Ramblings of a Menopausal Broad

Tag: Humor (Page 1 of 4)

Seven Things I Love (8-1-2022)

August 2, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Celebrate accordingly!

1. This Street Art in Louisiana – This stunning piece of art was created by Seth GlobePainter and is located in Baton Rouge.

[Found on the Intermission App]

2. This Service Offered by NASA – A few days ago the International Space Station (ISS) few over my hometown. Unfortunately I didn’t hear about it until after it had happened, as I read all my neighbors commenting about how cool it was on Next Door. Bummer!

The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.

That’s when I discovered that you can sign up to be notified whenever the ISS flies over your zip code. It’s called “Spot the Station” and it’s simple to do. Choose whether you want to be notified via email or text and enter your zip code (be sure to select the actual community you live in on the map) Once you sign up they will send you a confirmation code. Enter that and you’re good to go.

This is what one of the text notifications look like (I got my first one already!)

3. This Collaboration Between Kellogg’s and Penguin Random House – I’m not a big fan of sugary cereals (well, truthfully I am a big fan, but everyone knows they’re unhealthy, especially for us menopausal broads.) I am, however, an ENORMOUS fan of promoting summer reading and I love that Kellogg’s is healing kids (and adults) get free books just for eating cereal. I mean, the kids can read these books for the Summer Reading programs that they’ve signed up for at the LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

The Kellogg’s Feeding Reading program is in its fourth year. It’s odd that I’ve never heard of it before now.

[Discovered in a Commercial on TV]

4. This “Ballet Gone Bad” – HILARIOUS!

5. This Bold Kindergarten Teacher – On November 9, 1938 Mrs. Helen (Hurlick) Beebe was called to testify in court as a witness to a burglary. Judge Arthur S. Guerin, noticing that Mrs. Beebe was wearing trousers, reprimanded her for wearing something that was so distracting. To everyone’s amazement, Judge Guerin rescheduled the proceeding so that Mrs. Beebe could return in what he deemed a more “acceptable outfit.” In other words, he wanted her to put on a dress.

Well, Helen wasn’t going to have any of this jerk’s misogynistic bullshit. And she showed up at the rescheduled hearing once again wearing slacks. The judge rescheduled the hearing again, this time warning Helen that if she showed up in slacks she would be held in Contempt of Court.

After the second postponed hearing, Helen was interviewed and quoted as saying”

“Listen, I’ve worn slacks since I was 15,” She said, “I don’t own a dress except a formal. If he wants me to appear in a formal gown that’s okay with me. I’ll come back in slacks and if he puts me in jail I hope it will help to free women forever of anti-slackism.”

Helen Hurlick Beebe

Anti-slackism – I LOVE IT!

Sure enough, when she showed up in slacks a third time, the judge threw her in jail for contempt. Her sentence was five days. And just to add salt to the wound, the judge made her wear a denim dress while she was incarcerated.

Helen was released early and her case went to the Appellate Court. They overturned Judge Guerlin’s ridiculous ruling, giving her carte blanche to wear whatever she wanted to the next hearing. She chose to wear a formal evening gown. Sassy.

By the way, Mrs. Beebe went on to be a pioneer in speech and speech pathology. Quite the illustrious career!

[Found on All That’s Interesting]

6. This Sunday Morning Story on Refrigerators – now I want one. And I want to remodel my kitchen…. Mostly though I love that this is a long-time Fitchburg, Wisconsin company that is still going strong AND manufacturing here.

7. This Upcoming Hallmark Movie – Hallmark has really been upping its game on diversity. They’ve aired several LGBTQ+ movies (not just ones with peripheral characters who are LGBTQ+ but actual movies ABOUT LBGTQ+ love stories); they have a line of Mahogany cards & ornaments targeted for African-American customers and now they’re adding a series of Mahogany movies; and just a few days ago I saw a trailer for this movie…

Romance in Style is all about BODY POSITIVITY! Yippee. You can see the trailer HERE.

Word of the Day

Quote of the Day

Song of the Day

Seven Things I Love (7-18-2022)

July 19, 2022 / / 0 Comments

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.

You can see the entire series here.

@evelyn.edwards1

Game of Thrones- the brothers Seymour edition. The Tudor Era has so many characters and stories! #tudors #henryviii #janeseymour #castle #castletok #history #historytime #historytiktok #historybuff #elizabethi

♬ original sound – Castles, History, Ruins

[Found by my friend Jeta, thanks Jeta!]

