Carousel: Week Ending 22nd January 2010

[ 22 January 2010 ]

Paris Hilton.

Lush does spa treatments now! They offer a multi-sensory massage (at select stores) called SYNAESTHESIA & I want one sooooo badly. Can someone remind me to do it when I’m in London next? Watch the video, it looks incredible. Additionally, Mark Constantine is a rad guy.

Zac Posen for Target looks fantastic. I am all over this & this. SO cute.

I know I keep linking to wedding stuff, but please don’t get excited on my behalf. I have no news for you! I started reading Rock N Roll Bride, mostly because I love good photography, especially of girls in beautiful dresses, & then it blossomed from there. Aieee. Anyway, this is really gorgeous, too gorgeous not to mention: The Unbelievably Lovely Faery Wedding.

Julia wrote the politics of vintage: part one, & it is pretty darn interesting. Thanks to Amelia for the link! (Amelia also does fantastic subversive embroidery, peep that ish!)

Has anyone in London been to Le Chandelier? It looks mad cute!

Check out this rad photos of Kerin Rose, founder of A-Morir (you know, the bedazzling queen!).

50 Steps To Simple Happiness from New York Magazine. This is full of interesting facts, like that the scents of green apple & cucumber reduce anxiety & improve mood & that there is a 24-hour spa in the middle of Manhattan! Plus, did anyone notice the first tip by the acupuncturist is basically a super-minimalist version of EFT?!

Wear The Cake & Eat It!

Ooooooooh the Alice In Wonderland site is live. I’m so excited! Arrrrgh!

75 Ways To Make Money Now! Some of this is NYC-specific, but a lot of it isn’t. Good ideas if you’re feeling a little short on cash!

For $65, tourists get peek at Los Angeles gangland. WOW! WHAT?!

Big Girls: Don’t Cry, holler back! I love this.

4 SALE: BARELY-USED LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW – MAKE ME AN OFFER!!! (Universal Studios) Oh, Conan.

A Spell To Re-Genius Yourself from Rob Brezsny. This is an excerpt from Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia, Revised & Expanded: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings which is truly fantastic.

Here is more Rob Brezsny: Rob Brezsny doesn’t do drugs, but advocates all sorts of mind-expanding activities for others & Rob Brezsny on God, media & why we’re better off than you think.

I had to go through a long period of ripening my own cynicism and deep critique of modern culture. I couldn’t earn the right to speak on the universe showering us with blessings until I made peace with my dark goddess. [My 2000 novel] The Televisionary Oracle, was about that long encounter with [the] dark goddess, becoming better allies with one’s own shadow, understanding how my own negative imprints made me a hypocrite, and was ruining my own happiness by attracting experiences that weren’t interesting or fun. There’s an element of that in everyone’s life. I needed to do that in order to live by the hypotheses of Pronoia [Evil is boring. Cynicism is idiotic. Fear is a bad habit. Despair is lazy. Joy is fascinating. Love is an act of heroic genius. Pleasure is your birthright. Receptivity is a superpower.]

One of the major additions to the new book is [the chapter] “Glory in the Highest.” It’s eight times longer than the original. I went gung ho tracking down glorious things happening. I wonder, is there something wrong with me? Do I have some perversion to be on the lookout for these things? Just to sum up a few examples – it’s dramatically more peaceful on the planet, there’s been a steep decline in weapon sales and refugees, crime’s at its lowest since they started measuring the statistic, the number of people living in poverty worldwide has fallen a third. We’re healthier than our ancestors by far, and our life expectancy is rising. There’s a lot of valid attention to torture these days, but it’s practiced at a much lower rate – it used to be a significant part of many legal systems. I love gathering that data. Things aren’t quite as bad as you’re saying. There’s a value in gathering all the information about things that are working as a whole. They are parallels of things working in one’s own life personally. I’m not saying we should be ignoring bad things, but pay more attention to that glory. Try keeping a list of all the things that work for you, and it will fill you with delight.

My boy Sam likes to write about hip-hop. 10 Artists That Prove Grime Has A Future.

The Mast Brothers at their Chocolate Factory in Brooklyn via The Selby. Yum.

More chocolate: 20 of The World’s Most Beautiful Chocolate Package Designs. The packaging for No9 is my favourite, I think. (& the Mast Brothers chocolate is mentioned! Small world, mmm?)

Also: Terrific Treehouses: 10 Brilliant Topiary Masterpieces. I had dinner at the Yellow Treehouse restaurant — it was fantastic.

Korres, who make really wonderful cosmetics & body products, are having their annual sale! Up to 65% off. Their soy vanilla candle (which I have in the bedroom) is down to $15 & smells amazing. Or you can get their jasmine little value set — I promise you that the jasmine lip butter is the most delicious thing you could possibly put on your mouth. It smells like cotton candy, but the good kind!

Lagerfeld & Friends from Go Fug Yourself. Oh this is so so so funny.

Promises are for liars, pet. JUICE THE TRUTH, you naughty orange.

I AM A CHOCOLATE-FROSTED CAKE OF A MAN! PUT A CANDLE IN MY EAR AND BLOW ME OUT! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Neil of 1000 Awesome Things told me about his friend’s blog, Raptitude while we were on the phone last night, & it is SO GOOD! My favourites: 88 Important Truths I’ve Learned About Life (honestly, fantastic), The One Ingredient Necessary For Accepting Yourself (again, fantastic) & This Will Never Happen Again.

Get a behind the scenes peek as Luxirare makes black suede ankle boots! I’d never seen the shoe-making process before, so this was very interesting to me!

Heidi Montag has a new face.

Different Strokes. Is a totally mismatched sex drive between two otherwise well matched people who like each other a rational reason to end a relationship? Interesting answers.

No relationship is issue free. Sometimes an unparalleled sex drive is one of those stress topics. What breaks a relationship apart is not the concerns, but how those concerns are managed.

Christopher Hitchens on “Like” from Vanity Fair.

Chatroulette: A Fascinating Site, For Mature Audiences Only. This is rad, it reminds me of time spent on IRC where you never knew who you’d meet.

Can you find the interloper? Hahahahah. I love this.

Neanderthals wore make-up!

Watching hours of TV daily could shorten your life. No huge surprise there…

The study, published in “Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association,” found every hour in front of the TV was associated with an 11 percent increased risk of death from all causes, a 9 percent higher risk of cancer death, and an 18 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) related death.

This MacBook cover is fantastic. Vintage book? Sign me up. It seems like it would be heavy, though…

Here, have some Dealbreaker goodies. They’re free! It’s Complicated: (The Facebook Status, Not The Movie), Dealbreaker: You Dye Your Vagina & Guest(Friend)Breaker: You Can’t Do Anything Without Your Boyfriend.

Nonpareil Ariel’s cat ran away from home & now needs hip surgery, because she got hit by a car! BOO! If you can donate, please do. The donate button is on the left!