Do You Have a Hard Time Focusing?

I unfortunately have the attention span of a nine year old with ADHD. It's awful. For instance, I wrote this article while I should have been working. I constantly find myself checking my fave blogs, listening to music or chatting with my office neighbor, even texting while I should be focusing on the work I'm actually paid to do. If I manage to finally devote time to the task at hand, I find myself getting sleepy. I've never been the most focused person ( I was notorious for writing my papers and studying at the last minute ) but I think it's the worse it's ever been! I thought I was slick and doing a good job of hiding my problem when my coworker called me out on my short attention span.

Now I could go to a doctor and ask for some Ritalin or Adderall but well

One: I don't have insurance and health-care still isn't universal and
Two: I don't think I have an uncontrollable problem.

I think it's a mixture of boredom and lack of discipline. Do I really need to be listening to Arcade Fire and reading Gawker.com as soon as I come into work? No, no I don't think so.

What I need is control before my ass is fired. Procrastination affected my grades in college but this is my bread and butter on the line! What's a girl to do?

And like manna out of heaven, my solution appeared.

While I was on Gawker (ha) I came across this article written by Clay Johnson, a man having trouble focusing at work. It was like he too came from the planet Slacker and spoke my language. When he wrote about his improved productivity, I leaned in to read on, needing to know what the secret was.

It turned out there wasn't a secret. Its all about being on a schedule and managing your attention. We happen to live in a world of instant gratification. Everything we want to know is accessible via the internet. People are so accustomed to being in the loop that if they are disconnected for a few minutes they feel like they have missed something important (thanks for that Twitter, cuz we really need to know what Ashton Kutcher is doing all the time). I, like many people, am guilty of this. I have to be connected at all times or I feel like I am somehow behind.

So I have to work for 45 minutes straight. After that, I allow myself to pee, chat, eat,check my personal emails, blogs, twitter for the remaining fifteen minutes. I continue like this all day omitting a lunch break from my schedule (it only makes me sleepy for the rest of the day).

It's not perfect but it's working for me and I'm a lot more productive than I used to be. And I'm down to ten minute breaks.

Check out the post, it's a good read.

Do you have a hard time focusing at work?

What's So Haute about Blackface?

Here's a real head scratcher. Numero magazine shot an editorial with the stunning Constance Jablonski.

In Blackface.

We're all familiar with fashion's fascination with painting their white models black and fitting them with afro wigs. It's so fetch.

Anyway, there's not much to say about this.

Different magazine, the same bag of tricks.

But why do fashion magazines keep doing it?

You know, a lot of the comments on the Jezebel post I read about Numero's October spread didn't seem to come from a place of anger. It seems people are genuinely confused about the Blackface trend.

What is haute about casting a white model, only to make her look black?

Why all the trouble when casting one of the many black models in the industry would result in an equally stunning editorial spread?

What's the point?

What is Numero, French Vogue, etc trying to tell the world?

Black is beautiful but not really?

Sigh.

A Message to Teenagers

While awful high school experiences have become a bit of a cliche, my years of torture were delegated to junior high/ middle school. By the time I got to high school, I had a much better sense of self. But junior high sucked. I wasn't picked on or teased; that would require some acknowledgment of my existence.

I was invisible and so uncomfortable in my skin. I felt like no one cared about who I was or more importantly what I thought. I knew I was being dismissed because I wasn't the right kind of girl, the right kind of black, the right kind of person.

At first, people's perception of me made me question myself but then I got over it. I stopped caring when I realized school eventually ended and there was a whole world out there full of diverse people. I can thank Sassy magazine for that. And Felicity.

Are you familiar with Sassy? Wasn't it the coolest magazine ever? I inhaled it. Sassy taught me that cool was relative and my opinion counted. Sure, I didn't have a Zine and I loved 90210 but what mattered was the message that different was okay and even something to be celebrated.

Knowing that I would someday be defined by more than the brands I wore, I persevered, comforted by the thought that my life wasn't going to peak at 18. Those thoughts got me through the early years of adolescence and after my fabulous years in high school, those thoughts got me through college where I was once again among people who counted different as irrelevant (I had the misfortune of attending a college that was very much like a high school).

So I have a message for those who are struggling, wondering which asshole invented high school in the first place:

None of it will matter when you're out of there. People will forget who dated who, who had the best hair, the best clothes. Those people who made your life a living hell will probably still be douches though. In the grand scheme of things, high school will probably be just a dot on the painting that is your life. The teenage years will be as important as you decide to make them. So try to just grit your teeth, bear it and take comfort in the fact that you have a lot more to look forward to than prom.

Men Really Love Hair and Other Mini Revelations

So I was at this event when A*, this guy I went on a date with a couple of months ago, walked right past me.

“Hey A!”

He turned around, did a double take and walked over to me.

“Hey J. I didn’t recognize you.”

“I cut my hair.”

“Oh, oh… why?”

Strike One.

“Um, you know I just wanted a change. You know, do something different”

“Okay, okay. Well it’s, it’s” A looked at my head like he was looking for a bird’s nest. Maybe he was looking for an appropriate adjective? Or maybe an escape route? “It’s different”.

It’s different? A just spent the last thirty seconds looking for a word and he settled for different.

Strike Two.

“Yeah well change is good. And it’s hair so it’ll grow back.”

“Yeah but it’s going to take a long time!”

Strike Three.

I know hair is a big deal for guys but dang, you’d think I grew facial hair or something.

Anyway lovelies, I cut my hair!

You like? It’s okay if you don't , I wasn’t crazy about it a month ago. But it’s grown a bit and I’m kind of stuck with it so oh well.

