links for 2007-08-31
2007.08.31 @ 06:19-
When to exit a failing venture. stolen from Ari
links for 2007-08-30
2007.08.30 @ 06:18-
If your SSN was stolen thanks to your alma mater, go here!
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Brilliant
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skoda!!!!
A hairy situation
2007.08.29 @ 15:37From African Path:
A Glamour magazine beauty editor told a women’s luncheon of a Wall Street law firm, Cleary Gottlieb, that Black female attorneys should avoid wearing “political” hairstyles like dreadlocks or Afros, because these hairstyles are seen as unattractive and unprofessional.
Cue the harpies.
From an email forward I received:
#1.
AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO THE GLAMOUR EDITOR WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD HARD SLAP ACROSS HER UGLY FACE.
#2.
Folks…..can you believe this bs? I intend to write a letter to Glamour and I encourage you all to do the same. I personally think the magazine is trash and I don’t read it anyway, but I do plan on never even glancing at a copy as long as this woman still works there.
It’s because no one ever says or does anything that people like this get away with their bs everyday.
And then, more missed opportunities for reasoned discourse on the matter:
Now, I wasn’t at that luncheon, but from what I can gather, I have to disagree, publicly, with the notion that what the beauty editor said, given the context of her comments, was all that crazy. And I am disappointed that, from what I can see, everybody gotta get all loud and wavin’ their hands and shakin’ their ass about this.
Surely we all, as well-educated people, understand the reality in which we live, and the judgments that are heaped upon us by the ignorant, many of whom sit above us on the totem pole.
- Are afros and dreadlocks unprofessional? No.
- Does having your hair styled in such a manner mean you are any less competent at what you do? No.
- Does there exist a perception by some that afros and dreadlocks are indicative of a certain socioeconomic class standing? Yes.
- If this perception is held by a gatekeeper, commanding officer, or potential client, could having an afro or dreadlocks prevent upward advancement and mobility? Yes.
- Is this fair, just, right, equitable? NO!
- But is it true? Yes.
Women cannot the deny the reality of the bullshit we have to deal with. We’re supposed to be sexy and attractive in the workplace, but not TOO sexy and attractive. We’re supposed to have nice round breasts — but not TOO big, because then that’s just stripper-nasty. We’re supposed to wear tailored and trim clothes, but not TOO tight.
Should we have the right to be who we want to be? YES! But if we want to play the game, we have to understand the reality of the political playing field in which we exist. We can always choose to walk away from said game.
Look, let’s face it: people above us on the food chain aren’t all smart, and some of them are downright stupid. They hold beliefs that are terribly atavistic. We can choose to get all riled up and pissy about it, or we can say to ourselves, “Yes, this is a dumb-ass notion, but it’s held by people who have power over my destiny.” Maturity is recognizing the reality of a situation, no matter how downright depressing, and making a decision based on that reality.
In the meantime, all the crackheads who think that afros and dreadlocks are unprofessional are getting older every day, so with luck the next generation won’t have to deal with this kind of 1952 thinking.
See also: the Abercrombie & Fitch Look Book that told its retail workers how they could and could not wear their hair (not allowed: dreadlocks)
Maybe I’m missing something here, but that’s just my two cents.
Related: women & c-level gigs
links for 2007-08-29
2007.08.29 @ 06:18-
stupid harvard grads
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ANP confidence also down in august! sniffle
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20% off w/code AAP832822 at checkout
links for 2007-08-28
2007.08.28 @ 06:18Explanation, part one
2007.08.27 @ 16:13I’ve fired Mr. First-At-Bat because, let’s face it, if you’re gonna play ball with ANP, you’ve gotta step up and realize you’re in the big leagues. And I ain’t just talkin’ ’bout my big feet.
Hangin’ with my fine ass ain’t no tee ball game.
links for 2007-08-27
2007.08.27 @ 06:18-
I do want to point out that I am related to the runner up of a Miss Indiana.
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I remember seeing this movie but I have no idea where or why
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Dammit, all the good ones are taken.
P’recipe for authenticity
2007.08.27 @ 00:21I think that one of my greatest strengths is my compassion. Despite the bad-ass persona I like to flaunt like so many high, well-rounded, firm half-Asian ass-cheeks, the reality is I’m a fuckin’ squishy bear. That’s right, I modified squishy bear with the f-bomb. When I see people being treated unfairly, or when I smell unkindness afoot, protecto-ANP arrives on the scene, if only to calm the searing painful heat that rises within me.
