vanity

With the advent of online networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, perhaps some of us have gone to great lengths to taking the "perfect" picture OR not posting fugly pictures of ourselves or others!

In the name of vanity, I stumbled across a How-To article that maybe some of you will enjoy and even adopt:






How to Look 10 Pounds Thinner in Photos
5 Red Carpet Secrets to Posing for Photos
By Julyne Derrick, About.com

Why is it that celebrities always look skinny in red carpet photos? I live in NYC's West Village and I can vouch that your average celebrity Ain't All That. She tends to be short and bobbleheaded with proper child-bearing hips just like you and me (except for Giselle Bundchen and Sienna Miller, the skinny little...).
So how is it that in pictures they all appear so slim-ly terrific? More importantly, how can we look 10 pounds thinner in photos?

The secret is in the pose. (That, and the fact that they starve themselves a week before events and get sprayed by professional tanning people and wear gut-sucking Spanx and ...). Back to the pose. Here we share five secrets to appearing 10 pounds thinner in photos. You can practice these tips in front of a mirror, but we suggest locking your door first so as not to be caught appearing vain.

Secret No. 1: Turn partially sideways to the camera, planting one foot in front of the other. Point your toe to the camera and place your weight on your back foot.

Secret No. 2: Pull head forward slightly to minimize any appearance of a double chin.

Secret No. 3: Hold arms slightly away from your body. This keeps upper arm flab from flattening out and therefore appearing flabbier (much like thighs do when one sits on a couch).

Secret No. 4: Pull shoulders back, chest forward and gently suck stomach in. Be careful not to suck stomach so far in that your ribs show, thereby causing those who later see the photo to cluck to themselves in a bemused, sing-song voice, "She's sucking i-in."

Secret No. 5: If you can get away with it without looking like a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl wannabe, try the look away trick. To do this, look away from the camera, then turn towards it, breaking into a smile just before the camera clicks. Your smile will appear fresh, not frozen. This trick takes practice behind closed, locked doors.

When taking a photo it's also important the photographer does not snap the picture from below. This adds another 20-50 pounds to the 10 pounds automatically and annoying added by the camera. Find out why cameras add 10 pounds in this article by Geek Sugar.

More tips on looking 10 pounds thinner in photos:

Use objects you are holding to your advantage by placing them in front of parts of you you'd prefer to hide. A purse or corsage in front of your belly. A jacket slung over the shoulder. (Gwyneth Paltrow used a perfectly placed purse to hide her baby bump before she announced her pregnancy with Apple).

Check out Spanx hosiery. The very modern version of the corset, Spanx are famous for making women all over the world appear 10 pounds thinner. I own four pairs. (Don't invest in the panty hose, like most hose, they tend to tear and these are pricey).

Fake tans will make you look and feel skinnier. Unfortunately, they tend to reek, except for GlowFusion, a spray tanner I swear is not odorous.

It's not just black that makes you look thinner. Wearing an entire outfit of just one color will do the trick as well, whether it be white, beige, brown, blue or red. One color tends to elongate your figure. Avoid entire outfits in pink, however, unless you are four years old or younger.


***I know this is a rather somewhat superficial post, but I'd like to think I was helping myself and others in the campaign to take advantage of a photo-op and make that picture moment yours. Really now, a photo can really make or break a person's self-esteem...come on, everyone wants to look good, so don't front.

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purchase Molly Wizenberg's new book

I have been reading Molly's blog (Orangette) for about a year now (I forgot how I stumbled across it) and have a subscription to Bon Appetit, where she writes articles monthly. Her new book was just released this month and I am truly looking forward to purchasing it. She makes me feel more passionate about cooking and reminds me that food always has a story of its own to tell.

Here is a little about her (according to Amazon):

About the Author
Molly Wizenberg is a freelance food writer and the creator of the award-winning blog Orangette. She is a regular contributor to Bon App - tit, and her writing has been featured on NPR.org and PBS.org and has been praised in The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The Seattle Times. Wizenberg has degrees in human biology, French, and cultural anthropology, but in 2005, she left the world of academia to write full-time.



***Wow! Three bachelor degrees!

Anyway, I love her writing style (although, I have to admit, I have to take breaks from the fluffy, frou-frou "foodie diaries" every once in a while and read stuff a bit more raw and dramatic) and so will you, so go get that book.

