After learning to dive in the Puget Sound (thanks to Girl Diver), now when I look out at the Puget Sound, I think about all the brilliant and wonderful things that lie beneath the beautifully calm looking surface.
Category: Media
Cookies as Therapy
I’m a fan of The Stranger, Seattle’s alternative news weekly. They do great stuff. I read most of what the Stranger writers have to say through their blog, Slog. Through my recent cookie-mania I was reminded of a piece by Megan Seling that I first became aware of last year, an entire year after it was originally published. It’s still great. It’s called The Long Winter. Her piece tells a familiar (to me, and I’m sure others) story of winter depression and her resolve to bake every cookie in Martha Stewart Holiday Cookies Special Issue. This wasn’t a Julie & Julia stunt, this was real in a way that didn’t have “book deal” written all over it.
Interestingly, she posted that she has recently found a blog (Every Last Cookie) “in which a college sophomore (a “studio art major”) is promising to make all the cookies in Martha Stewart’s Cookies cookbook by the time she graduates.”.
It’s been done, Ms. Seling points out.
I recommend checking out The Long Winter. It’s a piece that still rings true, years later.
Just Dance
I realized a couple days ago that I’ve been missing out on something that can be helpful during tough days.
Music.
And, thanks to PS 22‘s version of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” (seen here,) I was inspired to purchase Lady Gaga’s album, The Fame
It’s pop. I’m not going to apologize for it. It’s got elements of Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, the Spice Girls, J-pop and Queen in it. She admits to manufacturing the persona, and she wears it well. Moreover, some of the lyrics of “Just Dance” are ones I can get behind. Can’t see straight when you’re at the club, you love the song that comes on, things are all discombobulated, but what do you do? You just dance. Life sucking the life out of you? Just dance. Gonna be okay.
I’m a sucker for a pop princess. I blame my undying love for Andy Warhol and pop art for that.
Runner’s World Update
I received my reply from Runner’s World regarding my subscription issue.
Thank you for contacting Runner’s World Magazine customer service. We have removed your name from our Preferred Subscriber list. Your subscription will no longer be automatically renewed. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. If you wish to subscribe or renew in the future, you will need to contact us.
Well, that’s a relief. Never knew I was a Preferred Subscriber, nor did I know I would be “automatically renewed.” Now I know. It will apparently take awhile for them to unsub me from all their product listings, but they promise to do so.
It’s a nice magazine to read at the gym, and I like the website for basic info. I don’t need to read it monthly, though, and I’m just not too fond of being overcharged (when I can get it cheaper through Amazon) or being “automatically renewed.”
See previously: Peeve of the Day: Runner’s World
Privacy and Content
Lots going on in Q-land. First off, about changes with my web presence. ironheadjane.com will continue to be my blog, and your main source for what I’m happy to share with the public. Conveniently, you can guarantee on my Twitter feeds being seen on the side bar, and you can request to follow me if you currently are on Twitter. For more social networking, I can be found on a small handful of social networking sites like LiveJournal and Facebook, but both of those are ideally limited to those I interact with professionally or socially, and contain more private aspects of my life than I’m willing to share with a broader audience. Think of it as a 21st century filter for how I choose to conduct myself in my non-electronic life. My interest is in more carefully managing my searchable content on the Internet. Privacy will NOT be managed for you, and I’m interested in taking back what control I can for the content I’m responsible for.
I have also secured quasilaur.com. Right now it redirects to ironheadjane.com, as does the email address that will be featured on my MOO cards. The plan is that once I get my past art work photographed, and some new stuff created, I’m going to make a more promotional art/whatever site that is separate from my blog. This is a long term project, so don’t hold your breath. I can’t guarantee it’s going to be happening any time soon as that I have a whole bunch of my art at my mom’s house, and that’s so darn far away I have to figure out how to get it here first. Between the cost of shipping and/or air travel, this might take awhile.
Iron Head Jane 