TresSugar

Self Help: Keep a Journal

DearSugar — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 08:00:00 -0700

Women spend a lot of time worrying and thinking about things. That's just our nature. If I spend too much time running thoughts or problems over and over in my own head, I get totally stressed out. Plus it clouds my brain and then I can't focus on anything else.

Talking to a trusted friend or a therapist is awesome, but sometimes you just want to get your thoughts out without anyone listening, judging, or offering advice. That's where journal writing comes in.

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I've kept a journal ever since junior high. Back then I had a locked book that said "My Diary" on the cover and it got me through my first period and my first crush. Having a journal has helped me through some tough times since then too. Writing in a journal is also a way to keep track of important events (good and bad). I can look back to entries I wrote many years ago and relive bad dates (these are good for a laugh), birthday celebrations, fights I've had with friends, and unforgettable nights out once we've made up, graduations, even amazing restaurants I had forgotten about.

A journal is always there for you, never talks back, and always remembers what you say. It's a way to tap into your creative and thoughtful side. I guarantee that once you've gotten your thoughts and feelings out on paper, you'll be able to sort through them all, and make better sense of a situation.

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Website du Jour: When Love Breaks Down

TresSugar — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 02:00:00 -0700

"Before there were blogs, there were zines," writes the blogger behind When Love Breaks Down, a bitter but hilarious breakup blog with a twist. The breakup happened more than 10 years ago, and the blog is based on pages ripped from a zine the writer published back in 1998.

Each post features a page from the zine in all its cringe-inducing glory, complete with modern-day commentary, like this annotation on the entry above:

I really thought once you had a kid, you would grow up. Or at least have a conversation about leaving your family, at least a conversation, before you just up and do it. Before you just cheat and leave. I mean, that’s Lifetime movie plot, not real life.

Zines were totally the blogs of the 1990s; everyone was doing it! To learn more about the back story, keep reading.

At Last - The Miss Plastic Hungary Beauty Contest

TresSugar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700

"Ever had plastic surgery to become beautiful? Are you proud of your body? Would you like to put yourself to the test?"

If so, asks this website, perhaps you should enter the Miss Plastic Hungary beauty pageant where women age 18 – 30 (if you’re above 30 you’re in the “dame” category) can compete against other women who have gone under the knife.

In this Bizarro World contest, unlike in other beauty contests, having gone under the knife is not grounds for disqualification - it’s a contest requirement. Botox, by the way, doesn’t count. "The entry requirement," says Reka Bodis, press director of the pageant, "is a surgical procedure done under general or local anesthesia." It's quite “natural,” she continues, to stage such a contest now that so many beautiful women get plastic surgery and prices are more affordable. Hungary is a tourist destination for many in the UK, where plastic surgery prices can be prohibitively expensive.

The contest is open to non-Hungarian contestants as well as Hungarian beauties and debuts October 9.

Life Lessons Through Art

TresSugar — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:00:00 -0700

A graphic designer has taken life lessons and transformed them into art with impact in his book Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far. With the help of his talent (and clients around the world) borderline-banal maxims like Everybody Always Thinks They Are Right were transformed into interactive art exhibits.
Now anyone can turn their life lessons into art at his website. Of course, many user-submitted entries lack the impact and imagination of the originals, but just as many don't. Want to submit your own? To find out how, read more.

Consider what you have learned in your life so far. What are you sure about? What do you believe by now?
Pick one of those life lessons and write it down. Design it digitally. Photograph it. Draw it. Use paint, sculpture, film. We don’t care as long as it’s interesting.
Post a link to your creation. (Don’t embed. It makes us sad.)

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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Does the Criminal Justice System Need Sweeping Reforms?

CitizenSugar — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:00:03 -0700

Jim Webb, the former Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan and current Democratic Senator from Virginia, wants to rehabilitate America's criminal justice system. So he's proposed a crime bill!

Webb's plan starts with creating a bipartisan commission to study the system for 18 months and come up with a concrete legislative reform plan of its own.

Webb points out urgent reasons for the legislation, which include:

About 25 percent of the world's prisoners live in the US, which only has five percent of the world's population.
The number of drug offenders in prison has jumped 1,200 percent since 1980.
Four times as many mentally ill people are in prison than in mental health hospitals.
Post-prison re-entry programs are often nonexistent and threaten public safety.

The crime bill has begun gaining support from both conservatives and liberals typically afraid of being labeled soft on crime.

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The Green Monster: 8 Acts of Eco Extremism

CitizenSugar — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 09:30:47 -0700

Yesterday the crying-hippies video resurfaced on the ever-recycling Internet. (Well worth a watch!) Sobbing at the base of a North Carolinian forest, members of radical environmental group Earth First! cried for rocks and trees and pesky weeds that (they insist) are as alive as your typing fingertips. A young man cried until he wanted to scream. So he did.

But that's child's play! Environmentalists - extreme environmentalists - have more than tears and tree houses to show demanding Mother Earth. What does it take to go from eco friendly to eco terror? Check out my eight environmental no-nos, or do-dos (depending on your goal).

Arson. Particularly setting new housing developments, car lots, and SUVs ablaze. Another? Horse slaughterhouses. Neigh!
Not breeding because, obviously, Earth is better off without people.
Harassing, sabotaging, and sinking whaling ships is as old as my first recycling bin.
Poisoning bottles of POM Wonderful juice to protest animal testing. Guess it won't make you immortal after all!

To see four other acts of eco insanity, read more.

Raiding zoos and aquariums to kidnap animals.
Endangering loggers and spiking trees to discourage logging.
Forcing entry, harassing, and attacking university professors involved in animal research. Masks are optional but preferred.
And bombs - a tried and true method of dissent. Even the worst bomb will get attention!

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Wikipedia Keeps Obama's Page Clean - Is That Fair?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:05:43 -0700

It may be more truthiness than truth, but Wikipedia still has some standards. The free, user-generated encyclopedia makes sure any mention of Barack Obama's eligibility to be president is deleted from his page within minutes. The argument that Obama is not a natural US citizen has been rejected by the Supreme Court and Wikipedia it seems.

But some fear the lookout against offensive content goes too far. Neither Jeremiah Wright or former domestic terrorist William Ayers show up on Obama's page, even though his connection with the two men gained a lot of attention during the campaign.

Wikipedia, a site that embodies and perhaps produces conventional wisdom, is monitored by trusted community members who have access to extra tools that allow them to delete certain entries. Do you trust them?

Giggle Links

GiggleSugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:21:49 -0800

It gets rid of wrinkles and shrinks your hands! Now that's what I call a bargain! -PZR Services
Lame. Did Corey Feldman write his own Wikipedia entry? - Neatorama
This was inevitable. - Sock and Awe
Invisible rope prank. - College Humor
Is Danny Wood the ugliest member of NKOTB or not?! - Best Week Ever
Amazing Star Wars Russian nesting dolls. - Craftster
Drunk dancing guide. - Sloshspot
Mail Order Husbands. - Mail Order Husbands

And the Winner of the "What the Hell Is Going on Here?" Contest Is...

GiggleSugar — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:00:00 -0800

We warned him "don't look at her breasts directly" but... men! they don't listen!

Thanks to NadiaPotter for the winning entry and thanks to everyone who played. I had serious fun reading these! (Runner up: "After splitting with rocker Kid Rock, Pammie was spotted on the town recently with her new beau, Kid PVC" from Shadowdamage.)

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