Friday Fierce Thread: For Reader A...

GOLD STAR for Reader A We occasionally get emails from readers about the sexist stuff they’ve encountered in their lives, with questions like “Did I do something wrong here?”  or “What the eff is wrong with people?”  I just got one last night, and I really wanted to address...

Friday Fun Thread: All Carrot, No Stick...

Unfortunately, real carrots don't seem to work. I was in absentia last week due to a big deadline, which I met, but only by neglecting almost everything else in my life.  Obviously, I need to work on balance, so I never have to turn off the internet and literally lock myself in my room for hours...

Friday Fun Thread: Lazy Sundays (and Mon...

Hibernating beaver via MRB Prints @ Flickr. A mere couple weeks after Snowpacalypse: The Enblizzarding, those of us in the Northeast US are getting Snowpacalypse: Part Deux (Now with More Sleet!). In NYC schools are closed, offices are empty and even the usually packed subway is nearly deserted. Last...

Friday Fun Thread: Gestures of Love...

It's funny because it's true. Last year, in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, we Harpies had ourselves a seminar on the pressures (and occasional pleasures) of the holiday.  If you want to revisit that, you can read it here, but this year, we’re taking a slightly different perspective,...

Friday Fun Thread: Go-To Web Happies!...

Just say no to drugs, kids. One of the many wonderful things about the web, and especially sites like YouTube, is that you can find yourself a little pick-me-up with a few clicks of the mouse. Since I first saw the Hamster Dance (warning for loud annoying music), back in 1999, I’ve frequently enjoyed...

Friday Fun Thread: Guest Posts!...

(That's the closest I could find to a harpy.) Via rbieber @ Flickr As we were discussing our first year, our pleasures and regrets and hopes and plans, one of the conclusions we reached was this:  we’ve got a pretty roomy nest here, let’s invite some visitors! We have amazing readers...

Friday Fun Thread: Reading Rainbow...

via *jenny b allsorts @ flickr My mother enjoys reminding me that my first word was “book”, as if it says something about my character. I doubt that, as my sister’s first word was “kitty” and she is more of a dog person. Still, I was one of those kids who would take a...

Friday Fun Thread: Hair Raising!...

Last night, PhDork’s FB status was a tribute to the musical “Hair”: PhDork wants it long, straight, curly, fuzzy, snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty, oily, greasy, fleecy, shining, gleaming, streaming…etc. etc!!” Funnily, it coincided with a panicky phone call from a friend desperately...

Friday Fun Thread: Mondegreens!...

This has nothing to do with anything other than one of my favorite words:  mondegreen. You all know about mondegreens, even if you’ve never heard the word before.  A mondegreen is a mishearing of a phrase or song lyric.    You know: “What a Friend We Have in Cheeses” or “‘Scuse...

Friday Fun Thread: Dream Jobs...

It’s layoff season in my corner of the world, and while things are good where I work, the phone rings at least once a day with someone wanting to gossip/groan/quail about impending doom. A lot of us talk, semi-seriously, about what we’d do as a Plan B if this business doesn’t work out. Yesterday...

Friday Fun Thread: Junior High Flashbac...

LYLAS! Via NASA Videographer @ Flickr.This post on how Facebook can work as a kind of trippy time machine by putting you back in touch (of a sort) with people from your formative years is the inspiration for today's FFT. I’ve certainly had the “whoa, weirdness” feeling when catching...

Friday Fun Thread: Guilty Pleasures...

Lego Titanic? Lego-nardo DiCaprio? Awesome. via knolleary @ flickr Given that today’s weather here in New York City is gray and nasty, I have the urge to curl up with my comfort blanket (named Gandalf for the wizard in Lord of the Rings, of course) and a cup of cocoa and watch a movie. Not just...