Cary Aspinwall is the creative director of The Frontier, and also the Tiny half of the Tiny & Tall show. That’s the nickname given by friends to her and Ziva Branstetter, our editor in chief. The Tiny Blog focuses on the smaller things in life, rather than the weightier subjects that Aspinwall usually tackles in her reporting. More puppies and Tulsa life, less murder and mayhem.

I was raised to march to the beat of my own drummer.

I’m grateful to my parents for that value, though living by it wasn’t always easy.

Sometimes in life, especially during vulnerable phases or growing pains, all you want to do is blend in.

That’s why some of my favorite people have always gone against the grain.

I once spent a summer hanging out with high school band nerds to prove that marching band participation is actually kind of a punk rock statement as a teenager.

I spent a long time getting to know this girl, and watching her grow up and go to college has been amazing.

She’s kind of a big deal now.

So two stories in the news this week made me smile.

After years of legal wrangling and public debate, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Samantha Elauf, deciding that her head scarf shouldn’t prevent her from working at Abercrombie & Fitch.

“I was a teenager who loved fashion and was eager to work for Abercrombie & Fitch,” Elauf said in a statement. “Observance of my faith should not have prevented me from getting a job. I am glad that I stood up for my rights, and happy that the EEOC was there for me and took my complaint to the courts.”

Side note: Having seen Samantha’s very stylish Instagram, it appears Abercrombie missed the chance to hire a fashionista who could have freshened up its outdated look.

And then, who should debut on the cover of Vanity Fair this week but the lovely Caitlyn Jenner, who finally seems happy in her own skin after many years of living a very public, yet unhappy existence as Bruce Jenner on “Keeping up With the Kardashians.”

She looks beautiful, though I did enjoy John Stewart’s point that now Caitlyn really knows what it’s like to be a woman — everyone focuses on your looks instead of your accomplishments.

But kudos to both ladies for their courage.

I’ve always been a huge Emerson fan, and sometimes when it gets hard to go against the grain in life, I try to remember something he wrote: “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

I was raised to march to the beat of my own drummer.

I’m grateful to my parents for that value, though living by it wasn’t always easy.

Sometimes in life, especially during vulnerable phases or growing pains, all you want to do is blend in.

That’s why some of my favorite people have always gone against the grain.

I once spent a summer hanging out with high school band nerds to prove that marching band participation is actually kind of a punk rock statement as a teenager.

I spent a long time getting to know this girl, and watching her grow up and go to college has been amazing.

She’s kind of a big deal now.

So two stories in the news this week made me smile.

After years of legal wrangling and public debate, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Samantha Elauf, deciding that her head scarf shouldn’t prevent her from working at Abercrombie & Fitch.

“I was a teenager who loved fashion and was eager to work for Abercrombie & Fitch,” Elauf said in a statement. “Observance of my faith should not have prevented me from getting a job. I am glad that I stood up for my rights, and happy that the EEOC was there for me and took my complaint to the courts.”

Side note: Having seen Samantha’s very stylish Instagram, it appears Abercrombie missed the chance to hire a fashionista who could have freshened up its outdated look.

And then, who should debut on the cover of Vanity Fair this week but the lovely Caitlyn Jenner, who finally seems happy in her own skin after many years of living a very public, yet unhappy existence as Bruce Jenner on “Keeping up With the Kardashians.”

She looks beautiful, though I did enjoy John Stewart’s point that now Caitlyn really knows what it’s like to be a woman — everyone focuses on your looks instead of your accomplishments.

But kudos to both ladies for their courage.

I’ve always been a huge Emerson fan, and sometimes when it gets hard to go against the grain in life, I try to remember something he wrote: “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”