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It's Not ‘Weird’ to Be an Adult Woman Who Loves Disney


Patty Holliday, who’s attended three D23 Expos now, says her first visit to Walt Disney World was on her honeymoon—but after the loss of her son, Jacob, in 2005, the resort took on a deeper meaning. For her, visits to Orlando help keep his spirit alive. “It’s the last place that my entire family can be together, in a sense,” she explains. “I cherish the park visits with the kids because of those early visits with Jacob.” Now a full-time Disney blogger, Holliday is particularly passionate about the seasonal RunDisney events through Walt Disney World. She’s completed nearly two dozen and credits running through Cinderella Castle as her motivation. “Disney means pretty much everything to me,” she says. “It’s where the stories are told, the memories are made, and my bravery was found.”

When I talked with Lisa Basilio, she was wrapped in swaths of sea foam green tulle in homage to Moana’s Te Fiti. It was so elaborate I found it hard to believe she’s never done this before; Basilio has always been a fan—she even got married at Disneyland—but D23 Expo 2019 was her first foray into wearing intricate costumes in public. “It’s such an amazing place where people feel safe,” she says of Disneyland. “They let go of their stress from the real world and adults become kids again. It’s an amazing transformation, and I love to be a part of that.”

For these women, and most people at D23 Expo for that matter, being a Disney fan is more about friendship, community, and sisterhood than any love of the mouse. Below, we talk with more women at the fan convention who break down why Disney is so important to them. Turns out it’s not such a small world after all.

Sarah Sterling and Tiff Mink

Best friends and fixtures of the Disney community, Sarah Sterling and Tiff Mink are an example of how Mickey and co. have helped women discover their creative outlets as well as a chosen family. Shortly after they met five years ago, the two collaborated on a YouTube channel called ThingamaVlogs—a play on The Little Mermaid’s underwater trinket collection—which featured a mix of planning tips, comedy videos, and travel vlogs that clocked over 70,000 subscribers. ThingamaVlogs is no longer active, but the women now have their own individual YouTube channels devoted to all things Disney.

The two are like anthropologists of post-’90s Mickey Mouse culture, and they do so flawlessly. “Instagram truly changed everything for the Disney community,” Sterling says, crediting the platform’s explosive growth and easily accessible format for making Disney cooler than ever before. “Park culture,” as she calls it, has snowballed in turn, yielding its own trends, styles, and subcultures. The more the merrier, Sterling says. “All I ever wanted in middle school were people to talk to about Disney Parks, and now there’s hundreds of thousands of people,” she adds. A life-long goal was finally realized earlier this year when she began working for Walt Disney Imagineering on the Star Wars global portfolio.

Mink, a content creator, says she didn’t visit the theme parks frequently growing up but held a prevailing passion for all things Disney, including an obsession with Disney Channel films that extended through college. As self-described “ride-or-die Disney fans,” as Mink puts it, these friends say they love every aspect of Disney: the history, lore, design, animation, all of it. At D23 Expo, Mink even served as something of a litmus test for in-the-know fans. She dressed as legendary Imagineer Tony Baxter, complete with rolled-up ride blueprints in a leather satchel. While we talked, several stopped her to rave about her appliquéd mustache and Imagineering hard hat. Others strolled past without a word.

Tiff Mink is wearing a costume inspired by legendary Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter.

Courtesy of Carlye Wisel

But though it’s not exactly niche to be an adult who’s into Disney anymore, Mink and Sterling still feel some judgment come their way. “People just think it’s weird because they have this idea that Disney is for children,” Mink says. But for her, it’s no different than a football fan traveling to see the Super Bowl in person. “Just because you don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s weird.”





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There's Nothing Weird About Owning a Cat


If cats have nine lives, then it’s fitting that Susan Michals, the founder of CatCon—the largest cat convention—has had almost as many careers. From farm life as a kid to the publishing world as an adult, Michals was a writer for Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal, and a segment producer for E!. But something was missing, and in 2014, Michals created Cat Art Show to bridge the gap between animal lovers and art/culture.

Shortly thereafter Michals launched the first ever CatCon, quit her job as an entertainment journalist, and devoted her career to serving a community of pet lovers often overlooked. At last years CatCon, more than 500 felines were adopted and nearly $200,000 raised for charities across Southern California. Now, as the convention celebrates its fifth year this weekend in L.A., Michals is hoping to eventually expand globally and shine a light on cat lovers everywhere.

