text:
Copyright © 1996-2017,2019 Thomas E. Dickey
ded (pronounced "dee–eee–dee") allows you to navigate through multiple file lists or a directory tree, viewing or changing file attributes rapidly. In addition to conventional file information, it operates on the file's RCS or SCCS archives (or CVS or SVN, etc), making it useful for source-control as well as system administration. Curses-based, it runs on UNIX systems.
This is a long-term project. I originally began in 1984,
enhancing a version of dired (a program in C,
written by Jay Lepreau
while at the ITT Advanced Technology Center. There is some
dispute over whether that dired is based on the
emacs mode introduced around the same time (1980) or the reverse
(since neither program's documentation at the time credited the
other), but it is indisputable that both were inspired by an
earlier stand-alone program running on Tenex available in the
Stanford AI Lab (SAIL) in 1978.
Lepreau's early dired had crude display management, which allowed a user to enter shell commands and see them at the bottom of the screen—not something that curses was designed to do. Among other changes, early in 1984, I modified the program to allow the user to change the fraction of the screen which was devoted to the command output. Around that time (actually October 1984, after I was not actively working on dired and had moved to the project where I wrote flist), an associate asked if I was planning to add a directory-tree display. This was about six months before xtree was introduced; he had apparently seen some earlier program with the feature but was unable to provide details.
There are later versions of dired. However I found nothing useful in the later changes, since the most apparent changes were more complicated (and cumbersome) key-bindings for the functions.
Subsequently, I designed and implemented a series of directory editors including flist, and this program (which uses a directory-tree module, written in 1987, from an earlier program begun at the end of 1985). By then I had seen xtree (but not used it—the designs are different).
Although dired used BSD curses,
my intervening programs did not. flist uses
SMG$ calls. The program for which I originally
wrote the directory-tree module used a wrapper for termcap which
I wrote when I found that the curses library on the Sperry PC
(late 1985) did not work. The wrapper (like the one which I wrote
for tin in the mid-1990s) provided an
interface using curses's function names, but like other low-level
interfaces (such as conio and
s-lang) did not provide optimization.
The term "directory editor" itself predates the dired which I encountered in 1983–1984. Henry Bowlden told me about a new tape which the computing center had received from the University of Maryland (perhaps the one with DPS, since this conversation would have been in late 1979 or early 1980). He said that it had a lot of interesting programs including a "directory editor." I asked what that was, but all I got from the explanation was that one could edit directories. Perhaps this page conveys the idea.
The computing center, by the way, used either a Univac 1100/20 or 1100/80 system around that time. In response to my question about being able to run programs received in that way, Henry said that lots of academics used Univacs (that IBM and DEC did not have all of that market). In between that initial discussion and seeing dired on a 4.1BSD system (1980-1983), I used the IBM VM/SP CM flist program, so the concept was not new to me.
Most of ded's design dates from 1988, with more recent work being directed to
The line-drawing, color and other curses features (such as the management of the non-curses area of the screen) were why I became involved in ncurses, and provided the motivation to make ncurses more than the decaying hack which it was in early 1995.
I developed ded (and associated programs in cm_tools) to manage files stored in RCS/SCCS archives. Neither tool provided a way to tell which files were modified. It was a rare feature until the more elaborate IDEs were produced sometime after 2000. I built that into these tools, starting in 1986 with SCCS and in 1988 for RCS. Later, I added support for CVS and SVN (mainly to inspect files maintained by other developers — I had also written wrappers for the RCS/SCCS tools which suit my needs better than those other tools).
I use ded for both development and system maintenance. ded and vile are the first programs that I install on a UNIX-style development machine.
This is why:
As noted, working on ded was the reason why I became involved with ncurses. I was told about SIGWINCH in 1988, which was a feature of SunOS. That was a good idea, but curses implementations did not support it. I found that I could reallocate the memory used in BSD curses, and make ded respond to it, since that implementation used a simple scheme for allocating window data. But BSD curses did not use the line-drawing characters. SystemV curses did. But making SystemV curses work with SIGWINCH was a different matter. I found that reallocating a window was not straightforward due to the convoluted approach which it used, grouping similar-sized things into single chunks.
If there had been a way to communicate with the developers of SystemV curses and make them interested in the problem, that would have solved my problem. There was no apparent way to do that, so I put the idea aside for a few years until I noticed an early release of ncurses (which claimed that it was 100% compatible with SYSV curses, etc. — it was not).
Shortly after, I found the opportunity to send changes to its developers, starting with fixing the most apparent bugs. My goal was to get their implementation to be good enough that it could be used to interest the more established AT&T developers to use the idea. As it happens, both groups of developers fell by the wayside. I've been developing and maintaining ncurses since April 1996. ncurses does work with SIGWINCH.
Another aspect of ded influenced ncurses. That is the use of default colors.
Most curses applications fill the background with some color. Midnight Commander is a well-known example of this. I had used the Elvis text editor in MS-DOS; it used (like vile) a blue background. I used the same scheme for my adding machine.
However, ded divides the display into two parts:
The working area was originally inspired by dired. I extended that, making the working area resizable. With some care, it is possible to mix curses updates to the screen with shell commands that modify the working area. Some commands require ded to repaint the screen. There are corresponding commands for doing that.
One big problem was the use of color. Making the file-listing have a filled background would look ugly when combined with the plain working area. The color model used for the Linux console gave a solution to that: ded would set the terminal's background color to its default value; curses would be told how to manage text coloring on top of this.
SYSV curses did not do anything like this. But I had already (in 1995) become involved with ncurses, working to prop it up, to prepare it for SIGWINCH support. ncurses colors did not at that time work properly on Linux console and similar terminals which used the SGR 39/49 codes for default coloring. I pointed this out to ESR. After some resistance (which I overcame through constructing test programs to prove what SYSV curses did), he implemented a first version of background color support. That evolved (mostly by other developers) over the next 2-3 years.
Besides getting the colors right, there were other issues
between ncurses and ded. For instance, I had
found several years before that I could make repainting of the
work-area reliable by directly manipulating
From dickey Fri Mar 31 06:23:06 1995 Subject: refresh-speed? To: firstname.lastname@example.com, firstname.lastname@example.com Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 06:23:06 -0500 (EST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24alpha3] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Length: 804 Status: RO I noticed that the refresh-rate in xterm looked a little slow, so I set up a timing comparison between my 1.8.7 and 1.9 (directory-editor) binaries. What I tested: my editor uses only stdscr/curscr (because it manages a work area for shell commands, which can vary in size). So I'm not using scrolling-regions directly (because it's bsd/sysv compatible). I've got a directory-tree that can fake-scroll (refresh with lines 3-LINES updated up/down one line at a time). On a fast display, it's acceptable. I scripted my program through a few thousand up/down refreshes, and timed it. The 1.9 binary runs about 20% slower. I'd thought (from reading the notes) that the rewritten update/refresh code was looking for situations like this, to use scrolling regions? -- Thomas E. Dickey firstname.lastname@example.com
Making ded work properly also included
forcing a window-repaint by refreshing
curscr (a
feature which Eric Raymond was reluctant to modify in ncurses).
Interestingly enough, ncurses (see my notes
regarding Solaris in 1994) had this to say:
If the win argument to
wrefreshis the global variable
curscr, the screen is immediately cleared and repainted from scratch.
Late in 1995, I noticed the announcement that XFree86 had implemented color in xterm. (That was based on an older patch for color_xterm, which had been improved by two of the XFree86 developers). I took a look at that, and found that it did not implement the Linux-style default colors. So I proposed changes to improve xterm, mainly aimed at making its colors work as I wanted for ded. I did that, and have been continuing to develop and maintain xterm since January 1996.
