This Week in Hating

Primping for the pool: Lounging shouldn't be a fashion show

Ever wonder why so many girls insist on covering up their entire faces with sunglasses made to look like bug eyes?

It's because it takes a lot of effort to look presentable pool-side, and high-rise and apartment-complex living means catching some rays without a crowd of 50-plus observers is a thing of the past. (It's almost enough to make you hit your parents' house — almost).

Suddenly, trying to get your tan on is an unsolicited social event, and you find yourself applying eyeliner and anti-frizz just to go lay out in what should be the comfort of your own home.

And no matter how cute you manage to look when you tote your summer reading out to the chaise lounge, it's nearly impossible to maintain. Between the water and the sweat (that's what happens when you deliberately lay in direct sunlight) you look like it's been five days since you've seen a shower, even if it's only been three. And if tanning oil gets into your tresses, forget it. No amount of dry shampoo can save you.

When all you want to do is relax with your trashy summer literature and sweat out your hangover, hordes of beer-bonging partiers and girls prancing around in sky-high wedges is not the optimal scenery.

Luckily, I got myself a house-sitting gig this summer with a private pool in a fenced-in backyard. I cannot WAIT to be the cool kid with the pool (I missed my chance in childhood, my parents opted for the far less glamorous trampoline).

Sure, it'll be nice to have Spring Break-style rager access when I want it, but I can't wait to have the girls over for grody tan seshes where we can be unwashed, unshaven and generally unkempt. Just no cameras.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”