Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
jeudi 4 mai 2017
10 Signs Your Child May Have Asperger's Syndrome
Asperger's syndrome is a neurological disorder in the family of autism spectrum disorders. Because every child exhibits a different set of symptoms, there is no precise checklist of behaviors that must all be present for a diagnosis. Instead, there are many behaviors that may be signs of Asperger's syndrome. Here we've rounded up 10 of the common behaviors to watch for, as shared by moms whose kids have the condition.
1. Fixation on One Activity
Many children with Asperger's syndrome are preoccupied with a single or a few interests and focus on them for hours on end. As Circle of Moms member Karen R. shares: "The most common report from every parent I know . . . is that their kid fixated on something (their cars, their blue toys, their books) and played or attended [to] that thing for an outrageously long time."
2. "Little Professor" Speech
"Typically a child with Asperger's sounds like a little professor," shares one Circle of Moms member, Sheila D. "They tend to have advanced verbal skills, but due to the autism aspect of the syndrome they might seem fixated on a topic that they want to talk about all the time." Children with Asperger's syndrome may also speak more formally than usual for their age or prefer talking to adults.
3. Difficulty Reading Social Cues
Social difficulties are another key sign of Asperger's syndrome. Reading body language may be hard, as well as taking turns or holding a conversation. As Eliana F. shares: "Group work at school is also hard for him, as he does not understand waiting his turn or accepting others point of view." Similarly, Colleen notes: "My son is very social, but he doesn't engage in two way conversations. He just talks and talks." As a result of their social difficulties, children with Asperger's syndrome may seem isolated from their peers.
4. Need For Routine
"Structure plays a big part in our lives now," shares Wendy B. Like many children with Asperger's syndrome, Wendy's granddaughter needs routines. "Otherwise it is very confusing for her. So shower is at 8:30 p.m. Bedtime is at 9:30 p.m. Breakfast at 8:30 a.m., lunch at 12, supper at 6. You get the message, very structured. If I want to take her shopping, I start telling her a few days ahead - that way, it doesn't upset her, but we still follow the same routine."
5. Emotional Meltdowns
"My boy tends to have meltdowns when he gets overwhelmed," shares Circle of Moms member Ylice. She's not alone: many children with Asperger's syndrome can't handle routines or plans going awry. Amanda B. describes it as an "inability to control emotions when things are 'out of order.'"
6. Lack of Empathy
Another sign of Asperger's syndrome is a seeming lack of empathy for others. Jennifer B. explains that her daughter "has no clue that people around here have feelings or wants and needs. She's kinda like in her own little bubble as far as that goes. She can be totally aloof, in the clouds."
7. Can't Understand Speech Subtleties
Some people with Asperger's syndrom have a hard time understanding speech tone, pitch, and accent. As Alice D. explains, they may take words very literally and be unable to understand sarcasm or jokes: "He doesn't get jokes and things like that - he can't tell if someone is kidding or if they are being serious."
8. Unusual Body Language
Other signs of Asperger's syndrome include unusual facial expressions or postures, and either staring a lot at others or avoiding eye contact altogether. Dana W. relays of her brother with Asperger's syndrome: "He would never ever look people in the eyes."
9. Delayed Motor Development
From handwriting to riding a bike, poor or delayed motor skills of many kinds could be a sign of Asperger's syndrome. As Kim F. shares of her son, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome in the second grade, "He was not athletic and had poor motor skills. Couldn't skip, gallop etc."
10. Sensory Sensitivities
Many children with Asperger's syndrome have heightened sensory sensitivity. As a result, they can be easily overstimulated by certain sensations, whether it's strong lights, loud noises, or textures. Jennifer B. notes of her daughter: "Even now she doesn't like wearing some fabrics because of the way they feel. There are some sensations that she just does not like! Certain sounds, touches, etc."
If you think your child may have Asperger's syndrome, many readers say that the best path is to get an expert's evaluation as soon as possible. And don't be discouraged! As Sheila D. wisely advises: "It is typical to be scared and nervous, but a diagnosis of Asperger's is not the end of the road for your child. It is a tool that will help you to help your child navigate a very different path than his 'neurotypical' peers. Find a local support group. Get informed, and be the best mom you can be."
The preceding information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
12 Things You Must Know About the Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Oscar Isaac
Is it hot in here, or is it just Oscar Isaac? The Guatemalan-born Star Wars star has been making moves in the industry since 2005, but his role in blockbuster hit thrust him into the global spotlight - and we don't mind one bit.
With friends like Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar is the rotation of favorite celebs and a total It dude. But if perhaps you've been living under a rock and don't know much about your favorite Hollywood actor (yes, we're deciding for you), it's time for a little "Oscar 101." Keep scrolling to discover 12 things you need to know about the hunky actor.
- Additional reporting by Celia Fernandez
10 Signs You're Obsessed With Nordstrom Beauty, as Told in GIFs
You've signed up for the newsletters. You've set up Google alerts. And that's just the beginning. That's what happens when you discover the vast world that is Nordstrom Beauty, where exclusive (often money-saving) shades and bundles, as well as gifts with purchase, are par for the course. From skipping lunch hour to check out the latest arrivals to ditching friends to attend Nordstrom's in-store events (the tips! the samples!), read on to see just how bad you have it.
The 5 Elements of an Utterly Irresistible Résumé
Alexandra Simota is a recruiter at JD Resources Inc in New York.
Your résumé. Cue Beethoven's Fifth. This profile is often the first, and unfortunately sometimes the only, impression hiring officials get of you. There are other channels they can go through to get a more complete picture - your LinkedIn, your website, Google Images (God forbid) - but they won't bother if your résumé doesn't entice them enough to take the time to do so. As a recruiter, I'm buried in résumés. While I'm not a technical expert in each field for which I source talent, I can suss quality at a glance, and good candidates in any industry know how to produce résumés that inspire a longer look. The following are tips for crafting a résumé that makes recruiters pick up the phone.
Structure
A résumé is inherently a list of your skills and previous experience, but how you choose to lay out your list is important. It's pretty easy to guess how much time a candidate spent on his or her résumé by what it looks like, and structure is indicative of care. If you care about your résumé, I care about your résumé.
The structure of your résumé in terms of both content and format is important for one reason: how easily the reader can find information. It is an oft-stated fact that recruiters and other hiring personnel look at a résumé for about six seconds before making that initial decision to either keep reading or move on. Therefore, the more information we can absorb in six seconds, the better. A huge part of this is appearance alone. This article from LifeClever goes into great detail about things like typeface, line spacing, indentation, and margins. Sounds super exciting, I know, but the difference in readability and perceived professionalism is astounding.
Specificity
My favorite résumés are ones that include specifics. How many people did you manage? By what percentage did you increase profit margins? Which softwares did your company use? This information is the hard data I use when I'm crafting candidate presentations. It will also help you in the interview itself - the hiring manager can refer to your résumé and ask more direct questions to which you can provide more direct answers, i.e. "What did you change to achieve that 1,000,000 percent increase in productivity?" instead of "What are three things you are most proud of in your career?" Of course, they may still ask those more open-ended questions, but I personally find that the more definitive the question, the more eloquent the response.
Furthermore, and this should come as no surprise, résumés are often cast aside when a simple CTRL+F search for a keyword turns up no results. This is of course assuming that the résumé makes it past the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) of the external site that I may have searched to find potential candidates (CareerBuilder, Ladders, etc.) In other words, if your résumé doesn't show up in my search results, I can't even give it that six-second look. Do yourself a favor and be sure to spell out any acronyms, too.
The keywords we want to see are always in the job description. I've had too many phone screenings with candidates who just forgot to include a specific skill or software or certification. Why did I call them in the first place if something is missing from their résumé? Usually because they have probably encountered Object XYZ if they are working in the same field as the position for which they applied, and sometimes remembering the sheer volume of things one does on a day-to-day basis is more difficult than it seems. In short, double-check the job description for industry-specific terms, and if you're familiar with them, make sure they're prominently included on your résumé.