As with ncurses, it took several months before I was "done" making the colors work properly. Early in November, I happened to be exchanging email with John Davis (developer of s-lang), and mentioned my plans for using the default colors in ncurses. He stated that he would implement support in s-lang, based on environment variables. My response was that I thought the design would be better if it were explicitly controlled by the application, rather than allowing environment variables to modify it in unforeseen ways. While s-lang implemented something first (about a month later), the changes that I put into ncurses early in 1997 were in my plan for it since I had started work on xterm.
There are two functions in ncurses which implement this design:
I persuaded one of the mutt (mail client) developers (Liviu Daia) to use default colors (August 1997), and implemented it in tin (September 1997) and lynx (December 1997). But using it in ded is the reason why it exists in ncurses.
I was recently (late 2013) reminded of this for another
reason. See FreeBSD #176871.
The report asked to remove the reference to ded
from default_colors(3x). There are a few pages outside
ncurses listed in the manpage SEE ALSO sections. Other than
a secondary issue in Debian #618429
there have been very few comments on these. To improve the
presentation on this website, I added a feature to
man2html to omit the HREF's from links outside the
ncurses directory. In doing that, I saw there are other programs
which one might suppose would attract more attention, such as
rogue (not a part of any well-managed
The maintainer closed the FreeBSD report noting that they generally do not modify files from third-party repositories. There was an earlier report in Debian #295083 which had a different slant: remove the mention of ded because it was not packaged in Debian. Oddly, the requestor on this had already submitted an intention to package ded about six months before. The reader may notice the rude comment made late in the report by another person, and take into account his proposal made during the previous October, attempting to bypass Debian policy on x-terminal-emulator and undermine my work on xterm. However, the Debian package maintainer suggested a constructive resolution: I summarized the reason for the cross-reference.
ded uses line-drawing in its directory-tree. When I first wrote it, I could not count on having usable line-drawing. That was one of the reasons that I became interested in ncurses. Oddly, getting colors to work was less troublesome than getting line-drawing to work reliably. ded still has a command-line option to suppress the feature. My 1995 check-in comment says that it is "temporary".
On the other hand, ded's directory tree had little influence from other programs, nor have I seen it reflected in others. As noted, the concept of a directory-tree was suggested before xtree.
I saw xtree briefly in use in 1987, but did not use the IBM PC computer. A technician used that machine for burning PROMs. At the time, I was doing software development with SVr2 workstations. The concept was interesting, but there was a drawback in applying it to Unix: the PC program could read the whole directory (and from my recollection of a filesystem audit program which I wrote in the early 1990s, this could be done efficiently). My system had more than a hundred times as many files, which would require scanning a multitude of directories. On a typical system today, I will have more than 20 thousand directories (there are 44666 on the machine as I write this).
The obvious solution was to cache the directory information, updating it as needed. Perhaps not so obvious: the later program wcd did not do this type of caching when it was announced in May 1998. I recall wcd taking several minutes to start, because it built a list of all of the directories on my machine. ded builds its cache as it visits each new directory, and removes directories which are no longer found. I wrote the caching module for ded starting in September 1987. That was the last feature added to the interim program.
Other programs such as w3m and mc (Midnight Commander) support directory trees, but their approach to caching results is different from ded: less information is retained.
ded caches data to improve performance. It also allows you to decide whether the screen should be repainted after running a shell command, etc. This may have been more important in the late 1980s when I started writing it. Here are a few examples:
I asked Gabe to show me what he was working on. He did that. Then I asked if he'd like to see my program. He did, I did.
At the end, we were both unhappy: Gabe's program looked much nicer on the screen. Mine ran a hundred times faster.
The dired mode was very inefficient: I could hear my disk rattling for a minute or two as Steve wandered through my disk. If he had used ded, it would have taken only a second or so.
ded's directory tree supports folding (showing or hiding directory information). Each directory in the display can be folded independently. The commands for showing/hiding data also tell ded how deep to perform the folding, making it simple to display the first few levels of a deep directory tree.
I do not see this in other programs. They generally follow the scheme of Norton Commander:
Navigating in ded's directory tree differs from w3m and mc. In those programs, one can move the cursor up and down to select a different directory. Moving it left or right does not change the behavior.
In ded, moving the cursor left or right moves it to a different vertical line (associated with a different directory level). Once on a different vertical line, moving the cursor up or down moves within the selected directory level. This allows quick movement in a large tree.
All of this was before xterm. ded has supported xterm mouse-clicks since 1993.
ded has two displays:
It maintains one or more file-lists, which are stored as a
circularly-linked list. From a given file-list, you can refer to
the previous or next directory in shell commands (as
%B or
%F), as well as paging to the
previous or next directory.
The file-lists are managed differently from say, Midnight
Commander. If I pipe a list of files using
find to
ded, it determines the common prefix across the
items in the list and uses it as its working directory. Any list
can be further (temporarily) filtered using regular expressions.
If ded is run on a single filename, it uses a
regular expression to represent that, which can be
In mid-March 1996, I exchanged emails with Miguel de Icaza regarding ncurses (and slang). I mentioned ded, and he asked if I minded him looking at it for ideas. I replied
> > (I have a directory editor which is different in design from MC, which I'm > > keeping curses-based). > > Is it free? May I take a look at it? Maybe I could merge some of > your ideas into MC, I have busy schedule, but new ideas are always a > good thing. It's free. I've not advertised it much for a variety of reasons. (And it won't ever look/act like MC, because some of the differences are part of the design goals). Basically, I'm holding off on wider stuff til (if) I get my bugs with ncurses resolved (longer story), and have time to implement rebindable keys. You can get a copy at ftp.clark.net:/pub/dickey/ded
In my response I had in mind particularly the aspect of file-list management, and also default colors. Midnight Commander still uses a solid colored background.
As I mentioned above, ded accepts a list of pathnames via a pipe. I added this feature in 1991. Though it seems obvious, midnight commander still does not do it in 2014. I added the feature to use the results from checkup and conflict. After doing that, it later occurred to me that the results from find (and still later) locate could be piped into ded.
If it is obvious, why do some directory editors do this, and others do not? Reflecting, I recall reading that the IBM flist could read a list of files. Rereading the documentation here (the flist program) and here (flist "input areas"), it appears that the use of FIFOs in IBM flist was confined to the way it sent commands to the underlying control processor (CP). It did not provide a way to read a list of filenames (whether by file or FIFO) which would be displayed on the screen.
In either case, such a feature was not portable to VMS, and is not a feature of my version of flist.
Because ded uses default colors its appearance depends on the terminal. Here are examples in black and white, using xterm:
Here are examples showing the directory tree, with and without folding:
Download via ftp (you'll need the library):
Related utilities (RCS and SCCS):
Unrelated utilities (using td_lib):
Download via http (you'll need the library):
Related utilities (RCS and SCCS):
Unrelated utilities (using td_lib):
I have noticed these:
I build packages for my own use which you may find in the ftp area:
There is no official Debian package (see discussion in default colors section), nor Red Hat.


text:
Seattle-based Matt Daniels (thinklab) directed a gorgeous new music video for Damien Jurado's song, Caskets. I haven't been too impressed with the bulk of music videos I've seen lately but Matt Daniels' cinematography alone is worth the 1.5 seconds it will take to move your mouse-hand slightly downwards to click the play button.
My pal Brian over at Shotsringout has a great little interview with Daniels as well.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The "Get SignTool V10" test version is available. It's a small 210 KB
executable developed with SetupBuilder 10 and "dual" code-signed with
SignTool.exe version 10 on Windows 10.
