THE DAILY MUSETHE DAILY MUSE
FROM THE EDITORFROM THE EDITOR
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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Saturday, August 1, 2009, 0 comments

Us humans are so complicated with so many wants and needs swirling about our psyches simultaneously – what other species is capable of craving world peace, a clean place to pee and peanut M&Ms in the exact same moment?

The Buddhists say that it is longing that creates suffering, and while there’s deep truth there, it’s our ability to imagine the future that manifests dreams into reality.

Most days I’ve got my nose glued to the moment, but interviewing this month’s profiles about their “life lists” got me pondering about what I want to experience with whatever time I’ve got left on this big blue ball. Some aspirations seem dangerous (roller derby boot camp), some are soulful (to be a grandma…someday), some material (owning the gorgeous gladiator sandals on page 32 of the print mag), some just plain silly (knit a sweater entirely out of fur our pug has shed on the couch.)

Whether any of those come to pass, I’ll just be glad to be alive--as long as there’s chocolate somewhere close. After all, when it comes to cravings, a wise person once sang that “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.”

 ~ jessica leigh

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63
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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Wednesday, July 1, 2009, 0 comments
The Fight Has Just Begun

Anyone who comes too close to my desk during deadline exposes themselves to my penchant for lobbing F-bombs over the walls of my cubicle. Trucker-mouth tendencies aside, it’s time again for me to remind y’all that my other favorite F-word, feminism, is NOT an epithet. 

Part of our mission at skirt! is to fight the stereotype of “radical hysteria” that the Rush Limbaughs of the culture use to distract us from the unfortunate truth that women’s rights still need our attention. As Americans, most of us enjoy equal opportunities as well as the right to wear really hot shoes wherever and whenever we like, but in other places near and far, women are still denied education and healthcare; governments stand by while rape is used as a weapon.

Feminism was once described as the radical notion that women are people, and nothing elicits from me more F-words (the kind that would make your mama wash your mouth out with soap) than hearing that it belongs to the domain of man-hating Amazons, or worse, is no longer relevant.

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 0 comments
Who's Your Shero?

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From the Editor
By Angelia, Sunday, May 17, 2009, 0 comments

Outside my kitchen window, a mockingbird mama has claimed the camellia tree. She’s busy tucking together sticks and dog fluff and even a sparkly thread of tinsel from someone’s bicycle handlebars, and as I flit around the house before work picking up dirty socks and old homework papers, I marvel how the urge to nest transcends species. (Of course, we humans are the luckiest—we get HomeGoods.) Every creature needs a place of comfort to snuggle up at the end of the day, and whether it’s a burrow or a condo, let’s celebrate staying home. This month we’re also honoring mothers and daughters—so I must bow deeply to the woman who gave me life and continues to inspire me with her generosity, enthusiasm and ever-sharpening wit. And then there’s my own daughter, who alternately melts my heart and terrifies me, a budding warrior princess who wields a slingshot like a savage but still needs a lullaby every night. Thankfully, she isn’t flying away any time soon—unlike the mockingbird, whose chicks will take off at the end of summer. May she—and the rest of us—be so blessed that our daughters always return to the nest for a visit.

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28
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From the Editor
By Megs, Thursday, April 30, 2009, 0 comments
Outside my kitchen window, a mockingbird mama has claimed the camellia tree. She’s busy tucking together sticks and dog fluff and even a sparkly thread of tinsel from someone’s bicycle handlebars, and as I flit around the house before work picking up dirty socks and old homework papers, I marvel how the urge to nest transcends species. (Of course, we humans are the luckiest—we get HomeGoods.) Every creature needs a place of comfort to snuggle up at the end of the day, and whether it’s a burrow or a condo, let’s celebrate staying home. This month we’re also honoring mothers and daughters—so I must bow deeply to the woman who gave me life and continues to inspire me with her generosity, enthusiasm and ever-sharpening wit. And then there’s my own daughter, who alternately melts my heart and terrifies me, a budding warrior princess who wields a slingshot like a savage but still needs a lullaby every night. Thankfully, she isn’t flying away any time soon—unlike the mockingbird, whose chicks will take off at the end of summer. May she—and the rest of us—be so blessed that our daughters always return to the nest for a visit.
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54
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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 0 comments

Tires squealing, pavement peeling – sounds like freedom to me.

