February 2012
38 posts
1 tag
thoughts on creating a vibrant web →
…there’s another reason why reports ought to link to their, um, inspirations:links are a public good. they create a web that is increasingly rich, useful, diverse, and trustworthy. we should all feel an obligation to be caretakers of and contributors to this new linked public.
and there’s a further reason. in addition to building this new infrastructure of curiosity, linking is a small act of...
2 tags
stick to what you (don't) know →
One of the dumbest forms of criticism is to shout down an expert in one field who speaks up about something else. The actor with a political point of view, or the physicist who talks about philosophy. The theory is that people should stick to what they know and quietly sit by in all other situations.
Of course, at one point, we all knew nothing. The only way you ever know anything, in fact, is...
5 tags
5 tags
5 tags
3 tags
5 tags
4 tags
5 tags
when sharing becomes a question
…After we left the hotel, and I spent some time walking through the city, I thought more about what she said. The data that companies have on our profiles is probably more far-reaching than we imagine. We know now that in a recent, very public instance, our address books, disquietingly, were being uploaded and kept. And people will share things about their friends and acquaintances in...
5 tags
make your own damn happiness
…In a thought-space like this, it’s easy to get caught up in constant self improvement tips and tricks. While it’s obviously a worthy cause and giving your life some more focus is hugely beneficial in the long run, be wary of your goals dominating your life. Leave room for deviation and more organic personal growth. Take the odd leap of faith. Give in to the odd impulse, you...
3 tags
2 tags
“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever...”
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
3 tags
3 tags
3 tags
If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out | Cat Stevens
I’M NOT OKAY WITH CHRIS BROWN PERFORMING AT THE... →
We – the grown-up influencers in this country, the people with platforms and with educations and with power — are allowing a clear message to be sent to women: We will easily forgive a person who victimizes you. We are able to look beyond the fact that you were treated as less than human, that a bigger, stronger person decided to resolve a conflict with you through violence. We know it happened,...
4 tags
6 tags
2 tags
on being a parent
You confidently walked up to the piano, announced the name of your songs, and then sat down to play. Leta, sometimes I go through the day and I’m like, yeah. I’m a parent, this is what I do. I make sure my kids are safe and loved. And then there are moments like the one before you put your hands on those keys, when my heart tries to claw its way out of my body and I’m like,...
2 tags
4 tags
4 tags
a greener, leaner cloud
As the cloud becomes more pervasive—driving everything from social networking to mobile apps—the computers that power it must guzzle more and more energy. Today, startup company SeaMicro, chip maker Intel, and electronics giant Samsung unveiled a new computer design that could make the data centers that power cloud services dramatically more efficient.
The new server design uses half the energy...
4 tags
komen apologizes for ‘recent decisions,’ pledges... →
komen apologizes for ‘recent decisions,’ pledges to continue funding planned parenthood
—
we want to apologize to the american public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women’s lives.
the events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at susan g. komen. we have been distressed at the...
3 tags
This, this, and always this. Waking with Bright...
the sum of our parts
Jill Lepore writes about the announcement on Tuesday that Susan G. Komen for the Cure will no longer support Planned Parenthood. Smart piece.
In 1731, Benjamin Franklin’s nineteen-year-old sister, Jane, wrote to her brother that their sister Mary, a mother of three, was dying of breast cancer. Franklin was in Philadelphia; his sisters were in Boston. “I know a cancer in the breast is often...
Planned Parenthood: Open Letter →
caro hits it. read:
Breast cancer has ripped through my family so violently that I’m pretty much guaranteed to get it in a pretty nasty form down the road if I haven’t already managed to get mauled to death by rabid howler monkeys. But I have a good job, great health insurance, and an awesome doctor who is already helping me a lot with regard to prevention and early detection. A lot of women...
What happened to the former slave who wrote his... →
Jason Kottke went digging for information on Jourdon Anderson, a former slave who wrote to his old master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, after the latter requested Jourdon return to work on the Colonel’s farm. Kottke found a family tree and even managed to help get its ancestry.com profile updated. Both documents are worth reading. Start with the letter itself and then read the follow-up.
4 tags
bases covered
how to write a thank-you note
I’m not going to go all Miss Manners on your ass and get into the social intricacies and delicate situations that surround thank-you note writing, as I was taught that a solid thank-you note will transcend all complicated situations—and I have seen no evidence to the contrary.
how to give a eulogy
Giving a eulogy is good for you. Period.
It may hurt to write...
5 tags
1 tag
3 tags
on connection →
….We talk all the time of how connected we now all are. Connected to what, I ask? Connected to Facebook updates but not the people beside us? To Twitter status updates of celebrities, ‘influencers’, hustlers but not updating our neighbour next door? Of texting money donations to causes around the world but leaving our friends and community members who are in need, alone and without?
...
January 2012
106 posts
1 tag
Ever danceable. Me and Julio Down By the...
2 tags
1 tag
'we take death to reach a star'
Looking at the stars always makes me dream, as simply as I dream over the black dots representing towns and villages on a map. Why? I ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take a train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star. We cannot get to a star while we are alive any more than we can...
the legacy of lives affected →
For all the attention and importance he placed on those around him, my grandfather never neglects to take care of himself.
He cares for his spiritual health. He spends time in prayer and meditation. He ponders and memorizes the scriptures.
He cares for his physical health. He eats well. He exercises as much as he’s able to.
He cares for his mental health. He reads books. He expands his...
1 tag
1 tag
storage: a story of space | on cowbird →
When I was biking one of the things I would tell myself, if the road was hard that day, if the rain was relentless, if I didn’t know where I would be staying that night, is that most of the world is in transition, that a lot of people in other countries are used to carrying what they own, without a place to call a home.
Homelessness is a loaded word, full of negativity and the idea of...
3 tags
1 tag
“We’re hoping to succeed; we’re okay with failure. We just don’t want to land in between.”
David Chang | via Seth’s Blog