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…

[Found on NASA.gov]

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.

Here are the instructions on how to make them.

[Found on Feel Good Foodie.net]

5. This Dad Joke – Everything about this, Wil Wheaton, the facial expressions, the Golden Girls mug – I love him.

6. These Limited Edition Japanese KitKats – Let’s have a tea party!

7. This Book Wheel – Titled “Good as Gold” and created by artist Donald Lipski, this sculpture is located in the Kansas City Public Library.

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week

Seven Things I Love (6-6-2022)

June 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

1. This Overlooked Female Artist – Hilma af Klint. Have you heard of her? I’d never heard of her. But last week I was visiting with friends and we watched a fantastic documentary called Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint (you absolutely need to watch it) and whoa.

There’ve been many visionary women who have been overlooked in history simply because they were female. It seems this may be particularly true in the world of art.

And in fact, some of the “firsts” that have been attributed to white males were not actually done first by these men.

One person whose story fits into this category is Hilma af Klint.

Miss af Klint was born in Sweden in 1862. She exhibited artistic talent from an early age and even studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Though she chose not to live the “traditional” life that was expected of her – to get married and have children – she did take a more traditional route with her professional art career while she was alive.

But privately she was painting magnificent abstract art, some pieces being enormous and in large series.

Another mark against af Klint was that she was a spiritualist, which led to her being called a “crazy witch”. It gave people, particularly men, an excuse to dismiss her work as being frivolous.

In 1908 af Klint met Rudolf Steiner, who was a noted occultist and clairvoyant. She asked him to visit her studio so she could share some of her private work. It did not go well. He told her he was unimpressed with the work and that it wasn’t appropriate for a theosophist. Fortunately for the world this didn’t stop af Klint from continuing her painting but it is mostly responsible for why no one saw any of her works until decades after her death.

(Side note: Wassily Kandinsky has been dubbed the “Father of Abstract Art.” Kandinsky claims to have created the first abstract painting in 1911. As noted above, af Klint was showing her abstract pieces to Steiner in 1908. Also, Kandinsky was a follower of Rudolf Steiner. Coincidence? Of course not.)

As a result of Steiner’s dismissal of her art, af Klint continued to hide her abstract paintings. When she passed away in 1944 she left all her art to her nephew – all 1200 pieces of them! She requested he keep them for at least twenty years before doing anything with them. Her nephew barely was able to store them and frankly, it’s a miracle they survived.

After that he tried donating them to the Moderna Museet but they declined (I bet they could kick themselves now.) Finally a foundation int he artist’s name was created an accepted the paintings in the 1970s. It took nearly four more decades before the world finally appreciated Hilma af Klint’s work and even today the art world has not given her the status she deserves.

One last thing – this artist paints pictures of people looking at other people’s art.

I love this….

2. This John Oliver Piece on School Safety Officers – There are many reasons why we need to get police out of schools. We have the data. Use your vote wisely in November.

3. This Cheeky Actor – Ian McKellen, age 83.

4. This Video of the Queen Having Tea with Paddington Bear – There is so much to love about this video. I know that people have opinions about the monarchy and historically, the rulers of England have done some horrifying things, but Lilibet has always tried to do the right thing for her people. She may have been more willing to remain within the formal confines of tradition than Diana, but in a lot of ways they were more alike than people are willing to recognize.

[Thanks for the link Meta!]

5. This Glass Artist – I mentioned I was visiting with friends last week. One of them, the place where we were all staying, my one friend Dawn has an art studio and makes beautiful things there.

Don’t worry, I didn’t buy all of them, but I did buy the necklace showing below.

In fact I bought most of these pieces, which is why I chose them to show you.

You can visit her shop here.

6. These Cookies – I think we can all agree that pretty much everything at Trader Joe’s is wonderful but some items are simply supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. These madeleines fall into that category.

7. These Pastry and Confectionery – Jules Gouffé, a renowned chef during the middle of the 19th century, was nicknamed l’apôtre de la cuisine décorative (or, The apostle of decorative cuisine.) Chef Gouffé had a huge influence on French gastronomy and published four books that were even translated into English by his brother Alphonse, who was the head pastry chef to Queen Victoria.

Clearly this man did not believe that less is more.

