I’m sure most of my readers are tucked in with family doing holiday awesomeness. But I rarely take a break, so here are my Friday links as per usual!
Seasonal
“Acceptance, Not Expectations” by Wendy Priesnitz
I’ll bet this post of hers will save many from a lot of suffering and holiday-hangovers. I hope you read it!
Personal
“My Middle Name” from Jim at The Busy Dad Blog
“Making Major Life Changes: Five Trans Suggestions for Non-Trans People” by Matt Kailey, featured at womanist-musings
Childhood
“As grim as Grimm: Robert Paul Weston on why children’s books that terrify are the ones kids love the most” at NationalPost
The article doesn’t actually go into this… and there’s this goofy subtext being a child author is inherently “less than” writing for grownups. Still, who else remembers the twisted stories we liked so much as kids? Good times.
“Temper Tantrums” by Rue Kream
I’ve come to believe most of conventional espoused thought on “temper tantrums” is incorrect, illogical, fear-based, and inhumane. Rue Kream’s article is a great 101 to begin to see things another way.
Culture
“A lil bit of twerking and lifting” from Twisty Faster
Ah, Bridalplasty. What fresh hell is this?
Music
This video’s a few years old but I’d never seen it; Tuesday one of my tweeps commented on the increased creepiness of the aging members of Duran Duran leering over hired baby-girl models (one is forced, upon viewing, to fast-forward thirty years and view the mental videotape, made even funnier as this 2007 song appears to be a regurgitation of 1993’s “Ordinary World”).
Let me get this out of the way and say I like a lot of Duran Duran songs (vintage ’80s, of course). This video is like a parody of itself. Besides the fact that these fellows seem to be stalwartly opposed to aging with dignity or bringing something even slightly original to the music video seen (ORLY, the wildcat crazy-sexy lady with boudouir hair?), the whole bullshitty hospital ethos and the crooning and be-eyelinered bandmates overcome with ennui by all the damaged hotness. Plus there are so many supermodels. Like buckets. “Pour more hottie ladies on, quick!” I can’t even give a C for “nice try”, but I will be listening to “Decade” today while I’m craftin’.
Make/Craft/Cook
“How to: wrap gifts with yarn” at Craft
Great Bento Ideas: Christmas Bentos at justbento.com
Adorable!
How To: Pretty Gift Presentations at CRAFT
(Anyone doing any last-minute wrapping?)
Bowling-style shirt for kiddos, an e-book from The Scientific Seamstress. Unisex, sizes 6 months to 8 years. This looks FTW!
Local/Global
I just discovered local doll-maker Barb has done 11 area Toy Drops and counting. What is a Toy Drop? Only something wonderful. Seriously.
Random Excellence
“Our Favorites from 2010” from Awful Library Books
Do not say I didn’t warn you; your eyes may very well bleed upon looking upon these monstrosities.
Good for post-holiday dieting:
(thanks Jeanne!)
And finally:
You know what, alcohol-based hairsprays really are like a soft-focus Chinese dragon breathing behind a lady who’s had a few too many martinis with her quaalude. In all serious though, AquaNet wasn’t really the preferred aerosol solely on the chola-bang heights we could achieve, but also used on the bottom of our shoes to (supposedly) give us more traction on the basketball court.
***
Bridalplasty! OMG. What is this thing with marriage where we have to follow this formula — lose all the weight we possibly can, barbie ourselves out with various “beauty” treatments (vajazzling, anyone?), etc. I remember people asking me 1. how much I spent on my dress (I got officially married in a grey skirt, black blouse, and blue cardigan that I often wore to work; the ceremony was in an ivory colored sundress, bought on sale for a 2-digit price), 2. why I had no diamond engagement ring (didn’t feel I needed or could afford one), 3. how much weight I had lost for the wedding (what??), 4. didn’t I just want to get some highlights/fake tan/a makeup artist to do my makeup? (no desire for upkeep/skin cancer/weird fake makeup) 5. whether I would spend the night with my husband beforehand (we had lived together 5 years prior, who were we fooling spending the night separately?). Now, I know that some of these things are quite fun (I did, for example, get my nails done for both weddings), but I just hated the assumption (insinuation) that I wasn’t good/pretty/thin enough as-is.
I think the worst thing about it is that my first Southern California born-and-bred instinct was “save it for after you’ve had the kids/aged a few years and *really* need it”. Mm-hm. And I wonder — if I had the money, would I?
Looks like I am still working through some of this stuff myself.
Oh and PS on the Aqua Net. I did dance as a kid, like big team competitions in high school gyms. The cloud of aqua net is generally what let us know we were in the right town, and led us from the highway to the locker room in no time flat.
Aqua net can perform the following functions:
Hair shellac/chola bangs/creating curls where once there were none
gluing sequins and hair bedazzles to hair
gluing sequins to clothing
providing traction on bball courts (where the competitions were held)
starch
nail polish remover
I will end this with a sincere, “WE! ARE! PROUDOFYOU, SAY WE ARE PROUD OF YOU, HEY HEY HEY!!”
what a lovely link to Wendy Priesnitz! One of the things that helps me trough my bad times is “nothing is permanent”, but this will help too (just reading the last few blog entries)
@Christina
I didn’t do much “bridal maintenance” given I was pregnant and thinking more about my new life with husband and babe, then the perfect wedding. If I had to do it all over again I would do so much different though – so much! Oh well, I can always set my vicarious hopes on my daughter and son having a rad fem non-marriage.
Also: you must, MUST post pictures of you at dance competition.
@Josh
“Nothing is permanent” helps me too!