Hey guys. This week I am all thrown off. Last weekend I went to Ocean City with my husband since we got invited to a friends beach house. We went on Monday and came back Tuesday, for a little mini vacation. Then we went into Brooklyn to visit my sister on Friday night and came home late Saturday night. I have a bunch of cool posts to do about Brooklyn, a little tour guide of things to do in Williamsburg/Bushwick if you will. I went to Ocean City during the off season… so I really don’t have many good vegan tips of places to go there. I don’t know guys, the Jersey Shore isn’t my thing. Maybe I will make a travel guide about the beaches near Fair Haven where I grew up (and where Alexa is now).
It is really windy here. Some of the smaller trees have been uprooted, and the power went out while shopping! It was very weird going shopping at Target and Wegman’s with only the emergency lights on. There were also weird little things that weren’t working. Espresso machines were down, the conveyer belts at the registers weren’t working. And I feel like everyone was in a panic because of the power being out, at least I felt a little bit like there was something severely bad going on. Oddly my power is doing just fine so I can make this post of the top reads for your Sunday.
Jazz singer Nina Simone is shown in London on Dec. 5, 1968, photo. Simone’s deep, raspy, forceful voice made her a unique figure in jazz and later helped define the civil rights movement. (AP Photo)
Nina Simone’s Face
I might be a little late in the game with posting this article, but it is still something good to read. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a great article about why we should care about the casting choice for Nina Simone. Many people who read about social justice is probably aware of the issue already, but Coates write beautifully and I think explains the situation that is understandable to anyone new the topic.
Fitness Trackers Reveal the Damaging Pitfalls of the Modern Approach to Self Improvemnt
As someone who loves to track their health stats, I found this article interesting. I use MapMyRun, Ovia, and have downloaded a pedometer app in the past. Then I like to combine them all together in my Apple Health app because I love graphs. But the article points out that you can’t keep topping yourself, and that might drive some people nuts. I don’t want to say FitBit and other fitness trackers are pointless, but we need to be careful about how to we sell them.
Excessively Candid FoodNetwork.com Recipe Reviews
Am I outing myself as a New Yorker fan? You betcha I am. I found these hilarious, and plausibly real.
Controversial Post: Who Can Clap for That Wrap?
Emileigh from Flashback Summer has really been crushing it lately. Some of you may not know, but I love vintage clothing. I’ve largely stopped blogging about fashion mostly since I haven’t been spending much on new clothes. But I’ve showcased some vintage articles of clothing on the blog (both dresses, vintage hat, and dress). As many may know, vintage clothing has a lot of styles that might be called out today for cultural appropriation- the squaw dress, the tiki bar craze, blackamoor jewelry, and now Emileigh breaks down whether or not is culturally appropriate to wear a wrap. I like how she quotes various people with different ethnicities and background and does some historical research, and urges that if you aren’t doing the research yourself, don’t wear it.
Arsenic & Old Lace
I rarely make cocktails from Gastronomista, mostly because I am cheap and have a poorly stocked liquor collection. But the photos of the Arsenic & Old Lace is amazing. Naturally I don’t have any of those liquors- and finding creme de violette might be hard but I will keep it in the back of my mind when looking around.
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
Great articles! I found the ones on fashion fascinating. I’m not too big into fashion (I mostly wear comfy clothes with some sparkles and faux fur thrown in) but I think our society doesn’t think much on where some fashion trends come from and we should pay more attention. I know there’s a big debate in the vegan community whether or not to even wear faux fur – I am (obviously) on the side of wearing it because no animals are harmed but I get why there’s a discussion.
Those candid reviews cracked me up!
Jennifer
I am pro faux fur and leather mostly because there are lots of animal products and fashions that are have evolved to synthetic versions and we don’t even think of them as animal products anymore. Like vellum with papers and invitations. I didn’t know that it was technically made from animal skins until I had to frame a really old diploma made from it. Now we just use some sort of plastic. So maybe one day people will think it is crazy that “leather” was once made from animals. Who knows.
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
I was listening to a book on cd last week and they described how vellum was made from animal skin – I had no idea!
I would love to see that day. 🙂
Jennifer Bliss
Very cool post!
I was reading your comment about the Pro Faux Fur and about the Vellum and Animal Skins…made me think of old Violin Bows and the hairs/fibers having cat guts or something in them…eeeeek!