Symphony of space

Allergy season feels like it's starting already. Work is going to be the worst in a week or two.

Blouse - vintage
Skirt, leggings - AA
Boots - secondhand, ebay
Necklace - ASOS

Details:

Anyway, I've been remiss in posting photos of Ondine, so check out her sweet gold glitter softpaws:

Unlike Opal, Ondine cannot be cloned:

20z night

When my husband and I were dating, a friend asked him to invite me to 80's night somewhere. She spelled it 80z night, though, which Rj read as 80 ounce night and wondered if it involved two forties and a bucket.

I never actually drank 40s in my underage days - we went for Bacardi 151, since we were classy. Still, last night I ordered a Crispin cider at a beer garden (is it still a beer garden if it's indoors?) and was surprised by how comically big the bottle was - not 80 ounces, but more than 20.

Detail:

I've been trying to wear this dress more, but it's really, really overwhelming to wear in the daylight - these are reflections off of the dress onto the walls of the apartment:

Opal was especially intrigued by the reflections:

Leap Day outfit

Stripes on stripes, is it too much or just enough?

Necklace - little pancakes on etsy
Top - Forever 21
Skirt - thrifted
Boots - ebay

Leap year

This was going to be an entry about things that have irritated me lately, but I am trying to be make better life choices and dwelling on things I can't change, or have tried to change and failed, is not one.

Details:

Retro futurism

Not too long ago, I was a wee undergrad who was obsessed with looking like an alien, which included wearing glow in the dark star stickers for a good few weeks. About 90% of my life has been an awkward stage.

I was so excited when I found this shirt in a thrift store last year for that reason, especially since space-themed items were popular as well as cool. Sadly, I've barely worn it since thrifting it, which I should change! Today I picked space-y accessories, but maybe it will look good with one of my many pencil skirts.

I also need to wear these shoes more:

The full outfit:

Coney Island in February

Today was so nice out that I went to Coney Island with my brother today!

Anorak - secondhand Old Navy
Blouse - secondhand Banana Republic
Sweater - H & M
Pants - J Crew, last year
Shoes - secondhand Bass loafers

I was wearing this anorak when I was hit by a car, you can see what it looked like if you are so inclined to see the blood, which travelled to the hem of the jacket, as scalp wounds bleed profusely. I considered trying to make OxyClean Ultra Max myself, as I make my own laundry detergent anyway, but figured it was cheaper and more environmentally friendly to buy the tested product than to replace an almost perfectly good jacket. At any rate, it worked! Unfortunately, it doesn't work on wool, so the vintage wool skirt I was wearing might be the second material casualty of my hit and run.

At any rate, I think going for a walk on the beach on an unseasonally warm February day was a nice way to appreciate the fact that I and my spouse could have died but are fairly unscathed. I hope we see many more Februaries, warm or not, though I now fully understand how unpredictable death is.

What people mean when they say sh*t

So, now that the the Sh*t _____ Say meme seems to have finally died down, maybe we can start with Sh*t ______ say when they mean other sh*t. On a largely female forum I frequent (not reddit 2XC), someone asked if we're offended or pleased if we're told "You look so young, like a high schooler!" It turned into a really great discussion, and a few ideas came up.

1. Men don't hear this nearly as frequently
2. This is often used to mean "I will not be taking you seriously" and is especially irritating if you encounter it at work.
3. It is a creepy, roundabout way a man can tell a woman "I'd have sex with you," because teenagers are supposed to be the physical peak for women in our society (although any photos of me from high school will disprove that brand of evolutionary psychology).

When my husband was in the hospital, I was complaining about how young the surgical residents were - not because I felt they could not have authority or knowledge, but I felt that they had likely not been as sick as my husband was and probably didn't have the experience to be sufficiently empathic (as most were not - there was one in particular I wanted to smack). However, I didn't tell them "you look like you're my age," even though they probably were.

I'm not going to flip a table over if anyone tells me I look young, but I do not enjoy unsolicited opinions about my appearance in general and this is no exception. What are your thoughts?

Definitely not in high school:

I started teaching high school shortly before I turned 21, and had work on my 21st birthday. My students guessed my age from everywhere to high school graduate (lol wut) to 30. I was told that I looked like a student by students and faculty alike, though the students were just surprised and not derisive about it.

I thought the Jason Wu for Target cat scarf was cute, so I got a vintage one.

A facebook friend was told ‎"Omg you are Jewish?! You don't look Jewish, you have SUCH a tiny nose. I LOVE Jews anyway, they are SOOOOOO funny!" this morning. No one has ever been surprised when they find out I'm Jewish, on account of my strong stereotypically ethnic features, particularly my large nose with a bump. Really, Jews who look Jewish compose a fraction of a large, interrelated multiethnic group, including the Kaifeng Jews of China, Ethiopian Jews, and Sephardim, but it is largely noses like mine have been in European propaganda for centuries. As a result of this, there are a few stock replies I get from gentiles in response to my Judaism, each with their own subtext. The gentiles who try to be polite respond with "No, I don't think you look Jewish," with the subtext of "I think it is rude to say you have a large nose."

Others tell me how funny Jews are, with the subtext "I swear I'm not anti-Semitic but I think you are an entirely different kind of human than me." I don't get a lot of blatant anti-Semitism directed at me - not as much as my fellow half-tribespeople who pass better - and I don't know if I should be relieved or worried.

Next time sometime tells me Jews are soooo funny, I am going to look at them and say in a deadpan voice, "Oh, I'm not funny" and have the last laugh.