Recommends | Quite Continental

On the Docket: Half the Sky

02/10/2012 § 1 Comment

Tonight, I definitely recommend you watch the second part of the Half the Sky documentary on PBS at 9pm. Half the Sky, a transmedia project dedicated to transforming oppression into opportunity for women worldwide, turns its eye on 10 countries around the globe and confronts the issues of sex trafficking, forced prostitution, gender-based violence and discrimination and maternal morality with scalable solutions in the forms of health care, education and economic empowerment. Part one aired last night, but you can stream it on the PBS website here, through October 8.

Stemming from the book by the same name written by journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, the documentary shares the heart-breaking and inspiring stories of remarkable individuals around the world who persevere against daunting socioeconomic obstacles to better the lives of women and girls. I personally learned of the project via Olivia Wilde, who is a celebrity advocate for Half the Sky and was an emcee at the Global Citizen Festival that I attended in Central Park over the weekend, where I had the opportunity to see documentary stars Edna Adan and Urmi Basu speak in person about their amazing work. It is an important, thoughtful movement and I urge you to find a way to get involved.

To learn more please visit Half the Sky.

Quite Continental Recommends: The Diversion Project

23/06/2011 § 5 Comments

My Google Reader is a bit of a bear. I am subscribed to way too many blogs and the sheer volume of material that accumulates in a single day can be daunting sometimes — but I can’t help it! So usually, I will flip through everything as quickly as possible and “star” anything I want to come back to, not paying much attention to what site it is. (For those of you who don’t use Google Reader I realize this may not make sense, but I promise I won’t go on much longer about my beloved RSS feed…) I recently noticed that I have unwittingly managed to star every single post The Diversion Project has posted in the last three months, which is pretty damn near irrefutable evidence of my blog-crush.

Jules, the lady behind The Diversion Project, has an amazing eye. Mainly focused on interior design and decor, the blog’s aesthetic is impeccable and coherent, even though I have trouble labeling for you. It isn’t modern, it isn’t country house, it isn’t traditional, it isn’t regency, it’s somehow all of them at once…and every single image tends to make my head explode (and more than a few end up on my Tumblr). The Diversion Project hits all the high notes for me: an amazing juxtaposition of surfaces and finishes, luxurious accents mixed with the rustic and vintage, dramatic uses of color, a masterful balance of the feminine and masculine. It is a great source of inspiration for me and because I was so sure you would love it as well, I wanted to pass it along. Do check it out.