the collected musings of ms. rachel b. doyle

From the Judaica archive: Woman riding an emu in Australia

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Yura Yura Teikoku - Ohayo Mada Yaro

“ Nigella’s mum gave her an invaluable insight into nice behaviour. Her advice went something like this: “It is better to be charmed than to charm.” What makes people feel good about themselves is feeling as if they have been charming, interesting; in short, have been listened to. For her, the notion that one should oneself be riveting or aim to be quite the most fascinating person in the room was a vulgarity and just sheer, misplaced vanity. Trying to be charming is self-indulgent; allowing oneself to be charmed is simply good manners.

— Gallerist Charles Saatchi answering the question: “What advice do you and your wife give your children?”

» WSJ: They're No Bodice Rippers, But Amish Romances Are Hot

24-year-old artist Kseniya Simonova telling stories by incredible, real-time sand animation on Ukraine’s Got Talent. From the Guardian: “Here, she recounts Germany conquering Ukraine in the second world war. She brings calm, then conflict. A couple on a bench become a woman’s face; a peaceful walkway becomes a conflagration; a weeping widow morphs into an obelisk for an unknown soldier. Simonova looks like some vengeful Old Testament deity as she destroys then recreates her scenes - with deft strokes, sprinkles and sweeps she keeps the narrative going. She moves the judges to tears as she subtitles the final scene “you are always near”.

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Elvis Costello - New Lace Sleeves

I knew it’s chronologically impossible, but it really does sound like he says “No more Facebook” at 2:28. That’s how it goes in my head anyway, even though it’s “fast buck”.

I just had the ultimate "Berlin is a small village" experience. DHL, which had previously only delivered my packages to neighbors, decided to leave a large insured box at...wait for it...the florist. Two streets away. Now, I guess lifting 4kg weights at the gym has not prepared me to handle my own possessions because when I arrived to fetch it this a.m., I discovered it was just too heavy and awkward to carry a few hundred meters. Luckily, I saw the DHL truck around the corner. Here is a transcript of the weirdly personal conversation I had with my DHL guy, whom I have not seen since fall 2008, when I worked from home, and he bothered me incessantly about accepting packages for my "celebrity" neighbor.
Me: Hallo!
DHL guy: Hallo!
Me: I can't lift the package that DHL left at the Blumenladen.
DHL guy: Ah, Frau Doyle!
Me: Ja, will you help me?
DHL guy: But where is your husband?
Me: I have no husband!
DHL guy, thinking I was tricking him: But I have seen him before. The tall young man?
Me: We're not together anymore.
DHL guy: Then where is the other guy? (I assume he meant my former roommate)
Me: He lives in London now.
DHL guy, grudgingly: Fine I will deliver it. But you will have to wait til 3pm (It was 10).
(Long period of me convincing him to deliver it sooner)
(Doorbell rings)
DHL guy: Well then who is this second name on your buzzer?!?!
Me: My middle name!
DHL guy: Not your MANN?
Me: Nein!
DHL guy: (finally accepts this news, in total disbelief)
The saga finally ends, or so I thought....until "Fuck and Run" from Liz Phair's Exit in Guyville came on shuffle while I was biking to the office. Today seems to be full of relationship advice from unlikely sources. As my cousin just pointed out, "Maybe he left it at the florists to nudge your estranged Mann into buying you some flowers."

Sorry I’ve been lazy about le blog. I’ve been straight chillin’, man. (Except for the weekend in London where I ended up at a party called “Torture Garden”, which was not relaxing but fun anyway.)

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Without fail, Studio - West Side is the best writing-in-headphones option. Entirely subjective, I know, but it works for me and I feel like proselytizing.

Ben Stiller Explains Twitter to Mickey Rooney; adorability ensues

» Waiting at Heathrow, the Literary Experience

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Röyksopp - It’s What I Want

Steven Haulenbeek’s stunning Cumulus Light Canopy

“ There were a few national differences among the men: the German men were most reticent about going out or going home with any of the imagined women, and Italians were least discriminate about doing anything with anyone. American men were more likely than their German counterparts to go to bed with a woman. But they weren’t quite as randy as the Italians.

— LATimes summarizes a study by Human Nature: Women take very attractive strangers to bed; men not so picky

The Hunyad Castle in Hunedoara, Romania is believed to be the place where Vlad III of Wallachia (commonly known as Dracula) was held prisoner for 7 years after he was deposed in 1462.