Nougat Vase Filled with Strawberries on Nougat Stand
Moorish Stand
Italian Villa Made of Nougat
Gingerbread Rustic Summer House
Fountain Stand

[Found on Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives]

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week

Seven Things I Love (5-30-2022)

May 31, 2022 / / 0 Comments
  1. 1. This Unburnable Book – You’d have to have your head buried in the sand not to have heard about all the book banning going on around the U.S. It’s scary stuff and very reminiscent of what went on in Germany prior to and during WWII.
  3. Margaret Atwood is bad ass in this video created to show-off the new FIREPROOF limited edition Handmaid’s Tale being auction off at Sotheby’s. It was aired at the PEN America Literary Gala and all proceeds from the sale will go to support PEN America’s work defending freedom of expression.

[Found on The Cut / New York Magazine]

2. This History Today Article Written about Biographies of Tudor Women – In short, the author of the article discusses how distorted the life stories of women in the Tudor Period are because historians “see them chiefly through the eyes of men”.

Frankly, this could be said about more than just the women of the Tudor times. (She says specifically “early modern history” but I’d say pretty much all history.)

I’m looking forward to reading Suzannah Lipscomb‘s book when she finishes it.

Clockwise from top: Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon,
Kateryn Parr and Jane Seymour. Lithograph, c.1860. akg-images.

3. These Instructions Left for Airbnb Guests – A friend of mine has been doing some road tripping with her husband and they’ve stayed at a few quaint airbnbs. She sent this to me – I love people who don’t take themselves too seriously.

4. This Artist’s Work – Lainey Molnar’s Instagram is definitely worth following. Her cartoons cover what women (ALL women) deal with on a daily basis.

[Found on My Modern Met]

5. This Restaurant Owner in Texas – no words needed.

6. This History & Explanation of Menopause by Samantha Bee – I love Samantha Bee’s show but unfortunately none of the services I subscribe to have TBS. If you google “where can I stream Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” it says you can watch it on HBOMax. When I read this I was thrilled because I have HBOMax, but for some bizarre reason they only have the first three seasons even though there are SEVEN seasons. I don’t understand streaming services with their single seasons or partial libraries of a show or their getting rid of classic movies from their collection.

But I digress. This was excellent, not surprisingly.

And here is a second part, and interview with Dr. Jen Gunter, author of The Menopause Manifesto (highly recommend.)

7. This New Bird Watching Show on National Geographic – Remember Chris Cooper, the black bird-watcher who was the victim of a white woman who called the police on him because he told her to put the leash on her dog? (The woman compounded the horrifying situation by pretending she was being attacked and also treated her dog horribly.)

Any, Christian (he’s going by that on the show) Cooper got a new gig as the host for a bird-watching show on the National Geographic Channel. And for once karma actually works. (It doesn’t hurt that he’s clearly super intelligent AND good looking.)

[Found on NPR}

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Kids Who Die
Written by Langston Hughes in 1938

This is for the kids who die,
Black and white,
For kids will die certainly.
The old and rich will live on awhile,
As always,
Eating blood and gold,
Letting kids die.

Kids will die in the swamps of Mississippi
Organizing sharecroppers
Kids will die in the streets of Chicago
Organizing workers
Kids will die in the orange groves of California
Telling others to get together
Whites and Filipinos,
Negroes and Mexicans,
All kinds of kids will die
Who don’t believe in lies, and bribes, and contentment
And a lousy peace.

Of course, the wise and the learned
Who pen editorials in the papers,
And the gentlemen with Dr. in front of their names
White and black,
Who make surveys and write books
Will live on weaving words to smother the kids who die,
And the sleazy courts,
And the bribe-reaching police,
And the blood-loving generals,
And the money-loving preachers
Will all raise their hands against the kids who die,
Beating them with laws and clubs and bayonets and bullets
To frighten the people—
For the kids who die are like iron in the blood of the people—
And the old and rich don’t want the people
To taste the iron of the kids who die,
Don’t want the people to get wise to their own power,
To believe an Angelo Herndon, or even get together

Listen, kids who die—
Maybe, now, there will be no monument for you
Except in our hearts
Maybe your bodies’ll be lost in a swamp
Or a prison grave, or the potter’s field,
Or the rivers where you’re drowned like Leibknecht

But the day will come—
You are sure yourselves that it is coming—
When the marching feet of the masses
Will raise for you a living monument of love,
And joy, and laughter,
And black hands and white hands clasped as one,
And a song that reaches the sky—
The song of the life triumphant
Through the kids who die.

Song of the Week

I love this entire album. Can we still say that? Album?