From the whoosh-whoosh of roller skates to the vroomity-vroom of her first car, I say a set of wheels is a all a woman ever needs to sort out her life. Not that driving away from one’s problems solves a thing, but any negative circumstance looks a lot less hideous from a distance (and there’s no thrill like watching the odometer hit 100K.)

Our profiles this month agree that the real journey isn’t in miles logged but experience gained: Whether it’s feeling the wind whipping through her hair on two wheels, cruising the county on six or jockeying for position with her elbows on eight, these women find something new around every bend – why not follow their lead?

Even if you only make it around the block, you’ll never end up back where you started as long as you’ve got your eyes wide open. Lace up your skates or gas up the tank (a necessary evil until we’re all on biodiesel) and take off – even if it’s just for the afternoon.

Anyone tries to hold you back? Tell ‘em to kiss your asphalt.


~ jessica leigh

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Monday, February 23, 2009, 0 comments

As far as timing goes, I’ve had my share of blessings – exiting the bathroom at an AC/DC show in 1987 just as a roadie was handing out backstage passes, giving birth to my daughter on New Year’s Eve, snatching up a pair of killer dove gray boots at deep discount at Dillards’ last week – but by far, my favorite brush with synchronicity is how I came to be the editor of skirt!.

Two years ago, my husband and I had just bought our first house - weeks before he was laid off. I had been a freelancing stay-at-home mama for eight years, and couldn’t imagine finding a job that would match my eclectic skill set. Just when I thought we’d have to move in with my in-laws, I consoled myself with a cool women’s magazine I’d picked up – and saw an ad that changed the course of our family.

Now “perfect timing” means satiating my appetite for deadlines, but for our “Hot Seat” profiles this month, there’s more at stake than the occasional grammar gaffe: When their timing is off, someone - figuratively or literally - gets burned.

 ~ jessica leigh
jessica.leigh@skirt.com

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Monday, January 26, 2009, 0 comments
I (Heart) My Husband (But That Doesn't Mean I Want To Work With Him)

Everyone knows relationships take work.

Which is why I’ve always been fascinated by couples who actually work together – how do they keep from carrying the argument over who left toothpaste in the sink that morning into a client meeting? If you’ve both already heard all the office gossip (psst, did ya hear who’s sleeping with the boss?), what’s left to talk about over dinner? (Wait, I am the boss!)

It also seems to require preternatural levels of patience and cooperation I don’t believe I possess. Sheesh, my husband and I pop a bottle of bubbly every time we complete a minor home project together without calling a marriage counselor (if it involves electricity and a ladder, we go out for a nice dinner. We plan to book a trip to Europe should we ever manage the hall bathroom remodel.)

I drilled the five couples we profiled this month on how they’ve built successful businesses together while keeping the flames fanned at home, and though there are no plans to squeeze another chair in my cubicle, I’ll apply their commitment to clear communication and respect with my honey – starting with changing out the dining room light fixture.

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73
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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Monday, December 22, 2008, 0 comments

Oooh, we love our true confessions, don’t we?

Here’s a few of mine: As a sophomore in high school, I wanted to be a cheerleader but could only cut it as the school mascot (I did get to wear the cute uniform to all the football games - topped by a horse head.)

I once dined n’ dashed out of one of the swankiest brasseries in Paris (so full of pommes frites that I barely hurdled the turnstile to the metro.)

