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Thursday, April 7, 2016

Is it time to retire the police sketch?

It's not you. Claw machines are rigged.

Love Therapy for Priests

An excerpt from Vox -


I’ve spent 30 years counseling priests who fall in love. Here’s what I learned.

How priests find themselves falling in love

It is true that some priests "fall in love" the way most of us think about that: They meet someone to whom they are drawn; they get to know them; they get physical; they get sexual.
In the normal (i.e., noncelibate) world, this is usually a happy series of events. In the celibate world, it may be happy but constrained — by the watchful eyes of parishioners and superiors, by public expectation, by personal feelings of guilt, by the lack of a clear path toward commitment.
If this experience leads to a decision to leave the priesthood and marry, as it often does, there is no psychological problem. It is simply a life choice: a difficult one, to be sure, but not unlike decisions incumbent upon all of us.
More common is the case of Father D., a successful priest and administrator who finally revealed ongoing involvements with two women that lasted for more than a decade. The push to disclose came when he told Woman No. 1 about Woman No. 2. He was shocked at her (understandably) angry reaction.
That shock enabled him to tell the story of how he got involved, what was going on with him at the time, and how he allowed it to persist even as his career was blossoming and exposure became more threatening. This allowed Father D. to develop a more realistic approach to whatever intimacy needs he had while remaining within the bounds of a celibate priesthood if he so chose.
This is more typical of what is seen in treatment centers: men who yield to their passions but are unable or unwilling to leave the priesthood they love and on which they depend. Up to the moment it becomes known, it is a balancing act between the priesthood and a relationship, or series of relationships, which they come to believe they cannot live without. Is there love involved? Sometimes. But mostly it's a matter of juggling two incompatible things.
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/7/11325336/priests-love-therapy


Confessions of an Airport Thief



http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/07/us/airport-theft-investigation/index.html

Not Just Because I'm One

From Lifehack -

10 Reasons to Respect Our Elders

They have lived longer than us

Well this we know, obviously. But when we truly stop to think about it and walk just a little way in their shoes, it commands respect. Life is hard! Have patience and consideration for the time they have spent on this earth.

They might know more than you think

If you haven’t already found things to talk to your grandparents, or your neighbour about, ask them questions. Respect the worlds they lived through, the parts of history they survived. They have a lifetime of knowledge.

They have experienced different things than us

The world was a different place ‘back in the day’. Evolution is happening fast, and we all know that different kinds of experience means different kinds of wisdom. Compare your differences, consult them, consider them. You might learn something you never could have learned from your own world.

They see the world in a different way

Through the experiences of their own lives and through the time they have spent on this earth, they will see the world from their own perspective. They might assign themselves differently to the way they walk and talk and dress. Take note. It might just broaden your horizons.

They have walked a mile in your shoes

The advantage anybody older than yourself has, is that they have lived at the age that you have before. Although every situation is different, they do know what it is like to be where you are, or at least, at the age you are at. Unfortunately you cannot say the same about them, so have respect and listen to what they have to say.

They are more travel weary

Who knows what countries they have trailed though, what mountains they have climbed to get where they are! They might be tired – offer them a seat!

They have experience we can only dream of

The world is a different place now. The world they lived in will also never exist again as it once did. We will never know what it was like then, before things changed and became now. We can only dream of what it was like to dance in the disco era, or experience war. They lived it. Show respect for the history they have survived.

They will have stories that can benefit us

Everybody has a story to tell. Everyone. These are the stories of our lives, the tales of us. Don’t just roll your eyes when your grandma or grandpa tells you ‘again’ about the good old days … relish in a story that might influence your own.

They are still learning from us too

As we are alive, we are all still learning. They might be older, but they are learning too. Have patience.

They are our family

Your grandparents choices in life resulted in YOU! Be grateful. Look after each other. Love is the answer.
“R.E.S.PE.C.T” – Aretha Franklin, mother and grandmother. 
http://www.lifehack.org/382748/10-reasons-respect-our-elders?mtype=daily_newsletter&mid=20160407_customized&uid=789627&email=fayesharpe%40gmail.com&action=click&ref=mail

This Would Drive Me Batty!

From Atlas Obscura - 

The Asymmetrical Charm of Crooked

 Houses

They're like regular buildings, but with a twist.




















http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-asymmetrical-charm-of-crooked-houses?utm_source=
Atlas+Obscura&utm_campaign=506aaf645c-Newsletter_4_7_20164_6_2016&utm_medium
=email&utm_term=0_62ba9246c0-506aaf645c-59905913&ct=
t(Newsletter_4_7_20164_6_2016)&mc_cid=
506aaf645c&mc_eid=866176a63f


This is Living!

The distinguished African-American gentleman featured in these two promos below is a friend and former colleague.  He is, hands down, one of the classiest people I've had the pleasure of knowing.

May I introduce to some and reacquaint to others, Mr. Louis Morton.












Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Black Girls Rock Indeed

From The New York Times - 

Long Island High School Student Sweeps All Eight Ivies


Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants.



As a Long Island high school student checked her phone for the results of her college admissions applications, she was overcome by disbelief.

One by one, each relayed the same news: Harvard. Yes. Dartmouth. Yes. Princeton. Yes. The University of Pennsylvania. Yes. Cornell, Yale, Columbia, Brown: yes, yes, yes, yes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/nyregion/long-island-high-school-students-sweeps-ivy-league-universities.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=Trending&region=CColumn&_r=0

Watch This!

