Happy Leap Day, everyone!
I tried to think of some new tradition my family could observe for this occasion but we didn't come up with anything. So, a nice day at home with all the family (even our college student isn't working) will do. (Spoiler: that's my favorite way to observe any day.)
How about your family? Do you have any leap year traditions?
I've saved so many links since the last time, you might need this extra day just for catching up!
- Do You Think In Words? by Catie Keck at Gizmodo. Yes. Yes, I do. And it blows my mind that other people apparently do not.
- Made me laugh: Coming Soon from the Hamilton Cinematic Universe by Kathleen O'Mara at McSweeneys.
- Wow: 3,700 Year Old Babylonian Stone Tablet Gets Translated, Changes History from Distractify.
- In the Era Of Fake News, Teaching Media Literacy is a Must by Holly Korbey. I'd argue teaching LITERACY at all is a must. Some critical thinking skills would be a nice bonus.
- Blessed are the Cobblers, Recyclers, and Thrift Store Shoppers by Anna Broadway at CT.
- I was fascinated with the story of Jeanne Calment when I was a young teen so this definitely caught my eye: Was Jeanne Calment the Oldest Person Who Ever Lived or a Fraud at The New Yorker.
- My temp has always run lower than 98.6 but it was interesting to discover that's not just true for me: Why Your Body's Average Temp Isn't 98.6 Degrees Anymore from The List.
- She Said, He Sued. More #metoo fallout.
- Sad story of a beloved author, but also illustrates that the current opiate crisis is "nothing new under the sun": Lucy Maud Montgomery's Agonizing Drug Addiction from Maclean's.
- This twitter thread (here) and the related article caused some consternation in certain circles, but I think the author is trying to explain something that has been missed by some economists: The Cost of Thriving by Oren Cass.
- Fun and fascinating infographic: The 100 Most Spoken Languages in the World.
- Obligatory Coronovirus reading: Blockbuster news from China about COVID-19 from Watts Up With That. (Hint: don't panic.)
- Behind the Scenes at Rotten Tomatoes. I never really check the site before I see a movie but I guess some folks do?
- Sobering reading: The Curious Case of America's Suicide Crisis by Charles Fain Lehman.
- How Not to Be Just a Consumer at Church by Tyler Edwards at Relevant. Want community? Get involved.
- Not unrelated: Is There a Place for Priscilla in Our Churches? by Rachel Green Miller at White Horse Inn.
- If you have young Christian teens, this probably needs to be on your radar: 5 Lessons from Rhett and Link's Spiritual Deconstruction by Esther O'Reilly. We've had some good but hard discussions with our teens recently, thanks to this situation.
- Context Matters: Always Prepared to Make a Defense by Peter Krol. (Hint: we don't have to know the answer to EVERY question.)
- I've already sworn off Airbnb for ever and ever, amen. But stories like this confirm my resolution: I Stumbled Across a Huge Airbnb Scam That's Taking Over London by James Temperton for Wired.
- Laugh out loud (then sigh): Self-Care Tips for Toddlers from McSweeneys.
From Living Unabridged
Recent: I wrote a long, rambling collection of thoughts about Star Wars. (As one does)
People do not think in words? I thought that was how we think! Crazy. And that makes me sad about Lucy Maud, but I knew from my other reading that the opioid crisis is nothing new. The Astoria, OR area has a very stained history due to opiates.