And then there’s this über-embarrassing tidbit: I know all the lyrics to all three High School Musical soundtracks (they’re on constant rotation in the Absurdivan, and I have been caught listening without my children present.)

t’s been said that the truth hurts, but for whatever reason, these dorky admissions feel strangely relieving …

We managed to convice this month’s profiles to divulge some secrets of their own, though we mixed up the fact and fiction a bit - you’ll have to work for the WHOLE truth by visiting the She’s So Skirt page at savannah.skirt.com.

~ jessica leigh
jessica.leigh@skirt.com

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 0 comments

Resolutions, already? Frankly, I was just content to ride out the rollercoaster of 2008 without accruing any more bruises or debt.

But that was before I met this month’s five terrific women whose aspirations for change and capacity for joy cannot be quashed by the spikes of any stock market. They reminded me that the promises we make to ourselves don’t necessarily have to hurt, and that in this hyper-conscious culture that dictates we need to have perfectly organized closets and rock hard abs to be “enough,” accepting ourselves exactly the way we are might be the best resolution of all.

In past years I’ve quit smoking and committed to the gym, but this cycle around the sun I vow to be more gentle with my faults, mistakes and messes. (I suppose I should resolve to quit swearing, but y’know what? F*@$ that – it’s the only vice I have left.)

Marcel Proust wrote that “It is always during a passing state of mind that we make lasting resolutions,” which sounds to me like taking more naps is the way to self-improvement. Add that to the list.

~ jessica leigh

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Monday, October 27, 2008, 0 comments

Way back in my starving student 20’s, I dated a chef who showed me how to make an easy quiche:

Chop and sauté some turkey sausage with whatever veggies are hanging around, add them to five eggs whipped with a couple long splashes of milk and two handfuls of shredded cheese, sprinkle in some salt and pepper, pour it all into a frozen pie crust and bake at 375 until firm.

Though he left to pursue a career as a clown, I’ll always be grateful for his simple recipe that I make for new mothers, sick friends and my family just last Tuesday. It was the first thing I learned to cook that was any good, and it taught me that a meal prepared with love nourishes us deeper than our tummies.

(For the record, the man I married has mad skills in the kitchen and loves to take the kids to see my ex whenever the circus comes to town.)

Of course, Southerners have always known about the restorative qualities of comfort food, and whether you’re hankering for barbecue, bouillabaisse or spicy tom ka gai, this issue reveals the global influences of the sophisticated Lowcountry palette. But will someone please tell me which pinot grigio to pair with grits?

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Thursday, September 25, 2008, 0 comments
Use Your Superpowers for the Greater Good!

In her star tiara and killer thigh-high boots, everybody’s favorite superheroine always took on the most psychotic villains without mussing her glossy black mane.

But while golden lassoes and x-ray vision are all fine for the comics, the real Wonder Women of this world must manage without access to such extras. With hidden superpowers like the ability to stay calm in a crisis, the strength to hold legislators accountable and the grace to remain compassionate towards forgotten members of our society, this month’s inspiring profiles prove you can deflect evil and effect positive change without a shiny costume.

(Not that I would turn down a pair of magical bracelets that enable me to meet deadlines with ease, and get my children off to school on time. And create instant parking spaces. While we’re at it, an invisible plane would be awesome, too.)

Volunteering for a political campaign, cooking dinner for a neighbor, donating time or money to a local charity - we’re all capable of becoming Wonder Women right here and now when we use the special powers we already have.

And don’t forget the most important one of all: Your vote. Have you registered yet?

~jessica leigh

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Monday, August 25, 2008, 0 comments

Don’t call a man for a date, always play nice (even if it hurts), no white shoes after Labor Day – just a few outdated rules that were itching to be bent ‘til they broke.

It’s not our grandmothers’ world anymore, and we’re far too busy creating codes with built-in elasticity for dating, work and fashion to egg-timer our phone calls. We’re in charge of our own destinies (which presents something of a quandary for those of us who’ve never been much for authority.)

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Friday, July 25, 2008, 0 comments

Confronted by obstacles or just feeling lost? Cruise on into The Detour Issue, where no matter how many wrong turns you make, it’ll turn out all right.

