Category Archives: Suggestion Saturday

Here is this week’s list of links from my favourite corners of the web.

The Jellyfish Effect: Why Bad Ideas Hang Around via JamesTheo. This post was specifically about teaching, but I’d argue the same could be said for any profession.

Emotional Geometry. The anxiety fractal was my favourite part of this link. I can’t stop giggling at it.

Two Gay Dads and Their 12 Kids Officially Become a Family. Have any of my Arizona readers met this family? I love the fact that all of their kids were adopted from foster care and that they kept birth siblings together. That’s a beautiful thing to do.

Boston Pride Parade Debrief. I’ve noticed the same thing happening at Toronto’s annual Pride Parade over the past 12 years. The commercialization of it does have its downside, but I think it will be a good thing for those of us who are LGBT in general. While this specific post is work-safe, the rest of the site may not be.

Why I’m Not Ashamed to Be a Crazy Cat Lady via ‪LindsayDetwiler‬. I’m actually a little jealous of people who can have a house full of cats without wheezing or coughing. I’d be tempted to have a few myself if neither myself nor anyone I loved were allergic to them. We all enjoy breathing and not sneezing our noses off, though, so I’ll have to continue to live vicariously through people who don’t have these reactions to cats.

10 Things Not Say to an Adoptee via ‪HettiRoss‬. The link I noticed between this post and the one above it has to do with judging people. It’s amazing to read about what some folks will say when they discover that you’re different from them in some small or large way. I choose to believe that they’re not trying to be offensive most of the time. We’ve all said things we regret, although that doesn’t make certain comments sting any less.

Hundred-Year-Old Strawberry Ice Cream. It is recipes like this that make me wish I wasn’t allergic to milk. I hope that one of my readers will give it a try. This ice cream sounds unbelievably delicious, especially on a hot summer day.

Here is this week’s list of poems, essays, stories, and other links from my favourite corners of the web.

When White Privilege Isn’t White: Confessions of a Complacent Latina via ‪SandraMFalcon‬.The message in this post isn’t an easy one to hear, but that makes it even more important to listen to it. I also loved the link to We Were Made for These Times that Sandra included in this post.

No, Our Attitudes Aren’t the Problem via ‪the_author_‬. This was excellent.

What’s Broken. I’ve been sharing a lot of Dorianne Laux’s work lately, and I’m planning to share more in future Suggestion Saturday posts. She’s quite the writer.

Say, She Toy. This is one of those fabulous stories that works best if you don’t know anything about it to begin with.

Why It’s Painful to Watch The Handmaid’s Tale via ‪MarinaSofia8‬. Here’s hoping we get many more articles like this. There are reasons why Margaret Atwood didn’t put anything into The Handmaid’s Tale that hadn’t already happened before.

From Your Phone Was Made By Slaves:

Nature is willing, but the people are broken. War has shattered minds and bodies and any semblance or expectation of order; life has become a scramble for survival in a population divided between those with guns and those without. This chaos is the perfect breeding ground for slavery. When valuable minerals are stirred into the mix, the odds of a slavery outbreak are even higher.

Here is this week’s list of comic strips, movie recommendations, poems, short stories, and other links from my favourite corners of the web.

The Heterosexual Pride Flag. What would such a thing look like? This artist has a lot of ideas about that.

Sun, Moon, Dust. What a unique spin on the fantasy genre!

Allergy Season. If you’ve been sneezing away the last couple of months, this link is for you.

Shady Democracy via ‪MsLake1‬. All of these satires sound excellent. I’m especially interested in watching “The Confederate States of America.”

Does Practicing Gratitude Mean Ignoring the Negativity? via ‪theerailivedin‬. I’ve been thinking about writing a post about this for a while now. This post said everything I was planning to say and then some!

Incarceration Does Not Fix Criminals. This Is Why. via JMRobison‬. This was so interesting. I wonder if the U.S. will ever become less punitive towards people who break the law there?

The Addicts Next Door. What a story! I can’t imagine living in a community like this. It must be incredibly difficult.

From Abandoned Farmhouse:

He was a big man, says the size of his shoes

on a pile of broken dishes by the house;

Here is this week’s list of comic strips, legends, poems, and other links from my favourite corners of the web. It’s another one of those big lists where I couldn’t bear to trim anything out because everything was so good.

The picture on the left isn’t actually related to any of the links this week. I broke that rule this time because I was so fascinated by the idea of pouring water on a lightbulb. It seem like something a small child would do once, get in big trouble for it, and then maybe joke about it 20 years later.

