Friday Reflection & Round Up

It’s Friday and it’s been a busy and productive week. I’m happy that I’ll be able to sleep in tomorrow. It’s the first time in a while where that’s been the case. I hope you get to sleep in too–you know, if you’re into that sort of stuff.

Here’s some other stuff you might be into too:

• My friend, Afarin, is raising funds for Camp Kindle–an amazing organization that does fantastic things for kids affected by HIV/AIDS. Consider supporting her today!
• For you voracious readers out there, this might be a good resource to save some moola and try out some books.
• The NYT just ran an article about the challenge of making friends.  In a new city, in a new job, I can relate. I hope it gets easier.
  
• Apparently, you should avoid going to hospitals in July. Here’s why.
• What is this sorcery?
• TimBieberLake. Just think about that for a second. And then watch this.
• Planning on supporting 826NYC next month and playing some Bingo! Join  me?
• You’ve got to sell your heart.
• Trying to arrange a skype date with seven people in three (or four) time zones is tough work. So is planning hang outs with friends in the city you live in. Doodle  is a neat tool you can use to help streamline the process.

And lastly, I want to close by sending my condolences and well wishes to those who were affected the by the awful shooting in Colorado last night. I usually keep the fare here pretty light-hearted or upbeat, but I thought I would take a moment to talk about this.

This resonates with me on so many different levels but mostly because when I heard this particular piece of news, I thought of this:

This picture was taken late one night in 2008. We were home for the summer from our second year of college. We were excited to be together and excited for a movie. We played cards and ate dinner on the sidewalk. And in that moment, we didn’t have a worry in the world–aside from nabbing good seats for the show.

And it’s that moment I think about when I hear news like the shooting today. My heart goes out to those kids who had their lives irrevocably altered at a moment that was supposed to be outside of the world of problems we face every day.

Why do we go to movies? It’s a chance to hop into a theater with friends and leave your life at the ticket counter. That for two hours, you get to be in a different time and place, and look at a world that is easier than the world you live in. Where there are bad guys, and soundtracks, and the suspension of your disbelief. Where anything is possible.

And I’m so sorry that that secret, safe place where cinema can take you was brought crashing down by the stark reality of the troubled world we live in. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

For those in Colorado, my hope is they find that sense of peace and safety again. And soon.