In doing so, she also hopes to dispel the stereotype of the ‘cat lady’ and why it’s finally cool to be a cat owner.

Susan’s cat, Miss Kitty Pretty Girl

Erica Danger

I was in my 30s when I got my current cat, a Maine Coon. In the words of Kelly Clarkson’s song, we’re both “Miss Independent.” She’s the only cat in the house, though she does have a canine sib, Buddy. But early on when I told people I thought about getting two cats, they would say, ‘Oh, no, no, no, no! You’re going to be at cat lady.’

Mind you, I didn’t fit the ‘stereotype’ of what people think of as a cat lady—the middle-age, homebody spinster. I had a boyfriend at the time, I was a supervising producer at E! working on shows including Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Live from the Red Carpet. I wasn’t headed towards Grey Gardens country or Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. Or Dr. Eleanor Abernathy (a.k.a Crazy Cat Lady) from The Simpsons for that matter. I hear that one all the time.

When people would say don’t get another cat, I would respond with, ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’ They’d say, ‘Well, if you don’t have a boyfriend and you have a lot of cats, you might scare guys away.’ It was insinuated you become less appealing the more cats you have. But I don’t hear people saying someone is a crazy dog lady. Perhaps it has to do with the stereotype of the crazy cat lady that has been perpetuated and evolved through hundreds of years of history when cats were associated with witches. It’s funny because people can be crazy happy, crazy beautiful, crazy artsy, but unfortunately when you put that next to cat lady, it develops this negative connotation.



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'Sex Dust' is the Weird Supplement You Need This Valentine’s Day


Sex Dust also contains organic epimedium, AKA horny goat weed, the hilariously-named herb available in pill form that Bacon says “has been used for thousands of years to help balance hormones and bring warmth to the pelvic region.” Lusty!

So what exactly do you do with this suff? Bacon is a former chef, so Moon Juice’s site helpfully contains tons of recipes for making Sex Dust snacks (which I can only assume would make you the office hero). Being a low-maintenance (read: lazy) gal, I mixed a teaspoon into my morning coffee. It mixed pretty well and gave my coffee a toasty, slightly sweet chocolate flavor, with a mushroom-y musk to it. It was surprisingly pleasant.

A few sips in and I was no glowing Aphrodite. What gives?! But a couple hours later, I realized a proposal for a big copywriting project I was working on was suddenly flowing weirdly well. I sped on from that to phone interviews with potential assistants for my startup, a task I’d usually find draining as an introvert, but which left me oddly energized.

Now normally, after crossing two entire things off my to-do list, I’d treat myself to a “deserved” hour of aimless reading on the internet, or an Instagram hole, or honestly, I might just say “effit” and log off for the day. (Gotta love that freelance life.) Instead, I felt inspired to work on the creative direction for an upcoming photoshoot I’m producing. “I’M SCARED OF YOU,” my business partner texted me when I emailed her a meticulously-organized mood board, shot list, call sheet, and schedule at 2 a.m.

I went to bed that night after a 14-hour work day, feeling like I could have gone longer. Whomst am I, I wondered? Was it the Sex Dust igniting my creative energy?

For the next couple days, I downed Sex Dust coffee each morning, and worked more bizarrely productive 12- to 16-hour days, crossing a ton of crap off my permanently anxiety-inducing to-do list. As someone who is super-easily overwhelmed and would rather be napping at all times, I cannot stress how unusual it is for me to achieve this level of productivity at all, much less multiple days in a row.

By day four, I was thoroughly spooked by the unusual burst of focus and productivity I’d experienced—but below-the-brain benefits were harder to sense. I’d definitely noticed my mood felt lighter—perhaps the result of the cacao, which Bacon says “releases endorphins.” But I felt no libidinous effects, nor the “pelvic warming” or “juiciness” I’d been promised. So I decided to take the Sex Dust on the road, meeting up with a friend to go to on what she calls a “cutie run”—dinner and a trip to the bar to chill, look cute, dance, and maybe meet boys.

About an hour into our cutie run, she turned to me in frustration: “I feel invisible—like all the guys are smiling at you!” she yelled over the music. Not gonna lie, I noticed it too. The horny goat weed must be working! Of course it wasn’t every dude. But it definitely felt like people were, to put it scientifically, digging my vibe. Our waitress was unusually friendly. One guy waved from across the room. Another made a lame excuse to talk to me in the bathroom line. On the street, another literally said: “You’re nice, I like you.”

