Thursday Thirteen

I'm a little brain dead regarding Thursday Thirteen today, so I am going to offer up 13 items from my Facebook page.

1. "You can't rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul." - Lupita Nyongo. (I was not familiar with this woman, but she is an actress and director.)

2. Nonfiction Book Review: Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - and Helped Save An American Town, by Beth Macy. This book will be published in July and is written by a friend of mine. She and I attended Hollins College (now Hollins University) at the same time, though she was in the master's program while I was still working on my bachelors. Beth went on to write for The Roanoke Times and is one of their top award-winning journalists. You can learn more about her and read her blog here. Buy her book!

3. NPR has a old story on pawpaws. That's a local fruit that I used to eat as a child but haven't seen since I was probably 12 years old. There was a pawpaw tree on my father's farm but I think he cut it down. Some of my friends are discussing the fruit and what it tastes like. I really don't recall.

4. A quote from The Guardian: "One would think a government that has inflicted such suffering on those with the least resources to resist, without even turning the economy around, would have been at risk of political suicide. Instead, the basic logic of austerity has been accepted by almost everyone. Why?" The story is here.

5. I learned that a friend passed away and was saddened by this knowledge. Ethel lived a nice long life and did much with her time here on earth, including mentoring me a little bit. She will be missed.

6. "It’s official! After a 16-year absence, Christine McVie will be re-joining Fleetwood Mac band mates Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks as they launch the On With The Show Tour. The tour will kick off on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in Minneapolis, Minn. at the Target Center and the reunited band will perform 34 shows in 33 cities across North America.

Visit the official Fleetwood Mac website for a full list of dates and on sale details - http://www.fleetwoodmac.com/news/205763"

I love Fleetwood Mac! This is great news.


7. A story about a bad publishing company that is going around swiping people's theses and publishing them as book, and keeping all the profits.

8. "Don't underestimate me. I know more than I say, think more than I speak, & notice more than you realize." - lessonslearnedinlife.com

9. "I'm a little rusty on the New Testament, but where in the Bible does it mention craft stores?" - Daily Kos

10. "To stem abuses, the first target shouldn't be those avaricious infants in nutrition programs but tycoons in their subsidized Airstreams." Brilliant! - Beth Macy, quoting this story from The New York Times.

11. "Cold, cold, cold! Just remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Highs today reach the mid 50s." - WDBJ7

12. "Please don't pick up your phone if I call while you're driving. I want you to get there safely and I don't want you to kill anyone. I'll wait." - Debi Kelly Van Cleave. Her blog is here. She doesn't write a lot but her work is very good.

13. This story is on many of my friends' comments and has made the national news. It's about a little 8-year-old girl who is a bit of a tomboy and was asked by a local private Christian school (and I use that term loosely) to leave because she wasn't acting girly enough.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 337th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.