Style
This is a tricky part of résumé-writing. Do you write in first person? In third person? In no person? In people? I made up the last two, but if anyone can imagine what those would look like, I'd love to see an example. Generally, résumés are written in first person, but without the "I". For example, instead of "I conceptualized the most successful marketing campaign the world has ever seen, and now I am widely regarded as a demigod of social media" write, in bulleted fragments,
- Conceptualized the most successful marketing campaign the world has ever seen
- Widely regarded as a demigod of social media
The first person is a stylistic preference more than it is protocol, but it's your résumé, and the "I" is assumed; including it is redundant. Using bullet points is also a stylistic preference, but no hiring official or recruiter wants to parse through paragraphs to find the information they need, especially at first glance. Bullet points are user-friendly; they let me do CTRL+F with my eyes.
Another important style choice is verb tense. Should you write in the past tense or the present progressive (using -ing at the end of the verb)? Personally, I find it looks cleanest, and makes the most logical sense, to write in past tense when describing your duties at past jobs, and present tense when describing your current position. Avoid using -ing when describing your current role, it just looks messy. For example, instead of the following:
- Booking all domestic and international travel
- Planning press events, such as launch parties and tournaments
Write:
- Book all domestic and international travel
- Plan press events, such as launch parties and tournaments
Tailoring
This is an extension of specificity. While my fellow recruiters and myself not only want to see the numeric facts, we also want to see relevance to the position for which you are submitting your résumé. If you choose to include a summary or an objective at the top of your résumé, and are applying for multiple positions, consider editing it to more closely match the specific job. An objective that reads simply, "to grow within an organization where I can hone my skills" makes a weak first line - it's too broad, and it's what most people want. Similarly, a summary that says you are "a hard-working professional" is pointless. On the other hand, there is the valid point that if you're too specific you could rule yourself out of consideration for similar, but not quite the same, positions for which the recruiter may be sourcing. It's a fine line to walk, so many candidates choose not to include an introductory section at all, which is totally fine.
Revision
Spellcheck. Tense check. Fix orphaned lines. Ensure your contact info is accurate. Résumé writing is hard work, and resisting the temptation to send it out as soon as you've written the last line (and exited the emotional roller coaster of both pride and self-doubt) is difficult. But grammar mistakes and sloppy formatting will tamp my excitement about what at first looked promising. Also check the length of your document - if you're fresh out of college there's no reason your résumé should be more than a page or two, and if you're an industry veteran you can condense your early experience and expound upon your work in the last 10 years.
Ultimately, craft a résumé that is relevant and streamlined so that it is both easy to find and easy to read. Then, just make sure you are easy to reach when those phone calls start rolling in!
How 1 LGBTQ Artist Is Reclaiming Public Bathrooms
Public restrooms have been a contentious - and often dangerous - place for decades, but even more so in the last year for members of the LGBTQ community. At least 17 states have attempted to pass "bathroom bills" that require people use the restroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, making a normal, everyday part of life an uncomfortable and risky scenario for transgender, gender-nonconforming, and genderqueer individuals. These bills, including the most infamous one currently up for debate (HB2 in North Carolina), are unfounded in their proposed reasoning of "safety," as there has never been a documented case of a transgender person attacking another person in a public restroom. Instead, these bills invite people to police others on their gender identity, which can often turn ugly or violent, ensuring something as basic as going to the bathroom is scary and unsafe for the people falsely set up as predators and more likely to be a target of assault in the first place.
Artist and activist Angela Davis Fegan wants to reclaim these spaces, and she's using bathrooms, bars, and other public arenas as a platform for conversation around queer issues, intersectionality, and feminism with the accessible artwork of letterpress posters.
Fegan's Lavender Menace Project was inspired (in name) by the infamous phrase the National Organization For Women's Betty Friedan used in the 1960s to describe the presence of lesbian women within the feminist movement, assuming they would somehow mar their attempts at equality for all women. In action, the Project is a direct response to the social issue Fegan saw the LGBTQ community focusing on - marriage - and her belief that this focus came at the expense of others in the community who wouldn't benefit from its legalization more than they would from other focused legislation or fundraising. What she wanted from organizations like the HRC was to put the spotlight on the safety and well-being of these individuals; fighting the everyday discrimination that not just gay and lesbian and bisexual people dealt with, but the transgender community, too.
"Being gay is not a class of person," Fegan said. "Most people who are queer have some sort of intersectional identity, and that wasn't being addressed. The push for marriage was largely about granting real estate and tax benefit rights to straight-acting, white, gay men."
She launched the project at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, deeply affected by the documentation of people being murdered in the street. "I wanted to make a project that addressed the gap between those things," Wells said. "Using the [lavender menace] terminology seemed appropriate because it's a historical moment in time when something like feminism, which is something I agree with and endorse, was critiqued from the left."
Fegan graduated from Columbia College Chicago's Interdisciplinary Paper Arts program where she learned how to use the letterpress she employs for the Lavender Menace Project to create colorful, iridescent poster art. Her works include jarring and passionate phrases that challenge readers in a way most wall art in bathrooms and bars do not.
"Printing really is like a boys club - and especially letterpress printing," Fegan said, "So being able to subvert or steal this skill that's usually traded amongst white men and print things that you would never see enhanced in type - like 'p*ssymonster' - was awesome. It was a very satisfying thing, because the contemporary use for letterpress at the time was mainly for wedding invitations."
Fegan received a grant from The Propeller Fund for her project, which has helped her finance the printing of these intricate and powerful pieces, which inevitably get stolen by admirers or scribbled on by restroom users. ("The things that people write on my posters vary from them just them tagging their own names to writing things about boys to telling me to go f*ck myself," Fegan said.) So far, she's hosted three "bar interruptions" at mainstream "heterosexual" venues that have sporadic queer dance parties or shows, bringing in a regular LGBTQ contingent.
"I kind of picked which venues I wanted and each time, in that venue, I either write to the scene of that existent dance party that I'm cosigning or to the space itself," Fegan said. "With the Empty Bottle, an iconic music venue and it being their 25th anniversary, I kind of just wrote about the bathroom as an institution and music as a liberation tactic. That felt right for the venue."
Fegan's work inside the Empty Bottle bathroom read "Signal Jamming the Echo Chamber of These Narratives" with sketches of scissors on the pink poster; "When We Unite, You Call Us Separatists" cries another; "The Binary Is a Tool For Segregation and Oppression" and "We Are Coming For Your Real Estate and the Brides Who Came With It" stand out in a font you'd expect to see on a greeting card. These juxtapositions of typeface and watercolor hues most often associated with feminine expressions of celebration are inspirational pieces of art that can also be used as protest signs - and they were, at last year's Chicago Dyke March. But Fegan isn't interested in selling her work - nor is she looking to turn it into wearables, as seems to be a trend with feminist and queer slogans as of late (think "The Future Is Female").
"To me, the poster is desirable because it's ephemeral," Fegan said. "It's relatively inexpensive and it can transform from wall art to a history of posters being in bathrooms about shows, music - live music being one of the largest users of letterpress besides the newspaper or the printing of National Geographic - and then also be protest objects."
The Lavender Menace's latest takeover was launched at Salonathon, a regular experimental art showcase at Beauty Bar in Chicago's Wicker Park, as of April 24.
"The slogans that I've written already for the Salonathon are really about putting in work and isolation," Fegan said. "But those are things that I think themes that I've seen addressed in pieces performed at Salonathon over time, so I think that that being a primarily queer performance art audience - they're going to be very receptive to those slogans. So I already know who is going to be in the spaces I'm in - it's actually easier for me to write on theme. Otherwise, it has to be based on an emotional reaction to something that somebody says publicly or says to me personally."
While the venues Fegan has chosen to display her work in are not queer-specific, she isn't looking to bring the project to spaces that are not catering to the community in any way. That isn't the conversation she's looking to have or the people she's hoping to enliven.
"I made these posters for people to feel like there was a voice that agreed with them that they don't see represented otherwise, and for people to steal and take them - since they're not commodified objects, they're not for sale, then I don't really see the point of putting them in a space where no one wants them and won't take them," Fegan said.
Still, Fegan said she will sell them to certain people - "I sell them to people who are very strange about acquisition, and if they're wealthy and white. But generally no, because the goal is not to aestheticize someone's oppression and then sell it back to them to profit. If people want them, I give them away." - and she is also readying a book about the project to be released this Summer.
"The culmination of this grant is a publication basically summarizing the methods I use, what the reactions were like, and some contextualizing essays from some writers that I know just so that anybody who wants to stage something like this can employ methods or learn from my experience so I don't have to keep doing it forever," she said. "If somebody knocks me off, that would be better. I'd be flattered to have someone steal the idea and run with it because I can't - it's not sustainable for me to do forever."
