take it from my sight

{from here}

if you are not following what is happening in ferguson, start right this second. this one is a big one. this is one we will remember.

if you are not heartbroken and furious, you are not paying attention.

my heart is broken. that country is broken.

i have been sitting up these last few nights, and last week, watching. suppressing the desire to throw up. not able to suppress the tears. i am thinking about the brother from ragtime... he wanted to say... every day i wake up knowing what you've lost and what is owing...
yeah, i know i'm comparing it to a musical, i know, i know. but it is so fucking sad, that's all i can handle. we are all coalhouse. we are all michael brown.

say goodbye to music, say goodbye to light.

forgive me the cheesiness. it's all way too much without it.

i read the second autopsy and couldn't stop weeping.
that was an 18 year old boy.
arms up.
head hanging.

and left. laying there.

(someone on twitter pointed out the tragic poetry in the medical examiner being the same man who reviewed the autopsies of jfk and mlk jr.)

we'll never get to heaven till we reach that day...

you do not shoot an unarmed human person six times. you don't. you don't you don't. not for jaywalking or for shoplifting. not for anything.

(and FUCK you for that narrative, as if shoplifting could ever come close to a motive - ignoring that the cop didn't know that michael was suspected. find me a teenaged white girl who never shoplifted a lipstick, a pair of earrings... i honestly can't handle that there are people out there who thought that saying this human, this BOY, wasn't an innocent victim because of fucking shoplifting? or any other bullshit character assassination. it wouldn't matter if he was a total piece of shit. that's not the point. the point is. unarmed. unarmed. no. furious.)

you do not threaten to shoot a reporter when you are supposed to be de-escalating a rage built up by and boiled over by the unjustifiable and obscene shooting of a human person. you do not dress up in military grade armour and call people animals when one of yours has murdered one of theirs.

it is all so very far gone beyond wrong.
a day of peace, a day of pride, a day of justice: we have been denied. let the new day dawn, oh lord i pray...

{from the daily mail}

ff

fashioney week. fashioney thoughts. last friday, as i mentioned, roommate-sarah and i drove down to collingwood (in eug's kickass smart car, thanks eug!!!) to watch 'miss representation' with stylist-sarah, and a theatre filled with women and girls. (and, i think, somewhere around 5 men and boys.) a few things about that trip.

one! the screening was hosted by a group called girlfriends, an after-school program for girls in grades 7 and 8. this program looks just amazeballs, and i hope that there is something equivalent wherever i am raising my one-day-daughter(s). teaching girls to be inclusive and attentive to eachother, to be brave and have their convictions, to learn to voice those convictions... so so so necessary. especially at that tricky age where it is so easy to get lost. yay! so yay! and the young ladies of girlfriends were lining the entrance to the theatre, SOOOO excited to be hosting. they were handing out programs and flyers, telling us to stick around after for prizes. (i did win a shirt. woooot!) they were adorable and awesome. i'm so glad i went.

two! see 'miss representation' if you get the chance. oh man. it was great. there were some not-perfect points, but on the whole the message is concise and pointed. even though i feel pretty up on this stuff (women and girls in media, power positions, and so on) some of the facts and figures were staggering. i wish i had the money to arrange a screening, because there are so many people who i feel don't hear what i'm saying, and that film has some hard to ignore moments. but since i don't have those monies, at least watch the trailer, and maybe look out for a screening near you. we drove around 4 hours to and fro to see this movie. and it was completely and totally worth it.



 and then! for some reading this week.

* a breakdown of the points.

above, you'll find the 6-point pledge that all vogue magazines have signed on for. and here below are two thoughtful pieces reacting to the pledge (or 'health initiative', as they're calling it). this is a yay! for sure. but a wary, cautious yay. read on and think and all that. celebrate the steps that are being taken, but continue to demand ever-more. don't stop questioning! okay go:

* longing built into its very function.

* on the grounds of creative freedom.

(am i allowed to say i kinda sorta totally hate marc jacobs? ugh. whatever. i'm saying it. really? really, marc jacobs?)

