Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

I'm in the middle of watching Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and I had to pause to write this down.

Sidney Poitier is talking to Spencer Tracy, and he says that his (white) girlfriend thinks that all of their kids will become president of the United States, but Sidney thinks that's a little bit too optimistic. I think it's worth mentioning that Barack Obama was born just a few years before this movie was made, and that realization makes me really really happy.

No Make Up Week

Am I really the only woman under 30 who uses some moisturizer and a dash of chapstick and nothing more every day? Or the only one who couldn't apply any of the rest of it if my life depended on it? Ack.

I guess my whole life has been the years without makeup, and it's sure a hell of a lot quicker, cheaper, and better for my skin (although my mom did recently get me some kickass moisturizer stuff from Clinique that smells sort of like cloves. Thanks, Mom!).

On the bright side, kitty!

Jez stuff

This was part of a comment about an article based on a Modern Love column, and I think it's a nice summation of some of the things I've been thinking about lately. Also, kind of sweet, in a way:

"We're all working within a culture that tells us we should be one way or the other, based on the anatomy we were born with. Our whole lives, we ALL run up against expectations for boys and girls and men and women -- how to dress, how to act, what to study or work at, how we look, who we love -- within every relationship (familial, school and work, and romantic/sexual) -- and we all just try and figure out what feels true and right for us, as individuals. I've found that the folks who do the most thinking about gender roles and expectations, and what feels right, are feminists, queer folks, and trans folks."


h/t to commenter greeneyedfem

I don't have a lot to comment on here, except for saying that this particular passage about Silicon Valley is bulllllllshitttttt:

"[Silicon Valley is] more merit driven than almost any other place in the world. It doesn't matter how old you are, what sex you are, what politics you support or what color you are. If your idea rocks and you can execute, you can change the world and/or get really, stinking rich."

My only response, pre-coffee, is this: um, it does matter how old you are, what your gender is, what color you are, and what politics you support. Le sigh.

More here.

Niger Food Relief

Hey everyone, this is a request for money. This website (http://www.nigerfoodrelief.org/) has been organized by an awesome group of Niger alumni and all donations go to famine relief.

If you're not following the situation in Niger right now, here are a few articles to get you started:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/08/2010824133834821879.html

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/09/a-famine-looms-in-niger/?scp=2&sq=niger&st=cse

http://allafrica.com/stories/201008160006.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11066959

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8751000/8751252.stm

I am not putting up a bunch of photos of starving children so you can see what a terrible place this world is. I'm writing this because Niger, the country and the people who live there, is a truly incredible place. We in the US and abroad have incredible resources at our disposal, and it would be selfish and inhumane to ignore a crisis of this magnitude.

Most of you know that I spent a few months in Niamey, Niger's capital. Any of you who know me well realize that those months changed my fundamental outlook on life and the way I see the world. I am not writing this to brag about what a great person I am for getting on a plane and "roughing it," but because the people I met and spent time with were and are incredibly important.

This is not a remote crisis. These are human beings. They are real. They touched my life, and through me and other students, have touched the lives of thousands of others. If you have a few extra dollars this month or this week, please stop and think before you have that second drink or talk yourself out of it by saying that things suck in the US too, and know that your $10 can save someone's life, immediately.

If I May

This is funny.

As kids these days say: lawl.

Friday Art Stuff

Ok, I've been meaning to post this (as you can see from the article's date) for a really long time. The link takes forever to load, but I am telling you, Kate Bush is amazing. Watch the videos, I implore you.