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2014/01/10

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The Feminine Mystique

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST

Before Betty Friedan could escape her marriage, she had to start a revolution.

Betty Friedan was always cold. Cooped up in a rented stone house, the onetime newspaper reporter wore gloves at her typewriter, laboring over freelance articles in the quiet moments she could catch between tending to her two grade-school boys.

Her husband, Carl, was more than unsupportive -he was abusive, a cheat who flew into a rage whenever dinner was delayed. But Friedan, who was pregnant with their third child, knew that escaping the marriage would be difficult. Cut off from Manhattan and even from the nearest library, the freelance work she attracted didn't pay well enough to make leaving an option. Mostly, she wrote for other reasons. Once a brilliant academic with a promising career, Friedan was stuck in housewife hell, bored out of her mind. She needed the escape.

In 1957, Friedan picked up an assignment from her college alumni magazine. It seemed fun. What she didn't know was that the project would not only make her a household name -it would change the fate of American women.

BORN AND RAISED in Peoria, Illinois, Bettye Goldstein was a gifted student. She skipped second grade and eventually graduated with honors from Smith College, where she was an outspoken war critic and the editor in chief of the school newspaper. From there, her academic dreams took her to the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied under the renowned developmental psychologist Erik Erikson.

But even in the Bay Area's liberal atmosphere, the pressure to conform to the era's strict gender roles was palpable. Threatened by her success, Friedan's boyfriend pushed to turn down a prestigious science fellowship. As she'd later write in her autobiography, Life So Far, "I had given up any idea of a 'career,' I would be 'just a woman.'" Friedan abandoned her academic pursuits and took a newspaper job. But as her relationship with her boyfriend fizzled, Friedan's love of reporting grew. When a colleague at UE News, the labor paper she was working for, set her up with his childhood friend, theater director Carl Friedan, they fell for each other. The couple married in 1947 and settled in New York City's Greenwich Village.

It wasn't long before the marriage soured. Betty kept up with household chores. She got pregnant. But nothing she did was good enough for Carl. She managed to finagle more than a year of maternity leave from her job after giving birth, but when she became pregnant again two years later, the union refused her additional leave. Instead, she was fired on the spot.

Meanwhile, the Friedans needed more space for their expanding family. They rented a stone barn-turned-house in Rockland County, 30 miles outside Manhattan. Shortly after their move, Carl became abusive. Isolated in the suburbs, Betty continued to squeeze in time for freelance work. As tension escalated, Betty stood her ground -if she were going to free herself from her husband, she'd need to earn more money.

WITH HER 15-YEAR college reunion approaching, Friedan was asked to conduct a survey of her Smith classmates. How had her fellow alumnae used their education? How satisfied were they with their lives? Collaborating with two friends, she crafted open-ended questions to elicit honest reactions from the more than 200 women to whom she sent surveys.

Friedan hoped the data might refute the findings in Ferdinand Lundberg and Dr. Marynia Farnham's popular book Modern Women: the Lost Sex, which made arguments like "The more educated a woman is, the greater chance there is of sexual disorder." She knew education didn't cause women's sexual dysfunction, but how could she prove it?

As the completed surveys poured in, Friedan got her answer: The forms were filled with heartbreak and honesty. Women from all over the country confided the abject misery of their everyday lives, and the answers betrayed widespread feelings of resentment and isolation. Many women said they were undergoing psychoanalysis but said that the treatments were only making their symptoms worse. Most males doctors were telling their female patients that their complaints were unwarranted or expected. Indeed, Lundberg and Farnham considered these complaints part of "a deep illness that that encouraged women to assume the male traits of aggression, dominance, independence, and power." Many doctors even urged patients to dive deeper into domesticity and to more fully embrace chores as a source of self-actualization. And yet, in their answers, none of the women extolled the virtues of vacuuming.

As Friedan read the reports, she thought about the ads that bombarded women on a daily basis: Be a supportive wife! Cook better meals! Scrub that tub! The messaging in women's magazines was as biased as the doctors'. No wonder women felt trapped. Each was convinced that she was the only woman in the world who couldn't find joy hiding beneath a stack of dirty dishes.