Maybe I see a projection of the ANP as a young girl in those that I perceive to be receiving the short end of some stick. Maybe my desire to help, to put my man-hands over the hearts of those around me, is really me trying to reach back through time to heal the wounds of that little girl I used to be.
(Was this why, when I felt a shift inside of me during the Reiki healing energy circle I went to a few months ago, I had a distinct vision of the “main thoroughfare” (!) of my hometown in Indiana?)
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On the flip side, though, is that this feely thing I got goin’ on is also my greatest weakness. I cannot not give a shit. Things matter to me. Life matters. When I bring the ANP, I bring the ANP. The love. The pain. (Wu Tang, what!) I cannot tell my y-axis to chill it out and keep the sine wave dampened. It’s gonna be bold and big and it’s gonna sparkle with benevolent brisance.
I cannot shrink wrap my self. In love, in life, in work. I need to be allowed — no, no, encouraged – to put it in H. I mean, seven. I’m a high octane girl. I need to seek those spaces, those kindred spirits, that celebrate that about me.
I will not diminish the whole of me simply because my presence invokes the insecurities of others.
I will be me, all seven speeds, volume cranked to eleven, without apology.
I just wish it didn’t hurt me so much to have to make these kinds of decisions. I wish I didn’t have to cut dead weight.
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Paris hotels
2007.08.26 @ 21:55This is long overdue, but here’s some “color” around the three hotels I stayed in while in Paris.
My Parisian holiday started at the Hotel Lenox Saint-Germain, 9 rue de l’Universite, 75007 Paris France. +33 14 296 1095. As recommended by Hewitt, whose taste in all manner of things stylish is impeccable:
Can’t beat the location… Steps to St. Germain, the Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre.
I paid 426E ($595) for the two nights I stayed there. I was able to grip some free wireless internet from the neighborhood, and took a nice tub in my bathroom (which was located atop the cutest, and least disability-friendly set of stairs within my attic room). This is the room that made me want to buy a writing desk (which I’ve since done), and the neighborhood this was in encouraged me to move to a more walking-friendly neighborhood.
Highly recommended if you like charming spaces with front desk peeps who will say things like, “Your French is terrible, yes?”
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After my business meeting in London, I came back and stayed at the modern Oceania Paris Porte de Versaille, 52 rue d’Oradour sur Glane. I found it through Skoosh.com as found by Mobissimo. If I recall, this room was closer to $150 for the night I stayed there. There was a fabulous breakfast buffet — no Aruba Westin, mind you — and a great indoor pool. I definitely enjoyed a nice long steam and a relaxing swim the next morning.
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It was this hotel room that made me want to consider a more dramatic headboard solution for my bedroom, which I have since begun with a few of the DWR Cubitec kits.
I would definitely stay here again, but only during warm months. It’s in the middle of nowhere. (Free wireless, though!)
My final accommodation in Paris was at Le Meridien Montparnasse, 19 Rue du Commandant Mouchotte, 75014, +33 1 4436 4436.
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I found Le Meridien through my Starwood card. My Starwood card has quickly become my top-of-wallet piece o’ plastic. Low annual fee ($35), rockstar American Express customer service, and very low redemption thresholds. I barely used my card last year and had enough points (1,000) to redeem for a free night at Le Meridien (retail value: $400). I’ve since shifted “share” away from my PremierPass (whose bills kept getting lost in the mail, resulting in late fees and finance charges — yukkers).
Anyhoo, Le Meridien let me check in as soon as I arrived (three or four hours before check-in time), had my name on the television screen wishing me hello, had a nice tub and great bed, but was a high rise hotel requiring lots of walking before getting anywhere interesting. That said, if I was a baller with a car or a driver or a lover who made money and had a subscription to Car & Driver, I wouldn’t mind staying here again. It was LMM that made me appreciate why someone would want to live a high-rise overlooking the City. Who knows, maybe that’ll be me someday.
In the meantime, I’ll visit places like that for free thanks to points-earning credit cards. If you, too, want to get your mitts on the AmEx Starwood Card, go here. Enter Unique ID 3071645420 and I’ll get a few thousand Starpoints too. Who knows, maybe I’ll let you be my hotel guest.
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