I have some blog business to discuss before we get into this week’s list of suggestions.
- If you haven’t filled out my 2013 survey yet, please consider doing so. It’s open until July 31.
- If you comment on an old post and want to hear back from me, please send your reply here instead. This blog is receiving a quickly increasing amount of spam, and I can’t guarantee that genuine comments on posts published months or years ago will make it through the filter or catch my attention.
- You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for reading this blog. I deeply appreciate every comment, retweet, and message.
Ok, onto the link love.
From Magician:
I had a friend some time ago
And he knew magic tricks
He’d wear a cloak
Of deepest black
And twirl his magic stick
Not Just a Frivolity. An excellent explanation of why so many people love Anne Shirley. Even if you’re not a fan of Anne of Green Gables and its many sequels, it’s amazing how deeply emotionally connected readers can become to a well-written character. I love that about our species.
The Power of Memories. 50 years ago the man this blogger met was placed in foster care with his siblings. It was amazing to me to read about his vivid memories because of how young he was and how many years have passed since.
Portraits of the Elderly as They Once Were. Someone who prefers to remain anonymous recently shared this incredible photo essay with me. The only thing that would make these photos better would be if they could have somehow included the subject’s childhood as well. It’s amazing to see how much we all change over 80+ years of living.
What Will We Love About the 2000’s? I can’t believe people are trying to figure this out already. My best guess is that it will be great fodder for future grad students looking for thesis topics. There were a lot of controversial decisions made in that decade that I suspect future generations may not look upon all that kindly.
From This Is How I Start My Day via dlmchale:
I quietly swing my feet to the floor and sit for a moment. My muse is impatiently pulling me into awakening, but I do my best to resist. I want to sleep just a little bit more, but my eyes have already made out the flashing light on my hibernating computer and just like that, I want to be writing more than I want to be dreaming.
From Pomegranates via loveFORREST:
I feel like I still have yesterday’s make-up on;
or what’s left of the confidence I smeared on.
The Child Catchers is a sobering look at how Evangelicalism has negatively influenced the adoption industry. The opportunity to make money through domestic or international adoptions has lead many agencies to pressure poor and/or single parent families into relinquishing children that could have remained with their parents or another relative if they’d been offered just a little social support or been told the truth about what adoption means in the west. (Some cultures think of “adoption” as a temporary fostering agreement instead of something permanent).
Yes, sometimes adoption is the best choice for an abandoned or abused child, but it’s extremely unethical to take advantage of someone else’s poverty or cultural misunderstanding in order to meet a quota or make money.
What have you been reading?
I’m gettin some more spam lately too. I answered your survey
Thanks, Sabio.