some of the items of note in the settlement:
- a&f agreed to hire 25 diversity recruiters and a vice president for diversity and to pursue benchmarks so that its hiring and promotion of minorities and women reflect its applicant pool;
- increase diversity not just in hiring and promotions, but also in its advertisements and catalogs, which have long featured models who were overwhelmingly white and who seemed to have stepped off the football field or out of fraternities or sororities;
- the settlement requires Abercrombie to stop focusing on predominantly white fraternities and sororities in its recruitment.
not that this settlement is going to pull me towards an a&f any time soon, but it's good none the less. and, as i did last time, please shop responsibly this holiday season.
now, for a bit of a confession: i'd been very adamant over the last few years to avoid shopping at the gap. then, i moved into my condo & just up the street is a gap outlet. i'd been pretty good at practicing avoidance, but lo & behold, one weekend my family was visiting, they spied the gap outlet bag a woman was carrying & we headed over. my nephew was in town, and cheap kids clothes are unfortunately a necessary part of life.....and, then, well, i've been there again on my own. eeek. i feel evil, but it hurts so good. i'm trying not to go down there every other week, but man, i spent my youth walking down to the evergreen plaza's (now defunct) gap store. those sale racks were the envy of every 12 year-old in the neighborhood.
but, yes, now i'm 27. and, i make a heck of a lot more than i did back then. so, while the sales are nice, they aren't quite necessary. thanks for letting me share my little dirty secret.
wow, i never made a post in october. what a waste. i've just haven't felt the connection to this thing.....i finally made it back from my onsite assignment, but even still, i just don't devote the time to read my favorites links, or update about my life.
the election came & went. for a brief time, i was also part of those believing and hoping for the "change". instead, the red states got what they wanted and it's 4 more years of W.
great. let's just plan on losing women's right to choose, further eroding equal pay for equal work, and all the other slams against women that'll occur in the next four years. glad to see the majority of women voted for kerry (51%, i believe), but it just wasn't enough. and, back in 2000, 54% voted for gore, so i guess we did slip.
i'm still hitting the gym, although the last few weeks have been enormously hard at work, so i've seen a slip in attendance. halloween came & went; my go-go yubari costume was great, and we hit up a few low-key parties. eventually i may have a photo to post, but i gotta get our camera back from a friend (thankfully it wasn't lost, as we assumed!).
in other news, i MAY be heading to NYC for a long-term work assignment. ever since my 1st & only visit during new years '02, i've been dreaming to get back (preferrably on an expense account). i'm hoping to get assigned on the project, but all those details will be worked out soon.
otherwise, just trying to stay healthy. ever since i quit smoking awhile back, i've seen an improvement in my health, but colds still happen and they seem to be all over the place at the moment. yet another reason to hit up the gym, keep that immune system up & running....
from a short interview with Jon Stewart, on the release of his new book (just too good to pass up):
Q.Isn't politics just a popularity contest?
A. I don't know if it's a popularity contest, but there is a sense that that president, at some point, has to somehow be no better than us. Much of the campaign is, "Put on this jean shirt, roll it up. I know it gives you hives! Just put it on! Get out there and tell the guy in the Dunkin' Donuts you're fightin' for him." And so a lot of their plea is, "I'm just like you." And you just wanna say, "Really? You watch 10 hours of TV a day? 'Cause it seems like you got a country to run."
last night, i went to tres ambiance, and had 10" cut off my hair, to donate to locks of love. i'm still adjusting to the change, but overall, i'm happy i did it. i think i'll keep it short for a while, although maybe have it a bit longer than present - in order to cut 10" and re-shape, it's just above my shoulders, and maybe a bit longer will be good.....
i also went to the YMCA to sign up (finally!). i'd been meaning to get there ever since i quit smoking, all in part to just be healthier and more active. i'm fairly lucky that i'm pretty small in stature, but i know i've gained weight after quitting smoking and after years of sitting on my butt all day in an office. it's funny, it seems so many people get crazed to start working out before summer starts, and here i am, a few days before labor day, getting my butt in gear.
better late than never! that's my (slacker) motto, for sure.
January 1, 2008
