Selections From My Virtual Library: December 2014

Well, this is my very last Virtual Library post as it's now December. I've read lots, but never enough. Here's this month's picks.

The Atlantic
For the Love of Stuff
How Sexism Stifles Creativity
When Helping Rape Victims Hurts a College’s Reputation
When Chicago Tortured
What's Tylenol Doing to Our Minds?
Coming to Terms With My Father's Racism
'Shipping' and the Enduring Appeal of Rooting for Love
Adjusting College Rankings for Rape

NPR
Mexican Megafarms Supplying U.S. Market Are Rife With Labor Abuses
5 Interrogation Methods The CIA Used On Terrorism Suspects
WWII By The Books: The Pocket-Size Editions That Kept Soldiers Reading
Bound By A Plantation, Two Georgians Remember A Special Christmas
Serial Host Sarah Koenig Says She Set Out To Report, Not Exonerate
Preserving American Roots Music Begins With Keeping The Lights On
After Year Of Atheism, Former Pastor: 'I Don't Think God Exists'

Rookie
How to Write About Real People
Whatever You Like

McSweeney's
Product Review: The Invisible Backpack of White Privilege From L.L. Bean
A Farewell to Hemnes: Ernest Hemingway Assembles an Ikea Daybed Frame with Three Drawers

The New Yorker
The Unidentified Queen of Torture

The New York Times
Why Colleges Haven't Stopped Binge Drinking

I Thought I Hated Everyone But I Really Just Hate What I Said To You Last Night: A Playlist

More tunes with a ridiculously long playlist title. If you haven't bought Wilco's new box set, treat yourself and spend the big bucks. It's unreal. 

Selections from my Virtual Library: September, October, and November 2014

Since this was quite the busy quarter, I didn't really keep up with my virtual library. Instead, I compiled three months worth of articles here. Per usual, italicized articles are highly recommended. 


NPR
We Don't Finish Anything Anym ...
All Together Now: The Beatles Are (Back) In Mono
Is Atheist Awe A Religious Experience?
Best To Not Sweat The Small Stuff, Because It Could Kill You
The Biology Of Altruism: Good Deeds May Be Rooted In The Brain
For Single Women, An 'Infinite Variety Of Paths'
The Good Listener: When You Need To Concentrate, Which Music Is Best?
Mindy Kaling On Refusing To Be An Outsider And Sexism On Set


The Atlantic
Who Should Decide What High School Kids Are Allowed to Read?
The Afghan Girls Who Live as Boys
Rape Culture in the Alaskan Wilderness
The Awful Reign of the Red Delicious
How Gangs Took Over Prisons
Economists: Your Parents Are More Important Than Ever
The Society of Fugitives
Eric Holder's Expansive Vision of Civil Rights
How Serious Is the Supreme Court About Religious Freedom?
Buy Experiences, Not Things
Irrational Atheism
The Unsafety Net: How Social Media Turned Against Women
Is It Ever Okay to Make Teachers Read Scripted Lessons?
What Happens When Students Control Their Own Education?
The Economic Impact of School Suspensions
Rise of the Feminist Tinder-Creep-Busting Web Vigilante
The New Heroin Epidemic
Inner-City Violence in the Age of Mass Incarceration
Me Against the Music: How Should Fans Behave in the Digital Age?
Why No One Can Design a Better Speculum
A Blog of Myself


McSweeney's
The Canon of Philosophy Student Karaoke Songs
Missed Connection: Boys, Ages 6-12(?), Lived With Me On Nameless Tropical Island In Pacific Ocean At End Of WWII.
This Week on As The World Tinders


The New Yorker
Kicking The Bucket List
We Are A Camera
How Chris McCandless Died


Medium
Beyond the Headlines: Race, the Inner City and Books that Delve Deeper
Take a Tour of The Gigantic, Secretive Market Where France’s Top Chefs Buy Their Food
Taylor Swift’s Giant Middle Finger


Rookie
Crushed Out
Not About Love
I Can Do All These Things: An Interview With FKA Twigs
Strangers in the Dark


Other
Snackwave: A Comprehensive Guide To The Internet's Saltiest Meme
OkCupid founder: “I wish people exercised more humanity” on OkCupid
The Big Sort

The 2014 Stress Olympics

Our society is obsessed with being busy. If your calendar is not full, you are the enemy. A part of the chosen few who live outside of a culture where we all love to complain about how much work we are doing, what is required of us, and what we are trying to do to meet the ever-growing demands and expectations of others.

Everyone is a different kind of “busy.” My kind of busy is that I work six days a week and I rarely have time to read. Some may find that they need more time for self-care, for family, for studying, to be by themselves for hours a week in order to continue with being their best selves. All I can say is: do what you need to do to be the best you. Don’t feel guilty for not being as “busy” as others or for feeling overwhelmed even if your workload is smaller than your friends.

More often than not, daily conversations seem to turn into the “Who’s more stressed?” game.

“Oh, you have two papers? My basement flooded, I have 3 midterms tomorrow, and I forgot to go grocery shopping.”

“Oh really? I also forgot to grab my prescriptions and I haven’t done laundry in two weeks.”

“Wow, that sucks! I have to miss a shift at work because of a doctor’s appointment and then I have to buy an extra book for class and now I’ll be extra broke.”

