TresSugar

Who's Your Favorite Female Author?

TresSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0800

It's no secret that we love female writers around here at Sugar HQ, but according to Publishers Weekly, no book written by a woman was good enough to make the list of the top 10 titles of 2009. Maybe it's time for women to start taking masculine pen names again.

In response to the disappointing list, the group Women in Letters and Literary Arts (WILLA) has put together a list of books that were overlooked, written by authors like Lorrie Moore, Rita Dove, Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, and Alicia Ostriker.

I thought it could be fun to make our own list of amazing female authors. So tell me: who is your favorite author, who also happens to be a woman? (And if you're looking for books written by either sex, check out our list of November must reads.)

Source: Flickr User netsella

Unintentionally Funny: Ask Men Decodes Feminism

TresSugar — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

Ask Men recently called in a woman to answer the pressing question: what feminist demands do women want men to ignore?

The list the "relationship correspondent" came up with is awesomely and unintentionally funny, as is the accompanying article. Of course, the writer points out that she's not talking about "the stereotypical, garden-variety, hairy-armpit feminist." Instead she's focused on the "sexy feminist" - the non-clingy girlfriend who can pay her own bills.

The list of "those pesky feminist demands that even the most independent of women is expecting you to ignore" include:

"I can carry my own bag."
"Don't objectify me!"
"I'll pay my share."
"I can think for myself!"
"I won't be shackled into a marriage."

Would you be happy if men ignored these so-called feminist demands?

10 Strange Places to Meet Someone

TresSugar — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

Last month you all shared the random places you've met love interests. Since sometimes it can feel like there's nobody out there to meet, I've rounded up some of the more unconventional pickup locations. If you need ideas on where to meet your future soul mate or next fling, this list might help!

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Top 10 Quotes From The Quotable Douchebag

TresSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:00:00 -0700

The douchebag is everywhere. No matter how much we want to ignore him, he pops up with his arrogance, stupidity, and Ed Hardy shirts! Since he doesn't seem to be going anywhere, he might as well amuse us. Which brings me to The Quotable Douchebag: A Treasury of Spectacularly Stupid Remarks, bravely compiled by Margaret McGuire. The book not only has a pretty great explanation of how literal douchebags came to describe real-life douchelords, the quotes are incredible and hard to believe. Brace yourselves. The following quotes are just the tip of the doucheberg . . .

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Michelle Obama, MIA, & Stella McCartney Make Time 100 List

TresSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:00:21 -0700

The Time 100 list of the world's most influential people is out today, and some very cool women made the cut. The annual issue is always such a great read because high-profile people share their musings about each other. Here are some of my favorite entries.

Oprah Winfrey on Michelle Obama: The joy Michelle, 45, brings to her roles as First Mother and First Lady is what makes her so intoxicating. We want that joy in the roles we inhabit as mothers, wives, workers, daughters and friends. And while we admire those arms and applaud her fashion choices (from J. Crew to top designers), her greatest influence is that she makes us want to be our own best selves - and maybe lift a few weights too.

To read what Gwyneth Paltrow wrote about Stella McCartney and what Spike Jonze had to say about MIA, read more.

Gwyneth Paltrow on Stella McCartney: She laughs really hard. And she is a vegetarian. I mention this because you cannot accurately characterize Stella McCartney, 37, without underlining that she is a vegetarian. Always has been. And even if you are not interested in being a vegetarian, somehow Stella gets you to believe. She manages to convince you (never sanctimoniously, never from a soapbox) that killing animals is needless and cruel and bad for the environment. It may last the duration of just one dinner, but you start to feel a bit sad for your neighbor's lamb and a bit embarrassed by your chicken.

Spike Jonze on MIA: To this day, she doesn't consider herself a musician. She has this wide range of talents and influences - she's a Sri Lankan refugee who didn't speak a word of English before she was 10, yet she's also a child of Chuck D and the Pixies and Fight Club and MySpace. There are no borders for her. She made me realize that you don't have to be from the West to have a favorite Biggie song. We are all listening to the same music.

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10 Reasons Barack Obama Is the First Cool President

TresSugar — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:00:30 -0700

Regardless of what they think about his policies, a lot of Americans agree that President Obama might be the nation's first hip president. While some think his style is elusive and hard to define, I've narrowed down 10 things that make Barack Obama cooler than other commanders in chief.

Here's my list:

He's addicted to tech: He refused to give up his BlackBerry becoming the first emailing president.
He's not self-conscious: While he's sort of a goofy dancer, Barack sure looked cool when he came out grooving on Ellen's show.
He inspires teen slang: At one Albany, NY high school teens respond to a sneeze with "Barack you." (Barack does mean blessed.)
He's not uptight: The White House work day starts at 9 a.m. and it's not necessary to wear a jacket in the oval office.
He's married to Michelle: Nothing makes you more cool than having an inspiring partner by your side.