Armed with the survey results and her own media analysis, Friedan headed to Smith for the 1957 reunion. There, she planned to report her findings and speak in depth with her former classmates about their collective ennui. But she was startled by the scene on campus: None of the current students she spoke with seemed keen to pursue interests or careers outside of suburbia. Perhaps they were buying into the arguments that magazine like Lookwere promoting at the time, stating that the modern housewife "marries younger than ever, bears more babies, looks and acts more feminine than the emancipated girl of the Twenties or Thirties." The young women at Smith seemed more accepting of "their place" than when Friedan had graduated, a decade and a half earlier.

IT WAS CLEAR TO FRIEDAN that she had uncovered a major crisis facing middle-class American women, but you wouldn't have know it from the reaction she received. Academics were skeptical and outright dismissive of her survey results. Magazine editors (most of them were men) were uninterested in challenging the status quo -or sacrificing ad revenue for the sake of a story. A handful of editors initially bought her pitches, only to deem the finished piece too scandalous to publish. At Ladies Home Journal, editors reframed one of her articles to say the exact opposite of what Friedan had found, so she killed the story.

Friedan soldiered on. She conducted more interviews with alumni groups and students at other schools, neighbors, counselors, and doctors. She published where she could. Eventually, she persuaded Good Housekeeping to give her a platform by agreeing to play by its rules: Every column had to be presented with an optimistic slant. But as she continued to write, it became clear that only a book could adequately describe "the problem that [had] no name."

In late 1957, Friedan managed to land a $3,000 book advance from W. W. Norton. She hired a babysitter three days a week and annexed a desk at the New York Public Library's Allen Room, assuming the book would take a year to complete. She couldn't have predicted how long her manuscript would hold her hostage.



Five years later, her dogged determination paid off. In 1963, The Feminine Mystique, the now-classic treatise on the pervasive unhappiness of American housewives, made its debut on the New York Times bestseller list. It was the definition of irony. The writer who previously couldn't publish an article had a book that kept falling off the bestseller list because printers couldn't keep up with the demand. But what is it about the book that made it so compelling? It's hard to see now, but The Feminine Mystique came out well before psychology was a hip way of examining social phenomena. And even though Friedan leaned heavily on academic research, hers was the first popular examination of women's depressing post-WWII lives. Friedan forced America to confront a problem it had all too happily ignored, and as the New York Times put it, "the portrait she painted was chilling." The book turned Friedan into an instant celebrity. She went on a nationwide publicity tour, appearing in televised press conferences and doing talk shows. But what the camera didn't catch was all the heavy makeup Friedan wore to cover her bruises and black eyes. Life at home had not gotten easier.

BUOYED BY HER SUCCESS, Friedan moved back to Manhattan and distanced herself from her husband. Her move coincided with a larger cultural shift, as the women's movement began to coalesce around the country. Focusing on many of the issues raised in The Feminine Mystique, including sex discrimination, pay equity, and reproductive rights, second-wave feminists won major battles in courtrooms and offices over the next several decades. Sexual discrimination in the workplace was outlawed. Title IX was passed to ensure that girls and women would not be excluded from school athletic programs. Marital rape became a punishable crime. Domestic violence shelters were established for the first time. Contraceptives were made widely available. Abortion was legalized in the United States. As second-wave leaders bulldozed their way through the 1970s, women were finally allowed to sit on courtroom juries in all 50 states, to establish credit without relying on a male relative, and the enlistment qualifications for the Armed Forces became the same for men and women.



Friedan's leadership was vital in the transformative years that followed her book's publication. In 1966, she helped found the National Organization for Women (NOW) and campaigned vigorously for Congress to passed the Equal Rights Amendment. And in 1969, a year history remembers as explosive and pop culture considers transcendent, Betty Friedan finally took her own words to heart -freeing herself from her loveless and abusive marriage. In the ensuing years, Friedan remained involved in the women's rights movement. She led the 50,000-person Women's Strike for Equality in 1970. In the following decades, she helped found other notable women's rights organizations, including the National Women's Political Caucus. She wrote five more books. And by 2000, The Feminine Mystique had sold more than three million copies and had been translated into numerous languages.

When Betty Friedan passed away on her 85th birthday, she was eulogized by NOW cofounder Muriel Fox, who said, "I truly believe that Betty Friedan was the most influential woman, not of the 20th century, but of the second millennium." Friedan had started a revolution by asking her friends and contemporaries the simple question no one had been bold enough to ask: Are you happy? And as she worked to answer the question for herself, she freed generations of women to come.

___________________________

vThis article by Brittany Shoot is reprinted with permission from the January-February 2013 issue of mental_floss magazine.

