Blogs that inject glamour into my day

Some of you may have heard about my quest to be more grown up. This is the worst kind of goal: unclear and totally unquantifiable. For me, it has something to do with dressing up for work, wearing make up, doing my hair in something other than a messy bun, and cooking more often. Because I don’t have any specific metrics for this goal, it’s unfair to beat myself up for not reaching them, though I must say I’ve been lacking in basically all categories. Except maybe for the dressing up for work part, since AS gave me her old purse and picked out some new shoes for me to wear, both of which have generally classed up my look.

The point of all this is to say that another way I feel more grown up is by diversifying the blogs that I follow.

First is style rookie, which can make me feel like a total slouch since it the author is a highly respected voice in the fashion industry right now, is totally down to earth and funky (as well as I can tell from reading her blog) and she’s in high school. Yeah, how can you be THIS pulled together and confident in high school?? Reading her blog, seeing her styles, you can’t help but be curious and interested in the world of high fashion – especially in how she talks about her outfits creating mood and a feeling. Basically, she’s awesome.

Second is my newest addition to my google reader: Cupcakes and Cashmere. I don’t particularly like either of those things, but guys: this blog is awesome. She is so glamorous, living in California, wearing funky clothes, putting on smoky eye makeup like a pro (she has a tutorial, you guys, and it made me, who basically sticks to light brown eyeshadow and mascara, want to try it. I have no idea what liquid eyeliner even is.) The cool thing about the blog is that she talks about decorating her house, the clothes she’s wearing, the food she’s making, and the places she’s visiting. Guys, that’s what I want to write about!

Anyway, reading these two today really injected some much needed style and class into my morning, and I hope they do the same for you.

Sex In Spaaaaaace!!

Check out this series of posts from MSNBC's Cosmic Log about sex in space: have you ever thought about having sex in space?

I, personally, have not though now that you mention it...

The point of this is not to speculate if astronauts have sex in space and which ones, but to think about space tourism and colonizing the moon or Mars: if humans are going to spend any significant length of time in space, they're going to think about sex at some point.

Or not:

I asked something like - are you guys thinking about that, really? Because all I could think about at the time was not vomiting or bonking my head on the roof when I flew through the air. Sex was the last thing on my mind.

I've never experience weightlessness so I have no idea, but I'd assume that, after a while, you'd get used to it, lose the nausea, and gain more control over your movements. Plus, I whole-heartedly agree with this sentiment:

While the engineers call for assistance devices and choreography as though it were a spacewalk, I have full confidence in the one human drive greater than the one to explore.

If there's a will, there's a way. I also liked her suggestion to install the back seat of a car on the space station, since are has many of the same challenges (minus the no gravity thing) and people still regularly enjoy sex there.

But the point of all this is to really talk about space research. It's popular to say "spend the money d0wn here on earth to fix our problems now!", but that's not seeing the big picture. Space is amazing - we hardly know anything about it. It's the final, FINAL frontier and it probably always will be. Just as its important to study the natural world around us (and studying the dep oceans is basically the same as studying space and I definitely think we should be down there too), it's important to feed our exploration of the stars.

If we want to be a society that values invention, creativity, engineering, exploration, etc., we should invest in space research because it reflects those values. Just because we want people to solve certain problems doesn't mean they will if we keep throwing money at them. You never know where a solution will come from; you don't know whether or not studying to create earth-levels of gravity on Mars or the moon will have any positive implications for life on earth. It might, or it might not. That's what humans do: we try things and experiment.

Should we start throwing money at NASA without holding it responsible? Of course not. We shouldn't do that for ANY organization. And NASA should also do a better job engaging the public, marketing its worth, showing people just how awesome space research really is and making it about every individual human's sense of wonder, not just high level, ivory tower research and projects or whatever.

Dude, space is awesome you guys.

Kickstarter

Do you have money laying around? Too much cash and nothing to do with it? DONT WE ALL. But never fear! There's a new way you can put that money to good use and feel good about yourself!

It's called Kickstarter. From the website: Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors. We believe that a good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide and a large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement.

