Open post of the week

How’s your week going? Welcome to our regular Wednesday Open Post, where we get to let you in on what’s been going on behind-the-scenes at Mamamia and you tell us and each other anything that’s been on your mind.

The tweets

Last night I opened a new Twitter account. It’s called @Mia_Free and you can go here to follow it if you like.

I’m not ENTIRELY sure how I’m going to split my tweets but it’s going to be different to my @miafreedman account which I will still be operating as usual. Basically, there’s a lot to tweet about with what we’re publishing here each day and alerting you to great content you may have missed. But sometimes I want to micro-blog as well, so this new account is where I’m going to try that out. Could be a disaster. Let’s suck it and see.

The fashion

Here are our must-see looks from the week…

The show – we’re talking refugees, Mel B’s Jenny Craig deal and……

We’re still locking in guests for this week’s show – living on the edge! – but in the meantime, here is last week’s show:

At 4:10, watch Sarah MacDonald talk about surprise babies. At 4:21 Mia gets cheeky and surprises Sam with a ballsy ad. At 9:25 watch the best piece of ‘sex ed’ advice you’ll likely here from Sam. At 12:50 it’s the interview that will break your heart with the McCaffrey family and, at 23:45 get the facts behind the scare campaign on vaccination with Dr Rachael Dunlop.

The post that sparked the show was 9 Myths About Vaccination – BUSTED – and it’s still a very active post. As we suspected, the anti-vaccination lobby were posting multiple comments under different names to try and make their cause seem better supported than it actually is. They shout loud, that lot. And they link to an endless number of non-scientific studies that terrify and confuse well-meaning parents who are looking for reputable SCIENTIFIC and medical information about vaccinations.

We were also sent a screen grab of this doozy of a comment that appeared on the AVN Facebook page (AVN stands for Australian Vaccination Network – who should by rights be called the ANTI vaccination network and who have been found by the Health Complaints Commission to be publishing inaccurate information on their website but refuse to run a disclaimer as requested and have thus had their charity license [WTF] removed).

Just as we suspected…….here’s a comment about our post:

Nice.

The office dog

Every so often Harry comes to visit the office – we love having him. Here’s Nat putting together a makeshift lead using only a neon orange ribbon. Harry is secure enough in his masculinity not to be embarrassed by this very girly leash.

The signs

Here’s a project started by UK photographer Adrian Fisk called “iSpeak”. Initially focusing on China, Fisk interrogated 16 to 30-year-olds on the streets, asking them what was on their minds. The young people were instructed to write down what they wanted to say and hold it up for a photo.

Along the way, he ran into several people who were illiterate but included them in the series by photographing them holding a blank white board and captioning their statement. Fisk’s project gives a voice, not only to young people, but also to the lesser heard illiterate youths that don’t have as many methods of being heard.

The project has now expanded to India and hopes to reach 25 other countries.

The sculpture

This is what happens on Friday afternoons when everyone in the office starts to go a little stir-crazy. Nat built a little cardboard chair which was sent through to us by IKEA – and from there started a round of Office Jenga, using nail polish, several pens and even Nat’s phone.

The food

Lana came home from America and she brought us these eccentric Harry Potter jellybeans. Flavours include baby wipe, grass, snot, dog food and vomit. Yum.

The Matt

Every day, our Online Marketing Manager Matt is invariably wearing something awesome. He’s British and missing the stores in the UK very much so does most of his shopping online and tries it on right here in the office. Check out his shoes..

And check out the posts he’s written for us about gay male body image and being picked up for a threesome at the supermarket checkout. You can follow him on Twitter here.

The vodka

Last week, Bobbi Brown kindly sent Lana a box of perfume and vodka. Best combination ever? I promptly stole the perfume (it’s sublime), Rick stole the vodka, Lucy swiped the glasses and Nat grabbed the pretty ribbon. Lana got the box. We’re nice like that.

The latest accessory

Waff bought candy bracelets for Lucy and Nat last week and they were a hit. Here they are showing them off.

The ornaments

If you’ve been to the shops lately you’ve probably noticed that they’re starting to be bombarded by Christmas decorations. Our deputy editor Bec emailed us to show us these handmade Christmas decorations which are stunning – they make beautiful presents. She has bought her daughters “stars” made up for all of her family for their Christmas trees, and she’s even just ordered one with her dog’s name on it.

It’s also a beautiful way to remember someone who is no longer with you. Or to give to a friend with the name of their missing loved one. SUCH a moving gift.

Orders for this Christmas have to be in by the 31st October so if you love them, get onto it – buy them here.

The helpdesk

We did the Mamamia Helpdesk with tech a few months ago and it worked a treat so we thought we’d repeat it with fashion. Do you have a fashion problem you need solved? I do.

I bought these shoes about half a size too small just because I adored the colour. How do I stretch them?

If you know, or have a fashion dilemma of your own, share it in the comments below or see if you can answer someone else’s. Sharing is caring.

How’s your week going? What’s on your mind?