Recent politcal fuckery that makes one want to flail their arms around and try to explain that The Handmaid's Tale isn't supposed to be a guidebook doesn't help.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Times a million. It's as brilliant genre mashup that opened the floodgates for later stuff. It's dry, dry British humor mixed with magic and high society. Love.

What, are you saying Oryx and Crake wasn't a light-hearted romp!?

Ooh, I like these games.

Oh god, I remember when I dyed my hair blue in high school... it was like someone had murdered a Smurf in there. Mom was not thrilled. Much bleach was used.

Oregon is full-service as well. Apparently Portlanders can't be trusted not to blow themselves up or something.

If had known that ordering baked goods on demand was one of the perks of being a teacher, I may have rethought my career choices!

Sounds like your teacher just had a craving for some chocolate cake. Was it more of a, "Is anyone here German? If so, I've got a great idea for your project!" sort of situation?

I am so stealing that analogy. Brilliant.

What, you don't want a dress that intentionally looks like you got the hem stuck in your panties?

Also a dash of "I might live in a one-room shack with all six members of my family, but at least I'm better than a slave!"

I do think he excels at a shorter form, where he can rely on quick sketches of well-known archetypes and skew them just-so... here's one of his more famous short stories. Give it a read and then decide if Gaiman is for you or not:

They're saying it won't. Doesn't change the fact that their profits will now support a company that does do animal testing.

Worst week ever for cosmetic companies I like. Illamasqua pulls this shit, Urban Decay sells out to L'Oreal... Hmm. Perhaps my post-holiday giftcards will be spent on shoes this year.

Nooo idea. But it at least explains the misguided genesis for this whole WTFuckery.

They're selling a "Black Christmas" gift set of black eyeliner, black eyeshadow, etc.

I agree that various mono-chromatic images would have been way cooler to go with the "Not Dreaming of a White Christmas" tag line... but the ad is to sell their "Black Christmas" gift set. They went about it in the most head-desk inducingly way possible.

Super awesome, since the ad copy is all about "express your inner self on the outside" and "who you are and not who you're told to be." Which apparently for white girls gets to mean being a dj or ... whatever this is. Flower delivery bird person on a bike? Anyway. Not things that are nods to the model's race.

Remember Human Fundamentalism? AKA, the ad campaign where they finally used not one, but two black models? One of which was this, the other one was decked out in hip-hop gear? ... yeah.

They have a gift set called "Black Christmas." So... they went a little too literal with it.