Seven Things I Love (5-23-2022)

May 24, 2022 / / 2 Comments

Before we get started – hey Wordle fans, have you tried Artle yet? I read about it this morning on Hyperallergic. It was launched by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. I got the second piece of art today. Haven’t a clue what the first one was.

Also, I found a large stash of British coins in a Harrods coin purse I had (much more logical than in with my foreign coin collection because I plan on using these next time I go to the UK.) And there were enough for me to make the shield. COOL! I even had enough for two more shields less one coin each. I have a ridiculous amount of foreign coinage.

Anyway, back to the important stuff!

1. These Toast Plates – Those who know me will understand why I went a little gaga when I saw these and they also know I would never leave the store without having purchased them.

I found these beauties in the gift area of my local grocery store, but if you want them (and why wouldn’t you?!?) I found them online for significantly less than what I paid (about a third of the price.) I’m thinking I may need more than 4!
(Especially after I broke one of the glasses I bought in Prague today, glasses that I bought 27 years ago and can’t get any more. It me wish I had bought more than 4.)

Click on the picture below to go to the site.

2. This 13-Year-Old Singing Empty Chairs at Empty Tables – If this doesn’t make your heart ache you had better check your pulse.

[Found on My Modern Met]

3. This Turn-of-the-(Twentieth)-Century French “Influencer” – Cléopâtre-Diane de Mérode was born in 1875 in Paris. Her mother enrolled her in ballet classes at eight years old. Turns out that Cleo was a prodigy, and she debuted with the Paris Ballet when she was only eleven years old.

By sixteen, Cleo had become a teenage trend setter, becoming known for her signature hairstyle (a chignon.) The hairstyle became so popular it caused problems with the Swedish telephone service…

“The Stockholm telephone authorities are finding fault now with the way in which (switchboard operators) do their hair. It appears that of late the Swedish lassies …have adopted the mode of coiffure first initiated by the French dancer Cleo de Merode, in which the hair is drawn over the ears. The subscribers have since found a falling off in the hearing powers of the operators, as the result of which complaints of inefficiency in the service have been made.” 

The American telephone journal, Volume 8, 1903

This photo was taken in 1903 and would have been sold as a collectible card/postcard. Didn’t the person who do the restoration/colorizing do an amazing job?

Cléo de Mérode has been referred to as the most beautiful woman in the world.

If you want to read more about her, there is an excellent article here.

4. This Photo – I literally love everything about it. Literally.

5. This British Television Personality’s Laugh – this will make your day. I wish this show was on in the U.S.

[Seen on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver]

6. This Instagram Artist – You’ll absolutely go down the rabbit hole on this IG page. Ariel Adkins travels the world creating wearable art that matches or complements the places she is photographed.

[Found on Messy Messy Chic]

7. This History of Why We Decorate Our Nails – This was super interesting. It’s not just about the history of why we paint our nails, but also about the cultural significance of nail art. (Melissa K, you’ll want to watch, obs.)

[Found on CNN]

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week

One last thing, if you have HBO Max, I highly recommend this documentary. It’s two parts. Click on the image below to see the trailer.

Seven Things I Love (5-9-2022)

May 10, 2022 / / 0 Comments

1. This Outfit for the Met Gala 2022 – People have a lot of strong opinions about the Met Gala. Some say it’s an ostentatious event full of self-absorbed, pretentious individuals who have too much money. (After all, tickets are $35,000* a piece.)

Others say it’s a pretentious event full of ostentatious, self-absorbed individuals who have too much money. (Just kidding.)

They see it as an opportunity to showcase creativity in the areas of fashion and the performing arts.

Whatever side you fall on, you can’t deny, it’s a spectacle.

My interest is dependent upon the theme. This year I was excited about the theme – Gilded Glamour – because I love Victorian and Edwardian era clothing. I expected people to use fashion of the “Gilded Age” as inspiration for their gowns/ensembles. There were a number of incredible designers of that period (Charles Frederick Worth, Paul Poiret, Jeanne Paquin, Madeleine Chériut, and John Redfern to name a few) as well as a few modern designers who use fashion of the era for inspiration (Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix.)

For the most part I was disappointed.

But then I saw Emma Corrin, wearing this outfit by Miu Miu, and, well, at least the Met Gala gave us this. Corrin did her homework (or her designer did her homework) and IMHO she won the Met Gala.