Of course, I can’t say for sure if my renewed mojo was the Sex Dust, or some other factor. Was I just in a good mood? Excited to see my friend? Were all the men on the Lower East Side slipped $20 and told to flirt with me? We may never know.



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4 Weird Ways Your Vagina Health Changes When You're Sick


When you’re sick, you’re probably not thinking about your vagina. Chances are, trying to squeeze in a doctor visit and figuring out which show to binge while you’re laying low in bed are higher on your list of priorities. But a surprising number of seemingly unrelated health issues can show up in your vagina—from stress to dehydration to the common cold, the flu, or a fever.

How your vagina is affected when you’re sick depends on a few key things: your body, what you’ve come down with, and what meds you’re taking to treat it. Here are the most common ways your vagina can change when you get sick, according to experts.

Dehydration

Any sickness that dehydrates you will also dehydrate your vagina, explains Peter Rizk, M.D. an ob-gyn specializing in fertility at Fairhaven Health. That means you may not get as wet as usual during sex (if you feel up to having it), so lube could be extra important. It also means you might see less of the vaginal discharge that normally shows up on your underwear throughout the day. When you’re sick, it’s even more important to hydrate—especially if you want to keep things slick down there.

Extra discharge

On the flip side, if you have a viral infection, things could go the other way down south. Part of the immune system’s response to any viral infection, such as a flu or cold, is to make the blood vessels more permeable, leading to an increase in all secretions containing white blood cells. And that doesn’t just mean blood: Your vaginal discharge actually contains a bunch of white blood cells, which help keep the vagina’s bacteria and yeast levels balanced, says Candace Howe, M.D., a board-certified ob-gyn in California.

If you take medicine, however, it could cancel out that effect, Dr. Howe says. Decongestants, antihistamines such as Benadryl, and mucus-reducing meds like guaifenesin can dry up your body’s mucus membranes—including those in your vagina.

Yeast infections

If you’re taking antibiotics, they can have their own effects on your lady bits. In the process of killing the bacteria that’s causing your infection, they can also kill healthy vaginal bacteria, which can increase your risk for bacterial infections like yeast infections and vaginitis, says Yvonne Bohn, M.D., an ob-gyn in California.

This bacterial issue can last long after your original infection is over, says Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine. “Even if you took antibiotics a few weeks [ago], you could still show up with a yeast infection related to the antibiotics,” she says. Dr. Bohn’s recommendation: Take a probiotic to keep vaginal infections at bay, especially if you’re on antibiotics.

Irregular bleeding

Another issue Dr. Minkin points to is vaginal bleeding. Some women who get medically-prescribed steroid injections for joint problems will experience “funky irregular bleeding related to the steroid injection,” she says. If this happens to you, check in with your gyno and make sure to bring up any recent steroid treatments in the process.

The good news is, any changes that happen to your vagina while you’re sick will likely pass along with the illness. If they don’t, there may be a separate issue causing trouble. If anything seems off or different from your norm, it’s worth a chat with your doctor.



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This Weird Samantha Plotline Might Be Why Kim Cattrall Passed on Sex and the City 3


We all cried into our cosmos a little when Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed there won’t be a Sex and the City 3 movie, despite rumors of a working screenplay. Things got even sadder after people started pointing fingers at Kim Cattrall, accusing the actress, who plays Samantha, of derailing the reboot because she chose to pass on the project.

Cattrall pushed back at the time, saying she simply wanted to move on from the role. Reports of a cast feud became so loud, though, that Cattrall’s costar Sarah Jessica Parker had to clarify that there’s no fight between the two.

And now, an E News source says tension between the cast really wasn’t the reason why Cattrall wasn’t on board with another Sex and the City reunion. Turns out, she reportedly wasn’t down with the screenplay. “Kim never wanted to really do the movie to begin with,” the source claims, according to E News. “It was a combination of not great money and a bad storyline for Samantha.”

Of course, this comes from an unnamed source—so take it with a grain of salt—but this insider claims the writers gave Samantha a weird story arc that involved sexts from Miranda’s teen son, Brady. As E News puts it, “Early in the film, Brady gets caught masturbating. He is also caught sending ‘dick pics’ of his erect penis to Samantha.” Yikes.

