Blogs on More

If your kids are now home for the holidays and you have yet to see them release the game controller, here’s a story for you: Boston mom calls 911 over 14-year-old’s video game habit.

If you’re interested in what the big deal is about World of Warcraft and its ilk, Laura at Geeky Mom has been running a fascinating series on the game on her blog called WoW Wednesdays - check it out.

Today marks the winter solstice, or the longest night/shortest day of the year - and the official beginning of winter. Besides pagan feasting (does this mean I’d be justified in ordering Chinese take-out tonight?), I tend to think of today as the make-or-break day for holiday panic.

This year I’m ahead on food, decor and gifts, and behind on cards, exercise, and sleep. I still want to know why it seems like caring about certain holiday things seems to be a sex-linked trait. Is it all nuture, or is there something more biological going on? Do we blame Martha Stewart?

In case you’re panicking, here’s a round of up some of the holiday content and advice we have to offer:

Last minute gift inspiration
Trim holiday spending
Free holiday fun!
Dealing with difficult holidays
Grieving over the holidays
Modern manners and holiday etiquette
Don’t drink through the holidays!
Palate-pleasing appetizers
Cheap and chic dinner party ideas

Avatar premieres this week and Sigourney Weaver graces our December/January cover. And she looks fabulous, both in clips from the film and on our cover.

I confess I’ve had a not-so-secret crush on Sigourney Weaver since I first saw Alien. I was too young for the scary bits in 1979 when the film was released, but I had a memorable date during its re-release in the hype leading up to Aliens in 1986. I remember ranting most of the way home to my date about the lack of really powerful women characters like Ripley when he confessed that he’d just been hoping I would be scared and lean up against him. He didn’t stick around for my Working Girl phase. (I fortunately have not yet had an Ice Storm phase.)

So reading Margy Rochlin’s profile was not just part of my job but it made the fan girl in me happy. Not only does Weaver talk about her debut in sci-fi, she shares about her empty nest anxieties and her 25-year-old marriage. I wish I could link you to the piece, but it’s one of the ones we’re not able to run on the site so you’ll have to go get a copy of More if you don’t already have one. (But I can and will link you to Diane Selkirk’s web-exclusive piece on Reena Lazar, a much less well-known role model who uses film to help bring peace to teens - kind of her own avatar project in a way.)

Women in film really can influence us. Lieut. Ellen Ripley gave me a taste of women badasses (as MTV named her) that I’ve never quite lost. Which film characters have shaped your view of women?

I’m like a magpie when it comes to pretty, shiny things. Thus, my appreciation for the fun collaboration between the popular nail polish brand OPI and Dell Computers.

Sure, seeing this has created a need I didn’t know I had: matching my nails to my emails, but never mind that. I obviously need to buy at least four or five of these so I can fully express myself creatively through polish and posing at coffee shops.

www.dell.ca

When a story like the Tiger Woods infidelity saga breaks, the water cooler conversation often goes like this: Why on earth do these guys do this kind of thing?

I spoke with Doug Hirschorn, author of the forthcoming Eight Ways to Great and a performance coach who uses sports psychology to consult with high-powered Wall Street titans, about why high-performing men make crazy decisions (or at least decisions that look crazy).

“Always looking for that next great thing.”
Dr. Doug’s theory boils down to adrenaline: “The thing to understand about high performers like Tiger Woods or A-Rod or Kobe Bryant is that their normal way of operating is at a very high level of success. So for them to experience a truly remarkable performance happens more infrequently for the rest of us, so for Tiger Woods it might happen one tournament in five.”

According to Dr. Doug, for these elite performers, taking risks with one’s marriage and personal life can provide a challenge they find increasingly difficult to get on the job (or on the green): “Because he’s so public and because cameras are following him around… it’s that much more exciting to sleep with a cocktail waitress who he knows can ruin his reputation with one phone call. It gives him that adrenaline shot, and it lasts longer than that one shot because he knows that woman is out there. The excitement is knowing that you take it to the edge; that at any one moment it could end.”

So of course, I had to ask: If you’re married to one of these high performers, what can you do about it?

Not many people are married to those high performers, points out Dr. Doug. But if you are, he thinks “you have to accept both sides of that individual, and understand that the same thing you love that person for is the probably going to be the same thing you’re going to hate that person for…. What’s naïve is to be shocked and surprised.”

