@xx4xmas, the grassroots twitter movement to encourage holiday shoppers to spend their dough with women-led companies, is going strong on this second day of December. Tereza, who is spearheading the effort, asked me to highlight one of the companies from the master list today and though I tried to convince myself to choose something I’ve never written about/promoted before I just couldn’t resist talking about 20x200 because it is genuinely my favorite retail site on the web.
Jen Bekman, 20x200’s founder, is a Manhattan gallerist who loved art but hated how exclusive and snobby the art world is. She wanted to democratize it and demystify it and make it both easier for her artist friends to sell art and affordable for people who love art but aren’t made of money to live with art.
I included some of the prints that I’ve either given or received from 20x200, ranging in price from $20 to $200. I get so much joy out of giving, getting and living with art I think a gift certificate to 20x200 is slam dunk of a gift for really anyone on your list. The certificate itself is beautifully designed, it arrives in a spiffy envelope and gives the receiver the chance to add a piece of art to their lives that they may grow to love infinitely more than anything else they’ve ever spent twenty bucks on.
Not convinced? Well, I tried. If fine art’s not your thing, there’s always this. Betony Vernon is woman-owned, of course.
XX (no, not that "xx") for Xmas: A Holiday Guide →
This is one of the most positive things I’ve seen come out of the whole “let’s start Christmas shopping in October” nonsense. A really phenomenal woman entrepreneur, Tereza Nemessanyi (founder of Honestly Now), had the idea that since everyone IS going to shop at some point between now and…
Judge rules that raunchy teen photos are protected speech
Here’s the whole story…
Here’s my favorite excerpt:
Ridiculousness and inappropriateness are often the very foundation of humor,” Judge Philip Simon of Indiana wrote. ” The provocative context of these young girls horsing around with objects representing sex organs was intended to contribute to the humorous effect in the minds of the intended teenage audience.
But he strongly disagreed with the school’s assertion that the photographs qualified as “sexual misconduct” under Indiana law, since there was no actual nudity.
The judge made the point that the girls posted the photos on Facebook for their friends to see – not to display to the entire school.“Not much good takes place at slumber parties for high school kids, and this case proves the point,” he said.
I think this is a win for free speech and though I’d be horrified if my daughter was involved, I’d hope she wouldn’t be thrown out of school or off her sports team for this. Rather, it’s a great teaching moment: Don’t put raunchy photos of yourself on the internet. Period.
What do you think?
Props to +jeffmarks for the original post