Be sure to visit mental_floss' entertaining website and blog for more fun stuff!

Neatolinks: Cats, Puppies, Chameleons and More

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST

How Appropriate

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:00 AM PST

Eisentraut Theatres in Hillsboro, Illinois, can't just pass on showing the latest Disney film just because it's cold. But they did just enough editorializing on the marquee to draw attention, and maybe even some warm laughter. Come to think of it, wouldn't it have been nice if they'd released Frozen, a movie based on The Snow Queen, in July when we all want to go to an air-conditioned theater to get away from the heat?

Okay, cue the discussion on the proper use of the word "ironic." -via Buzzfeed

JuggaLOVE- A Dating Website For Juggalos

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:00 AM PST

(Video Link)

Just because you wear clown makeup, base your entire life around rappers Insane Clown Posse, and were once considered thugs by those who mistook your face paint for gang affiliation, doesn’t mean you don’t want to find a Juggalo or Juggalette to call your own.

Now, there’s juggaLOVE, a dating site that caters to clown faced lovers who just want to kick back, down a few bottles of Faygo and get crazy with a fellow face painting superfan.

Created by L.A. based writer and director Chris Capal, whose favorite color happens to be Clown White, juggaLOVE is just what lonely and estranged people of all ages have been looking for, and should help keep them off the streets!

Via DesignTAXI

Two Cats And One Heating Pad

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:00 AM PST

There is no altruism among house cats. It's every cat for himself. You could say it's a dog-eat-dog world, but that would be silly. GM put a heating pad underneath the cats' little sleeping house to counteract the cold weather, and documented what happened in pictures.

To share with everyone, GM put them into a new Tumblr called Cat Wars. We hope to see more of the competition between the two over the highly-coveted heating pad! -via Uproxx

Artist Sews Portraits of His Loved Ones into His Hands

Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:00 AM PST

David Catá feels the positive influence of certain people in his life: friends, family members and teachers. He wants them to know how much they’ve meant to him—how much they are woven into his life. In order to express this, he embroiders portraits of them into his hands.

For example, on the left, you can see a portrait of his girlfriend, Tamara. On the right is what his hand looks like after he has removed the stitches.

It's kind of romantic, don't you think?


(Video Link)

Here's a video showing how he does it. There is remarkably little blood. You can see more photos of his portraits at Design Boom.

A Sea of Ice Balls

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 11:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

Not a good day for lake surfing. The shores of Lake Michigan look like they are being assaulted by floating boulders! No, these aren't rocks, but balls of ice. They form as small pieces of ice that grow in layers as water freezes against them, but due to the wave action of the lake, the chunks are tumbled about and the edges are smoothed off until they are round. This video was captured at Glen Arbor by Glen Arbor Artisans. 

See an explanation on how these ice balls form from about a year ago.  -Thanks, Terrence!   

Memories

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:00 PM PST

Thanks, brain. You're a big help. I had a moment of actual joy going on until you stepped in.

Tom Fonder of Happy Jar reminds us that our brains are kind of jerks. Now take a moment to remember that embarrassing thing that you did eight years ago.

Printable Mad Men Paper Dolls Of Joan And Megan

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 09:00 PM PST

Fans of the hit AMC television series Mad Men know that the characters Megan Draper and Joan Holloway are the most fashionable characters on the show, and they love showing off their designer retro style whether at work or hard at play getting their drink on.

With the show about to start its sixth season in January 2014 AMC thought you might like to play along with Megan and Joan as you watch them on the small screen, so they're re-sharing a printable pair of paper dolls from season 5, which were illustrated with true retro flair by artist Dyna Moe and based on costumes made by Janie Bryant.

Now you can print out Megan or Joan and dress them up in stylish 60s outfits, or leave them in their underwear, just like in your dreams!

Bunny Dressed as Characters from Famous Movies

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 08:00 PM PST

Benjamin is a Holland Lop rabbit and an Instagram star. With the assistance of his human, Lauren Gates, he has released a 2014 calendar featuring him dressed as your favorite characters from classic movies of the 80s and 90s, such as Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back.

You can see more photos of Benjamin at Mashable, where he's dressed as Rambo from the movie of the same name, Stay Puft from Ghostbusters and the shark from Jaws.

Star Studded Short Film- STRUCK

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 07:00 PM PST

(Video Link)

Short films usually have a pretty simple premise, and wait until the bitter end to deliver the punchline, twist or moral message.