“People want black-and-white on this, but it’s complicated…[Tiger] has an adrenaline problem. But it’s not about sex or power. It’s about a great golfer figuring out what to do to get that rush when he gets off the golf course.”

It’s the analysis, stupid
Okay, so here’s one guy who clearly didn’t figure it out in time. But how can high achievers keep their lives in balance? “The lesson about high-profile men is: it’s not about medicating them or putting them in a cage; it’s about getting them to look at their life the same way they would their career and make the same smart choices…. The problem is they don’t do the proper self-analysis in the moment. Engage in a discussion on a level that he understands and relates to. Have him assess the relationship in that respect.”

I’m not so sure I entirely buy into the adrenaline theory: Are high performers really unable to pay attention to their own wedding vows? But hey, it’s one theory. What do you think?

For more on affairs:
After the affair
Affairs: Not just for men

Chanel’s just upped the stakes on the retail-as-experience set up.

The famous luxury French label has launched a small but perfectly formed boutique space inside the Holt Renfrew Bloor Street store -  a mini-mecca for all things Chanel: perfume, makeup and skin care.

A rather sexy Olfactory Bar is the standout here. It houses all the Chanel perfumes and the Les Exclusifs Fragrace Collection (based on the life and stories of Coco Chanel),

Interestingly, there’s no typical spritzer meets paper greeting when you arrive, instead, ceramic blotters dipped in fragrance pots are used, which offer a much better - and truer - example of the perfume’s scent. Bonus: it means you’re not walking around in a cloud of fragrance, which can quickly get overwhelming.

If you’re in the area, I recommend popping by to take a seat at the consultation bar for a little “choose your own adventure” fragrance journey. Experts are at hand to help you discover the different scent families. You’d be surprised at the result you get when you literally stop to smell the roses.

Dawn Burns, More’s advertising coordinator, is appearing in Canadian Living’s “Holiday Mixer” style piece this month.

What was it like to model? Dawn says “It’s hard work. It’s not as easy as it looks. Having to get me to laugh out loud and have genuine smiles was hard…I felt a bit like a toddler when they were saying smile for the camera. But it was a lot of fun to get fussed over. I also wasn’t allowed to sit down in the clothes once I had them on.” Click on the thumbnail to get a look at Dawn’s looks, courtesy of Canadian Living.

Tell us something you’ve done lately that took you out of your comfort zone!

More coming up soon, but I had to share this link right away: You can visit Pompeii via Google street view! (Via Laura at 11d)

You can also tour Sorrento from your chair via our slideshow.

Here’s what we’re reading today:

From Judith Warner at the New York Times online: “In this economy, getting the old face and belly looking tighter may, for many middle-aged women, be as crucial as having an eye-catching résumé.” I think I might have a slight case of bag-lady syndrome myself.

From the New Yorker, quite a thoughtful piece by Ariel Levy about Caster Semenya: “’I think it is the responsibility of South Africa to rally behind this child and tell the rest of the world she remains the hero she is and no one will take that away from her.’”

If you missed Shinan Govani’s column on eating with his back to Jennifer Aniston, well, go read it now. (National Post)

What you might want to know about healthcare: Medical association takes heat for Pfizer funding, and The man from Pfizer (both from the Globe and Mail).

And lighter fare for Friday: A gallery of the year’s most amazing scientific images. (Popsci.com)

Related pieces on More.ca: The truth about Botox, Ageism in the office and of course don’t forget to check out our gift guide and enter our contest. (It’s a really, really nice box of gifts.)

I was in Winners over the weekend in that gift shopping state where I was wandering from section to section eyeing this and that but never actually closing in on a purchase for someone. This is what happens when I shop without a list (for advanced shoppers, see writer Terri Favro’s advice on how to lower your spending - and shop in one, yes ONE day).

Fortunately I’m actually almost done, in large part because I’ve been working with the More.ca team to put together…(drum roll please):

The More.ca holiday gift guide!

We’ve got present ideas for just about everyone on your list. As an added bonus, you can also enter to win a number of items straight out of the gift guide. So go have a look, be sure to enter, and stay safe shopping.