KristyWes

Lots of Little Things  

Items of recent note:

Once upon a time, I lived in Amsterdam. Years later, I'm still adoring of all things Dutch.  (With the exception of 'zout drop.'  Have you ever had salted licorice?  It's the worst, man. The worst.)  In any case, I loved-loved this article in the Times:

Amsterdam Tries to Change Culture With Repair Cafes

What a great concept, right?  I love the communal aspect - bringing people together to match needs with skills.  And I love the attempt to change this throw-away culture in which we (the privileged) live.  Plus, there's some sort of redemption message here, isn't there?  New life for the broken, and all that.  Maybe I'm reading too far in.  Nevertheless, I'd like to see this Repair Cafe thing catch on.

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I always get a lot out of Amy Julia Becker's site, frequently focusing on how our lives (...and culture... and communities) are enriched by the presence of individuals with disabilities.  Recently she shared a eulogy written by a reader - Seeing Delane As One of Us.  Loved it. What a beautiful image.

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Sage advice (although no advice about sage) from Joy the Baker:

These Things I've Learned in Thirty Years

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I miss Downton Abbey.  The third season isn't releasing for like, eleventy million years, so in the interim I'll gladly get my fix via Fallon's funny spoof:

Downton Sixby, Episode 1  and Downton Sixby, Episode 2

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I'm no Instagram-hater; I love seeing little day-in-the-life snippets from my Breakfast Club and other friends.  Nevertheless, I found this article in the Times intriguing: Everyone's Lives, in Pictures.  In particular, one sentence has stuck with me:

"The act of snapping a picture is no longer enough to confirm reality and enhance experience; only sharing can give us that validation."

Mulling that over, I notice how often my thoughts veer towards "How can I best share this later?" versus "How can I best just be present in the moment now?"  Nothing wrong with sharing my life (quite the opposite) but am I sharing for the sake of being truly known by my community and/or to enrich others, or am I sharing to gain personal validation?  So many questions raised by this social-mediated world of ours.  But questions are always good for the askin'.


So...what cool/interesting/inspiring/weird/wonderful things have you run across recently?

Share away :)