0. Karma Yoga Class: Benefits Susan G Komen. I’m teaching this yoga class next Saturday. I know most of you aren’t local, so can’t come, but I thought I’d mention it because you can still donate. Whether you want to come or just donate, here’s what to do: Go to the site. Make donation, (search term ‘Om Ananda Yoga’). Register for class. You can also search to see if a class is happening near you.

1. Write to Get Free, a six-week writing course with Melissa Toler that starts September 23. “Over 6 weeks, we’ll be writing about truth, pleasure, and body diversity. We’ll explore our own feelings about the process of unlearning. We ALL have a lot of unlearning and re-learning to do when it comes to body size and weight. I believe that writing is one of the best ways to help us get free from harmful ideas about beauty, health, and the way we’re taught to value bodies, especially in health and wellness spaces. I believe writing has the power to heal us.” I really, really, really wish I had the time to do this class.

2. Defining Myself For Myself: Why I Won’t Be Selling The #MeAndWhiteSupremacy Workbook from Layla Saad.

3. Keep Going: A guide to staying creative in chaotic times, Austin Kleon’s book, coming in April 2019. The link is to a post about the new book, but it also shares the video for the talk he gave that inspired the book.

4. Acting ICE Director attends annual media event of anti-immigrant hate group FAIR. In related news, Border Patrol Officer Suspected of Killing Four Women in Texas, and Border Patrol Supervisor Arrested In Texas, Held In ‘Serial Killing Spree’. Also, Is Trump using hurricane relief money to fund ICE? Not exactly, and Trump Administration Transferred $9.8 Million From FEMA To ICE. Go ahead and tell me again how these units are “keeping us safe.”

5. 6 Reasons Why Introverts And Pets Are Perfect For Each Other.

6. 5 Ways Meditation Enriched My Creative Career on Lion’s Roar. “Artist and film director Ivan Cash shares five ways the practice of meditation has benefitted his life, creativity, and career.”

7. Classic English Kitchen Gone Rogue on SF Girl. Our hardwood floors have been waiting to be redone for about 15 years now. Last year, we got as far as getting a bid, but didn’t go through with it, got the outside walls insulated instead. I look at the floors in this kitchen and think to myself, once again, that maybe we just sand and oil them, leave it at that. I like the clean distressed look, and it seems so much more dog friendly.

8. A Guide To Cultural Appropriation Vs. Appreciation.

9. Nearly 150 people lined up to foster dogs displaced by Hurricane Florence. (video) In related news:

10. Halloween is coming! (video – make sure you turn the sound on)

11. Painting a different picture of homelessness. (video)

12. Woman destroys anti-abortion argument by proving men cause 100% of unwanted pregnancies.

13. The Dark Side Of The INFJ Personality Type. Yup, I’ve got a dark side. In related news, 5 Strengths Of The Rare And Often Misunderstood INFJ Personality.

14. 2 Different Versions of Amber Guyger’s Story Appear on 2 Different Warrants Related to the Shooting of Botham Jean. In related news, Botham Shem Jean’s Killing Reveals A Deadly American Lie.

15. Revolve Releases, Then Pulls Lena Dunham-Designed “Being Fat Is Not Beautiful” Sweatshirt.

16. 10-year-old Anose has been singing all his life. (video) “But after being traumatically displaced from Myanmar, his songs are no longer the same.”

17. Joe’s Violin (2017 Academy Award nominee) (video). “In this Academy Award-nominated film, a Holocaust survivor donates his violin to a local instrument drive, changing the life of a schoolgirl from the nation’s poorest congressional district.”

18. 7 of the Best Episodes of Levar Burton Reads.

19. White Artists Need to Start Addressing White Supremacy in Their Work on LitHub.

20. Naomi Osaka Tells Ellen DeGeneres What Serena Williams Whispered To Her.

21. John Bunn was wrongfully convicted of murder as a teenager, “and exonerated after 27 years of fighting for his freedom. He says the power of reading saved him. Now, he’s building libraries in prisons.” (video)

22. Writer Perfectly Explains Why Children Of Mentally Unstable Parents Overthink Everything So Much.

23. Eric Trump: Woodward earned ‘three extra shekels’ with CNN appearance. “Want to know why it’s important for social platforms to enforce their rules regarding hate and advertisers to stop funding shows that promote bigotry? This man just used a term (making “extra shekels”) only used by Nazis on the Internet on a show seen by millions. And he’s the president’s son.”

