Blog Review: Bjütie

Brenda Labelle - photo courtesy of bjutie.com

This past January, I received an email from a librarian named Brenda Labelle, who had just read my first-ever bloggers column for Apartment613.  In her message, the Quebec City-native but now Ottawa resident told me that she had recently started her own blog called Bjütie, and wanted to give me a head's up about her blogging.  More than two months later, I have become a regular reader of her site, which combines insightful writing with a playful demeanour.

With a new post once a week, Bjütie can be seen as a weekly column about the search and appreciation of beauty.  As Brenda states in her blog's bio:

The gloomy Russian author, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, is credited with floating the idea that beauty will save the world in his story, The Idiot.... 

I think it’s possible that anything that inspires, anything that makes a person want to create, or even just passively enjoy, can be called beauty.... 

So Bjütie is my way of starting a discussion about those things that inspire.  I do love the frivolity of fashion and makeup, but this is not a product review or shopping site (shopping will NOT save the world!).  I hope to share my passion for books, the arts, ideas, and amazing people here.

Recent posts include an interesting discussion on Kiki de Montparnasse, a model who lived in Paris in the 1920s and who posed for (and bedded) some of the leading artists of her time.  There is also this really clever and insightful post on women's bodies, as well as this fun read about singing karaoke, which tees up an interesting discussion on being confident with oneself.  One of my favourite posts, however, is Brenda's thoughts on the show Girls, in which she offers an insightful comparison of the 20-something characters in Girls, with their 30-something counterparts in Sex and the City.

I am glad that Brenda has chosen to reside in the National Capital Region, as her blog is a excellent addition to the local blogosphere.  Hopefully she will continue blogging for a long time, as I very much look forward to reading her weekly posts.