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Sunday, October 28, 2018

Meet a Hallmark Card Writer

An excerpt from the New York Times - 

She Made the Shift From Academic Writing to Hallmark Cards
As told to Perry Garfinkel

Through her writing at Hallmark, Melvina Young tries to reach people on a direct, emotional level.
CreditCreditChristopher Smith for The New York Times

Melvina Young, 55, is a senior writer at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Mo.

How hard could it be to write pithy lines for a greeting card?

That’s what many people think, that we are the lowbrow ditch diggers of the writing profession, the punch lines of jokes and films. Frankly I, too, thought this would be a quotidian task.

But it requires a specific, well-honed skill set. I do a lot of research, sit in on focus groups, read The New York Times, check discussion boards, Tumblr, Pew Research, Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, consumer trend studies, and we have team brainstorming sessions before I sit down to write.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/business/from-academic-writing-to-hallmark-cards.html

Quote

An excerpt from ELLE - (Bold is mine)

Megyn Kelly Has Always Been Racist
BY MICHAEL ARCENEAUX

Lack and others at NBC News who championed Kelly made a calculated choice to sacrifice the humanity of others for the sake of a perceived ratings boost. They wanted a return on their investment and were willing to put up with the stench until it became unbearable. But you can’t Febreze a defense of blackface—particularly when you managed to never match the ratings of the Black talent you replaced.

https://www.elle.com/culture/a24317698/megyn-kelly-has-always-been-racist/

Simone Biles - Vault 1 - 2018 World Championships - Qualifying

Friday, October 26, 2018

Libraries Around the World

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/10/a-photo-appreciation-of-libraries/573811/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20181026&silverid-ref=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0

Justin Bieber - Love Yourself (Seth G. Violin Remix)

Calum Scott - No Matter What (Audio)

Alright

12-Hr Drive Thru

We Are Not Done Yet (2018) | Official Trailer | HBO

Stanford researchers modify small flying robots to haul heavy loads

Words Matter

The Ad Campaign That Saved Old Spice - Cheddar Examines

How WWE Wrestlers Learn To Fight

How to Write a Business Plan for Your Own Business in 2019

15 Perfect Destinations For Any Solo Traveler

Does Affirmative Action Hurt Asian Americans?

How Amsterdam Became a Bicycle Paradise

These Handwoven Panama Hats Can Run You $25,000

New! A Hotline for Racists | NYT Opinion

Lewis Hamilton - Breaking the Mold in Formula One Racing | The Daily Show

Why we say “OK”

Former CIA Chief Explains How Spies Use Disguises | WIRED

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Follow Your Gift, Not Your Passion

Two Hearts | SU Human Jukebox 2018 [4K ULTRA HD]

10-year-old Coder

An excerpt from Business Insider -

This 10-year-old coder is already so successful she's caught the attention of Google and Microsoft
By Julie Bort

Samaira Mehta is a 10-year-old girl growing up in Silicon Valley who has quietly attracted an almost cult-like following because of her work as a programmer.

She's the founder and CEO of a company called CoderBunnyz that's earned national media recognition and landed her speaker roles at nearly a dozen Valley conferences (and counting).

It all started when she was just eight and created a game called CoderBunnyz to help teach other kids how to code. She'd been coding since she was six.

https://www.businessinsider.com/10-year-old-coder-so-successful-now-a-valley-sensation-2018-10

Ted Cruz for Iowa?

What’s Next For This Five-Year-Old Dubbed “The Most Beautiful Girl In Th...

The World’s Longest Thank You Note

Brandi Carlile - Party Of One feat. Sam Smith (Official Video)

How Roasted Seaweed Snacks Are Made

Straight No Chaser - When A Man Loves A Woman [Official Audio]

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Tank - I Can't Make You Love Me (Official Video)

Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World (Original Spoken Intro Version)...