The utility can detect SetupBuilder 10 and download and install SignTool.exe
Version 10.0.10240.16384 from the official Microsoft server directly into
your SetupBuilder 10 \Lib folder.
Friedrich Linder
Lindersoft | SetupBuilder | www.lindersoft.com
954.252.3910 (within US) | +1.954.252.3910 (outside US)
--SetupBuilder "point. click. ship"
--Helping You Build Better Installations
--Create Windows 10 ready installations in minutes
--Official COMODO Code Signing and SSL Certificate Partner


text:
The armies of Mordor, driven ceaselessly by their masters, march ever onward towards the West. The Dark Lord Sauron sits upon his black throne, eagerly anticipating the final victory as he watches history unfold through the palantir.
With Gondor fallen, will Rohan be conquered at last... and then the rest of Middle-earth?
Categories: Book-verse Characters: Aragorn, Eomer, Gandalf / Olorin, Glorfindel, Mouth of Sauron, Nazgûl, Orcs/Uruk-Hai, Original Character, Sauron, Thuringwethil, Witch King
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Tragedy
Warnings: AU (alternate universe), Character Death, Graphic Sex, Rape, Violence
Series: The Circles of Power
Chapters: 44 Table of Contents
Completed: Yes Word count: 165913 Read Count: 104617


text:
Sen. Kay Hagan (NC) introduced S. 3583 the Community Parks Revitalization Act, which would provide opportunities for communities to build new and rehabilitate existing parks and outdoor recreational spaces.
"This legislation will not only provide for the rehabilitation of neglected recreation facilities and green spaces in our city centers, but it will also promote job creation and opportunities for safe and healthy activities in urban public sites," Hagan said. "Investment in parks and recreation attracts business, promotes conservation in a non-regulatory fashion and enhances quality of life for hard-working North Carolinians and their families."
The Community Parks Revitalization Act (CPRA) would authorize matching federal grants to create new and rehabilitate existing parks and recreation infrastructure in communities across the country. This measure will help revitalize neighborhoods, create jobs, enhance local and state economies, protect the health and well-being of our citizens, and contribute to a higher quality of life for hard-working Americans and their families.As our nation works to find solutions for growing our economy and creating jobs, we must continuously examine additional ways to help sustain long-term economic growth and put Americans back to work. Grants provided through the Community Parks Revitalization Act would provide such a solution. Research demonstrates that investments in parks and recreation projects positively affect our economy through the creation of jobs. For instance, the Political Economy and Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts estimates that 20 jobs are created for every $1 million invested in park projects, a higher rate than many other sectors. Additionally, the Outdoor Industry Association estimates that outdoor recreational activities annually yield about $646 billion in spending, and supports 6.1 million jobs.Parks and recreational spaces also attract businesses to communities, and help increase commercial and residential property values. Supporting public parks and recreation infrastructure is a smart, efficient way to leverage limited resources and provide for economic development in communities throughout the nation.The Community Parks Revitalization Act will not only provide jobs and help grow our local economies, it would also help improve the health of our nation. Chronic obesity has rapidly increased as Americans have become more sedentary. Providing community parks and other recreation spaces encourage active living. Studies have found that creating parks and recreational trails near where people live can lead to a 48% increase in physical activity.
S. 3583 bill is a companion to H.R. 709, the Urban Revitialization and Livable Communities Act introduced in 2011 in the U.S. House of Representative by Rep. Albio Sires, (NJ). As a member of the Urban Parks Coalition, ASLA has worked with Senator Hagan, and Rep. Sires to promote these important bills that allow landscape architects to help create the parks and public spaces that stimulate economic development and provide valuable recreation spaces in their communities.
Take a moment and urge your Senators to join Sen. Hagan as a co-sponsor of this legislation.
Kevin FryDirector, PR and Communications email@example.com JR Taylor PR Coordinator firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Monday, April 23, 2007
On the Street…..Sartorialiste of The Year Nominee, Milan
CommentsClose comment
64 comments
Her outfit is fine, but really, this woman scares me. I can't even explain why. I think I have to disagree with your "sartorialeste of the year" evaluation.
Oh oh oh my!
If only all the woman of her age would dress like that…the world would be a better place.
Well, you can do a lot about that.
How about teling this to,your girlfriend or to your wife, your mother,your susteres, and friends …
Its a good startTell every woman you know
I would advise longer coat or shorter skirt/dress, beside this quite ok
Well, she has great style but also a great body!
Exquisite! I'm twenty years old and I honestly think that I have just fallen in love.
love the black, the navy, the cream. the fishnets. the stance.
of all the hermes bags, that one, especially worn shoulder style, does not work with this outfit or her style as it appears to be in this picture.
Beautiful from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.
Love how the coat is not a trench…but has a slightly trenchy feel.
the europeans are so far ahead of us, so much more elegant, more interesting.
C'est magnifique!! Where can I buy that beautiful updated trench?
Wow, she looks fantastic! The hair, the coat, the dress, the shoes. She has a great style.
Absolutely beautiful! I love the legs.
So classy and yet terribly modern. The dark blue trench and the fishnet stockings give her such an attitude ! Simply amazing…
Love the legs
Stunning! She is beautiful. The wide fishnets particularly caught my eye – they lend a rich pattern to what could be a pretty everyday outfit.
To me, they convey her European milieu – it seems as if very few women here in Mid-western America embrace fishnets as a wearable hoisery outside of costume parties. It's annoying because they are so feminine.
Thanks for the great Milan pictures!
This lovely Lade is truly elegant. Adore the total look of her!
What a gorgeous full-skirted coat, chic stockings, and beautiful hair on a woman of a certain age. Love her look!
I agree
She is my new fashion idol.
I love my America, and I love our casual vibe. But sometimes our casual translates to sloppy, and we do it because we're afraid to look old if we dress like grown-ups. I saw three women the other day on the subway. From the rear I thought they were about 18 or 20, but when they turned around they were all at least 45. The incongruity between their clothes and their faces made them look like hags. They had good shapes, obviously, so if they had been dressed like this woman, they would have looked fab. So I am seeing that dressing like a grown-up is really the way to look smart all the time, the real cool. It's wonderful to see women who look like women, not trying to be teeny-boppers. This goes for men too. My girlfriends and I are always swooning over some foxy guy who walks by in a suit. 35 year old guys in sneakers, ring collar t-shirts & Dockers? I'm over it. I'm even over it if you're 25.
This lady is glorious. She's inspiring me to be less casual, get back to high heels & showing some leg. It looks nice and you know what? Men love it and who am I to not want male attention? It all ends soon enough. And fishnets are going on my shopping list!
Thank you Scott, for this blog, it really encourages me to joie de vivre!
Simply divine…….like Catherine Deneuve in Belle de Jour.
Fantastic!!! If this beautiful woman put her outfit together herself she should seriously consider a career as a stylist. Everything is just so and though she has made some very fashion forward choices she doesn't appear to be trying too hard.
I dont usually like that type of thights, but here she made it look refined, by the whole outfit.
So Italian, So Milano, So fabulous
Very beautiful–the coat is amazing.
Scott, when do you plan to post your SartoriaList? It is April…
Really? I think she looks very chic, but not anywhere as interesting as some others you have posted. Classic? Yes indeed, but why is it unique?
Have to agree. The sort of woman one wants to be seen with in swanky restaurants and bars. It's nothing to do with age, I'm not even sure it has to do with sex, it's just pure chic. Her look is fantastic. Disregard the comment about sex. A stunner no doubt about it.
who is she? i am italian and she looks familiar..