Emma’s outfit is a modern take on one worn by Mr. Evander Berry, known as “The King of the Dudes,” in 1888. He was a Gilded Age fashion icon and once changed his clothes FORTY times between breakfast and lunch. (You can click on his photo below to read more.)

There were three other dresses that I think did the theme justice – Nicola Coughlan, Cardi B., and Billie Eilish.

*Did you know that the Met Gala is a benefit for the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? The Costume Institute, which is self funded, will be receiving $17.4 million from the 2022 gala – a record amount.

[Seen at the Met Gala and found in Vogue]

2. This Barbie Doll – It’s sold out, but if you click on the photo below you’ll be sent to the Mattel page with all the close-up photos. The amount of detail is incredible. The original cost was $75. They’re already selling on eBay for $200-$500.

[Found by Jeannie and found on the Modern Met]

Also this Barbie Doll…

Part of a quartet of Star Wars Barbies. In addition to C-3PO Barbie I also love Stormtrooper Barbie but honestly, they’re all fabulous. They were released in 2020. At that time they cost $100 each. Amazingly you can actually still find them. C-3PO appears to be the one most available. It currently costs around $150. Stormtrooper Barbie is harder to find and is priced between $225 and $450. Chewbacca is running minimally for $500. And Rey is $200+.

3. This Guy, Perfectly Copying How Specific Actors Run – no words necessary.

[Found by my “little” bro, Chuck. Thanks Charlie!]

4. This Amazon Commercial – I abhor Jeff Bezos which means, by association, I hate all things Amazon. I stopped my Amazon Prime membership from renewing and I only order from Amazon when I absolutely have to. (I always try to buy from small, local businesses.)

Having said that, even greedy corporations can do good things once in a while. And I think that is the case with the all-female delivery services they have set up in South India. Giving women employment opportunities in Kerala, Chennai, Kadi, and Gujarat is a big deal.

One thing I’ve learned in my years of supporting charities that help women: when you help women there is a much higher chance for success (i.e personal growth & advancement, health & education of their children, safety & security, etc.)

(If the video isn’t showing above click on the image below to go to YouTube.)

5. This Shel Silverstein Stamp – I don’t think that there are many people in the U.S. under the age of 60 who aren’t, at the very least, familiar with Mr. Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree, or who haven’t chuckled while reading/hearing one of his poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends.

I, along with so many other GenXers, have been a huge fan, so when I saw these stamps I knew that I had to get some. And I did, three sheets.

Being a children’s librarian for twelve years (before becoming a library director for another dozen years) I’ve read more Silverstein than the average person.

One poem that I (and pretty much every other librarian in the world) really love is his poem “Overdues” from ‘A Light in the Attic.’ Course as most libraries are now eliminating fines, some day it will be completely “dated.” Still, probably not in my lifetime, so I’m not going to worry about it!

But it seems that more people are now seeing the message of ‘The Giving Tree’ as being negative. I sort of get that. As a kid ‘The Giving Tree’ wasn’t one of my favorite books. I didn’t like that the kid used up every little bit of the tree. I thought the kid should have let the tree thrive and grow. (My favorite book was actually Mrs. Twiggley’s Tree.)

Still, the majority of Silverstein’s iconic books were only in black and white. I’m sure they wanted a picture that everyone would recognize but that also had color.

[Found on USPS]

6. This Perfectly Aligned Telescope – If you click on the picture below you can get all the scientific details but ultimately you can see, the photo on the left is the normal shot they’ve gotten in the past, and the photo on the right is with the new perfectly aligned telescope. MAGNIFICENT!

[Found on Gizmodo]

7. This Frank Lloyd Wright “Preserve” – When FLW designed homes he took every little detail into consideration. This is why most of the homes he designed included FLW furniture made especially for the house. He also was very aware of environment, making sure that whatever he constructed blended well and since he often used nature for inspiration his homes were located in green, woodsy spaces.

A couple who were trying to sell their FLW house couldn’t find a buyer. Urban creep was threatening to overtaken one of FLW’s creations. So a very remarkable solution was found.

This story made me weepy (happy weepy.)

[Seen on Sunday Morning – obviously.]

Word of the Week

Quote of the Week

Song of the Week

What to Watch This Week

Seven Things I Love (3-7-2022)

March 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Tuesday is International Women’s Day
CELEBRATE accordingly!!!

  1. 1. This Ukrainian Artist’s Work – Maria Prymachenko’s artwork are cheery and colorful but some of the pieces are darker, which is not surprising considering what the Ukrainian people have been through over the past decades.

