Here at More.ca, this week is technically a holiday week. I say technically because of course, the web never really sleeps. But it is a much-needed (in my case) time to slow down a little and unwind.
For me that mostly means unplugging from the ‘net, but there are some sites I browse for inspiration and ideas and I thought I’d share a few. Please feel free to comment with your own!
Vanity Fair: I wish we had the Vanity Fair archives! Check out this Annie Leibovitz slideshow.
Arts & Letters Daily: This quirky little site has been pulling together some of the most offbeat culture-related articles from the web for years. I think I developed my taste for this kind of thing at the dinner table with my professor father and his friends.
The Dilbert/Scott Adams blog: If you’re stuck in the office this week you might enjoy the comic (available at the same sight) but I like the blog too – Scott Adams’ style is funny.
Best environmental photos of 2010, National Geographic: Some pretty pictures never go astray.
And for less, hmmm, thoughtful moments I have to say I still like the Cakewrecks blog, both for the “Sunday sweets” (gorgeous cakes) and the…scarier pictures. I must shop in the wrong places because I never seem to spot any in the wild, so to speak.
I’ve noticed a trend among my friends and I and I want to throw it to you to see what you think.
It seems like a lot of the dialogue around the holidays is about how to stop. Stop spending so much, stop the influx of things-we-appreciate-but-which-clutter-closets, slow down the social commitments, and get back to basics. As one friend put it, “Now that I’ve got the gifts sorted…it’s too much.”
And yet, this concept of “basics” can be hard to get to. I mean some things are clear: This is a good time of year to appreciate family and friends, give something back to the community, engage in strange family traditions (or not so strange ones), and reflect on 2010 and get ready for 2011.
But I also find myself want to pick up that “one extra thing” for the stocking, or trying to find time to create that one extra playlist for the family holiday dinner. My actions don’t quite align with this desire to focus on what’s really important. I know it’s ridiculous to wish I’d gone and gotten all new dishes for the weekend’s festivities…and yet, I kind of want some.
How are you balancing everything out this week?
Geena Davis is hitting the blogs today as the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media holds its second symposium on gender in media this week in Los Angeles. Did you know she had an institute? I certainly didn’t.
To quote Lisa Belkin at Motherlode:
“Davis set out to find data. She founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2006 and sponsored an academic study — enlisting professors at the U.S.C. Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to analyze the content of 101 children’s movies released between 1990 and 2004. Last year she followed up with an analysis of films from 2004 to 2009. Both reached the same conclusions. Of the 5,554 speaking characters studied, 71 percent were male and 29 percent were female. That’s a 2.42 to 1 ratio, which has not changed much in 20 years.”
!
Read the whole Motherlode post for more.
Thanks to Lisa Belkin at Motherlode and Laura McKenna at Apt. 11D for pointing this one out!
