Well, it’s certainly been a minute since the last time we did one of these. My apologies in advance for any ancient links but they’ve been piling up in my bookmarks and it’s time to share:

Education and Learning

• Classical Unschooling and the Half Step Method by Purva Brown at Simple Homeschooling. I wouldn’t have known what to call this, but it matches a lot of my own philosophy (especially re: math).
• Brain Science: Focus – Can you Pay Attention? by Art Kohn. Preachers and teachers ignore this trend at their peril and at the expense of what we’re trying to communicate.
• Becoming Authentically Human is Hard. But Not Impossible. By Carolyn Arends at The Rabbit Room.

Book Lists and Literary

• I would love to get my hands on some of these reprints of Margery Sharp and Stella Gibbons. The originals are nearly impossible to find.
• 12 Best Reprints of 2020 from Semicolon. I own some of these (and they are lovely)!
• I’ve only read two of the books on this list (and they were mysteries): Austenprose’s Best Austenesque Books of 2020.
• This is long, deep read with plenty of food for thought: The Plane Where Nietzsche and Austen Meet by Angela Franks. (Does not entirely match with my reading of Mansfield Park, but then, I’d be unlikely to bring Nietzsche into it.)
• STOP. MAKING. UP. LEWIS. QUOTES. C.S. Lewis didn’t write the “so many souls” quote tied to Covid-19 actions currently circulating on Facebook.

Politics Adjacent

• Grendel Should Not Have Rampaged Through Our Capitol, But Slaying Him Will Only Further Divide Our Clans from McSweeneys. *cough*
• How to Be Pro-Life in Our Real Lives by Gracy Olmstead at CT.
• Mere Orthodoxy had several interesting reviews of Jesus and John Wayne from different viewpoints. These are the two that most interested me: Jesus Plus Masculinity for America’s Sake by Sean Michael Lucas and Accusations Aren’t Evidence by Jamie Carlson. For the record, Kristin du Mez actually responded on Twitter to the latter, pushing back against the “lack of evidence” charge. What do I think? I think you should read it and wrestle with it for yourself, of course.
• This is not really political, but it’s horrifying nonetheless: A Vast Web of Vengeance by Kashmir Hill in The New York Times.
• Another horrifying story (trigger warnings): The Controversy Behind the False Memory Syndrome Foundation by Katie Heany. (The Body Keeps the Score dealt with this memory controversy, but not comprehensively. There is more work to be done here.)

Interesting

• 12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms from Mental Floss. “Wend your way” and “To and fro” are two examples, but the whole list is interesting.
• Fascinating Twitter thread telling a true story about a janitor, a Fortune 500 company, and a life-changing meeting.
• 3,000 Year Old Painters Palette from Egypt with Original Colors Still in It. Wow!
• A Curious Journey Through the Story of the Passport from Messy Nessy Chic. (I am so sad “passport stamps” are becoming a thing of the past. Collecting them was part of the fun of overseas travel. Oh well.)
• This is not good news (although the headline is unnecessarily dire): Bananas As We Know Them Are Doomed. Even if you don’t go in for doom-and-gloom scenarios, this article is interesting for the picture comparing today’s bananas with the wild banana. Anyhoo, SAVE THE BANANA! It’s one of my children’s main food groups.
• I followed a rabbit trail on the internet recently about music keys and popular music which eventually lead to this: A Chart of the Most Commonly Used Keys Shows Our Actual Musical Tastes from Gizmodo.
• Humor: Here’s How Time Works in 2021 from McSweeneys.

From Living Unabridged

Recent: Books of January
One year ago: Star Wars and Storytelling (epically long post alert)
Two years ago: Living One Moment at a Time
Three years ago: Reading Isn’t Just for the Rich
Four years ago: INTJ Knowledge Collecting
Five years ago: Four Diagnostic Question for the Mid-Year
Six years ago: 15 Tips for Keeping Warm