[Found on Kottke.org]

  1. 2. This Website – The V&A Museum kept quite busy in 2020 and 2021, and through social media and online activities they kept their patrons informed and engaged during the pandemic. I follow them on Facebook and get their newsletter but somehow I missed this.
  3. Luckily a friend of mine’s daughter is dressing up as Marie Antoinette for school and while I was looking for this picture to show both of them I found this fun page.

What we have is an interactive site that allows you to create your very own Marie Antoinette style wig! You can make it as small or as LARGE as you like (I discovered that depending upon the way you swoop you can even create braids). After you’ve made your wig you can decorate it with a various feathers, flowers, pendants, and other items (note the ship). Last, but not least, you can powder it to your heart’s content (there are some lovely colors to choose from.)

Here’s one of my creations

I always love learning new things, especially history. This was particularly fun. Is seems the wigs got pretty out of control for a while. Men’s wigs were as big a deal as the women’s wigs.

[Found on Dazed Digital]

3. This Mom’s Sense of Humor – Kayla Marie Sullivan used her skills from when she was a reporter to convey the difficulties of parenting a two-year-old.
It’s H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S.

@kaylareporting

Now accepting donations for babysitters & or take out! Venmo: @Kayla-Sullivan-96 🤣 #NewsVoice #ToddlerMom #EveryKiss #newsvoice #YerAWizard #2022

♬ original sound – Kayla Marie Sullivan

4. This Historic Mystery Solved! I have loved the Venus of Willendorf (sometimes called the Woman of Willendorf) since the first time I saw it. I mean, what’s not to love – they worshiped a voluptuous babe!

The Venus is estimated to be around 30,000 years old and made from oolite limestone. It’s called the Venus of Willendorf because it was found in 1908, somewhere close to the banks of the Danube River near Willendorf, Austria. But they’ve never know her origin.

Researchers led by Gerhard Weber, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Vienna, believe they have matched the figurine’s limestone with a location near Lake Garda in northern Italy, revealing the likely origin of “one of the most famous signs of early modern human symbolic behavior,” according to a study published on Monday in Scientific Reports. 

The new research suggests that the crafters of this iconic object, a hunter-gatherer culture known as the Gravettian people, traveled hundreds of miles across the treacherous landscape of Europe before the last ice age, though the team noted that it’s unclear what might have prompted such a journey. 

From “Scientists Solve 30,000-Year-Old ‘Venus’ Statue Mystery, Study Says” by Becky Ferreira; March 1, 2022; Vice-motherboard

[Found on VICE]

5. This Crowd-Sourced History Project – Charles Dickens is well-known for his literary genius but one lesser known element of his life is that as a younger man he taught himself a form of shorthand using Thomas Gurney’s 18th century manual on Brachygraphy. The word Brachygraphy means “a system of writing using abbreviations or special characters” – in other words, shorthand.

There are several documents that Dickens wrote using brachygraphy that scholars have been struggling to decipher, some with success. But the one that has been most elusive is the Tavistock letter.

Two Dickensian scholars, Claire Wood of the University of Leicester, and Hugo Bowles of the University of Foggia, decided to create the Dickens Code Project in the hopes of getting assistance from puzzle experts and code breakers around the world. They ended up with sixteen full submissions, none of which were complete.

Shane Baggs, a computer technical support specialist from San Jose, California, won the overall contest, while a college student at the University of Virginia named Ken Cox was declared the runner-up.

Since then, Baggs and Cox have managed to finished deciphering nearly 70% of the letter, far more than they ever expected. You can see a line-by-line translation here.

Full page of the Tavistock letter.

6. This Inspiring Article – With all that is going on in the world we need some positivity and hope. Here ya go.

[Found on Harper’s Bazaar]

7. THIS Postmodern Jukebox Video – I was lucky enough to get to go to a REAL concert last week. I saw one of my favorite bands – Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox (PMJ). And man, I was not disappointed!

PMJ does covers of songs in a variety of styles, such as the roaring twenties, sixties girl group, swing, jazz, gospel, and “film noir.”

This video is one of the songs sung at the concert – you will recognize it right away. We didn’t have this many performers but some of them – like Tia Simone (wow), LaVance Colley (wow), and Olivia Kuper Harris (beautiful) – were there on Friday!

Click on the photo below to see the video.