Spring is a State of Mind. One of the reasons why I love this time of year so much is that we go from about 9 hours of sunlight a day in the winter – most of which are usually covered up by a thick layer of clouds – to more than 15 by the end of June. All of that extra light makes me ridiculously happy.

The Rise of Grok (or How I Learned to Embrace My Ignorance) via JamesTheo. Why is it so hard for people – including myself – to admit when we don’t know something? This post explores that issue in depth.

How to Cure a Werewolf. Who else loves creative stuff like this? I’d never heard of this twist to werewolf mythology before.

When Your Child Is a Psychopath. The headline is a little sensationalistic, but the article itself is excellent.

Yesterday via ‪CarlBusbySr‬. On the dangers of too much nostalgia.

My Grandmother’s Desperate Choice. I wonder how many other people have stories like this hidden in their family trees?

How to Find the Original Source of Online Images. All of the pictures I feature on my site are either in the public domain, don’t require citations, or include links back to the original site if that’s what the owner wants. This is how you figure out where that cool picture originally came from so you can properly cite the images you want to share as well.

The Bipolar Friendship Manifesto via ‪GumOnMyShoeBook‬. This was interesting.

From Stung:

She couldn’t help but sting my finger,

clinging a moment before I flung her

to the ground. Her gold is true, not the trick

evening light plays on my roses.

Here is this week’s list of short stories, encouragement, and links from my favourite corners of the web.

Stop Doubting Your Greatness via ‪aford21‬. I loved this.

Summoning Demons with Sandwiches. What a creative idea for a story. I can’t stop giggling at it. No, it isn’t frightening at all for those of you who don’t like the scary stuff. Think of it more like a sitcom that happens to star a few demons who are nothing at all like the traditional depictions of them.

When You Can Only Do a Little via ‪zenandpi‬. This is an excellent thing to keep in mind on days when you can’t accomplish as much as you’d hoped.

I’m a Hill, You Can Roll Down Me. This sounds like a Pixar movie song.

Decades After Foster Care, I Found My Long-Lost Brother. If only this could be a full-length book. What a story.

Exercise Cuts Appetite for Fatty Food. It will be interesting to see if this study can be replicated in the future. I had never heard of this theory before.

From Stop Standing On Our Feet via ‪the_author_‬:

Imagine something with me – you’re standing in a crowded space, and someone steps on your foot. It’s not the first time someone has stepped on your foot that week, or even that day. In fact, people tend to step on your foot a lot, and always have. Sometimes you even avoid going certain places or engaging in certain activities, hoping to reduce the frequency with which your foot gets stepped on.

Imagine that this time, though, you decide to say something.

Here is this week’s list of comic strips and other links from my favourite corners of the web.

A Theory on Teams. I couldn’t agree with this more.

Urban Biology Bingo. This is the perfect time of year to go wander around and see how many of these boxes you can tick off if you live in a part of the world where these plants and animals also live.

The Streets of Pakistan via ‪tayonthemove.This blog post includes many beautiful pictures of life in Pakistan. I think you’ll all really love them.

Have You Ever Fallen on Your Butt in Exercise Class? via ‪JenAmmoscato‬. If you’re ever felt like the least coordinated person in the room, this is the post for you.

More Unsolicited Advice to a Stranger via ‪seaangel4444‬. This post is the second in a series. If you like it, there’s a link to the first post in the body of the second post.

The “Lost Girls”: Ghosts of a President & His Wife Who Affected Presidential Policy. Fair warning: this post talks about the deaths of two children. I had never heard of this side of President McKinley’s life. It was somber but also intriguing.

From Yes, This Is a Particularly Horrendous Year for Seasonal Allergies:

This allergy season is dreadful, isn’t it? I have sneezed myself silly in the last couple of weeks and, anecdotally at least, here in New York half the people I know are clawing out their eyes and drowning themselves with neti pots. But isit worse than usual this year, or am I just a big baby?

From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Grads: Make Feminism an Inclusive Party –

Now girls are often raised to see love only as giving. Women are praised for their love when that love is an act of giving. But to love is to give AND to take. Please love by giving, and by taking. Give and be given. If you are only giving and not taking, you’ll know. You’ll know from that small and true voice inside you that we females are so often socialized to silence. Don’t silence that voice. Dare to take.

Here is this week’s list of comic strips, essays, and other links from my favourite corners of the web.

Disengaging from Readers: Dealing with Trolls, Cyber-Bullies and Other Web Cranks via EricaVerrillo. I couldn’t agree with this more.

Wait, What Did They Just Sing via ‪bjknappwrites‬. I misunderstand lyrics regularly, but they’re almost never as funny as these rewordings.

