Florence, Italy, is a gorgeous city. The architecture is stunning, and there are so many great details in the design.
One of these details is the buchetta del vino, or wine window. Historically, wealthy Italians who owned vineyards would sell their wine to customers right through the window.
The wine windows were especially useful during the plague. They allowed proprietors to continue to sell their wine while minimizing their chances of getting the plague while doing so.
Florence and Tuscany are filled with hundreds of these windows… and they’re definitely having a bit of a moment right now during the coronavirus pandemic.
Seriously, people are thrilled to have this option, and the windows are pretty cute.
While travel isn’t really in the cards for most of us right now, especially international travel at that, it’s nice knowing that the windows exist (and that Italians are able to enjoy them).
Hopefully, one day soon the rest of us will be able to visit Florence and delight in the windows as well.
People who learn English as a second language will often tell you that it’s not exactly easy. There are a lot of things about English that just don’t make sense at all, especially when you’ve grown up speaking something else.
However, the same can be said for other languages… it’s just really fun to make fun of English since it’s still globally a very powerful language.
One person recently took to Tumblr to offer up a quick defense of English. It’s a great thing to keep in your back pocket if you feel like you might ever need it.
For starters, there are a few things about English that actually make it kind of easy. Take tone, for example: unlike Cantonese, the meaning of words in English don’t change based on how you say them.
While the tone of this post is harsh, the person manages to get their point across: English is just as tricky as any other language, but possibly not any more so.
Of course, people had a lot to say about all of this. Mostly, they were surprised that the original poster didn’t really explain just how confusing some languages can be.
Millennials…prepare to get dragged all over the place, because 12 people decided that today was the day to ask you serious questions that weren’t so serious.
You know the drill. They tweet. They funny. You don’t respond. We all laugh. Repeat.
Thank you to this site for bringing all these together, and thanks to us for going through them and finding the best.
You’re welcome, internet
1. Eggplants just doing eggplants things
I’m endlessly amused by what emojis mean.
why do millennials always go apeshit over the eggplant emoji. like it is SPECIFICALLY a millennial thing
7. Yes, it looks distressed! It doesn’t want to be that way!
Shabby indeed!
Millennials always shit on boomers for carpeting hardwoods in the 70s, but who's the one painting over original brick and high quality wood furniture, BECKY?
Psychiatrist Avicenna had a malnourished patient who believed he was a cow ready to be slaughtered. Avicenna, impersonating a butcher, came to kill him but said the cow was too lean and had to eat more. The patient ate more food which restored his health and cured the delusion.
The first McDonald’s drive-through was created in 1975 in Sierra Vista, Arizona, near Fort Huachuca, a military installation, to serve military members who were not permitted to get out of their cars off-post while wearing fatigues.
90’s band Ace of Base only got worldwide fame due to their demo tape getting stuck in a producers car stero resulting in him listening to it repeatedly and realizing the songs potential.
You might be surprised how many singers are also songwriters, and that sometimes, they don’t keep their music and lyrics to themselves. They share the love, or they’re not making an album currently, or what they’ve written doesn’t vibe with their style – or, you know, someone paid them a lot of money for it.
If you’re curious, here are 11 famous musicians who wrote giant hits for other artists.
11. Bruno Mars helped write “All I Ask” with Adele for her 2015 album, 25.
“As soon as we hit a couple chords that Adele liked, we started rolling and that’s where we got that song from.
There was a moment when she was singing in the booth – and I’m not exaggerating at all – and the water was vibrating.
Like you know that scene in Jurassic Park where the water starts jiggling?
She’s got some pipes on her, and she’s just a superstar.”
10. Taylor Swift wrote “This Is What You Came For” for Calvin Harris and Rihanna
Swift has a songwriting pseudonym, Nils Sjöberg, and Calvin Harris didn’t appreciate her coming out as the writer.
“I know you’re off tour and you need someone new to try and bury like Katy, etc., but I’m not that guy, sorry. I won’t allow it.”
I guess he didn’t like the spotlight being on her instead of him and Rhianna.
9. Harry Styles wrote “Just a Little Bit of Your Heart” for Ariana Grande’s 2014 album, My Everything.
An MTV interview revealed that Styles was “just visiting the studio” when the producers asked if he wanted to write a song for Ariana.
The two worked together for awhile, and it clicked!
“I remember when I heard it, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a really strong verse, that’s really beautiful!’ and then at the chorus I was, like, crying!
I’m really excited, obviously for his fans to hear it as well, ’cause they were very excited when they heard.”
8. Pharrell helped write “Hollaback Girl” with Gwen Stefani for her 2004 album, Love. Angel. Music. Baby.
Stefani had the idea for the song, based on her experience in high school, but Pharrell already had it written.
“He always had this little keyboard that he writes everything on, and he programs stuff into it.
He goes, ‘This beat?’ and he played ‘Hollaback Girl.’
I was like ‘You had that in there all these hours and you never played that until now? Why didn’t you play that the first time I walked in here?!’”
7. Mariah Carey wrote Faith Hill’s “Where Are You Christmas?” for the How the Grinch Stole Christmas soundtrack in 2000.
Carey originally thought to perform herself, but a legal battle between Carey and her ex-husband, Tommy Mottola, meant Faith Hill recorded it instead.