However, Struck doesn’t really need to keep you in suspense until the bitter end, and as you watch knowing what is bound to happen eventually the comedic moments present themselves naturally, and the very simplistic storyline unfolds organically as you watch a guy try to go through life with an arrow sticking out of his chest.

Aside from the wonderful simplicity of the film, Struck also has a star studded cast which includes Jenna Elfman, Nancy Cartwright, Kelly Preston and Ethan Suplee as that big baby of love Cupid.

Via Geek Tyrant

The Intelevator

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 06:00 PM PST

The Intelevator is a recurring skit on Ylvis' TV show Tonight with Ylvis, in which Vegard and Bård mess with people on an elevator. The "intelligent elevator" does many things -and speaks an almost unlimited number of languages- but it doesn't always function correctly. Sometimes it doesn't understand your words, other times it seems to not care. And one poor apparently American woman had to convert imperial units to metric units to get anywhere.   

Four television segments have been edited together into a 13-minute video that will seem much shorter once you start laughing. Embedding is disabled, but you can watch the whole thing at YouTube. -via Metafilter

The Meaning of the Names of All Fifty States

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST

Ever wonder what Alaska, California or Iowa means? Well, Like Cool can help you better understand what your state name means, along with any of the other states...well, that is assuming you don't live in one of the states that's colored grey as the historical record on those names is a little fuzzy.

Even the grey ones still have some explanations though, it's just that the stories behind those meanings aren't as clear. So, what do you think of your state's name now that you know the story?

Mixed Messages Mug

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST

 

Mixed Messages Mug

Don't let your boring coffee mug hold your prisoner. Capture the Mixed Messages Mug from the NeatoShop. This frightfully fun mug features 150 removable characters so that you can create your own hilarious ransom type notes.  

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Glassware & Drinkware. 

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Advertising in the Age of Legal Marijuana

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST

The Colorado restaurant chain Hapa Sushi offers a new menu designed by ad agency TDA_Boulder. No, they don't offer pot for sale, and there is no smoking on the premises, but the menu does offer suggestions for pairing certain strains with the entrees they do offer that would be good to eat after partaking. As good as that Poke Don and Katsu Curry seem just reading it here, you'd think that someone with the munchies would make a beeline to their nearest Hapa. The menu is an ad, as explained at the Boulder Daily Camera, which now has a "marijuana" section. You can see two other ads at Blazenfluff.

(Image credit: TDA_Boulder)

Firefighter Puts Out Fire with Beer

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST

(Fight Fire with Fire t-shirt now on sale at the NeatoShop)

Now before you start breaking open fire hydrants, know that this was a special case. Capt. Craig Moreau, a firefighter in Houston, Texas, was driving from Austin to Houston on Highway 71 when he spotted a tractor trailer by the side of the road. One of its wheels was on fire.

He stopped and found that the brakes had caught on fire. He and the driver fought the fire with a small fire extinguisher that Capt. Moreau kept in his car, but it wasn't enough:

"I crawled underneath and thought we'd got it out but it flared back up," said Moreau, who was off duty at the time. "So I said to the driver, 'what have you got in here?'"

"It's beer!  It's all beer," the driver said of his cargo of Coor Banquet beer.

So the two men opened up the trailer. They shook cans of beer and sprayed them at the fire. It worked! They put out the fire. But their victory came at a heavy cost. Perhaps it was worth it:

Praising the sacrifice of perfectly good beer, Fire Chief Terry Garrison said in a statement, "I support the extinguishment of fire, no matter what the cost."

-via Dave Barry

Working Around Cats

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 02:00 PM PST

(YouTube link)

Shorty and Kodi star in a video titled "A day in the life of every cat owner." I work at home, and have four cats, so what you see here is my life, and one of the reasons why I am always behind. You know how it is: They are all so darn cute, and each have their own need for attention and playtime and a warm lap.

But then add to that the fact that my kids have been out of school for almost three weeks now (the weather is better, but the pipes at the schools froze and busted), and I am barely treading water today. -via Daily of the Day

Bananas Foster Cheesecake Bars

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST

Bananas foster is a magical dessert filled with banana liqeuer, bananas, caramel flavor and rum. So what happens when you combine that fantastic flavor with cheesecake? Pure dessert bliss. 

And you can learn to make these rich banana-laden treats for yourself thanks to the Frugal Foodie Mama. Don't worry if you're not much of a chef either, as this recipe is based off of Nestle's Dulce De Leche Cheesecake Kit. 

