Linking up with Kathryn at Team Whitaker, who is hosting 7 Quick Takes this week. I’m very late in getting out my random thoughts, and now very late even in Quick Takes, as I’m still recovering from our very adventurous and eventful last week. So I’m especially grateful to Kathryn for keeping entries open this late, and for hosting. Her blog is so encouraging, interesting and fun.
1. I’ve definitely needed humor lately–most recently when my middle child and I were on a weeklong excursion out-of-state that shall not be named, but was quite the adventure. Before I left I had been needing humor, and began this, and now I really do.
Part of our excursion involved camping–actual sleeping in a tent for a week in a heat wave. (And that actually wasn’t the worst of it, for perspective). As I told friends on Facebook as we were headed back, “As God is my witness, I’ll never take air conditioning for granted again.” Not that I ever did.
2. “Client Feedback on the Creation of the Earth” — Timothy McSweeney. This. is. hilarious.
“Realize it’s Saturday and you were planning to be OOO tomorrow to admire your creation and everything, but I’m hoping you can keep rolling on this through the weekend.”
One of my older nephews shared this on Facebook some time back. He’s in advertising, so it was especially funny to him, but really, how can you not laugh.
3. “Dora the Explorer Movie Trailer”– I know this is several years old, but my kids just introduced me to this, and I laughed so hard. “Hola, Dora, it’s been a while. I haven’t seen you this I was … this many.”
When middle child and I were on our adventure last week, we frequently shared lines from this. “I’m the map, I’m the map, I’m the map …. (crash) Where’s Swiper?” was oft repeated during rough moments.
4. What You Learn in Your 40s — Paula Druckerman. Tell me I wasn’t the only who found her book, Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
5. The Teen Whisperer, Margaret Talbot, the New Yorker. A profile of John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars.
I’m conflicted about The Fault in Our Stars. I find it compelling and well-written, but not really that believable, and not just because of the international adventure the two teens have. They are just too self-aware for teens. More importantly, I just have to say how much I hate the language and casual sex in that book, totally taken for granted that teens talk that way and act that way. It just makes me mad, because it’s not true.
Anyway, the book is still well done, but even better is this profile of him. HT to Emily Miller for sharing the profile on Goodreads.
6. “Pediatrics Group to Recommend Reading Aloud to Children from Birth” –The New York Times.
I know this isn’t really humor (nor was the last one), but it made me laugh out loud. I still read out loud to my children, and they can all read well. It’s one of our favorite things to do together. I am so glad to be ahead of the curve for once.
7. “When People Choose, They Choose Wrong: The author of ‘The Giver,’ a wildly popular dystopian novel, imagines a community with no war, racism or gender roles. The result: a living hell.” –The Wall Street Journal, an interview with Lois Lowry, author ofThe Giver
I’m sorry to end on an annoying take, but this is a great article that is behind the paywall. We subscribe to the online New York Times, and so I often share articles. The way The Times works it is that non-subscribers can read 10 or perhaps 15 articles a month, then are prompted to subscribe before reading more. I think this works well, is fair, and perhaps inspires people to subscribe.
But the WSJ theory–some articles for everyone to read, some behind the paywall–is just crazy. I think it’s unfair especially to the author of the article, and to Lois Lowry–it’s such an interesting Q&A.
Here is how I came across the article: I happened to pick up the paper Wall Street Journal at a gas stop on the way home from our adventure/excursion last week. I read it while another parent in our group drove. When I read this article, I thought, awesome, I can’t wait to share this with everyone. Instead, I have to share a “preview” (the first sentence) of the article.
Here’s my suggestion: next time you are at the library, go look up last weekend’s Wall Street Journal, and read this article. It’s worth it.
In the meantime, I googled around for some other Lois Lowry interviews and this one (surprise: from the NY Times) was easily the most intriguing I found on a quick search.
What are you reading/watching/listening to online these days? I’m especially interested in humor. I need to laugh!