T LOunge for February 9th, 2022

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Lemongrass Bar and Restaurant – Bogor Tengah, Indonesia

 

Since it’s WEDNESDAY, let’s go somewhere green – where they serve drinks and there are comfy places to sit. We’ve got to go yell at some celebrities, so feel free to put everything on our tab while we toil away. No, no. It’s the least we could do. Literally.

 

 

Charles Dickens’s Coded Writings Are Deciphered After 150 Years
The English author wrote in a shorthand only he understood, but an IT worker from California cracked the Dickens code.
Charles Dickens loved puzzles. The British novelist, who died in 1870 at age 58, often wrote in a shorthand only he understood—he called it “the devil’s handwriting” and a “savage stenographic mystery.” Ten manuscripts of Charles Dickens, dating from the 1830s to the 1860s, used this shorthand, also called the “Dickens Code.”
In 2021, scholars Dr. Claire Wood and Professor Hugo Bowles put out a call to help solve the Dickens Code—announcing a £300 prize for anyone who could decipher what he was writing. More than 1,000 volunteers came forward, and Shane Braggs, an IT worker from San Jose, California, was able to decipher the most symbols and claimed the prize.

 

Katy Perry On Fake Booze And Real Life
The singer has a new line of non-alcoholic beverages that she predicts is “going to be huge.”
In the song that made her famous—2007’s musical sour gummy “I Kissed A Girl”—Katy Perry is wasted by the second lyric, when she “got so brave, drink in hand, lost my discretion.” Similar hangovers happen in “Waking Up In Vegas,” “Chained To The Rhythm,” and “The One That Got Away.” So it’s a bit startling that Perry’s latest breakout isn’t a new album, but a line of non-alcoholic champagne called De Soi.
“I’m not saying no to alcohol ever,” Perry says from a giant armchair in Los Angeles, where she’s resting up between performances of her new Las Vegas revue. “But I’m 37. I wanted more of a balance during the week, when I put my daughter to bed at 7:30 and want to unwind but not necessarily with wine. And I thinnnnk,” she says playfully, “this is going to be huge.”

 

Laura Dern Looks Back On Her Best Beauty Moments
“I don’t use foundation anymore. Just a little coverage, a cheek, some eye, some lip.”
Some people instantly exude kindness. Laura Dern is one of those people—I could just feel it after spending less than a minute on the phone with her. From the moment we start chatting about beauty, the actress was all about giving props to the teams behind each of her legendary looks—starting with her debut at 12 years old as punk bassist Jessica McNeil in Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.
She’s all about treating her skin with kindness, too. “My skin is really sensitive because my grandmother is Norwegian,” she tells Elle.com. “I’ve always had reactions to harsher products.” While on set for Big Little Lies she was introduced to True Botanicals Pure Radiance Oil and amazed by, well, how radiant her skin looked. From there, Dern fell hard for the clean beauty brand.

 

Mothers And Daughters Search For Healing, And Understanding, In Modern-Day Iran
“I am seeking your understanding and eventually your forgiveness. Forgiveness of what, I do not know yet.”
Mahsa
It has been more than a month that I haven’t seen my child. Amid our marital problems, I applied for divorce and throughout the process, my husband took our child and wouldn’t let me see her. Now he was hiding her from me. As if I could kidnap my own child.
According to law, I am entitled to custody of her before the age of seven. She is four. When I went to family court seeking help they said it was absolutely my right to see my child, but they couldn’t do anything about it. It was my own job to convince my ex-husband. So one day I couldn’t bear it anymore and I went to the door of my ex-brother-in-law. They didn’t open the door. I went to a car repair shop nearby and bought some gasoline and a match box from a supermarket. I emptied the bottle all over my clothes and with the match in my hand I went back to their door. I shouted, “I want to see my child. Either you let me in or I will burn myself alive right here in front of your building.”