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Seven Things I Love (2-21-2022)

February 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments
  1. 1. This Knitting Clock – I want one of these SOOOOOO badly. I’m not sure how great it would be for actually telling time but it knits a row a day so I think it could work more like a calendar. Either way it’s super fun!

At the end of the year you have about a 79 inch (2 meter) scarf. It’s incredibly brilliant. There’s also a grandfather clock version.

2. This Miniaturist – her attention to detail is truly mind boggling.

She also does these incredible replicas of television program* sets:

(*how much am I dating myself calling them “television programs”?)

3. This Guy Who Should Be Bound for Broadway – You have to watch it, that’s all I’ll say.

4. These Fashion Models – Can you image being at Milan Men’s Fashion Week and all of a sudden you see JEFF GOLDBLUM and KYLE MACLACHLAN strutting down the runway? Okay, I know, realistically, can any of us imagine ourselves even at the Milan Men’s Fashion Week. But still, these two men in their sixties can totally hold their own against the twenty-something models and I think that is fan-freaking-tastic! We need more 6o+ year-old fashion models!

Kyle MacLachlan & Jeff Goldblum at the Prada fashion show during Milan Men’s Fashion Week 2022 – photos by Daniele Venturelle (Getty Images)

5. This Black Woman in History – Pauline E. Hopkins was an extraordinary woman: Author, Publisher, Editor, Singer, Activist, Lecturer, Hopkins wore many hats.

She was most likely the first black woman to write theatrical drama, detective stories, and a horror novel but never received recognition similar to that that white authors, even female white authors, received.

Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins was among America’s most influential magazine editors and feminists of the 1900s. She was an American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor. As a shareholder and editor, she sat at the helm of ‘The Colored American’ – the first monthly publication dedicated to African-American culture. She was ousted for being ‘too radical’. Hopkins is also considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes.

from MessyNessyChic (Vol.DXCI)

A few of her books have been or are being reissued. Here’s one that is coming out in August that I absolutely want to get. It’s already available in other versions, if you don’t want to wait to read it, but I love the cover art on this…

Here’s the description from Bookshop.org:

A mixed-race Harvard medical student stumbles upon a hidden Ethiopian city, the inhabitants of which possess both advanced technologies and mystical powers.Long before Marvel Comics gave us Wakanda, a high-tech African country that has never been colonized, this 1903 novel gave readers Reuel Brigg –a mixed-race Harvard medical student, passing as white, who stumbles upon Telassar. In this long-hidden Ethiopian city, the wise, peaceful inhabitants of which possess both advanced technologies and mystical powers, Reuel discovers the incredible secret of his own birth. Now, he must decide whether to return to the life he’s built, and the woman he loves, back in America–or play a role in helping Telassar take its rightful place on the world stage. Considered one of the earliest articulations of Black internationalism, Of One Blood takes as its theme the notion that race is a social construct perpetuated by racists.

6. This Guy’s Commentary on Planes Landing at Heathrow During Storm Eunice – Big Jet TV’s commentator, Jerry Dyers, is the best kind of British. His enthusiasm is infectious and you will find yourself rapt as you watch these planes in harrowing weather conditions. It may no longer be live but it doesn’t make it any less gripping (and in some parts truly entertaining) to see.

7. This Ruling from Colombia’s Highest Court – Today Colombia joined several other predominantly Catholic Latin American countries (and Cuba) in decriminalizing/legalizing abortion. Women in Colombia will now be able to receive abortions up to 24 weeks in safe facilities and doctors won’t have to fear about ramifications if they are put in a situation where they need to give an abortion to save the life of a mother or if they are asked to abort a fetus that resulted from rape or incest.

Ask you can imagine, there was much celebration.

People demonstrate in front of Colombia’s constitutional court against and in favour of removing abortion from the penal code, in Bogota, Colombia February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

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Seven Things I Love (2-7-22)

February 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

1. This Map of Great British TV Shows – Created by Tim Ritz, fans of British television will love this map. It also has a cute backstory:

From Tim Ritz’s website:

One day my wife asked me to make a little sketch of the UK so she could envision where some of the cities depicted in our favorite shows are located. Then she said “You should do a really good version of this”, so that’s what I set out to do.

Then it got picked up by the Daily Mail, The Atlantic, Radio Times, The Evening Standard, and generally around the internet.

Click on the map below to go to a high-res (larger) version of the map that you can actually read.

2. This Art Therapy Practice, Zentangle – A friend of mine introduced me to this a few weeks ago and I’m a little obsessed. The purpose is primarily to both inspire creativity and allow for relaxation.