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don't forget to 'Spring Forward'...a summer segue

This is probably my most favorite time of the year--Daylight Savings Time! I love not having to drive home at 5 pm when it's already dark. Click here for a science read about daylight savings time: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3077304?GT1=43001 <--very informative. :D

I love how summer just seems just around the corner...I'm really looking forward to having BBQs and sunbathing to my heart's content whilst hopelessly, shamelessly reading gossip magazines and fun beach reads. I'm really going to feel guilty about being a sun goddess this summer though mainly because Momma Dukes really knows how to turn on the guilt feelers when she tells me, "Pauline, you know you're almost 30 ha...you'll look 40 by the time you're that age!"

Okay, maybe she could be right.

Oh geez, let's just get past spring and then I can start strategizing how I can get a damn tan without having to 'fend myself from the degenerating, dangerous rays of that heavily sought-after sun.

proselytized: organizing your inbox

My inbox has been the crux of my stress-impacted week on the emotional front. For the past two days, I've felt nothing but being upset at a certain incident. Maybe if I convert my inbox into simplicity-as with other things in my life- my days will certainly fare better.

Here is what the NY Times had to say about de-cluttering your inbox:

March 5, 2009
Basics
An Empty In-Box, or With Just a Few E-Mail Messages? Read On
By FARHAD MANJOO
SINCE e-mail became a fixture in our professional and personal lives, many academic researchers have investigated the complex mix of feelings brought on by the technology.

We feel guilty about being late in responding, about our in-boxes being disorganized, about the tens of thousands of unread messages that we’re sure we’ll never get to. What is it about e-mail that consumes us — that invades every corner of our personal space, demands ever more sophisticated methods of organization, and makes us wish for extra hours in the day to deal with the deluge? More important, how can we overcome it?

In the last few weeks, I set about finding a cure for e-mail anxiety. It was not the first time I’d done so; I’ve been looking for better ways to handle my mail since shortly after logging in to my first in-box.

Over the years, I’ve discovered many methods that worked for a while, but never permanently. For a while, I set up elaborate filters meant to automatically categorize every incoming message according to who sent it. Another time, I instituted a complicated system of color-coded labels aimed at getting me to understand which e-mail messages I had to respond to, which I had to save and which I could ignore.

But eventually every finely honed trick to tame my mail would collapse, and I’d backslide into a messy, undisciplined in-box. So in my search for a new way to deal with e-mail, I followed one guiding principle: Keep it simple. Any method that made too many demands on my time or my brain was bound to fail.

Fortunately, after much experimentation with various experts’ many tips, I’ve found something that works. Here are the basic rules:

LIMIT YOUR TIME WITH IT Turn off all auto-notifications that alert you to incoming mail, and if you must check mail while you’re on the go, keep it to a minimum. Here’s a good guideline that worked for me: Don’t dip into your in-box more than three times an hour. It’s unlikely that any message is so urgent that it can’t wait 20 minutes for your response — if it were, the sender would call, send an instant message or find some other way to reach you.

CLEAR OUT YOUR IN-BOX Set aside an hour or two to respond to every important message that has dogged you in the last couple months (anything older than that is too ancient to bother with). Next, move everything else into a new folder called Archive — this will be your storehouse of old mail.

Your in-box should now be empty. Think of this as its optimal state — your goal, from now on, will be to keep this space as pristine as possible, either empty or nearly so. To realize that goal, live by this precept: Whenever you receive a new message, do something with it. Don’t read your e-mail and then just let it sit there — that’s a recipe for chaos.

This isn’t always so easy. A day’s worth of mail demands a variety of complex actions, and the daunting task of figuring out how to respond to each message is probably what made your in-box untidy in the first place.

That’s where the next steps come in — an algorithm for dealing with incoming e-mail messages. For each new one you receive, take one of the following actions:

ARCHIVE IT Most e-mail messages require no action or response on your part — messages from Facebook letting you know that an old college pal has commented on your wall, for instance. Skim through these missives (or leave them unread), then shoot them into your archive and forget them.

RESPOND TO IT If the e-mail message calls for an easy answer, send it. Say a colleague wants to know if you’re up for dinner at his place on Saturday, or your boss wants to praise you for a job well done. Shoot back a quick response — “Yes!” or “Thanks!” — and then push the original message into your archive. The productivity guru and “Getting Things Done” author David Allen has a rule of thumb that comes in handy here: If responding is going to take two minutes or less, you’re better off doing it now than procrastinating.

FORWARD IT If the message is better handled by someone else — your boss, your sister, anyone but you — send it off to that person, then archive it.