A while ago, I wrote a post about my obsession with curls. I went to the Mackage show in February, interviewed Tippi Shorter, saw her head of sexy tendrils and decided my flat strands were the worst thing in my life. So I stopped relaxing it. Determined to transition back to my natural hair without chopping everything off like I did the previous THREE times (yeah, I’m no stranger to a pair of scissors), I did lots of braidouts, lots and lots of braidouts. I lasted eight months before I got scissor happy.

And now I look like a boy.

I kidd.

Sorta.

What do you guys think of the cut?

Is "different" boy-code for "unforgivably hideous"?

Am I the only one who thinks A should have gone with "you're still cute as a button and totally dateable with or without hair you witty, lovely, sexy minx"?

* A isn't the guy's real name. Duh.

Today in Frivolity

• Ashley Greene and Joe Jonas Caught Shopping At a Sex Shop!?! Yes, according to HollywoodLife.com. But they’re full of dog poo. Ashley Greene was seen at erotic boutique Coco de Mer. Joe Jonas was nowhere in sight. He was probably off somewhere looking in the mirror.
  
  
• So Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are the new American Idol hosts. That’s exciting. Or it’s not. So some will definitely start watching. Or they won’t. How do you like those odds Fox?
  
  
• Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of Jersey Shore fame is moving to LA! Oh come on! This is so unfair; why does LA get all the ridiculously entertaining famewhores? Don’t we on the east coast deserve reality TV stars that aren’t botox-poisoned housewives? Spread the wealth LA!
  
  You know what? Fine, have The Situation but we want to keep Snooki.
  
  
• Did you sigh a sigh of relief when The Hills ended and you realized the world was this step closer to forgetting about the spawn of Laguna Beach? Well inhale, because Lauren “LC” Conrad is heading back to MTV. Conrad chatted with Ryan Seacrest on Friday about returning to “her roots” stating “"It'd be safe to say [yes] . . . It would follow my career, set in L.A."
  
  So it’s exactly like The Hills. Instead of pretending the cast actually dates/ spends time together when the cameras aren’t rolling, we’ll have to pretend LC has a career as anything other than a reality star. Sorry, but designing line after mediocre line for Kohls doesn’t make you a designer and putting your name on a book doesn’t make you an author.
  
  I do think Lauren Conrad is adorable and a fantastic dresser. She could be a great designer with some training.
  
  
• So a few weeks ago a rumor went around claiming Kate Bosworth cheated on Alexander Skarsgard with her highschool boyfriend after finding out Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr were not only married but expecting. Did you catch that? Anyway, I called bullshit and apparently so did a lot of people.
  
  Kate Bosworth cheat on Alexander Skarsgard? Yawn, please. Tabloids would have better luck convincing people Clay Aiken is straight. I mean really? Look at Alexander Skarsgard. Watch him during one of his charming interviews. The girl is skinny, not effing stupid.

Fall 2010: My Reality

Charlane McGregor: Why don't you get a job at the Burgerrama? They'll hire you! My Lord, I saw on the TV - they had this little retarded boy working the register.

Lelaina: Because I'm not retarded, Mom. I was the valedictorian of my University!

Wes McGregor: Well you dont have to put that on your application.

With summer slowly fading away, I have been forced to retire my Summer2010Penny Lane Hippie Chic Bohemian African Princess look. Inspired by Liv Tyler in Stealing Beauty and Kate Hudson in Almost Famous, I spent my summer in sundresses and cowboy boots.

It's been fun but I happily look to another favorite movie for my next sartorial obsession.
Reality Bites.


I <3 Janeane Garofalo. And I worshiped Vickie. She was like Bettie Page meets Daria.


And here is Wynona Ryder's Laney, making a pair of jeans and a t-shirt cool as hell with her round sunnies.

Isn’t she just everything people?

Have you watched Reality Bites? No? Netflix it. Netflix it right now.

It won't change your life but it's a fun way to spend 2 hours.

You're welcome.

I love everything about the movie (great soundtrack). It's odd how a film that came out in 1994 is relevant today. How many people graduate from college with dreams of changing the world find themselves unemployed and discontent?


All serious reflection aside,Vickie and Laney had some awesome outfits!

It was so 90s without trying too hard to be 90s. The female characters weren't dressed to the nines in every scene but even dressed down, they both had awesome accessories.

I'm going to be needing that long floral dress Wynona. And Janeane, just pass the chunky forest green platforms, the Big Bird yellow stockings and cute as hell 50s house dress like now.

What/ Who/ Where are you looking at/to for Fall 2010 Fashion inspiration?

Goodbye Summer: Part 1

Labor Day has passed and a new school year starts. Though the weather lingers, summer is pretty much over. Even though I look forward to Sweater Season like it’s a holiday, it’s so hard to say goodbye to lazy days and shorts. And I can’t let the summer end without writing about the many amazing things I got to do. From concerts to hours spent at museums and yummy restaurants; I want to take this week to share my favorite moments from the summer of 2010.

Getting My Culture On: Museum Visits with Dave and Jesus

I feel no shame in admitting how lonely I am in New York City without my friends. People can live in one of the most exciting places in the world but if they don’t have partners in crime to share it with, they might as well live in Nowhere, USA.

So my roommate and his boyfriend took pity on me (or I guilt-tripped them) and let me tag along on some of their excursions this summer. Some of my favorite moments from this summer have been with them, going to the American Woman exhibit at the Brooklyn museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, checking out the Brooklyn Pride festival or just having dinner and talking.

With Dave and Jesus moving in together in October, I'll have to content myself with many visits to their sweet digs in Prospect park.

I can live with that.