The Good, the Bad, and The Curious (Links)

I know I missed links for last week, and this week is going to be abbreviated. My daughter dumped (not spilled, but dumped) a cup of water on the coffee table where my computer was sitting. It was completely fried, and should be en route back to me as we speak. All of my links were saved on my bookmarks, but everything else is backed up, so it was mostly an inconvenience rather than a tragedy.

All that to say here are (some of) the things I've read recently that made me smile, cry, and think. What about you?

The Good

That's my friend Amanda explaining her Kickstarter project. She promises enough dumpling recipes to create an all-dumpling Thanksgiving dinner if you're so inclined. I'm excited to see her project, and you can support it here. 

In 1968, Leonard Nimoy was so moved by a teenage girl's letter addressed to Spock in teen mag Fave about her problems with being biracial that he penned a heartfelt response. 

I may have mentioned this before, but a local artist named Cbabi Bayoc did a project in 2012 called 365 Days With Dad. In it, he painted a dad with child picture for every day of the year. 

The Belle Jar has a great Women's Day alphabet poem. 

The Bad

Several communities across the country are considering mandatory gun ownership requirements, which is probably the worst idea I've ever heard. 

The Curious

The Chronicle has published an extremely well-written look inside of a "remedial" college English class. The comments all seem to fall into three camps: 1) This teacher is a saint. 2) These students shouldn't be in college. 3) I taught developmental classes and it was rewarding but hard. It's actually this essay and the response to it that prompted me to make a survey asking how people view developmental college classes, and--if you haven't already--I'd love for you to fill it out. It's quick, I promise!

I love this sex educator's video about how changing the metaphor for having sex can change the way that we view it, especially in terms of consent and shame:

This post takes an interesting look at intersectionality when it examines racism in the sex-positive community. 

Gawker examines the costs of writing for free. 

That's what I've been reading this week (that I can remember without bookmarks). What about you?