From our walk
1. Two great holiday experience gifts: Savor with Rachel Cole, “Savor is perfect for you if you’re hungry for quiet grounding, if 2019 has put you the ringer, or if you’re seeking an eco-friendly, affordable, unexpected gift for family or friends…Savor is a series of short guided audio meditations. The meditations cover a range of topics, such as resilience, self-compassion, winter traditions, and holiday eating,” and 31 Days of Gifts (Daily Delight for The Holiday Season) with Courtney Carver, “31 Days of Gifts You So Deserve is like an advent calendar in your inbox. You’ll receive meaningful, magical gifts throughout the month of December. These gifts will encourage you to embrace the holidays with joy and intention. They will also help you move into the new year with an open heart.”
2. Questions for The Producer from Austin Kleon.
3. Instagram is enabling white mummy bloggers to silence black women like Kelechi Okafor.
4. Chick-fil-A will no longer donate to anti-LGBTQ organizations. “Going forward, Chick-fil-A said it will work exclusively with organizations that focus on education, homelessness and hunger. Those are Junior Achievement USA, Covenant House International and donating $25,000 local food banks.” Now if we could just get Nestle to stop stealing and hoarding all the water, and using child labor to produce their chocolate.
5. 16 great documentaries from 2019 and how to watch them. In somewhat related news, 26 Disturbing Documentaries That’ll Make You Sleep With The Lights On.
6. The 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years. “Slate’s books team selects the definitive works of reporting, memoir, and argument of the past quarter-century.”
7. Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Dos and Don’ts. “In this op-ed, Ruth Hopkins, a Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer, biologist, attorney, and former tribal judge, offers advice on avoiding offensive stereotypes and being a better ally to Native nations.”
8. Why We Fell for Clean Eating. “The oh-so-Instagrammable food movement has been thoroughly debunked – but it shows no signs of going away. The real question is why we were so desperate to believe it.”
9. Here’s the Waiver Colin Kaepernick Was Asked to Sign to Get Back on the NFL’s Plantation.
10. Glazing roasted vegetables makes them even better.
11. 5 Things People Don’t Realize You’re Doing Because You’re The Child Of An Alcoholic.
12. Family to Get $10 Million After Death of Man Left in Jail Cell With a Broken Neck on The New York Times. “An Oklahoma county agreed to pay the estate of Elliott Williams, whose complaints were ignored by members of the detention and medical staff for five days.”
13. This Emotional Lesbian Car Commercial Will Completely Devastate You.
14. Thanksgiving Promotes Whitewashed History, So I Organized Truthsgiving Instead.
15. Apocalypse Got You Down? Maybe This Will Help on The New York Times. “Searching for a cure for my climate crisis grief.”
16. How Mary Lambert’s New Album Grief Creature Provided Her with ‘Healing’ and ‘Hope.’
17. We don’t want billionaires’ charity. We want them to pay their taxes.
18. Many Native Americans Can’t Get Clean Water, Report Finds.
19. Summer Walker Cancels 20 Tour Dates Due To Social Anxiety: ‘I Can’t Finish.’ In related news, “Please Respect My Space”: Summer Walker Will Not Be Hugging Fans Because Of The “Transference Of Energy” And We Actually Get It.
20. Help Decolonizing Fitness Get A Training Space. They are doing such good, important work.
21. ‘If You Work for ICE, Quit’: Never Again Launches Career Services Site for Agents Looking for Change.
22. Plastics: What’s recyclable, what becomes trash — and why.
23. Lena Waithe Reveals She Secretly Married Her Longtime Bae Alana Mayo.
24. She Visited Every Country On Earth. She Saw A World Overwhelmed By Plastic Trash.
25. Elaborate Chiaroscuro Tattoos by Makkala Rose Burst With Ripe Fruit and Blossoming Flowers.
26. Gay Teen Who Punched Classmate Opens Up About Bullying He Says Prompted Viral Incident. “Jordan Steffy of LaPorte, Indiana said the classroom fight was a breaking point. But he wants supporters to direct their anger elsewhere.”
27. 120,000 Ribbons Hover Near The Brandenburg Gate To Mark The 30-Year Anniversary Of Its Fall.
28. Denmark buys country’s last remaining circus elephants to let them retire.
29. This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad on The New York Times. “Hanks is playing Mister Rogers in a new movie and is just as nice as you think he is. Please read this article anyway.”
30. Ellie Goulding May Cancel NFL Show Over Salvation Army’s Homophobia. Maybe she could cancel the show because of the NFL’s history of protecting those who violate women, or the NFL’s racism?
31. Trans restaurant worker claims boss told her to ‘go home’ if she couldn’t handle death threats from customers. Which is why we need this: a beginner’s guide to being an ally to trans people.
31. Intimate Portraits of Tattooed Seniors Reveal How Ink Looks on Aging Bodies.
32. Another of Alberto Salazar’s Runners Says He Ridiculed Her Body for Years on The New York Times. “Amy Yoder Begley says she was criticized for being overweight, told her laugh was annoying and made to sign a contract promising not to become friends with her teammates.”
33. Actress Mo’Nique suing Netflix for race, gender discrimination.
34. The Atlanta Nap Ministry preaches the liberating power of rest. “We’re pushing back against these systems telling us we should feel guilty for laying down and taking a nap.”
35. Researchers say there’s a simple way to reduce suicides: Increase the minimum wage.
36. Humble Man Walks Almost Entire Perimeter of Mexico Saving Hundreds of Sick and Injured Dogs.
37. PS22 Chorus performs with Leslie Odom Jr., on his new song, “Under Pressure.” (video)
38. Megan Rapinoe won a Woman of the Year award. She thanked Colin Kaepernick. “While I’m enjoying all of this unprecedented — and, frankly, a little bit uncomfortable — attention and personal success, in large part due to my activism off the field, Colin Kaepernick is still effectively banned from the NFL for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of known and systematic police brutality against people of color, known and systematic racial injustice, and known and systematic white supremacy.” Known and systematic.
40. Recipes I want to try: Best Chocolate Cake Recipe and drop cornbread biscuits.
41. Minnesota school threw out hot meals of students with over $15 lunch debt, then apologized. What to do instead (besides just feed the damn kids!): School Turns Leftover Cafeteria Food Into Frozen, Take-Home Meals To Give To Students In Need.
42. Jenny Slate’s “Stage Fright” Gives New Meaning to the Phrase “Standing up to Fear.” This was part stand up, part documentary, and I really liked it.
43. Peek inside Colorado’s new butterfly house as Gardens on Spring Creek opening nears. Can’t wait!
44. When I Speak Out Against Fat-Shaming, I’m Told to ‘Just Lose Weight.’ “Weight loss isn’t a solution to pervasive social bias. So why do we insist it is?”
45. The Same Artist Who Made People Cry With Her Comic ‘Good Boy’ Just Shared A New One With A Black Cat. *sob*
46. “SNL” Just Released Every “Stefon” Sketch, So Here Are The Funniest Ones.
47. 15 woodpiles that have been stacked into gorgeous works of art.
48. For the Birds, By the People: The Artist Building Human-Sized Nests on Great Big Story.
49. Lil Buck with Icons Of Modern Art. (video) “To mark the current exhibition at Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Icons Of Modern Art: The Shchukin Collection, London-based director Andrew Margetson follows Memphis-born jookin’ dancer Lil Buck as he twists and turns past masterpieces by the likes of Picasso and Matisse.”
50. Wolfenoot, a 7-year-old’s made-up holiday, goes viral, launches movement to benefit dogs and wolves.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 