December 2010
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Superstitions for the New Year
Growing up, my mom always taped a $20 bill in the entry way of our house and threw coins on the ground to bring wealth into our home in the new year. So maybe it didn’t really work (err, foreclosure) but I was raised Catholic which means that I have a penchant for superstition and silly rituals - JUST-IN-CASE.
In preparation for the best year that hasn’t happened yet, I am going do...
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Watchbeingblog:
This Is What It Sounds Like When Doves Fly
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
This video of doves flying in Taiwan was just too graceful and peaceful not to share, especially at this time of year when any bird flying overhead in Minnesota is a minor miracle to behold. Winter’s breath and gilded wing draw one’s eye immediately to the majesty of the frozen sky. And here’s one of the...
Will I be able to finish the rest of
The Autobiography of Malcolm X after a truly upsetting nightmare about Satan trying to suck my soul and then having to go through a series of tests to not be engulfed in eternal Hell, including running a marathon from LaGuardia airport to Godknowswhere after having pissed my pants completely and a group test of having to create a narrative from a series of...
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“What the eff.”
– What I said in my head after this Tumblr app crashed over and over again while trying to edit a post.
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I have at least four pairs of jeans with holes in...
Ideas?
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“Who ARE you?!”
– My friend/former college roommate*, during our bi-annual catch up phone conversation and in response to the news that I got a tattoo in 2010.
p.s. earlier version of this said “former college roommate/friend” which implies that we are no longer friends. I suppose that would depend on...
Oops.
I forgot about that self-imposed hiatus from drinking that I said I’d take for six months. One day at a time, right?
I feel so damn lucky to have friends who have been in my life since I was a silly 16 year old. Over 10 years. We are scattered across the country but come together at least once a year for my friend’s holiday party. This year, I drank too much and talked too much. (Wait, I did that two years ago too.) I was took the mantle of official gin drinker of the night. Falkster, you need to stop...
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Music Fires Up Emotions in the Brain (Psych... →
psychotherapy:
In a new study using brain imaging, researchers have identified how key aspects of musical performance cause emotion-related brain activity.
Edward Large, Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator, and Heather Chapin, Ph.D., the lead author, believe that their study pinpoints how musical performances charge up the brain’s emotional centers, and said that their technique will lead...
Snowmodern.
fightwithknives:
Erica: i know, our lives are now controlled by parking restrictions or the threat of parking restrictions Deb: we are in the panopticon, and it is a snowglobe
Steph: You mean, Taylor Swift’s snowglobe.
Advice from My Mother
Mom: Do you not want to talk?
Me: Not really. I'm depressed.
Mom: Is this because you don't have a boyfriend?
Me: No. Well, I guess that's probably part of it....But, no, it's not because of that. I'm just...depressed.
Mom: You should eat some chocolate.
So I ate some chocolate. It made me feel a little bit better. But that's probably more because it got me out of bed.
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Women "Pee" In Public and 5 Other Crazy Feminist... →
caterpillarcowboy:
It’s stuff like this that makes people hate the word “feminist”.
I really take issue with that article. I think it’s more the way that these clever protests are framed as “crazy” that makes people hate the word. Why is it that when women respond to the sexist world and sexist attitudes that we are the ones who become labeled crazy??? SEXISM IS CRAZY.
p.s....
“I’d be in pitch meetings, and I’d say, ‘Did you notice that there was only one...”
– Geena Davis and her Institute on Gender in Media have done some fantastic research and activism highlighting the need for more girls in children’s movies. (via fightwithknives)
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What if instead of "I'll see you later" or "We'll...
we just accepted that this may be the last time that you ever see this person and we said how we really felt? “I kind of hate you right now.”
“Thanks for a fun day. I really enjoyed spending time with you.”
“I love you.”
“Nice knowing you.”
—-
Wow, I am so pre-menstrual right now. Not to negate anything that I just said.
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"I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5
besidestheobvious:
I Want You Back by The Jackson 5 Download now or listen on posterous Jackson 5 - I Want You Back.mp3 (2790 KB) My favorite song of all time.
Oh, little Michael. That reminds me of this freaking amazing slam poem that I saw this year at the National Poetry by the Nuyoricans: The Suicide Note Michael Jackson Should Have Written.
Did you know that every time I sang “I...
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Poetry and Me
When I was a kid, books and writing gave me sanity. The Baby Sitters and their Club distracted me from the neverending fights between my parents and my sadness every other week when my “best friends” would dump me on the playground, defriending long before Facebook was around. Books gave me a glimpse into what it was like to be a “normal” American kid with parents who...
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Change Talk for 2011
Research on the Motivational Interviewing approach in psychotherapy finds the most effective way to create change during therapy is to engage in “change talk.” Change talk consists of statements of intention to act, not just the desire to change. Not only that, but goals that are crafted in specific, measurable terms are more likely to be followed through on than broad, vague...
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“You are not your bra-size, nor are you the width of your waist, nor are you the...”
– Boyghost: This again.
TRUTH.
(via nancylicious)
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“James Baldwin has written that ‘Americans suffer from an ignorance that is not...”
– Roberty Nemiroff in Introduction to Raisin in the Sun (via kimberlylo)
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So you mean, being a jerk and saying, "NO ONE has...
This is from a weekly mailing list of teaching tips I subscribe to: What do you do when you get the crickets? Are you getting the crickets after you ask a question? Professional communications consultant Steve Hughes describes “getting the crickets” as follows: “Have you ever finished a presentation, opened the floor for questions, and then had nobody raise their hand? You desperately want...
I got it!
The solution is to continually remind myself that I love fruits and vegetables and nuts (not that kind of nuts). They taste good and are good for me.
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Peeps.
I don’t really care for “marshmallow” Peeps. When I really think about it, they’re pretty gross. But when springtime comes around and someone offers them to me, I always take at least one. And then I remember that they’re kinda gross and am left with nothing but calories and sticky fingers. I guess Peeps are basically pure sugar so does that make it worth it if...
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Maybe absence DOES make the heart grow fonder ~ I’m lookin’ at you, Tumblr.
XOXO
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