Although I don't necessarily agree that the Chris Darden character was the highlight of this series, it was nonetheless one of the best shows I've ever seen.

If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it.  

I know.  

I know.

You're thinking, you watched it live while it was happening twenty plus years ago.  I was too, but what the writers have done is take you behind the scene to see all of the planning and strategizing that went into every decision, and how those decisions played out on live TV on a national stage.

It is a riveting drama.

~~~~~~~~~~

An excerpt from Slate - 


What Made The People v. O.J. Simpson Trailblazing? Sterling K. Brown’s Chris Darden.



And yet now that the final episode of the Ryan Murphy–helmed saga has aired, The People v. O.J. stands to become one of the most fascinating, powerful, and illuminating depictions of the black American experience TV has ever seen. The series re-examines and dramatizes the now-legendary divide between blacks and whites on the subject of O.J.’s innocence, as well as Johnnie Cochran's indictment of the Los Angeles Police Department as a cabal of racists. But more specifically and most importantly, the show serves as a smart, hard-hitting deconstruction of what it’s like to be “the only one,” the sole person of color in a room of mostly privileged white people and under the most extreme of circumstances.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/04/06/sterling_k_brown_as_chris_darden_is_the_best_part_of_the_people_v_o_j_video.html?sid=554654ea10defb39638b510d&wpsrc=newsletter_tis

The Panama Papers, Explained With Piggy Banks



http://www.vox.com/2016/4/4/11361780/the-panama-papers-cartoon

15 Binder Clip Life Hacks



H/T Forrest

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

A Panther Review

An excerpt from Vox - 

Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze is brilliant, political, and human


The new Black Panther comic book series, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, is the most anticipated comic debut of the past decade. And let's get one thing squared away up front: It's excellent.





Coates and Stelfreeze have created a pocket in the ever-expanding Marvel comic universe that's daring and wondrous, but also organic and natural — a place and a comic that feels crucial and important to the company's legacy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ultimately, Stelfreeze and Coates have woven a story that Black Panther deserves, and one that pushes his and Wakanda's preestablished narrative into brave new territory. This is a story about a man of his people, and unlike many Black Panther stories of the past, it does justice to and makes us care about those he's pledged to serve and protect. It's a brilliant start to one of Marvel's most promising new series, and like the hero whose story it tells, it's poised to defy its already grand expectations.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/5/11362636/black-panther-tanehisi-coates-review


This Judge Lays Down the Law

It's a Small World

From Atlas Obscura - 

Look at the Tiny Tourists and Bite Size Burglars of Japan's Mini World
Tobu World Square has 102 little landmarks and 140,000 mini people.

By Thomas Beecher 





http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/look-at-the-tiny-tourists-and-bite-size-burglars-of-japans-mini-world?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura&utm_campaign=35e309cbdc-Newsletter_4_5_20164_4_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_62ba9246c0-35e309cbdc-59905913&ct=t(Newsletter_4_5_20164_4_2016)&mc_cid=35e309cbdc&mc_eid=866176a63f

Puppy Love

She Speaks

From Vulture -

If You Think Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ Is Anti-Police, She Has a Few Truth Bombs for You

By 

In the wake of Beyoncé's conversation-causing "Formation" drop and Black Panther–evoking Super Bowl halftime performance, many a misguided police union threatened to boycott her upcoming Formation World Tour, calling the song, video, and her entire being anti-police. Some even attempted to stage an anti-Beyoncé protest, but we all know how that went. In Beyoncé's new interview with Elle — her first time speaking actual words to the media in years — she's sounding off on the message behind the video that some so clearly seemed to have missed. In an excerpt from the digital issue, she clarifies that she's not anti-police and anyone who thought otherwise after watching the overwhelmingly pro-black "Formation" is letting their racism show:

"I mean, I'm an artist and I think the most powerful art is usually misunderstood. But anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of the officers who sacrifice themselves to keeps us safe. But let's be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things. If celebrating my roots and culture during Black History Month made anyone uncomfortable, those feelings were there long before a video and long before me. I'm proud of what we created and I'm proud to be part of a conversation that is pushing things forward in a positive way."

Carry on.

http://www.vulture.com/2016/04/beyonce-formation-isnt-anti-police-duh.html

One of My Favorites

Without a doubt, one of my favorite books is Bridges Are to Cross by Philemon Sturges, Illustrated by Giles Laroche.



It features bridges all over the world.

I used to read to my students during their lunch break, and this is one of the books that was in heavy rotation.

Each time I read it, I challenged them to explore the world and cross each bridge.




Whatcha Reading?

An excerpt from The New York Times Book Review - 

Lin-Manuel Miranda: By the Book

The star and creator of the musical “Hamilton” says “Things Fall Apart” was his favorite book to teach at Hunter College High School: “The kids walk out of the classroom as different people.”

What books are currently on your nightstand?

“The Wayfinders,” by Wade Davis; “Between Riverside and Crazy,” by Stephen Adly Guirgis; and “Unabrow,” by Una LaMarche.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/books/review/lin-manuel-miranda-by-the-book.html?hpw&rref=books&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well


7 Egg Life Hacks

Shopping for a Mattress?

Check out these sites.

https://casper.com/mattresses

https://lull.com/#slide-5

~~~~~~~~~~

To make sure it fits, check out this floor plan app, that creates a floor plan of your home.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magicplan/id427424432?mt=8

~~~~~~~~~~

As seen in USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/04/03/these-apps-can-help-you-survive-moving-mayhem/82222352/