Calvin and Hobbes

Ms. v. Mr.

The man in me is wondering if this qualifies as a dress:

. . . and the woman in me is wondering why she didn't get her hair did
(and why she is wearing those shoes).

Cyber Coupons

No more clipping (those annoyingly-thin) paper coupons, thanks to:
- Cellfire
- Zavers
- 8coupons (For NYers)
- Yowza!! (For iPhone or iPod Touch)

[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/29/technology/29coupon.html?em]

Fashion Faceoff

Tie.

High Fashion(?)

Kim Kardashian.

The Fastest-Growing (and Loneliest) Group in America

"Many are aging parents of naturalized American citizens, reuniting with their families. Yet experts say that America’s ethnic elderly are among the most isolated people in America. Seventy percent of recent older immigrants speak little or no English. Most do not drive. Some studies suggest depression and psychological problems are widespread, the result of language barriers, a lack of social connections and values that sometimes conflict with the dominant American culture, including those of their assimilated children.

The lives of transplanted elders are largely untracked, unknown outside their ethnic or religious communities. 'They never win spelling bees,' said Judith Treas, a sociology professor and demographer at the University of California, Irvine. 'They do not join criminal gangs. And nobody worries about Americans losing jobs to Korean grandmothers.'"

In Living Color

Brunettes do it better.

Top Shop

Kate Moss' new collection for Top Shop is available now.

Learning to Love Reading

Lorrie McNeill, 42, a teacher at Jonesboro Middle School in Georgia, allows her students to choose their own reading materials.

"In New York City many public and private elementary schools and some middle schools already employ versions of reading workshop. Starting this fall, the school district in Chappaqua, N.Y., is setting aside 40 minutes every other day for all sixth, seventh and eighth graders to read books of their own choosing.

In September students in Seattle’s public middle schools will also begin choosing most of their own books. And in Chicago the public school district has had a pilot program in place since 2006 in 31 of its 483 elementary schools to give students in grades 6, 7 and 8 more control over what they read. Chicago officials will consider whether to expand the program once they review its results."

[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/books/30reading.html]




R.I.P. Reading Rainbow

[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112312561]

Ms. v. Mr.

The woman in me loves this skirt suit:
. . . but the man in me is wondering what the hell is on top of this girl's head.

Louis Vuitton (Fall 2009)

(Best Of)





















(Worst Of)

Are You a "Normal" Eater?

By Tara Parker-Pope

Given that 60 percent of the population is overweight, our view of normal eating has changed over the years. For some eaters, “normal” means eating fast food on a regular basis. For others, “normal” means regular failed efforts at calorie restriction in an endless cycle of yo-yo dieting.

The article cites a broad definition of normal eating by registered dietitian Ellyn Satter. Here are some of the highlights:

- Normal eating is going to the table hungry and eating until you are satisfied.
- Normal eating is being able to give some thought to your food selection so you get nutritious food, but not being so wary and restrictive that you miss out on enjoyable food.
- It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful.
- Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating.
- Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention, but keeps its place as only one important area of your life.

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/what-is-normal-eating/?em]

The 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare

1. Barack Obama
President of the United States,
Washington

2. Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary,
HHS,
Washington

3. Nancy-Ann DeParle
Director,
White House Office of Health Reform,
Washington

4. Max Baucus
U.S. Senator (D-Mont.)
Chairman, Senate Finance Committee,
Washington

5. Chuck Grassley
U.S. senator (R-Iowa),
Ranking member, Senate Finance Committee,
Washington

. . .

13. Bill Gates
Chairman, Microsoft Corp.;
co-founder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Redmond, Wash.

. . .

14. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor, State of California,
Sacramento

15. Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), speaker of the House,
U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington

. . .

17. Steve Burd
President and CEOz,
Safeway stores, Pleasanton, Calif., and an early advocate for national healthcare reform

18. Sister Carol Keehan
President,
Catholic Health Association,
Washington

. . .

64. Paul Tang
Vice president and chief medical information officer,
Palo Alto (Calif.) Medical Foundation

[http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=CH&Date=20090824&Category=FREE&ArtNo=811009998&Ref=PH]

Law School = Mistake(?)

Derek Fanciullo.

