And Now for Something Completely Differe...

I feel like we all need a little pick-me-up? I’ve been cackling all morning like the witch I am over this interview with Nicholas Sparks in USAToday?  It starts off amazing: Nicholas Sparks has no love for people who call his stories “romances.”The mega-best-selling author of The Notebook,...

All Hail the King!...

Photo by Jane Hahn/Getty Images. For your weekend reading pleasure, I’m sharing this amazing, inspirational long feature from the Washington Post Magazine. “All The King’s Men” is the story of Peggielene Bartels, a Washington-area secretary who was recently crowned Nana Amuah...

Hope And Change In India...

Indian women celebrate after the Women's Reservation Bill is passed. The world’s largest democracy made history this week when Indian lawmakers approved a historic bill that would set aside one-third of all seats in India’s parliament for women. Only 59 women were elected to the current...

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...

Women and Mixed Martial Arts: A Guest Po...

Well, how does one begin a guest post? Carefully, I think. The topic I’m choosing to introduce myself with is why I am both a woman and a mixed martial arts fighter. For those of you unfamiliar with MMA, let me give you a little background. MMA is a form of fighting that incorporates elements of martial...

Friday Fun Thread: Simple Deeds Make a D...

The Singer is mightier than the sword. Via menteblu61 @ Flickr. Last night I was reading the news online and came upon an item about Phyllis Schafly. Naturally, I scrolled past it as fast as I could, and in doing so, landed on a story that was about as far from Phyllis’s hatemongering as you can...

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,...

For Your Enjoyment...

It’s the general consensus here at Harpyness that this week was basically just a big ol’ heap of FAIL. When I observed as much on Facebook, one of my high school friends, the lovely Ms. Anh Nguyen, sent me something to cheer me up, which I now share with you: Yes, it’s a Mr. Darcy...

A Harpy’s Progress: India...

Yeah, I took this. And yeah, it's as mind-blowingly beautiful as you've heard. Well, y’all, I’m back. Back at work, got my luggage back, have gotten (mostly) unpacked, downloaded photos, etc. Herewith, my travelogue–in which I answer the questions y’all sent, talk about...

I Miss Y’All Already...

I'll be here next weekend. Gentle readers, I’m bidding you farewell for a whole three weeks. On Monday evening I head east, first to England for a black-tie party at my friend’s Kentish manor house and a festive dinner at St. John restaurant in London, then to Heathrow Terminal Five and…India,...

Harpy Thanksgiving, Y’all!...

We all have so much to be thankful for–including pies like this one–that we’re devoting the next couple days to celebrating Thanksgiving with our friends and family. Posting will be light, but we’ll be back next week! Among our many blessings, we’re thankful for such awesome...

Bloggin’ is Awesome!...

Social networking sites like Facebook have provided, along with the chance to get back in touch with people you haven’t seen in 10 or 20 years, an entirely new realm of the baffling, weird, and offensive that in early days would have flown under our radars.  I’m filing this one under...