What I Plan to Do This Winter

Friggin' CUTE!!

 

While gloves and socks are made to be forever together, often they choose to divorce and spend their lives in a solitude.

 

Of course, we have to respect their decision, but it’s hard to look at them being all lonely, laying somewhere in the backs of a drawers.

 

Luckily, crafter and author Miyako Kanamori has a wonderful solution! With some plastic surgery you can turn your old and lonely glove into an ever happy chipmunk!

 

In her book, Happy Gloves: Charming Softy Friends Made from Colorful Gloves, Kanamori also gives complete instructions on how to make a frog, duck, flower, car, donkey, tiger, and more!

 

 

 

Audrey Munson: The First Naked Lady of Hollywood

 

Although including nude women in film as often as possible seems to be a current industry standard in Hollywood, it wasn’t always so. The very first instance of female nudity in a non-pornographic film occurred in a 1915 film titled Inspiration — Audrey Munson played a sculptor’s model in a film that would end up buried with the passage of time, along with her bittersweet legacy.

Munson began her career as a model for sculptors — she moved to New York City in 1906 when she was 15 and was “discovered” on the street by a photographer who, enamored by her beauty, employed her. Her career took off, especially after being introduced to famed sculptor Isidor Konti. Her form would eventually come to grace fifteen statues in Manhattan, including the USS Maine Monument at Columbus Circle and the golden statue Civic Fame atop the Manhattan Municipal Building.

In 1915 she moved to California in the wake of her modeling success, landing a job as a sculpture model in a film. Inspiration thwarted censorship attempts by mixing high art with her naked form — the film did not aspire to be like pornographic material (that was just starting to take advantage of the new medium of film), it merely endeavored to render the naked female form as art. She appeared in four silent films altogether, all thought lost (one was recently discovered in a French archive but has not been shown).

Following her success as a actress, Munson moved back to New York in 1919. During the 1920s she began her career as a writer, penning stories for William Randolph Hearst‘s New York Journal American about modeling and the unattainable beauty standards of modernity: “All girls cannot be perfect 36s, with bodies of mystic warmth and plastic marble effect, colored with rose and a dash of flame.”

Munson and her mother lived in with a wealthy doctor, whose wife began to suspect an affair between the doctor and Munson’s mother. She evicted Munson and her mother, but was soon found murdered. Her husband was convicted, jailed, and ended up hanging himself in his cell.

The negative press from his trial and suicide evaporated her career, forcing Munson and her mother to leave the city and move upstate. In 1922 she attempted suicide. Soon after, she was committed to an insane asylum, blamed for a rash of local barns burning down. She was 39, and likely suffering from depression and schizophrenia, extremely stigmatized conditions, especially for women. She spent the rest of her life locked away, dying in 1996 at age 105. She was buried in an anonymous grave in her father’s cemetery plot.

In another article for the New York Journal American, Munson considered what was to become of her as she aged:

“What becomes of the artists’ models? I am wondering if many of my readers have not stood before a masterpiece of lovely sculpture or a remarkable painting of a young girl, her very abandonment of draperies accentuating rather than diminishing her modesty and purity, and asked themselves the question, ‘Where is she now, this model who was so beautiful?’”

She rests in the annals of history and the materiality of stone, her briefly bright legacy obscured by time and unfortunate circumstance.

[via Badass]

How to Survive the Running of the Bulls

When you want advice on being famous for no reason, you ask a Kardashian. When you want advice on surviving the running of the bulls, you ask a Hemingway. Here is John (Ernest’s grandson, author of the family memoir Strange Tribe, two-time runner of the bulls) for a few pointers in advance of next month’s run.

The whole week’s a nonstop party. “You meet friends, you make friends, if they don’t show up, you meet someone else,” he says. “People always ask, ‘How many hours of sleep did you get last night?’ ‘Oh, three. That’s not bad.’”

Well, except the running itself. “If you partied all night, you better be able to wake up and be in some sort of condition to run.”

There are a few simple rules: “You have to be 18. Don’t touch the bull. You can’t be drunk. And if you get knocked down, stay down.”

Leave the running shoes at home. “I just wear Converse.”

It’s over before you know it. “It’s two and a half, three minutes at the max.”

“Whether you’re a good runner or a bad runner, you could have bad luck. But that’s like crossing the street in NYC—you [could] get hit by a car.”

The people are more dangerous than the bulls. “You’ll get knocked down. You’re gonna get scraped, you may break a bone. It gets kind of crazy, with everyone pushing and everything.”

Beware of a bull separated from the herd. “If a bull becomes separated from the herd, it immediately stakes out a territory—anything within striking distance of its horns, he goes for. If he’s got you there, he will keep coming until he kills you.”

