I’m trying something different!  Instead of my StumbleUpon Sunday series, I’m going to branch out and talk about anything that has caught my attention on the Internet over the previous week.  If anyone else wants to do it, grab the picture and link back to ItIsTrish.

Articles

1|  Harry Potter Post-It Notes

#PotterItForward Fans of Harry Potter are leaving post-it notes in the HP books to future generations, briefly sharing the impact of the series on their lives and wishing new readers well.  This is…so cute.  My heart hurts.

2| Review of Ryan Adams’ 1989 Cover 

The Atlantic helped me sort through my feelings about Ryan Adams’ cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989.  I like his album, I’m glad it gives me an excuse to listen to her songs for ANOTHER year without stopping, but it’s missing some of Taylor’s magic.

The general trend on the album is for tracks that once communicated confidence in the face of uncertainty—Swift’s big, brash pep rallies for the soul—to become tentative and sad and wistful….

Another example: “Out of the Woods,” stretched here to six minutes and adorned in REM-ish guitar chiming. It presents the lyrics’ desire for stability as passive pining—moving and relatable, yes, but the kind of emotion we’ve heard in rock ballads for decades. The original, though, was truly weird: booming gated drums, stentorian backup chanting, Swift’s jumbled, repetitious chorus, all of which conveyed a blend of hope and neuroticism—the feeling that bliss is so close yet so elusive that you can’t stop thinking about it. Next to that, Adam’s campfire profundity feels generic. Maybe that’s why she left the likes of it behind.

3|  A Spiritual Discussion of Busyness

Sometimes being an American Christian feels like a whirlwind life busy with ministry, service, and no free time.  Relevant’s article insists that this is a wrong way of living, and encourages us to imitate Jesus’s slower pace, because

Jesus was never rushed. He wasn’t overwhelmed by life, even though He had an enormous mission to complete in a very short period of time.

4|  The Silmarillion Recaps

The Mary Sue is doing a series recapping The Silmarillion in the most delightfully informative way.  So far they’ve shared the stories of Jerk Elves and Really Shiny Jewels, Beren & Luthien, Werewolves, and Half-Godesses, and Dragons, Curses, and Incest Oh My! with gems like:

Fëanor is now High King and, more because his jewels were stolen than that his father was killed, he goes into a rage. He blames the Valar for Morgoth’s deeds, which is convenient since one could just as easily argue that if he hadn’t been such a paranoid, covetous douchecanoe, it would have been a lot harder for Morgoth to manipulate him and get his hands on them jewels. In any case, Fëanor rallies a great deal of the Noldorian elves to go to Middle Earth to get back three rocks he refuses to share with anyone. So it had to have been some speech.

If you don’t want to read The Silmarillion after these recaps, you’re a lost cause.

Videos

This music video from Lady Gaga and director Catherine Hardwicke is SO IMPORTANT.  It’s hard to watch, not shying away from college sexual violence, but internalized messages (made external with markered messages scrawled on their bodies) transforming from damning to empowering is so beautiful.  Kudos to Gaga for taking on such a hard topic, addressing it with sensitivity, and offering hope in a dark situation.

I am an Apple girl, but this Windows 10 commercial (as seen repeatedly on Hulu) is perfection.  The inclusiveness of this video astounding, both in showing children from all over the world and in showing talents from a wide range of skills.  I am in love with the scene of the girl deciding not to jump off the diving board while the narrator talks about future leaders, reminding us that bravery doesn’t come all at once.  And I LOVE the deliberate choice to have the narrator say, “We just need to make sure she has what she needs.”  Male pronouns as the default are subtly limiting, and I love that little girls might see the commerical and imagine themselves as “the ones who will do great things.”

(Picture from Wikipedia)