Book Review: The Kat Vespucci series
Unlike most fictional stories about an American’s experience abroad, the heroine of the Kat Vespucci series by Ingrid Anders doesn’t seek to “find herself” in other countries or to “save” the natives. Rather, wide-eyed, curious Kat is thrown blindly into new experiences with little or no previous knowledge that could distort her observation of history and culture through the eyes …
Read MoreBook Review: “Beautiful Wreck: Sex, Lies, and Suicide” by Stephanie Schroeder
I have a crisis, scheme, idea or depression.. subway riders viewing my grotesque facial grimaces + head twisting staring me in the face in my 37th year. I prefer death, nothing less than the face of hate, the fate of hate, the stench of death. Live = Death …
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The Best Tasting (and Still Healthy!) Brussels Sprouts
As a kid (and young adult) who refused to eat Brussels sprouts, this recipe, which is still healthy and nutritious, is delicious, easy to make, AND relatively inexpensive.
Read MoreMarilyn Monroe’s “Vibrations”
I read Marilyn Monroe’s autobiography My Story after finishing Fragments, the latest collection of her letters, notes, and poems released for the rabid consumption of Monroe fans. As I finished the last page, I realized I have no idea what to think about the book. Everyone has their understanding of who Marilyn was based on her persona, her relationships, and her characters …
Read MoreBook Review: The Beauty Myth
I just finished reading The Beauty Myth for the first time. Wow. Wolf certainly did a lot of research in order to write this book, and I appreciate much of it. The chapters “Work,” “Culture” and “Sex” were especially interesting reads, as they cited statistics on beauty standards at work (and how women lose by either being “too beautiful” or …
Read MoreEasy and Delicious Tandoori Chicken
I am a HUGE fan of South Asian food, and this is one of my very favorite recipes. Two summers ago, I made this every week, and it lasted two to three days depending on how much chicken I used.
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She Was Certainly Not Born This Way, Baby.
Lady Gaga’s immensely popular new album Born This Way is presumably her “manifesto” (a word Gaga has been throwing around of late) for inclusion, celebrating difference, and celebrating self. Some reviewers have called this album a more authentic, “real” Lady Gaga than the personality she projected on her previous albums: as one who parties, drinks copiously, and gets involved in …
Read More“Read My Hips” and Fat-Positivity
A writer and blogger who writes primarily fat-positive personal essays, Kim Brittingham’s first novel Read My Hips: How I Learned to Love My Body, Ditch Dieting, and Live Large brings her refreshing tales of self-acceptance and fat-positive feminism to the world of memoirs.
Read MoreThe D.C. Book Hunt: Special Sales
I was the nerd in the Metro last Friday night. No one could take the seat next to me save for the nine latest additions to my book collection, which were nestled neatly in a box intended for Xerox paper. (Appropriate, I thought.)
Read MoreThe D.C. Book Hunt: Indie Bookstores (Part One)
A New England transplant, I only recently moved to D.C., the land I have long considered to be a place where indie used bookstores do not thrive. It’s a silly assumption I made long ago based on a few people I met from the area.
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No Dress Code, No Rules, No Fashion Identity.
I just started my first full-time job in the “real world” at an office with no dress code. Currently, my daily life is akin to the dread that only a party invitation calling for business or resort casual could inspire.
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Badass Women of History: Mrs. Beeton, the Copy/Paste Queen
I’ve been on a women in history binge lately, mainly because of my work starting the Today in Women’s History website, which officially launched a few days back. Last week, when I found myself at the library (again) I decided to check out the Masterpiece Theater’s biographical drama The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton, for no reason other than her …
Read MorePetite French Almond Cakes
I’d hardly call myself a chef or a cook, but whenever I have some time on my hands, the necessary ingredients in the pantry, and a recipe whets my appetite, I greatly enjoy a chemistry experiment in the kitchen with (hopefully) delicious results. My enjoyable romp in the kitchen last week brought especially tasty treats, so I thought I might …
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Cellphones Provide A Handy Distraction From Our Need To Be Distracted
I’ve read my fair share of articles on how humans are becoming dependent on technology and how Google is making us “stupid,” but my experience living without my cellphone for two days last week was not at all like the ordeal these articles describe. Instead of finding myself hopelessly dependent on technology (and therefore useless without my phone), I found …
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On How My Greatest Weakness Interview Response Has Changed, Thanks To The Recession
The interview question job seekers most frequently hear (and consequently dread), “What is your greatest weakness?”, is becoming more and more difficult for me to answer. Not, of course, because I am without faults, but because I have been forced to confront my biggest faults and fears on a daily basis during the job search in publishing, particularly the sort …
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