M.E. Williams

See above for where I posted about the hiatus. =\

We really didn't have much warning ourselves, and the decision of whether or not to make a "final post" explaining the situation wasn't up to any of the individual writers, including me.

DIY Life is on an indefinite hiatus -- in other words, we're no longer in operation, but there's a small possibility that we may reappear at some future point.

I have, at various points in the not-so-distant past, been one of those girls who cut her own bangs. The results have ranged from "Hey, that's pretty cute!" to "Oh, well, at least it's going to grow out."

This hair-twisting trick is something my own hairdresser suggested. However, she does not twist tiny sections: she twists the entire chunk of bangs that will be cut, pulling them front and center before snipping. The end result is bangs that aren't too blunt at the ends and curve below the temples.

In general, Darla also fails to show that you really need to section off your bangs into a triangular shape before you mess with them.
http://www.misscedar.com/2008/01/08/how-to-cut-your-own-bangs/

There's a lot of debate over whether to cut them wet (better for the ends, but they may easily wind up too short) or dry.

The last time I let someone else who wasn't a professional cut my bangs (hi, Mom!), they cut into the soft hairs on my temples, too... it took months to grow out. :(

I'm surprised to see a post like this on Styledash -- but not unpleasantly. Big love for you guys. :)

I don't know the Jezebel writers, and I tend to enjoy it as a site. However... this kind of thing happens more often than you'd think, just not so publicly and not with such well-known participants.

I have found that what Hepola says about disconnection (maybe it's even a kind of solipsism) is common in feminist communities, possibly because of the general watchword that "the personal is political" -- which I think is often played out pretty poorly, because we're all still just people with issues and personalities and hang-ups, not perfect political machines.

Greg -- that's a great use of composting, but if you would like to be entered in the giveaway, you should click on the Green Daily link and comment there (if you haven't already). Comments left on this post at DIY Life will not enter you in the drawing. :)

Cool post, Jamie! :)

If anyone is interested, there's a smaller, similar project over in the post I did about Hinamatsuri a few months ago. It's a set of patterns from Shojo Beat magazine for small plush versions of traditional Japanese dolls made the same way... download, print, iron on, cut out, sew, and stuff.
http://www.diylife.com/2008/03/05/celebrating-hinamatsuri-with-dolls-and-happiness-pt-4/

It's so embarrassing to be this late on a thread. O hai, Engadgeteers!

I just bought this a week ago. *Love* it. But I'm not a power user with my phone (I tend to primarily use the camera and the text message function, and will also be happy to take this on walks or bike rides as my music source)... so it's enough for me. It's replacing a Razr, and it fits in my average-lady-sized hand pretty nicely, as well as the cellphone pouch in my purse.

Someone who wants serious email connectivity would be happier with a real Blackberry or something; someone who already sits in front of their mailbox all day, like I do, will probably be satisfied with this.

The only thing I really dislike about the new design, in comparison to the old enV, is that it's missing a lens cover for the camera. The lens is placed in such a way that it's impossible to use the camera without getting fingerprints all over it, and it's a better camera than those on most phones at this price point, so a cover would have been appreciated.

Shane -- I read everything, and I disagree about Shakespeare. ;) I think it does help to see the plays as well, but honestly, reading scripts doesn't drive *everyone* crazy. People who really have problems can try the "No Fear Shakespeare" editions, which have parallel texts. I personally always preferred the WSP Folger Library editions... no parallel texts, but notes and illustrations on the facing pages.

This is Debra's post and she has a right to put in it what she wants; while I agree with the majority of what she says, and it wouldn't matter if I didn't, I'm a bit snootier about best-sellers (even though I love young adult fantasy by people like Diana Wynne Jones, Ysabeau Wilce, and Garth Nix). I do have to say that, if it had been my post, I also would have included Fadiman and Major's version of "The New Lifetime Reading Plan." Every one of their recommendations has been a joy to read.

(You can find a list at the following link, but it's better to have the book itself, because they recommend specific editions, talk about translation issues, etc.

http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/grtfad4.html )

Michael Dirda's recent books of recommendations are also good, as is the list in, IIRC, Adler and Van Doren's "How to Read a Book." The Modern Library list D. linked is great; I believe there's a parallel list for nonfiction that's worth hunting down, but all I can remember about it at the moment is that the top pick was "The Education of Henry Adams."

No arguments about your research concept: those are all things that I would also recommend. It's possible to become a well-informed amateur on most topics, if you're willing to do the work. :)

(For me, it always starts the day I realize that there's something about which I need to be a lot less ignorant, maybe because it's coming up in conversations and I'm not understanding half of the references I'm hearing.)

On the flip side of all this is Pierre Bayard's "How to Talk about Books You Haven't Read," which postulates... well, check it out. You'll see.

While there are many cute things here, I have to make that doggie like... last week. It's a neeeeeeeeeed. *squee*

(Now I just need to find the time....)

Glad you liked it! :D

When I was in kindergarten... I don't think i knew *why* we were making them, but we made fish kites (well, we stuffed ours with newspaper) -- I still have mine! I think it's such a cute and fun project for kids.

I'm not sure what I'm going to talk about when I run out of Japanese holidays... ;)