Really Great Tourist Opportunity
Rembert Browne paid $49 (plus $8 for VIP seating!) to go on the TMZ bus tour of New York. That's a thing you can do too, if you want! CULTURE.
Those Standalone News Stands
New York fact that I just learned: Those standalone news stands cannot sell anything for more than $5 before tax.
Comparison Shopping for Surgery
Price lists from hospitals, courtesy the federal government. Tools for comparing prices in your state, courtesy the Washington Post.
Next Time You’ve Got a Craving for Some Cheap Clothes
Think of Kalpona Akter and the Bangladeshi garment factory workers: “Remember these human faces. You killed these girls.” They’re still figuring out which companies were using that particular factory, but if your favorite discount duds didn’t come from there, they came from somewhere like it. Most of my clothes are from The Gap or J.Crew, meaning most of my clothes are from companies and countries that don’t protect workers. I choose not think about that most of the time—”I’d love to buy handmade, but I’m broke,” etc., excuses—but when I do I feel weak.
How Much for One of Those Life Saving Holes in the Ground
It costs about $3,000 to build a storm cellar. FEMA might pay you back for up to $2,000 of that, but it takes time/effort/qualifying paperwork. You also have to own the land you're living on, presumably.
You Made It, But You Can’t Sell It
I basically already knew all of this because I watch Nashville, but in case you don't watch Nashville, Aylin Zafar explains how the music industry works, and how sometimes artists can get really, really screwed and can't release their music.
Getting Paid for Sex vs. Paying for Sex
Antonia Crane talks to David Henry Sterry about the sex he's bought and sold, about his books about other people's sex, bought and sold, and about how hard it is to find someone who will admit they've paid for sex. ("I didn’t realize the enormous stigma attached to the statement to say, 'Yes, I hire someone to have sex with me.' Easier to get people to admit they are a 'whore' than to get people to admit they hired a whore.")
Expensive Celebrity Diet Works
"What have I learned from Gwyneth's diet? It's an awesome way to live! If I wasn't going to go bankrupt to do it, I would follow the Gwyneth diet to the letter every day."
Appearing to Be Well Read Not Cheap
The pile of unread publications on my coffee table attests to my knowledge of the names of publications that keep people informed on many and divergent areas of the cultural spectrum.