24. These college friends have no idea that they’re about to be reunited for the first time in 3 years. (video)

25. Dwarf Pit Bull Doesn’t Look Like Anyone Else In The World. (video)

26. This man flashed his gun while blocking a group of Black students from visiting a classmate’s apartment. (video) In related news, A police officer shot and killed this man during a traffic stop (video), and video shows a white Portland woman going off on a disgusting racist rant against a woman of color. Two out of three of these people lost their jobs for their behavior. Guess which one didn’t?

27. Police Accidentally Tweet Screenshot Showing That They Monitor Anti-Racism and Anti-Police Brutality Groups.

28. Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, comes forward in the Washington Post. In related news, The case for delaying vote on Kavanaugh gets a lot more obvious.

29. The State of Things – Weight and Health from Dances with Fat.

30. This queer teacher was suspended and reassigned after parents accused her of ‘promoting her lifestyle’ in class — now she’s suing the school district. (video)

31. Sheillah, the 9 year-old Kenyan artist painting from the heart. (video)

1. Danielle Ate the Sandwich and Andrea Gibson. One writes folk songs and plays the ukulele, and the other writes poems and has the cutest dog ever, so why would I put them together? Because on Saturday night, I saw Andrea perform in Boulder, and on Sunday night, I went to Danielle’s show in Fort Collins, and it reminded me just how much I adore both of them, as humans and artists. So, if you didn’t already know about them, I felt compelled to tell you. They both have tons of stuff on YouTube, Danielle has a new album and Andrea just released a new book, so even if you can’t get to a show, you should totally check them out, (but a show is even better).

2. ‘Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown’ Final Episodes Trailer.

3. How to Establish A Home Meditation Practice – That Isn’t A Total Drag from Adreanna Limbach. In related news, What Meditation Isn’t and What Meditation Can’t Cure. Also, did you know I am a certified meditation instructor? I can help you start a practice, restart or deepen one you already have. We meet online for sessions using Zoom, so we don’t have to be in the same location. A session looks something like this: we “sit” together, me giving meditation instruction as necessary, for 15 minutes (shorter for sure if you are just beginning), and then we chat for 15 minutes about all things practice, and I leave you with a plan. We can meet once a week, once a month, once in awhile, or just once. My current rate is $25 per session. Send me an email if you want to know more, have questions, or want to schedule a session: lifewholehearted@gmail.com

4. Sometimes It’s Okay To Quit Writing The Thing You’re Writing from Chuck Wendig on Terrible Minds.

5. Colin Kaepernick Was Right About Us from John Pavlovitz. In related news, Here’s a refresher on what exactly Colin Kaepernick is trying to change (video) and The Real Patriots are the Protestors (video), and This Mayor Just Banned Nike Products From His City’s Recreation Facilities, and Nike Founder Phil Knight Writes a Million-Dollar Check to Republican Candidate for Oregon Governor Knute Buehler.

6. I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration on The New York Times. In related news, The crisis isn’t Trump. It’s his Republican enablers.

7. Bodycam Footage Shows Cincinnati Cop Scolding 11-Year-Old Girl He Used Taser On. In related news, This 11-year-old was handcuffed at gunpoint despite new police policies encouraging alternatives (video), and Black Teen Driving with White Grandmother Handcuffed by Police Because Bystander Said He Was Robbing Her, and School Resource Officer Uses Taser To Wake Up Sleeping Student.

8. Good stuff from Karen Walrond’s This Was a Good Week list: We Became McDonalds Poster Models (video) and Green Day Concert Crowd Singing Bohemian Rhapsody.

9. Why I’m Retiring from Personal Blogging. I get it, and yet…It’s mildly (or maybe more so) problematic to write a blog, use it to build an audience and get a book deal, etc., and then when you outgrow the situation and decide to do things differently, shift your position from content creator to critic of content overwhelm.

10. A Simple Technique for Launching Your Project in 20 Minutes from Zen Habits. I like the notion of feeling fear and doing it anyway, also doing things in small chunks rather than letting the full measure of it overwhelm you. This seems to be related news to me, How do you get people to notice your business?

11. The Meaning of Serena Williams: On tennis and black excellence. From The New York Times Magazine. In related news, Competition, Compassion and the Stories We Don’t Hear About Black Women Athletes, and J.K. Rowling And Thousands Of Others Blast Wildly Racist Serena Williams Newspaper Cartoon, and Serena Williams’s US Open fight with umpire Carlos Ramos, explained, and The World Owes Serena Williams an Apology.

