Friday List!

Jill's List:

Sarah and I realized we should start studying up on "third culture kids" or "modern global nomads"...or whatever they call themselves these days...because we have four between the two of us.  We're starting here.

Image from denizenmag.com

Oh really, Florida?  You're freaking out over those?  You've obviously never tripped over a family of giant snails while trying to find your way to your front door in the dark....and then eaten them in a delectable peanut sauce.

Image from National Geographic Daily News

I love photos.  I really, really do.  There's a reason I've subscribed to Aperture Magazine for 11 years. 

Image from Aperture.org

These days, I also love the NYTimes "Lens" Blog.  Like Paul Kwilecki's images of life in Georgia...

Image by Paul Kwilecki from NYTimes Lens Blog. 

And while we're discussing photography, let's talk about llamas.

Image by Jen Osborne for Colors Magazine.

Good news if you are white, well-off, emotionally stable, and educated!  What do you think about this American Psychological Association article on the secrets of a happy marriage?

Beautiful image by Bruce & Rebecca found on Miss Moss.  (Isn't this Karoo setting incredible?  Oh, South Africa...)

Don't you wish you could qualify as a "modern Mennonite" too?

And yeah, I totally know that girl.  No biggie.  Image from the WSJ's Metropolis.

I posted this article on my Facebook page and caused a ruckus.  So, I'm posting it here too!  Apparently, this is a very controversial suggestion:

We must begin to see our fellow human beings as precisely that:  fellows.  They need not be friends, but they must be counted as worthy of our respect, bearers of dignity in their own right.  Those who struggle must no longer be seen as failures, but more often as unlucky, and perhaps worthy of our extending a hand.  Those who come to our shores, whatever our policy toward them, must be seen as human beings seeking to stitch together a decent life rather than as mere parasites upon our riches.  Those who are unhealthy must be seen as more than drains upon our taxes but instead as peers that, but for good fortune, might have been us.

Image from the Opinionator Blog.

Sarah and I have both done this with our babies on a part-time basis.  More out of laziness and a general distaste for diaper changing than anything else.  But, it works!

Image from the NYTimes

And finally, for a friend who is getting a lot of "Have you had that baby yet?" this week.

Vintage image from Ashley.

Sarah's List:

I can't stop thinking about this article: Why women should embrace a "good enough" life. Jill and I got into a really great discussion about this in her office this week. There may or may not have been tears. My only issue with this is that the "good enough" life seems pretty great. I want to hear more retrospectives from mothers just ahead of us.

Image from the WashingtonPost.com, here.

Why does American lose its head over "terror" but ignore its daily gun deaths? Good question. I think we should be losing our heads over both until there are no more heads lost.

Photograph: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images. From here.

I've bought birth control in a lot of countries (don't judge me!) and you know where it was the easiest? Answer: In the "Conservative Islamic Dictatorship" of Egypt. You know the hardest place? The USA. Here's an interesting opinion: Put the pill on drugstore shelves. Pregnancy is more dangerous than birth control. 

Photo by Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images. From here.

Okay, let's get to the important political issues. Did you know Obama loves Sno-Cones? Like really loves Sno-Cones? SnObama does. Totally hilarious.

"Eyes on the Ice." From here.

Have you seen/heard this? Study Determines This Is the Most Relaxing Song Ever. Adam and I listened and I just got all stressed that I wasn't relaxing. 
 

From ApartmentTherapy.com.

Today is Adam's birthday. Mama Youyou will be making him this. And this. This guy is throwing him a party. And for my gift, I made the coffee this morning. (Hey, I offered to make breakfast, but he said that would just stress him out too much.) Happy Birthday, dear one. 

Way back when he was 31. Photo credit Jill Humphrey.

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Friday List

SARAH'S LIST:

Yesterday we had the day off in celebration of Liberation Day. Or to commemorate the day, 15 years ago, when Kabila I marched into Kinshasa to liberate the country from Mobutu. Or as our friends say, "Liberate" the country from Mobutu.

"The Leopard's Last Monument"

  by  Julien Harneis 

Meanwhile, in the 90s, while our Congolese friends were enduring their coup d'état. I was watching a lot of Will and Grace. Which for some reason comes on our South African television all the time. It's kind of amazing to watch it now. It's still so edgy! Good article on the subject.

Here's a list of countries that love their moms more than America does. Not too surprising, really.

  by  Hamed Saber 

Foreign Policy Magazine is on a roll with its Mama lists. Here's one of Dictators With Mommy Issues. Ha!

Mommy Issues.

  by  Luz Adriana Villa A. 

Here's an interesting online exhibition called Mama: Motherhood Around the Globe. It's by the International Museum of Women and looks pretty beautiful. Especially if you have non-Congo internet and can actually load the photos and videos!

Opinion piece called New Africa or New Hype. A miraculous triumph over a tragic past or politically correct and safe?

There's nothing I love more than a smartly funny, witty woman. You can't really tell from her character on The Office, but Mindy Kaling is hilarious. I laughed all the way through her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). She has a new show starting in the fall. I really hope it's worth the download time.

JILL'S LIST:

An amazing program.  Go nurses!

Really happy to have this newly downloaded on my computer.  I have big plans for nighttime downloads (as is a necessary courtesy in the land of low bandwidth...) of Caillou, Oui Oui, Tintin, Pingu, Barbapapa, and other little clips to keep my kiddos happy on our quickly-approaching plane trip to the USA.  Scooby Doo in French?  No problem. 

Barbapapa.

Worldwide breastfeeding stats.  DRCongo is even included on the list.

I've always been a fan of face scrubs.  But, recently, I have been using this little waterless balm to "cleanse" my face and it's magical.  I swear my skin is more tropics-ready (read: less shiny) the less scrubbing and more balm-ing that I do.  (I got a sample in my Birchbox last month.  Sarah is mad because her little pot of Skin Savior apparently got nabbed somewhere between the U.S. and Kinshasa...)

Amazing photography.  Fascinating stories.  Hell of a blog post.

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