Sometimes all it takes to free ourselves is acceptance: Personal development guru Werner Erhard once counseled that we “ride the horse in the direction it’s going,” a down-home way of saying that life becomes easier when we give up resisting it - even when we’re going in circles (or stuck in the hideous construction traffic on Abercorn.)

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, June 17, 2008, 0 comments

We’re all familiar with the outdated stereotype of a feminist as a woman with hairy armpits and combat boots, an image that always cracks us up here at skirt!, where high heels, lipstick and equal rights belong in the same Hobo purse.

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 0 comments

I was recently asked by a group of college students what career steps I followed. The question stumped me, because frankly, I have no idea.

It occurred to me that I haven’t planned much, like my garden, which has peppers growing next to hydrangeas and lots of wildflowers my husband insists are weeds. Or the time I ran out of money in Europe a week before my flight home. Or, come to think of it, my children.

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Friday, March 7, 2008, 0 comments
ROLFLMAO - RU2?

Some years back the circumstances of my life required that I give up my über-cool VW Westfalia for a drab beige minivan. I was not amused.

To assuage my resentment, I glued a plastic giraffe to the dashboard. A plastic pig, a bobble-headed cat and Spiderman soon followed. Three years later, I’ve been through six tubes of Superglue and have been known to force Happy Meals on my children so I can steal whatever miniature monster is inside.

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 0 comments

My mother likes to remind me that when she was a girl, the only respectable career options for a woman were secretary, teacher or nurse. While those occupations are definitely some of the most valuable around, I’m glad the circle of choices has expanded since then (and not just because my handwriting is illegible, six-hour stretches with my own two children exhaust me and I faint at the merest suggestion of blood.)

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 0 comments

As an ambitious feminist punk so many years ago, I vowed that I would never let a man come between me and my dreams. But while mucking about in the chaos of my 20s, I realized my dreams included having a family – and finding a partner with whom to share it. It so happens there was this smart-alecky guy from Savannah hanging around who seemed to like me a lot, and once I got a gander at his surfer biceps, our friendship blossomed with a grander passion. Now, “happily

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Wednesday, December 12, 2007, 0 comments

When I picture Lady Luck, I imagine a smartly-dressed babe, coolly tossing a pair of dice, her head cocked as if to ask, “Are ya feelin’ lucky? Well, are ya?” She’s no fairy godmother swooping down to fill your closet with expensive shoes; Lady Luck rolls on the darker, seedier side of town in her souped-up convertible, shaking her head at the suckers who think they’ve got a chance. She’s the nudge that turns your head to see a five dollar bill on the sidewalk and the rock star parking

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From the Editor
By jessicaleigh, Tuesday, November 27, 2007, 0 comments

One more thing I love about the Lowcountry is that before anyone talks business, before they even inquire what you want to drink, they’ll ask “How’s your momma?” Family life takes top tier around here, and it’s such a blessing to have folks not just understand but support it when I’ve had to dash off in the middle of an interview to pick up a feverish child from school or forego a fabulous event to keep my weekly lunch date with my mother-in-law. The pairs

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From the Editor
By mlalonde, Friday, October 26, 2007, 0 comments
Psst, it’s time for true confessions!
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163
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From the Editor
By mlalonde, Sunday, September 30, 2007, 0 comments
Remember kindergarten, when all of us were creative geniuses? When macaroni and yarn constituted “multimedia” and it was acceptable to lick the fingerpaint only to discover that purple doesn’t automatically mean “grape-flavored”?
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From the Editor
By mlalonde, Friday, September 7, 2007, 0 comments
It's time to venerate our inner goddesses, but that doesn't mean we're all going to (necessarily) dance around a New Age bonfire wearing castoffs from Stevie Nicks' garage sale. True Goddess worship is about celebrating the strength and beauty of the feminine not in an abstract way but incarnated in real, live humans. Hence the five women we've profiled this month that draw on the power of ancient archetypes to enrich their own and others' lives.
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