I can't say many nice things about Urban (I got such a ridiculous run around after not getting picked for basically an exec asst position in the buyers office (overqualified) for Terrain and then getting recruited a few weeks later for an interview for an asst buyer at Urban and although the recruiter seemed to love…

I remember spending 2 and a half hours folding the floor to ceiling jean wall —-with 5 different kinds of jean cuts—-each with their own signature fold (at the store down the street from the home office in 1998, so it had to be ^%$#&^& perfect) and then watching a group of 14 year old ruin it within 10 minutes :) …

I vote for grad school. I started grad school 9 years after I got my BA With my BA. ( from a well known — well regarded state school) I realized that I was only qualified to be a glorified secretary and it bored me a lot ) so long story short, realized that I wanted to work in museums, went to grad school and now work…

I can still see it in my head, she got all vacant-eyed and spooky— that was some book report! Meanwhile I skated through with "Robinson Crusoe" which I hadn't really read— and still haven't. I think we had to make "commercials" for the books or something. That poor teacher. Ha! Haven't thought if that in years!

Oh my god, I am Loving your blog! Thank you for posting a link! Someone in my 6th grade reading class presented a book report on My Sweet Audrina and she set up a rocking chair in front of the class and did a whole monologue as Audrina. It was some spooky sh*t and I'm sure our teacher wanted to leave the room when he…

That actually was a passage that terrified me about my (still a year+ away at that time) period. I didn't understand anything I was reading, but it all just stuck in my head like spiderwebs.

but if they don't build up the ballet theme, how will they get to the part (in petals on the wind??Or no, maybe the 3rd book?) where she's a prima ballerina and her dance partner jumps on her toes on purpose? Why didn't chemistry formulas stay in my head like stupid plot points in crap books?

I guess funny is a quick way to get attention—- and with the way that twitter and vine and instagram move so quickly you have to do a LOT to get attention for more than a few moments. It is really so interesting to think about!

I went to college in Massachusetts and had classes with a small number of people from some areas around Boston who had NEVER shared a class with a black person before. It really did boggle my mind at the time. Maybe it is pretty common. On the flip side of that, in the area around my school I eventually made friends…

Yes, there is definitely some kind of "if I didn't do it to offend anybody, why are you getting mad at me?" rule that seems to be brand new. I'm not racist, it is just funny. I'm not racist, black people say that word too, I'm not racist. If I taught a high school history class, I would ask them to write down ten…

Ahh, I didn't think about the geography of things. And you are right, on the east coast, I was in an east coast bubble newswise, unless some kid fell into a well or something like that on the other side of the country and it made national news.

Also, from the early 1900s through 1940s, Pickaninnies and watermelon were popular on southern postcards, in advertising, etc etc. This google image search will give you a quick intro. I think it is based around the idea that watermelon was grown by slaves and then sharecroppers in the small patches available for…

Yes! someone else said it really well on this thread too, that the new definition of racism seems to be membership in the KKK and anything less than that "isn't racist" Hanging an effigy of the black president from a noose for halloween "isn't racist" wearing blackface to a party "isn't racist" —- I would agree that…

That's a great point too. I'd bet that the school district I grew up in in the early 80s hasn't 'racially planned' (can't think of a better word) their classes since the late 80s. And when you don't have a reason to mix socially, you probably don't. Even with the blended classrooms, in that school district, the…

I think you are right, it is amazing how complicated this can be. Maybe there were things that just seemed so "obvious" about race when these kids were growing up, that their parents didn't make a point of talking about them—-so the kids never really learned the obvious anyway. Every now and then when some federal…

I can't figure this out. I'm in my late 30s and black and my friends of different races never treated race the way some younger people seem to now—- and I'm also aware that I'm not making a whole lot of sense with this comment, but I'm just confused. I'm almost 40. My circle of friends grew up watching old cartoons…

Totally hear you on the trigger thing. Watched with my family when it aired this fall and I'm a rape survivor who had a very drawn out legal case around my rape, so I was triggered and jittery from the scene and my parents were triggered and jittery from the scene (although they aren't therapy types, so they would…

Totally hear you on the trigger thing. Watched with my family when it aired this fall and I'm a rape survivor who had a very drawn out legal case around my rape, so I was triggered and jittery from the scene and my parents were triggered and jittery from the scene (although they aren't therapy types, so they would…

It should really be fantastic :) and if you haven't visited before, make your 2nd trip in the late spring when the gardens will be in full bloom! There's a tram that takes you through the gardens (I was amazed by the grounds when I came here!) hope you enjoy it!

A friend was just getting into Downton when season 3 was airing in the uk (I was watching it through the uk, she was watching season 1 and 2 on netflix— the day after the Sybil death show aired she had this whole babble happy Downton conversation about how it will be amazing to see Sybil in the 20s and being a flapper…