Inktober Challenge Day 02: ‘James Buchanan (Bucky) Barnes’
James is a Statesman senior agent from NYC branch. He doesn’t remember much after being caught and tortured by the enemies for a long time, but whenever it rains it feels like he’s missing something.. or someone.
This weekend I was told a story which, although I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, because holy shit is it ever obvious, is kind of blowing my mind.
A friend of a friend won a free consultation with Clinton Kelly of What Not To Wear, and she was very excited, because she has a plus-size body, and wanted some tips on how to make the most of her wardrobe in a fashion culture which deliberately puts her body at a disadvantage.
Her first question for him was this: how do celebrities make a plain white t-shirt and a pair of weekend jeans look chic? She always assumed it was because so many celebrities have, by nature or by design, very slender frames, and because they can afford very expensive clothing. But when she watched What Not To Wear, she noticed that women of all sizes ended up in cute clothes that really fit their bodies and looked great. She had tried to apply some guidelines from the show into her own wardrobe, but with only mixed success. So – what gives?
His answer was that everything you will ever see on a celebrity’s body, including their outfits when they’re out and about and they just get caught by a paparazzo, has been tailored, and the same goes for everything on What Not To Wear. Jeans, blazers, dresses – everything right down to plain t-shirts and camisoles. He pointed out that historically, up until the last few generations, the vast majority of people either made their own clothing or had their clothing made by tailors and seamstresses. You had your clothing made to accommodate the measurements of your individual body, and then you moved the fuck on. Nothing on the show or in People magazine is off the rack and unaltered. He said that what they do is ignore the actual size numbers on the tags, find something that fits an individual’s widest place, and then have it completely altered to fit. That’s how celebrities have jeans that magically fit them all over, and the rest of us chumps can’t ever find a pair that doesn’t gape here or ride up or slouch down or have about four yards of extra fabric here and there.
I knew that having dresses and blazers altered was probably something they were doing, but to me, having alterations done generally means having my jeans hemmed and then simply living with the fact that I will always be adjusting my clothing while I’m wearing it because I have curves from here to ya-ya, some things don’t fit right, and the world is just unfair that way. I didn’t think that having everything tailored was something that people did.
It’s so obvious, I can’t believe I didn’t know this. But no one ever told me. I was told about bikini season and dieting and targeting your “problem areas” and avoiding horizontal stripes. No one told me that Jennifer Aniston is out there wearing a bigger size of Ralph Lauren t-shirt and having it altered to fit her.
I sat there after I was told this story, and I really thought about how hard I have worked not to care about the number or the letter on the tag of my clothes, how hard I have tried to just love my body the way it is, and where I’ve succeeded and failed. I thought about all the times I’ve stood in a fitting room and stared up at the lights and bit my lip so hard it bled, just to keep myself from crying about how nothing fits the way it’s supposed to. No one told me that it wasn’t supposed to. I guess I just didn’t know. I was too busy thinking that I was the one that didn’t fit.
I thought about that, and about all the other girls and women out there whose proportions are “wrong,” who can’t find a good pair of work trousers, who can’t fill a sweater, who feel excluded and freakish and sad and frustrated because they have to go up a size, when really the size doesn’t mean anything and it never, ever did, and this is just another bullshit thing thrown in your path to make you feel shitty about yourself.
I thought about all of that, and then I thought that in elementary school, there should be a class for girls where they sit you down and tell you this stuff before you waste years of your life feeling like someone put you together wrong.
So, I have to take that and sit with it for a while. But in the meantime, I thought perhaps I should post this, because maybe my friend, her friend, and I are the only clueless people who did not realise this, but maybe we’re not. Maybe some of you have tried to embrace the arbitrary size you are, but still couldn’t find a cute pair of jeans, and didn’t know why.
This post is one of those things that I will reblog every time it appears on my dash. This is so important, and no one ever tells you about it.
I almost didn’t read this but then I did and I’m really glad that I did.
The recipe for Rice Krispies Treats was invented in 1939 in Kellogg’s Home Economics department as a fund-raising item for Campfire Girls. They were traditionally a home-made item, but Kellogg’s started selling them as a packaged snack in 1995.
This is a very good recipe from Spoon Fork Bacon for them with variation ideas e.g. a simple browned butter, thyme and Corn Pops treat, a freeze-dried strawberry, white chocolate crispy ball and Kix treat, and finally a dark chocolate, butterscotch and Corn Chex treat.