But with galleries, museums and individual fans requesting her work for their collections, the Lavender Menace will live on and continue to give viewers something to think about long after they've gotten the message.
The Lavender Menace Project is at at Beauty Bar in Chicago now. Work from the project is also on display at The Praxis Center at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI.
10 Signs You're Obsessed With Nordstrom Beauty, as Told in GIFs
You've signed up for the newsletters. You've set up Google alerts. And that's just the beginning. That's what happens when you discover the vast world that is Nordstrom Beauty, where exclusive (often money-saving) shades and bundles, as well as gifts with purchase, are par for the course. From skipping lunch hour to check out the latest arrivals to ditching friends to attend Nordstrom's in-store events (the tips! the samples!), read on to see just how bad you have it.
Justin Trudeau Is Straight-Up Prince Charming in His Throwback Wedding Photos
Justin Trudeau is fine as hell, but he's also taken, we're afraid. The prime minister of Canada put a ring on it over a decade ago, and we found the photos to prove it. Yep, we uncovered evidence from his perfect, amazing wedding to Sophie Grégoire back on May 28, 2005. That tan suit, that fluffy hair: he is basically a real-life Prince Eric.
Not only is Justin himself ridiculously cute, but his love story is adorable as well. Sophie was a childhood classmate of Justin's brother Michel, so they grew up together. They crossed paths once more in 2003 when they cohosted a charity ball together, and the rest is history. Their wedding was a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Sainte-Madeleine d'Outremont Church in Montreal. Now the parents of three are still going strong.
But enough about that, can we talk about how handsome Justin looks? Those eyes, that smile - can he just take over America as well? Enjoy the photos from his big day with Sophie.
How 1 LGBTQ Artist Is Reclaiming Public Bathrooms
Public restrooms have been a contentious - and often dangerous - place for decades, but even more so in the last year for members of the LGBTQ community. At least 17 states have attempted to pass "bathroom bills" that require people use the restroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, making a normal, everyday part of life an uncomfortable and risky scenario for transgender, gender-nonconforming, and genderqueer individuals. These bills, including the most infamous one currently up for debate (HB2 in North Carolina), are unfounded in their proposed reasoning of "safety," as there has never been a documented case of a transgender person attacking another person in a public restroom. Instead, these bills invite people to police others on their gender identity, which can often turn ugly or violent, ensuring something as basic as going to the bathroom is scary and unsafe for the people falsely set up as predators and more likely to be a target of assault in the first place.
Artist and activist Angela Davis Fegan wants to reclaim these spaces, and she's using bathrooms, bars, and other public arenas as a platform for conversation around queer issues, intersectionality, and feminism with the accessible artwork of letterpress posters.
Fegan's Lavender Menace Project was inspired (in name) by the infamous phrase the National Organization For Women's Betty Friedan used in the 1960s to describe the presence of lesbian women within the feminist movement, assuming they would somehow mar their attempts at equality for all women. In action, the Project is a direct response to the social issue Fegan saw the LGBTQ community focusing on - marriage - and her belief that this focus came at the expense of others in the community who wouldn't benefit from its legalization more than they would from other focused legislation or fundraising. What she wanted from organizations like the HRC was to put the spotlight on the safety and well-being of these individuals; fighting the everyday discrimination that not just gay and lesbian and bisexual people dealt with, but the transgender community, too.
"Being gay is not a class of person," Fegan said. "Most people who are queer have some sort of intersectional identity, and that wasn't being addressed. The push for marriage was largely about granting real estate and tax benefit rights to straight-acting, white, gay men."
She launched the project at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, deeply affected by the documentation of people being murdered in the street. "I wanted to make a project that addressed the gap between those things," Wells said. "Using the [lavender menace] terminology seemed appropriate because it's a historical moment in time when something like feminism, which is something I agree with and endorse, was critiqued from the left."
Fegan graduated from Columbia College Chicago's Interdisciplinary Paper Arts program where she learned how to use the letterpress she employs for the Lavender Menace Project to create colorful, iridescent poster art. Her works include jarring and passionate phrases that challenge readers in a way most wall art in bathrooms and bars do not.
"Printing really is like a boys club - and especially letterpress printing," Fegan said, "So being able to subvert or steal this skill that's usually traded amongst white men and print things that you would never see enhanced in type - like 'p*ssymonster' - was awesome. It was a very satisfying thing, because the contemporary use for letterpress at the time was mainly for wedding invitations."
Fegan received a grant from The Propeller Fund for her project, which has helped her finance the printing of these intricate and powerful pieces, which inevitably get stolen by admirers or scribbled on by restroom users. ("The things that people write on my posters vary from them just them tagging their own names to writing things about boys to telling me to go f*ck myself," Fegan said.) So far, she's hosted three "bar interruptions" at mainstream "heterosexual" venues that have sporadic queer dance parties or shows, bringing in a regular LGBTQ contingent.
"I kind of picked which venues I wanted and each time, in that venue, I either write to the scene of that existent dance party that I'm cosigning or to the space itself," Fegan said. "With the Empty Bottle, an iconic music venue and it being their 25th anniversary, I kind of just wrote about the bathroom as an institution and music as a liberation tactic. That felt right for the venue."
Fegan's work inside the Empty Bottle bathroom read "Signal Jamming the Echo Chamber of These Narratives" with sketches of scissors on the pink poster; "When We Unite, You Call Us Separatists" cries another; "The Binary Is a Tool For Segregation and Oppression" and "We Are Coming For Your Real Estate and the Brides Who Came With It" stand out in a font you'd expect to see on a greeting card. These juxtapositions of typeface and watercolor hues most often associated with feminine expressions of celebration are inspirational pieces of art that can also be used as protest signs - and they were, at last year's Chicago Dyke March. But Fegan isn't interested in selling her work - nor is she looking to turn it into wearables, as seems to be a trend with feminist and queer slogans as of late (think "The Future Is Female").
"To me, the poster is desirable because it's ephemeral," Fegan said. "It's relatively inexpensive and it can transform from wall art to a history of posters being in bathrooms about shows, music - live music being one of the largest users of letterpress besides the newspaper or the printing of National Geographic - and then also be protest objects."
The Lavender Menace's latest takeover was launched at Salonathon, a regular experimental art showcase at Beauty Bar in Chicago's Wicker Park, as of April 24.
"The slogans that I've written already for the Salonathon are really about putting in work and isolation," Fegan said. "But those are things that I think themes that I've seen addressed in pieces performed at Salonathon over time, so I think that that being a primarily queer performance art audience - they're going to be very receptive to those slogans. So I already know who is going to be in the spaces I'm in - it's actually easier for me to write on theme. Otherwise, it has to be based on an emotional reaction to something that somebody says publicly or says to me personally."
While the venues Fegan has chosen to display her work in are not queer-specific, she isn't looking to bring the project to spaces that are not catering to the community in any way. That isn't the conversation she's looking to have or the people she's hoping to enliven.
"I made these posters for people to feel like there was a voice that agreed with them that they don't see represented otherwise, and for people to steal and take them - since they're not commodified objects, they're not for sale, then I don't really see the point of putting them in a space where no one wants them and won't take them," Fegan said.
Still, Fegan said she will sell them to certain people - "I sell them to people who are very strange about acquisition, and if they're wealthy and white. But generally no, because the goal is not to aestheticize someone's oppression and then sell it back to them to profit. If people want them, I give them away." - and she is also readying a book about the project to be released this Summer.
"The culmination of this grant is a publication basically summarizing the methods I use, what the reactions were like, and some contextualizing essays from some writers that I know just so that anybody who wants to stage something like this can employ methods or learn from my experience so I don't have to keep doing it forever," she said. "If somebody knocks me off, that would be better. I'd be flattered to have someone steal the idea and run with it because I can't - it's not sustainable for me to do forever."
But with galleries, museums and individual fans requesting her work for their collections, the Lavender Menace will live on and continue to give viewers something to think about long after they've gotten the message.
The Lavender Menace Project is at at Beauty Bar in Chicago now. Work from the project is also on display at The Praxis Center at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI.
