How CNN Changed the World

Live, through the years. A collection of clips of CNN coverage of various national events, starting in the 80s. Most of the clips are pretty boring--another dynamic of live TV--but some of them are haunting, connecting you to the moments before everything changed forever.

Think you won't get hit by a plane while asleep in your bed??

THINK AGAIN. Yet another "irrational" fear validated.

A Celebrity Who Is the Opposite of a Jerk

Patrick Stewart eloquently discusses domestic abuse and PTSD in this video. Be sure to click forward to Heather Skye's blog post about the event (how cool is her name?). The video of Sir Patrick talking about his childhood is also very much worth watching.

BZZZZ!

"Why English is so well-suited to spelling bees. 'The reason we have spelling bees in English,' Sokolowski says, 'is because it’s such a mongrel language.' Given that our tongue is made up of words that come from Greek and Latin and Japanese and Native American roots, spelling is much more unpredictable than, say, French—which Sokolowski sums up as 'just bad Latin.' Le snap!"

"Six Things You Probably Didn’t Know About the Scripps National Spelling Bee." One of them is the fatal schwa. You have been warned.

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 1)

It's Friday. It's time to not do some work. To celebrate, we've got seven whole links to fall into.

-1-

"The Real Couple Behind Before Sunrise": Sweet and sad. Makes me ponder what parts of my life I would rewrite if I made a movie about them, and how I would rewrite them, and why... Also makes me go on a major 90s music binge.

-2-

"No, Mermaids Do Not Exist": Pffft. Says you.

-3-

But no, seriously, Earth's oceans are not doing too well these days, which is steadily leading to epic disaster on par with the disappearance of bees and antibiotic resistance. (DOOOOOOM!) Check out this frightening, beautiful infographic, "Transparency: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch." Be sure to click on the magnifying glass icon and go full screen. And remember, kids, this isn't the only oceanic garbage patch. Yay!

-4-

Mark Twain's "The Death of My Wife"--an insightful meditation on the nature of loss. (My sister, who is never allowed to die, sent this one my way.)

-5-

From "The Illusion of the Gifted Child": "It's the scarcity of seats, rather than any rigorous definition of merit that is driving these distinctions." Yup.

-6-

"The Girl Who Turned to Bone" is a fascinating story about a very rare disease and how its treatment and research (or lack thereof) impacts its sufferers, their doctors, and modern medical care in general. Worth the time to read the whole thing.

-7-

And finally, to finish on a positive note, "The 46,000-Pound X-Wing: How LEGO Built the World's Biggest Star Wars Toy" is exactly as awesome as it sounds. Why am I not a LEGO toy engineer? Can't have anything to do with failing algebra...

Head over to Jen and the other Takers for more random thoughts aggregated this fine Friday.

Teh Intro

I love following the white rabbit through teh interwebs. Exploring worlds is a beloved hobby, and the internet is currently my favorite and best way to do that, since traveling with three children under 5 makes me tired, in addition to the fact that birthin' hormones have rendered my attention span nearly nonexistent. Hence, web articles instead of Literature.

I usually post articles to my Facebook page. About four people have told me they like reading the links I post. So I says to myself, I says, Hey, let's make a blog and boost that fan base to six! If you want to read articles in the mildly interesting-to-life changing range without getting sucked into teh interwebs yourself, subscribe this blog. (I highly recommend Feedly--who unfortunately did not pay me to say that but totally can if they want to--for all your internet subscription needs.)

Enjoy!