6. Kelly Clarkson wrote “Tell Me a Lie” for One Direction’s 2011 album, Up All Night.
Clarkson talked about writing the song in 2012, saying
“Giving away my songs is not something I do lightly.
I’m very particular about that because my songs are like my babies – I’m such a writer’s snob.
But I like the story of One Direction and how they came together as a group.
They’ve worked so well in the US, as well as the UK, because people love a story.
Plus, they have this innocence about them that attracts people.’”
5. Missy Elliott wrote “My Love Is Like…Wo” for Mýa’s 2003 album, Moodring.
Elliot tweeted about the experience in 2018, saying
“I remember I had 10 shots of Patron writing the lyrics.
I played it for Mya and we was dancing ’round the studio having a ball. In this music video, SHE DID DAT.
The choreography was lit.”
4. Miguel and Justin Timberlake helped write “Rocket” with Beyoncé for her 2013 self-titled album, Beyoncé.
Beyonce revealed the songwriting assistance in her documentary.
“There was a moment in the studio where I didn’t wanna stop singing it, and I just kind of zoned out.
I don’t think I would’ve done it back then – I don’t think I would’ve been confident enough.
I wouldn’t been too afraid of what other people thought.”
3. Christina Milian wrote “Play” for Jennifer Lopez’s 2001 album, J.Lo.
Milian appeared on Talk Stoopin 2019, and recalled,
“A lot of the songs I wrote early on were songs I wrote for myself.
So for people like Jennifer Lopez, Play was a song I originally wrote for myself.
When we were in the studio and recorded it, she hadn’t added the ‘Play my motherf%cking song!’ lyric yet.
I remember I heard it on the radio, and everyone was talking about how she cursed on the song.
But I loved that she did that.”
2. Prince wrote “Manic Monday” for the Bangles’ 1986 album, Different Light.
Susanna Hoffs, the Bangles lead singer, told NPR that Prince was a fan of the band, and wrote the song before inviting them into his studio to listen to the demo.
They “hovered around the cassette machine – ’cause back then, it was tape – and they were smitten with the song. I wish I had a chance in the decades after to tell him: ‘Thank you for the song.’ It’s still fun to sing, every time.”
1. John Lennon helped write “Fame” with David Bowie for Bowie’s 1975 album, Young Americans.
Bowie toldPerforming Songwriter in 2003 “John and I had been talking about management, and it kind of came out of that. He was telling me, ‘You’re being shafted by your present manager,’ and that was basically the line. John was the guy who opened me up to the idea that all management is crap, and that there’s no such thing as good management in rock ‘n’ roll.”
“It was at John’s instigation that I really did without managers and started getting people in to do specific jobs for me, rather than signing myself away to one guy forever and have him take a piece of everything that I earn.”
I’m surprised by some of these, but now that you know, you can kind of hear it, right?
What’s your favorite example of this? If it’s not on the list, share it with us in the comments!
It’s true that if there are small beings who call you “mother,” you are hardly ever alone.
Not in the bathroom. Not while you sleep. Not while you try to answer that email or order groceries or trim your nails. It’s part of the gig, honestly, and most of us have adapted to the point that on most days, we barely notice the fact that we’re being touched around 95% of the time.
What do therapists say about the toll it takes on a human to be that present for other people literally all the time, though?
Licensed therapist Emma Bennett told Romper that alone time is “a necessity, not an indulgence.”
If we don’t get enough of it, moms are likely to experience parental burnout, feelings of resentment, isolation, anger, and to feel overwhelmed or like they’ve lost their grip on themselves.
Mothers are human beings, after all, and when we feel like we can’t manage the mental, psychological, and emotional load of motherhood and life, serious mood and anxiety disorders can develop.
Erica Djossa, a psychotherapist, concurred, warning that a “lack of emotional or physical support can put moms at higher risk of developing a postpartum mood or anxiety disorder and lack of support/understanding can exacerbate those symptoms.”
A 2018 study found that parents have an average of 32 minutes per day “alone,” and moms are shouldering more of the child-rearing responsibility than they were before 2020.
Which is all to say, experts like Djossa believe “alone time” isn’t an indulgence – it’s essential.
Djossa says,
“When moms are communicating they want time alone it usually means they want a break.
I think that moms don’t get time alone when these connections and supports are lacking.
They may feel both isolated and burnt out all at the same time. A remedy to this is ramping up supports and connections in order to have the ability to take a break.”
If you’re feeling like you’re tired of being touched or you need a breather, do something that recharges you personally -watching a show only you enjoy, taking a bath, reading for an hour or two, taking a walk with a hot cup of coffee, whatever works.
Whatever it is, Djossa says just “prioritizing what you need is the key.”
Some moms might feel anxiety about leaving their child with someone new, but Bennett would remind them that first, it’s okay if a trusted caregiver doesn’t care for your child exactly the way you would, and second, it’s important to introduce your child to a wider circle.
“Giving our children the opportunity to build other loving attachments to additional caregivers can be a good experience for children.
It is OK to accept those feelings of nervousness and also try to work with them so you can have some separation.”
Be kind to yourselves, mamas. We can only be at our best for our children when we’re feeling rested and 100% ready to take on whatever life and parenting throws our way.
And I know you think your kids deserve the best – but so do you.