review
[ best new website ]
Rent a Grandma
Are you lacking a cra y granny? Borrow one from netgranny.ch, a Swiss
service that allows users to commission hand-knit wearables from little old
ladies. Simply enter in your size and color preferences for mittens, scarves, or
sweaters, and pick your knitter of choice. Started in late 2006 by the Basel-based
clothier Tarzan, Netgranny’s roster is now 20 strong, filled with gray-haired
nanas like Annelies, who says, loosely translated, “When Law &
Order comes on, I become a knitting fool.” —Anna Jane Grossman
[ trade catalog find ]
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[ trend alert ]
Square Meals Even the lowly lunchbox is getting its organizational
due. Gone are the days of soggy PB&Js and brown bags; they’ve been replaced
with compartmentalized meals inspired by Japanese bento boxes, and the
trend is enjoying prime-time coverage on the Web. —Ariel Meadow Stallings
WHAT
WHEN
THE BACKSTORY
Laptop lunches
( laptoplunches.com)
November
2002
Designed for kids, these lunchboxes resemble mini
laptops, complete with their own shoulder bags and
four reusable plastic containers. Highly professional.
Vegan Lunch Box
(veganlunchbox.
blogspot.com)
September
2005
A vegan stay-at-home mom in Washington
photographs the impeccable animal-free lunches
she packs for her son, then posts them on her blog.
Mr. Bento Porn
( fl ickr.com/groups/
mrbento)
January
2006
Devotees of Mr. Bento, a brand of insulated lunch
containers, begin posting photos of their “little round
lunches” on Flickr. (Full disclosure: I started this group.)
Bento TV
( bentotv.com)
August
2006
Sarah Pratt, a foodie in Novato, California, launches
her daily vlog filled with demos of how to craft designer
lunches for your bento. The site now hosts 170 videos.
Lunch savings
calculator
( dinkytown.net)
2007
Online calculations company Dinkytown launches
a lunch-savings calculator, which estimates that
you’ll save an average of $4,300 by packing lunch
instead of buying it over a five-year period.
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[ a brief history ] 27 BC
Labor of Love Rome celebrates the festival
Valentine’s Day hasn’t always of Lupercalia on February 15
meant red roses, boxed choco- to honor empire forefathers
lates, and gooey greeting cards. Romulus and Remus. Festivi-
The amorous holiday is rooted ties include naked young men
in the most hedonistic society lashing women with animal
of all: ancient Rome. hides, an act believed to
by Mike Chino boost fertility.
AD 270
Roman emperor Claudius II
decides that bachelors make
better soldiers than betrothed men
and forbids young marriages. One
Valentine (a common name derived
from “worthy”) defies Claudius
by uniting couples in secret. He’s
promptly sentenced to death.
496
Pope Gelas-ius I declares
February 14 to
be a feast day in
honor of Saint
Valentine, scuttling the pagan
rite of spring.
1381
Brit-lit bestseller
Geoffrey Chaucer is
credited with coupling
Valentine’s Day and
courtly love in a poem
commemorating the
engagement of Richard II
and Anne of Bohemia.