His grandfather ran. Or maybe he didn’t. “I see no proof that he did run, but there’s no proof that he didn’t. People have said forever that he used to run—that he ran like mad.”

You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

I don’t know if this photo of Jennifer Lawrence learning about her 2011 Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone is real or where it came from. All I know is that it showed up on Tumblr sometime last month and I can’t stop thinking about how magical and wonderful it is, for five simple reasons.

1. The matching parental bathrobes! In kneelength, no less. So risky and carefree. And also, Mom Lawrence has thrown her hands in the air and is waving them like her daughter just got an Oscar nom, and for this I love her so.

2. That hot, hugging brother of her’s. I’ve got something he can bear hug – this bowl of popcorn I just made for us to curl up with on the couch as we watch Mythbuster reruns together and spoon.

3. Silk pajama pants, a t-shirt, a sweater from Old Navey that Grandma gifted you last year, and some cheap black slippers?! Jennifer, you are wearing my wishful thinking signature look and I like it!

4. Hello, Jennifer Lawrence’s boyfriend Nick Hoult. You are in your gym clothes at 5 in the morning which means you are a maniac and you also kind of look like you’re wearing roller skates which means you are the perfect man.

5. Oh look, a movie star decorates her apartment with things purchased at Home Sense. It’s official – Jennifer Lawrence is the most likable celebrity around.

Beauty

When you think of the world’s most beautiful woman, who comes to mind? Is it Beyonce, recently named “Most Beautiful” by People Magazine, or is it your best friend, wife or girlfriend? Or maybe you think of someone else famous like Megan Fox or Charlize Theron. Whoever comes to mind, just know you’re wrong. According to some scientists in Great Britain, subjectivity has got nothing to do with and this lovely lady pictured to the left, Florence Colgate, is the most beautiful woman based on facts and figures. Reported in a recent article on Gawker, Colgate was recently named Britain’s Most Beautiful Woman because her face is an example of near perfect symmetry. Yes, that’s right, in this photo where she is (supposedly) wearing no makeup, you can see that the 18-year-old, blonde, Caucasian woman is indeed attractive, but why is a whole different story. If beauty is all about symmetry and ratios and other things that sound absurd when you really think about them, why do those with the crooked smiles and gap teeth even bother? To this I wave my hands and say “phooey”, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

What are your thoughts?

Are you staring at a perfect face?

PS: I feel bad for this woman who will now be subjected to being picked apart by everyone who cares about the "mathematics" behind beauty.

A Post Borrowed from Jo on Falling In Love with Steinbeck as your Father

I have completly cut and pasted this post from Cup of Jo becasue it is perfect in every way, in my eyes.

I just simply wanted to share it:



CUP of JO: On Falling in Love

Back in 1958, John Steinbeck, author of East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men, got a letter from his teenage son Thom, in which Thom confessed that he had fallen desperately in love with a girl named Susan at his boarding school.

Steinbeck wrote this wise and wonderful letter back to him the same day...

New York
November 10, 1958
Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First -- if you are in love -- that's a good thing -- that's about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don't let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second -- There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you -- of kindness and consideration and respect -- not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn't know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply -- of course it isn't puppy love.

But I don't think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it -- and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone -- there is no possible harm in saying so -- only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another -- but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I'm glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

(Via Letters of Note. the letter originally appeared in this book.)

picture credits

Risk Taking

Think back a year ago, remember where you were? What you were doing? Who you were doing (for us un-married folk)? and why?

Now think a little harder, did you expect a year ago today for you to be where you are now?

Hopefully the answer is either an energetic no and reflection of how life had changed and served you well.

Or a grateful yes filled with self appreciation for achieving those goals you only dreamt about last year.

I love people who take risks, big risks. They always seem to come out the other end alright. I'm always so impressed. I am inspired because though I stand at the edge and look at the risks to be taken, I have a hard time jumping on my own. I have to stand there for a while and coax myself to jump. When I do, I am usually glad, but it takes some time and some though.

I am inspired again by this woman and her post about her last year and how she never thought she would be where she is now.

I hope it bring you a little self insight and inspiration as it has for me.

Inspiration: a best feeling.

xxoo

Looking for Words

Yesterday my BFF got married and I am lost for words. I haven't been able to really share my thoughts with her, how I happy I am to see her this fulfilled. I just have a warmth in my heart and happy tears in my eyes. It's simple. But that's just how we are, nothing has ever been that complicated between us so why should this?

Over the last year, as I have re posted before, I have written a few posts about this love and her journey to getting to this point.