It seems that this plot would have happened in the midst of some massive, emotional developments with Carrie and Big. According to reports, the film called called for Carrie’s husband Mr. Big to die of a heart attack. This twist would have been incredibly intense and sad—and, if the source’s report is true, a strange juxtaposition to Samantha’s storyline.

Plus, remember that Cattrall has always maintained that she’s been ready to move on from the role for a while. Last year, she tweeted at a fan to check out her series Sensitive Skin on Netflix instead of watching SATC. She also shared with the Scottish newspaper The Daily Record that she felt the times had shifted since she portrayed the public relations powerhouse and self-proclaimed “try-sexual.”

“To have four women talking about shopping trips and spending $400 on shoes when people are having trouble putting food on the table? It doesn’t mean we don’t need that, but I think the pendulum swung in a different direction,” she said.

Related: Sarah Jessica Parker Says She Can’t Imagine Sex and the City 3 Without Kim Cattrall





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Weird Celebrity Souvenirs You Won't Believe People Actually Bought


If you get paid tomorrow and want to do a little splurging, look no further than PizzaSlime.com, which is selling Noah Cyrus’ tears for $12,000. Sounds like a bargain, right? I mean, if you’re lucky to receive a random check for $12,000, there’s no better way to spend it than on a vile of tears from Miley Cyrus’ little sister. Who needs a savings account or a house? How boring! How normal! Noah Cyrus’ tears are absolutely worth forking over every cent you have.

In all seriousness, what? This isn’t a prank. This isn’t a joke. This is an actual vile of actual tears from Noah Cyrus selling for $12,000. The stunt is clearly just a way to promote Cyrus’ EP Good Cry, which drops this Friday (September 21). PizzaSlime.com’s description of these tears reads, “This is approximately 12 tears made by Noah Cyrus as a result of sadness. Human digestion of these tears is not suggested cause tears are generally pretty salty and that would just be super fucking weird if you drank someone else’s tears.”

There are so many questions running through my head right now. How do you accurately count tears? What was Cyrus crying about? What if the tears get lost in the mail? Will you receive a second jar of tears for free?

Cyrus posted about the sale herself, which is only available for 48 hours. She has other merch as well, like hoodies and sweatpants, just in case you already have a vile of celebrity tears on your mantle.

If you think buying tears is weird, just wait until you see what other souvenirs celebrities have sold on the Internet. Check out the eight most surprising buys, below:

Adele’s bag of air. Last year an Adele fan tried selling a bag of air from her concert on eBay. The post was eventually taken down, but at one point bids were as high as $1,500.

Scarlett Johansson’s tissue. In 2008 the actress signed her used tissue and sold it for $5,300. She donated the proceeds to charity. No word on whether the fan who bought the tissue caught Johansson’s cold.

Justin Timberlake’s breakfast. A 19-year-old *NSYNC super-fan got her hands on Timberlake’s half-eaten French toast back in 2000 for the cool price of $1,025. Like Johansson, Timberlake gave the cash to charity.

Britney Spears’ used pregnancy test. CNN reports that an Ottawa radio station secured the positive pregnancy test BritBrit tossed into a Los Angeles hotel room wastebasket in 2005 and sold it for $5,001. Insert obligatory “Oh, baby, baby” joke. (I’ll see myself out.)

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s breath. Yup, someone pulled an Adele in 2010 with Brangelina’s “breath.” YourTango reports that a celebrity spotter named Joe Wilson captured Pitt and Jolie’s “breath” in a jar and sold it online for $523. Wouldn’t it be nice to be a person who has $500 to spend on quite literally nothing?

John Lennon’s tooth. A Canadian dentist snagged one of the late Beatles’ pearly whites for $31,200. “I want to hold your hand tooth.”

William Shatner’s kidney stone. GoldenPalace.com, a casino known for buying crazy things like the Virgin Mary–shaped grilled cheese, reportedly bought Shatner’s kidney stone for $25,000. Which begs the question: How the hell was this delivered?

Queen Elizabeth II’s underwear. One pair of royal undergarments were sold to a questionable person for $18,101, according to Christian Post I object to this on every imaginable level.

What happened to just buying a nice poster?! The Internet is a terrifying place.



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