12. The Plaid Shirt Guy From The Trump Rally Reveals His Identity.

13. The Debt. “When terrible, abusive parents come crawling back, what do their grown children owe them?” I’ve seen this work the other way too, good parents who end up with terrible, abusive kids who are grown, but still have expectations of attention and support.

14. Wanda James went from Obama’s financial aide to a dispensary owner after seeing the racial disparity in weed arrests. (video)

15. Newsflash––black labor built this country. Here’s your Labor Day black history lesson. (video)

16. Meet the table busser who’s worked at the same Wilmette pancake house for 54 years. You should be shocked what he’s paid after so many years. In related news, Her six-hour commute each day seems crazy, but her affordable rent is not.

17. White Baseball Players Kneel in the 50’s to protest Black Lynchings.

18. Karma Yoga Class: Benefits Susan G Komen. I’m teaching this one on September 22. Check out project:OM’s page to find out how to donate or find a class in your area.

19. Quitting My Job To Freelance Was The Right Move For This Introvert.

20. Nearly 90 Elephants Found Dead Near Botswana Sanctuary, Killed By Poachers. In related news, Poachers killed 87 elephants in a mass killing spree in Botswana. (video)

21. Roseanne Barr Says She’s Moving To Israel When ‘The Conners’ Premieres. Bye.

22. How to disagree well: 7 of the best and worst ways to argue.

23. Anicee was born with Brittle Bone Disease and raised in an orphanage. “At age seven she found her forever home when adopted by parents who are both diagnosed with the same condition. Now thirteen, Anicee truly understands the value of family.” (video)

24. Levi’s is taking a huge stand against gun violence. (video)

25. Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley Moves Closer Toward Becoming Massachusetts’ First Black Female U.S. Representative.

26. Why Black And Brown People Will Never Be Safe In States With ‘Stand Your Ground’.

27. This Father Doing His Daughter’s Hair On The Subway Is The Cutest Thing You’ll See Today.

28. She got a message at 2am and dropped everything. Her former student needed her help. (video)

29. Branson and his friends went to Breaux Mart for groceries. He was not prepared for what happened next. (video)

30. A white female Dallas police officer killed a black man, walked in to the wrong apartment thinking that it was her own. If the sight of a black person would scare you so badly that you’d shoot to kill, you need to do some serious work. If you do shoot and kill them, that’s murder, (not manslaughter, murder). And consider this, what is wrong with our culture that fear, warranted or not, is enough of a reason to KILL someone?! #BlackLivesMatter In related news, Family, Mourners Remember the Life of Botham Shem Jean, Killed in His Own Home by a Dallas Cop.

31. During the curtain call of Broadway’s “Frozen,” an actor snatched a pro-Trump banner. (video)

32. Women Share The Horrifying Things That Happened When They Rejected A Guy. In related news, Violently Fragile Man Stomps, Shatters Woman’s Windshield After Having His Advances Rejected.

33. Two White Moms. Six Black Kids. One Unthinkable Tragedy. A Look Inside the ‘Perfect’ Hart Family.

34. Why Do the Bad Men Think We Need Them? “As the ‘comebacks’ start, remember that we’re doing just fine without these guys.”

35. Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Lied to the Senate About. “He should be impeached, not elevated.” In related news, Science Does Not Support Claims That Contraceptives Are ‘Abortion-Inducing’ from The New York Times.

36. This Artist Is Reclaiming Black Crowns One Brushstroke At A Time.

37. To The Non-Racist White People, Please Just Be The First.

38. Florida Man Who Shot and Killed Black Man Over Parking Space Dispute in ‘Stand Your Ground’ Case Claims He Was ‘Very Scared’.

39. Michelle Obama opened up about the racism she endured as first lady. In related news (as in he’s related to her), If you still don’t think the midterms will affect you, Barack Obama is back to spell out just how important they are. (video)

40. Allegations of racism at Orange County high school football game underscore broader tension in the Trump era.

41. 8 Reasons Successful People Are Choosing to Wear the Same Thing Every Day.

42. Fidget spinners, weighted blankets, and the rise of anxiety consumerism.

43. Cutest 2-Year-Old Cake Baker. Seriously this is the cutest thing I think I’ve ever seen. I can’t stop watching it.