HOLD IT FOR LATER This is the trickiest option. Some e-mail messages demand complicated answers. You don’t really want to dine with your colleague, but coming up with an excuse will take longer than two minutes. Other messages simply require information not yet available. Your friend wants to know if you’re up for watching the game on Sunday, but you’ve got to check with your spouse first.

You can leave these messages in your in-box with a promise to come back to them soon. (Depending on the mail program you use, you might want to set a reminder or a flag to make it stand out — in Microsoft Outlook, you can click the flag icon, or in Google’s Gmail, the star).

Be careful to avoid letting many such messages pile up. Carve out a short amount of time — perhaps 15 to 30 minutes at the end of the day — to respond to all flagged e-mail. Remember, your goal is to keep your in-box empty. Each message sitting there should serve as a stark, visible reminder of your undisciplined ways.

Notice that my system doesn’t include any complex method for organizing e-mail — I don’t categorize my messages into folders by sender, subject matter, date or any other scheme. That way lies distraction.

E-mail isn’t a test of your skills at making things look pretty; indeed, making things look pretty will only take time away from your goal of actually getting through your mail. Most modern e-mail programs include search engines that are powerful enough to find any message you need without the aid of a taxonomy.

Note, too, that this system is far from new. It was inspired by Mr. Allen’s ideas, and it’s been proselytized, in various forms, by a host of efficiency experts and people who have spent a lot of time wrestling with e-mail.

In particular, I relied partly on a series of essays and lectures put together by Merlin Mann, proprietor of the Web site 43 Folders, which aims to help you get a handle on how much attention you focus on unrewarding tasks, like e-mail.

It wasn’t easy for me to curb my time in my in-box. E-mail was like a drug, and I needed a constant fix. That’s a good sign you need help.

“People arrive at this because they’re feeling overwhelmed,” Mr. Mann said. “They feel like the train is going off the rails.” He was careful to add that much of what troubles people about modern life goes beyond e-mail — but you can think of fixing your in-box as a private victory for modern professionals. Once you deal with your e-mail, you’ll be able to tackle stuff that really matters.


**I can't wait until Friday, people!**
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etiquette 101

I never knew these blunders were as bad as described; check 'em out and see which ones you agree on (I know I spit in public, so shame on me):

The Worst (And Most Common) Etiquette Mistakes (according to Yahoo!)

Party Poopers When you receive an invitation to a dinner or party--whether by Evite, voicemail, or casual email--RESPOND. Yeah, that’s what that little “RSVP” thing means. Everyone knows it, yet it’s amazing how many don’t respond. Even for weddings! Planning a party or event requires a lot of work, so do the host a simple favor and let them know if you're coming or not.

Nickel & Dimin’ How annoying is it when you go to dinner with four or more people, the check finally arrives, and one of your meal companions begins to divvy up the check down to the last penny? Sure, we get that Sally had a shrimp salad, and Janet had two iced teas, while Beth only had water, and you ordered a slice of peach pie (a la mode, which is extra). The point is, if you go out to dinner with a group, be prepared to split the bill more or less evenly. If there's an outstanding cost differential, fine, estimate it and be done with it. The person who spends twenty minutes dividing the bill to the dime comes off as a cheapskate –- and kills the festive mood.

The Line-Up Lines are a fact of life. At the post office, the supermarket, just about everywhere these days. For starters, moaners who huff and gripe about standing in a line of three people for all of five minutes are tops on our list. Get over yourself -- if you don’t have a few minutes to wait to buy that loaf of bread, then pick it up another time. Another thing: Don’t show your impatience by creeping up so close to the person in front of you that they can feel your breath. Crowding those around you will not get you to the front any faster, so give them some space. Finally, cutting in line or trying to ignore the fact that there IS a line –- stop it! Everyone’s time is valuable.

The ME Show It’s great to hear all the crazy, wacky, wonderful things happening in the lives of others. Jobs, engagements, breakups, boyfriends, puppies, pregnancies, vacations — very good stuff, all of it. But once you’ve listened to a friend, family member, or colleague spout about their own fabulous life for an hour (or two), it’s normal to expect them to ask, “So, what’s going on with you?” Those who blab on about themselves while you listen intently, then don’t ask a thing about you in return are just plain rude.

Baby Biz Changing a poopy baby diaper around others is nasty -- and we're moms. Changing the other kind of baby diaper in public is one thing, but still should only be done when absolutely necessary!

