The new conservatives
From The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope:
Melmotte might become as it were a Conservative tribune of the people, – that he might be the realization of that hitherto hazy mixture of Radicalism and old-fogyism, of which we have lately heard from a political master, whose eloquence has been employed in teaching us that progress can only be expected from those whose declared purpose is to stand still.
Not my size
Figuring out the right size clothing is pretty complicated as a woman because the sizes are not at all standardized. But having to try on 3 different pairs of pants at the store isn’t my biggest problem – finding my size at all at an affordable price is.
Because less expensive brands tend to run big, many of the cheaper clothing outlets don’t actually sell things that fit smaller women. For example, the pricier Banana Republic’s size 8 is a size 2 at the cheaper Gap. I wear a size 2 or 4 at Banana Republic, which means I would wear a size -4 to -2 at Gap. Of course, Gap doesn’t actually sell negative sizes and their smallest sizes generally don’t fit me.
Even when brands do carry sizes labeled XX-Small, they’re often shaped for women who aren’t very shapely. Thin doesn’t necessarily mean that you look a bean-pole, but inexpensive retailers don’t seem to have figured that out.
But Gap is much closer to what I can actually afford than Banana Republic. Thank goodness for thrift stores and quality discount sites like 6pm.com!
Anecdote vs. data
Someone I know said something ridiculous to me. I sent them a fun, simple article with some data that showed the silliness of their belief, nicely. They responded:
Not enough time to read the article thoroughly (and I know you will think that is the problem why I don’t see things your way, but remember, I am basing my thoughts on real life experiences)
And that, in a nutshell, is why, some days, I feel pretty darn hopeless about the world. Most people not only believe that the relatively few number of events they personally witness outweigh millions of other data points, but they can’t even acknowledge the existence of things that screw with our decision making – like confirmation bias.
Sunday Song
A woman who had fought a duel
The Duel of Isabella de Carazzi and Diambra de Pottinella by Jusepe De Ribera, 1636
From The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope:
Was it not his duty, as a man, to tell everything to herself? To speak to her thus: – ‘I am told that your life with your last husband was, to say the least of it, eccentric; that you even fought a duel with him. I could not marry a woman who had fought a duel, – certainly not a woman who had fought with her own husband. I am told also that you shot another gentleman in Oregon. It may well be that the gentleman deserved to be shot; but there is something in the deed so repulsive to me, – no doubt irrationally, – that, on that score also, I must decline to marry you. I am told also that [your last husband] has been seen alive quite lately. I had understood from you that he is dead. No doubt you may have been deceived. But as I should not have engaged myself to you had I known the truth, so now I consider myself justified in absolving myself from an engagement which was based on a misconception.