story building near the rue Oberkampf. It opens to a compact kitchen designed by Marianne Evennou, who preserved the existing stone walls and exposed beams—”the atmosphere is at once a house and a workshop,” she says—and responded with an urban-rustic approach.

4. This Artwork by Louis Wain – If you haven’t seen the movie ‘The Electrical Life of Louis Wain‘ on Prime Video yet, I highly recommend it. Not only is it a lovely movie (though it does have its share of tragedy) but it’s very historically accurate, which makes my heart go pitter patter.

As far as the accuracy of Wain’s life, from what I’ve read, it does seem they got that right as well. The movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Louis Wain, Claire Foy as Emily Richardson-Wain, Toby Jones (LOVE him) as Sir William Ingram, and its narrated by Olivia Colman.

Once you’ve seen the movie you’ll truly appreciate his art.

Two Jugs of Milk by Louis Wain

5. This Story with a Happy Ending – I remember when I was moving into my first house. At that time I had three kitty cats. Before the movers arrived I put all the cats in one room and shut the door. That way I could give instructions to the movers and then one by one move my beloved kitties into my car.

When the movers got to the apartment I told them the plan and said DON’T open this door until I have all my cats in the car. I put my first cat in the car. Then I put the second car in the car. I came upstairs to get my third baby (her name was Madeline) only to discover the door open to the “cat room” and of course no Madeline. Not surprisingly I freaked out. I looked all through the apartment then ran down the stairs and looked around the apartment building. People who lived in the neighborhood heard me calling her name so they started to help me look too.

Unfortunately, after about an hour the movers were finished and it was time for me to go to the house. Heartbroken I got in my car and drove to my new place. The movers unloaded all the furniture and boxes in about an hour (I had way less stuff back then.)

I went back to my old apartment and did another search and then went to the Wisconsin Humane Society to see if maybe they had found Madeline. It was a long shot but I was pretty desperate at that point. No luck.

Dejected I went to my new house, gathered up my other two cats (Indira and Beddi), plopped down on the sofa, and started to cry. That’s when I heard this very soft “meow.” I sat up. It was coming from the kitchen. Did I imagine that? I walked into the next room. No, there it was again. Where was it coming from? I listened. OMG, it’s coming from that stack of boxes! I started to tear open the big moving boxes and when I got about halfway down out popped MADELINE!

Apparently, when the movers had opened the door to the “cat room”, the little bugger got scared and hid in one of the open boxes. The movers just sealed the box up and carried it out to their truck. ARGH!

Still, that was most definitely one of the happiest days of my life.

Having told that story, I understand how this guy felt when they found his dog, even though it was weeks later.

[Found on The Modern Met]

6. This Absolutely Adorable Video of Mandy Patinkin & Kathryn Grody – These two should be the role models for every human being.

7. This Excerpt from a New Book on the Shackleton Expedition – For some reason I have always been interested in the Shackleton Expedition. Not really any other arctic expedition, just this one. There is something to be said about mans’ (or womans’) fortitude when facing a crisis. Or at least that used to be the case.

The book is Shackleton: The Biography by Ranulph Fienne’s, published January 2022 by Pegasus Books. It covers part of the expedition that generally is skipped over.

“When explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew set out for Antarctica on the Endurance in 1914, they had no idea their journey would become one of history’s greatest epics of survival. After sea ice trapped the ship for nearly a year, ultimately crushing it, the men camped on unstable sea ice for months. The loss of the Endurance and a later, extraordinary ocean crossing to South Georgia Island by a small party led by Shackleton are well-known chapters in the saga. Less familiar is the story of what happened in between those two events, when Shackleton decided the crew would leave their position on the ice and venture in small open boats across the infamously rough Southern Ocean, to one of the region’s uninhabited islands.“

Preface to “Remembering a Little-Known Chapter in the Famed Endurance Expedition to Antarctica” by Ranulph Fiennes

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Seven Things That I Love (1-17-22)

January 18, 2022 / / 0 Comments

1. These KN95 Masks – I’m sure you’ve heard all the new recommendations saying cloth masks aren’t very good anymore and that we should all be wearing N95 or KN95 masks now. Still, I’ve hesitated to purchase new masks for a couple of reasons.

After all, I already own about two dozen beautiful cloth masks. (I particularly love the embroidered ones I found). You can’t really get N95 or KN95 masks that look nice. Another reason – there are too many masks to choose from and the ones that I know are good (not counterfeit) have been sold out – argh! A third reason (and the one that is the most important) all these disposable masks are ending up in landfills and that’s making me catatonic. I’m trying very hard not to make my footprint any larger than it already is.

That’s why, when I read about how VIDA masks includes a prepaid shipping label so that you can return your used masks so they can properly recycle them, I promptly placed an order.

Full disclosure, they haven’t arrived yet, but since ordering them I’ve seen the VIDA masks show up on many different recommended masks lists so I’m thinking they must be pretty good.

2. This Piece of Art by Argentinian-American Artist Cecilia Lueza – a friend of mine reposted this along with the poem below.

“Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple
understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the
the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten. that the world is meant to be celebrated.

From ‘When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice‘
by Terry Tempest Williams

[Thanks Edell (I think it was Edell!)]

3. This Online Game – Last week I started seeing loads of people posting images of these grey, gold, and green blocks:

Initially, I thought the pictures were of some sort of flag or social awareness campaign (obviously I didn’t look at them very carefully.) But then I noticed on one friends post the hashtag WORDLE. After a quick Google search I found out it is an online word game! LOVE me a good word game. Sooooo now I’m completely addicted. The great thing about this online game though is there is only one posted per day so you won’t end up wasting hours playing it.

My best score to date has been the game above on the right – got it in three tries!

If you want to know more about Wordle you can read this article.

From The New Yorker

[Thanks Ann]

4. This GENIUS List of “100 Ways to Slightly Improve Your Life Without Really Trying“ – Modified from a list originally published in January of 2000 (that’s 22 years ago, can you believe it?!?) this contains simple suggstions such as “Mute or leave a WhatsApp group chat” (I’ve been turning off notifications for group texts, kind of the same thing) or “Don’t have Twitter on your phone.”

This is from a British newspaper so you’ll need to Americanize a few of the items. For example, #51 says to write politely to your MP, in America you will want to write politely to your legislator. Another, #63 says “Volunteer” and then lists a UK URL which provides many opportunities for civic engagement. There isn’t a comparable site in the US but I found this article about civic engagement from 2020 that is excellent.

[Found on The Guardian]

5. This Graphic Illustrator – Cassandra Calin draws cartoons that show the trials and tribulations that women face in their day-to-day life and she’s a hoot!

6. This Video on the Four Levels of Omelets – Fantastic! It turns out this “4 Levels” thing is a series. I plan on watching the lobster roll one once I have omelets mastered. I learned SO MUCH from watching this one video. After the amateur cook, the amateur chef, and the professional chef make their omelets, a person from Epicurious explains what was was done right and what was done wrong and tells you how to make a fourth level (perfect) omelet.

7. These Islands – the Faroe Islands are an autonomous territory of Denmark located about 200 miles northwest of Scotland.

You can see more photos HERE.

[Found on The Modern Met]

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BETTY WHITE!
She would be 100 today.

Seven Things I Love (1-10-2022)

January 11, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Hi guys, I think that I have finally figured out most if not all of the email issues so fingers crossed!

1. This ‘Lesson of Worth’ Video from L’Oreal – YES! Viola Davis, I believe you.
I have worth. Honestly, Viola Davis is one of those people who could read the phone book and I’d find it inspiring.

2. This Photo of the All-Black 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps – There is so much that is amazing about this photo. The fact that there was an all-black military unit in 1869 (a rarity to be sure), the fact that there was a “Bicycle Corps” (the bicycles back then were not nearly as easy to maneuver as the bicycles of today), and the fact that they chose to shoot the photograph in a place where the men clearly couldn’t ride their bicycles (at least I don’t think they could – actually, maybe they could!) It makes me want to know more about the Corps. Fortunately, Montana PBS created an hour-long documentary, and the full thing is available on YouTube.

“Formed in 1869, the 25th Infantry was one of four African-American military units posted west of the Mississippi, serving as protectors and peacekeepers.” [From ‘U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps: Wheels of War‘ on. HistoryNet.com]

“Bicyclists’ group on Minerva Terrace. [Lt. James A. Moss’s company of 25th Infantry, U. S. Army Bicycle Corps, from Fort Missoula, Montana.] YNP.” October 7, 1896

[Found by KK, thanks so much!]

3. This Betty White Sitcom, ‘Life with Elizabeth’ – Losing Betty White on December 31st was a great loss for the world. There are few people who have brought as much joy to so many for so many decades.

Betty White is most well known for playing Sue Ann Nivens on Mary Tyler Moore and Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls but she had many recurring roles over the years:

Elka Ostrovsky on Hot in Cleveland (2010-2015)
Agatha McLeish on Pound Pupplies (2010-2013, animated)
Ann Douglas on The Bold & The Beautiful (2006-2009)
Catherine Piper on Boston Legal (2005-2008)
Mitzi Stiles on Ladies Man (1999-2001)
Shirley Wallace on Maybe This Time (1995-1996)
Sylvia Schmidt on Bob (1996)
Rose Nylund on The Golden Palace (1992-1993)
Rose Nylund on The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
Ellen Harper Jackson on Mama’s Family (1983-1986)
Joyce Whitman on The Betty White Show (1977-1978)
Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-1977)
Vickie Angel / Honey on Date With the Angels (1957-1958)
Elizabeth on Life with Elizabeth (1952-1955)

This doesn’t include her film roles and guest appearances!

Other than an uncredited role as an extra in a short film called Time to Kill (1945) and a role as a “Phone Girl” on a TV series called Hollywood on Television, Betty’s very first role was as Elizabeth opposite Del Moore on Life with Elizabeth. Each episode consisted of three unrelated skits which told the story of everyday life for a typical married couple. What made the show unique is that sometimes the characters would break the imaginary fourth wall and talk to the audience.

You can watch the first episode here.

4. These Earrings (and barrettes and pins oh my…) from Get Made in LA – I am in BIG TROUBLE! Mid-Century designs in my favorite colors in super lightweight acrylic. I mean, look at how great they look with my hair! They have every color so as long as you like the style you’ll find something you’ll love.

5. This Company That Makes Replacement Straps – Recently I bought a cross-body bag that was exactly what I wanted but for one problem – the strap was too short. The fact is, as a plus-sized woman, most cross-body bag straps are too short for me. Most cross-body bags hit me right below my boobs. I had been searching and searching for cross-body bags for plus-sized people and then it dawned on me, could I buy a longer strap?

The answer is YES!

I found Mautto via an online search and I’m very happy wth the strap I received. The color doesn’t exactly match. I may order another in the darker shade of red and use this first one with my iPad bag – It’s a much better quality strap. AND they are manufactured in the US!

6. This Book of Poetry by Amanda Gorman – I’m not that much into reading poetry, mostly because it usually goes right over my head, but I’ve been reading a poem a day from ‘Call Us What We Carry‘, and not only do I get it (well, most of it) but it makes me feel hopeful – which is pretty much the point.

7. This Movie – I knew that I had to see Encanto the minute I heard that Lin-Manuel Miranda was involved with the project. The cast is super talented – Stephanie Beatriz (Bob’s Burgers), María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo (he plays Bruno, we don’t talk about Bruno) , Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow (she voices my favorite character, Luisa), Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitan, Diane Guerrero, and Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show and NCIS.) The music is next level for a Disney film. And the story is something that many people can relate to – well, I know that I did. (As the eldest child, only daughter and only unmarried person in a family of four I have felt invisible for most of my life.) Available on Disney+ [TRAILER]

Word of the Day

2020 Resolution…

Quote of the Day

Seven Things I Love (12-20-2021) : Christmas Edition

December 22, 2021 / / 0 Comments

1.  This Music Video by Ingrid Michaelson (Featuring Zooey Deschanel) – I’ve always been obsessed with animated stop-motion films created with felt.

Here’s another short film I’ve watched about a half dozen times (it’s on Netflix). It’s called ‘Robin Robin’ and it’s a delightful holiday gem.

 

2. This SNL Monologue by John Malkovich – truly a national treasure.

 

3. This Tour of Fortnum & Mason (and also Harrods) at Christmas – My friends know this, but F&M is my mothership and it’s been calling to me for the past couple of years. For myself personally, not being able to get to London and Ireland to visit my friends there and do all the things I love to do in the UK is in the top five most difficult things about the pandemic.

 

4. This Christmas Short (which is actually a Christmas Advert)

 

5.  This (Faux) Letter to Santa – gotta love a little historical humor.

[Found by my friend Jeanne (thanks Jeanne!)]

 

6. This Collection of Eggnog Cartons – Called the “Eggnog Project“, graphic designer Madeleine Eiche has curated a museum-worthy selection of eggnog cartons that exhibit the variety of designs in American eggnog packaging.

[Found on ‘Messy Nessy Chic’]

 

7. These Letters from J.R.R. Tolkien to His Children – Can you imagine receiving something so incredible? Not only were the stories wonderful (which is no surprise) but the drawings are magnificent!!!

 

 

 

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

 

Have a Safe & Happy Christmas!

Seven Things I Love (12-6-2021)

December 6, 2021 / / 0 Comments

1.) This Piece of Art by Kehinde Wiley – Most of you are probably familiar with Wiley’s portrait of President Barack Obama. Kehinde Wiley is the first Black (and gay) artist to paint an official portrait of a U.S. President. Up until recently, that was his only painting I was familiar with but I had the opportunity to browse through a book of his paintings (at my dentist’s office!) and they are all dazzling.  This painting is from earlier in Wiley’s career, when he reimagined the works of the Old Masters with Black protagonists. Spectacular! 

Kehinde Wiley: Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps | Brooklyn Museum

[Found at my dentist’s office – she’s so awesome]

2. This Miniature Mid-century Sideboard with Teeny Potted Plants – I’ve always been a big fan of Mid-century Modern though I could never live in a house decorated completely with that style of furniture (too uncomfortable.) Still, it’s gorgeous and when miniaturized well, it’s just too damned cute! (This IG has loads of cute things, most everything is darling when Lilliputian.) 

 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by The Daily Miniature 🔍 (@dailymini)

[Found on Instagram]

3. This Toaster! – Those who know me know that I have a thing about all things toast.  A toaster with a Blue Willow design is a marriage made in heaven.

TOASTRITE BLUE WILLOW PORCELAIN TOASTER: Ca. 1928. The elusive Blue Willow china electric toaster.

4. This Video of the NYPL’s Treasures Exhibition – this is one exhibit I really would love to see in person. It’s ongoing so maybe visiting New York in 2022 or 2023 will be a real possibility. Fingers crossed. 

 

Get a sneak peek at #NYPLTreasures from The New York Public Library on Vimeo.

 

5.  This Photo of JFK with His Brothers & Sisters – (right to left): Joe (killed at age 29 from an accident on a Navy test mission), John (assassinated at age 46), Rosemary (given a lobotomy at age 23; her mother was not told until after it was done . She had to re-learn to walk, never was able to speak clearly again, and her arm was permanently palsied), Kick (died in a plane crash at age 28), Eunice (founded the Special Olympics, died at the age of 88), Pat (was married to actor Peter Lawford from 1954 to 1966 and they had four children but then she divorced him and never remarried; she died in 2006 at the age of 82), Bobby (assassinated in 1968 at age 42) and baby Jean (died in 2020 at the age of 92, she helped restore peace to Ireland). Taken in 1929 (Ted wasn’t born yet.) An inordinate amount of tragedy was suffered by one family that appeared to have everything. 

[Found via MessyNessyChic]

6. This Video of Genesis Playing ‘Misunderstanding’ For the First Time Since 1984 – There aren’t many concerts that I feel the need to go to but this is one that I wish I could have been at (my cousin was there!) It’s unfortunate that the really drunk person is so close to whoever is (illegally?) recording the concert. Or is the drunk person singing the person who is recording? Regardless, it makes it feel like you’re at the concert – spill some beer on yourself for a real-life experience.

 

7. This Bookcover – A copy of ‘Paradise Lost’, an epic poem by John Milton originally published in 1667, exquisitely bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, a London bookbinding firm that was established in 1901. Sangorski & Sutcliffe is the “Rolls Royce of bookbinding.” They used quality leathers decorated with gilding, jewels, ivory, and/or sumptuous fabrics for their bindings. Birds, particularly peacocks, were a common design. 

 

[Found on the Facebook group Archaeology News, Art & Ancient Wonders; posted by the Admin, Audrey Russell]

 

 

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Have a WONDERFUL week!

 

 

 

Seven Things I Love (11-8-2021)

November 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

1. This Photo of Frida Kahlo – I was uber excited when I saw this picture. I did a little research to see if I could find out how Kahlo came to be sitting with Nayantara Sahgal and Rita Dar, the daughters of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (who was the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru and the aunt of Indira Gandhi). I found this article and it doesn’t give a lot more information. It’s most likely that the two women were visiting Mexico in a diplomatic capacity. The article is very interesting though, talking about how saris are essential a garment of protest and resistence. Fascinating!

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Brown History (@brownhistory)

[Found by my friend Ami on IG]

 

2.  This 80s Remix of Adele’s ‘Easy on Me’ – Wonderful, makes my heart swoon.

 

3. This Graphic of the Languages of the World – I love info stuff.  Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? Tell me, why do we think that English should be the universal language? 

 

4. These Earrings from KIKAY – I KNOW I’ll be wearing them ALL the time. They’re super light and I mean, look at them with my hair! (The photo on the right is me.)  This shop is dangerous though. I also bought a pair of pink soot sprites (if you are a fan of Studio Ghibli you will remember they appeared in the films My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.) And look at these guillotines – perfect for Halloween (always thinking ahead.) I know I’ll be ordering more earrings and soon.

[Found via Beryl Shereshewsky – If you aren’t watching her videos you need to do so immediately!]

 

5. This Example of Video Editing – Which is PURE GENIUS! Warning: it’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole on this person’s YouTube channel.

[Found by my pal Angela on Reddit. Thanks Stasie!!!]

 

6. This Table! – Seriously, how wonderful would this be, dining ON a Venetian canal? This isn’t staged, it’s a real table at a real restaurant – Ristorante Ai Barbacani

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by OMER🥀 (@omergilony)

[Found via MessyNessyChic]

 

7. This “Last” Bookstore – I’ve wanted to go here for a while, but after seeing this story on CBS Mornings now I NEED to go here. A friend of mine went a few months ago (the lucky duck) and sent me a few snapshots but I think you need to see it in person. 

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Seven Things I Love (11-1-2021)

November 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments

1. This Piece of Music, “Michelle’s First Day at the White House” by BLKBOK – Exquisite.

[Found at my dentist’s office. Thank goodness for Shazam!]

2. This Tatty Devine Pin – I had been looking forward to seeing the Alice in Wonderland exhibit (called Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser) for over a year and then the pandemic hit. The V&A, like all museums and theaters and other public venues in the world, had to close down for a significant period of time. They eventually re-opened their doors and the exhibit was rescheduled but it is only running through December 31st and it is not virtual. Sadly I will not be traveling anywhere by plane before next year as I am in the high-risk category. Sigh. (I did a bit of damage ordering from the V&A gift shop though.)

3. This Railing in Naples, Italy – I always love seeing public places that make the extra effort to address barriers, in this case for persons with disabilities.

[Found via MessyNessyChic]

4. These Photos of Past Diwali Celebrations – Diwali is the Hindu Festival of Lights celebrated annually. It has become more of a national holiday and is celebrated not only by Hindus but also by people of the Jain, Sikh, and Buddhist faiths as well.

Diwali is one of the major celebrations in India. It lasts about five days. ” The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects from spiritual darkness.” (National Geographic Kids website)

This year Diwali is on November 4th.

5.  This True Crime Podcast – The genre of True Crime has been around for centuries and it’s popularity has ebbed and flowed but in the past few years it has really gone mainstream. And in doing so it has also come under quite a bit of scrutiny. One big criticism it’s been getting is that it is primarily a white woman’s genre and that there is a lot of problems that go along with that truth.

But now we have Celisia Stanton who is helping those of us who are True Crime fans feel a little less guilty about our obsession.  

6.  This Artist, named Selchauni – She’s from Moscow and I ordered a few of her postcards and they arrived surprisingly quickly and they are beautiful. They’re too pretty to send through the mail!

[Found through My Modern Met]

7. This Color Palette Generator – I’m not all that good at selecting color combinations. I’ve been using this for my websites but I think it could be used for choosing room colors and so much more!

 

 

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Seven Things I Love (10-31-2021): Halloween Edition

October 31, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I apologize for being absent again for a few more weeks but I took an online course about creating and designing websites. The exam was this past Wednesday. I got 97.8% on the final so I’m pretty pleased with myself at the moment. Let’s see if I can actually apply what I learned!

Started working on revamping the Menopausal Broad website but this is going to take some time, especially since I have two other websites to set up and design.

Let me know if there is anything you like or anything you don’t like!



1. These Anti-Witch Cakes – I think many teenage girls become interested in the Salem Witch Trials. The witch trials and Lizzie Borden and the Titanic, along with many other tragic, historical events. It’s not that we’re messed up or gruesome. We’re most likely the same people who go on to be really into true crime (which admittedly is a white woman’s genre.)

They are hideous-looking things, not appetizing looking at all. The fact that they have urine as an ingredient explains a lot and, well, I wouldn’t want one anywhere near me. Blechy!

Here’s a very thorough article about witch cakes.

[Found on Atlas Obscura]

P.S. Here’s another anti-witch device that was found 17 years ago in Kent, UK but it was only just determined that it was used to ward off witches. And guess what, once again this device (it’s a bottle) was filled with urine. What is it with people using pee to ward off evil? You’d think evil would like bad smells. [Thanks to Jeanne L. for finding this.]

2. These Halloween Houses in My Neighborhood – People are decorating WAY more for Halloween this year and it’s been a lot of fun but there have been a couple of houses that really caught my eye…

The first three photos are of the same house. This guy decorates his yard like this year-round. It’s so much fun!

3. This Lalique Bat Ring – I would totally wear this.

[Found by Ann L. – thanks Ann!]

4. This Pumpkin Library – Created by the Staff at the Truro Public Library in Truro, Massachusetts, the Facebook post has gone viral and the TPL staff are thrilled! Considering they serve a population of around 2000 residents (not including temporary residents) it’s understandable! Adorable and creative!

Here’s an article on Boston. com and here is one from the Boston Globe.

[Brought to my attention by Jeanne D., thanks Jeanne!]

5. These Vintage Halloween Cards – Some vintage postages are a little weird and at Halloween, they are downright bizarre. Apparently, 100 years ago they were very superstitious about courting and how a couple might get engaged on Halloween.

Also, there was the cabbage thing. It seems that people used to rap on people’s doors with cabbage stalks and they would even throw cabbages at the cranky neighbors when they answered the door.

Here’s more information about that from Boing Boing.

They found some handwritten texts to corroborate the tradition:

Halloween is always on the last day of October. We all have good sport eating nuts, bean, and apples on Halloween night. Some people celebrate it by hitting other people’s doors with cabbage stalks. Other people burn live nuts as a man and his girl to see which of them will die first. The people must be present in the house and then take the ashes of each nut and dream upon them. The dream is supposed to come true. Other people tie apples to the roof and try to catch them with their mouths. Others put an apple into a dish of water and try to lift it out with their mouths. Whoever lifts it out gets it.

The customs in my father’s time were to make raids to cabbage garden’s. Every one would have brought a cabbage which they pulled in the garden. The loss of the cabbage was mostly taken in good part by the owner. It was looked on as old custom even in those days. They cut the stalks from the cabbage head and some of the girls and boys went in front of the house where some bad tempered person lived. They hit the door two or three raps with the “kale runt” as the cabbage stalk was called in those days at the same time shouting “Halloween night”. The old man of the house came running out and opened the door. When some of the boys coming behind would throw a cabbage head in the door way which probably would tumble him. Halloween is kept as a pagan feast.

From ‘Bring back the Halloween tradition of throwing cabbage at people’ by thomas Dunn | Boing boing, Oct. 27, 2021

[Cards found on Flashbak, NYPL Digital Collections, and Suburban Turmoil]

6. This Halloween Cartoon by Politico cartoonist Matt Wuerker.

7. This Article about Salem and “Witch Consumerism” – Just like with Christmas, the Witch City needs to get back to its roots. I can’t say I “love” this article, it always makes me sad and/or angry when greed oozes into something and ruins it. And before anyone else says it, I’m not minimalist, but I think there is a difference between hawking wares and taking advantage of people. I’m not sure if I can explain this right now – it’s in my head but my head is saying it’s done for the night.

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