 

Marriage Skepticism: A Love Story
Maud Newton came from a family with a complicated relationship to marriage. What would that mean for her own desires for partnership?
I was insulted when the man I’d later marry told me early in our relationship that he dreamed we got hitched in an Elvis Presley wedding chapel in Las Vegas at my insistence. It wasn’t the venue I despised, but the idea of marriage itself. His dream came soon after I told him that I never intended to wed. I didn’t intend to tie myself to someone who I would inevitably come to loathe, I’d said, impressed by my own fatalism. I needed to be able to leave when the relationship palled. Max didn’t try to dissuade me but said he thought it would be unimaginably sad to consign oneself to spending a life moving from one not particularly meaningful relationship to another. Usually I enjoyed sparring with suitors on the subject of marriage, but I pondered this and didn’t find an easy rebuttal. Like mine, Max’s parents were divorced. But while my parents’ divorce had been a relief, Max wished his family had stayed intact. I found his longing endearing but also misguided and intensely naïve.

 

How Queen Elizabeth II Changed the Monarchy—and Protected It For Future Generations
On the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we spoke to experts about her 70-year reign and what comes next.
As the Queen looks back on seven decades of rule—a bittersweet celebration since it also marks the anniversary of her father’s death, and her first Jubilee without her late husband—the Queen, 95, is also certainly looking to the future. So, how will the latter end of her reign play out? What will the Jubilee celebrations in June look like? What can we expect from Prince Charles’ “slimmed-down” monarchy? How will the U.K. change under the Cambridges’ rule? And is the monarchy here to stay, or is it on its last legs? Experts reflect on the past 70 years, and on what the future holds for the House of Windsor.

 

Women Are Deciding to Have Fewer Children, and Global Warming Is to Blame
It’s not just the climate that’s changing. Our environmental crisis is shifting American attitudes about having kids.
58 percent of women have adjusted their family planning because of concerns about climate change, according to a new survey conducted by reproductive health company Modern Fertility and shared with Marie Claire exclusively. These women are worried, in particular, “about the world [their] kids will inherit,” per the results. A third say they want to have fewer children because of it.
While 34 percent of the more than 2,800 American women surveyed are reducing their previously anticipated family size, a large cohort said that our planet’s current crisis has actually accelerated their timeline for having kids, either because it’s refocused what’s important to them (17 percent) or added a sense of urgency (14 percent).

 

Panera Is Giving Away Baguette Diamond Rings in Bread Bowl Boxes
If the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day don’t get you a ring, Panera is giving you a second chance.
Two of the most marketed events of the year are the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day — and this year, they are just one day apart. The folks at Panera decided to consolidate by coming up with one promotion that covers both things.
What do the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day have in common? If you win the big game or get engaged on the 14th, you’ll get a ring — so Panera took that idea and ran with it. And since the chain is Panera Bread, they went with the breadiest idea they could think of: a baguette diamond ring in a bread bowl-inspired ring box.

 

11 Nacho Recipes that Steal the Show
Crispy, crunchy, cheesy, gooey, savory, salty. We could go on forever about everything that makes nachos so irresistible. But these 11 recipes, ranging from Three-Cheese Queso Nachos to Loaded Pita Nachos<, speak for themselves, and they’re perfect for all kinds of occasions. For game day, whip up a platter of Andrew Zimmern’s Best Nachos of All Time, piled high with fixings like Seven-Pepper Salsa and melty queso fundido. Take your dinner leftovers and transform them into one incredible meal with Food & Wine Culinary Director-at-Large Justin Chapple’s Thanksgiving Leftovers Nachos. Or, take the concept of nachos and combine them with another favorite food to make burgers loaded with nacho toppings—they’d be a hit at a cookout. Sound good? Keep reading for the recipes and get ready to build the nachos of your dreams.”

