This might not look like much, but to those of you who have been following my saga, this is the current state of my office ceiling. Woo hoo!! No more giant hole! Paint! Cute red paint, even. And later, after I fix that smudge (I am the world’s messiest painter) I’ll put the rest of the fixture up and begin to reckon with moving all of my stuff back into the office. Oh happy day…

It is far from from my usual Monday post. In fact, it will be Wednesday by the time this gets uploaded. Been busy priming the various ceilings in our apartment now that the giant hole is my office (and the various other bumps and cracks around the place) has been repaired. Allah Akbar, which means God is great… a statement I will happily stand behind, now that I see a light at the end of the tunnel of my life-amidst-piles-and-tarps.

But in the meantime, here are some things that I have noticed in the vast procrastinatory abyss that is the internet.

Listen to (and watch, and be blown away by) my friend’s 13 year old daughter Ruby Karp give a TED talk about feminist activism and what it means to her.

I mentioned this on facebook already, but you guys should all read Rebecca Carroll’s conversation with Jezebel.com founding editor Anna Holmes on The Aesthete. