1. This Flight Crew – In August Flight AA 372, traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth, TX to Phoenix, AZ, staffed entirely with a female black flight crew, flew in honor of aviator and veteran Bessie Coleman.
Coleman was born on January 26, 1892 and was the first black woman and Native American to receive a pilot’s license and the first black woman and Native American to receive an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
She did have to go to France to do it though because flight schools in America at the time prohibited both women and black people from applying. After she honed her skills she returned to the U.S. where she because a star as a barnstorming stunt flyer, dubbed “Queen Bess.”
2. This Series – Last summer I was slightly obsessed with the series Blood & Treasure. It aired on CBS and was the perfect show for the summer – a little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of adventure. Kind of like Indiana Jones mixed with the Oceans movies mixed with the Librarians.
This year it’s only airing on Paramount+. Now I have Paramount+ but the problem is I didn’t see it advertised anywhere so I only found out it was airing at all about a week ago. It actually started in July. At least if there is a season three it’ll pop up for me now (fingers are crossed.)
4. These Crispbread Crackers – There is regular or a gluten-free version. I’ve been having them for lunch with either cream cheese or goat cheese, sometimes I add capers and salmon or cucumbers and radishes.
[Found at Trader Joes]
5. This Instagram Post – Qasim Rachid is the best.
7. These Beautiful Pickled Veg – This is from my favorite food vlogger Beryl Shereshewsky‘s Instagram. I’ve mentioned her before in a past Seven Things. Her next post is going to be on pickling things. Can’t wait! (Also, I need to learn how to make vegetables look this pretty.)
1. This Cartoon – Fight Extremism and Save Democracy!
GIRL POWER!
2. These Mini-Histories – These beautiful little videos (I feel like they should be called filmlets) about specific cathedrals and castles in the UK include a brief history narrated by Evelyn Edwards.
3. These Photos of the Stars – You’ve probably already seen these photos someplace but I’m including them nevertheless. The first photos were released from the James Webb Space Telescope and they are freaking amazing!
To really see how incredible these photos are you can visit this interactive webpage that NBC created where they have side-by-side comparisons of photos taken by Hubble vs. Webb.
This is the most spectacular of the photos…
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image.
And these are pretty damned impressive (especially when you look at the NBC interactive site.)
This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, at left, and mid-infrared light, at right, from NASA’s Webb Telescope. This scene was created by a white dwarf star – the remains of a star like our Sun after it shed its outer layers and stopped burning fuel though nuclear fusion. Those outer layers now form the ejected shells all along this view. In the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image, the white dwarf appears to the lower left of the bright, central star, partially hidden by a diffraction spike. The same star appears – but brighter, larger, and redder – in the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) image. This white dwarf star is cloaked in thick layers of dust, which make it appear larger.
One last thing, as usual the twitter-verse has had some fun with something that went viral. Here’s an article from Hyperallergic that has compiled some of the best memes about the James Webb Space Telescope but here’s one just to lure you in…
4. This Drink Tip – I saw this video on the Milwaukee Journal Facebook Page about summer mocktail drink tips (I LOVE Kristopher!) One of his suggestions was to use frozen fruit to keep drinks cold. Genius! Who likes a watered down drink and as Kristopher mentions, you get a healthy snack to boot.
The only draw back is that there may be a limitation on which fruits you can use based on size.
Somehow I ended up finding these and I think they are an equally good solution if there are any fruits that you like that may not work as well frozen by themselves.
1. This Photo – It was taken as a 50th Anniversary photo for CBS. Apparently if you can name five or more of the people in this picture you are old. I can name 69. I’m torn between feeling proud and thinking maybe I should be putting a deposit down on a room at an assisted living facility. How about you, how many can you identify? (Hint, there are a bunch of Waltons – I never watched that show or knew any of their names except for the Mom, Dad, Grandpa, and John Boy.)
If you go to this person’s page you can find a version of the photo that you can enlarge plus a full list of who’s who (the one below is relatively illegible.)
2. These Kohlrabi Noodles – I can’t say these work as a substitution for pasta (don’t think of them that way) but they are delicious! I sautéed some mushrooms and then added the pasta and sautéed that until it was cooked “al dente.” Then I added some chicken that I had poached earlier (cut up of course), some tomato sauce, some cooked English peas (not overcooked), salt and pepper, and the final key ingredient was Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset, which is one of my favorite go-to spice mixes. It was delicious!
[Found at Trader Joe’s]
3. This Combination of Two Dance Styles – Bharatanatyam (a dance of Tamil Nadu in southern India) and hip-hop!
4. This Article on What To Do If You See a Pride Display in Your Library – I’m sure, like me, you’ve been reading more and more about the awful, AWFUL people who have been campaigning to ban LGBTQ+ materials from public schools and public libraries* or politicians who have tried (and in many cases successfully) passed legislation that targets the LGBTQ+ community. They call themselves “Christian” and claim they are doing it to “protect” children but ultimately they believe they can decide what is morally right or wrong for everyone (disregarding the fact that when it comes to public entities, it’s the law that matters, not their religious moral higher ground.)
ANYWAY – simply put, the article says when you are at your local public library and you see a pride display be sure to tell the librarians “thank you.” I’m going to write a letter to my local library board.
* A group called CatholicVote is currently pushing a campaign called “Hide the Pride” where they are encouraging people to go to public libraries and checkout all the books in the Pride displays at their local libraries.
“The group says ‘recent polls’ show ‘American moms and dads do not want their children exposed to sexual and “trans” content as part of their education.’ The group says parents can inconspicuously check out materials and place them away from children at home.”
(Even worse – “Moms for Liberty” has a publishing branch of their organization and they are trying to push
5. This Story on Random Acts of Kindness – I read this right after I had seen a similar story about two women who surprised a young man that worked at a drive through with a gift of $1500 for a new car. The thing is, as much as it was wonderful to see the young man’s astonishment turn to joy, the 10 minute or so video was obviously done to get the two women hits on their social media/YouTube channel. The more I watch the more it nauseated me – so manipulative.
These stories, on the other hand, are OG people doing things just because it’s the right thing to do. And yes, Nicole Cliffe may have found a way to get more activity on her Twitter by doing this but honestly, I’m okay with it. Click here or on the image below to go to the article to read all the posts.
6. This Photo – Could you get any more 1980s? Cyndi Lauper and Pee Wee Herman playing miniature golf, 1984.
7. This News – Just found out that Starstruck has been renewed for a THIRD SEASON! I’m so happy! I mean, honestly, I thought it finished after the second season. And actually, I would have been okay with that because unlike so many other (shitty) shows, Starstruck does the wise and polite thing and wraps up its seasons in the finale.
None of these guys know if they’re going to be renewed until months after the show is aired. Cliffhangers are just plain rude. If a huge number of people are watching a show for 8 or 10 or 12 weeks, why is a freaking cliffhanger even necessary? If the show is good enough, people will come back to watch it. If it isn’t good enough, well, the writers are being lazy IMHO.
Getting back to Rose Matafeo (who plays Jessie, the lead role in Starstruck) and Nikesh Patel (who plays Tom, her love interest) – I want to be their BFF.
If you have HBOMax you must watch this show. If you don’t have HBOMax I strongly suggest you get it. At the minimum subscribe for a month or two or at least get the 7 day trial (you can always cancel.) There is SO MUCH to watch on here – Starstruck (obviously), Julia, Our Flag Means Death, Minx, Not So Pretty, George Carlin’s American Dream, The Janes, Studio Ghiblio films, Harry Potter movies, Criterion Collection films …. I could go on and on.)
Hoping all those who celebrate had a blessed Eid al-Fitr
1. This Method for Poaching Eggs – I’m an egg junkie (also a toast and salmon junkie.) One of my favorite things to make – smoked salmon and cream cheese on toast with capers and an egg on top – YUM!
I used to fry the egg even though I always knew that poached would be the better option. But I didn’t think I could do poached eggs – didn’t even try. Then I found this trick. It’s so flippin’ easy!
You will probably need to test this out to see how it works with your microwave. Microwaves can vary depending upon wattage or how old they are. It may work better to start with room temp water if the egg doesn’t cook through enough. Or you may need to cook it longer. You can try out different tweaks.
Fill a mug or a small bowl with about 8 ounces of cold water. Make sure to leave about an inch at the top so it doesn’t boil over.
Take the egg, crack it open, and carefully slide the egg into the water. Make sure you don’t break the yolk. Toss the shells into the compost bin.
Using a toothpick, poke a small hole in the egg yolk. You really won’t be able to see the hole. Make sure that the yolk stays intact and doesn’t “bleed” into the water.
Cover the cup/bowl with a small plate (or one of these handy-dandy silicone lids from Food52) and microwave it for 60 seconds.
Remove from the water with a slotted spoon.
If it is overcooked or undercooked reduce or increase cooking time in 10 second increments.
My preference is a slightly runny egg so 60 seconds works perfectly for me. Also, just as an FYI, this won’t look like the typical poached eggs you get in restaurants (or that your Mom makes.) They are more spherical. Still, they taste the same and no pans to wash.
2.This Twitter Account – It’s the Count’s Twitter account. I’ve removed myself from Twitter but that doesn’t mean I still won’t be snooping around. Frankly, I think it’s going to turn into an even bigger shit show soon but I (and many others) may be proven wrong. Only time will tell.
I will say, it’s nice not getting all those notices.
Anyway, this made me smile (and also brought me the warm fuzzies.)
3. This Chemistry Teacher – Bill Nye, the Science Guy, Magic School Bus, Beakman’s World, Emily’s Wonder Lab, and Chem Teacher Phil! I could watch his video shorts all day. Hooray for Science! GO STEM!!!
4. This Book about Women Over Fifty – Ellen Warner, the photographer responsible for this publication, started it all the way back in 2003! Filled with inspiring photographic portraits of women, aged 53 to 107.
5. This Deodorant – Last year I decided to switch to a natural deodorant. I have been using Secret deodorant since college but then I saw this video. Although I didn’t verify her information, I knew it couldn’t hurt to switch so I tried a few out. I have a lot of friends who use natural deodorants and they said I should make sure I use one that doesn’t cause rashes.
So I read about a dozen articles. I ended up trying four:
ALL of them caused me to have a terrible red rash under my arms. As you can see, one of them is Native, Cotton & Lily scent.
After the fourth I decided to give up. It was getting expensive and frankly painful. I went back to my Secret.
THEN I watched the documentary limited series, Not So Pretty on HBO. If you haven’t seen it yet, you absolutely should. (Besides this show there are many others on HBO including Julia, Starstruck, Minx, and Our Flag Means Death, just to name a few. It would be worth subscribing IMHO.)
That’s how I found out about all the crap in our beauty products. YIKES! I already knew that the U.S. allows manufacturers to use thousands of ingredients and additives that are banned in the EU and other countries but I guess I didn’t know how bad it really was. (Seriously, you should watch ‘Not So Pretty.’)
One ingredient that is truly problematic is talc. You may have heard about the Johnson & Johnson lawsuits regarding their talcum powder – I never realized how many other products contain talc, like D-E-O-D-O-R-A-N-T. Guess what deodorant contains talc….. Secret. Ugh.
I stopped using it the next day. But then I had to find a natural deodorant, and fast, and on a weekend. In desperation I picked up Native Sensitive at Target. I figured I’d try it again (not realizing I hadn’t tried the sensitive version the first time) Bam, it works! No redness, and it last pretty much all day unless I work out.
I went back and looked at the original articles and see now that they recommended the sensitive version of Native. Sigh. Guess I didn’t notice the little purple stripe (they should really make the regular and sensitive packages look more different) and none of the articles made it clear that there were two different types of Cotton & Lily. At least I finally figured it out.
6. This Online Trivia Game – If you think that the ultimate trivia game is Jeopardy, than you will definitely love this well maintained site of the archive of all the Jeopardy games. Enjoy.
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.
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?
So we're all supposed to "prepare for blizzard conditions" just because the scientific establishment and the media say so? And anyone who says it will be sunny and 70 is canceled? All's I'm saying is, lots of $ changing hands in snow shovel industry. Do your own meteorology.
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.
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.
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.
1. This Reaction to a Young Fan’s Gift – If you’re not a fan of the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo already (or if you haven’t heard of him), you will be after watching this. THIS is the kind of athlete we want kids to have posters of on their bedroom walls and who they should hope to be like someday and try to emulate.
This young fan has been drawing pics for Giannis for over a year.
She finally got a chance to show Giannis in person. 👏
Here’s more… when asked by a reporter, who taught him about keeping his ego in check, this was Antetokounmpo’s answer:
“When you focus on the past, that’s your ego: ‘I did this. We were able to beat this team 4-0. I did this in the past. I won that in the past.’ When I focus on the future, it’s my pride: ‘Yeah, next game, Game 5, I do this and this and this. I’m going to dominate.’ That’s your pride talking. It doesn’t happen. You’re right here.
“I kind of try to focus on the moment, in the present. That’s humility. That’s being humble. That’s not setting no expectation. That’s going out there, enjoying the game, competing at a high level. I think I’ve had people throughout my life that helped me with that. But that is a skill that I’ve tried to, like, kind of — how do you say it, perfect it, master it. And it’s been working so far. So I’m not going to stop.”
By the way, I love Giannis full name – it’s Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo. How gorgeous is that?!?!
[Found the second tweet via CBSSports.com – you should read the full story, the guy who wrote it is very good]
2. This Auction of Sylvia Plath’s Recipe Cards and Rolling Pin at Sotheby’s – Sadly, when someone’s life ends so tragically, one tends to make assumptions about what their life must have been like or how they lived. Myself, being someone who lives with depression (albeit moderate depression), I think that if a person is so depressed that they are driven to take their own life they must be miserable all the time. I don’t know why I think that. It’s certainly not that way for me. But then, I’m not suicidal.
When I get depressed all I want to do is build a cocoon around myself and not let anyone in. I don’t want to talk to people, I don’t want to go anywhere, I don’t want to do much of anything. I just want to pass the time with things that will distract and take very little mental effort. For me that generally means watching mystery television series from the 80s, 90s or 2000s and doing puzzles.
But I know other people who have depression and their way of dealing with it is much different. Some like to throw themselves into their work. Some like to surround themselves with friends and family. Some like to clean their house or do gardening or repairs they’ve put off. No one deals with depression exactly the same way. Everyone is unique.
My point is, there is a lot more to Sylvia Plath’s life than her being depressed and having committed suicide but unfortunately, that is mostly what people learn about and remember. But it’s really lovely to see these recipe cards with Plath’s handwritten notes and the names/ nicknames included in the recipes titles, which for me always is indicative of affection and sentimentality.
3. This Movie (This Beautiful Fantastic), Which is Currently Available to Stream FOR FREE on YouTube – A friend of mine suggested this movie to me a while back and I was lucky enough to catch it while it was streaming (can’t remember where) but shortly after I watched it, it was removed. For months it hasn’t been available anywhere. Now it looks like in addition to being available on YouTube it’s available on Amazon Prime. But I’m never sure when I see something that says it’s available on Prime (for free) whether it’s because I have the Masterpiece & PBS memberships or if it just is generally free.
Either way, whether you try watching it at the link below or watch it via Prime, I highly recommend this movie. It stars Jessica Brown Findlay (Lady Sybil in Downton Abbey, Charlotte Wells in Harlots and Elizabeth McKenna in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) as Bella, Andrew Scott (John Parry in His Dark Materials, The Priest in Fleabag, and Moriarty in Sherlock) as Vernon, and Tom Wilkinson (Author in Grand Budapest Hotel, Graham Dashwood in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Gerard in The Full Monty) as Alfie Stephenson.
The premise of the story is that Bella lives alone in a small house which she rents. She’s a unique person, a bit compulsive, who likes to keep to herself. Now I’ll tell you, she works in a library, but that is only one of several reasons why I love this film so much. Many reviews call it a modern fairytale and it truly is.
Bella has a small garden behind her house and part of the rental agreement was that she needed to tend to the garden but she has let it go. She meets her neighbor, who is an ornery SOB, and not long after that happens, a representative for the owner of the house comes by for an inspection an discovers she has not kept her side of the deal. He tells her he’s going to have to evict her but she persuades him to let her have a month to fix the garden up.
I don’t want to tell you anything more but the characters are wonderful, the film is visually beautiful, and it has a magical quality to it.
4. This HISTORIC News from Chile – I mean, it’s actually rather pathetic that the first time a constitution is being written by an equal number of men and women is in 2021 but, well, it’s still commendable. (And there are negative nellies out there.)
5. These New Emojis – Turns out it was “World Emoji Day” on Saturday. I am excited about the disco ball! Though does it seem like these are a little male-heavy to anyone else? It could just be my mental state right now. These are awaiting approving and will become available in September.
6. This Airship of the Future – The airline industry is responsible for about 5% of global warming and these ships will “operate with 75% fewer emissions than a conventional airplane.” It may take longer (but look at how comfortable it will be.) Yes please!
7. This Incredible Pencil Shop in Tehran – There are a lot of bazaars in Tehran. I don’t think that this is in the Grand Bazaar. The video below says it is in the “Traditional Market” which I believe is also called Tajrish Bazaar. One person describes it as being “located in a corner of the bazaar between the two mosques in Tehran.” I can hear the call to prayer.
And here’s a video (pre-pandemic). You don’t need to speak arabic to be impressed or to find the owner, Mr. Rafieh, completely darling. Anyone so passionate and knowledgeable, how can you not love them?
1. This Little Girl Who Got To Meet Her Hero, Reyfrom Star Wars – This shows how important it is that we have more strong, female lead characters in films. I LOVE Rey. I wish we had role models like her when I was a kid. “Younger” Leia was okay but nothing like some of the women girls have today, even “older” Leia. Still, it’s only a start.
2. This Essay by George Orwell on How to Make a “Nice Cup of Tea” – Originally published in The London Evening Standard on January 12, 1946, the essay includes eleven rules that Orwells says you need to be follow to make a good cuppa. The text below is rather small so if you click on the graphic it will take you to the Orwell Foundation website and the full text (which is owned by the Orwell Estate and Penguin Books and why I’m not reprinting it here.)
3. This Swedish Street Food: Tunnbrödsrulle – Tunnbrödsrulle is mashed potatoes, sausage or hot dogs, lettuce, shrimp salad, mayonnaise dressing, onions, ketchup and mustard all wrapped up in a thin piece of flatbread. Anthony Bourdain once said that one particular Swedish street food was, “…the most disgusting thing ever…and I love it.” I know that I want to try it! I May give it a go this summer if a few other people are game to try it with me…
(By the way, I found out about Tunnbrödsrulle from Beryl Shereshewsky who is one of my most recent obsessions. She did a video on how people [around the world] eat hot dogs. Here it is.)
4. This Image that Shows How the Athenian acropolis may have looked with its original paintwork back in the 5th century BCE – I LOVE these sort of then and now images. I wish there were more of them.
5. This NYC Ballerina with Alzheimer’s Listening to Swan Lake – no explanation necessary.
6. These Virtual Origami Classes through the Japanese Culture Center in Chicago – Lasting only 30 minutes, they are held every Wednesday and Saturday. It’s just the right amount of time to do one project. Loads of fun and by doing it every week you can improve your skills.
The classes on Wednesday and Saturday are the same so choose which day works better for you; the class is at 1 pm on both days. The cost is a donation – recommended amount is between $5-10 per class. You can sign up for a free trial class here.
I made this on Saturday (my first class.) In case you can’t tell, it’s a table and chair. The thing I think is great about these items is the first several folds for these are used for many other origami pieces.
7. This Photo of LeVar Burton and Patrick Stewart – Two of my most favorite people on the planet. (By the way, Levar did a new ad for Ryan Reynold’s Aviation Gin and not surprisingly it was a hoot!)
Word of the Day
Quote of the Day
Three good friends went for a swim. The one who was fat wished she was thin. The one who was curvy wished she was clever. The one who was clever wished she swam better. The really great swimmer wished she was witty. The one who was witty wished she was pretty. All three friends thought the other two were just fine. If only they could let their own bright light shine. So throw on your swimsuit if you’re fat or you’re thin. Enjoy fun and friendship …. love the skin that you’re in!
WOO HOO! Received my second Pfizer shot two weeks ago so I am fully ….
I hope you are too! Be sure to get your vaccination if you haven’t.
1. This Lebanese Artist Who Turned the Tables on These Sexist Vintage Ads – I love this guy. His name is Eli Rezkallah and he’s done much more than this series, but I’m highlighting this because it delights me so. His intent is to shock and I think he’s done a good job. I wonder if there are any sexist men though that will get it. Sigh.
