Just links today, no Actual Content. Expect Actual Content to resume next week. I've had what looks to be a hard-drive failure (and of course I do backups on Fridays, so I've lost a week of Very Hard Work, including a new "Secret Lives" …). Any of you who have intercessory powers with the spirits of computing, would you use them to plead for me? Luckily I have backup computers all over the house (that's only a slight exaggeration) so I am not cut off from the Internet …
Check out Lisa's Fashion 101 Rules …
An article from the WashPost about a truly horrific handbag, which costs $52,500. Yes, that's right, FIFTY-TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. (Thanks to Jonquil for the link.)
I, um, gave a talk at TED this year (and wore a Duro). If you want to see me talk about the Future! of! Dictionaries! you can check it out here. (Warning, starts playing immediately, with sound.)
And Liz Tran, whose art you saw here earlier this year, is doing a daily dress art project for the next month. Lovely!
A Dress A Day 
i posted a link to a pic of this bag a week or so ago-beyonce has one !as for not doing uniforms, I would think that the duro is your uniform-?
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The TED talk was great! Got me all fired up; now I don’t want to get back to work editing this (paper) dictionary. I have no special favor with the computer fates, but I’ll make intercession for you–especially if it means recovering another “Secret Lives….”
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Ack. I tracked down a picture of the bag. Looks like Vuitton barfed all the bags into a pile and they stuck. It’s awful.Oh my gawd. It’s awful.
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That was a great presentation! It has inspired me to continue to make up words and not apologize a lick. I am also going to create very ugly purses and sell them for exorbitant amounts of money. Apparently, all you have to do is tell people they can’t buy one and they rush for their wallets. I’ll make it out of corduroy so I can say it’s vintage-inspired.
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Erin, loved your talk at TED. It was entertaining and eye-opening at the same time.And I understand the dictionary ham butt problem. I hate playing scrabble when I can’t use the words I know that aren’t in “the dictionary” (‘cosset’ being a favorite) and I get accused of making things up. Sometimes “the dictionary” really does fall short. Onward, dear friend!
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Oh, and about the purse problem. Why not just make your own? Check out the one I just made on my blog.
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I loved the TED talk. And I agree with monkeygrrl — I’m going to unabashedly make up words (or rather, make words work for me) just like always. Thanks for sharing!
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I liked Lisa’s Fashion 101 — very funny — but I have to disagree about the long skirts. They look horrible on people, like me, who have larger hips than anything else. Knee length, A-line works best for a pear build because the rest of the normal-sized leg shows, proving that it isn’t *all* chunk, all the way down.
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http://www.purseblog.com/brands/louis-vuitton/louis-vuitton-tribute-patchwork-bag/
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Shall we offer on your behalf some of the famous Computer Error Haikus?Having been erasedThe document you’re seekingmust now be retyped.A file that big?It might be very usefulBut now it is gone.A crash reducesYour expensive computerTo a simple stone
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Loved the Fashion 101. I’m thinking of printing it and posting in the women’s room at work. If I see someone dressing like a character in an Austin Powers movie one more time, I’m going to scream.
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That bag. Wow. It looks like a second grade home ec project. Don’t get me wrong, I like patchwork, I like patches, but that is scary. Of course, I’ve never understood the whole Luis Vuitton phenomenon.My favorite part of the article, however, is the Thorsten Veblen mention. He is from Minnesota, and his coining the phrase “conspicuous consumption” is one of my favorite factoids. I love to see it pop up every now and then.
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Loved the TED talk, Erin! Though I admit there are still abominations out there I can’t abide, such as “irregardless” (aaaaargh!), and “impact” used as a verb. I know the pan is big, but it ain’t big enough for those! (And thanks for the fashion plug.) –Lisa S.
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I stumbled over your TED link last week and immediately told a half-dozen people about it. You did a great job — intelligent, pertinent and very witty!
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6. Go Easy On Ethnic Dress. Dressing in a bright little folkloric vest from Provence will not make you look like youve just been to the most beautiful region of France.Actually, it will make me look like a million dollars because I will smile all day. And that is the key point. The clothes that you *love* are good for you.
