omg I bought the shoes. Partly because, well. Just because.

Retail therapy appears to be what I need: at least it's better than drinking.

I think if you slap a tiny kid that's not your own when under stress, I don't give a fuck if it's your last nerve that's been worked, and I don't want to think about the other shit you've pulled when stress has triggered you.

No direct comment on this case, but I'm going to put in a plug for the Australian novel "The Slap": [link] From the cover blurb: "At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own." The novel follows the repurcussions through eight chapters, each devoted to one of the people at the barbecue. It's also been turned into a miniseries: [link]

I could not get through the miniseries. I saw the first episode, and then I had to bail.

Some penalty is justified for the baby-slapper -- he's out of control. Even if it's just a suspended sentence with mandatory anger/grief counseling.

No direct comment on this case, but I'm going to put in a plug for the Australian novel "The Slap": [link]. From the cover blurb: "At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own."

That happened in one of the early episodes of Mad Men. They were having a party, and one of the guests slapped one of the Draper kids (I think because he was running in the house and crashed into someone, or something) and everyone treats it as if that's perfectly acceptable.

I feel like I've been seeing a lot of pink in general this season, just like in Penneys and Forever 21, women's dept's wherever. I don't know of a specific place to look.

Those shoes are purty, Consuela, good for you for getting them.

The thing about the baby-slapping is hard, because honestly my reaction would have been to just slap him back, in a "Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you, don't touch my kid" way. Which is probably all the retaliation I would have needed to -- a year in jail and losing his job is a little out of proportion to the actual incident.

The racist stuff is just gross, though.

I can much more easily forgive slapping the baby than the racial slur.

Wait, seriously? Physical assault is more foregiveable than verbal?

A woman at the Y once smacked Dylan's hand because (in her opinion) he was pushing the elevator button too many times. I smacked her hand back and shouted at her and she ran away. Unfortunately she was wearing a big hat and dark glasses, so I couldn't give the membership office a decent description to have her kicked out.

David Bowie fans might get a kick out of these photos from the new Bowie exhibit at the V&A Museum in London.