Links to Love

I think you'll want to know this: 
On Monday, I'm going to post a list of post-Thanksgiving sales and deals from vintage or vintage appropriate stores. I sent out feelers to a lot of different places, and I've got some great intel on the best places to shop, including a couple of really exciting exclusive deals. Even if you're not American, it's still a great time to find some truly amazing deals.
I'm going to be updating the list through Friday, so if you'd like to be included, it's not too late! 

You know what I hate? The sun. Well, not the sun per se, but the fact that I don't actually see much of it after late October. No sun means no natural lighting, and no natural lighting means I can't take outfit photos. I suppose I could take them inside, but with our dingy carpet and crappy lighting, I just don't really want to.
So, uh, links! You should love them!
Actually, I do like putting together these posts. I spend a lot of time reading things on the internet - amusing things, odd things, sad things, things that really, really piss me off. Once in a while I'll share an article on Facebook or whatever, but it's nice to just run the gamut with you guys sometimes.
A Rapper Is Facing Life In Prison For His Album Cover

Chuck D from Public Enemy once said that "rap is like CNN for black people." I honestly can't say if it still occupies the same place in African-American culture that it once did, but I think it's pretty obvious that describing the kind of world that you live in does not prompt people to act out what your describing. They way they're applying the law in this case is wrong-headed, stupid, and racially fraught. If a writer describes a murder, and then someone reads the book and commits a similar crime, is someone going to prosecute the writer for conspiracy? Or is it only black "gangsta" rappers who qualify for this skewed application of the law?
The Indian Sanitary Pad Revolutionary

Life changing.
Somehow I missed this article when it came out a few months ago, but I stumbled across it on the BBC website recently. I think it's actually pretty amazing what one person can do, even with limited resources, when they really bend their mind to a problem.
It seems crazy to me that for all of human history, half the population has had to deal with menstruation, and yet in some areas of the world, it's still this crippling taboo. Some women use sand and ashes to absorb the blood, which, seriously, is so WTF that I can't even. If they use rags, they might be too embarrassed to actually wash them. All of this, obviously, is terrible for your lady parts, and can lead to infections. The man who invented this machine was shunned by his village and deserted by his mother and the wife that inspired him before he found success. Not only is he helping improve hygiene for Indian women, he's also providing employment for poor, rural women who buy his machines and then sell the pads that they make. I never thought I'd find a dude who makes maxi pads so inspirational.
French man quits ISIS because it was too hard to stop smoking

American government formulates plan to drop cigarettes over occupied territory, wins war.

The new trailer for Pitch Perfect 2

Seeing this.
Pretty Hurts

I really love this series on The Cut from New York Magazine. This group of articles explores the relationship women have with beauty, and what goes into fitting into society's ideas about what a woman should look like. My two favorites: Photographer Captures Fat Shaming; New York Women Draw Their Own Boobs
Marijuana, Coke, Nicotine: The Truth About "Natural" Drugs
My biggest takeaway from this - pot is a Schedule I drug, coke is Schedule II. That means coke is considered less dangerous and more legit that marijuana. It is a strange, strange world that we live in.
Belle de Jour

Ok, maybe sometimes I do want to dress like a French girl.