It's been a strange week, right? Something about the 4th of July holiday coming basically in the middle of the week has made everything slightly "off". My kids have been up too late for three or four nights in a row and it's showing in their tempers and attitudes.
Maybe next week will be a bit calmer (she said, optimistically...) Meanwhile, I have loads of links saved for you so let's get to it!
OK, so reading the "Crazy Rich Asians" series (see: books of June) made me wonder strange things. Things like: how much money is there in the world, anyway? So, here are two links I found trying to answer that question:
- Here's All the Money in the World in One Chart from MarketWatch. The chart is from 2017 so I'm guessing things might have changed a little.
- How Much Money is There in the World? from World Atlas. This article is from 2018. The mind boggles trying to comprehend these numbers, or at least, my mind does!
- Fascinating study: Civic Honesty Around the Globe from Science.
- We've had a few conversations with our teenage daughters around this discussion: When Fandom is the Problem from Gizmodo. (language and content warning)
- MLMs Are a Nightmare for Women and Everyone They Know by Casey Bond. Yes, I'd love to make more money for my family. No, I am not interested in your leggings, essential oils, or whatever the next thing is. These programs end up costing women money, but they also end up hurting relationships. Women are increasingly skeptical when making new female friends because the chances are good at some point this friendly female is going to ask if we're interested in hosting a party for [fill in the blank trendy product]
- Laugh and then sigh a little: My Three-Month-Old's Guide to Sleep Training Your Parents by C. L. Mah at McSweeneys.
- Poignant: 8 Things I've Learned in 8 Years of Grief by Lisa Appelo. And yes, I had to hug my husband a little longer after reading this one.
- America's Epidemic of Empty Churches by Jonathan Merritt at The Atlantic. Sobering in more than one way.
- I'm 20. I have 32 Half Siblings. This is My Family Portrait by Eli Baden-Lasar in The New York Times Magazine. The line that immediately jumped out at me: "I think they were just so focused on thinking about the new family they were creating that they never stopped to think about the implications of the huge, inadvertent social experiment they were joining."
- Hillbillies Need No Elegy by Meredith McCarroll. Counterpoint to J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, of course. And no matter what you think about Vance's book, you can't deny it sure has stirred things up. My take? Hillbilly Elegy works best as a memoir and less as a policy directive or nuanced coverage of an entire demographic.
- What Christians Shouldn't Say in Response to an Abuse Story by Dr. Duncan Forbes. We need to be getting this right.
- Children Need Magic by Joshua Gibbs at CiRCE Institute. Co-sign.
- No, Using a Cellphone Isn't Causing You to Grow a Horn from Gizmodo.
- Each State's Favorite Pixar Film, According to Google Trends. See the original map here: Your State's Most Beloved Pixar Movie.
- Giant Mysterious Creature Recorded in Lake Michigan During a Storm by Paul Seaburn at Mysterious Planet. Me: coughs nervously.
From Living Unabridged
One year ago: On Re-Reading Austen (Timely! Because I'm teaching a Jane Austen class this fall.)
Two years ago: Review of The Story Cure
Three years ago: Delight Directed Learning for Mom
Four years ago: Four Music Playlists for Labor and Delivery (so wild to remember I had a brand new baby four years ago!)
Amazon Prime Day is July 15 & 16. If you're excited about that sort of thing, maybe you could use my affiliate link?
