Life's microscopic victories

After the previous navy sweater disintegrated, I gave myself grad-student permission to replace it. There's one store in town, more or l...

The commute thus far

Pros : -My four-leg-each-way journey would make for a fantastic RNC speech.  -The train I take to get me in on time gets me in early. Early ...

The greener grass across the pond

American women - well, some, maybe not Ann Romney - want to be French. French women, at least the demographic equivalent of the American wom...

On wanting my bangs like that

To the hairdressers of Central NJ, You are convenient, reasonably-priced, and do a good job. I get why you ask, but I here is my promise: Ye...

Media, elites UPDATED (and link fixed)

Via Ned Resnikoff , a fascinating, depressing, tale of journalism today. Alexandra Kimball hits all the key points, really, including why a...

Never mind, never mind

-"My roots, I don’t dye. I used to dye the tips. I think they call it a balayage: it’s painted-on bleach that they put just into the en...

Convenience, onions

Recently, once again looking for cooking inspiration, I turned to the Bittman Minimalist videos. I got some ideas, but was mostly distracted...

A family reunion

Upon arriving at the dog run, we noticed something surreal: Bisou was already there! But how could it be? Sure enough, this fluffier and sev...

The no time for a boyfriend brigade

Hanna Rosin's Atlantic story about how the hook-up culture benefits - and is perpetuated by - young women is kind of great. Finally, so...

Nostalgia for auto-parts

Jeremiah Moss's nostalgia for the West Chelsea of recent yore makes for a nice bit of anti-High-Line contrarianism, but doesn't add...

Dalliance parity

Oh, Dan . In what way is this - "Her marriage lasted 62 years, surviving Andrew’s long bout with alcoholism, as well as his discreet da...

Those anti-circumcision Muslims

Over at Commentary, Jonathan Tobin makes an argument I'm having trouble wrapping my head around: that the new wave of interest in banni...

What need might we possibly have for feminism?

Nothing particular to add re: the Akin controversy. I mean, other than that those who believe life begins at conception, but who graciously ...

"You say you want a revolution"

How'd you like to work for free for a place that sells $5,000 dresses  and $1,000 shoes ?

"[A] school populated by very good test takers"

Does Stuyvesant have a "toxic culture"? Tom Allon, who attended the school a while back and is now running for mayor, thinks so . ...

One-dollar eggplant

Back home means back to driving. Somehow the month-long break helped - I now imagine that driving was just something I used to do , and it n...

Gluten and weight-think

Commenter Lisa raises some important points on my gluten post below. So many I'm addressing them, and continuing the discussion, in a ne...

Ruby slippers

While I was away, I noticed that the shoes were reduced from $150 to $90. And available in the half-size I take. So it had to be done. They ...

Confessions of a gluten eater

The line between genuine medical dietary restraints and euphemistically-expressed dieting has never been blurrier: Refinery29 - straying fr...

In-flight movies quasi-reviewed

The insane, expensive, and exhausting process of getting a poodle to and from Germany is, at last, complete. Bisou minds flying a whole lot ...

A matching set

Remember that clutch ? Turns out there are shoes that go with. Why get the classic, attractive Tod's driving shoes when you could upg...

Quote of the day

"She was 90, though parts of her were considerably younger." - Margalit Fox on the late Helen Gurley Brown.

The little wedding that could

If the Wedding Industrial Complex has succeeded at anything, it's at giving all of us the impression that however lavishly we celebrate...

Nails and intersectionality

Bisou - who, let it be known, is fine now - timed her worst-yet gastrointestinal woes for just as my husband had to leave to go give a talk...

"The mistake happened in the middle of our meal, during the beet course."

The ultimate first-world problem makes it to (where else?) the NYT lifestyle pages.

WWPD Guides: Beauty

Beauty - as in makeup, skin creams, and so on - is strangely compelling. But why? Is it just because relative to clothing, makeup is cheap, ...

OK, so maybe I don't get fashion

Short of donating to an objectionable individual or cause, this  - a clutch, which is always ridiculous, a bag without a strap or handle , a...

The 25-year-old teen mom

The topic du jour  is that girls on their parents' health insurance often don't have coverage for pregnancy. But as the first epis...

What we ask in return

I have both worked as a barista and purchased coffee drinks. The following is a response, from the other side, to the latest list ( via ) o...

Showing your face

Does not being on Facebook imply that you're deranged? I'd like to think not, given that some of my own good friends have, for good...

Sick as a dog

Profundity may be even lower than usual here, what with Bisou's predictable-in-retrospect stomach woes. Sniffing around on enough sidewa...

"[T]otally inappropriate"

The Prudie letter in question , with some thematic overlap with this earlier post : Q. Workplace Awkwardness: I'm in a really awkward si...