Author Archives: lydias

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, I Care messages, six word stories and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

I Care. Count me in!

Porn for All, Not a Ban, Is Better for Women. Not all sex work is exploitative and not all mainstream jobs are dignified. Most porn doesn’t actually appeal to me but I don’t have any issues with other adults watching it.

The 30 Happiest Facts of All Time. The best ones were 7, 17 and 21.

Too Many Pets and Not Enough Animals. I know I’m guilty of this.

Black and Bengali. Have you heard of the historic district of Tremé? As genetic ancestry tests become less expensive and more well-known I suspect there will be a lot of people  surprised by the actual ethnic origins of their ancestors. For many years avoiding horrific but often legally-sanctioned consequences was an excellent reason to lie about your identity. And of course there have always been secret adoptions, affairs, and women who don’t or can’t know who the father of their child is due to a wide variety of circumstances!

The Photograph. A challenge for my creative readers: write a six word story about what you think is happening in this photograph and then post it in the comment section. (This picture is work-safe but the rest of the site is not.)

My entry:

After the sacrifice we smelled rain.

 Ripple. A story about rippling kindness from my new Twitter friend, Ani Sangye.

If you’ve ever wished books didn’t have so many words Talking Pictures is what you need to read! It is a charming book full of vintage pictures, postcards and short messages to and from ordinary people. I loved thumbing through it and imagining what the lives of the subjects were like 40, 60, 80 or more years ago.

What have you been reading?

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, quotes and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Before I send you around the web can you guess what one of the most common search terms for this blog was over the winter?

on-the-other-hand.com and christianity.

I have no idea why so many of you like that phrase but if you’re one of the people who found this blog that way I’d love to know how you thought it up!

Socializing is as exhausting as giving blood. People assume we loners are misanthropes, just sitting thinking, ‘Oh, people are such a bunch of assholes,’ but it’s really not like that. We just have a smaller tolerance for what it takes to be with others. It means having to perform. I get so tired of communicating. – Anneli Rufus

Why Are We So Ashamed of Our Women Heroes? One of the unexpected bonuses of moving away from Northwest Ohio was getting away from this attitude. Toronto isn’t perfect but blatant sexism is much less socially acceptable here. In my experience the (non)reactions of other people to discrimination or prejudice can be just as damaging as the actual incident.  I’m saying this as someone who has also been the bystander who should have spoken up.

How Should Men Act Around Children? The saddest thing about stranger paranoia in North America is that we’re blaming innocent men when 30% of sexually abused kids are hurt by relatives and 60% are hurt by family friends or authority figures.

Lovecraftian Playground. I hereby reserve the right to play here someday. Sometimes the most mature option in life is whooshing down the slide with a grin on your face.

From I am the 47%:

As it turned out, government cheese is Helluva Good. We ate it for four and half years, and I really did see it as part of God’s provision for our family. Uncle Sam’s chick peas floated us through the lean seasons, which lasted from autumn until tax time.

Romantic Wisdom From Rap Genius via Jason Oberholtzer. Do you over-think lyrics? Have you ever stopped liking a song once you realized it’s actual message? I have a  tendency to extrapolate way too much information from pop music. Maybe that is why I enjoyed this post so much!

Animals Made Out of Food. Yes, this is as adorable as it sounds.

We need more people like Amanda Palmer in the world:

After a lifetime of economic and emotional struggles Dorrit arrives on The Unit with resignation. As a single, childless woman working in a low demand career she knew she couldn’t escape her fate as a a dispensable. At least now her life would serve a purpose.

To be honest with my readers the character development was weak and there were a few snarled plot threads but the premise of this book is so chilling I think you should read it anyway. Modern society still treats certain people as inherently less valuable than others and has encoded these prejudices into law at many different times and places in human history. It doesn’t stretch my imagination to envision it happening again.

What have you been reading?

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, street art, photo essays and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Pedro Lujan and His Dog via Cathryn Wellner. I’m blown away by how realistic Pedro, his dog and the giant turtle are in this outdoor art piece. Gorgeous.

The Scarlet Plague. What would life be like if an epidemic killed all but a few hundred people on earth?

16 Ways I Blew My Marriage. My theory about long term relationships: we learn how to perform them by observing adults interacting with their spouses/partners decades before we have any personal interest in the topic. This is not to say that people who grew up in dysfunctional households are doomed to live out their parents’ lives but creating and maintaining a healthy relationship is a hell of a lot easier if you have good role models.

Recovered Suitcases from an Insane Asylum. An article and photo essay about suitcases full of personal belongings that accompanied patients to the Willard Asylum. The photographs were particularly noteworthy as a few generations ago they were much more expensive keepsakes than they are today.

No One is Watching. Just Go Ahead and Do It. What a playful idea! I’m tempted to give it a shot one of these days. This link is safe for work but the rest of the site is not.

From Handicapped Son via OliviaMagdelene:

isn’t that what we came for:

to feel for spots of warmth in icy caves?

How would you react if you returned home one day to find a strange child sitting in your living room?  Maddy is an elderly woman left alone with her memories after eight decades of adventures.  The Ghost’s Child is a modern day parable about grief, love, loneliness, joy and what happens when life surprises you.

I have so many more thoughts about this book but I don’t want to spoil it for my readers. Please let me know if you decide to give it a try!

What have you been reading?

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, short stories, quotes and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.- Winston Churchill

When I am a Dog I am Barking. Readers, this is one of those rare links that I share without fully understanding what it is I’m sending you to check out. I can’t decide if this poem/essay is meant to be intellectually deep or intentionally silly. Is it telling us to cherish our true selves rather than try to hammer our interests and personalities into labels or is it a private joke for people who live with golden retrievers? I’m not ashamed to admit I don’t know the answer to this. Click on the link anyways!

True Friends Ask How the Sex Is. NSFW. As a rather private person I have mixed feelings about this. I’m shy about discussing sex in groups especially if the conversation shifts to include graphic details of what everyone is (or isn’t) doing in bed. Call me old fashioned but I think there’s something to be said for keeping the rest of the world out of your most intimate moments. I definitely see the value of honest discussions with a small circle of close friends, though. Hollywood’s ideas on this topic do not always correspond to what it’s actually like to lose your virginity or be in a longterm relationship. 😉

From Armless Maidens of the American West:

There’s no telling what the armless maiden did.

It doesn’t matter now. To her father, it was offense enough to warrant what happened. To anyone else, what happened was a crime beyond measure; what happened to her was a horror.

(Where they were when her father picked up the axe, there’s no telling.)

She’s been living in the woods as long as you can remember, though no one talks about it much where you are. Live and let live. If she stays off the golf course, no one minds her.

What Do Grown Children Owe Their Abusive Parents? This author’s estimate that 20% of children are abused or neglected while growing up is depressing and (un)believable.

Two Body Interactions: A Longitudinal Study. A paper written by a physicist in order to propose to his girlfriend. Drew and I became engaged after discussing how much we loved one another.  He asked me to marry him and then I asked him to marry me!

Dancing Through Life: Six Years Later. A powerful essay about loss, forgiveness and finding peace written by someone I know in real life.

Imagine living in a world without trees. Banyan is literally and figuratively Rootless, having been separated from his father and surviving on the only “food” mankind has left, genetically modified corn. To make ends meet he builds metal trees for wealthy benefactors.

Whether you’re interested in stories about universal malnutrition, how a teenager survives on his own in a dangerously libertarian society, the long term effects of global warming, or what happens when the government can no longer protect the poor from severe exploitation this book has something for every reader.

What have you been reading?