Monday Morning

Say yes.

Daily Inspiration

One minute. One message.

UNICEF: oneminutesjr.- In Vain

This video was created by Lea vom Kolke. She is 11 years old and lives in Germany.

Lea asks…”Why is it that sometimes people only listen when they want to?”

Created at the oneminutesjr. workshop in Germany, 2011.

via unicef

If you’re traveling, what’s on your play/reading list this week?

If you’re traveling this week, what are you listening to and reading in order to whittle away the time? Let’s make a list*

*I’ll start. I’m reading Murakami’s 1Q84. I’m about 400 pages in. I’m hoping to finish this weekend.

via nprfreshair

*I’ll be starting Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson

View Separately

What. Jay Mug

via nevver

Why Not?

|Unique Car Colors|

An interesting perspective on the lack of unique car colors on the road today. A humorous question with some real answers.

Why Are Our Cars Painted Such Boring Colors?

They’re all white and silver. Cars used to be poppy red! Tangerine! Pea green!

by Julia Felsenthal, Slate, October 21, 2011

A few months ago, I came across a very cool-looking car. It was a 1970s-era Jeep Cherokee and it looked something like this. I’ve always been a fan of vintage Cherokees—their military-issue ruggedness appeals to the wannabe outdoorswoman in me. But this Cherokee charmed me more than most; its color was a deep, rich, super-saturated blood orange. It stood in bright contrast to the modern cars around it, whose paint jobs—pearlescent white, iridescent silver, high-gloss black—suddenly seemed to be variations on the same boring theme.

|Immigration|

An interesting perspective on the misconceptions of the effects of immigration … in Canada. This article was inspired by another article written by Rachel Giese in The Walrus (June 2011).

Safety in Immigrants

by Staff, Utne Reader, September - October 2011

The results reveal that “cities with the highest increase in immigration also had the largest decrease in violent crime.” First-generation immigrants, contrary to stereotype, are studious, family-oriented, and unlikely to participate in risky activities. Giese also found that the aversion to crime “extended across all nationalities; it didn’t matter whether a teenager’s family was from India or Trinidad or China.”

|Activism|

An interesting perspective on the purpose of activism. A skeptic interviews an avid anti-war activist.

Why Should We Demonstrate? A Conversation

by Logan Sachon, The Awl, October 12, 2011

The March on Washington was just one event in a multi-decade-long movement of which everyone who was present had some experience organizing on the ground back wherever they came from, on a day-to-day basis,everyday. They didn’t all just say, “Let’s all have the March on Washington where Martin Luther King will say, I have a dream, and then black people will be equal!”