I’m not so sure I find it relaxing… yet.

Here’s the first one I tried (I’m doing kid’s level projects right now – as a person who was a children’s librarian for about 12 years I’ve found the best starting place is always kid’s level.)

And here’s my first attempt.

3. These New Series – Afterparty & Murderville – If you are in a funk because ‘Only Murders in the Building’ is on hiatus then check out these two new shows.

Afterparty (AppleTV) is probably my favorite of the two. The show starts out with someone having been murdered and then each episode is a replay of the evening told from the point-of-view of the different guests at an after party that was held following a high school reunion. At first you think you really hate all the characters or that they are just weird as hell but after they have their episode, if you’re like me, you will find yourself rooting for all of them and hoping that none of them are the murderer.

(l. to r.) SAM RICHARDSON as Aniq, BEN SCHWARTZ as Yasper, TIFFANY HADDISH as Detective Dancer, TIYA SIRCAR as Jennifer #1, KELVIN YU as Ned, ILANA GLASER as Chelsea, ZOE CHAO as Zoe, and IKE BARINHOLTZ as Brett

Murderville (Netflix) – this series is unique. Here’s the premise – a grizzled detective named Terry Seattle (played by Will Arnett) lost his partner years ago. Since then he has gone through a string of new partners, the latest being celebrities, namely Conan O’Brian, Marshawn Lynch, Kumail Nanjiani, Sharon Stone, Ken Jeong, and Annie Murphy – all playing themselves. The new “partners” each have to solve a crime (they really don’t know who’s done it!) The celebrities also don’t have scripts.

It’s very funny. I’m amazed at how the suspects are able to keep straight faces. And Arnett does some fabulous ad-libbing. I hope they do more episodes. I binged all six in a few hours.

WILL ARNETT as Detective Terry Seattle and CONAN O’BRIEN as Conan O’Brien

4. This 8-WEEK OLD Baby Girl Telling Her Parents “I Love You” – And if you think this is a trick or they are really good actors, nope. Here’s an article in the Greenville News and Anderson Cooper covered it on CNN’s The Goods. AMAZING! I’ve watched it about a dozen times… so far.

5. These Results for a Contest Held by the Minnesota DOT – People can be SO CLEVER!!! I think we can all agree on which one is the best name.

The results are in and Minnesota has eight newly named snowplows.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced the results of its second annual “Name a Snowplow” contest, which attracted hundreds of pun-tastic submissions.

Here are the winners, and the districts in which they’ll be operating:

Betty Whiteout – District 8 (SW Minnesota)

Ctrl Salt Delete – District 7 (SW Minnesota)

The Big Leplowski – District 4 (West-Central Minnesota)

Plowasaurus Rex – Metro District 

Scoop Dogg – District 3 (Central Minnesota)

Blizzard of Oz – District 2 (NW Minnesota)

No More Mr. Ice Guy – District 1 (NE Minnesota)

Edward Blizzardhands – District 6 (SE Minnesota)

6. These Unexpected Heroes in the Fight Against Censorship – I think my first introduction to Furries was on an episode of NCIS. And of course, as with everything that people don’t understand, it was made out to be silly and kinky.

Skipping to a different topic, have you heard about this batshit crazy mayor in Mississippi who decided (unilaterally I might add) that he was going to withhold the public library’s funds ($110,000) unless the director removed all the LGBTQ books???

One would think that sanity would prevail – that when the rest of the board found out they would say, no, we can’t do that. Or when the municipal attorney counseled them he/she would say – um, that is against the ordinances/statutes but sadly that is not what happened. In fact, after the board met the entire board not only backed up the batshit crazy mayor but the attorney said that it was kosher.

What’s a library director to do? Well, she said up a GoFundMe (or at least the library version of one.) And that’s where I get back to the Furries. One Furry saw what had happened and was outraged (for good reason) and shared the fund-raiser and it got shared and shared and shared until….

The library is almost to $99,000 on it’s Library Fundraising page!!! Consider making a donation. I did! (Click on the photo below for the full story.)

7. This Video Called ‘Epic Time with Alan Rickman’ – I haven’t thought about this in a while but a friend of mine (Hi Stasie) posted something on FB that made me think of it so I thought I’d put in in my blog this week. Damn, I miss Alan Rickman.

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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!

 
 
 
 
 
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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

 
 
 
 
 
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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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