It may be a myth that hemlines go up when the economy tanks, but I’ll maintain that the current trend for three-quarter length sleeves (which I have grudgingly become used to) was supported by manufacturers wanting to save money on fabric. And what use is a coat that doesn’t come down to your wrists? Well, they’ve brought arm warmers into style.

RedEnvelope, one of the few online retailers that also built a successful mail-order catalog business, filed Chapter 11 this past weekend and has agreed to a takeover by Creative Catalogs Corporation. On the surface it’s business as usual, with the website still up and taking orders. RedEnvelope has been in business for nine years. Mall and catalog mainstay Sharper Image has also been going downhill and is looking for a buyer.

For an actor looking to obtain a degree in his chosen profession, the college application process is likely to include an audition. Auditions are probably old hat, school plays and musicals, local theater, but “Those were auditioning for parts,” says Adam Pelta-Pauls whose college auditions were followed by the N.Y. Times. “This is auditioning for your life.” The prospective students present two monologues and have a third prepared just in case. Auditors look for emotional transparency, receptiveness to direction, “Someone who brings humanity to their work. And a student who really wants to work hard.”

It’s a bit far afield for us, but the Yakima Fruit Market in Bothell, WA is the best match we’ve found for the fruit and veggie markets we miss from California. The wife of a Yakima employee is keeping a nice blog about new arrivals at Yakima (local asparagus!), recipes, and other local tidbits: Fresh Picked News.

Three giant pianos washed up on a beach in the Netherlands. From the artist, Florentijn Hofman’s website: “For the fifth anniversary of the Schiermonnikoog International Chamber Music Festival, I came up with a concept of grand pianos washed upon the shore. They refer to stranded cargo and ditto whales. To be salvaged or saved; in any case to be wondered and surprised about.”

Nathan Myhrvold commissioned his own personal full-scale model of a Charles Babbage-designed difference engine. Before it goes into his personal collection, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA is putting it on display. Built by the same engineers that constructed the one in the London Science Museum, the difference engine cost a million dollars and ran into the same kind of setbacks that a typical hardware project runs into, frustrations and a vendor who went out of business. (via numerous techie blogs)

I’ve uploaded almost all of my Beijing trip photos to flickr, so here are a few favorite shots from my final two days: peddler on the Great Wall, steep and crumbly Great Wall steps, Summer Palace bridge, Seventeen Arch bridge.

If there’s one place I expect old traditions to die hard, I know it’s at my alma mater, but it’s still nice to see, year after year, the women of Wellesley sacrificing their vocal chords for the morale of the runners in the Boston Marathon. Here are the choice quotes from the papers this year. From the Globe: “‘Nothing can compare to Wellesley.’… The stretch along the route is often cited as one of the more vocal and supportive, as students hit the streets with signs and voices of encouragement for the athletes passing by.” Daily News Tribune: “Bentley College senior Dan Badavus, running in his second marathon, attributed his success to the legendary cheering section from Wellesley College. ‘The Wellesley girls – it was just deafening,’ he said. ‘The noise just gets you going, and you can feel the adrenaline surging.'” And leave it to the Herald to put it all in perspective: “‘This is the best day of the entire year,’ said Emilie Papageorgiou, 22, as she took it all in outside Wellesley College. ‘All that sisterhood crap we talk about all the time is true today.'”

Fans of the Car Talk guys may want to catch their television appearance on the “Car of the Future” NOVA broadcast this Tuesday. John Lithgow narrates as Tom and Ray learn about the world’s reliance on petroleum and what can or can’t be done about it.

Nalgene rose from being a supplier of lab equipment to a well-known brand of water bottle, available in trendy colors. Now that consumers are aware of the controversy over bisphenol-A and whether it is safe or not, Nalgene is protecting their brand by phasing out BPA in their Outdoor line and publicizing their other bottles without BPA. They’ve put up a web site with a comparison chart of their products and their qualities while still maintaining that BPA is safe. Popular baby bottle maker Avent has not publicly caved yet to any BPA controversy and states that they are following approved standards as are other polycarbonate bottle brands like Dr. Brown’s and Playtex.