For Hallowe’en, I’m debating making some using the seasonal “monster breakfast cereals” for the ravenous horde of teens (not to mention some of the adults who’re just as bad) in our congregation.
When I was in highschool, my culinary teacher gave me the greatest gift of all- the actual recipe from red lobster, he worked there for a little bit. I haven’t made a batch in forever but I’m excited.
The cheese bread biscuits from red lobster?!? Teach us dear anon submitter!!!
mix bisquick mix, cheese and milk until a soft dough forms. don’t over stir, it mixes pretty quick
grease a pan or put parchment paper down
Put dough balls about 2 inches apart, and put in oven. MAKE SURE the oven is completely pre heated, if you put it in before hand the biscuits will come out nasty.
Bake 8-10 minutes.
Melt the butter in the microwave completely. Add parsley, seasonings and stir.
Once biscuits are done, should be brown on the bottom, pull them out and let them sit for a moment before covering or dipping them in the butter. Dipping upside down means more coverage.
NOW, here is the recipe I actually use:
This recipe makes 10-12 biscuits.
3 cups all purpose Flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon cream of tartar ¾ cup butter or ½ cup butter ¼ shortening 1 and ¼ cup milk
Preheat oven to 450. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and cream of tartar. Using a blender/pastry blender, cut the butter into the mixture until it looks crumbly. make a well/hole in the middle of the mixture and pour ALL the milk in at once.
Now, you’ll want to add the cheese, which for this recipe you’ll want to use ¾ to 1 cup sharp cheddar.
Use a fork to stir/fold the mixture just until the mixture is all moist. Do not over mix.
Use a spoon or scoop, and scoop 12 onto a parchment paper or a greased pan surface. You’ll want to put them 1 ½ – 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-14 minutes, until the bottoms are brown.
½ cup butter or margarine, melted ½ teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon parsley 1/3 teaspoon old bay seasoning OR onion powder
Melt the butter, mix and either dip the biscuits in or cover them with a brush/spoon. If there is any left over it goes super good on french bread too.
Oh yeah! I didn’t realize this wasn’t common knowledge, my family’s been making it this way for like 20 years. The real trick is the herb-butter dip; that’s what gives it such a unique cracky flavor 🙂
There’s a song that’s been proven
to reduce anxiety by 65%. It’s called
Weightless by Macaroni Union, and it
was specifically designed to slow your
heart rate, reduce blood pressure, and
lower cortisol levels. It’s so effective
that it’s dangerous to drive while
listening to it because it
can make you drowsy. SourceSource 2Source 3
Sound therapists and Manchester band Marconi Union compiled the song. Scientists played it to 40 women and found it to be more effective at helping them relax than songs by Enya, Mozart and Coldplay.
Weightless works by using specific rhythms, tones, frequencies and intervals to relax the listener. A continuous rhythm of 60 BPM causes the brainwaves and heart rate to synchronise with the rhythm: a process known as ‘entrainment’. Low underlying bass tones relax the listener and a low whooshing sound with a trance-like quality takes the listener into an even deeper state of calm.
Dr David Lewis, one of the UK’s leading stress specialists said: “‘Weightless’ induced the greatest relaxation – higher than any of the other music tested. Brain imaging studies have shown that music works at a very deep level within the brain, stimulating not only those regions responsible for processing sound but also ones associated with emotions.”
The study – commissioned by bubble bath and shower gel firm Radox Spa – found the song was even more relaxing than a massage, walk or cup of tea. So relaxing is the tune, apparently, that people are being Rex advised against listening to it while driving.
The top 10 most relaxing tunes were: 1. Marconi Union – Weightless 2. Airstream – Electra 3. DJ Shah – Mellomaniac (Chill Out Mix) 4. Enya – Watermark 5. Coldplay – Strawberry Swing 6. Barcelona – Please Don’t Go 7. All Saints – Pure Shores 8. AdelevSomeone Like You 9. Mozart – Canzonetta Sull’aria 10. Cafe Del Mar – We Can Fly
One of the comments suggests pairing it with Rainymood.
When I was literally unable to sleep at all, my senior at work gave me this song to listen to!
My wife uses this song when she’s having near-meltdown levels of anxiety right before bed and it helps her relax and shed some of that stress enough for her to attempt to lie down and sleep.
While it;s not a substitute for my meds, this song is really, really great for breaking the must-stay-awake cycle for me and really helps me sleep. There’a 10-hour version on yourtube.
Tumblr Exodus 