There’s a lot of stuff I share on the Internet every day. Here’s a round up of the things I most enjoyed last week by category.

Inspiration

• Strong, vulnerable men. “If The Masculine has confidence without tenderness, it can turn to arrogance. And then there’s no real invitation for The Feminine to show up. And all softness with no fierceness, well that doesn’t give The Feminine a very safe resting place to unfold — and what The Feminine really, really wants to do, is unfold.” I sure like the way Danielle LaPorte says things.
• Don’t let the shame gremlin keep you small.  “She is authentic and flawed and a glorious truth-teller who makes it possible for others to feel empowered. Her work is important. And it’s not at all what she expected her life to be about. Her work scares her. She is not comfortable with vulnerability. But, she invites it into her life and embraces it. No… she creates opportunities to practice vulnerability. And by doing that… by sharing her failures and flaws she gives us access to living, as she says, a wholehearted life.” I was wrestling hardcore shame gremlins this week. Worse than I have in a decade… seemingly out of no where. At least I knew what was happening, which is how I found this post with this great excerpt. It didn’t fix me, but it helped.

Nifty

• The Making Of OK Go’s ‘The Writing’s On The Wall’ Video. A behind the scenes look on how that one-take video came to pass. Jesus those guys are geniuses.
• The Ta Ta Top. Though I would never (for non-feminist reasons), I appreciate the sentiment.
• 50 classy people from the past. How about that young Harrison Ford? Or the men in suits who tag buildings or ice skate. Lovely images.
• Get Lucky on banjo(y). Daft Punk goes bluegrass and I go bananas.
• A thoughtful illustration (NSFW). Speaking of banjo(y)s, my friend had a special one drawn for me. Tee hee.

Music

• I Love You But I Don’t Know What to Say by Ryan Adams The early part of the week included a Ryan-Adams-a-thon.
• You Will Become by Glen Hansard Gawd, I love him. 
• Faithfully by Clem Snide What a beautiful rendition of an old favorite.
• Liberator by Noah Gundersen I listened to this song at least 30 times this week, along with the one before it on his album, Ledges. It’s such a musically pretty song with that slow build I fall for every time. 

There’s a lot of stuff I share on the Internet every day. Here’s a round up of the things I most enjoyed last week by category.

Inspiration

• Dear single dudes: it’s time to man up. Ok, so this blog (beyond this entry) is a little conservative for my tastes. But this entry, though it does have low points of sexism and religious undertones that will never resonate with me, speaks a universal truth. “If you’re hanging out with a woman and you feel like you might be into her, tell her. Call her on the phone. Take her out on a date. Say the words: “I’d like to take you out.” No ambiguity. Plan the date yourself. Women want you to be decisive. Lose the whole ‘so waddaya wanna do tonight?’ schtick. Take charge. Pick her up at 7. Pay for the meal. Have a conversation with her. Go mini golfing or something. Go somewhere. Open the door for her. Put your phone away. Open up to her. Share your ideas, your dreams, your fears. Get to know her. Pursue her. Pursue her. Invest yourself in the process, as scary and unsure as it may seem. Take a risk, gentlemen. Go out on a limb for once. Be purposeful. Be desirable. Be a man.” 
• Chipotle adds content to packaging. And now I want to put meaningful, interesting words on everything.

Nifty

• OK Go has a new video. This band has perfected the music video. So thrilled to learn that they had created yet another. Oh, and BTW… If you’ve never seen their collaboration with Chevy, it’s worth a watch, to0. 
• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. I devoured a wonderful book this week. Quotes that struck me as I was winding my way through this story: “How pointless life could be, what a foolish business of inventing things to love, just so you could dread losing them.” and “She stared at him until a smile broke out and spread over her face like the sun coming out after a storm.” and “In a place like this, some secrets kept themselves, out of a failure to stand up to the competing rumors.”
• John Fullbright gets another great mention. This time it’s by Rolling Stone, which says to me that even more people (the average American) may learn this man’s name. Bad for my ability to see him in intimate settings, but good for his ability to be a forever musician. Way to go, John.

