Friday List!

Sarah's List:

Most frequently asked question of the summer: "How does your family stay so white?" It's a good question. I have no answer. Equatorial sun is no match for our Irish roots. Second most asked question: "How many times have you had malaria?" Answer: Zero. Again, boring answer. This is usually when folks ask if we actually live in Congo.

Here's a Q and A with every question you could possibly have about mosquitoes. Why don't we just kill all the mosquitoes?

USDA/AP from here.

Looking for a good summer book? Have you seen the Book Seer? You just put in the last book you've finished (and presumably enjoyed) and this smart-looking guy will tell you what to read next.

From the BookSeer.com

And if you're approaching 30, or already got there. Here's a list you're supposed to check off. 30 Books I'm Glad I Read Before 30. Do you agree?

And then you can head over to Open Library for over a million free e-books.

From openlibrary.org.

Would you drink your own sweat? Or maybe someone else's. Turning sweat into water. Fascinating.

Leave it to UNICEF and the Swedes to make a sweat machine.

I swear. Your sister makes you watch The Bachelorette once and you think it's the dumbest thing you've ever seen. Then you "accidentally" watch it the next week and you're like, "OMG, who's gonna get a rose?!" Here's a great article on the ability to fall in love with someone who mistakes verbs for adjectives. "I'm like, God, You Know, Is He, Am I Not, Is That, He's Not Gonna Pick Me."

A truly grammatical moment. 

This week Charlotte had her tonsils and adenoids out. It wasn't so bad until the nurse who wheeled her away said, "Now's when the parents are allowed to cry." Turns out getting body parts removed is actually quite painful, especially when you're 3-years-old. The Sound of Music makes it a little better.

Jill's List:

What did you think about Obama's speech today about Trayvon Martin and race in America?

Image from the NYTimes.

I was totally influenced by the adorableness of the photo in the first American Mothers Around the World post and I bought Elias a Kanken for 2nd grade. (Plus, I found a great deal on a very strange color combination.)

Photo by Rebecca Zeller who is one of the moms (including us!) featured on Cup of Jo's new series.

Super interesting article about nonviolence in violent schools.

1998 image of North Philly neighborhood from The Atlantic.

Have you been watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee?  Four people (including Joanna) mentioned it in the past week and my husband is one of those people who insists on continuing to quote Seinfeld.  So I watched this episode...but got distracted about two-thirds of the way through the 15 minute segment.  Should I try again?

Image of Barry Marder and Jerry Seinfeld from here.

Have you ever rewarded yourself for doing something hard with a really nice, splurgy, present? My friend bought herself a pair of slamming shoes as a present to herself for birthing her third baby.  I'm buying this and this for finally taking my GREs after avoiding them for the past 10 years.  Indulgent? For sure.

Buy this at Tata Harper or Sephora.

I've been thinking a lot about what I would think if I read Mama Congo.  Does that make any sense?  Let me clarify.  What if I didn't know what it was like to live in another country and I read the things I write. Or, what if I had been born in Congo.  What would I think?  How do my thoughts come across?  I think I'm imagining/bracing for some not-so-supportive comments we may very well get on our Cup of Jo guest post in a couple of weeks...  I re-read this amazing and biting essay to check myself.  It's worth a think.

Also be sure to include a warm and motherly woman who has a rolling laugh and who is concerned for your well-being. Just call her Mama. Her children are all delinquent. These characters should buzz around your main hero, making him look good. Your hero can teach them, bathe them, feed them; he carries lots of babies and has seen Death. Your hero is you (if reportage), or a beautiful, tragic international celebrity/aristocrat who now cares for animals (if fiction).

And, speaking of Mama Vida, (sort of) she's on Facebook now!  We've been chatting with her - which is nice because this morning, Lou demanded to tell her about how a bird smacked into the window while we were eating breakfast.

And, has anyone used Milk + Moleskine to make an online photo book?  We just did!  Elias illustrated some of Boss' (the random name he created for his paternal grandfather we made for his paternal grandfather - there's a story, of course) favorite sayings and we made it into a book for G-Ma's birthday.  It turned out great and features that awesome little rubber band that is one of the best parts about Moleskine notebooks.  A sample of the illustrations we used to make the book:

What the...?  Find out here.