Newsflash to everyone: We’re not all trying to qualify for the 2014 Stress Olympics here. This isn’t some sick competition where one can decide who gets more pity, sympathy, or empathy. Or even who deserves to be hailed as someone incredibly organized and efficient, always adding more to their schedules, seeming to break all rules of time and space and sleep.

No one owes you anything. You’re not entitled to something just because you’re hitting the marks you’re supposed to be. You don’t deserve a good grade just because you turn in the homework every time. Please show me one truly successful person who has gotten to the top by constantly cutting corners, complaining to others about their work, and getting to their goals without a struggle.

Example A: After five hours of sleep, I walked into a classroom to begin a lesson. I was right on time after sitting on a delayed train and frantically trying to finish an assignment at the same time. I had just spilled coffee all over my notes. But instead of complaining, I stood in front of the classroom and taught the material. 

I left the classroom and no one knew about what my morning was like. No one needed to know. What would have been the point of me sharing? Receiving a few "that sucks" from my students and feeling pleased because someone recognized that I'm sort of champion for making it through that hellish morning? 

I would have loved to have someone make me feel better about those events, but I stopped myself because things like that happen to people every day. They're minor bumps in the road, and there's no reason to stop and recognize them only to make them a bigger deal when you can move forward with only a few lurches. 

Trust me. Do this next time. You might feel even better than getting a "that sucks" thrown your way.

Finally, I have one last thought to share: You have to actually do things to get to your goal. The more you complain about your stresses, the more time you are wasting in terms of getting there. Less talk, more action.

Oh, you want to be a writer? You should probably be trying to produce pages each week instead of complaining to your friends over tacos after last night’s rager that you just “can’t find a muse these days.” 

You’d like to work for the government but you refuse to study for your Poli Sci exam because you’d rather sleep until noon? Forget about that internship you were hoping for. Remember how you need a 3.5? Your experiences on your resume won't hide the fact you've been slipping since sophomore year because all your friends have a don't care attitude about school and you've joined them.

We’re not in Kansas (AKA high school) anymore people. This is the real world. And you can’t run away from work, extend deadlines, or complain to mom and dad to get you somewhere. If for whatever reason you’ve been getting away with cutting corners, you’ll have your head handed to you on a plate one day.

We are all capable of reaching what we strive for if we put in the time and effort to get to wherever "there" is. You don't "deserve" to reach anything if you talk about successes but never achieve them. 

As a college sophomore, I find that all of the bits and pieces I need to fix, accomplish, and attain before I graduate and move on to a job are absolutely overwhelming. I could cry right now thinking about it. I'm even tempted to go wallow a bit more. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't wallow, but you should probably work more than you wallow. So I'm going to pick up my books, crack them open, really read them (not skim), and gain some knowledge. Because I'm going to be somewhere big some day. 

I refuse to be a gold medalist in the 2014 stress olympics. You might consider it too. 

Who am I dating? My bed. Thanks for asking: A Playlist

Tunes that I listen to while I wrap myself in my comforter and eat Dinkel's pretzel rolls.


Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars (98)

Sun Kil Moon - I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love

The Beatles - In My Life

Cloud Nothings - Water Turns Back

Wilco - Radio Cure

Elvis Depressedly - Crazier With You

Mac Demarco - Only You

Alvvays - Ones Who Love You

Iron & Wine - Sinning Hands

Selections from my Virtual Library: August 2014

Lots of heavier topics this month, but it spurred lots of thinking! If you only have time to read some and not all, hit up the italicized ones.

The Atlantic

Can The Female Condom Go Mainstream?
The Future of Iced Coffee
The Secret to a Tattoo's Permanence: The Immune System
What Will a Liberal Arts Education Look Like in 50 Years?
How to Talk About Climate Change So People Will Listen
Meghalaya: The Wettest Place on Earth
Who Watches America's Executions?
The Elusiveness of Stolen Art

NPR

The Good Listener: Why Do Band Photos Look Like That, Anyway?
Turnitin And The Debate Over Anti-Plagiarism Software
Hip-Hop In Print: Brooklyn Publisher Looks To 'Reverse Gentrify' Literature

The New Yorker

What Makes a Family of Artists
Selfie
The Pleasure of Reading to Impress Yourself

Medium

Imagining the Post-Antibiotics Future
Slaying The Protein Myth
The Aftershocks

BBC

Colombian anti-groping squad goes to work
US schools to have non-white majority

McSweeney's

A Post Gender Normative Man Tries To Pick Up a Woman At A Bar
Classic Movie Changed Not To Be Sexist

Interstate Wastelands: A Playlist

I just decided to throw together some tunes on a list here that I kept going back to on my recent trip to Pennsylvania. I didn't bring a computer on vacation and I limited myself to my notebook, iPod, and books for the eight hour car ride. It was great to be able to actually listen to albums front to back without interruption or distraction. The tracks are in no specific order.

1. Wisconsin - Bon Iver

2. Stoned and Starving - Parquet Courts




3. Mr. November - The National

4. I Watched The Film The Song Remained The Same - Sun Kil Moon

5. I Was There - The War On Drugs

6. I Guess I Should Go To Sleep - Jack White

7. I Can't Wait For You To Die - Elvis Depressedly 

8. Doin' It Right (Feat. Panda Bear) - Daft Punk

9. Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys

10. Archie, Marry Me - Alvvays

11. Limit To Your Love - James Blake

12. Ain't It Strange - Dr. Dog