I don't think it's about the individual articles that this person is wearing, but rather it is about the confidence and overall attitude she exudes that gives her great style.
The fact that she doesn't care about what we're all saying is what validates her style -effortless.
I´d like to dress ando look like her when I grow up…simply fab!!!
ugh!!! i just loveeee this blog! please never delete it; different aspects of the world's beauty would go unnoticed if you did. keep up the good work!
give this women a milkshake or three
Perfect, well, …. very elegant combination of colour hues.
Like a breeze.
That's a Marni coat, in the lovely blue-grey they've been making this year – my wife has a similar one, the fabric feels rubberized, but silky, and it makes great sounds as she moves.
I love the fishnets, they really are the unexpected accent which makes her outfit exceptional. You can buy every item of her clothing off the rack, but it took some wit to put it all together.
Please can we vote for our Sartorialestes of the Year?
Mrs F x
I totally agree!
she is a woman who isnt afraid…she looks amazing, so stylish, classic with a hint of sexy – very inspiring!
"Sartorialeste of The Year Nominee"
i'm almost speechless. she is heaven on earth
Very chic woman, indeed. Although I must admit that I don't see what is so outstanding about this one.
I love that you chose a mature woman as your Sarorialeste of the Year Nominee. Great style, and she projects a confidence in herself that translates as true beauty. Bravo Sartorialist!
My Goodness…
if I spotted this lady in the street – looking just like this – I would think about her all day…
Scott…. you have the Rock of Eye… for more than a cut of cloth.
She is perfect. The ahir, the figure. The coat. The tights. The shoes.
The Look.
11/10. Wow.
I adore the attitude of your blog and the fact that you cover all ages, shapes and sizes. Thank you for seeing the best in everyone. Breath of fresh air.
I am 23 years old. Cannot tell her age but will guess she is my senior; I must say that this is the most attractive woman I have seen in a while. Seriously, just an iconic woman any man of any age will find beautiful.
I love that her dress is longer than her coat and you can see the hem peeking out from beneath. It looks so 1960s and retro.
Self asured femininity!
That is only for a refined few.
Very Graceful and she makes it work though on someone else that longer skirt shorter coat would look sloppy.
An Italian Charlotte Rampling! And yes, a nominee.
I have to agree about the nomination. But I wouldn't give it to her outright, need to see the other nominees first!
the colour of her coat/dress is amazing.
the whole photo has such a beautiful colour scheme.
she has a gorgeous outfit, but there's just something lacking..
She's a finalist for sure! I'd love to see more like her!
This woman has timeless sex appeal
She has a look of Catherine Deneuve
Very French Italia Moda
Stunning coat length. I am not impressed with her fishnets though. They always seem a little desperate to me.
Here´s a prediction. The new millenium high style will come from over forty men and women, and not from the younger ones.
When I am truly moved by a sartorial creation (I mean real emotion not just mere preetyness), it´s always the individual work of a full grown person.
This lady is beyond any age-trend frontier.
She has created a piece of territory and she reigns over it.
I adore the whole look! I spotted the same look this past Winter whilst shopping in Glasgow- though the woman there wore a lovely beret and had a toddler clutching at her coat!
My thoughts were "Smashing! What a great look for a young Mother!"
Kudos to you for such a great site!
Sart, I adore you. You are a true gentleman and you really know style. She is magnificiant. I do agree with Girl Spy re: women in their 40s and 50s who have great bodies but dress like teenyboppers here in America. I am in my early 50s and let me tell you, it is damn hard to find clothing out there that allows one to express one's self without looking like the newly wed or the nearly dead. This woman looks like a strong, classic, elegant, WOMAN. What adds so much to the class of her outfit is her face and her hair. I'll wager she has none to minimal make-up on and her hair is well taken-care of,but not over-dyed or styled. Not like here in the US where we have to constantly be affirming that we have breasts or ass to others, that our femaleness is hooked into our feritility and youth,not our age and experience and confidence. She affirms her femininity to herself, and therefore affirms herself to the world. What a relief to see her here. My faith in you is renewed, because you obviously understand real women, unlike most of the US, which is obsessed with fertility, breeding, youth, and NO CHARACTER. Look at her face. THAT IS what makes the outfit…not the other way around. Bravo, Bravo BRAVO. xoxoxoxoxoxo, Sart, from a sexy, confident, strong 50+ real woman.
This is the kind of style I pictured on the woman from 4/21; elegant, modern, timeless, seductive.
Perrrfection! The trench is perfectly fitted, the hair is like a lion's main, the bangles, the fishnets and the pumps are pulling all the planets and all eyes into her forcefield. Fierceness.
what a simply beautiful blue..
unfortunately, this problem of people dressing in a slack street style is prevalent in australia too, especially men who wear tight coloured tshirts, dirty sneakers, and hoodies well into their 30s, before giving in to bland chinos and polos in their 40s and on.
it's a pity that we've followed the american route rather than the european one (though it's no suprising given omnipotent US culture). we having also followed that other american trend of getting fatter, which of course does neither health nor fashion any good.
tres elegante
When I grow up, I'm going to be pretty-powerful like her. the fishnets, the trench, the ice stare
Of the year? You must be kidding, try of the DECADE. Wow. A "10″
Helloooooo Mrs. Robinson. Seriously, if you have her contact info I'll fly to Italy tonight just to have an espresso with her.


text:
Thank you. It's a wonderful moment, of course, to get such a prize. There was a journalist, a couple of weeks ago back in Switzerland, asking me: "Now that you're getting the biggest prize in architecture, will this change your life?" Then I said, "Of course not." And then I added, "Maybe, I don't know." Maybe something will change, but I would like to say it wouldn't. So, I'm a little bit older now—a couple of weeks older—and something has changed a little bit. Let me try to explain.
As you just heard, when I was a boy, there was no architecture. There were architects. Some of them my father liked, some of them he didn't like. But architecture didn't exist. Only later looking back I asked myself, was there architecture in my life? At first I thought, "I don't see anything." Perhaps just our house… But architecture? A school? I grew up in a village, in a town five kilometers outside of the city of Basel. So, I looked around, and there was not much. Keep in mind that this is me later looking back. And then all of a sudden, one Saturday evening, we took the little train and went to the movies. Then I started to remember there were all these movie theatres in the streets, and they had a beautiful kind of feeling. They had a beautiful feeling when you got in. There was a really marvelous world of kitsch, really marvelous. And when you went down to the bathroom, the colors were yellow and black. And then all of a sudden, I realized there were this and that, and the balustrades, which had polka dots—polka dot kind of holes—and so on. So, I imagined that this must have been architecture. It was something special. And then later, I remembered that once a year we went to a monastery, a baroque church, nearby. And there were monks singing Gregorian chants in this beautiful Baroque church. Architecture. And then—this was the best—at the end of the service, the family always went down into the rocks, and you came to a very small chapel built or excavated in the rocks. There were a lot of candles and those typical smells and all these things. Architecture! Architectural atmosphere! So, I was glad to discover it. There are other things, of course. But I was glad to discover there was architecture in my youth. I just didn't know it.
A little bit later—10 years or 15 years—all of a sudden I decided that I wanted to become a real architect, which was sort of a lonely decision in the kitchen. And I started to do my work. I started to enter competitions. I won a competition. I did my first two buildings. The two buildings started to grow. And I remembered at the time we looked at these two buildings, Annalisa and I. I got really depressed. It was terrible. I saw the buildings, and I could see the models of the buildings. This was terrible. I could hear the architectural discussion of the time in my buildings. This was the last time that this should happen to me. The last time that I'm not being myself.
