1. The Community Fridge – Helping Those In Need. (video)
2. I Talked to 150 Writers and Here’s the Best Advice They Had.
3. By D Grace of God. (video) “When Ben was contacted by an internet scammer named Joel, he had two choices. He could ignore him or knowingly take the bait. Ben decided to lead the scammer on in hopes of wasting his time. However, when he started to do that, things took a totally unexpected turn.”
4. Racists were afraid to attend their own hate speech rally in Murfreesboro Tennessee. (video)
5. A Chicano Community In San Diego Is Outraged Over A White Woman’s Attempt To Open A ‘Modern Fruteria.’ No, Jenny. Just no. You too, Becky. Just stop it.
6. The deadlier drug crises that we don’t consider public health emergencies. “Alcohol and tobacco kill far more people than opioids. Should they be considered an ‘epidemic’?”
7. Why you should give money directly and unconditionally to homeless people.
8. Women accusing Trump of sexual harassment are lying, says White House. White hot rage is all I feel in response to this.
9. ICE agents are out of control, y’all. Because this: Border Patrol Hauls 10-Year-Old Away IMMEDIATELY Post Surgery. (video) And this: Oregon ICE Agents Enter Home Without Warrant. (video) And in seemingly related news, this: This is a disgraceful abuse of power. (video) And this: Assistant Principal Placed on Leave After Pinning Student to Ground. (video)
11. how sza became the definitive sound of 2017. I didn’t think anything could come anywhere near to how much I love Solange’s “A Seat At The Table.” Then came SZA with “Ctrl.”
12. Roxane Gay Lists 13 Rules for Female Friendships.
13. C.D.C. Panel Recommends a New Shingles Vaccine from The New York Times. These vaccines are all recommended for those over 50 or even 60, but the majority of people I know who’ve had shingles are women in their 30s, and many of them have recurring, ongoing outbreaks.
15. The Adjunct’s Guide to Teaching College Composition on McSweeney’s.
16. Andrea Gibson: exploring chronic pain. (video)
17. More Than 800 People Have Been Shot To Death Since The Las Vegas Massacre.
18. Recipes I’d like to try: Healthier “Bacon” 4 Ways and 5-Minute Vegan Sauces (video).
19. 2017 Sony World Photography Best Photos Will Take Your Breath Away.
20. The Flint water crisis inspired clever 11-year-old Gitanjali Rao to develop a new water testing kit.
21. This Man Asked A Simple Question Online That Shut Down The Whole Anti-Abortion Argument.
22. All the Beautiful Humans. The story of a bad day that turned out to be a reminder of “all the beautiful humans.”
23. How to Engage a Fanatic from The New York Times. Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about this.
24. “That’s Racist Against White People!” A Discussion on Power and Privilege. An older post, but worth repeating, since apparently so many people still don’t understand how this works.
25. Photos Show Rituals Of Womanhood In Remote Tribes Around The World. Stunning.
26. Students call for professor’s firing after he hosts ‘female or shemale’ quiz during class.
27. To The White Woman I Can No Longer Be Friends With. This is hard to hear, but we need to hear it.
29. Wisdom from Pema Chödrön, “It’s hard to know whether to laugh or to cry at the human predicament. Here we are with so much wisdom and tenderness, and—without even knowing it—we cover it over to protect ourselves from insecurity. Although we have the potential to experience the freedom of a butterfly, we mysteriously prefer the small and fearful cocoon of ego.”
30. Aaron Lee, the “Angry Asian Buddhist,” has died, age 34. I can’t stop thinking about this part (read his whole post here),
In his last year, Aaron shifted his focus from activism towards creating “refuges,” which he described as spaces where someone can feel safe, supported, and nurtured. In a blog post, he wrote, “In the hospital, I found my speech and actions could become refuges for my family and caregivers — providing them with a space where they could feel calm, positive and helpful.”
31. All Hands on Deck, a poem by Jena Schwartz. P.S. She did an unplanned, impromptu reading of this at a coffee shop last week. Just got up and read it out loud. I already look to Jena as an example of how to be a writer on the page, but she’s also a good example of how to live as a writer off the page.
32. Cambridge University moves to ‘decolonise’ English literature curriculum adding more black and ethnic minority texts. As I read this, I can’t help but hearing Queen Whitney Houston singing in my head, “I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.”
33. Samoan fire crew sings beautiful hymn amid Northern California wildfires.
34. The Absence Of Empathy, which says at one point,
We’re trapped in a doomed 4-step program:
Step one: The president is challenged in a way that pushes him toward unbearable feelings inadequacy.
Step two: He responds by saying something despicable, usually projecting his weakness and corruption onto someone else.
Step three: He gets blasted by media, politicians, etc.
Step four: His followers experience this shaming as proof of Trump’s infallibility and redouble their allegiance.
35. Why people keep dieting despite logic or rationality from Isabel Foxen Duke. “The fantasy that we can diet our way into safety, love, power and acceptance—and diet our way out of judgment, powerlessness, oppression or rejection—underlies all body-image or “food issues” to some degree or another.”
36. 12 Things Introverts Absolutely Need to Be Happy. I need to keep this somewhere I can refer to it often, as a reminder to get out of my own way.
37. 31 Things That Will Happen When You Finally Decide To Live Your Dreams. I want to go to there.
Open Space Practice, (AKA: A Thousand Shades of Gray) 