To see the rest, read more.

He doesn't get bitter: As Fred Armisen demonstrates on SNL, Obama can't hold a grudge. Hillary's Secretary of State! Joe Lieberman got to keep his powerful position in Congress. Barack even got friendly with rival John McCain right after the election.
He brought basketball to the White House: Not only did he promise to install a court, but he also correctly predicted that North Carolina would win the NCAA tournament.
He keeps up with the memes: Barack showed Beyonce his "Single Ladies" moves at the inauguration.
He can tell a good joke (sometimes): At his online townhall he joked that his virtual audience was probably high. But his sense of humor can flop too - like the time he made an insensitive joke involving the Special Olympics.
R&B artists just stop by his house: On Tuesday, Usher dropped in (without an invitation) to the White House to watch President Obama sign the Serve America Act.

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Quiz Nation! Match the City to the Superlative

CitizenSugar — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 11:15:19 -0700

I love me a good city superlative list. I want to know which town is the most popular, which is the most miserable, which is the most dangerous. Well, ABC News has outdone itself by rounding up some of the best offbeat city surveys.

Can you guess America's most manly city? The most energetic? What about the fattest city in the US? Take this quiz to find out!

Take the quiz

10 Upsides to the Recession

CitizenSugar — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:00:21 -0800

Is it possible to read anything that doesn't belabor the economy today? Nope. Not even here! But I've had it with the apocalyptic news and found 10 things that more than make do in a recession. Besides, someone other than alcohol and cigarette companies needs to profit, right?

So who looks up when money is down?

Movies: Ticket sales are up 17.5 percent this year.
Environment: Afford not, waste not.
Dating: Some of you said the rise in dating was just gold digging, but banker girlfriends say there's no pot.
Music: Finally! The music industry is not complaining.
European vacations: The euro and the pound still may be worth more than the dollar, but conversion rates are translating much better.
Psychics: Uncertain times call for uncertain methods of inquiry.
Entrepreneurs: It's a great time to have money!
Education: Graduate school is a time-honored way to weather a recession.
Careers: Short-staffed companies have opportunities for eager employees. Not applicable? See above.
Life: No, really. Death rates drop as unemployment rises.

Source

Top 5 Most Dangerous Cities List Puts New Orleans at No. 1

CitizenSugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:30:45 -0800

With a murder every 40 hours, New Orleans crime rate is hard to beat. The latest City Crime Rankings looked at reported incidents of six major crimes to determine the most dangerous dwellings in the US. With a population of only 250,000 that changed drastically after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans came out on top.

Rounding out the list, the top-five cities with the highest crime rate include:

New Orleans, LA
Camden, NJ
Detroit, MI
St. Louis, MO
Oakland, CA

The FBI warns that ranking cities head-to-head fails to paint a realistic picture. In addition, local mayors and law enforcement officials maintain that such a superficial ranking irresponsibly misuses crime data by ignoring complex factors. Do you think rankings of the most dangerous cities help hold law enforcement accountable or are they counterproductive?

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What Did the Pundits Get So Very, Very Wrong?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:00:07 -0700

God bless 24-hours of news for giving us the "something happened, here's a boatload of people to tell you how to think about it" model of reporting. After all, where would we be without pundits? Thinking for ourselves? Well that clearly just won't do at all. So what happens when what we've been told by the experts turns out to be a little, uh, wrong? Salon rounded up a list of "bum calls" from pundits this election. Here are a few:

Everybody Loves Sarah: For a while there in August everything was coming up Palin - leading the heads to speculate she was a masterful pick that was going to snare the Hillary voters and make a big splash with feminists. Polls out this week however show that 60 percent of women under 50 have negative feelings about her.
Steve Schmidt Rules: After McCain topped the polls following the convention, the world beat a path to strategist Steve Schmidt's door. But with the decision to suspend the campaign and focus on the day to day rather than building a brand, the strategy seems to be coming up shorter than expected

They were wrong about Obama too. To see how, read more.

Obama Should Have Taken His Allowance: When Obama turned down the federal funding and his money stalled a bit after the conventions, the heads saw blood. Clearly he was too big for his britches. Though his record fundraising month of September proved that wrong.
The Hillary Fans Are Done For: The pundits sure thought the vocal Hillary supporters would never come around to Obama and he'd blown it by not picking her. But with new numbers showing Obama beating McCain with a 91 to 5 percent margin among Democrats it seems like there were 18 million cracks in their crystal balls.

Check out the whole list to see more. Did you make any election predictions that didn't come true?

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