So what is this being myself? It is interesting that in these buildings, which gave me this headache, heart ache, there were things I liked, such as things that did not come from a magazine or from a discussion that I can talk about with somebody. Rather, this is me! What is this "me"? Of course, I don't know exactly. But I can try to explain a little about the process of what I feel when this happens, when I have the feeling "this is me." Maybe those of you who play tennis, you know. You have to concentrate on the ball. If you start to think just for a moment, "Oh, my friend is looking at how I play," then you are lost, right? You have to keep this total concentration on what you want to do. This is one thing. The other thing is you have to be loose. Now, I'm talking about myself. I should say I have to be loose. I go to the place. I listen to the client. I walk around. I hang around. I'm not going to do research.
When I start to do research, I'm really bad. This I know from studying. No research. You are just hanging out, listening, feeling, having the place resonate a little bit. And then all of a sudden, ideas come naturally. I don't know when and where. I think this is a very natural process. Everybody—all of you, all of us—we experience this. And what I discovered was that when I have these feelings, it is like being a boy again. All of a sudden, I think this is me when I was 10 years or 12 years old. I'm dreaming. I'm there and something comes to me, but it's not, of course, naïve dreaming. Everything, which is part of my biography, is there. But it's not there as a research product or as reference material. It went into me, as part of my life. Then it comes out from somewhere—from my emotions or whatever, my feelings.
So, I'm at the same place as at the time when I experienced architecture as a boy without knowing it. This is what I love. These beginnings, these moments of the beginning. And then comes the really hard task when I have to take care that nobody destroys my first image. Because, as you know, we're doing a job as architects. We are surrounded by politics, by laws, by money, by clients who have weak moments, and all these things. Sometimes people want to take away or harm my image, my baby. So, this needs a little bit of persistence. Maybe that's where my reputation comes from that I'm a stubborn guy, which I'm not, of course.
As I get older, I think I got some kind of a… I'm sort of secure that I can do this—be a boy, and in being a boy and dreaming, doing something. Then I say, "When I like it, you will like it, too, because I'm not so special." Now comes this moment when I get this prize. And I think now, and I start to feel that dreaming becomes even easier. Maybe I can. You help me to go on dreaming even stronger. Thank you.


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Senators call FBI on carpet over D'Souza charges
List 12 questions for investigators to explain about developing case
An investigation into conservative author and "2016: Obama's America" filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza that resulted in his indictment on campaign contribution charges is rebounding on the FBI, with demands from Congress now to know how the investigation was triggered – and other details.
Four members, including Sens. Charles E. Grassley, Jeff Sessions, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, all Republicans, have written to the FBI with a list of questions for the agency to answer.
The indictment was seen in many quarters as political payback for D'Souza's film, which was harshly critical of Obama during the 2012 election season, and there has been launched by WND an online petition demanding that Congress halt what gives the appearance of political retaliation.
WND has reported that D'Souza has vowed to present a strong defense to the allegations.
The letter from the senators, addressed to FBI Director James Comey Jr., noted that based on what is known so far, the investigation into D'Souza came following a "routine review by the FBI of campaign filings with the FEC of various candidates after the 2012 election."
The senators explain, "The articles, however, did not provide any details regarding the scope and methodology of these routine reviews. Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz has said, 'I can't help but think that [D'Souza's] politics have something to do with it … It smacks of selective prosecution.' To dispel this sort of public perception that Mr. D'Souza may have been targeted because of his outspoken criticisms of the president, it is important for the FBI to be transparent regarding the precise origin of this investigation."
The senators listed the questions that the FBI should answer, including "It appears from U.S. attorney's office comment that the FBI conducts regular, perhaps random reviews of campaign filings. Is this correct? If so, what methodology does the FBI use to conduct these reviews?"
The senators also ask, "Please identify and describe all methods by which a review of campaign filings may be initiated," and "Please identify all other government entities involved in the FBI's review of campaign filings and describe their involvement."
No. 4 is, "How and why was this particular review initiated?"
No. 5 is, "What criteria involved in this particular review led to the suspicion that warranted further inquiry?"
No. 6 is, "What are the guidelines under which the FBI conducts its reviews of Campaign filings?"
No. 7 is, "Please describe how the FBI's reviews of campaign filings are conducted."
No. 8 is, "How many campaign filings has the FBI reviewed in each year from 2008 to the present?"
No. 9 is, "On average, how long does it take to complete a review of a campaign filing?"
No. 10 is, "How many agents are assigned, per case, to review campaign filings?"
No. 11 is, "On average, how many man hours are spent reviewing campaign filings?"
No. 12 is, "When did the FBI begin routinely reviewing campaign filings."
The letter to Comey continued, "During your confirmation hearing, you pledged that you would carry the values of transparency and try to spread them as far as you could within the FBI. To explain the details of these routine reviews and provide context to those who may be skeptical of the origins of this investigation, please provide answers…."
The online WND petition cites the situations that have involved famed neurosurgeon Ben Carson, S'Douza and others.
They all were critical of Obama, and suddenly were being contacted by the Internal Revenue Service, or others.
The petition addressed to Congress seeks "an immediate halt to the Obama administration's reign of 'payback' and 'punishment' levied against its political opponents, which it regards as 'enemies'; and a congressional investigation into the administration's unmistakable and undeniable pattern of political use of the fearsome machinery of government to punish critics and opponents – which is not only grossly illegal and immoral, but profoundly destructive of everything that makes America exceptional and free."
WND previously reported that Gerald Molen, the producer of D'Souza's two full-length feature film documentaries, "2016: Obama's America," released in 2012, and the about-to-be-released "America," had characterized D'Souza's criminal indictment as a Soviet-style "political prosecution."
"When Dinesh D'Souza can be prosecuted for making a movie, every American should ask themselves one question: 'What will I do to preserve the First Amendment?'" he said.
See "2016," the film that Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Helle Dale said reveals an "aloof" and hard-to-understand president.
D'Souza told WND that Molen, too, was harassed by the Obama administration for his role producing D'Souza's full-length feature film documentaries.
"Right after '2016' came out, Molen got a call from the IRS," D'Souza said.
"I just think it's interesting the searchlight fell on him so randomly, so to speak, and so quickly right after. Molen has been around for a long time. He's made 'Minority Report' and 'Jurassic Park' and for all this time he escaped scrutiny from the IRS, but then suddenly in a sense, the moment he comes out of the closet as a conservative, boom – 'Hello, this is your friendly IRS agent calling,'" he said.
D'Souza argued he was prosecuted because his first feature film offended Obama personally, not just because the film represented a political challenge to Obama's presidential re-election hopes in 2012.
"When '2016' came out, I was carefully monitoring what kind of effect if any this would have on Obama, and I don't just mean on the Obama campaign, I mean on the president himself," he said. "And for a while, there was dead silence from the Obama campaign. They said nothing about the film. And, in fact, the major media networks followed and acted as if the film didn't even exist, even though the film was in just about every major theater chain in America."
In fact, it ranks as among the most popular documentaries ever.
Then D'Souza noticed "2016" was attacked on the Obama campaign website, BarackObama.com.
"You can see it is a very intemperate and almost demented attack on the film. Some of the things that it charges about the film aren't even in the film, although they do appear in my published works. You can see that the film '2016' did kind of unhinge Obama. And I think part of the reason for that is that the film wasn't just a critique of his policies, it delved into his psyche. It kind of got in a way under his skin, I don't mean by just annoying him, I mean by getting into what are the underlying traumatic factors that have driven him into becoming the kind of man that he is."
