Designer Manu Cornet brings us a funny take on how some of the biggest tech companies must be organized. I would say that it’s pretty accurate — do you agree?
Via Business Insider.
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A Genderless Preschool
Earlier today, I read about Egalia, a Swedish preschool that aims to break down gender stereotypes.
At this taxpayer-funded preschool located in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm, staff avoid using pronouns such as “him” or “her” and address the 33 children as “friends” rather than boys and girls. Every little detail — from the color and placement of toys to the selection of literature (which mostly consists of books dealing with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children) — has been carefully planned to ensure that the children do not fall into gender stereotypes from a young age.
I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Canadian parents who are hiding the gender of their baby. Upon reading that article, I remember asking J if he would mind if Claire plays with toy guns, swords, robots, and cars — traditionally all toys that are associated with boys — and he replied no.
But then I asked him, “What if we have a boy and he wants to play with Barbies? And wants to wear tutus and tiaras and makeup? Would you let him?”
He said that he probably will not past a certain age. And I found myself agreeing with him. But we couldn’t exactly pinpoint why. It is not because we believe a boy playing with traditionally feminine toys or dressing in traditionally feminine colors or pieces will turn him gay or into a transsexual. Nor is it because we believe these things will make a boy “sissy.” The only theory that seemed plausible was our society and culture’s influence on our views on gender roles.
It’s funny, because neither of us would have a problem with our boy playing with a kitchen set. Where would we draw the line?
And why is it more socially acceptable for girls to play with traditionally boy toys, but not the other way around?
One thing I do know is that we probably wouldn’t want our kids enrolled in a school like Egalia, and we both agree that the Canadian couple who are raising their baby to be genderless is treading on dangerous grounds, i.e. conducting a social experiment on their own child. J and I both believe that men and women are different for a reason, and that different gender roles are not problematic as long as they are equally valued. For example, J’s job at his company is equally important to our family as my job as a mother.
What do you think of the idea of a genderless preschool, or raising your children to be genderless?
Do you, or would you allow your boy(s) to play with dolls, wear dresses and makeup?
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Claire Learns to Wave Bye
J and I took Claire to visit some friends over the weekend, and when we were all saying our respective goodbyes, Claire started waving bye too!
Immediately J and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. We hadn’t been trying to teach her how to wave, so we thought it might just be some coincidental arm motions.
But long after we had returned home, Claire continued to wave bye whenever we asked her to, and we knew that this had to something she had picked up just from observing the world around her.
I finally managed to take a short video of it today. I stupidly aimed the Flip too high to get her first waves in the frame, but you can catch her doing it at about the 10 second mark. (And, as usual, Comang interrupts the recording.)
Even now, when I re-played the video on my laptop, she saw what was going on and started waving bye in response!
My mother and I think it’s hilarious how Claire’s face gets all scrunched up whenever she waves bye. It’s like she’s using all her concentration and might to get her arm to do what she wants, and even then it still doesn’t look natural.
Claire will be turning 9 months old this Thursday. Whenever I think about how old she is, I can’t help but be amazed at how I managed to keep an actual human being alive and well for 9 whole months. (I know — morbid much?)
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Chocolate Chip Cookies Without the Chocolate Chips
The #1 craving I have had this pregnancy?
Chips Ahoy! Chocolate Chip Cookies…
without the chocolate chips.
Does such a thing even exist?
To be honest I have never liked chocolate much. I actually don’t like most sweets and have not craved many sweets with either pregnancy.
But there is something about the carb-laden “cookie” part of Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies I have always loved. The crunchy texture with the perfect balance of sweet and salty…mmm!
So yes. While this can be chalked up to a weird pregnancy craving, I have always loved the non-chocolate part of Chips Ahoy! chocolate chip cookies. Pregnancy just made it about 100x worse.
I’ll take one sans chips, s’il vous plait.
According to the Chips Ahoy! website, there are FIVE varieties of its ubiquitous chocolate chip cookies available to the public, ranging from “Chewy” to “Chunky,” “Chewy Gooey” to “Made with Reese’s.”
So why not one without the chocolate chips?
And, because I realize the whole point of chocolate chip cookies is to include the chocolate chips, I would be more than satisfied with a “with less chocolate” version.
Think about it. Nabisco could save money on ingredients while charging the same amount as the other varieties.
It’s a win-win situation.
Here’s to hoping that someone at Nabisco would happen upon this post!
P.S. — I’m sure some of you are wondering why I can’t just bake a batch of cookies myself. Well, I may be an okay cook but I am a horrible baker. I also believe that it just wouldn’t taste the same…I need it from the source, I tell ya!
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Harry Potter vs. Star Wars
I wonder if Harry Potter will hold the same significance to my kids’ generation as Star Wars does for mine?
Via Reddit.
Edited to add on 7/3/11:
Did you know that I’m giving away THREE Amazon gift cards, valued at $100, $50, and $25? Head on over to the giveaway page for a chance to win! (Giveaway ends Friday, 7/8/11)
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Star Wars Costumes (126 Days Until Halloween)
Last week, BuyStarWarsCostumes.com contacted me and asked if I would be interested in reviewing a couple of their costumes.
If you’re thinking that I would be stupid to turn down such an offer, you are correct.
I chose the Toddler Princess Leia costume for Claire and the Darth Vader Dog costume for Comang.
The costumes arrived over the weekend and now, for the first time in years, I am looking forward to Halloween!