12 Things You Must Know About the Drop-Dead-Gorgeous Oscar Isaac
Is it hot in here, or is it just Oscar Isaac? The Guatemalan-born Star Wars star has been making moves in the industry since 2005, but his role in blockbuster hit thrust him into the global spotlight - and we don't mind one bit.
With friends like Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar is the rotation of favorite celebs and a total It dude. But if perhaps you've been living under a rock and don't know much about your favorite Hollywood actor (yes, we're deciding for you), it's time for a little "Oscar 101." Keep scrolling to discover 12 things you need to know about the hunky actor.
- Additional reporting by Celia Fernandez
40+ Recipes That Make Feeding a Crowd a Breeze
Cooking for a crowd, be it a large family gathering or a dinner party, can be a bit of a challenge. Most recipes are scaled to yield four to six servings, and while many can be doubled with some basic math, it's certainly nice to have a handful of options that can be made as is. Here, we've rounded up more than 40 recipes that serve at least eight, including a variety of casseroles, soups, and slow-cooker dishes.
40+ Recipes That Make Feeding a Crowd a Breeze
Cooking for a crowd, be it a large family gathering or a dinner party, can be a bit of a challenge. Most recipes are scaled to yield four to six servings, and while many can be doubled with some basic math, it's certainly nice to have a handful of options that can be made as is. Here, we've rounded up more than 40 recipes that serve at least eight, including a variety of casseroles, soups, and slow-cooker dishes.
Heather Dubrow's New Mansion Will Knock Your Manolos Off
On Bravo's Real Housewives of Orange County, viewers are gifted with a front-row view to Heather Dubrow's sophisticated and often enviable lifestyle. We have known her for years as an actress, a mom of four, and the wife to plastic surgeon Dr. Terry Dubrow. More recently, though, we have gotten to know her as a California mansion designer extraordinaire. Avid viewers of the show live for the little glimpses of her decadent new digs now that her vision is fully complete.
Heather's shared plenty of sly shots of the over-the-top and exceptionally beautiful interiors on Instagram, though there's yet to be a big reveal. Until then, these social snaps prove that every detail from her aired-in olive tree to the jaw-dropping master bath is going to wow us beyond belief. So grab a glass of Champagne and enjoy this inside look at the Dubrow abode, and we promise, it does not disappoint.
Is a Floo Network Ride Coming to Harry Potter World? Let's Investigate
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hilary White
Fact: there is no place on the planet more magical than the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, FL (sorry, Disney World). If speculation about some recently purchased patents is to be believed, it's about to get even more amazing - something I wasn't sure was actually possible. Universal City Studios just bought two patents that are making obsessed fans theorize (and desperately hope) that new rides are going to be added to the Hogsmeade and/or Diagon Alley sections of the park.
The Dragon Challenge ride in Hogsmeade is rumored to be closing, which in theory would provide open space for a new attraction. The ride - originally the Dueling Dragons roller coaster - was part of Universal's Islands of Adventure before Harry Potter World was built and was incorporated into the attraction upon construction of Hogsmeade in Orlando. It's never felt like it truly fit in with the authentic Harry Potter vibes of the rest of the Wizarding World.
The two patents reported by Orlando Business Journal to have been bought are titled "vehicle transportation room system and method" and "system and method for a moving puzzle theater," and the technology of the rides, upon examination, could very well hint at attractions that would fit perfectly within the Harry Potter World section of the park. Here's what they could mean.
Patent #1 - Vehicle Transportation Room System and Method
"One patent image shows a launch room with an animatronic figure, possibly a ghost, in front of a fireplace - possibly an entrance to Harry Potter's Floo Network - and the subsequent image shows the fireplace having a retractable wall while that opens a way for the ride vehicle to be propelled forward," Orlando Business Journal said.
According to the patent, during the operation of the ride, this retractable launch room would show elements that "may create an impression among the patrons that the ride vehicle is being pushed and/or pulled by an entity presented in the partial room. For example, the animatronic character may represent a monster, wizard or other entity that appears to cast a spell upon the ride vehicle."
As fans are well aware, the Floo Powder Network in the Harry Potter series is used to magically transport wizards from one fireplace to another as an efficient means of transportation. The possibilities of a Floo Network ride are endless and SO exciting.
Image Source: Warner Bros.
Patent #2 - Moving Puzzle Theater
The second patent is giving us high hopes that some sort of interactive puzzle is going to be built somewhere within Wizarding World - maybe even something similar to a maze à la the Triwizard Tournament's final task or maybe the moving staircase in Hogwarts?
"Patent images show the theater could move separate seating areas closer to one another, as well as above or below others. The patent said this can be used as part of a story with performers where guests have to move their sections to achieve a goal throughout the progress of the show," Orlando Business Journal said.
"In some embodiments, certain virtual prizes (e.g., virtual gold, diamonds, trophies) may be presented by a light source hovering in the airspace inside the structure including the puzzle theater and the patrons may operate the maneuverable seating areas to collect the virtual prizes," the patent says.
Image Source: Warner Bros.
Note: Neither patents mention the Harry Potter sections of Universal Studies Orlando specifically, and patents are often bought but not always followed through on, so right now everything is just speculation - or in the case of fans, wishful thinking/dreaming. But this is still solid evidence that something really special is brewing at the Wizarding World!
Why People Who Say Older Kids Shouldn't Watch 13 Reasons Why Are WRONG
This post written by Liza Walter was originally featured on one of our favorite sites, YourTango.
Words are heavier than you think.
I'm sure by now if you haven't already binge-watched the Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why, you at least have heard about it.
If not, here's the gist:
Hannah Baker, a new student at Liberty High School, dies by suicide. Prior to her death, she leaves a series of tapes with 13 stories of 13 people that in some way affected her decision to end her life. The show follows her friend and co-worker Clay as he listens to the tapes and we, as viewers, watch flashbacks of the events that took place (according to Hannah) while also seeing how her death affects the other students in the present day.
Here's where things become a little sticky.
Suicide is taboo.
Talking about suicide is taboo.
Talking to KIDS about suicide is taboo.
So for a popular show to make its main focus the suicidal death of a teenage girl is a big deal.
Moreover, it's a necessity and should be almost mandatory for parents to talk to their kids about potentially life-threatening issues such as depression and suicidal ideation.
But then, of course, we have folks who believe the show glorifies suicide and is forbidding the show to be mentioned in school.
Did you get that?
FORBIDDING SUICIDE TO BE TALKED ABOUT IN SCHOOL.
We provide sexual education to students so that they can make the right choices and hopefully not be on the receiving end of a doctor saying, "You have an STD" or "You have HIV."
But suicide? Depression? SHHHHH!
One Canadian school sent a letter home to parents that read:
Dear Grade Six parents,
It is has come to Miss Ciezki's and my attention that some students are watching a Netflix series called 13 Reasons Why. The discussion that is unfolding at school is troubling. This series is rated Mature and the theme is the suicide of a high school student. This show includes graphic violence (rape) and gore, profanity, alcohol/drugs/smoking, and frightening/intense scenes.
Of course what your child watches on television is completely your choice, however I wanted to let you know that many students are watching and discussing this at school.
The purpose of this email is to provide you with this information. Please let your child know that discussion of 13 Reasons Why is not permitted at school due to the disturbing subject matter.
Should you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you have questions about this show, please feel free to contact Miss Ciezki, who has watched the series.
Thank you,
Mme Ghali
But it's not just in Canada; several schools across the U.S. have also sent out similar memos to parents about the show.
What's problematic about this is that parents, through no fault of their own, are by their very nature busy.
There are single parents working double shifts to make ends meet. There are stay-at-home parents who, by the end of the day, just want to close their eyes for a few minutes without the sound of a child falling off the couch or a tween screaming because their sibling stole their shirt.
If these memos get to the parents who are not TV watchers, they will just abide by what they are being told. And why not?
The school administration is there to protect our students and as parents, we rely on their opinions and advice.
However, with the ever-growing epidemic of bullying, sexual assault, rape, and sadly suicide on school campuses around the country, shouldn't this be something that we do talk to our children about and expose them to?
This show is not for those who are suicidal, whether you're a child or an adult.
13 Reasons Why is for everyone else.
Let me explain.
SPOILER AHEAD:
During the series, we meet Alex, a teen boy who at first came off as awkward and lonely.
