Gwyneth Paltrow on marriage and coincidence
One of the best parts of Gwyneth Paltrow's interview for Elle Magazine's September cover story is where she talks about her parents, who were married for 32 years up until her father's death in 2002:
"I used to say to my dad, 'How did you and mom stay married for all this time?' And he'd say, 'Two things. Number one: You gotta have the same dreams. One person can't be daydreaming about walking down the street in Paris, the other person wants to work in a coal mine. You've gotta want the same stuff.'
At number two, she laughs. "He said, 'We never wanted to get divorced at the same time.'"
On raising city kids
I picked up the August issue of Vogue to read during the WiFi-less flight I took this past weekend (Mental note: I really should subscribe, since now that I think of it I probably buy at least 6 issues per year off the newsstand.)
Anyway, Sarah Jessica Parker is on the cover, and the interview with her is pretty good. Two things I especially loved:
1. In every photo she's still rocking the Manolo Blahniks-- the
defining brand for the Carrie Bradshaw era -- even now that the trendy
set has mostly jumped ship to Christian Louboutin. Now that's dancing with the one that brung ya.
2. Her reasoning for deciding to raise her family in New York City, despite the fact that she has three young children:
2. Her reasoning for deciding to raise her family in New York City, despite the fact that she has three young children:
"You do start to understand the behind-the-gate mentality, the getting in the car in your driveway... but I can't imagine living in seclusion. We flirted with it. We went outside the city and troubled all these realtors and stood in these homes and fantasized, and then I kept picturing nine o'clock at night and" -- she breaks into mime drumming her fingers on her crossed knees and staring into the middle distance.
"The beautiful thing about New York is, you have to expose yourself to other people the minute you step outside the door. There is no choice. And I love that.
Dodging bullets
I am admittedly an admirer of all things Beyoncé -- I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but I can't help but recognize the woman is a force of nature -- but I think even the most jaded observer would think her latest video is great in one way or another. Well, at least if she's a woman in her mid- to late-twenties or so.
Here's why: It has a clever narrative (can't we all relate to that awkward high school date footage) beautiful surroundings (where was this shot?) gorgeous attire (I want one of everything she wears in the first 20 seconds of the video) and really interesting camera work (does anyone know if they used a DSLR to shoot this?) I'm not really a fan of the song, but the video itself gives me some hope for the future of MTV's original medium.
Also, it should ring true to any girl who has looked back happily at the demise of past relationships and realized they definitely dodged a bullet or two.
Connecting the dots
--Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, from the truly fantastic profile of her in next week's New Yorker
I was so impressed with Sheryl Sandberg when I saw her in April on this panel about Women in Tech, which I maintain is the best panel I've seen at a conference ever (and I've seen a lot of them.) Both the article and the panel are highly recommended -- whether you're a woman, in the tech industry, both, or neither.
