Facebook has its pros and cons. I love all the images people post, the links to news I would otherwise miss. I don’t mind the dogs and cats and memes.
But it isn’t long before I am drawn into the endless feed and am lost in something like a nail-art video. Me, anything but manicured, sighing wistfully over the shiny faces of Frankenstein and his bride on perfect acrylic canvas.
I can’t help myself. That’s the con.
One aspect of Facebook I really appreciate, though, is the ability to save links & videos I don’t have time for right away (because I am busy watching nail art). One click and those posts are filed away in a select column, so that later on I don’t spend hours fishing through every friend’s status to uncover them again.
Of course, my “saved links” feed has become dangerously full. So today, I’m posting a few of bookmarked favorites because 1) I can’t stand the idea of a good article sitting unattended and 2) sharing is more fun than Facebooking alone.
1. Dinty W. Moore’s My Favorite Essay to Teach: Debra Marquart’s “Hochzeit” on Assay: a Journal of Nonfiction Studies:
“[W]hat I find most fascinating about this 560-word masterpiece is how Marquart captures the very young Debra’s point-of-view. Not just the traditional way, letting us into her thoughts, but even the visuals. We see the wedding the way a child might see it, sitting on the floor, eye-level with the hems and cuffs of the grown-ups. And the character details are based in the reality of childhood….”
Moore includes a link to Marquart’s essay online and highlights a few short passages. But he also gives a brief lesson on one of the aspects of great flash nonfiction: the focus on details.
2. Heather Havrilesky’s Ask Polly: Should I Just Give Up on My Writing? Maybe you saw this one, but it’s worth a second study:
“We wake up very early in the morning, before the sun comes up, and we say to the world: I AM OLD AND I AM A NOBODY AND I LOVE WHAT I DO. You will be just like me someday. If you’re lucky.”
I read this just before I got my copy of Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book, BIG MAGIC, and these two things in tandem were exactly what I needed to lift my writing spirits.
3. From Good Housekeeping: This Incredible Archive Lets You See Depression-Era Photos of Your County.
“all of those images are searchable and sortable online through Photogrammar thanks to Yale. Want to see what New York City looked like during the 1930s? No problem. Curious about your hometown? Hunt away. You can even search by keywords, like ‘boys playing cards’ or ‘woman cleaning.'”
Now this is definitely more fun than Facebooking and perfect for writers of historical fiction.
4. Easy Microwave Fudge. Fine, so artsy manicured nails aren’t the only auto-play video over which I find myself lingering….
What have you bookmarked lately?
Don’t even get me started on nail art videos, Girlfriend. OMG. And I may as well throw in the towel on any workday that involves the adorably vicious cycle of never-ending “our furry friends” videos. Alas! I feel your pain. Perhaps I’ll console myself with a batch of easy microwave fudge.