I had chosen the Princess Leia costume in the toddler size, thinking that Claire might be too big for the infant size once October 31st rolls around. However, the toddler size is huge! I think that a 2 or even a 3 year old would fit comfortably in it.
After looking over the costume some more, I am happy that I decided to go for the larger size. The material is made of a plush polyester/flannel material that seems very warm and comfortable, and if we can’t go out for Halloween this year (because my due date with BebeDeux is dangerously close to that date…we might even have had her by then!), we can always use the costume next year.
I managed to shorten the sleeves and tuck the torso of the costume into the belt using some safety pins, and was rewarded with with adorable shot of my daughter:
As for the Darth Vader Dog costume…well, that’s a different story.
I had ordered the medium size based on the measurement on the site. (Also, Comang usually wears a medium in doggie clothes.) I had assumed that the measurement was for the dog’s torso — neck to tail — but I think I might be wrong in this regard because the costume’s legs were about 2x too long for Comang. Luckily, I was able to shorten it easily with some safety pins.
But Comang wasn’t having it.
He hates the costume. He would bite, tug, pull, and even run around in circles to get the costume off. He especially hated the helmet — he freaked when I first put it on him and I had to remove it because I was afraid he would shred it in an effort to take it off. Here is the only semi-decent picture (and by that, one where he is not an indistinguishable blur) I could get of him wearing the costume:
The picture is still pretty blurry, as he would not stay still. Little punk.
To be fair, we only dress him in clothes when it is cold outside. And even then, we only use snug, unobtrusive sweaters for his walks and take them off once we are back indoors. So he is definitely not used to doggie clothes, nevermind ones with headpieces and dangling appendages! I think that if you have a dog that is better used to doggie clothes, the costume would work just fine and look stinkin’ cute (as evidenced by the numerous pictures of other dogs wearing it if you do a simple web search).
Despite Comang’s (sometimes violent) efforts to get it off, the costume itself held up pretty well. Like the Leia costume, it seems to be pretty well-made and I want to use the time between now and October to slowly get him used to the costume.
BuyStarWarsCostumes.com seems to have a great selection of Star Wars costumes and props, with competitive prices ranging from under $10 to hundreds of dollars for authentic pieces. You can bet that I will definitely be turning to them again if we are ever in the need of additional Star Wars costumes in the future — perhaps next year, we can all dress up as a Star Wars family?
Disclaimer: The costumes in this post were provided free of charge by BuyStarWarsCostumes.com. I was not paid for this post and the reviews are my 100% honest opinion.
BuyStarwarsCostumes.com offers a unique collection of low priced Star Wars costumes for adults and kids. Their selection includes everything from collectible Star Wars costumes down to a toddler Yoda costume for the kids. With a knowledgeable customer service staff at hand youíre sure to find what youíre looking for.
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The Evolution of the Alphabet
How is this visualization different from other alphabet charts? Colors and arrows depict where and how the changes were made, and the letters move around to show exactly we ended up with the 26-letter English alphabet we have today.
Please click on through for the full animation, as it is too big (that’s what she said) to showcase properly within the design of my blog.
Via I Love Charts.
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Rev Up Your Resumé with Vizualize.Me
How can you help your resumé stand out from the hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of other applicants?
Why not go with the popular trend of infographics, graphs, and charts?
While not applicable in all instances, you can’t deny that having a visually-appeasing resumé design will help you be more memorable, especially if you are looking for a job in a creative field.
This is where Vizualize.Me comes in. The new startup allows its users to create an infographic of their experiences, skills, and achievements with just a few clicks of a button. Once your infographic resumé is complete, you will receive a link so that you can easily share it on your social networking accounts. Take a look at a sample resumé created below for Ashton Kutcher:
The site hasn’t technically launched yet, but you can enter your email to be notified as soon as it does. Additionally, they are giving away free premium accounts to the first 10,000 people that sign up.
Via Bit Rebels.
P.S. — For more creative resumé inspiration, be sure to check out “100 More Creative Example Resumes of All Time”
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“Guerilla Classrooms” Ad Campaign
In an effort to encourage parents to get involved in their children’s learning, advertising agency Cramer-Krasselt has teamed up with COA Youth & Family Centers to set up interactive displays — dubbed “Guerilla Classrooms” — around the city of Milwaukee.
AdAge explains:
To promote parent-child interaction in fun ways, Cramer-Krasselt has set up large puzzles, word searches, mazes, books and rulers, sign-language translators, around-the-world basketball courts and a visual sound wave wall. Each display is designed to teach “real-world” applications of math, science, geography and reading.
Take a look at some of the displays below. I love them!
The ultimate aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of the positive impact parents’ involvement can have on their child’s education. I wouldn’t be surprised if parents, as well as other adults without children, learn a few things along the way too.
Via My Modern Met.
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Tesco Homeplus Korean Virtual Store
I am loving this video about how a Korean grocery store chain successfully brought its store to customers during their commute.
How is it different from having just an online store? Seeing the items in front of you, in life-size, full-color photos that are brightly and attractively displayed not only reminds us of items we may have forgotten, it also makes us consider products that we *might* want or need (ie, impulse shopping)…which is a lot more difficult to accomplish with online/mobile shopping alone.
Via Reddit.
I like books, gadgets, spicy food, and art. I dislike shopping, hot weather, and the laws of entropy. Although I am a self-proclaimed computer nerd, I still have a love for handbags and makeup... and I am always teetering on high heels. To learn more about me, visit the 