Then he became popular . . . but popularity doesn't solve depression.
And while we [the viewers and the characters] are so focused on why Hannah died, we completely ignore the warning signs that Alex shows he's suffering from depression and ultimately suicidal ideation.
And by the end of the series, we learn that Alex has attempted suicide.
So why is this important?
Because for those who are not suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, it's important to know that your words matter.
Your actions matter.
And your ability to sense someone's emotional troubles matter.
Hannah cleaned her room before she committed suicide.
Alex also cleaned his room before he committed suicide.
Does this mean that every time you child cleans his or her room, you need to put them on watch?
No!
But there are definite warning signs that we can ALL watch out for when it comes to adults or children.
If we can have an open and honest dialogue about mental health, we can help prevent further loss.
So by limiting what our children can view or talk about, we are perpetuating the stigma attached to this heartbreaking, life-changing illness.
Should you allow your children to watch the graphic scenes? Not necessary.
Every parent has the right to decide for themselves how much their child can or cannot view.
However, the other parts of the show are so important and should be required viewing, if not for your child, but for YOU.
It's so difficult to understand what a person goes through when they are feeling at their rock bottom.
Having the tools to know what to look for and how to help can save a life.
Let's all try to be better.
Let's all try to be more helpful.
But most of all, let's end the stigma surrounding the mental health community so we don't have to read about another suicide that could have been prevented.
More juicy links from YourTango:
- What 13 Reasons Why' Got RIGHT About Suicide (As Written By Someone Who Attempted)
- Why '13 Reasons Why' Was Triggering For Me And Might Be For You Too
- 10 Easy-But-TOTALLY-Romantic Date Night Ideas For Parents
- 50 Love Quotes Guaranteed To Make You FEEL Things
- These 37 Hilariously Funny Love Puns Will Make Your Day
Why People Who Say Older Kids Shouldn't Watch 13 Reasons Why Are WRONG
This post written by Liza Walter was originally featured on one of our favorite sites, YourTango.
Words are heavier than you think.
I'm sure by now if you haven't already binge-watched the Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why, you at least have heard about it.
If not, here's the gist:
Hannah Baker, a new student at Liberty High School, dies by suicide. Prior to her death, she leaves a series of tapes with 13 stories of 13 people that in some way affected her decision to end her life. The show follows her friend and co-worker Clay as he listens to the tapes and we, as viewers, watch flashbacks of the events that took place (according to Hannah) while also seeing how her death affects the other students in the present day.
Here's where things become a little sticky.
Suicide is taboo.
Talking about suicide is taboo.
Talking to KIDS about suicide is taboo.
So for a popular show to make its main focus the suicidal death of a teenage girl is a big deal.
Moreover, it's a necessity and should be almost mandatory for parents to talk to their kids about potentially life-threatening issues such as depression and suicidal ideation.
But then, of course, we have folks who believe the show glorifies suicide and is forbidding the show to be mentioned in school.
Did you get that?
FORBIDDING SUICIDE TO BE TALKED ABOUT IN SCHOOL.
We provide sexual education to students so that they can make the right choices and hopefully not be on the receiving end of a doctor saying, "You have an STD" or "You have HIV."
But suicide? Depression? SHHHHH!
One Canadian school sent a letter home to parents that read:
Dear Grade Six parents,
It is has come to Miss Ciezki's and my attention that some students are watching a Netflix series called 13 Reasons Why. The discussion that is unfolding at school is troubling. This series is rated Mature and the theme is the suicide of a high school student. This show includes graphic violence (rape) and gore, profanity, alcohol/drugs/smoking, and frightening/intense scenes.
Of course what your child watches on television is completely your choice, however I wanted to let you know that many students are watching and discussing this at school.
The purpose of this email is to provide you with this information. Please let your child know that discussion of 13 Reasons Why is not permitted at school due to the disturbing subject matter.
Should you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you have questions about this show, please feel free to contact Miss Ciezki, who has watched the series.
Thank you,
Mme Ghali
But it's not just in Canada; several schools across the U.S. have also sent out similar memos to parents about the show.
What's problematic about this is that parents, through no fault of their own, are by their very nature busy.
There are single parents working double shifts to make ends meet. There are stay-at-home parents who, by the end of the day, just want to close their eyes for a few minutes without the sound of a child falling off the couch or a tween screaming because their sibling stole their shirt.
If these memos get to the parents who are not TV watchers, they will just abide by what they are being told. And why not?
The school administration is there to protect our students and as parents, we rely on their opinions and advice.
However, with the ever-growing epidemic of bullying, sexual assault, rape, and sadly suicide on school campuses around the country, shouldn't this be something that we do talk to our children about and expose them to?
This show is not for those who are suicidal, whether you're a child or an adult.
13 Reasons Why is for everyone else.
Let me explain.
SPOILER AHEAD:
During the series, we meet Alex, a teen boy who at first came off as awkward and lonely.
Then he became popular . . . but popularity doesn't solve depression.
And while we [the viewers and the characters] are so focused on why Hannah died, we completely ignore the warning signs that Alex shows he's suffering from depression and ultimately suicidal ideation.
And by the end of the series, we learn that Alex has attempted suicide.
So why is this important?
Because for those who are not suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts, it's important to know that your words matter.
Your actions matter.
And your ability to sense someone's emotional troubles matter.
Hannah cleaned her room before she committed suicide.
Alex also cleaned his room before he committed suicide.
Does this mean that every time you child cleans his or her room, you need to put them on watch?
No!
But there are definite warning signs that we can ALL watch out for when it comes to adults or children.
If we can have an open and honest dialogue about mental health, we can help prevent further loss.
So by limiting what our children can view or talk about, we are perpetuating the stigma attached to this heartbreaking, life-changing illness.
Should you allow your children to watch the graphic scenes? Not necessary.
Every parent has the right to decide for themselves how much their child can or cannot view.
However, the other parts of the show are so important and should be required viewing, if not for your child, but for YOU.
It's so difficult to understand what a person goes through when they are feeling at their rock bottom.
Having the tools to know what to look for and how to help can save a life.
Let's all try to be better.
Let's all try to be more helpful.
But most of all, let's end the stigma surrounding the mental health community so we don't have to read about another suicide that could have been prevented.
More juicy links from YourTango:
- What 13 Reasons Why' Got RIGHT About Suicide (As Written By Someone Who Attempted)
- Why '13 Reasons Why' Was Triggering For Me And Might Be For You Too
- 10 Easy-But-TOTALLY-Romantic Date Night Ideas For Parents
- 50 Love Quotes Guaranteed To Make You FEEL Things
- These 37 Hilariously Funny Love Puns Will Make Your Day
Just 16 Pictures of Charlie Hunnam Looking Hot as Hell in King Arthur
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword truly has something for everyone: Guy Ritchie as the director (meaning kickass action), a tale as old as time, and Charlie freakin' Hunnam. Sure, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou, and Eric Bana are some grade-A hunks too, but don't even try to tell me that you're not stoked to see Hunnam as the brave young Arthur. Ahead of the film's release, take a look through all the pictures of Hunnam looking fierce AF.
I'm Not as Passionate About My Job as I Once Was
Have you ever gotten up in the morning simply dreading the idea of getting out of bed and going to a workplace that made you feel like a hamster on a wheel? Well, it happened to me, and I am sure I'm not the only 30-something professional that has an acute sense of being lost on their career path.
As a mid-management executive, I believe in numbers and facts, so I did a little digging. It turned out that, according to research by Gallup, there are millions of people out there who feel completely dissatisfied with their jobs, while only 13 percent of respondents said they were truly and wholeheartedly engaged in their careers. So I was a small dot in a huge statistical cloud, feeling unmotivated, less productive, less purposely driven, and less passionate about my job as I once was.
Don't get me wrong; I wasn't the type of woman who didn't know what she wanted or who chose a profession out of lack of better opportunities. I wanted my mid-management position. I chose a college major that would send me right to this position because I just loved finances. I went up the promotion ladder over the years, and I was hell-bent on getting this exact job in this exact company. So, in my first three years, I was a rock star, impressing everybody with my skills, wits, and expertise. Because, of course, the next big dream was to end up on a high-management chair, in an office one floor above.