The kicker, so to speak, is the organization's all-or-nothing funding scheme: people who launch a project commit to raising a certain amount of money in a specified length of time. At first I thought that was ridiculous, but the website explains it well. So basically, anyone can come up with a creative idea and use this site as a unique, secure way to raise money and spread the word.

There are so many projects up there all ready, including a number in the Boston area, that this place has almost become as dangerous to me as Etsy or Banana Republic (when they're having a sale - which, oddly, seems to be all the time??). I swear, I'd be dropping $50s left and right if I had any.

Another cool thing, though, is that you can follow projects you're interested in without pledging financial support. For example, check out the projects I'm following. Whenever I sign in, I get to see what these awesome, creative people have been up to, and its easy to remember my favorite projects in case I ever do have some extra cash.

Just another really cool website from your friendly neighborhood web surfer!

New Blog to Follow

Guys, I found an awesome blog (? I think, I haven't really figured out who writes it, why, etc) or you all to check out.

UPDATE: Ok I figured it out: a fellow called Barker who says "The only work I've done as an adult is creating the things I loved as a child". Sounds pretty awesome to me.

It's called Barking Up the Wrong Tree and, every day, it highlights a study that addresses interesting questions. The author adds his/her two cents, and recommends a book or movie or something about the topic. This is one of those sites that I constantly find myself clicking deeper and deeper into as I keep seeing fascinating topics to explore. Then, I click on the links for the recommendations and lose myself in other recommended titles on Amazon. I now have HUGE wish list on that site (in case anyone ever wants to buy me something!).

Like this doozy: a German study about how the continuous, if not systemic, limitation on the ability of the poor in America to vote is in part responsible for the country's unique competitive advantage, not, as many have suggested, a "product of a unique history or culture."

Very interesting, and I don't doubt to some extent its true. But I'm having a hard time letting go of my belief that the unique features of American culture have also contributed to its success since there really has never been any civilization like it before, but plenty of civilizations that didn't let their poor have any say in the government. Maybe that's because I'm American and biased rather than German and bitter (oh snap!). It's a stimulating thought, nonetheless, and further convinces me that Election Day should indeed be a national holiday. And it should be in the middle of the week - a Wednesday - so its not just another long weekend but a really special break in the middle of your life to take part in the great American Experiment!

Ahem. I digress. Anyway, the blog is super cool and you should check it out. And you should expect to see my "interesting" commentary on some of the topics it features in the future!

First ever roundup

I don't much like link roundups that so many bloggers do from time to time. Why would someone click on just a link just because I or anyone else said so? But a number of factors (lots of interesting things I found this morning plus not quite enough time or content for a full, thoughtful post) have convinced me to reach a compromise. Here are a few links that I think are 100% worth your time to check out, plus some commentary to explain why I think so.

First, a blog I just tweeted about and added to my Google RSS reader: Far Beyond the Stars. I don';t know how it happened, but I've been slowly collecting minimalist and simple-living blogs. I find them soothing and inspiring. I don't think my life is that complicated or cluttered, but I want it to be even less so. I'm slowly developing an idea of steps to take toward that goal, and I find this and a few others (Rowdy Kittens for one) very helpful.

I'm in the middle of a few different posts from Change Your Thoughts (like this one) and I definately buy into the concept that you can control your mood and outlook, and much more, just be changing your frame of mind and adopting positive catch-phrase things. Like for me, to get myself to the gym, I remind myself "Once you go you'll be happy you went" or "You want to be someone who goes to the gym often". Repeating one or the other in head is very helpful, so I'm excited to read more about this idea here.

I also found this post on EcoVelo, a blog about a couple making bicycles their primary mode of transportation as well as just general healthy, low impact living. Not only are the pictures gorgeous, this is another concept that I like and am striving to integrate into my own life, at least in some capacity. Today's post about Showing Up definitely resonated with me, so I expect to come back here often.

And in a totally different track, I found The Beauty Brains from one of today's Broadsheet posts
and I'm in love. My best advice for people buying cosmetics products is 1) don't buy it. You are beautiful the way you are and as long as you wash reguarly, you don't need anything else. But if you still want a product, my other two rules are: 2) understand what the ingredients are, and 3) don't buy brand name. Most products are highly glorified but otherwise very simple things.