{an all plus-size cover from vogue italia's june 2011 issue}

alrighty! good friday, everyone. love and puppies!

ff

last week. the grammys. i didn't watch them. not because of the chris brown debacle... i didn't even know about that until midway through, due to the chatter on twitter. i had read over 300 pages of 1Q84 in under a week, and i hadn't been paying attention and i don't much care about the grammys anyways.

but.

i do care about the chris brown debacle. for the last three years i have been constantly disturbed by the fact that almost no one seems to care that chris brown hit rihanna in the face and sent her to hospital. or they sortakinda care but, you know, not enough to not like him, you know?

sure, i never listened to his music before or after... but generally i feel that people who hit their girlfriends are BAD people. and shouldn't be supported and idolized. anyways.

readings for you on the topic. the first is a very well handled piece by sasha pasulka.

* not okay

and here's a nightmare wrapped up in a neurotoxin!

* what is wrong with us?!

and finally this gem from jill at feministe:

* isn't being a woman in this world top shelf?

sometimes it is all i can do to put clothes on my body and get out the door, knowing that this is the world that waits outside for me. a million hooorays!

i want to go to there

 i know this whole 'me being a (not-just-family) blogger' thing is largely a joke, cause, um, seven to twelve people read my blog and no one comments except maybe two of them (AHEM!), and i'm technologically useless, but man i wish i was off and going to this this weekend!


alt looks sooooooo wicked cool! i bet the people there are gonna be mega crafty, arty, stylish doers of THINGS! i bet there's gonna be bunting EVERYWHERE! i could take that session 6 workshop about growing my readership!and who doesn't want to go to DESIGN CAMP?!?!?!?! I WANT TO GO TO DESIGN CAMP!!!!

next year, guys. next year i am going to alt. you try and stop me! (but don't. actually. try. please. cause i would really like to go. and i'd rather you did not, in fact, stop me.)

ff

welcome back! since it's just after the holidays, and i'm way behind on my reading, there's just one reading for you today. (so, dad, you certainly can find the time to read it. it's even quite short!)

*smutty schmucks of media

now i think this one is really quite interesting, and a good conversation could come out of it. so. go on and read, and then let's chat! blogfolks. tell me what you think!

ff

straight into it kids! this week is exciting. we're gonna start with something pretty big.

*hillary clinton's LGBT speech

although it makes me sad that some of this even needs saying, it doesn't change the fact that it DOES need saying. and she's done a superb job of saying it in a kind, respectful, gentle way. although she is firm in her message, she allows room for the difficulties associated with great change. she doesn't just plow through with THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD THINK GOD DAMN! what a woman. thank you, hillary. thank you tahnk you for your wisdom and courage and conviction. (i know it's a rather long read, but please do give it a good going-through. this is so so so so so so important.)

and now! some fashion-thoughts.

this week there has been some buzz about models and weight in the fashion-land. coco rocha, canadian super-model-extraordinaire, gave a speech about the pressures of the modeling world. (read it! i think she's pretty great...) and there was some positive and some negative backlash. this is a good little intro into something i've been thinking about a lot.

along with this:

*h&m cyborg models

so jacob, canadian fashion retailer, has this add campaign featuring coco rocha. and the main premise of the campaign is that it hasn't been photoshopped. hoooray! this is coco as coco is!

and i think that's super. a great start. except. there's still a bit of a problem there for me. yes, i love coco, and yes she's a brilliant and smart model, and yes she is working towards some change in the fashion-land, and yes she looks fantastic not photoshopped and hoooray and gladness! but. she is still a MODEL. she is not the smallest in the world of high-fashion models, sure. she is 'older' for a model. (i think she's 25?) but MODELS, even the healthiest among them, are not what could be considered the average body. or even, really, normal. it's not that they're these broken sickly freaks, the lot of them. far from it! i've worked with lots of girls who i would consider to be incredibly fit and healthy and that is just how they are. they work hard, sure, but they're also genetically pre-disposed to be a zillion tall and a zillion thin. like my dear brother... same sort of build. (i've also worked with girls who are clearly unhealthy, and it's super sad and tragic to see up close... but that's a whole other post.)