D'Souza told WND the harassment from the Obama administration began when he was filming "2016" in Africa.
"When we were down in Kenya and we were in the grandmother's compound and we were observing the homestead and the grave, Obama's sister got wind – she's in Nairobi – and she got wind that we were there," he said. "And she immediately called the cops and she called the local chieftains to basically run us out of town. And we had to literally grab our stuff and flee. And we were worried at that time that we would either be apprehended or equally significant that they would confiscate our film."
D'Souza disclosed the film crew established emergency measures to make sure their film footage got out of Kenya should D'Souza and the film crew be detained in the country, or in case the Kenyan government made an attempt to otherwise confiscate the film footage.
"So my point is, it's very clear with the Obama family that these people take this stuff very seriously and they try to run interception where they can," he stressed. "Now, they did not succeed in blocking '2016,' and the film in fact made a big stir in 2012 after being released."
D'Souza told WND his lawyers have a hearing with the federal court in New York to determine when his case will be tried, but he expects the case will go to trial with a 12-member jury, possibly beginning before the scheduled July 4 opening of "America" across the nation.
"Launching a defense in the federal criminal indictment has been every expensive," D'Souza admitted.
"I won't deny that it is traumatic. You have to take it seriously because they are looking to lock you up. So you can't be frivolous about. At the same time, I want to be clear this is not something that has knocked me out for the count. I'm not someone to give in easily on this kind of a thing. I'm determined to continue to speak my mind and do my work."
He explained that "America" was written in part to answer the question, "What is unique about America?"
Answering that question took D'Souza on a historical examination of America's key conflicts, leading back to the challenges that faced our Founding Fathers.
He explained: "I think that the remarkable thing about our debate today is that the left and the right agree there is something unique about America, but the conservatives believe that America in some ways is uniquely good and the progressives led by Obama think that America is uniquely bad – in other words, that American history has been characterized by a unique set of crimes and offenses, that American capitalism is uniquely materialistic and selfish, that American foreign policy is uniquely devoted to plunder. So, we wanted to take on this argument head-on in the film and answer it at the root level."


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Junior Fellowships are for degree candidates who at the time of application have fulfilled all preliminary requirements for a PhD or appropriate final degree and will be working on a dissertation or final project at Dumbarton Oaks under the direction of a faculty member at their own university. Graduate students who do not have the PhD in hand by the application deadline of November 1 must apply as Junior Fellows. Successful applicants for Junior Fellowships who have the PhD in hand by the beginning of the Fellowship term may be granted the status and stipend of Fellows.
Fellowships are for scholars who hold a doctorate or appropriate final degree or have established themselves in their field and wish to pursue their own research.
Summer Fellowships are for Byzantine or Pre-Columbian scholars at any level beyond the first year of graduate (post-baccalaureate) study.
Please note: Fellowship applicants in Garden and Landscape Studies should see here for additional information.
Tyler Fellowships are two-year fellowships designed for Harvard graduate students who have completed all departmental requirements for the PhD before the application deadline. Tyler Fellowships are governed by unique terms. You may learn more about the Tyler Fellowship, and its terms, here.
Plant Humanities Fellowships provide nine months of research and professional development opportunities for advanced graduate students (post-generals or third-year MLA), recent PhD graduates (PhD conferred on or after June 30, 2017), and recent Master of Landscape Architecture graduates (MLA conferred on or after June 30, 2017). Fellows will receive structured training in the digital humanities; undertake research in the Dumbarton Oaks special collections; contribute to the identification of priorities for digitization and bibliographic description; and develop content for the digital tool in close collaboration with JSTOR Labs. Learn more about the Plant Humanities Initiative.


text: Pictured: Eric Christian Olsen (LAPD Liaison Marty Deeks) and Daniela Ruah (Special Agent Kensi Blye). The NCIS: LA team heads to the beach to question the possible link between a surfer, an Internet video and a dead Naval tech scientist. Meanwhile, as Callen and Hanna investigate the victim's intelligence connections, Deeks and Kensi go undercover to catch their suspects and some waves. Photo: Robert Voets/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Halloween Blog Hop
For my Halloween post, I invite you to enjoy this post. I found it tucked away in a corner of my high-school binder. I don't recognize the writing as any of my friend's, and it certainly isn't mine, so I thought perhaps I could share it. If you remember writing something like this, please, send me a message. I'd love to give you credit.
It started with a smell. A noxious, poignant stench that you could almost taste on the edge of your tongue. Whenever one walked by the old oaken door to the basement, the bog-like odor would rise up and greet you anew like an old friend. I hated that smell. Always had, since we first bought the house when I was five. I remember whining to my mother about how it would stick to my clothes. She didn't even turn from her computer when she told me not to go near the door then.
I've lived with the stench for years, so much so that I almost forgot it even existed. The only one I've seen go down there is Dad in his old coveralls splattered with paint the same color as the garage walls. The sounds of hammers and breaking rock come up after him, and I never had the courage to ask him how he could stand the smell. It followed him out of the basement sometimes, as obnoxious as the tan-orange of the paint.
I never was home alone, not really. When my mother and father went out of town, they always had my uncle or my aunts babysit me, even into my early teens. The aunts never complained about the smell. My uncle did, though. All the time, he bellyached about it, and would often take me out to dinner because he said he couldn't stand the stench a second longer. My aunts hovered around the basement door, whispering to each other. But whenever I would come in, they would hush and ask if my homework was done, in that creepy way twins do.
Around when I turned fifteen, the smell seemed to get worse. Nauseating to the point that I developed a habit of opening windows every time I passed through a room. When asked about staying with my uncle and his wife, my mother, again not looking up from her swagbucks and online wordpuzzles, told me to bear with it for just a bit longer. Before I knew it, Dad had torn her away from her computer, and bundled her into the car, and with a note to me on the counter when I got home, they went on a 'vacation'.
I was home alone for the first time. They'd even left me a key on the counter, next to the fifty dollars for food over the weekend. The first thing I did was open all of the windows, which only relieved the smell a little. However, it made for odd sounds. The curtains rustling in rooms I wasn't in. The soft hush of breezes through the leaves outside, almost like someone whispering things. I started to note things a little more. Windows that I opened would sometimes slide down to half closed just as I left the room. It was odd, but I could only assume they were loose in their moorings. Maybe Dad could fix them when he got home and I let him know.
The second day of their trip, I went down into the kitchen to get some milk. The old greyish wood of the basement door was misplaced. The basement door, which was closed constantly, unless my father's hand was on the handle, was open. Just an inch. Just barely enough to see the black behind it, the yawning space which lead to what I assumed were stairs. The stench was warmer now, thicker, like something had rolled in it, and was now heaving itself under my nose. I covered my mouth, abandoning the idea of milk, and shoved the door closed, with a heavy thud.
I tried not to think about it. I watched movies. I played videogames. I played mmos with my friends from school. I avoided going down to the kitchen by ordering pizza, and having it delivered up the stairs. Pizza deliverers are surprisingly tacit when offered a large tip. It was nice not having to get out of bed for food. The day slowly turned into night, and I only paused my game to go to the bathroom.
One such unpausing revealed more of the strange sussurus that I had thought was the wind in the leaves. But I could clearly see the old maple tree outside, and the leaves were still in the night air. The sound ebbed and flowed like the ocean that I had once had the fortune of feeling on my skin, cold and salty and fresh. It was such an odd thing that I didn't notice the scent from the kitchen had wafted up into my bedroom.