"Downturn Dims Prospects Even at Top Law Schools"
By GERRY SHIH
Published: August 25, 2009

This fall, law students are competing for half as many openings at big firms as they were last year in what is shaping up to be the most wrenching job search season in over 50 years.

For students now, the promise of the big law firm career — and its paychecks — is slipping through their fingers, forcing them to look at lesser firms in smaller markets as well as opportunities in government or with public interest groups, law school faculty and students say.

The frenzy has even pushed the nation’s top firms, a tradition-bound coterie, into discussing how to reform the recruitment process with an earnestness that would have been unthinkable just years ago.

Even if the economy is beginning to pick up, the legal profession has been pummeled over the last year, with some firms closing and survivors often asking associates to take leaves of absence.

How bad is it? Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the juggernaut of New York, has slashed its hiring by more than half. For the first time in 136 years, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, a respected Philadelphia firm, has canceled its recruiting entirely. Global firms like DLA Piper and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have postponed recruiting for several months to see if the market improves.

At Yale, students accustomed to being wooed by Big Law’s glittering names — like Baker & McKenzie; Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy; and White & Case — were stunned when those firms canceled interviews in New Haven this month.

New York University, Georgetown, Northwestern and other top universities confirm that interviews are down by a third to a half compared with a year ago, while lower-ranked schools are suffering more. What is more, when interviews finish in a few weeks, even fewer offers will be extended, said Howard L. Ellin, the chairman of global hiring at Skadden, Arps, because many firms are interviewing students for slots they may not fill.

After he lost his job as a television reporter two years ago, Derek Fanciullo considered law school, thinking it was a historically sure bet. He took out “a ferocious amount of debt,” he said — $210,000, to be exact — and enrolled last September in the School of Law at New York University.

“It was thought to be this green pasture of stability, a more comfortable life,” said Mr. Fanciullo, who had heard that 90 percent of N.Y.U. law graduates land jobs at firms, and counted on that to repay his loans. “It was almost written in stone that you’ll end up in a law firm, almost like a birthright.”

With the cost of law school skyrocketing over the years, the implicit arrangement between students and the most expensive and prestigious schools has only strengthened: the student takes on hefty debt to pay tuition, and the school issues the golden ticket to a job at a high-paying firm — if that’s what the student wants.

“Students came in with a certain sense of what the compact was going to be,” said Irene Dorzback, the assistant dean for career services at the New York University School of Law. But with the system crumbling in recent months, Ms. Dorzback said, “people are now accepting this notion of a lost year.”

The timing is worst for the class of 2011, the second-years now looking to get into firms, because of a unique logjam created last year. After the September financial crisis, firms chose to defer their new hires at the price of steeply cutting recruiting this year.

But students who miss the brief window of opportunity to land an offer this fall may struggle to break into firms once next year’s class rises. When Julia Figurelli, a second-year student at the University of Pennsylvania, decided to enter law school a year ago, she expected to find a lucrative law firm job in three years — if not collecting the $160,000-a-year associate salaries at one of the uppermost partnerships. By the time she obtains her J.D., she says, she will have around $200,000 in debt.

“Had I seen where the market was going, I would’ve gone to a lower-ranked but less expensive public school,” she said. “I’m questioning whether law school was the right choice at all.”

[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/business/26lawyers.html?pagewanted=1&em]

Blue

(Done Right)




(Gone Wrong)

Texting Toddlers

The Text and Learn from Leapfrog(leapfrog.com) for $22. Learning programs for 3-6 year olds. Cannot actually text, but does have an LCD screen.



The LG Rumor from Kajeet (kajeet.com) for $180 (plus monthly calling plan). A fully-functional cell phone, which includes texting and GPS.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/technology/personaltech/27basics.html?_r=1&hp]

Fuschia

(Done Right)

(Gone Wrong)

Stylin' and Profilin'

Here Come The Wonder Girls!

By Bronwyn Barnes

The Wonder Girls have been South Korea's hottest girl group ever since their 2007 debut. Now that the Girls have joined The Jonas Brothers on tour, they're starting to make waves in America. Yubin, Sohee, Sun, Mimi and Yenny often rock a coordinated retro look—which reminds us of The Supremes' Motown style—but we've also spotted them in edgy pieces by Marc Jacobs and Lauren Moshi, not surprising considering that they count Beyonce, Twiggy and Audrey Hepburn among their style icons.

[http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20278123_20298277_20658830,00.html]