A Visitor in Outer Space. This made me giggle.

What Bullets Do to Bodies. Fair warning: this includes descriptions of some serious wounds. If you’re not squeamish, though, it’s fascinating.

The Midwife Who Saved Intersex Babies. I had no idea that intersex babies are still killed after birth in some parts of the world. This was such an interesting piece.

You Should Be Watching The Handmaid’s Tale via lavinia_collins‬. There are spoilers in this post. It’s a great analysis, though.

From The Fire Last Time:

The new unit was created to combat street crime, but it soon became infamous in Detroit’s black community as something closer to an execution squad. Though the initiative’s official designation was predictably anodyne and bureaucratic—“Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets”—the unit quickly became known by its more descriptive acronym, STRESS. It would prove to be one of the most excessive and lawless policing experiments in modern history.

Here is this week’s list of essays and other links from my favourite corners of the web.

My Birth Father’s Double Life via WomenWriters. What a story!

Politeness Isn’t Enough; We Now Demand Friendliness. And It’s Destroying Authenticity. I couldn’t agree with this more. I don’t see how this will change, but I sure hope it will.

Not a Human Metronome via MichaelTMiyoshi.

Why Millennials Are Avoiding Small-Town America. It will be interesting to see if this trend shifts as my generation grows older. I honestly don’t see it happening for most millennials, but maybe I’m wrong about that!

His Heart, Her Hands. Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease. I was really surprised that this guy hadn’t written down all of his songs before he was given this diagnosis, but I liked the hopeful tone of this article.

The Medieval Sound of Silence via AprilMunday. None of the history books I’ve read have discussed this. I wonder what other differences we’d immediately notice between medieval times and our own that most people don’t think about?

So How Does a Centaur Eat, Anyway? Half of the reason why I’m sharing this with you is that I love finding other people who spend so much time figuring out how their favourite science fiction and fantasy stuff could work with our current understanding of the various branches of science. The other half of the reason why I’m sharing it is that  I couldn’t stop reading it. It was written so well.

From Bun. If the comic strip below is too small to read, click on the link on the left.

Here is this week’s list of short stories, comic strips, essays, and other links from my favourite corners of the web. It’s much bigger than usual because several of the links are for comic strips and also because I kept finding things I thought you’d all love.

Mulu Canopy Walk – In the Face of Fear! via feetdotravel. If you have a fear of heights, this is a great post to read. I’m really proud of this blogger for facing her fears like that.

Come See the Living Dryad. This story was so engrossing I actually googled the characters in it to see if it was based on real events.

The Key to Success in Life. I can’t stop laughing at this.

It’s “Just a Bunny” via Best4bunny. This post is filled with photos of cute little rabbits. Is that the only reason I’m recommending it to you? Of course not! It is one of them, though.

Oscar and the Flying Fish via yadadarcyyada. A story of magical, flying fish as told from the perspective of a young child.

Rituals Part 1 and Part 2. This is something that totally should have happened in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode.

The Hippies Have Won. My parents aren’t old enough to be hippies, but we did eat hippie food when I was growing up. It makes me happy to see stuff like brown rice and whole foods become mainstream.

How to Survive the Next Catastrophic Pandemic. No, this isn’t a sly reference to a zombie movie or anything like that. It’s sensible advice that everyone should listen to.

From What Is Good Rhetoric? 

Philosophers have had a longstanding problem with rhetoric. The standard view of the quarrel is well-known: philosophy is a truth-directed activity concerned with reasoned argument, while rhetoric is uninterested in truth and concerned merely with persuasion.

 Here is this week’s list of links from my favourite corners of the web.

How to Banish Negativity with This Simple Mind Tool via dlhampton. Just because it’s simple doesn’t mean that it’s easy. It does work, though!

Happy Beaster. No, that isn’t a typo. What if the Easter Bunny wasn’t the only animal who brought you treats at this time of the year? Click on the link to read more.

Sadie and Maude. This made me smile. I wish there was more to it.

The Girl Who’s Going to Survive Your Horror Movie. Don’t worry,  this isn’t gory or scary at all. I actually found it kind of amusing.

You Can Now Buy a Calendar Full of Hairy Men Dressed as Fairies.  I saved this to share with you on Easter weekend because I think the next step should be for these guys to dress up as the Easter Bunny. Haha!

Happy Passover via JWilck. Oh, this was too funny.

Why Are Black Girls Missing via VIE_IS_ME. There are heartbreaking stories behind every one of these disappearances. I liked how this post explained what’s happening and how society can try to prevent it in the future.