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Wonderfully entertaining and informative talk, Erin..kudos! The dimensionality (did I just invent that word? )has always been missing from “paper” dictionaries…perhaps we need human dictionaries..speaking definers of words. Remember Farhrenheit 451? Books committed to memory because they couldn’t be printed on a page. I would never want to live in a world without books, but what a difference between spoken and written language. The inflections, tone, all nuances that can’t be printed. I do agree with one a previous post that suggests the Duro may be the Erin “uniform”…:-)
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The TED presentation was great! On a somewhat related subject, today (Fri, Sept. 7) is the premier of a new cartoon for kids on PBS, WordGirl, a fifth-grader superhero from the planet Lexicon who fights crime with her voluminous vocabulary.The shows creator and the actress who does WordGirls voice were interviewed on NPR:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14212486&ft=1&f=5CMC
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1. Have you tried putting the hard drive in the freezer?2. Data Rescue II worked for me the last time one of my drives went kersplat.
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Erin, Can I be you? You’re so dang cool. Thanks for sharing your coolness (whether dresses or dictionaries) with us. Sara
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Thanks for the link to the bag–horribilities!!!! The first 2 pictures were bad enough and then showing it on a woman’s arm and seeing how monster sized it is–yuck. Those purses will snag and grab at everything. I wonder how many expensive outfits will be ruined by these purses.
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Thanx for the link to your TED talk! Your enthusiasm is infectious. I shall continue to boldly use my made up words, although the real reason I make up words is because my vocabulary is somewhat limited. 🙂
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Yech! What an UGLY bag! Isn’t it funny how the luxury goods industry has created a problem for themselves by overselling so-called luxury items? Greedy, I guess. Guess we home sewing non-ultrarich have the edge since the only truly exclusive item is a custom made one. Ha Ha Ha!Love those Fashion Rules too – especially #2. Reminds me of that wonderful line from My Cousin Vinny, “I don’t blend!” Hope your computer comes back.K Q:-)
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Erin, Finally got to watch your TED talk and it was delightful! You are incandescent and an inspiring speaker. Love knowing about TED too.Thanks, K Q:-)
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That was a wonderful talk! As a person who works with dictionaries every day, I can’t thank you enough for all your work in “spreading the word”.
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on the LV bag for that much money it should turn into an emergency shleter or have Mary Poppin Bag qualities.
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TED talk was wonderful and witty. But more importantly, what pattern did you use for the Duro dress? Loved the shoes too, I admire anyone who can wear ankle strap shoes. I have “cankles” and, sadly, can’t do ankle straps.As for the LV bag all I can say is I’m nonplussed. (but it does inspire me to cut up all the old bags I never use anymore and hawk them on eBay as a Tribute Bag.P.S. I had no idea you had another life other than Dress A Day; you are truly a renaissance woman!
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Okay, I seriously doubt that the “anonymous buyer” in the Washington area will be able to remain anonymous for all that long carrying such an attention whore of a handbag around. But perhaps he or she will simply build a shrine to it and hide it away at home. Or maybe it was more of a humanitarian act to remove it from circulation?
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that was a very saronsifying video! it certainly gave me a taste of lexicography, unused words, and your charming wit; let me just say that you are positively delightful. ^_^loved the duro, also.
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OK, so I ama geek too and I watcher the whole thing (and I REALLY HATE watching videos online!)….You rock! I loved that words you used, and really want to go and read a dictionary now!
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WOW!THAT was an amazing talk-and could you please tell me what sinicdocally means?????And also, I have about three yards of very thick dark grey velvet and I want to make a dress-have any good ideas??
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WOW!THAT was an amazing talk-and could you please tell me what sinicdocally means?????And also, I have about three yards of very thick dark grey velvet and I want to make a dress-have any good ideas??
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The little dress paintings are wonderful! You should check out the ball gowns being created here for a “bloglandia ball”! eb and friends are making some beautiful paper dresses.
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Ok, I just clicked on the link to your speech at TED and I am so excited to hear it that I had to stop it to come here and say a big THANK YOU FOR DEFENDING THE AMAZING DICTIONARY!!! I have one on every floor of our home and keep a pencil beside each one so I can check off a word when I have finished committing(sp?how ironic I am too tired to check) it to memory. . .I still keep a “Running Dictionary” which my Linguistics teacher started in 9th grade . . .I just love that there are people dedicated to preserving the written word and the English Language. . .and by the way I just loved your dress!!!!!!Which I guess is why you linked your speech to A DRESS A DAY??Michelle
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Hi erin, thank you for this wonderful website.I must delurk to tell you that not only are you a terrific presenter but you look gorgeous – and what a dress!
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