The Summer Reading List, part IV

Well, it's been a long week here at headquarters and I am hot, tired, and more than a little homesick for my good 'ole unemployed days, when I could do and write and play anything I wanted. But with the new 10-hours a day job taking up all my time, numbing both my brain and my ass, and depleting me of energy and creativity, those days are (momentarily past).

With the job being so little fun, I've been really glad to have a wonderful book to get me through the lunch hour and fill my brain with something other than voucher numbers, batch numbers, and scanner functions. 

That life-giving manna fountain of a book is "Marriage, a History: from Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage" by Stephanie Coontz.

I have read a lot about feminism, changing relations between men and women, the birth control revolution, arguments for gay marriage, arguments against any marriage at all, etc. etc. etc.. But I have never come across such a well articulated, comprehensive, and engaging look into the history of marriage trends and attitudes throughout the world. Granted, the book does stay mostly focused on the Western world even as it touches upon other cultures, but all in all the narrative is truly an exhaustive timeline from as far back as human history can be traced.

Don't get me wrong, I have a few places of dissatisfaction; at times I wanted to know more about certain trends that were slightly peripheral yet obviously influential and found myself irritated when Coontz glossed over them. But for any failing of the book (I mean come on, how long do I really think this sucker should be to include all those tangents!) to detract would be silly, because Coontz's message stays on track the entire time and is brilliantly delivered. Her analysis of where our popular conceptions of marriage's normativity, functionality, purpose, and "good old days" come from and just how detached from actuality is stunning. I was aghast at some of the misconceptions I realized I had and even more stunned by some of the assumptions I have always made that were so aptly dispelled in this book.

Overall, I was totally wowed by the book, by its incredibly engaging analysis, its clean and rich writing, its honest and penetrating voice. I would recommend it for anyone because I think it demonstrates how pervasive our ideals and ideas about marriage influence all the other areas of our social existence and, in that way, is a truly brilliant piece of feminist history.

t-shirt lust

It's kind of nutty how fast wearing boring office clothes that limit style and personality while constricting comfort will start to wear (ha! get it!) on a gal. So when I got home today, climbed down from my heels, slipped out of my slip, and sunk into my pj shorts (that's how I roll), all I wanted was to not wear another pencil skirt and top tomorrow. No matter how much fun I have fantasizing about cute work clothes (like I did yesterday), the sad fact is I have very few of them (and half of what I do have I left at home in Berkeley, not thinking I would need them for this summer adventure in Eugene). And because the office is pretty conservative (even though it is blessedly laid back), I know that I can't add in bits of my personality by, say, wearing birds orflowers in my hair, and so I'm that much more... bored.

Which is why I am now in full t-shirt-lust mode. For example:

These are all from either Rumplo or IS50. Can't you just smell the cute? And come one -- I could wear those with a skirt to work, right? Right?

Yeah... I know.

*As always, click on the images for links to their stores.

work wear fun, part oh-god-I'm-tired

Well hey there fancy friends! Let me just say: the past week has been rather nutty for me... Not only did my computer die in the forever way, but I started a new (temporary) job which, while not intellectually very challenging, certainly necessitates a change in pace from my formerly unemployed self. And to top it off, our one-bathroom apartment had a sink and toilet experience which was at its least irritating and at its height horrifying. 

Therefore, I need a break tonight to drift off into fantasy land: what I would wear to work if I only had it. It's a pretty low-key office environment, therefore I don't need to venture into three-piece-suits land; I mostly just need appropriately conservative but still fun ensembles. And since I'm soon to get a paycheck, I'm going to keep my fantasies in the possibly-attainable realm because maybe, just maybe, I'll allow them to come true...

For my fantasy-tomorrow, I see myself in this little number:

Grey pencil skirt (I've already got one of those)

A navy-blue top (I like navy so much -- it works as such a versatile neutral, and compliments so much of the color spectrum)

And the kicker: bright yellow flats with two rosettes:

I'm debating whether a khaki skirt would go better; I go back and forth. Anyhow, that's my fantasy dress-up party. What do you think I should wear?

some marketing strategies confuse me:

Case in point, the marketing on the radio. Allow me to explain.

So I'm driving home from running errands and I'm listening to KNRQ, who proudly boast that "the NR stands for New Rock." They mostly play mediocre 90's alternative, bad contemporary rock, and a commercial every 3 songs. I therefore expect very little from them. But I was really bewildered when I heard them announce an "uninterrupted 45 minute set of new rock" and follow that announcement with this playlist:

Blind Melon's "No Rain" 

Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun"

and Sponge's "Plowed"

Sponge - Plowed (1994)

Okay, I was kind of delighted by that last one -- I'd forgotten how much I like that song! But then there was a commercial and, well, that's just a few kinds of what-the-fuck. So my only way of understanding this is to just assume we're back in 1994. I guess I've got to go and watch Pulp Fiction and protest NAFTA. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

What is this?

 

Oh Lindsay... Under no circumstances should any human being ever be subject to such monstrosities -- and especially not for over $100 for the three full length ones! This is just one step too far.

In case you missed the tale of this... atrocity... those are leggings from Lindsay Lohan's line, selling at Shop Intuition. Now excuse me while I enter a convent (do they let in Jews?) to spend the rest of my life meditating on why.

*p.s. Thanks for everyone's patience -- my computer is officially dead and I'm just waiting a few weeks till I can afford a new one. So posting might be a bit more spotty than usual until I get onto the new one, so bear with me a bit more. This shouldn't, however affect any Etsy business, so shop away!

***

Hey there, lovely readers.

So, due to a possible massive and destructive virus that seems to have eaten my computer (I'm typing this from The Boyfriend's at the moment), I might be a bit incommunicado for a while. I'm headed over to Best Buy now to hope that their Geek Squad can at the very least get my stupidly non-backed up files out of there and then... we'll see.

Wish me luck and I hope to be back soon.

-- M

Eeep.

How badly do I want this dress from Etsy?


It's from Le Bon Bon Multicolore, which seems to be chock full of gorgeous dresses that I'm drooling over... but which are generally too small for me. So go and buy, because I need to live vicariously through someone with a smaller bust / shoulder!

cranial fixation

Remember my post a while back about my deep love of fascinators, feathers in the hair, and other fantastic things?

Well, it seems I'm not the only one who enjoys a bit of a headgear fascination. The fantastic Joanna from A Cup of Jo recently went to a family wedding in England and has given us all the fun of seeing the fantastic hats that are de rigeur for such a fantastic occasion.

Go. Enjoy. It'll make you feel warm in the belly.