Every Friday I point you towards some recommended reading around the blogosphere:
1. In case you missed this feel-good moment of the century, here’s Paul Simon letting a fan come up on stage and perform one of his songs.
2. Equally inspirational is this commencement speech by NPR science correspondent Robert Krulwich on the future of journalism. If this doesn’t move you to go out and pursue your dreams, nothing will.
3. In other news, for those following the whole Lars Von Trier/Hitler/Cannes saga, this you tube video is priceless.
4. Loved Salon’s virtual tour of the world’s most inviting bookstores.
5. Also loved this sneak peak at book covers that didn’t make it over on the New York Times. (Ummm…Wetlands? Hello?)
6. I’m always drawn to stories about the kindness of strangers. Joan Wickersham has a great tale about drive-by kindness in the Boston Globe.
7. Finally, in the department of random, quirky and fun, read the Guardian’s interview with Director John Waters. Hat tip: Donna Trussell.
Have a great weekend!
May 20, 2011, 10:59 pm
I love stories about the kindness of strangers too.
Once at the supermarket check-out, I had a full cart, and the guy behind me had just a few items, so I offered for him to go in front of me. He said “Thanks! That’s the second time someone has offered me to go in front of them…”
I thought he was going to end the sentence with the word “today”, and to my surprise he said “…in about 30 years!”
He made my day, and perhaps my next 30 years, because now I make it a point to be the kind stranger, in case the person behind me hasn’t seen kindness in a long, long time.
May 21, 2011, 1:25 am
Hi Delia – love the two kindness links.
ML – I had a grocery kindness moment this morning. Recently my mother had a stroke and relies on a caregiver, thousands of miles away from me. I was on my way into the grocery store yesterday mornign to quickly grab a few items and saw an elderly, limping, shaky woman very slowly trying to steer a cart to her car. Although she didn’t resemble my mother, it put me in mind of how my mother is now so in need of help.
I asked if I could help this woman load the many bags of groceries into her car trunk, and she nodded and smiled. When I finished, she thanked me profusely, hugged me and nearly cried. Then she told me she was shopping for HER disabled daughter. Then I nearly cried. The whole thing took less than 2 minutes. It made me realize how little of my time and energy this took, yet how much it added to her ease — and how infrequently we DO take the time.
May 21, 2011, 5:17 pm
wow what a great story @Lisa-how moving! (and @ML) I am constantly amazed at how little it takes to make someone else’s life just a little bit brighter, and yet how often we just go on auto-pilot thru our own lives…and you *do* feel better!