Amazon.com: Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer: Kitchen & Dining – Another marvelous instance of reviews matching the seriousness of the product on Amazon. I'm really impressed at Hutzler not blasting away all these joke reviews.
I don't even have words for how stupid this sounds. And how unhealthy. "Yeah, I'm going to shoot up with a hormone and engage in some disorderly eating to lose weight. It'll be great!"
I totally hadn’t realized that tiny houses are illegal/violate zoning. I knew they were tricky to place, but I figured if you buy a patch of land somewhere, you could put whatever kind of house on it you wanted. Continue reading Weekly Linkage: The Long Edition→
APW Book Club: Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed, Round II « A Practical Wedding – Not all choices are empowering. "Because here is the thing: the more we talk about marriage here, the more I worry. I worry that we’re being given the illusion of lots of options, and the reality of really sh*tty options. I worry that the sh*ttiest of options (over-work, under-appreciation, enormous sacrifice) are being sold to us under the guise of 'independent womanhood,' instead of under the guise of 'life is hard sometimes, and you can make it through, but you should fight for things to be easier.'
I worry when I hear about most of us* doing the bulk of the chores around the house. Not because we have to, but because we want to ('I just care more about cleanliness than he does, so I need to take responsibility for that.')"
Reproductive Writes: I Choose My Choice: An Interview with Elizabeth Kissling | Bitch Magazine – It's about a commercial that ran back in March of this year, but Kissling defines "post-feminism"–a term I've heard and never seen clearly described–and ties it into an enlightening analysis of this commercial and neo liberalism. I don't know enough yet to analyze her comparison of post-feminism and neo liberalism, but I agree with her analysis of this "period-control" product: it's control over your body (yay, superficially), but not necessarily actually empowering.
Her words on the neo liberalism dilemma with regards to menstruation: "A menstruating woman can't present herself as a rational, self-actualizing subject, she isn't able to participate in consumerism 24/7. A non-menstruating body is much better suited to market success in the consumer economy."
Elf M. Sternberg – Someday, Cognitive Dissonance will be Painful – "He got riled up to the point where he said, 'If I'm ever at a baseball game and the guy next to me doesn't take his hat off and stand up for the pledge, I'm going to knock his hat off, grab him by the collar and stand him up.'" I'll tell you, there'd be two cases of felony assault going on.
thestar.com iPhone : Controversy pushes girl off coed hockey team – This is absolute bullshit. This young woman (the only girl on a coed hockey team) was singled out for lacking skill–a dubious claim, according to the coach–by the parent of another child on the team. She quit to spare herself the scrutiny.
Buying individual health insurance policies with pre-tax dollars – "The PPACA may make it possible for workers to get the same tax break for purchasing health insurance on the individual market (via an exchange or otherwise) as they would if they bought their employer-sponsored plan (if they’re offered one)."
MenTaLguY: Metroid: Other M – The Elephant in the Room – I don't play the Metroid Prime games, but this coverage of the Other M game is an awesome read. "For the last few releases, the games have been getting more and more story-based, with Sakamoto’s very strong emphasis on narrative in Other M turning Metroid into a series with a story that literally can’t be ignored except through well-timed bathroom breaks. This might be fine if the story were different."
For some reason, I felt like I didn’t have a lot of links this week for all the cruising I did, but I was wrong. I plowed through 280 Google Reader posts and was caught up as of yesterday afternoon. It may never happen again.
$72,000 in E-Books in a Week – 8 Lessons I Learned – Since Greg is considering releasing LORE as a physical book (and e-book/book self-publishing is of great interest to me as well), I've been reading up on book marketing and revenue numbers and what type of experience to expect. It's good reading.
Union of mothers create anti-gay ad because of drama “Life Is Beautiful” – This ridiculous ad stating, “If my son becomes gay and dies from AIDs after watching ‘Life Is Beautiful’, SBS [the broadcasting company] must take responsibility!” A gay Korean actor posted a nicely-written series of Twitter posts lambasting them. Go read.
Do not use Bible to attack homosexuality – A well-written opinion piece. I struggle with the idea of taking any holy text wholesale–so why not pick your passages?–but if you take as a premise that the whole thing is true, then this guy's got a point. I wish they allowed commenting; I'd love to see the discussion that article.
Could ‘Goldilocks’ planet be just right for life? – Yahoo! News – Look at this: "It's unknown whether water actually exists on the planet, and what kind of atmosphere it has. But because conditions are ideal for liquid water, and because there always seems to be life on Earth where there is water, Vogt believes 'that chances for life on this planet are 100 percent.'" …What? Water hasn't been seen yet, but there's a 100% chance of it being there and there being life? Erm.
Bollywood Gay film faces Censors – I very much want to see this film. "Kapil commented on the action taken for the submission and said: 'The Censor Board objected to the kissing and lovemaking. They asked us to delete those scenes. We refused. We aren’t trying to do any kind of sleazy stuff here. Ours is the first ever serious gay love story. The intimacy is essential. Our film is now with the revising committee.'"
The Gen Y Guide to Personal Finance | MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice – A wonderfully concise guide to getting started saving for retirement. There are certain folks (you know who you are) who I want to beat over the head for their resistance to saving for retirement. I'm slow to start because of my loans, but I'm getting there anyway, and I'm aware of how important it is.
My Ecdysis: Accepting Kyriarchy, Not Apologies – "When people talk about patriarchy and then it divulges into a complex conversation about the shifting circles of privilege, power, and domination — they're talking about kyriarchy." I like the idea, even if I'm not sure how to pronounce it.
