Okay, this is a “new feature” for the Little Bravery Blog. The idea is I share links to three things to read with a little bit of editorializing. I like when other sites do that sort of thing, and my whole life right now is about figuring out what I like and doing more of it (within reason, espesh re. wine).

I hope it’s fun for you, and if not it’s okay because I think it’s just good for me to reflect a little on what I read and to remember it and know that I loved it very much this particular week, whether it is old or new or in between.

So that’s it! Here we go:

ONE:

This Bethenny Frankel piece, beautifully done by Lizzie Widdicombe. Frankel’s just such a strange public figure. She’s a bit frightening, but I have a definite soft spot for her and one night I ended up in an internet k-hole of reading her blog of what she eats every day (mostly chicken breasts and hard candy, the woman is obsessed with hard candy.) Anyway, this profile is fire, I slurped it down like so many SkinnyGirl spritzers.

TWO:

This awesome thing about black turtlenecks by Rachel Syme. I had to put this one on the list because it actually caused me to act. Upon reading it, I dove into the mothy morass of my closet, got stressed that I’d thrown it out, but then emerged triumphant wielding my old, nice, soft black turtleneck from the Gap. I promptly popped it over my head, proving Syme’s theory:

“Because let’s talk about what happens to you when you finally put one on: Your head becomes a sculpture. Once you emerge through that tube of fabric, you start to resemble a marble bust — your skull and all its features are on display, like the diamonds plopped on top of black velvet in the Van Cleef windows.” 

I went out into Torontoland feeling fashionable and informed and mildly famous, spent too much money on a falafel sandwich, and later took this selfie (heretofore very rare!) (see how my head’s like a diamond now?)

To be honest, I haven’t thought about “my look” for years, and am just starting to again as I emerge from the decade-long cocoon of weird enmeshment with my unfinished novel for which only pajamaesque things were required (more on that later, or maybe not) so I am really happy when I come upon some fashion writing that makes me feel something and cerebralizes it a little and makes me want to make an outfit. Also, I was naively unaware that one could pay anything close to a grand for a turtleneck.

THREE:

This last one’s kind of a two-for-one special.

My current admin job that I do for money is among a bunch of lovely naturopathic doctors. A few of them tweeted about this last night. The TL;DR of it is that the American Academy of Family Physicians voted to accept a resolution stating that excessive use of force by police is a public health issue.

The admin job I had before was, in fact, with a small city’s public health department. I remember the whole staff had to do mandatory training that involved playing a boardgame about the Social Determinants of Health. 

I guess it was somewhat effective and stuff, but there still was an insidious culture of poking fun at bed bug victims and addicts and I sincerely hope that to understand police brutality as a public health threat all staff everywhere are mandated to read this piece by Ezekial Kweku that I have read a hundred times and cried every last one. You may have read it already, it really made the rounds, but go ahead and do it again if you like, for me it is one of those where I always find something new and thoroughly gutting.

**

Okay! Will I do this every week? Let’s wait and see!