LB has been in my life since 1997, as the sister of my high school sweetheart we became close by default. Then when things started to change and I entered adulthood, Laura stayed by my side. Through all of it. Evey broken heart, panic attack, concert and upset tummy. She was my emotional support when I didn't trust anyone else in my life. She supported me through everything and called me out when I needed to be.

And now she has the love of her person by her side. A new family, a new role and her own new life.

Watching her through the events of the day I could finally see how complete this had made her.

I've always said that she is more than a friend to me, she is a sister by choice.

I have so much heart where LB and C are concerned though I've always been some what vauge and criptic about it. Out of respcet for thier privacy. There stories aren't really mine to tell, but I can share how they've change and inspired my life.

Here is a part of that journey:

Truths

My Best Friends Happiness

Inspiring Love

and I'm sure there will be more as I am countinually touched in my life by her and her own "forever family"

The World As Seen By Einstein

I am searching for a place to start. In doing so, I came across an essay I read many many years ago penned by Einstein.

The World As I See It by Albert Einstein

It really has nothing to do with what I was searching for but that's OK.. I still wanted to share it with you.

Happy Day!

At Last

That's where it begins and ends for me and these songs were the ones that touched me the deepest. It was like I was laying hold of some part of me that I didn't even know was there until I let it out.

- Etta James

January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012

**

At Last--

it's time for you to rest that beautiful, soulful voice.

Thank you for singing the blues when I wasn't able to find the words.


**

Revisiting Truths

It was 6:00AM when I got the call that prompted me to write this post a few days later. Since then, life has changed faster then the tides. Nothing looks how it once did, nothing feels like it once did and I am grateful for the freedom from my ruts.

Yes, some of the growth has been awkward as the boundaries have been challenged. Getting to know newness that is disguised as familiar is never an easy task. But i am still grateful. As we result, I have indeed been on my own path of self discovery. I have stopped and questioned my intentions. I have re-evaluated my relationships. I have asked myself what is important and what isn't.

and I have answered many of these questions.

I plan to do more great things with this next year of my life. I have a list I haven't posted yet about what my intentions are. It feels small to me but a friend of mine said it was many things. We will see.

Cheers to great things!

Alone

"It's that state of mind when you notice someone hasn't been around but someone else will look after it. People get so involved in their own lives that they loose sight of others. It's natural and very sad. We just expect that someone else is taking care of that person or that someone else knows what's going on... not always the case. This story reminds me not to just think but to act. Check in on people when I think about them, try to connect. If I notice someone hasn't been around, I'll try and message them. Can't change loneliness but sometimes you can help someone feel less alone."

I wrote this in response to a sad article I read on Facebook, about a woman named Vincent.

Read My Glitz

Check this weirdness out:

 That's right, lip foil... for your lips. To wear outside of the house, not on Halloween. This is a company called Glitzystick. I have a hard enough time putting on liquid foundation so something like this looks silly to me. And uncomfortable AND has me reaching for my chappy out of compulsion.

Granted, the red one doesn't look AS bad and wearing them out at the club might be fun but really.. I'm too old for this and really not that interested. Like I said, I have enough trouble putting on liquid foundation. I do. I tried this morning and ended up washing my whole face again and putting my powdery stuff on instead. Nice and safe.

What do you think? Could you see yourself using this product? I promise, I won't judge.

Good Customer Service

Good deeds are supposed to be rewarded, but all too often they simply go unnoticed. When Reddit user zambuka42 had a good experience dealing with Amazon customer service, he decided to let his friends at the social news site know about it.

Now, half a million people have read what happened and the number continues to rise.

It all started with an order for some merchandise that was sent to his parents’ house. Amazon performed their part properly and the order was received. Getting the order to zambuka42 was a little more challenging as he is currently volunteering in Tanzania. When the USPS lost the items, zambuka42 reached out to Amazon to find out if there was an easy way to place the order again without doing it manually.

After hearing the story and taking a minute to check it out, the customer service agent on chat asked a question.

“In that case, can I proceed in creating a full refund for your order, Brian?” asked the service agent named Karthikeyan.

Brian was stunned. He reiterated that it was the USPS’ fault, not Amazon’s.

The service agent replied, “I understand. However we’ll take full responsibility for this issue, Brian.”

The entire conversation was captured in a screenshot and posted on Reddit. With over 1000 Reddit points and 1000 comments, the screenshot has half a million views.

The cost to Amazon of refunding the order even when it wasn’t their fault: $25.13. The value of good customer service “exposed” through social media: “Priceless” is so overused but it really does exemplify the value in this circumstance.

