When I was growing up, a cousin who was darker than me used to get teased about her skin. A cousin who was lighter than me went through a phase where she’d go around putting her arm next to her relative’s arms to point out that she was lighter than them. I’ve never received negative messages about my skin colour…

Thanks for this post, because I think it explains why when I buy dried bay leaves at the supermarket, they smell and taste completely different from what my granny used to cook with. I looked in up and what she would have used is the West Indian bay, Pimenta racemosa. I never realized it was a completely different…

I miss the version of Jezebel where a mod would have squashed all this numbers talk in the the comments. The version where we had the “no ‘cute shoes’” rule? Anyone else remember that? ...I think I’ve been around here too long.

“That is not me.”

The music I could live without (although I don’t hate it). The video I like a lot. It’s so exuberantly goofy, and the shot above is really kind of lovely.

This just reminded me that I went to Prague around the middle of last year, all the young Czech tour guides brought up the US election campaign and were like, “So this guy who’s running for president in your country is a lot like the guy we have as president now, who is awful. Awful, awful, awful. Worst president…

I have a friend who spells ok/okay like this: ohk

The moment I recall most vividly from the inauguration coverage, which I watched in bits and pieces, was after Trump’s speech, when one of the (NBC, I think) announcers said something like, “And we saw Barack Obama listening to the speech... he appeared at times to be biting his lip!”

This reply is very late, but: YES! It wasn’t until I started using setting spray that I managed to have my make-up look the way I wanted it to. Setting sprays kind of blur/soften the finish on the whole look, so everything looks somehow fresher and more natural. Also they really are great at keeping makeup in place.…

I too am ready for my new Chinese overlords. I’ve been preparing for a while, even learning Mandarin and everything.

Not going to lie, as soon as I read the headline I guessed that the family involved was Guyanese. I moved to Guyana a few years ago from another Caribbean country, and within a week I was so appalled and depressed by the frequency of reports about women being brutally murdered by their husbands that I stopped reading…

I’m no longer in Edinburgh, I’ve moved back to the tropics, yay! And I would be delighted to have another set of prints; I can message you on Etsy with a US address you could send them to, if the offer still stands. Thank you so much!

Yes, you are! I bought a set of your mini tropical plant prints years ago when I was living in Edinburgh and feeling homesick. A few days after they arrived a friend had a birthday that I’d totally forgotten and I gave them to her (somewhat reluctantly) as a gift. But for the short while that they belonged to me, they…

Totally unrelated, but are you an artist and do you/did you used to sell (among other things) little business card-sized watercolours of plants on Etsy?

I’m always surprised at how pretty her feet are given all the times she spends dancing in heels and stuff.

Those are pretty simple braids, so probably not even an hour. I’m crappy at hair, but I can do two french braids in less than 15 minutes. Add another 15 to braid the added hair all the way down to the ends, maybe? It’s not that elaborate of a do.

There are rappers in the Korean hiphop scene who are doing hiphop that is its own thing and that isn’t actively mimicking American culture, lingo, AAVE etc., who are using the medium to speak to/about their own personal, cultural, social experiences. There are even a few people in the scene speaking up about what it…

It’s supposed to be both: “to anyone” and “twenny-one”, if that makes sense.

Gizeh is my fave Birkenstock style. I have a snazzy new red pair that I wear everywhere that isn’t the office. I also had my eye on a black snakeskin texture pair and a silver pair, but decided to exercise some restraint and just go with the red. They are so comfortable, it’s ridiculous. My feet love them.

Those Beyincé eyebrow genes are strong as hell. I remember a while back Beyoncé posted a picture of her grandfather or greatgrandfather or something and he had those same brows. They just don’t quit.