I followed the sound, oddly curious, temptation rising in me. The soft whisper of it touched my ears and made my skin prickle with goosebumps. I shivered, rubbing at the skin on my arms, as my chucks maneuvred the carpet-covered stairs. I followed it, as it got louder, and louder, into the kitchen. The door the basement was open again, the bright red of the pizza-warmer laying just in front of it. Wider this time, a large yawning foot of black so deep and dark that it looked like it was moving. An illusion, my eyes screamed, and I rubbed at them, to try and clear it. But closing my eyes only made the sound that much louder.
Whispers, yes, but not of something against something, or of wind through leaves, oh no. These were words. Words in a language I didn't understand, couldn't understand. It sounded almost as if whoever was speaking had three voices, no, twelve, no, one. I couldn't make it out. I knew if I went closer to the stairs, just a touch, just a step, I could make out what it was saying.
Before I knew it, that one step had turned into two, five, twelve. The darkness rose up around me, and I couldn't see. It moved, not illusion not smoke, but real and heavy and black and dark. Whispy tendrils of blackness felt like the touch of ice across my cheeks, my hands, the backs of my calves. Come, it said, come down, and see us, and know us, and when had I begun to learn the language that this spoke?
I stumbled, the end of the stairs a surprise. I didn't feel cement beneath my feet. It was unsteady, crumbling like some kind of sand, or maybe dirt. My chucks shifted and something hissed. I stopped, stock still. Something different was down here. There was no smell, there was no sight, there was nothing but darkness and the whispers. Whispers asking me to stay, to love, to be loved, whispers that wanted me to just say I would stay, oh please.
My breath echoed in this place. My heart raced. I tried to think. I tried to answer. My lips seemed frozen. I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or closed. Time felt like a twisted ribbon. Something was wrong. I could see something, something moving. It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense. Weightless. Broken. Put back together. Dashed on rocks so sharp they were knives now. I screamed and rocks flew from my lips like spittle.
Time passed.
I woke up.
The smell… The smell was gone. I couldn't smell anything. There was dirt under me. Dirt with small chunks of rubble like cement. The smell of dirt was unwelcome and heavy. I didn't understand. Where had the scent gone? The marker coming from the basement, where had it gone? I opened my eyes.
A hole before me, filled with mannequins. No. Not mannequins. People. Hands, and arms, and heads, and feet. People, chopped up and decomposing, and some looked as if they had been for years decomposing. But what caught me… was the smell.
The scent… It smelled so good.
Like nothing I could name. Warm, and thick, and heady, and absolutely amazing. It reminded of me of the darkness like broken rocks on a shoreline where no stars shone. When my dad came home, I asked him if he could smell it. He nodded, and asked if I'd like to help him. The smell, the scent of that death, that decay, so sweet and warm and welcome, prompted me to agree.more


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Experience the wonders of Queen Charlotte Sound
Located at the top of New Zealand, the Queen Charlotte track offers it all, from stunning views to historical landmarks.
The Queen Charlotte Track is located within the spectacular Marlborough Sounds at the top of New Zealand's South Island. The region is accessible from the North Island by air, or ferry from Wellington and within the South Island, access is by road, rail or air.
The Queen Charlotte track stretches 71km offering visitors a unique walk or mountain bike ride through lush New Zealand forest, deep coves and skyline ridges. The track is a pleasant 3 – 5 day walk; however day walk options are available.
The track is accessible via water taxis from the township of Picton, or via foot at Anakiwa. Water taxi operators offer several departures a day all year round, along with packages such as days walks or the ever popular pack pass; which incorporates return transfers, packaged along with point to point pack transfers.
Along the track you will find a variety of accommodation providers offering lodging for any budget; however it is will worth shelling out those extra pennies for a once in the lifetime experience that you will experience from staying in one of many luxurious lodgings located on the track.
The track will offer many wonderful highlights along the way; these are bound to include Ship Cove and Eatwells Lookout, a slight detour off the main track that results in awesome views to the outer Queen Charlotte Sound.
The Queen Charlotte Track has plenty to offer for visitors of any age or fitness capability, therefore get out and experience this spectacular track sooner, rather than later.


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Renee Zellweger Spills Her Secrets!
Want to know the modern definition of glamour? Look no further than Renée Zellweger. She's got all the trappings of a high-gloss life—the designer clothes, the red-carpet poses. But the woman's about so much more. She's a voracious reader, a gutsy actress and a doer when it comes to the causes she cares about: A USO supporter, she has visited wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center over the past year. The point? She's about outer glamour—and the inner kind, too. Now, for the first time in a decade, the Texas-born actress, 40, is exploring a new side of her multifaceted life: She's taking a break from moviemaking. At home in New York, she is gobbling up books, sifting through scripts and indulging in one of her favorite pastimes: napping. "I'm working on getting bored," she says. "And it's really hard! But I need to sit still long enough to see where my brain goes." Given all that has happened to her in the past five years—eight films, two Oscar nominations (and one win), a breakup with White Stripes front man Jack White, an ill-fated four-month marriage to country singer Kenny Chesney, wild media speculation about a current romance with NBC News chief legal correspondent Dan Abrams—it's no wonder boredom looks so attractive to Zellweger. Over sushi at a New York City restaurant, she shares her thoughts on her present and her personal definition of glamorous.
GLAMOUR: The last time I interviewed you, back in 2004, you were wearing a Beatles T-shirt and your hair was brown. Your versatility seems to be one of the most glamorous things about you. So tell us—because this is the theme of our issue—who are the women you find glamorous right now?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I am always amazed by Diane Sawyer; she is so elegant and manages to pull it together at 3:00 A.M. every day. Hillary Clinton is great: Even in countries where women are not considered contemporaries, she walks into a room of dignitaries and speaks with such authority. She's also really warm and funny! And, of course, there's Michelle Obama—nothing about her is disingenuous. I'm thrilled she's out there as the face of American women.
GLAMOUR: Not to mention what she's done for American women's biceps!
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: [Laughs.] That too!
GLAMOUR: While we're on the subject of politics, the economy is in shambles. Has the financial climate affected you in any way? Are you more inclined to look for a bargain?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I have a job that requires me to get dressed [up] more often than if I were in another line of work, but I don't have a lot of indulgences. I like nice wine, and I like sushi, and those things aren't cheap. Well, they can be, but I don't think I'd go for the cheap fish! [Laughs.]
GLAMOUR: You didn't grow up with a whole lot, did you?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: No. I have immigrant parents who came to this country with nothing, and my dad worked his ass off to support our family. He made so many sacrifices, but we always had enough. I've never been the sort of person who takes things for granted, and I'm not an acquisitions girl. So I didn't feel entitled to a car when I was 16. Of course, I was bummed I didn't get one, because I was an American Texas teenager! But I understood it. I've never gotten my self-esteem from having the newest, most spectacular thing.
GLAMOUR: So where does your self-esteem come from? In the photos for this story, you look so confident and sexy…. Were you doing your job, or are you feeling particularly sexy these days?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I let my guard down—I must have been tired! [Laughs.] Actually, I'm having a really good time right now.
GLAMOUR: So, is there a shift happening?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: Yes. I'm taking time to figure out where I want to go and what I want to do next. In this line of work, you become so [defined by your job].
GLAMOUR: Does that bother you?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: Actually, I'm delighted when someone confesses to being surprised [to discover] something about me. It means I've been very successful in maintaining what is most precious to me—keeping the things that really matter in my life unexposed.
__GLAMOUR:__So…you won't talk about who you're dating?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: No. I won't. Because it's dumb. It leads to nowhere good. I let everybody else in the media do that for me. [Laughs.] It takes the responsibility off my shoulders!