2. This Food Vlogger – I am OBSESSED with Beryl Shereshewsky! This woman is my soul sister (she includes links to the sites where her earrings are from!) Beryl is actually a television producer. She was making micro-documentaries but then, well, you know. So she decided to use her time during isolation to try something that combined her love of cooking (and eating) with film making. Thus her YouTube Channel was born. It primarily covers her cooking and trying out a certain disk/item made several different ways from around the world. For example, she recently did this one on instant noodles… (this one made me a little verklempt when they started to all eat together.)
What I love about Beryl is how much information she shares about everything, the history, the culture, etc. She really seems to know her stuff – she clearly has traveled a lot (I think from her previous gig.) And there is a true sense of community on her channel. She even has a book club and shares “other stuff” as the tagline of her channel indicates.
I must admit though, she had me at toast recipes… (and she’s done THREE episodes on toast!)
3. This Hand & Nail Treatment – yowzah! For most of my life I had fabulous nails and then, boom, around the time I turned 45 they started getting brittle and breaking and the drop of a hat. I couldn’t grow them long anymore and my manicures were lucky if they lasted more than a couple days.
Eventually I discovered shellac manis and that helped a little but even those were lucky to last a week and I had to keep my nails short. It didn’t bother me, I told myself, this is how women wore their nails in movies in the 40s – short and red. But it was expensive getting a shellac mani every week (and not good for my nails I’m sure)!
During the pandemic I thought that maybe not wearing polish would give my nails a break and they might get better. I even tried all sorts of products – creams, oils, lotions – in the hopes they might help. But nothing.
Around two weeks ago I started using this product and my nails are already longer than they’ve been in years. I wish I had thought to take some before and after photos.
4. This Artwork by SNL Actor Melissa Villaseñor – I’ve said this a million times, it’s SO WRONG when someone is incredibly talented in one artistic field (acting/comedy) and then ends up being incredibly talented in a second area (art/illustrations.) But for once, I actually am okay with it. Melissa is someone that I love so much and I’m good with her being so blessed. Plus, we get to enjoy her art! (And if you hang out on her IG you’ll soon discover that she’s a bit of a depressive.)
6. This Toast Art – Japanese Artist Manami Sasak uses TOAST for her canvas. PINCH ME!
7. This Remakeof One of the Most Famous Musicals in History – HOLY SHIT, STEVEN SPIELBERG REMADE WEST SIDE STORY!!! I was watching the Academy Awards last night and they showed this trailer and I almost DIED! And Rita Moreno is in this version TOO!
1. These Magnifying Monocles by LUKA– am I advertising that I’m getting old? Yep. Am I doing it in an incredibly cool and stylish way, damn straight. There are many more styles. They are a tad expensive but I can’t tell you the number of times I had to go find my magnifying glass before I got this. Now I always have one with me. And when I actually start leaving the house I bet it’ll come in even more handy.
2. This Short Film, Mobile – no words necessary really, just as cute and funny as can be.
3. This New Series on CNN ‘Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy’– this show will make you want to hang out with Stanley Tucci, long for delicious Italian food, and kick your wanderlust into high gear. It’s a three-fer.
4. This Game from the Creator of The Oatmeal – it’s crazy addictive, mostly because the guy who created The Oatmeal, Matthew Inman, is so damned funny so you’ll keep wanting to play just so you can see more of his hilarious cartoons in between the game play. What a riot!
5. This New Version of ‘Biko’ by Peter Gabriel – this one makes me even more emotional than the original.
In honor of Black History Month, we are proud to bring the message of Peter Gabriel’s “Biko” back to the forefront, 40 years after its initial release. Inspired by the death of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko while in police custody, this song’s relevance still holds true with the unfortunate police brutality that continues to take place in the USA, Nigeria and many places around the world. More than 25 musicians from seven countries join Gabriel for this global rendition to share a message of unity, peace, and hope, including Beninese vocalist and activist Angélique Kidjo, Silkroad’s Yo-Yo Ma, and bass legend Meshell Ndegeocello.
6. This Enchanting Mexican Songstress singing Una Vida (here’s the English translation of the lyrics) – not only is her music beautiful but her videos are wonderfully artistic. Frida Kahlo would definitely have approved.
7. This Lawyer’s Technological Snafu – it makes me giggle every time I see it! (At this point everyone has seen this, unfortunately it’s a drawback of only sending out a blog post once a week.)
A lawyer using Zoom had to let a judge know that he wasn’t a cat after inadvertently activating a face filter pic.twitter.com/vChc14mjM1
