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.