 

Elle Fanning Is The Star Of Your Next True Crime Obsession
True crime is set to dominate our screens in the coming months: Shonda Rhimes’s Inventing Anna, which centres on fraudster Anna Delvey, is scheduled to drop on 11 February; The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, will arrive on 3 March; and WeCrashed, which follows WeWork’s Adam and Rebekah Neumann, on 18 March. But, there’s another, darker drama that’s on its way which you may not have heard about yet: The Girl From Plainville, a Hulu and Starz series inspired by the real-life case surrounding the tragic death of Conrad Roy.
Roy committed suicide in 2014 at the age of 18. It then emerged that his 17-year-old girlfriend at the time, Michelle Carter, had encouraged him to take his own life through a series of text messages, emails and phone calls. Carter was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, a decision which provoked heated debates about free speech, coercion and the limits of criminal responsibility.

 

Kirsten Dunst, Nicole Kidman and More React to 2022 Oscar Nominations
Kirsten Dunst (‘The Power of the Dog’)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
How does it feel to be nominated alongside your partner, Jesse Plemons?
“So Eric Kranzler, my manager, calls me. I’m watching the feed on my phone because my kids are watching cartoons and Jesse is at work. He had to go to work super early today. [Eric] called me, and he said I was nominated, so I’m crying with my kids. They’re like, ‘Why the hell is mom crying?’ [Eric] calls me back, and meanwhile I’m in the throes, talking to my mom or whatever. He was like, ‘Jesse just …’ And I started screaming and I hung up the phone.”

 

Who stole your attention?
We live in the most distracted time in human history. Can we reclaim our attention spans?
We live in a distracted world, almost certainly the most distracted world in human history. And if you’re part of this circus, you’re drowning in options and gadgets and screens and you’re being pulled in a million directions seemingly all at once.
If you spend any time online, you already know this. You’re constantly stalked by advertisers and product peddlers, and your attention is constantly being harvested and sold. That’s the business model of Big Tech.

 

The strange history of Camilla’s Coronation Day diadem: the Koh-i-Noor Tiara
Last worn by the Queen Mother for the Coronation of her husband King George VI, this storied tiara has been worn by just three royal consorts, with the central diamond originally acquired by Queen Victoria
The Koh-i-Noor diamond is perhaps the most famous – and controversial – piece in the Crown Jewels. Originally discovered in India, it was given by the last Sikh ruler, Dulip Singh, to Queen Victoria. It was set in the British consort’s crown, and was most recently worn by the Queen Mother for the Coronation of her husband, King George VI, in 1937. As recently as 2016 it was the subject of legal battles between the UK and India, who want the treasure back. Now, it is in the headlines again, as it was revealed that the Duchess of Cornwall will wear the Koh-i-Noor tiara during the Coronation of her husband, Prince Charles.

 

The Magic of Meringues
Don’t be intimidated by this marvel of food science: It’s much easier than you think to get the lofty egg whites of your dreams. Melissa Clark explains.
There are few transformations in cooking as miraculous as turning an egg into a meringue.
With only some sugar, air and a small amount of effort, a bowl of modest egg whites can become extravagantly glossy and puffed, ready to dress up all manner of swoopy, fancy confections — festooned on cakes, piped into pavlovas and kisses, or swirled onto pies.
While it may seem difficult, making meringue is a whole lot easier than you might think. Any home cook with a set of electric beaters — or a balloon whisk and perseverance — can whip one up in a matter of minutes. It’s well worth the work, whether you’re looking to impress your friends and family, your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day or yourself any time you crave something sweet.

 

8 Amazing National Parks and Sites in Texas for Beautiful Views, Epic Trails, and Wildlife Spotting
Mountains, mammoths, and missions abound.
There’s no doubt that the Lone Star State is known for honky-tonks, barbecue, and plenty of wide-open spaces. Many of these wide-open spaces are managed by the National Park Service (NPS) and include vast mountains, deserts, canyons, raw shorelines, and dense forests with thousands of trails, animals, and plant life to discover. From the West Texas mountains to the East Texas bayous, and everything in between, here are eight of the best national parks and sites in Texas.

 

 

 

[Photo Credit: einsteinandassociates.com, William Kalengkongan , Riswandi Koedrat]

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