Here are things that I have been perusing through this week that I just had to share:
This interesting interview with Peggy Orenstein about her book “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” and how gender roles have (sadly) become more sexily pronounced and how the expectations have become even higher for girls within the last 20 years.
I love asking moms I know parenting questions from things I read like this. Particularly The Beau’s sister, who has an almost 2-year-old and a 6-month-old, both girls. Last week it was about the Tiger Mom. This week it might be about girlification.
Rainbow Cupcakes from Amanda at hello pretty eyes. She graduated from culinary school, is the head baker at a cupcake shop, and if that isn’t the most awesome thing, she shares her how-to for the most amazing rainbow cupcakes ever! I think some ridiculous cupcake colors are in my future…Phoenix Suns colors! Mardi Gras! Cinco de Mayo!
This picture for today’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is breathtaking. Most of them are truly amazing, but when I opened this one up to really big, it got me all choked up.
Amanda F. Palmer has released a new album of Australian-centered songs and I was on the fence about it for a while, thinking they wouldn’t be anything to write home about. But jeez lady, let someone else have a little talent here! She makes a song about how much she hates Vegemite (even though her beloved continues to eat it) and surprisingly turns it into much more than a funny song. Good stuff here. And yes, you could pay for $.69 for the whole album, but wouldn’t you rather AFP not have to be a beggar? Wouldn’t you like to get more than $.69 for hours upon hours of work you did out of love?
Abbey of Aesthetic Outburst has made a goal of 20 valentines before Valentines’ Day (above is day 8) and I while I would be tearing my hair out, she is creating the most thoughtful, marvelous treasures.
While I know that most people who read this blog aren’t MMA-focused, I had to add this because I was enraptured by it and had to watch it a half dozen times, think about how crazy it was, then watch it again.
Something I did in 2010 quite a bit more than I ever have, in any other year, was donate to causes/charity. I still don’t know why I didn’t start doing this earlier.
Usually when I buy something, I think about the money I used and the work I did to earn it and give it away so freely. But every time I donated, I kept thinking, I wish it was more.
I never had “buyer’s remorse” when it came to donations, so I think I will be doing much more donating to causes I believe in this 2011.
Here’s a couple of things I donated to this past year:
- Alzheimer runners. Well, people who ran in races for Alzheimer’s research. My cousin runs for fun, bikes for pleasure and is a all-around outdoorsy fun guy. When he decided to run to help Alzheimer’s, how could I not encourage him?! Although it probably would have felt better to actually raise money myself and run with him, I still feel pretty darn good about helping out.
- Kickstarted some people. This year I found out about Kickstarter, and I am hooked. I love the idea of having a place where many independent spirits share their visions and what you can do to help. Motorcycle boats, beer crafters and Vivian Maier. Am I allowed to say I am a “film backer” now?
- I finally got sick of Jimmy staring at me with his crazy eyes. I donated to wikipedia. Now when he looks at me, it’s more of a “can you believe everyone else hasn’t donated yet? I know right?!”
As this new year rolls in, I keep swaying back and forth with the focus of my blog. I don’t know if I want to bin everything I am working on in drafts and start completely fresh, if I should keep the focus straight and narrow (crafting? writing? MMA? baking?), or find some sort of happy medium.
Finally I realized that all this stress was not helping anything.
So, I decided to hit the ‘RESET’ button.
I have decided to just keep writing and picturing, guilt-free. I am mainly using this as a place to sort of unload ideas, inspiration and helpful info. I would like to write more about myself and my daily life, but daily life isn’t really something to write home about. I might put together posts each week-end about the highlights of the week. Which might make for funny reading. Or not. Whatever, it’s my blog. I’m not paying you to read it, you three people who actually read it.
So, highlight of this last week was:
whoopee pies! For The Beau’s birthday I made super-healthy whoopee pies, then several days later he mad reverse (with white outsides). They were both tasty, but I wished his frosting was in my pies.
I made mine with Neuchâtel and confectioners sugar. While it was very tasty, his was made with marshmallow fluff. If you know my predilection toward marshmallows, you know how I melted when I tasted this.
So anyway, back to the reset button. If you see something on the blog that you like, make a comment. Email me. Or my favorite: @message me on twitter with a “hey @pepperjess, nice post today.”
This is a picture my cousin took of my sister and me a whiiiile ago. She looks about 4 here, and she’s 21 now. Whoa.
Anyway, we loved staying up late (like every other kid) on Christmas Eve, and my favorite thing was watching a regular boring program like CNN News transform into something worth my time when they gave their NORAD Santa Tracking updates. THIS IS LEGIT PEOPLE! SANTA IS NEWS!
Anyway, Happy Holidays and hopefully you will feel at peace instead of anxious and stressed.
Two years ago on the blog, I wrote this little piece about Homelessness and Help. Since then I have been wondering if any of you readers have done anything to help any homeless in your area.
I feel pretty ashamed to admit that beside the odd dollar or change, I haven’t done anything to help. I know the holidays are a cliche time to give, but I guess when it comes to helping others, it doesn’t matter what time of year it is.
It’s amazing that with only one minute worth of Googling “holiday charity,” I can get ba-jillions of sites, ideas and links to give you. I decided to whittle them down and only link to the ones that I myself will be giving to this year:
Turkey Drives. Turkey drives are great because you know exactly where your donation is going. So you can imagine a big pot of turkey stew, or a nice plump turkey on the table of someone who ordinarily would not even dream of a hot meal.
Salvation Army Angel Trees and Red Kettles. Red kettles are probably the absolute easiest way to give because they’re ubiquitous. What I like most is that they are non-confrontational. I start to get panicky when charities come up to me and ask me and I have to decline. The red kettles are very casual. Even if you drop a few pennies or a few dollars, it all helps, and they always wish you good tidings. You stay classy, Salvation Army.
And of course, the ubiquitous Toys for Tots. I recommend giving toys that are timeless and highly imaginative. Jordan Ferney has a fantatic post about timeless toys. I think I will be wrapping up a lot of nice Schleich dinos for kids!
You can also do your own thing. One of my favorite things to do with my cousins in Prescott was make our own homeless packages: wrap up a fleece blanket with a thermos (a hard plastic or metal one – reusable) filled with soup, some packets of hot chocolate (most restaurants or fast food places will give you hot water), and some stamps (maybe they have some letters to send?) It may be just a few of these packages, but it means a lot to the people sitting in the freezing cold park.
