1. Some highlights from the final week of the Paris Olympics: The first-ever Olympic gold for Philippines, Sha’Carri Richardson’s blistering, come-from-behind anchor leg ices 4x100m gold, Ray Gun performing her unique version of breakdancing, and this Instagram reel “me during the Olympics watching a sport I usually wouldn’t have been interested in.”

2. The tiny egg and the life it produced. (Facebook reel)

3. Notes to Self, a Facebook post from Jen Lemen.

4. Ecology of Love on the Poetry Off the Shelf podcast. “Camille Dungy on her garden, writing from the provinces, and the poetry of Anne Spencer.”

5. David Michael Wyatt – Hey Ya! @Andre3000 cover. (video) “The Velvet Voice.”

6. This is what depression looks like from Jenny Lawson, The Bloggess. “And if you’re trapped in your own labyrinth right now (whether physically or mentally) please know that you are not alone. That you are more than your messiest, hidden parts. That things will get better even when depression tells you they won’t. That you will write again or create again or smile again. That so many of us struggle (even when we may be too ashamed to show it) so you shouldn’t judge yourself by your idea of everyone else’s shiny lives.”

7. Petrified Wood: The Journey from Wood to Stone.

8. Recipes I want to try: Soft Ginger Cookie and Disney’s Molasses Crackle Cookie.

9. The Art of Grieving, “A feature-length documentary exploring art therapy, grief, and one artist’s mission to heal from loss.”

10. The luxuries of living small, “Freedom, time, and maximal joy” on Rootsie from Rita Ott Ramstad.

11. Blue Was the Color of Home, “A tumultuous childhood on the sea and the pull to return” on gentle sentiments from Amanda Sandlin.

12. Hold Space For One Another, “We can’t change anything, unless empathy is carried with us” from Frederick Joseph.

13. Why Joy, Hope and Positivity Are Tools for Survival, “How we can cultivate the power of positivity to see things more constructively and improve our overall outlook on life” on The Gurdeep Magazine.

14. Lucky, a poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

15. Striking Animal Portraits Capture “Humanlike” Poses Full of Personality. In related news, Jay Lichter Illuminates Stunning Colors and Textures in Macro Photos of Elusive Slime Molds.

16. Writing against the clock from Hugh Hollowell.

17. What Happens in a Mind That Can’t ‘See’ Mental Images. “Neuroscience research into people with aphantasia, who don’t experience mental imagery, is revealing how imagination works and demonstrating the sweeping variety in our subjective experiences.”

18. And finally, a bunch of other good stuff I saved this week.

1. Howard Schatz’s Images Of Female Athletes. This is an older series of photos, but it resurfaced this week after all the weird gendered body shaming happening at the Olympics. The full series includes male athletes and is pretty amazing. 

2. 14 things that the misguided religious establishment doesn’t want you to know from Jim Palmer, a former evangelical megachurch pastor. My favorite is #14: “You are capable of guiding your own spiritual path from the inside out and don’t need to be told what to do. You naturally have the ability, capacity, tools and skills to guide and direct your life meaningfully, ethically and effectively. Through the use of your fundamental human faculties such as critical thinking, empathy, reason, conscience and intuition, you can capably lead your life. You have the choice to cultivate a spirituality that doesn’t require you to be inadequate, powerless, weak, and lacking, but one that empowers you toward strength, vitality, wholeness, and the fulfillment of your highest potentialities and possibilities.”

3. Oliver Chalk Meticulously Turns Found Pieces of Timber into Bold and Voluminous Vessels.

4. This year’s longlist for the Booker Prize.

5. Documentary Area. Watch hundreds of the best documentaries for a simple donation. In related news, The Best Documentaries & Docuseries of 2024 (So Far).

6. Telling the Story of Everest Pioneer Lhakpa Sherpa Took Patience and Trust on Outside. “Five questions with Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker, whose latest documentary ‘Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa’ debuts on Netflix on July 31.”

7. PHOTOS: Colorado wildfires burn across Front Range.

8. The Newest National Parks Feature? Poetry. on Outside. “Ada Limón, America’s first Latina poet laureate, is helping us rethink wild spaces with some perfectly placed poems at a park near you.”

9. Homeowners are increasingly re-wilding their homes with native plants, experts say.

10. Hummingbird babies. (Facebook reel)

11. Snoop Dogg and Lester Holt one-on-one at Paris Olympics. (video) “Snoop Dogg, deemed the Paris Olympics ‘ambassador of happiness,’ has been making his rounds to almost any sport you can think of this year. Turns out, his love for the Olympic games goes way back. Lester Holt sat down for a one-on-one interview with Snoop before the two caught a Judo match together.” In related news, Snoop Dogg’s Olympics commentary is ‘pure gold.’ How the rapper’s love for Team USA is taking the internet by storm.

12. Recipe I want to try: Lemon Scones. 

13. I avoided plastic for a week. Here is what I learned about a plastic-free life.

14. Two American Families: 1991-2024, “a special, two-hour documentary filmed over more than 30 years, is a portrait of perseverance from FRONTLINE, Bill Moyers, and filmmakers Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes that raises unsettling questions about the changing nature of the American economy and the impact on people struggling to make a living.”

15. Marc Maron’s take on meditation. (Facebook reel)

16. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nap. This article is a few years old, but still relevant. 

17. ‘A rumpled paperback showed me I was not alone’: Charlotte Mendelson, Michael Rosen and others on the books that marked their coming of age.

18.  Reuse that teabag! Ignore that special offer! It’s time to join the underconsumer revolution. “Most of us already have more than enough stuff. No wonder so many young people are turning their backs on the marketers and influencers.”

19. A Few Wild Things from Laurie Wagner. In related news, Wild Writing Summer Pop Up with Laurie.

20. Love Letter Sent Back in Time to Myself Three Years Ago, another gorgeous and tender poem from Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

21. I have trouble fitting in from Jenny Lawson.

22. ‘Trees show us what community means’. The importance of having access to forests, according to you. “Positive News readers share profound moments you’ve experienced in forests and how being around trees impacts your wellbeing.”

23. Rising and shining: one woman’s mission to demystify the baking of bread. “After making bread lifted her out of a deep depression, Kitty Tait made it her mission to demystify the alchemy of baking – and reawaken others to the many benefits of an honest, unprocessed, crust.”

24. Sinéad O’Connor’s cause of death revealed. 

25. Poetry Wednesday: Kinship is a Verb from Patti Digh.

26. 7 Things You Must Abandon for a Simpler Life on Be More With Less from Courtney Carver.

27. Happy Born Day, Ancestor James Baldwin! from Robert Jones, Jr.

28. The Joy of Staying Put from Maggie Smith.

29. 50 Shades of Self-Care: How to Give Yourself TLC for Every Occasion.

30. This collection of images I saved this week.