But somehow, I got lost. There was no more joy in juggling with decisions, tasks, people, top managers and low managers, projects, budgets, and challenges. Sitting there at my desk, working for a company that essentially was good to me, I was torn. That fight was between my loyalty to an entity that offered me everything I wanted and the inescapable feeling that leaving the company would drop a huge burden on my ménage's ability to smoothly swing through bills. It also included matters such as hobbies and parents to take care of. And all of that was under the enormous dark cloud of unhappiness that hung over my head and turned me into a not-so-efficient employee.
The easiest and most logical choice was to get unstuck and find something else to do. Change the job, though? Go on a completely different career path? At 34? Let's get our facts straight: You don't leave a mid-management position that pays for vacations abroad when you expect to be promoted to top management just because you feel bored with your daily routines. Not if you are a woman. Not in this economy. Not if you still love the finance field.
So, I decided to devise a plan to get back on track. My theory was the following: since I can't change the job (yes, I am an opportunist who loves the industry, the company, and its people), I will change the way I do the job. This idea was given to me after reading an article on professional burnout and means to regain your energy and motivation levels.
After listening to professionals in psychology and human resources, I understood that people aren't robots that don't need maintenance. We do need to get out of our own heads and take a step back to take a breather no matter how busy we are. Besides plunging into some pretty cool workplace relaxation techniques, this is what I did big:
- I fully redecorated my office.
Out with the neutral tones of gray, mahogany, pale neutrals, and stainless steel; in with whimsical patterns, brightly colored accessories, some potted plants, cute framed pictures, and a vintage armchair for my personal use only. It may sound like a no-brainer, but changing the physical look of your working environment can lift up your spirit, put a smile on your face, and make you feel less stressed, less pressured, and quite cool. - I took plenty of breaks during the day.
Well, it wasn't easy, caught by the torrent of work, but I stood my ground. Research shows that taking a break every 90 minutes improves focus by 30 percent and the feeling of well-being by 46 percent. So a few times a day I would sit in my retro armchair and watch some Steve Harvey sketches and shows. I simply love the man and always found inspiration in him and his story. After learning that he is a college drop-out and putting this information together with how much he's worth, it makes you feel like there is no limit to anything - not even boosting your own passion for work out of the grave. It took a month, but I felt the benefits of these breaks. I felt my brain disengaged, rested, and up for new challenges. - I changed the way I worked with my team.
I moved our weekly department meetings in the park in spring and summer, and downstairs at the cafe in the cold season. I let one of my team members work from home, by rotation, one day a week, and I also offered myself the same privilege. I gave up on certain bureaucratic ways of getting things done and used some money from my department's budget to invest in cloud storage and a few time/task management tools. I organized two team-building events in the wilderness to spice up some teamwork and communication. It took me half a year, but when you see people loving to work with you, you also start to love working with them. And the job suddenly doesn't seem so boring, repetitive, or useless. - I made sure there was a clear separation between church and state.
Once I opened the door to my apartment, the job was left outside. No emails, no phones, no repetitive and mind-grinding useless browsing of social media, no distractions. I cooked, watched movies, and did my manicure, spent time with my partner and our friends. You know, things that make you laugh, and things that remind you that you are a silly human who needs to unwind and have some fun. - I got a new lifestyle routine.
It includes exercising, getting more sleep, and learning a new language (I was always good at it and it landed me a new work project involving a foreign partner, which comes with cultural challenges and some work travel I can't wait to experience).
Sometimes it's not the job that makes you miserable. At least, this is what I've learned. It is your own perspective of the job that makes you miserable. The tasks are the same, and the routine will probably become the enemy over and over again. That is a given. But you can change a few things here and there and push some fun, a laidback attitude, and some personal discipline into it. Change the job when absolutely nothing works, but in the words of Jean-Luc Picard, "There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle." Don't be afraid to try them all and invent some of your own as well.
Former Congressman Who Can't Pay Child Support Bashes Jimmy Kimmel's Healthcare Plea
In a sobering monologue for his show, Jimmy Kimmel gave a heartbreaking plea to President Donald Trump on healthcare cuts. The late-night host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! told the world how his newborn son, Billy, recently underwent heart surgery - and his condition, congenital heart disease, qualifies as a preexisting condition. Most people, like former President Barack Obama, were quick to applaud Kimmel for his statements. One former congressman instead took the opportunity to send a rage-inducing tweet directed at Kimmel.
Former representative of Illinois's eighth district Joe Walsh is no stranger to making absurd comments on the internet. However, his latest tweet directed at Kimmel is downright cruel, insensitive, and hypocritical.
Sorry Jimmy Kimmel: your sad story doesn't obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody else's health care.
- Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 2, 2017
Walsh has previously come under fire for claiming to be unable to make child-support payments to his ex-wife and three children in 2011. The congressman claimed he couldn't pay because he "had no money," according to ThinkProgress. Even more maddening, Walsh also rejected health care from the government in 2011 as a way to protest Obamacare, even though his wife has a preexisting condition. The internet was quick to condemn Walsh's comments, with some, like actress Alyssa Milano, calling him out on his child support payments.
@WalshFreedom I'm so sorry God forgot to give you a heart. #bebetter
- Ditti (@Ditti33) May 2, 2017
@WalshFreedom The laws of your state and this nation obligate you to pay your child support.
- David Roth (@david_j_roth) May 2, 2017
@david_j_roth @WalshFreedom Joe you should pay child support
- Chris Person (@Papapishu) May 2, 2017
How peculiar that a deadbeat dad would take this particular stance, even as a form of desperate attention seeking. 🤔
- Maria (@MariaMelee) May 2, 2017
Ahem. Don't you owe $117,437 in child support to your ex-wife and three children, Joe Walsh? https://t.co/aG37ALk99M
- Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) May 2, 2017
Kimmel, on the other hand, has thanked everyone for their well wishes and is asking people to donate to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
on behalf of my family, thank you for the lovely and loving tweets about our son Billy and for your donations to https://t.co/HOIUvNt8WE XO
- Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) May 2, 2017
4 New Couples Who Made Their Relationships Red Carpet Official at the Met Gala
The Met Gala has long been known as the most fashionable red carpet of the year - the carpet, nay, stairs, you strut while showing the world just how into fashion you are. But like other red carpets, it can also be the place where rumored couples are minted as the real deal. This year's event was no exception, with several couples officially posing together for the first time. These are the Met Gala couples who were ready to show the world their love.
This Husband's Hysterical Account of Shopping at Ikea With His Wife Is Every Couple
Ikea can make or break a relationship. How a couple navigates the never-ending aisles, furniture decisions, and assembling instructions at home can have a lasting impact. And yet, it can be almost impossible for couples not to get sucked in at least once.
When Nathanael Showalter found himself being dragged to the massive store, he didn't suck it up for the meatballs or spend the afternoon complaining about the spotty cellphone reception. Instead, he decided to document what shopping with his wife - when they didn't actually need anything - was really like.
His hysterical play-by-play of the outing is going viral because everyone who has ever been tortured by their partner and an insanely long trip to Ikea can relate to it. He starts off by making the purpose of their recent visit clear: "We are here. Our apartment is furnished. I am not sure why we are returning," he shared on Imgur.
He continues to share in perfect detail exactly what a day of browsing at Ikea is like according to a husband who doesn't particularly want to be there. "Perhaps we are here for institutional storage solutions. My wife says, 'Maybe when we have eight kids.' We have zero kids. We move on," he captioned a photo of a storage unit. "She has commented on how sturdy these spoons are. Our other measuring spoons do not strike me as structurally unsound."
Although they ended their day by walking out on a much stronger note than many couples who fall victim to the showroom bickering and box-hauling stress, every person who has ever stepped into Ikea will crack up over the rest of this guy's spot-on commentary.
The 1 Thing Women Find Irresistible in a Man
It's hard not to love a guy who's easy on the eyes, but it's their personality traits that truly keep us interested. I had a big discussion with the female editors of POPSUGAR, and we had a similar answer to what many women (those interested in men, of course) consistently find attractive in a guy. We all agreed that the sexiest trait in a man is passion.
Passionate men are motivated, confident, and care about living a fulfilled life. Passion is something that is important both personally and professionally, so a guy who projects that on his partner is a keeper. You won't find a guy who's spirited about his work, friends, and family sitting on the couch all day doing nothing. He cares about where his life is going, which means he will care about his relationship with you as well.
