Revolutionary Protests in Egypt!

And now, a break from our regular programming of fashion and nonsense to show you what I've actually been obsessing about. The revolution going down (maybe) in Egypt!

Video from al-Jazeera. The facebook event page (yes, the revolution will be facebooked (and tweeted)) is already taken down, but the organizers' page is here, and it looks like they're planning another protest for Friday. Seriously, I don't care if you don't really care about Egypt or watch the news, but watch this video, especially the end, the tear gas and police scene is really... disturbing/riveting/intense.

I can't stop watching these videos, it gives me hope and makes me so happy. Even though I wonder what will happen, if it will just get squashed (more than 1000 protesters have been arrested, and 6 people have died), but it is so encouraging to see people coming together and demanding change for a regime that has been trampling on their rights for 30 years. Knowing the kind of rage Egyptians have been building up for years, it's just so good to see it come out. To spare you a google translation, it's the revolution against torture, corruption, injustice, poverty, and unemployment. HORREYA!

Side note: turns out my favorite bar in Cairo, Horreya (it means freedom) has undergone a facelift that I consider very unwelcome. It used to be a place where "expats, intellectuals, and artists" could hang out with cheap beer, and it was totally gross and dirty, and I spent many a Monday night there listening to impassioned conversations I barely understood (and plenty that I did). Everything changes, I guess. But a ban on playing chess?? Unacceptable.

Anyway, I like al-Jazeera as a news source but I think it's best here to take it from the source Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt Today), an independent newspaper, has an English-version website. They seem faster updated and have more impressive numbers, which I hope reflect the truth (except for the higher death and arrest tolls, of course). Anyway, hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Snow Falling & Looking Older for Work

One day a couple weeks ago it snowed one of those picture-perfect snows with big clumps of soft flakes. You could see crystals on your mittens and it wasn't so cold you want to cry. So I took this picture of the building across from my bus stop.

Also, today a coworker told me that I look too young to be professional. I "dress like a teenager" and look like I'm about 18. Granted, today I dressed a little young, but really? I try so hard to look professional. Usually I bore myself to tears with solid colors, dark modest straight skirts, and wool pants. Sometimes I go a little out there with a bright patterned skirt, or like today, a more fun shape, but this is a pretty casual field. My supervisor wears jeans. So anyway, I am not happy about this. I don't really know what to do to look older, that doesn't sacrifice my budget or sleep too much. Any ideas?

New Years Day Picture

I took this picture with my phone camera on New Years Day. Guess where I live? Doesn't it look cold? That river just looks like ice!

I'm procrastinating, so therefore struggling to upload all recent camera phone pictures to my computer. All kinds of fun.

Sick Day!

Today I'm the most awesome kind of sick-- still too ill to really go out and be productive, but not utterly miserable (like I was yesterday, ugh!) So I get to stay home, do my laundry, catch up on little tasks like homework, thank-you notes, mending, and so on. I'm listening to A Story of Her (the main singer is a post-doc teaching one of my labmates classes! Don't tell anyone that we e-stalked him and found his band... I think it's ok since I met him at a party a few weeks ago). I particularly like "Days and Nights and Weeks and Months." I also recently got the She & Him albums from a friend, so that's been good listening too.

Sick Day by amyinegypt featuring shawl collar cardigans

I love hanging around on the couch in my truly ancient long underwear bottoms and a thrifted flannel shirt. I talked to my family, drank a bunch of tea, looked at the internet... Seriously, the only downside of today was that the hot water ran out while I was taking a shower.

Inspiration: Dolce & Gabbana

I am really loving this look from Dolce & Gabbana, from the Sartorialist. I have been wishing for more gold earrings and these big hoops are simple but dramatic. I also like the clean, sexy silhouette, despite the fact that I have zero occasion to ever dress like that.
These weird images are from D&G's Spring/Summer 2011 ad campaign, the same as we saw from the runway shot. They give me a weird feeling, perhaps they play too much into the Madonna/Whore dichotomy or a hyper-sexualized portrayal of female jealousy. But anyway, I like the big gold earrings, the chandelier ones are especially cool.
The shirt in this photo reminds me of a still from The Leopard that is on the cover of the February schedule at the Siskel Film Center downtown. The print dress the actress wears in the film is less seductive, but it has a really fitted, pleated bodice with a little black drawstring around the scoop neckline and a full skirt. I really like this look, and think I need to add more fitted waistlines into my everyday wardrobe. This kind of fitted peasant top is so Italian-sexy, but it might be hard to find one that didn't look too costume-y.

Rainbow Shoes

So, I arrange my shoes by color. It's true, the secret's out. I've got every color but green, and I have teal sort of to replace it. My collection of high heeled shoes I rarely wear lives on an inverted drawer from a dresser that I found in the alley. I never got around to painting it, but it adds some much-needed storage. Black and brown and everyday shoes are on the bottom, along with some sewing supplies in boxes.

What I actually wore for new years eve

So this is a two-days-later picture of what I ended up wearing for New Years Eve. We had a party at my apartment, not a big one, but I was still baking carrot cake and wearing what I'd worn that day when people started showing up, so I never changed. It was a bit too cold during the day to not wear tights, sadly, and just the right weather for a short-sleeved sweater, which is rare and must be taken advantage of. I did switch out socks and LLBean boots for the sparkly gold flats you can just barely see in the picture. Try to ignore my cluttered little room and poor quality picture, as these are taken with my computer and it's hard. I didn't take pictures then because I don't have a camera, but mosey requested one, and you know I can't say no. If you care, you can see behind me the lavender boxes that I painted and now use as a desk drawer/closet.

What did I wear? The sweaterdress and herringbone leggings come from Express but I got them at a yard sale, the sparkly flats come from Old Navy but I also got them at another yard sale. The top hat I swiped from a sleeping guy at a party I went to later on (party stories are much too incriminating to put on a blog...)! The dress was a funny shape-- pretty loose on top and tight on the bottom, but it's actually really comfy for a party. I still felt dressed up but everything stayed put and I stayed warm.
Haha, this is a ridiculous picture. I went to go get my driver's license this morning and should have made this face for the ID! Or this one (taken as my computer starts to fall off the stack of magazines on my windowsill):