In the past, we've taken our cues from French women when it comes to staying slim and stylish. Now, we may want to follow their example when it comes to relaxing. So how exactly do the ladies of France fend off stress? Simple: they colour.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, more and more French women are soothing their frayed nerves by picking up Prismacolors. But they aren't borrowing their children's colouring books; publishers are marketing books, replete with "landscapes and psychedelic scenes," targeted specially for adults.
And there are 1,000-member strong Facebook groups dedicated to the pastime. Cynthia Riviere started one such group.
“I realized that colouring makes my headaches go away," said the 35-year-old housewife, who spends at least an hour a day colouring. "I concentrate, my breathing slows down and I move into a deep calm."
Beyond a mere hobby, for many French women colouring is prized for its meditative and therapeutic qualities, and is "especially helpful for people dealing with racing thoughts, stress, and anxiety."
Whoopi Goldberg seems like an unlikely ally to Justin Bieber, right? Yet the co-host of The View oddly came to his defence after another video surfaced in which the Canadian pop star used racist slurs. It's not his fault, she claimed. The n-word means something different up north.
"Canadians words—I'm going to say the word so get ready to bleep me. N----- doesn't mean anything in Canada," said Goldberg in a recent segment. "Black Canadians and black Americans are two separate groups of people."
According to an article in Yahoo, Goldberg shot a movie in Canada last year, so she knows of what she speaks. Er, no...
Even though Bieber himself publicly apologized for the videos, filmed when he was 15, saying he knows better now that he is older, I don't buy it.
While our racial politics are perhaps not as strained here in Canada, I would argue that that word is just as derogatory here, and that most 15 year olds know that. Unless they are racist, of course.
Goldberg is a little too forgiving and naive in her assumptions. Though maybe not to the same extent in the U.S., with its history of slavery, racism is alive and well in Canada, too. Don't kid yourself, Whoopi. And please, please, do not for a minute justify Justin Bieber's ignorance.
What do you think? Is the term less offensive in Canada?
This man spent more than $20,000 to look like Justin Bieber (and still looks nothing like Justin Bieber).
Parents of LEGO lovers, perk up your ears. After years of mounting pressure, the company is launching a set of three female scientist minifigures—a paleontologist, an astronomer and a chemist—called 'Research Institute.'
According to an article in Salon, the uber-girly 2012 Friends line may have been sold well, but it was largely met with criticism for perpetuating age-old gender stereotypes.
It took a heartfelt message from a seven-year-old girl—and awesome fan suggestions—to finally drive LEGO to get with the 21st Century and give girls what they want.
What do you think of the new minifigures set? Will you buy it when it hits the stores in August 2014?
Love LEGO? There's a school for that.
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