GLAMOUR: Why do you think the media assumes that if a woman is young, gorgeous, successful—but single—she isn't happy? You seem like a very happy, together person.
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I don't know. Because it's a deviation from social expectations? She's successful in all these respects, so why doesn't a man find her attractive? But when you think about it, [when you're single] you are not deprived in any way—if anything, it's a pretty self-indulgent lifestyle. It's selfish: You can make your own decisions and indulge yourself on an impulse.
GLAMOUR: And the media doesn't have the same attitude about single men.
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: It's "Good for you, buddy—you're a confirmed bachelor!"
GLAMOUR: If the right guy came along, would you be willing to give up the single life?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: Oh, sure. But if I'm going to give it up, it better be good—because I'm having fun! [Laughs.]
GLAMOUR: What would you say you are looking for in a partner?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I'm looking for an encyclopedia and a dictionary. A bit of the Boy Scouts Handbook. A person who is conscientious about the trail he leaves behind him. Love. Unconditional kindness. Basically, I'm looking for the qualities I revere in my friends.
GLAMOUR: Do you have a "type"?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: Nope. I'm attracted to intelligence and creativity and passion—and not necessarily the romantic kind. I want to learn from someone who is greedy for information and light and laughter and the whole world. Someone who celebrates their days and finds inspiration in what other people accomplish.
GLAMOUR: Now lots of young actresses coming up in the business talk very openly about their relationships. How did you learn to keep certain things close to your chest?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I think it's the culture they've grown up in with respect to what's considered acceptable. Would you ever have imagined it would be OK to walk up to Bruce Springsteen and put a camera in his face while he's having lunch with his family, without even saying, "Excuse me"?
GLAMOUR: So you're not Twittering?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I can't think of anything more horrible than sharing what I'm doing all day!
GLAMOUR: Getting back to the shift we were talking about—does this mean you're going to stay put for a while?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: Yes. I'm working on different projects, but I'm not going anywhere any time soon. I'm not putting on other people's clothes or living out of my luggage. I'm actually going into the bathroom to use my bathroom stuff—rather than to the suitcase where I usually keep it. I'm learning how to use a chest of drawers! I am determined to sit still long enough to get past the existential crap of the moment.
GLAMOUR: What's the most important thing you hope to get out of this?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: I want to learn more. I want to know more. That's what taking this time is about. I'm curious about so many things, but haven't had occasion to be exposed to them enough to really appreciate them.
GLAMOUR: You're also a big runner. What role does exercise play in your life?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: It's my outlet, the one thing I do during the day that's mine and mine alone. I don't want to work with a trainer, and I don't want to go with friends to the gym. It's my solitude, and I need it.
GLAMOUR: You seem pretty confident in everything you do, so my last question for you is, would you ever want to go back and redo any part of your life?
RENÉE ZELLWEGER: Not at all. I'm grateful for the experiences I've accumulated. Of course, there are certain things you wish were not on anyone's list of life experiences, but it's a life. It's a good life. And I like what's there.


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The crystal skull
What is it?
A life-size carving of a human skull made from a single block of rock crystal (a clear, colourless variety of quartz). It was acquired by the Museum in 1897 purporting to be an ancient Mexican object. However, scientific research conducted by the Museum has established that the skull was most likely produced in the nineteenth century in Europe. As such the object is not an authentic pre-Columbian artefact.
How did it enter the collection?
The skull was purchased by the Museum from Tiffany and Co, New York in 1897. At the time of its purchase, the skull was said to have been brought from Mexico by a Spanish officer before the French occupation (in 1863). It was sold to an English collector and acquired at his death by Eugène Boban, a French antiquities dealer, later becoming the property of Tiffany and Co. The skull was exhibited for many years at the Museum of Mankind in Piccadilly (which housed the British Museum's Ethnographic collection), it is currently on permanent display at the British Museum in the Wellcome Trust Gallery.
What scientific research has been undertaken?
The British Museum has examined the skull several times between 1950 and 1990. In 1996, a collaborative project focusing on the British Museum's skull and a skull in the collection of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC was started. Contrary to popular belief, there are no satisfactory scientific techniques which can be used to accurately establish when a stone object was carved. Research has therefore focused on how the skulls were carved, where the quartz originated from and what is known about the early history of the skulls. Observations made with a binocular microscope and in a scanning electron microscope show that the techniques used to carve the skulls post date the ancient Aztec period. The tool marks on the skulls are very different to those on ancient Mexican rock crystal objects, which were carved by hand. The British Museum skull was extensively worked with lathe-mounted rotary wheels (jeweller's wheels), which were unknown in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans. The research also shows that the large block of rock crystal suitable for the British Museum skull did not come from a source within the ancient trade network of Mexico. It is likely to have originated from a source in Brazil or Madagascar. The results of this research have been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science and are available online: Sax, M., Walsh, J.M., Freestone, I.C., Rankin, A.H. and Meeks, N.D., Journal of Archaeological Science (2008).
Do others exist?
There is a larger white quartz skull in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC and a number of other large skulls in private ownership. There are also a number of smaller rock crystal skulls. Rock crystal skulls first began to surface in public and private collections, during the second half of the nineteenth century, and an increasing number of large and small quartz skulls have become known in recent decades, mostly in private hands. However, no such skull has ever been reported from well-documented official archaeological excavation. Archival research has, in addition, produced a link between the British Museum's skull and another rock crystal skull (in the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris). Both skulls passed through the hands of the French dealer Eugène Boban, raising suspicions regarding their provenance.
Why were the skulls produced?
It is impossible to be sure why all the skulls were produced. Some may have been produced to satisfy demands in the US and Europe in the nineteenth century when interest in collecting Mexican material was at its height. Others are said to be examples of colonial Mexican art, for use in churches, perhaps as bases for crucifixes.
Are there any genuine Aztec crystal skulls?
It seems unlikely, since no quartz crystal skull has ever been found on any of the many well-documented official archaeological excavations of ancient sites.
Did the Aztecs make these kinds of objects?
Skulls and skull imagery featured in Aztec art at the time of the first contact with the Spanish in 1519. They were worked by Aztec, Mixtec and even Mayan craftsmen, and a human skull covered with turquoise mosaics is displayed in the Mexican gallery of the British Museum. Skulls and skull imagery also feature in architectural elements, carved in relief in basalt or limestone, but objects of this kind were not produced in rock crystal or white quartz.
Do they have special powers?
There are some who claim that crystal skulls have healing qualities, emit energy, have the ability to convey vital information or are repositories of ancient wisdom. Large quartz crystal skulls have generated great interest and fascination since they began to surface in public and private collections during the second half of the nineteenth century. The British Museum views the skull in its collection as an enigmatic object of great interest but with no supernatural properties.
What is the British Museum's response to the new movie?
As entertainment the movie will surely appeal to the public, but it is very much a work of fiction. We hope, however, that it will encourage visitors to see the skull at the British Museum and to learn more about Aztec culture.
More information about the crystal skull
If you require images or wish to request an interview please contact:
Hannah Boulton on +44 (0)20 7323 8522, email@example.com or
Katrina Whenham on +44 (0)20 73232 8583, firstname.lastname@example.com


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Penrith High School
Through experimentation with refractive media I was able to explore my passion for water, whilst delving into the realms of superficiality in society through the refractive nature of liquids. Fluidity embodies society's perception of the world and how easily these views can be distorted through our interpretation of light and how we perceive refracted images. This superficiality is expressed through the use of concave and convex forms that passively integrate the viewer into the work, distorting their 'outer' image. True form lies beneath the surface.