Weekend Reads

It's time to share a few of my favorite blogs I read this week!

Silly Stuff

Every Argument About “Buffy” On The Internet, From 1998 Until Now by Nicole and Mallory at The Toast

Oz vs. Tara

• Oz Was Boring; Tara Was Too Good For This Sinful Earth
• Tara Was Boring; Oz Was The Greatest Love Interest In Television History; Remember That Animal Crackers Monologue
• What About Kenned–
• SHUT UP ABOUT KENNEDY

A Conversation Between The Two People I Assume Design All Restaurant Bathrooms by Mallory Ortberg at The Toast

BATHROOM DESIGNER #2: We need a full length mirror.

BATHROOM DESIGNER #1: Where?

BATHROOM DESIGNER #2: Hanging on the inside of the bathroom door, directly facing the toilet, such that whoever uses is it forced to make eye contact with herself as she uses the facilities.

BATHROOM DESIGNER #1: Why would she…what purpose would that serve?

BATHROOM DESIGNER #2: Honesty.

Another Bad Example by Escher Girls

Fashion is a weird thing in the land-where-water-floats-above-our-heads-so we-need-to-wear-floatation-devices-as-hats, I guess.  

Serious Stuff

Is Tony Campolo a Bad Parent According to Proverbs? by Peter Enns

These proverbs are meant to be the tools to grow as God’s wise people — not to poke and skewer our brothers and sisters in our effort to feel safer about our Bible or about the path of our life. When we are in such desperate need to be in control of what is often the baffling realities of life we can hurt ourselves and those around us. 

Consent Basics: It takes two to decide to be friends and only one to say "Nope!" by Captain Awkward

You don’t have to be friends with someone who constantly audits your behavior for sufficient “friendliness” and (barf) “emotional generosity.” You don’t have to be friends or get emotionally closer to someone you don’t like. You don’t have to make a convincing case for why you don’t like them or hear out their case in full. They don’t have to be on board with your decision to not be friends. You have done your part by being a basic amount of polite and cordial to this guy, and you have done more than your part by not biting his head off when he obviously tries to provoke you. You have fulfilled the social contract of how romantic partners need to treat each other’s friends. This dude has to learn to live with the fact that not everyone will like him, and he has to stop making his abject failure at this part of adulting into your problem.

Duck Dynasty's loveless ethics and why reaver jokes aren't funny by Fred Clark at Slacktivist

Total depravity doesn’t mean what Robertson seems to imagine it means — that without salvation we are inhuman reavers, conscienceless, bestial creatures of the sort described slaughtering the atheist family in his “joke.” That idea of human nature is not just a confused distortion of Calvinism, it’s also empirically false. There are more than 5 billion non-Christians here on planet Earth, and they do not, in actual fact, act like reavers.

World Vision Child Sponsorships Abandoned: It’s Almost Double What We Thought by Benjamin L. Corey at Formerly Fundie

Here’s reality: there have been between 15,000 – 19,000 children like the one you see here– children who viewed their sponsors as part of the family and a lifeline– who abruptly stopped receiving letters. The relationships were broken and dismissed. No more encouraging notes. No more special gifts on birthdays or holidays. No more funds for emergency clothing or food rations. It just stopped.

For up to 19,000 children. Let that sink in.

Why Christians Are Wrong About Joy by Margaret Feinberg at Rachel Held Evans' blog

They’ve discovered the things that actually bring happiness are long-term loving relationships, strong social connections, the opportunity to pursue meaningful work, a sense of optimism and openness to new experiences, as well as a spiritual belief or identification with an issue or idea larger than oneself.

I was fascinated that very items scientists identify as increasing our level of happiness are the very things that God calls us to as followers of Christ. 

And Some Silly Videos

Toy Story 3 Prank - A guy shows his mother an edited version of Toy Story 3 that ends at the worst possible moment and passes it off as the real movie.

Billy On the Street: It's Not Pitbull- It's Amy Poehler! - I subscribed to Billy on the Street after this because the weirdness of this "prank" cracked me up. People's reactions are great.

How to Talk to Your Crush - Rhett and Link discuss some really terrible advice from WikiHow.

The Lord of the Rings (1944) - A "just discovered" noir version of Lord of the Rings starring Humphrey Bogart as Frodo. This is ridiculous and hilarious.