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Things of Sunday

1) Red or Dead Bashi Bow Dress

2) Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin

 

3) "Bad Romance"

 
  

4) Robbie Williams's Video for "You Know Me"

5) Wind Machines

 

BUST Not Feminist Enough, Apparently Has Too Much Yarn

 Does everyone know what time it is?!

It's FEMINIST INFIGHTING TIME!!!

Hooray! It's been a while! High five, everyone!

This week in the Sunday New York Times, Jessica did a little Q&A thing, and when asked what other publications she's comparing Feministing.com with, she replied:

"There’s Ms. magazine and there’s Bitch. Bust used to be a feminist magazine, but now it’s more crafty and about making things out of yarn. I’m not a D.I.Y. feminist. I once tried knitting a scarf but threw it away after 15 minutes."

Yes. She went there. 

In response, Debbie Stoller wrote a response over at BUST's blog. There may have been fightin' words. And virtual finger snapping. And a digital hair toss.

I loved Debbie's response:

"For fuck's sake, Jessica, so you don't enjoy knitting, and that makes BUST not a feminist magazine? We embrace all of those feminine crafts and skills that have long been trashed by the patriarchy, and you're jumping right onto that bandwagon as well? Don't you realize that the female-led DIY revolution (you know that the vast majority of sellers on Etsy.com are women, right? Something like 99%, I believe), is an important and positive movement?"

Stoller also begins her post pointing out how supportive  BUST have been of other feminist websites and magazines. BUST don't put down Bitch or Ms, and she swiftly points out, "Alas, our other sisters in crime are not nearly as generous."

Top 5 Things I Like About a British Christmas

A month from now exactly, I'll be on a plane back to California. 

I'll have some time off, see some of my SF friends and contacts, I'll see my dogs - oh, and my family - and lay on the couch and watch crappy American TV shows and shovel Chex Mix Party Mix into my mouth like it ain't no thing. 

I'm pretty excited. 

I'm also excited because Christmas is about the only time the world slows down a bit, and we can all take a little bit of time off. Even if it's just a couple days. 

However, as excited as I am to go back home, there will be things I miss about having a British Christmas. 

Now, before you start the "oh, but you can get that in the States" or "can't you just bring some with you?" YES I KNOW. I know that I can just pack some of this shit with me, but let me have my moment, OK?

*clears throat*

So! Here are my top five favorite things for a British Christmas!

1) Cheese with Cranberries In It

I don't care if it's Stilton or Wensleydale, if it's a white cheese with cranberries it in, I'm in. I love these cheeses more than I can say. I will also eat them year round, but they taste better at Christmas. Fact.

2) Doctor Who Christmas Special

This Christmas Special is uber specical because it's David Tennant's last Doctor Who episode. And I am going to miss it. I don't want to talk about it.

3) Mulled Anything

Cider? Wine? Champagne? Gasoline? Whatever, if it's mulled, I'll drink it. Mulled wine reminds me of the year we went to the 12 Nights of Christmas market at Covent Garden... that was such a cool night.

4) Crackers

Growing up, I was a big of an Anglophile. (You're shocked, I'm sure.) And in all the Christmas movies or specials, like Bridget Jonse's Diary and The Osbournes, you British folk were always wearing colorful paper hats. Anytime I met a British person I always asked about the paper crowns, and no one knew WTF I was talking about. Personally, I think they just didn't feel like telling me because I was an overly-enthusiastic American dweeb, but whatever. Now I know they come in Crackers, so it's Crackers I do love.

5) THINGS

I know Christmas Things happen in probably every major city around the world, but I've never spent much time in a big city before moving to London, and it blows my mind how many THINGS there are. Whether it's night markets or Winter Wonderland or ice skating at Hampton Court Palace, there are just so many things you can do. Events to go to. It's just nice. 

There are many things and more about an American Christmas that I like, traditions me and my family have, but I'm just learning to like Christmas again. Having divorced parents can sort of fuck up the holidays, and now that I'm an adult and can choose what I want to do, and how I want to spend my time, I like it much better. 

I also have a very nice man in my life who will fly me across the planet to see my family if I so wish. 

I'd say I'm pretty lucky. 

"These Roof Gardens Displease Me..."

 

At the launch of the Lucky Voice Pop-Up Parties at the Kensington Roof Gardens. 

Obviously I can find something wrong with anything. 

Anglomaniac

I don't like Tiffany. I don't really *get* Louis Vouitton. I don't understand people's obsession with expensive eye liners or people who freak out over expensive perfumes. 

Most people's expensive taste makes me vomit. I don't like pricey things for the sake of them being pricey. I refuse to spend a shit load of money on something simple like a pair of jeans I will probably only wear to Starbucks, Sainsburys or to some other suburban shop. 

However, while sobbing at everything in sight at Liberty this past week, I finally realized the inevitable. 

I have expensive taste. 

My taste may not be the obvious expensive taste, but I've come to realize that everything that I coo and sob over lately is made by one woman. 

Dame Vivienne Westwood. 

I usually don't have a wank over a designer, but I realized that anytime I see something online or in a shop window or even in random shops and I stop, run my eyes and fingers over the fabric and whisper a hushed, "holy crap I need this." to myself, it's by Vivienne Westwood. Or more specifically, it's from her Anglomania collection. 

I'm Plain But Taste Incredible

I'm for sale in Leon, y'all!

Gemini, You're Easily Fooled

Most of the time I want to kick my horoscope in the face. 

Sometimes I feel like horoscopes give people an excuse to be in a shitty mood. "Oh, well Mercury is in retrograde, so this explains why I'm being a dick to everyone."

Sometimes it let's us pass off any hard work or good things that happen to us being due to how our stars are aligned and what house our sun is in, rather than because we deserved it. 

However, sometimes they're bang on. Here is my horoscope for today, November 3rd:

"Someone may be working against you behind your back -- or at least that could be your fear now. You might believe that you are being left out of the loop and that others know more about what's happening than you. Overreacting isn't a smart idea, for it can turn an unfounded worry into something that actually turns real. The smartest strategy is to simply do the very best work you can and let the chips fall as they may."

Sometimes our horoscope explains exactly the situation that we're in, or suspect we're in. My horoscope today made me laugh a little. Let the chips fall indeed.