Of course, it goes without saying that a little Nutella would make it even better, but hey, not everyone's as Nutella-obsessed as the rest of us.

Alternate History Short Story: Anne Frank Survives the Holocaust

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST

Anne Frank and her family fled the Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany by immigrating to the Netherlands. After Germany conquered the Netherlands, they and a few other people lived in hidden rooms in in a house in Amsterdam. In 1944, Dutch Nazi police discovered the secret rooms and shipped the inhabitants off to concentration camps. Anne Frank died at the Bergen-Belsen camp in March of 1945. She was only 15 years old.

Since then, millions of people have read copies of the insightful diary that she left behind.

In this new short story by Harry Turtledove, a prolific writer of alternate history, Anne Frank survived the Holocaust. She eventually immigrated to America, married and raised a family. She's 84 years old and living in a nursing home when a middle school class listens to her speak about the experience of the Holocaust.

Here's a selection from "The Eighth-Grade History Visits the Hebrew Home for the Aged":

“I’m gonna put it up on my Facebook page and talk about all the things you told us,” Vicki said. “That was awesome!”

“Facebook . . .” Anne smiled in reminiscence. “We had nothing like that back then, of course. But I used to keep a diary when I was all cooped up. About a year before the end of the war, one of the Dutch Cabinet ministers in London said on the radio that they were going to collect papers like that so they could have a record of what things were like while we were occupied. I went back and polished mine up and wrote more about some things.”

“So you gave it to them?” Vicki’s eyes glowed. “You’re part of history now, and everything? How cool is that?”

A little sheepishly, Anne shook her head. “While the war was still going on, I intended to. But almost the first thing I did after we could come out was, I threw it in the trash.”

“Why?” the Asian girl exclaimed.

“Because I hated those times so much, all I wanted to do was forget them,” Anne Berkowitz replied. “I thought getting rid of the diary would help me do that—and some of the things in there were pretty personal. I didn’t want other people seeing them.”

“Too bad!” Vicki said, and then, after a short pause for thought, “Did throwing it out help you forget?”

“Maybe a little,” Anne said after thought of her own. “Not a lot. Less than I hoped. When you go through something like that, it sticks with you whether you want it to or not.”

(Image: Robert Hunt)

Pastafarian Councilor Sworn in Wearing Colander

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST

Christopher Schaeffer was sworn in as a member of the town council in Pomfret, New York, last week while wearing a colander on his head.

Schaeffer wore a colander (a strainer typically used to drain water from spaghetti) while Town Clerk Allison Dispense administered the oath of office to him before the board's reorganizational meeting. When the OBSERVER asked afterward why he wore a colander on his head, Schaeffer said he was a minister with an even more unique organization - the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

"It's just a statement about religious freedom," he said. "It's a religion without any dogma."

While Pastafarians have fought for the right to wear colanders in their driver's license photographs, this is the first instance of an elected official wearing one to be sworn into office. -via Laughing Squid

(Image credit: Greg Fox)

A Baby Skunk In Pajamas Cuddling With A Toy Sloth

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST

Ultimately, the title says everything you need to know about these photos -they show an adorable baby skunk in pajamas cuddling with a sloth toy. But, if you want to know why said baby skunk happens to be in pajamas, there is a story behind it. 

Stunky here belongs to Redditor KalisCoraven. The seven month old skunk just had surgery and wouldn't leave her stitches alone, but skunks can't wear cones like dogs and cats so the vet suggested KalisCoraven put her in a dog diaper and a baby's onesie so she couldn't reach the stitches. As for cuddling with the sloth toy -that's just because Stunky is the cutest thing ever.

Via Grist

Danger: Humans

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST

(YouTube link)

Tom Scott explains how terrifyingly dangerous human beings are, in the form of a educational safety video for interstellar travelers who aren't humans. This video was inspired by a post and discussion at Blogleech. 

It’s funny how science fiction universes so often treat humans as a boring, default everyman species or even the weakest and dumbest.

I want to see a sci fi universe where we’re actually considered one of the more hideous and terrifying species.

-via Tastefully Offensive

Previously: More by Tom Scott.

It's A Good Thing Pokemon Isn't A True Story

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST

(Video Link)

It’s best not to think about what Pokemon would be like in real life, the mortal ramifications of enslaving poor little creatures then forcing them to battle in arenas for human fame and glory, not to mention the toll roaming the countryside in search of animals to enslave would take on your life.

