Make a Statement With This DIY Ombre Book Shelf - article by Brit + Co
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Make a Statement With This DIY Ombre Book Shelf - article by Brit + Co
There's an important common thread in these stories.
These past two weeks, American Crime Story has put forth two incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking episodes about the deaths that kicked off Andrew Cunanan’s murder spree, those of Jeff Trail and David Madson.
Madson was front and center last week, showing what ACS producers think most likely happened to him after Trail’s murder in his loft, interspersed with scenes of Madson and his father. This week, it’s Trail’s turn in the spotlight, as the show reveals his struggle as a gay naval officer and the way he met Cunanan.
Flashing back two years before his murder, we see Trail serving active duty in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. This is around the time when “don’t ask, don’t tell” was a new policy, but by all appearances, Trail loves his life in the military, even if it means hiding who he really is. That changes when he stops some fellow servicemen from beating another serviceman to death for being gay. This puts a huge target on Trail’s back and basically torpedoes his career.
The show makes it seem as though Trail meets Cunanan at a local gay bar and confides in him that he’s going to do an interview with CBS News program 48 Hours about gay people serving in the military. Cunanan makes a big show of talking about how servicemen who are against LGBTQ+ people in the military get to speak about it openly, while Trail has to hide his identity in order to even talk about the issue.
It’s a great point, though, weirdly, the timeline is a bit off. The 48 Hours special was filmed in 1993, which is around the time Cunanan and Trail met — not in 1995, as the show depicts, which may just be an error. There is also no evidence that Cunanan had anything to do with Trail’s decision to do the interview, but it does make for good storytelling and gets Cunanan more involved in Trail’s life in San Diego.
The show then jumps ahead to 1997, when Trail is already living in Minneapolis and Cunanan has come to visit him. It’s unclear if Cunanan’s jealousy over Trail and Madson’s alleged involvement started before he came to Minneapolis or after, but the show definitely uses that as the fuel that drives Cunanan to kill them both, though, in real life, the two were not involved. According to multiple accounts, the two were acquainted but not really even friends.
But Cunanan suspects the two are together romantically behind his back, so he invites Trail to Madson’s loft, and that’s where the episode ends for this story line, with Cunanan slamming the apartment door as he starts beating Trail to death with a hammer.
Outside of Trail’s story, we also get a few scenes with Gianni Versace after two weeks without any Versace material. This week, his experiences as a gay man dovetail nicely with Trail’s experience — they both give interviews about being gay, but while Trail has to conduct his in a seedy motel room with his face obscured by shadow, Versace, a celebrity, does his in a posh hotel suite with a glamorous photo shoot for The Advocate.
American Crime Story may be about Cunanan’s murder spree at its heart, but there is a thread running through it of the struggles gay men faced in the 1990s, as the movement itself was coming out of the closet and met with both support and violent hatred.
The juxtaposition of Trail and Versace is such an interesting framing device that it’s almost a shame we have to spend any time with Cunanan in this episode. Yes, he is the tie that binds all these men together, and Criss is doing an incredible job with the role, but his self-hatred and jealousy and the psychopathic way they manifest themselves is so ugly and manipulative and even jarring. It would have been nice to avoid him altogether for a week.
[days of productivity 29-32] hello hello and merry christmas! a couple of productivity posts have come late just because i haven't even thought about blogging, so here they are: 29: helped put together a hUge family dinner. it went super well!! 30: finished christmas presents, including the ballet slippers in oil paint that my mom has been asking for for years. 31: delivered christmas presents and met a cute muffin named toby. 32: planned and planned and planned. putting all the work i need to do in perspective.
She will help Brit Morin's media startup work with the entertainment industry.
MILA KUNIS joins Brit + Co as an advisor!
The actress is joining media startup Brit + Co as an advisor, The Hollywood Reporterhas learned.
According to CEO Brit Morin, KUNIS will "bring a fresh perspective" to the company, known for its DIY tutorials and other lifestyle editorials, and help it work with the entertainment industry as it looks to create more longform videos and tap into influencer networks.
"Mila understands and has an appreciation for Brit + Co's mission of inspiring and empowering women to be more creative," Morin added. "Her genuine passion will allow her to advise and contribute in an authentic way.”
"I'm looking forward to working with Brit and her team at Brit + Co to help further their mission of empowering young women," MILA added. "From their lifestyle content to their recently launched series on immigrant women, Brit + Co understands the power of creativity and the importance of women supporting each other, both things that I personally connect with."
Drink like a royal.
Get familiar with the different types of tea at your disposal. Teas tend to fall into the following categories:
Oolong tea comes from the leaves of the Camelia sinsensis plant. Some of its variants include Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess), Dan Cong, and Ali Shan.
Black tea types are often the strongest, most caffeinated. A few examples include Earl Grey, Masala Chai, and Darjeerling tea.
White tea is made from the unopened buds of tea leaves, which is why this distinctive type of tea has such a gentle flavor. Some popular white tea types include White Peony, Silver Needle, and Eyebrow White tea.
Green tea is famed for its health benefits, thanks to its high antioxidant content. If you love green tea, you’ll probably have heard of Matcha, Sencha, and Gyokuro teas.
Herbal teas are basically just water steeped with various types of herbs, rather than containing traditional tea leaves. Think peppermint, dandelion, chamomile, and ginger-turmeric teas.
Yellow teas are very rare, and hail from the Anhui, Sichuan, Zhejiang, and Hunan provinces in China. The most popular type of yellow tea is the Jun Shan Silver Needle.
Our allies LITERALLY flooded the Internet. 👀💗 Thank you to everyone who passed the mic to Muslim women this week.
Check Out 19 Mainstream Media Highlights From Muslim Women’s Day: https://mgrl.co/2ocetxv
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