Suggestion Saturday: August 6, 2011

Final reminder – tomorrow is the last day to take the survey on this blog I talked about earlier this week. 

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

No. Sometimes all it takes is one person to stand up and say, “No.” What happens next isn’t as important as letting those around you know that not everyone agrees with what is happening.

Horn of Africa: On the Brink of a Humanitarian Crisis. I wish this photo essay could have included examples of what life was like in this area of the world before the drought. There are powerful photographs in this collection but it’s odd that those of us in the west almost never see examples of happy people in Africa. Stories about this continent are virtually always about war, civil unrest or starvation. It’s still worth checking out, though. Sensitive readers take note: a few pictures are of dead children.

Updating High School English. Now this is a thought-provoking debate: should the books assigned to high school students be updated to include more modern selections? While there is definitely merit to exposing adolescents to stories that have stood the test of time even this avid, lifelong reader knows what it’s like to slog through a dreary book. (*cough* The Great Gatsby *cough*).

Flashed Faces Distortion Effects. One of the best optical illusions I’ve ever seen is in the video embedded in this link.

My Beliefs. I love this.

Finally, the most beautifully mouldy peach I’ve ever seen (Photo credit Luigi Chiesa):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week I inhaled Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis. I hadn’t heard of the Athapascan Indians before but this was a fantastic legend about two elderly women who are abandoned by their tribe during a long winter of starvation. It’s so rare for any story to portray older women as heroes instead of as people who need to be saved!

What have you been reading?

 

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0 Responses to Suggestion Saturday: August 6, 2011

  1. Aaron

    I’ve been reading this: http://www.amazon.com/How-We-Decide-Jonah-Lehrer/dp/0618620117

    it’s very good — he uses interesting real-life stories to help explain how our brains work.

    btw, the flashed faces freaked me out!

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