Here's what some of the editors said about passionate men:
"If a man is passionate, it usually translates to other areas in his life. He's more likely to care about his work and loved ones." - Nicole (23)
"I love seeing a guy care about something he loves. It means he can care about our relationship as well." - Hilary (28)
"Being with someone who is passionate - whether it's about his job, his hobbies, traveling to new places, the people in his life, good food, or experiencing new things - keeps the relationship interesting. When you're with someone for the long haul, there's nothing sexier than seeing your partner light up about the things that excite him." - Tara (32)
"Men with passion tell me that they're interested in more than just their day-to-day routine. It shows to me that they're adventurous and looking for something more to life." - Ann-Marie (25)
On the flip side, what's the biggest turn off in men? Most women said cockiness. Being overly confident and acting like you're better than everyone else is a huge deal breaker. A relationship is an equal partnership, and making someone feel inferior by bragging is not going to work. Plus, it's embarrassing to bring a cocky guy around friends and family. He will come across as someone who is more interested in himself than the woman he is with.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with being confident. A man just can't take it to a level of arrogance. There's a huge difference! We want to hear about your accomplishments and life, but there's a modest way to share those things. Nobody is "the best" and this isn't a competition. That's why passion is so wonderful. It allows a man to share his interests in a way that's attractive. Passion can also translate to the bedroom, and we're not complaining there. Wouldn't you agree?
The Best Effing Chicken Recipes You'll Ever Eat
Sure, chicken is probably already your go-to protein - it makes for great and easy yet satisfying packed-up lunches and dinners. But it's easy to fall into a rut and feel like you need to kick it up a notch as far as unique flavors go. We get it, and that's why we put together this list of 25 chicken recipes with lots of Latin flavor and spices that will keep you coming back for more.
The Best Effing Chicken Recipes You'll Ever Eat
Sure, chicken is probably already your go-to protein - it makes for great and easy yet satisfying packed-up lunches and dinners. But it's easy to fall into a rut and feel like you need to kick it up a notch as far as unique flavors go. We get it, and that's why we put together this list of 25 chicken recipes with lots of Latin flavor and spices that will keep you coming back for more.
Prince Philip Will No Longer Carry Out Public Engagements
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is stepping down from royal duties as of this Fall. The 95-year-old will continue to attend previously-scheduled public engagements through August, before retiring from his public role. It is said that this is his own decision, and it comes with the support of the queen. Queen Elizabeth II will continue to carry out all her duties as monarch, and while Philip will not make an appearances in an official capacity, he may still support his wife at some events.
The rumor mill went into overdrive when Buckingham Palace announced an emergency meeting for all staff on Thursday morning, and the palace was quickly forced to issue reassurances that the announcement did not concern the health of either the queen or Prince Philip. Only yesterday, Prince Philip made an appearance at Lord's Cricket Ground, and the queen met with Prime Minister Theresa May. Despite being 95 and 91 years old respectively, they seem to still be in good health.
The royal couple will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in November. No doubt we will see the Duke of Edinburgh, albeit in an "unofficial" capacity, at any celebrations of this incredible milestone!
Prince Philip Will No Longer Carry Out Public Engagements
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, is stepping down from royal duties as of this Fall. The 95-year-old will continue to attend previously-scheduled public engagements through August, before retiring from his public role. It is said that this is his own decision, and it comes with the support of the queen. Queen Elizabeth II will continue to carry out all her duties as monarch, and while Philip will not make an appearances in an official capacity, he may still support his wife at some events.
The rumor mill went into overdrive when Buckingham Palace announced an emergency meeting for all staff on Thursday morning, and the palace was quickly forced to issue reassurances that the announcement did not concern the health of either the queen or Prince Philip. Only yesterday, Prince Philip made an appearance at Lord's Cricket Ground, and the queen met with Prime Minister Theresa May. Despite being 95 and 91 years old respectively, they seem to still be in good health.
The royal couple will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary in November. No doubt we will see the Duke of Edinburgh, albeit in an "unofficial" capacity, at any celebrations of this incredible milestone!
Michelle Obama Addresses the Melania Trump Gift Meme
One of the most talked about moments on Inauguration Day was a seemingly awkward moment between Michelle Obama and Melania Trump. But, according to Obama, the moment was more about trying to hold back her emotions than anything else.
In case you forgot, on Inauguration Day, when the new first lady and president of the United States arrived at the White House, Trump greeted Obama and handed her a gift. The moment was captured by ABC News and showed Obama's puzzled face as she wondered where to put the gift. The internet was quick to say Obama's face was a reaction to the incoming Trump presidency. But at the American Institute of Architects conference on April 27, Obama revealed what her actual emotions were. The former first lady said she was beginning to realize these were her last moments in the White House - a not-so-easy moment, especially for her daughters, who grew up there.
"So that moment of transition, right before the doors opened and we welcomed in the new family, our kids were leaving out the back door in tears, saying goodbye to people," she said at the event. Obama said she didn't want to have tears in her eyes to avoid any backlash. "I didn't want to have tears in my eyes because people would swear I was crying because of the new president," she said, according to Today.
At the conference, Obama told the audience that Sasha and Malia's last night at the White House involved a slumber party with friends. "They had a sleepover, because of course on Inauguration Day, because my girls are so normal, they're like, 'Well, eight girls are gonna be sleeping here because it's our last time, and we want pizza and we want nuggets.' And it's like, really?"
This was Obama's first public speaking appearance since Inauguration Day, and we're glad to see her back in the spotlight.
Kate Middleton Puts Her Farming Skills to Work by Feeding a Little Lamb
Kate Middleton doesn't need to be with Prince George and Princess Charlotte to show off her maternal side. The Duchess of Cambridge was all kinds of cute during a trip to a Gloucestershire farm on Wednesday. Dressed casually in olive pants, a navy sweater, and a khaki jacket, Kate appeared to have a blast while visiting the Farms for City Children charity, which provides inner-city kids with the opportunity to live and work on a farm for a week. Aside from touring the grounds, the mother of two had a particularly adorable encounter with one of the farm's furry animals as she casually fed a lamb with a bottle. The recent appearance is particularly special for Kate, as she revealed in September that she'd secretly like to be "a young farmer" and is teaching Prince George and Princess Charlotte about the farm at the family's country home in Norfolk.
Get Glam at the Gym With These 12 Athleisure Beauty Sets
It's that time of year again . . . you know, when everyone realizes bikini season is just around the corner, yet many of us have long forgotten about those "get fit" New Year's resolutions. The good news is that your favorite beauty brands are making it easier than ever to look your best both at the gym and beyond (do not cancel that post-Zumba cocktail!) with athleisure beauty offerings.
From Tarte's no-budge brighteners to Drunk Elephant's bag of antiaging and hydrating tricks - and all the no-rinse, no-fuss products in between - you're bound to find the ideal gym beauty bag of complexion perfectors for you and your favorite type of workout. Read on for some of the latest high-tech collections and kits made with the fitness enthusiast in mind.
Get Glam at the Gym With These 12 Athleisure Beauty Sets
It's that time of year again . . . you know, when everyone realizes bikini season is just around the corner, yet many of us have long forgotten about those "get fit" New Year's resolutions. The good news is that your favorite beauty brands are making it easier than ever to look your best both at the gym and beyond (do not cancel that post-Zumba cocktail!) with athleisure beauty offerings.
From Tarte's no-budge brighteners to Drunk Elephant's bag of antiaging and hydrating tricks - and all the no-rinse, no-fuss products in between - you're bound to find the ideal gym beauty bag of complexion perfectors for you and your favorite type of workout. Read on for some of the latest high-tech collections and kits made with the fitness enthusiast in mind.
Alec Baldwin's Daughter Carmen Dances Her Little Tush Off on The Ellen Show
Alec Baldwin is an established actor, the best Donald Trump impersonator SNL has ever seen, and, as it turns out, a hilarious dancer. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday, the Boss Baby star made quite the entrance when he and his 3-year-old daughter, Carmen, danced their way onto Ellen's stage. The adorable little girl had no qualms about strutting her stuff in front of Ellen's large audience, and she even inspired her famous dad to jump around like a big kid. After Carmen went backstage, Alec sat down with the host and chatted about his family with wife Hilaria. In addition to revealing that Carmen is definitely ready for Hollywood, he also talked about how his son Rafael already knows how to smolder for the cameras.