Mobile Madness As much as we love the modern age, there are days when we long to go to a coffee shop, movie theatre, bookstore, or post office and not hear some teen queen dishing to her friend about last night's hot date with Todd or eavesdrop (unwillingly) on a screaming family feud. Mobile phones are essential, but please, people, pleeeeeeease, use a little restraint on the when's, what's, and where's. We're happy that Todd is "totally built" but we're going to have to start walking around town and slapping people with "TMI" tickets (yes, too much information).

Smokes Everyone has a right to smoke in public, but be conscious of whose face your smoke is blowing into. Are there kids nearby? And we just might kick the butt of the next person we see throwing their burning butt on the ground without putting it out. Really, find an ashtray or trashcan where you can extinguish and dispose of it properly -- that thing is garbage, not decoration for our streets and sidewalks.

The Pee & Flee Public bathrooms get used by everyone -- yup, they're public! So, making a mess of the toilet seat, and then prancing out without bothering to wipe it up -- not cool. Leaving a mess for the next visitor is completely unacceptable (and disgustingly unsanitary, of course). Take 10 seconds to rip off a piece of toilet paper, toilet seat cover, or a paper towel, and do your due diligence!

Stealing...a parking spot, that is. Yeah, you know who you are. If someone has their blinker on and is patiently waiting for a spot, it's theirs. And if you've already passed a spot up, it's gone. Treat others as you expect to be treated, and the parking goddesses will smile down upon you... eventually.

Belly Baring Men, women -- anyone who's passed puberty, everyone who isn't lounging poolside or oceanside -- resist the urge to bare those bellies. They may be beautiful, Buddha-like, jolly, but sometimes they can be flabby, hairy, and not ripe for public consumption. If you're jogging, fellas, t-shirts or tanks won't hurt your workout, so throw one on. Gals, midriff fashions are never really on our "Do" list, and that goes double if your age doesn't contain the word "teen." There are plenty of ways for all of us to flaunt what we got without sharing our tum-tums with the world.

Spitting This gets especially yucky when it's one of those enormous globs that looks like it could be alive. Some people (males, in particular) think it's kind of a cool-guy thing to do. We're here to tell ya that no one wants to see you hock a big gooey one out of your car, onto the sidewalk, or anywhere else for that matter. Try a tissue.

Honking Problem People who honk too often, too unnecessarily, or just to express their emotions are on our list of Most Etiquette Challenged. If you're trying to warn someone about a collision or problem, fine, otherwise it's not that serious. Give it a rest!

the gender divide

I couldn't sleep last night, so I started reading this book-mind you, Lats and I scoured all of Fremont's bookstores for this darn book- and I'm not entirely impressed thus far. This book was sold out all over the place, so it has to be stellar.





I'll let you know how it goes in my future book review.

I'm in such a crummy mood today and a good read would actually lighten my spirits a bit.

:(
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**EDIT: I returned this damn book this afternoon. DO NOT pay attention to the amazon.com reviews (they are usually spot-on with their ratings, but not this time)! This book makes too many blanket statements and gross generalizations; not to mention, I was totally aghast from the moment I started the first sentence of the first chapter because I ain't never met no man (pardon my ebonics) like the men he was describing. I just don't see how that book received 112 reviews and all of them averaged to ~4.8/5 stars. At least my Girlfriends, Season 6 DVD set proved fruitful. =)

Going public...

I always wondered if it was more advantageous to attend a private school over a public one. I attended public schools for most of my formative years going into high school and decided to try a private college for a change. All in all, it was an interesting experience but considering the fact that I have and always be a "late bloomer", maybe a parochial, Catholic education during a period where I wanted to wile out and break out of my sheltered upbringing proved to be futile and almost worked against me. Come on, can you imagine the "Catholic guilt" that was playing on me when I would do impious acts (i.e., GETTING KRUNKED! :D) on a Catholic campus-I'd have to say my entire tenure in college was spent being a walking-hypocrite.

I'd like to say I feel bad for the parents right now that are contemplating on "going public" and switching their children from the private school system to the public school districts, but maybe we all need that lesson in living within our means and cutting out the unnecessary bullshit (for lack of better terminology). Check out this NY Times article on the switch that is happening: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/fashion/01private.html?em. I've always been a proponent in attending public school over private because one usually gets a better cross-sectional in how "real" life operates versus being immersed in the milieu of trust-fund babies or the wealthy upper crust. However, if your parents can afford to provide you with private school education, why not take it?

I swear, the dour status of the economy makes you realize what really matters in life.