and there's nothing wrong with that! these thin-magic-girls. i love that shape. i admit. i'm super into the model aesthetic. but to tell little girls (or women, frankly) 'look it's a real person!' but have it still be one of those super magical few... well... i'm not sure that that is necessarily sending a perfect message either. so i'm a bit weary of this campaign, for all its good intentions.

i guess, without getting too wordy about it, what i'd like to see is diversity. unphotoshopped. give me super models! sure! but give me, too, a girl who has hips. a girl who i short and petite. a plus sized girl. a girl in that average category BETWEEN 'model' and 'plus sized' (aka me! damn it!). a girl with a giant bosom. show me what your clothes look like on those bodies. that is the dream. i guess. because there are women out there making clothes look amazing on their bodies everyday. so you can too, fashion land. i know it's a different challenge. but i have faith in you! you can do it! you're mega-smart and powerful!

okay. glad we had this chat.

oh! and going back to the h&m thing. yeah! that's okay too... make a cyborg model. but honesty. be honest about it. and maybe try to diversify your cyborgs a bit too. and also. photoshop if you want! but TALK ABOUT IT! oh man. that's a whole can of worms i am too sleepy to go into, and i'm sure y'all don't feel like reading this for EIGHT YEARS! okay. done for today!

happy friday, feminist warriors! HAHAHA!

ff

hi team!today is pretty busy, so i won't write much. mmmm. in fact. i can't think of anything in particular i HAVE to say.** so! just straight away to this week's mandatory readings:

* why the ladies be crazy?

* i told you, emma... spice up your life!

* happy great good news!

see? this week is pretty cheery, here in feminism. tra la la! light and fluffy and friendly! (except, maybe, for that first one... i suppose.)



** i actually have a LOT to say about siri's lack of female-related programming, but i think my brain might explode if i think too much about it. so i won't go into it. i won't talk about the sadness in my heart when i think about this 'female' 'assistant' who is made especially to cater to male needs like so many female assistants before 'her'... ... ... i won't say that it makes me sad to BE a female assistant, even though i work for awesome men, and i love my job... ... ... i won't say that i really wanna punch siri right in her beautifully designed interface... ... ...

i will simply say that if any of the people i assist needed an abortion, i would assist them in finding appropriate information. because as an assistant, assisting is what i do.

fash on

wooop woooop wooop wooooooooop!

i have so many magazines and journals and so little time!

how is a girl expected to read all these things and still walk her dog? i have subscriptions to: flare, elle canada, fashion, toronto life, canadian art, and the globe and mail which is giving me FREE WEEKDAY PAPERS! not to mentions the single editions i've picked up in the last while. love, zink, onethatican'tevenrememberthenameofwithgoldlettering... my style.com magazine SHOULD be here by now, but isn't. (grrrrr! arrgggg!) and i'm reading 1Q84. and my roommate just got her copy of worn in the post which i'm sure to peruse. i am not made for this much reading! but i do love it... sigh.

oookay. but. i did crack a few of those magazines this last week, and flare! may i say? two kickass editorials this month! check these out!!! (the scans are kinda rubbish... sorry. not doing the pictures full credit.)

{first editorial fashion edited by elizabeth cabral and photographed by chris nicholls}

{second editorial fashion edited by fiona green and photographed by chris nicholls}

yes yes YES yes! horses and eyebrows and birch trees! and crowns and texture and greyhound statues! yes please! yes! phew! i'm pooped from being happy about these.

silver and sequin

the december issue of elle canada arrived in my postbox yesterday, and i am rather excited about it. i love me a holiday magazine... and the cover is super-great. reminds me of one of my fave flare covers from wayback in 2009 with daria. looksee! (i think i like this elle one more, even. i do love alana zimmer...)

and also. here's me with my new glasses and also my new wallpaper and also margene liking my face.