Music

• Brothers on a Hotel Bed by Death Cab for Cutie (with RAIN) This is a new app I discovered from a Twitter referral this week. Rain Moods. In the promotional website they have dozens of songs paired with a rainstorm. Take note of all the Bon Iver at the bottom of the page where links to all the songs reside. Enjoy your rabbit hole. 
• Writing on the Wall by Bear’s Den The drum part and harmonies that start around 3:05 just kill me. Love.
• Ramona by Night Beds Rediscovered this recently — a great driving, indie, folkie, melodic, harmonic piece of Sheri candy. 

There’s a lot of stuff I share on the Internet every day. Here’s a round up of the things I most enjoyed last week by category.

Inspiration

• Science says lasting relationships come down to—you guessed it—kindness and generosity. This article from The Atlantic talks about the work of  John Gottman, a research psychologist who has spent 4 decades studying couples. He found they fall into two categories: Masters and Disasters. The masters exhibit kindness and generosity like BOSSES. “Kindness (…) glues couples together. Research independent from theirs has shown that kindness (along with emotional stability) is the most important predictor of satisfaction and stability in a marriage. Kindness makes each partner feel cared for, understood, and validated—feel loved. (…) there’s a great deal of evidence showing the more someone receives or witnesses kindness, the more they will be kind themselves, which leads to upward spirals of love and generosity in a relationship. There are two ways to think about kindness. You can think about it as a fixed trait: either you have it or you don’t. Or you could think of kindness as a muscle. In some people, that muscle is naturally stronger than in others, but it can grow stronger in everyone with exercise. Masters tend to think about kindness as a muscle. They know that they have to exercise it to keep it in shape.” 
  
• Jim Carey gets it. Then he gives it away. “All that will ever be is happening right here and the decisions that we make in this moment which are either based in love or fear. So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality.”
• Why we humble brag about being busy. “This bubble is being enabled by an unholy alliance between three powerful trends: smart phones, social media, and extreme consumerism. The result is not just information overload, but opinion overload. We are more aware than at any time in history of what everyone else is doing and, therefore, what we “should” be doing. In the process, we have been sold a bill of goods: that success means being supermen and superwomen who can get it all done. Of course, we back-door-brag about being busy: it’s code for being successful and important.” This is worth your time to read. I sure hope we all wake up to Exhaustion as a Status Symbol, which is what Brene Brown calls this. The Avett Brothers calls it “ill with want.” I call it normal far too often.
• Why narcissism is a profoundly misunderstood psychological disorder. I survived a romantic relationship with narcissist several years ago, not that I didn’t bring plenty of baggage to the situation. Identifying his narcissistic personality disorder helped me get things in perspective. Since then I’ve read more about NPD and other psychological pathologies. It is all fascinating. This particular article dives into the connection between narcissism and fear, points out hormonal responses and makes a connection between NPD and psychopathy.

Nifty

• All by Myself, a video by Richard Dunn From the time he unzipped to reveal the souvenir t-shirt until the last frame I became smitten. I can’t imagine the effort this took but think it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Well done, Dunn.
• Porcupine squeaking whilst enjoying a tiny pumpkin. You are welcome.
• Jim Mills’s North Carolina basement is a monument to bluegrass history. And the photos are fucking stunning. ::swoon::

Music

• I Wish You Didn’t Feel Like my Home by Matt the Electrician. I booked Matt for Sheri’s Living Room in June. This was the first song I remember stumbling upon a year ago when Spotify recommended him to me. I just can’t wait until he plays. So, so neat. 
• Pickwick – Can’t Talk Medicine. Spotify suggested this album a few days ago and I can’t hear it enough. Track in particular: Hacienda Motel and Window Sill.