A representative at Amazon is looking into the story and trying to find the customer service representative. She was unable to leave a direct quote before the press office was notified, but said that if the story checks out, she’ll be using it as an example in training.

Here is a screenshot of the chat (click to enlarge):




 

Slow Down and Look Around

Today is Tuesday but it feels like Monday. I'm tired. Restless. A usual feeling that I get every 6 months or so. The "now what should I work on" feeling. My only goal for today is to make it through the day and drink lots of water. Also, I need to get my car insurance figured out. I called my supplier and I need to go home and check somethings over before I can get a discounted rate. So right now I have expensive rate. Very expensive rate. Oh well, it is what it is. I have a car right now and that's good. It's also insure and that's even better. I just want to drive it all the time because I feel so independent. My car. My life. Where can I go, what can I do? Who can I see.

I need something to work on. I'm winning at everything right now except for work. I've been working hard but my heart isn't in it. I've been applying for jobs but somethings just aren't what I'm looking for. I guess, I need to outline what it is that I am looking for and go with that. There was an intriguing job at a publishing company that sounds right up my alley but the thing is, I don't really like the hours. Yes, I know.. picky picky. But... it's my job and my life and it's not that interesting that I'd give up my weekends. We'll see. I might still apply for it. There is a lot of remote work that I can do, I just don't know how much "being stuck to the computer" there would be. Mind you, when I look on the website it says this:

Hours

Wednesday from noon - 4pm

Open First Thursdays from 4-9pm

other days by appointment

It's working with a well to do magazine publishing company. We will see, I will try... can't hurt, right? It's still downtown too.

I also would like a trip to plan, but I don't want to start doing that until January. It feel like there is a lot up in the air. I'm kind of waiting on this thing and that. Lots of things just slowly getting established and I don't want to disturb the balance.

I went for a run yesterday, my ankles and knees have been feeling better for a while. Today, I am sore. It feels good but bad. I feel like I worked out muscles I haven't worked out in months. In a way, I'm a little embarrassed with myself. It felt good to run and I don't know how many more running days there will be. I should be a little more disciplined and do yoga at home rather than spending the money on going to a studio. Just the studio keeps me active and motivated. When I go yoga at home I only do a half ass job and then I eat chocolate chips in between poses. Not the proper yogi way.

I hate to complain about this but I'm really dreading winter. I'm not sure why... I guess it just seems too long and dead. My life is going well, aside from work, and I'm happy. Summer was dreamy and so enjoyable. Everyone tends to hibernate in winter and I don't like that. I'm curious what I'm going to do this winter. Will I be as active as I have been in previous year? I like being around active people but it kind of feels like I'm running out of ideas. Yesterday I went to Tubby Dog and tried to play Ping ball and the game was gone. All they had was Ms. Pacman and Frogger. My skills were judged for sure. The hot dogs aren't the same there either, I'm pretty sure they'd kill me for saying this but... Ikea hot dogs are better. And cheaper.

I guess my game plan for this week is:

-clean out my closet and get rid of the stuff I don't wear

-do a little yoga

-figure out activities for the winter

-work on my resume

-Spend time with my lovelies

-figure out a game plan for the car

I've also been waking up at 3AM for a few hours and then falling back asleep. Not sure what's going on there but I'd like that to stop. I think I might also look for a black-out curtain or something. The building next to me changed their security light so it shines a bright, bright light into my bedroom. My curtains are light so it does a really good job of magnifying the light. I think I might have to use my creative brain for this one. Or just hang a blanket over it. I don't know...

I've also been mastering a huge crush this month. That's difficult. My last relationship was such a rush-into-things kind of thing that it's weird to be moving at a natural pace. We have just started peeling back the layers of our past over the last week. Little by little I am telling him who I am. He doesn't even blink. I think the thing that took him by surprise the most was telling him about my first relationship and how we were just the best of friends who held hands. 6 years of hand holding. Everything else doesn't phase him. I'm really enjoying how things are unfolding between us. Though I sometimes think I talk to much and ask too many questions.

So that's about it. Things are going well, this week. Aside from my man crush, all my favorite boys are out of town in various areas. *sigh. I am happy to have a few of my GF's to talk to. Even a few of them are away though, but they'll be coming back soon. This is my time to regroup and get things in order for the next wave of fun.

On Thursday I am jamming with the old "new band". I've learnt all my songs and am ready. I call it Peanut Butter Jam Time. It's been so long since I've made music with other people, I am stoked! I also can't wait to get my new guitar. I am sick of playing on guitar #2, the hand me down that I restrung over the summer. It sounds better than my first guitar but it's still not great. Next big purchase. I also need to get my Dad's birthday set up and also Christmas List happening.