Donny Hathaway - A Song For You

Meet the Queen of Bay Area Lowriders

Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle | The Story Behind The Song | Top 2000 a gogo

Gil Scott-Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Full Band Version)

Slovenia’s Cliff-Hanging Castle

These ‘Canine Ambassadors’ Are About to Make Your Vacation Adorable

Top 20 Vending Machines You'll Wish We Had More Of In The World

Can This Be Replicated?

An excerpt from the Atlantic -

The Little College Where Tuition Is Free and Every Student Is Given a Job
Berea College, in Kentucky, has paid for every enrollee’s education using its endowment for 126 years. Can other schools replicate the model?
By ADAM HARRIS

Berea College isn’t like most other colleges. It was founded in 1855 by a Presbyterian minister who was an abolitionist. It was the first integrated, co-educational college in the South. And it has not charged students tuition since 1892. Every student on campus works, and its labor program is like work-study on steroids. The work includes everyday tasks such as janitorial services, but older students are often assigned jobs aligned to their academic program, and work on things such as web production or managing volunteer programs. And students receive a physical check for their labor that can go toward housing and living expenses. Forty-five percent of graduates have no debt, and the ones who do have an average of less than $7,000 in debt, according to Luke Hodson, the college’s director of admissions.

On top of all of that: More than 90 percent of Berea College students are eligible to receive the Pell Grant—often used as a proxy for low-income enrollment. Most of those students, 70 percent to be exact, are from Appalachia—where nearly one of every five people live below the poverty line. And that recruiting pipeline in Appalachia produces a rather diverse class—more than 40 percent of the student body identify as racial minorities.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/10/how-berea-college-makes-tuition-free-with-its-endowment/572644/

"Whitey on the Moon"

An excerpt from the Washington Post -

Why ‘First Man’ prominently features Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken-word poem ‘Whitey on the Moon’
By Sonia Rao

Chazelle and Singer executed the idea by depicting both the perseverance of those in the space program and the passionate feelings of those opposed to its cost. A memorable scene captures this dissonance by juxtaposing the Apollo 1 disaster, in which a fire killed three astronauts during preflight testing, with people protesting NASA’s program — all set to a rousing reading of musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron’s work “Whitey on the Moon.”

“A rat done bit my sister Nell, with whitey on the moon,” Leon Bridges, who plays Scott-Heron, recites over a drum beat. “Her face and arms begin to swell, and whitey’s on the moon. I can’t pay no doctor bills, but whitey’s on the moon. Ten years from now I’ll be payin' still, while whitey’s on the moon.” (Click here to read the full poem.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/10/13/why-first-man-prominently-features-gil-scott-herons-spoken-word-poem-whitey-moon/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b0d49a834a2a

The Best of Enemies | Official Trailer [HD] | Coming Soon To Theaters

Racing Roots: Featuring Bubba Wallace debuts Oct. 13 on NBCSN

Jaboukie Young-White on Why Young People Don’t Vote | The Daily Show

All Hands on Deck for These Five Stories

Sunday, October 7, 2018

New Rule: Power Begets Power | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Weekend Update: Senate Confirms Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Cou...

What Happened?

It's a White Thing at HBCUs

An excerpt from the NY Times -

White Kickers and Punters at Black Colleges Are a Thing
There are not many black kickers and punters in the country, even at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities.
By Marc Tracy

When Granville Eastman was Austin Peay’s defensive coordinator several years ago, his team frequently played Tennessee State, a historically black university in Nashville.

Every time Tennessee State sent players onto the field who were not black, he recalled half-jokingly last week, “that’s when you knew they were punting.”

Now Eastman is the interim head coach at another historically black university, North Carolina Central, and opposing coaches can say similar things about his team. The Eagles’ place-kicker is white. Same goes for the long snapper and the punter, who also holds the ball on field goals. An Italian, who is also white, handles the kickoffs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/sports/white-kickers.html


Me Too

From the NY Times - 

A Year of Reckoning
To move forward, we have to excavate the past.
Megan Twohey

By Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Melinda Beck
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/sunday-review/me-too-weinstein-a-year-later.html

How Wine Corks And Barrels Are Made