But if you still feel like you’ve gotta catch 'em all, and you’re willing to sacrifice your human dignity to become a Pokemon master, watch this video and see if a dose of stark animated reality doesn’t change your mind.

Animation Domination High-Def presents Scientifically Accurate Pokemon, or one way to scare the Pokemon lover in your life into giving up the Pokeball and getting back in touch with the real world. (NSFW due to language)

Via Kotaku

Disney Villains Perfume Bottles

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST

A familiar character is evoked with only a few simple shapes and colors in these perfume bottle concepts by artist Ruby Spark. Without faces or movement, you'll recognize each and every one, if you've seen the Disney movie the characters come from.

They are beautiful, too -I wish they were real perfume bottles. I like glass bottles better than I like Disney movies! But if the scent were anything like the personalities of the characters, they wouldn't smell all that good. Get a look at each of them up close at Geeks Are Sexy.

The First and Last Line of Every Doctor

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST

(Image credit: unknown)

The Doctor has been through...well, a bunch of incarnations. The enumeration really gets confusing, what with the War Doctor being thrown into the middle. And then there's Peter Cushing playing the Doctor in two films. Counting the Doctor gets very wibbly-wobbly.

Anyway, here are the first and last lines of the incarnations of the Doctor that we know so far and are considered canonical. More or less.

-via Geekologie

Hopkins Royals

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 07:30 AM PST

(YouTube link)

Finally, a parody of "Royals" that not only makes sense, but will resonate with anyone who would like to recapture their youth while retaining the wisdom that comes with age. Molly Dworsky graduated from Hopkins High School in Minnesota, where they are known as Royals.

The 26-year-old now lives in Los Angeles where she is an actress and comedian -and a waitress. When a diner remarked that she resembled the teenage singer Lorde, Dworsky was inspired to write a parody of the song "Royals," from the perspective of someone ten years older. The video was recorded with a group of friends under the parody name Borde. Her version will no doubt be played at every Hopkins High School reunion from now on.  -via Viral Viral Videos

Disney Princesses As World Of Warcraft Characters

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST

Disney Princesses are usually depicted as dainty, delicate and dressed to the nines, except for Mulan and Pocahontas who are much tougher than the rest, but what would these animated ladies look like if they grew up in a world of unending warfare?

They’d have to be more concerned with kicking butt than looking good, and some of them would probably ditch their fancy ball gowns in exchange for a higher damage per second rating and a better defense spec.

Spanish artist LiberLibelula had been playing way too much World of Warcraft while watching Disney movies when inspiration stuck, and now her fantastic mashup illustrations are taking the interwebs by storm. I doubt a Warcraft/Disney mashup will ever happen, but wouldn't these character designs look great in a future Kingdom Hearts title?

Via Geeks Are Sexy

What Is It? game 309

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 06:30 AM PST

Hey look! It's time for our collaboration with the wonderful What Is It? Blog! Do you know what the object in this picture is? It doesn't really matter if you do, because we are looking for the funniest guesses. You can win a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! But first, read the rules:

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners who submit funny and/or clever (albeit ultimately wrong) answers will each win a T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

There are more pictures of this thing, and other mystery items of the week at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!

A Desk When You Need It A Chic Stereo When You Don't

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST

The Podpad is a desk, storage space, charging station and stereo in one. When you need it, you can fold down the bottom compartment and use it as a desk for your laptop. Open the right cabinet and you have a storage space -the one up top is built to store books, files and magazines as well.

When you aren't actively using the desk or storage areas, the whole thing folds up into a chic looking wall accessory. The center can hold your iPhone or iPod to charge it and provide a stereo system. 

If you like stylish home accessories like this, you might also enjoy these great Homes & Hues articles: 

Casetta the House-Shapped Bed

The Natural Beauty of Floris Wubben's Striped Standing Lamp

The Balance Bookshelf

Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks

Posted: 09 Jan 2014 05:30 AM PST

 

Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks

Celebrate the work and legacy of the famous design icon Alexander Girard with the Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks from the NeatoShop. This colorful set of 28 wooden blocks features the Girard typeface on one side and Girard's famous designs on the other. This exquisite set is handcrafted in the USA from sustainable Michigan basswood. This is a toy you will be happy to have on display in your home. 

Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Educational & Science Toys. 

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