The year is finishing off soon. Who knows what tomorrow brings!

iVigil

I find it so curious, the impact of Steve Job's death. A man, a visionary, dreamer and creator. Just another great mind in a sea of greatness. I find that I am sad, getting misty eyed as I look at the tributes, read the quotes and hear the opening essays on the CBC. The Internet is filled with pictures of iVigils. Simple statements of appreciation and respect.

Beside me, I have my own little piece of Mr. Jobs. My iPhone, full of finger prints and scratches. A much used extension of my life. How can I possibly live without it now?

The global reaction is interesting. It's as though we knew him, as though he was a distant brother or absent uncle in our lives. But he isn't (to most of us), so why do we feel this way? Why are we so touched by his passing?

Is it because he was so young, 56 is young to be passing away. In my mind, at 56, you still have lots of ideas churning out of your mind. 56 is technically too young to go.

Is it because we are resonating with others. The sadness and appreciation is contagious and we get caught up in the mob of regrets?

Is it because we are sentimental beings in the core and we want to express how our handheld devices shaped our lives, made us feel closer to people. Entertained us on transit, in line-ups and when taking a break at work?

What is it about Steve Jobs, I want to know.

I heard the speech he gave at Stanford a little while back when he announced that he had over come Pancreatic cancer. It was touching, vulnerable, and simple. Authentic, without smoke and mirrors. He spoke of the Nirvana of not caring, of having a vision and moving forward. He spoke, simply, of having guts. He spoke of death as being the greatest motivator; the best antidote to fear. That's something that I can appreciate and admire.

I'm not sure what I'm feeling or why. I'm not sure why the world is reacting the way it is. It's touching though, I can't deny that. It reminds me that ever though his life ended and mine will one day, too... life its self doesn't end. It keeps going, keeps changing and no one can stop that. Nothing is ever as big as we make it out to be, be nothing will ever really stop the flow of life and time.

Anyway, those are my muddled thoughts, I'm curious as to what you think. What was your reaction to the news of Steve Jobs life. What is your reaction to the out pour of admiration and tribute?

On Edit:
I realise, that he has made such a huge impact in the world of computers. I think, someone like me who has almost no idea, is vaguely aware of what he's done. I see that being a big part of it. The face of change. The face that was once thought of as the face of the future. Will or would the reaction be the same if Bill Gates were to pass away? I'm going to vote, probably not. They are different, I know.

I came on here to put a few extra thoughts, hoping to clarify my process here, but it doesn't seem to be happening.

Be Creative Every Day

Today CW sent me a nice little link in my email.

 Play THIS Stickman Game and have fun!

Happy Friday my Lovelies!

Military Dentistry

Apparently, when you are a military man this is what they do to you when you go to the dentist to have your wisdom teeth pulled.

I should have known there was something funny going on. Why else would they have a driver pick him up, take him 3 hours outside of the city to Edmonton JUST to go to the dentist. 

Very interesting indeed.  

(FYI: His nails usually aren't painted pink)

Lonely

If you’re feeling beat down and exhausted after a long week at the office, just remember it could always be worse: You could be a rare, near-blind, albino seal pup abandoned by your friends and family and left to fend for yourself!

Such was the unfortunate situation for the adorable little furball below, discovered on a beach on Tyuleniy Island, Russia while hiding under a pile of logs and waiting in vain for his mother to come feed him. Luckily, photographer Anatoly Strakhov stumbled upon the pup and the orphaned seal has since been taken into the care of a dolphinarium.

Super-Secret Recipe Revealed

Leave it to those rabble-rousers at NPR to break the story of the century. Yes, everybody’s fav hipster, Ira Glass of “This American Life” has published the original recipe for Coca-Cola after blowing up a photo of the inventor of Coke’s recipe book from 1886. Originally created by a morphine-addled Civil War soldier as an addiction cure, competitors such as Pepsi long ago figured out most of the ingredients. However, Coke’s mysterious “7X ingredient,” responsible for that distinctive bubbly burn, has never before been revealed.

See the full recipe and photo after the jump.

The recipe:
Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color

The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Coriander: 5 drops
Neroli: 10 drops
Cinnamon: 10 drops

Of course, even with the recipe, “it’s impossible to fully replicate Coke’s recipe because there’s one ingredient only Coca-Cola can get: fluid extract of coca (which is coca leaves stripped of cocaine). Only one factory can process those leaves and only Coca-Cola has a special deal with the DEA that allows them to use it. So even if the secret is out, we’re still missing the Coke in our Cola,” Gizmodo reports.