Carousel: Week Ending 27th August 2010

Carousel

Hello!

Before we jump into the internet whirlwind waiting for you below, I wanted to draw your attention to the fact that I’m speaking at Evolving Influence at New York Fashion Week (again!) this year! I’m so thrilled to have been invited back & I can’t wait to make my presentation. This time, I’m not on a panel, but sharing the stage with Yuri Lee of Lookbook.nu, & we’ll be talking about growing your audience, stoking their fire & getting them engaged! We’ll have lots of time to speak individually as well as lots & lots of Q&A! So bring yo’ questions!

Get Involved: Cultivate a passionate readership
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Brought to you by theFashionSpot
One of the best parts about blogging is community engagement. Learn from the masters how to get your readers excited about your blog, and how to keep the love alive!

Awesome! I’m so excited. If you’re going to be in town, snap up a ticket, because they’re going QUICKLY! Also, if you do come along, come & say hi to me afterwards! I love meeting you guys in person, & you’re all soooooo charming, it is fabulous!

If you CAN’T make it to New York City (I understand! I am very understanding! Heeee!), it will be streamed live too! I’ll put the links up when I have them, so you don’t have to miss a thing!

Okay, public announcement over. Here’s the rest of the madness!

How To Talk Dirty: 50 Examples That’ll Make You Blush! I love this article! It actually gives you examples to work from, which is very kind!

Edita Vilkeviciute by Camilla Akrans is a gooooorgeous photoshoot & perfect for my Antipodean darlings who are about to head into the springtime!

The packaging of this chocolate milk is absolutely exquisite. Doesn’t it make you want to buy it? But I can’t work out HOW to buy it! Does this company even exist?! WHY MUST YOU EVADE ME CHOCOLATE MILK?!

Would you ever go to a love hotel? They’re becoming popular in Venezuela!

Name Calling by Stoya.

Some people seem to think that knowledge of a public persona’s real name is some kind of power to wield, like an old pulp fantasy novel in which a demon can be summoned by the proper pronunciation of its twelve syllable long name.

It’s not.

When someone says “Hey, I know your real name!” they aren’t getting my attention in a good way. What they’re telling me is they have no respect for boundaries and are probably stalker material. It makes me less likely to reply, and reminds me of the fact that for every few thousand wonderful (and usually quite interesting) people that follow my work, read my babble (on twitter, tumblr, xcritic, popporn, and other places), and watch my dirty movies there’s one who kind of wants to skin me and stuff me with dryer lint to make their own personal Stoya doll.

The pros & cons of shoplifting. This article is so interesting!

How to seduce anything. How do you feel about the “seduction” community? Creepy & sleazy, or just a practical application of knowledge?

Hey hey! Five ways to become happier today!

A very good predictor of well-being is what psychologist Tim Kasser calls time affluence. Time affluence is the thing that we have time to sit down and chat with our friends while — not while being on the phone at the same time or text messaging at the same time, being with that person.

Oh, REALLY: Thinking yourself to orgasm!

I love this one. Why you can’t work at work. He makes some excellent points. This is one reason why I love working from home!

“Yeah, my feeling is that the modern workplace is structured completely wrong. It’s really optimized for interruptions. And interruptions are the enemy of work. They are the enemy of productivity, they are the enemy of creativity, they are the enemy of everything. But that’s what the modern workplace is all about, it’s interruptions. Everyone’s calling meetings all the time, everyone’s screaming people’s names across the thing, there’s phones ringing all the time. People are walking around. It’s all about interruptions. And people go to work today, and then they end up doing most of their real work after work, or on the weekends. So, people are working longer hours, people are tired – I’m working 50-60 hours this week. It’s not that there’s 50 or 60 hours worth of work to do, it’s because you don’t work at work anymore. You go to work to get interrupted.”

Sarah Wilson has the goods. Finding your daily launch pad is about this woman who stopped all digital action for A MONTH. A MONTH! A month without Twitter, email, Facebook, etc… Doesn’t it sound terrifying/delicious?

Mickey Mouse mania for men! Would your boyfriend wear a Mickey Mouse shirt? (Mine wouldn’t.)

Treehouses! Everyone loves a good treehouse.

Rebecca Minkoff has a blog, Minkette, which is so cute! Full of inspiring pictures & ideas. Well done!

Tim Ferriss knows how to grab your attention with a title. Viz: How Authors Really Make Money: The Rebirth of Seth Godin & Death of Traditional Publishing. It’s a good read, too, if you’re interested in that kind of thing.

Shayna Batya takes great photos.

What do you call yourself? Labels — & words — are important. What you call yourself matters. Read this sweet little piece to find out why.

The Most Important Thing That Men Who Have Sex With Women Need to Know. Yes! Charlie rules.

Resentment is one of the most common reasons that relationships fail. Therapists often say that couples come to them saying that they’re having sexual difficulties and when they start to actually talk about it, it turns out that there are all sorts of old resentments, hidden anger, and miscommunications. If you want sex to work, especially in a long-term relationship, you need to deal with whatever’s going on between you.

You knew it was going to happen eventually. TRON Sutra. Not safe for work!!!

This is so delightfully odd.

Make sure you love yourself sick before you leave the house each morning. Amen sister!

Why working at home is both awesome & horrible. Hahahah!! Except I don’t think any of those horrible things are that horrible!

I love Shae! It is no big secret. Starr interviewed her here & it’s a fantastic read!

Introduction to Life Design by Jessica Mullen. WHOAH! Loving it!

Leo in Bed. Would you want this bed? I would… & yes, I do have lots of Leo in my chart! Ha!

Attached to technology & paying a price from the New York Times. I feel this quite acutely. I’ve made some changes — most nights I leave my laptop in my office after about 6pm, so I can focus on The Dish & the dogs & the time we have together. Do you think your use of technology is interfering with your relationships?

20 Things I’ve Learned From Travelling Around The World For Three Years, including “people are generally good”, “the media lies” & “the world is boring”.

Pharrell Williams is a good egg.

I saw firsthand how Pharrell is with kids while watching him work later that day. During a recording session in the studio, one of his friends stopped by and brought along his 9 year-old son. The young boy was in awe when he met Pharrell. He shook the young boy’s hand and told him he was allowed anytime he wanted to come hang out, but the only way his body guard would let him in would be with his good grades.

This song is fantastic!

Oh my… this is funny.

Also good.