This Is What It's Like to Live With Birth Marks Covering Your Face and Body
"Ugh, what happened to you?" "You're not pretty like the other girls." "No one likes you. You look like you're covered in dirt." "No one is ever going to like you."
These remarks were the norm for me when I was growing up. Every comment hurt a little bit more than the last. I subconsciously hoarded them until they started to become the very things I was telling myself. I have a rare epidermal nevus condition called Phacomatosis pigmentokeratotica, which affects about 1 in 2,000 people. A nevus is the scientific term for birthmark or mole. My case is caused by a genetic mutation, although the specific gene remains unknown. It isn't something you'd see everyday, which was why I garnered this kind of attention.
I might've only been 7 or 8 years old, but I could still understand the magnitude of disgust behind every mean comment. I was constantly bullied in school by my peers. They would make fun of me for looking different. During sixth grade lunch hour, a boy threw food at me and crumpled notes with mean things written on them such as, "You're ugly." The harassment didn't stop with my classmates.
Parents of these kids would tell my mom and dad that I should have surgery to remove them, because I wasn't attractive. Adults walking past me would sneer at the sight of me and take pictures to laugh at. My sixth grade Spanish teacher even publically bullied me in front of class and said, "Why don't you go and connect the dots on your face?" You could imagine the amount of emotional trauma this caused to my self-esteem. I received positive comments here and there, but it was always the negative ones that held more weight to me.
My mom would take many measures to cover me up as best as she could to protect me from the world. I was always outfitted in turtlenecks and long pants. When it got hot, my mom would slather on foundation that was five times too light and too sheer for my skin. I was always running around so the makeup melted off anyway. It was not ideal.
I was taught was to hide and to cover my skin so people wouldn't say anything. But no matter how hard I tried, every negative comment and experience felt like the weight of the world. I hated what I looked like and soon I embodied everything that hurt. I believed that I wasn't beautiful and that I never could be. I briefly contemplated suicide around the end of middle school. If I just stopped everything, I wouldn't have to hurt anymore. I could stop my parents from tirelessly trying to find the best medical care for me, since at the time, most dermatologists didn't know what to do with my case. "Maybe I could stop my parents from having to take the emotional abuse. It would be so easy to end my emotional suffering," I thought to myself. [Editor's note: if you or a loved one feels suicidal, find help here.]
I am now 24 years old, and all I can say is that I am grateful I chose otherwise. It was a painfully slow but steady journey to attain self-acceptance. To this day, I feel like I still have a lot to work on. There are days when I'll cry, but I'm only human, and I need to allow myself to feel emotion. Regardless of those bad days, I know that I will always pick myself up and continue on with my life.
Today, I can't help but tell you how much I love my life and how much I am appreciative for my birthmarks. Not only have they given me confidence in my appearance, but they have also given me the strength and drive to pursue my dreams. I grew up with a lot of negativity, but slowly, I learned to stand up against it. I kept telling myself that they were wrong and that what they said meant nothing to me. I began to apply the mindset of "never taking no for an answer" to all aspects of my life.
Being bullied when I was young made me sensitive. I used to hate that I didn't have tough skin but now, I feel fortunate that I don't. My sensitivity allows me to be compassionate towards people who are hurting and it allows me to pick up on subtle hints that they are in pain. My birthmarks also taught me to be positive for myself and for other people around me. There is enough hate in this world and enough people telling us that we can't do something.
I didn't want to add to that, and instead, I chose to have a positive outlook on my life and to lift up the people around me. When I see the people around me reach success, it's a chain reaction for more great things to come. So I can't help but continue to be positive. I can't express the amount of emotional suffering I went through to get to the confidence level I am at now. I came up with things to remind myself when things were especially difficult, and I hope these tips empower you to believe in your worth and your beauty. You have so much to offer in this world! Without further ado:
1. You have to love you.
This was the most difficult, but most important idea to grasp in my journey to accepting myself. My family and friends were always encouraging about my appearance and say that it's what they love about me. It is what makes me different. What I came to realize was that although the support was strong, I could not accept it until I came to accept myself. Strength at its paramount comes from within. People can be strong for you, but it is meaningless until you truly believe you are beautiful. Once you are confident that you are strong, no one can take that away from you.
What is even more important is that once you love yourself, the negative comments you receive become so irrelevant to you that you barely even notice they exist. You can create your reality. If you bottle up those negative comments and make them a part of you, then they will overcome you. But, if you believe that you are strong and beautiful, then that will in and of itself become your reality.
Something I do to feel strong inside and out is that I go to the gym! I love lifting weights and circuit training. I make sure to work out each muscle group throughout the week. I also rarely eat out, because I love to cook healthy. The combinations of both working out and eating clean make me feel great both physically and mentally.
2. When times get tough, get tougher.
There were many situations in which I found myself behind closed doors by myself, crying because I didn't know what I did to garner such negative attention. I would just sit there and feel so bad for myself. It came to a point when I would be sitting in an ocean of used tissues, dizzy from hyperventilating and unable to squeeze any more tears out of my eyes. I realized that life goes on. It's not going to sit and wait for you to feel bad for yourself. There are things out there to be done. Goals to be reached. Empowerment to be gained. Success to be earned. I bit my bottom lip and redirected my energy into the things I felt made my life worth living.
I channeled this energy into becoming a doctor. I had been exposed to dermatology my entire life and have been fortunate to meet some incredible and inspirational physicians who changed me forever. I also have had over 60 major and minor surgeries, so I have also been exposed to the field of plastic surgery. It's something I want to dedicate my life to because I want to help people through what I am currently going through. Because of my birthmarks and the arduous journey with having them, I feel I am able to relate to my patients and lead them to a physically and mentally healthy life.
So, my lesson for you is that you need to take life by the balls and own it. Find something worth being tough about and run with it. The world is yours. You have to choose to take it.
3. Stop trying to hide it - own it!
My mom insisted that I use makeup to cover my skin when I was younger, but now, all I want to do is show the world that I am proud to be me. I tried to use foundation once, but I looked so silly. The coverage was too sheer and the amount I had to use was ridiculous. I honestly didn't feel authentic. If people look, I say let them look! Let them admire your beauty. In a world where people are dying to stand out, we are lucky to already have that trait.
Though I decided to forgo cosmetics for coverage, I still have products to protect my skin from damaging UV rays. My beauty secret is to use a broad-spectrum SPF moisturizer and body lotion. It'll also prevent premature aging, an added bonus. My favorites include: Jergens Natural Glow SPF 20 ($11) for the face and Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock ($7 each), SPF 45 and SPF 100 for my body. I encourage everyone, even to those who do not have birthmarks, to use SPF. I love Jergens Natural Glow for its smell and its self-tanning product. Since I can't go out and tan, this my way of getting some color. Neutrogena's Dry Touch line is amazing because it doesn't feel heavy. I've gone through too many greasy sunblocks and am glad to say that this product line definitely does not disappoint.
4. Be compassionate.
The comments that people make must never define you. Sometimes, people will say mean things that will hurt you to the very core. It's an uncomfortable situation, especially if the topic of your appearance is an extremely sensitive subject. It's important to keep in mind that people are curious. Sometimes they are ignorant. If they are mean to you, it is because they still have more to learn about life. They just don't understand how to process your beauty. Continue to be kind, for they are simply naive.
As I get older, less mean things are said to me, but I still get asked about them. I realize that the questions come from curiosity. It's harder to understand this when it's a sensitive topic, but it's important to be compassionate and to not be defensive to those who question. I get asked all the time if I wanted to get them removed and my answer was, is, and will continue to be: no. My birthmarks made me the person I am today. They gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams in more ways than one. They have given me the confidence and grit to continue my goals of being a doctor. They made me compassionate and optimistic.
I want people out there who are going through what I went through to understand that it's OK to be a little insecure sometimes. I want you to know that you are beautiful and that you are loved, even if you can't see it. You don't have to prove your worth to anyone but yourself. You are already great. You have the potential to be even greater and you have it within you to never stop until you reach success. Believe that your differences make you unique. Be confident that they can change your life once you accept them and love them for what they are and who you can be.
Jenna Lee is currently workong on completing a Masters Degree in biomedical sciences; follow her on Instagram here!
Articles