All that being said, one of my favorite sections of the Broadsheet piece is the idea that if YOU like something and are comfortable spending money on it, then buy whatever you want:

But they also noted, as they do when discussing nearly any product, that some people rave about it, and if they're comfortable spending the money, "To each her own!"

Like, I love the way Aveeno products feel on my skin, so I sometimes opt for those (especially the sunblock) when I have the cash. I'm also in love with my mascara (I forget the name of it, but ask me later and I'll find it for you) so even though its expensive, I splurge because I use it a lot and am very satisfied with it.

I can't wait to see what the Beauty Brains recommend!

Be Thankful Everyday

At least I have a paycheck coming in at the end of this week! This was a sobering article from a new source for me, KoreAm, a blog for Korean-Americans. You may not know this, but immigration and the lives of immigrants is fascinating to me and, I think, should be fascinating to everyone. I think I'll be bookmarking that one.

Since the recession began almost two years ago, the economy has shed 7 million jobs. Whole industries—auto, housing, finance—have been decimated. And while students like Hong spend their afternoons studying and fretting about graduation, there are scores getting fired, working unpaid internships or agonizing about the U.S. jobless rate—which in September, hit a 26-year high of 9.8 percent.

Makes me want to crawl under my desk and write furiously to avoid having to confront THAT reality, which, thankfully, belongs to Other People right now.

Bit.ly is pretty cool

As I figure things out on the Interwebs, I like to share them, though it's typically 50-50 that the person I'm sharing it with has already seen/heard of what I'm talking about.

Everyone's heard of Bit.ly, I'm pretty sure.

But dude, check out the clicks info. The site takes some figuring out to see where all the information is (I wish it didn't take you to a new page every time but expanded or contracted the page you are on to display new numbers. But then, that might not be possible), but it's cool to see who's clicking on the links you shortened and posted about and how many clicks you contributed to the total click count for that item of information. Confused? like I said, it takes some getting used to. But it's still pretty cool. If only as a way to kill a few minutes while you wait for your coffee brea...OMGTIMETOGO.

KILLER WHALES

There is much I wish to share with you today, but as my deadline creeps dangerously close and I have Plans to Go Out with someone other than CW tonight, I won't be sharing them. But stay tuned, awesomeness will abound!

Instead, I simply had to link to this news story at Discovery News about Killer Whales dividing into two separate species. HOLY SHIT penguins and seals, watch your backs.

I wonder if this could hold true for humans: will vegetarians actually become a separate, somewhat freakish and intimidating hominid species??

Side note: I'm so apologetic to vegetarians. I find out someone I know has Switched and I'm all "Wow, I'm so sorry about how much I love meat. Oh no, I'm drooling all over you, I'm SO SORRY." They tell me they don't care what I eat; that this is their personal choice, but I guess I just don't believe them.

Anyway: killer whales guys, killer whales!

Really Cool Stuff

I just discovered this website today so I'm still figuring it out, but honestly, I'm blown away. The funny thing is that I found out about it via those annoying suggestion boxes on Facebook: someone I know is a fan of it and Facebook thought I would too. Carelessly, I clicked the little X, only to stumble across it a few hours later when another blog I was reading linked to it. I guess Facebook was right.

The site's About page does a better job explaining what it does, but this relates really well to what I was talking about yesterday in filtering the news you read. Instead of telling you What Is Important, this site tells you what lots of other people think is important, even if its news that's a few days old and even if the traditional Media isn't covering it.

I was looking at one topic - Apple's purchase of Quattro Wireless - and Thoora had a tab of the big news media, a tab for its indexed blogs, and a sidebar running alongside both with the most recent Twitter posts on the subject. It only gave you a snippet from each source, and the clean lines and soothing colors (I mean CNN, really: a giant, fire-engine red banner across the top, while simpler than you're previous look, is just the thing to get me all concerned) prevented it from becomming an overwhelming experience. So much information, and you get to choose who get it from and how indepth you want to get. Fabulous.

I haven't explored the various tabs and filters yet, but I'm pretty much sold - Thoora is officially part of my Google Reader feed.