Feb 4th, 2011
Life update: Bits and bobs
I’ve been stockpiling a bunch of links I think are interesting but am having trouble finding the time to give each link the proper writeup it deserves. So I’m just going to dump them into one post and let you wade through them as you like. Enjoy!
Get your SQUEE on: the Battlestar Galactica series bible (PDF).If you liked the recent BSG series even one little bit, you will like this document.
Mark Bittman recently announced that his column “The Minimalist” was leading the New York Times cooking section after thirteen years. He promises bring his recipes and commentaries to other pages of the NYT (including his blog), so he’s not leaving us for good. If you’re one of his fans, take a look at this page, which functions as a quasi-index/TOC of all of his columns.
I have several friends who run marathons regularly. I admire them for their discipline and dedication. At the same time I think they are slightly nuts. I like the idea of a marathon but feel a bit muddle-headed when I start envisioning all the training that goes into preparing for one. Which is why I found this post intriguing: How to Hack a Marathon If You Aren’t a Runner. So what do you think, those of you who run a lot—would it work for you?
“Are Disney Princesses Evil?” The short version of my response to this is “yes.” But it’s not just Disney—it’s the onslaught of branding that children are exposed to from infancy. This branding seeks to limit their choices and to turn them into consumers, and I think both of those aims are Not Good Things.
The content and language here are a bit crude. But wow, this post just cracked me up: “Neil Gaiman made up this myth.”
Any of you who have ever owned cats or spent a lot of time with them can surely relate to this:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XID_W4neJo&feature=player_embeddedSurprised%20kitty:%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8[/youtube]Here’s an anti-unicorn-chaser to follow all that feline cuteness: the Zombie Tabernacle Choir.
7 Responses to “Life update: Bits and bobs”
Gah. The whole Disney princess thing…
The blessing of having nothing but boys is that they already know Disney princesses are evil!
@Becca: That may be the case, but boys certainly don’t escape the onslaught of consumerist/cultural messages and expectations either. There are the tropes of “boys like trucks/sports/trains/monsters” and “boys can’t show affection” and (of course!) “boys should never play with dolls.” *SIGH* Why can’t kids just be allowed to be kids, right?
Wow, I am now re-encouraged about the 10K I’m going to run at the end of March.
My brother was just mentioning something about princess-complex… right after we got an invitation to our friend’s daughter’s princess themed first birthday! Thanks for the article; it was very interesting.
[…] Kristi has craft, food, and photo linkity. mrspao has craft, food, and humour linkity. Marsha has fun and eclectic linkity. […]
That cat makes me DIE whenever I see a new video of it. I swear it’s a person dressed in a very convincing cat disguise. When it got into (or tried to) that slim magazine box and then capsized, I just about had organ failure.
As for the Disney Princesses, well, I tend to agree that they can be problematic for girls. For me, the issue isn’t the movies, or the stories (some of which are centuries old) with the “princesses” themselves. It’s all the crap out there AFTER that. I just don’t like seeing Disney-Princess-themed flatware, diapers, stationery, bandages, electronics, etc. (Even my niece has fallen victim to this. She will only wear Disney princess nightgowns. UGH)
I still contend that Bratz are worse, though….
I DO take issue that Mother Theresa is only level 1 on the insidious list, as I find her to be at least as awful a role model for girls as Dick Cheney.
@Jean: Are you following a particular training regimen to prepare for that race?
.
@Gina: I agree with you about Mother Theresa. I actually think she was a pretty awful person. But that’s a whole ‘nuther story…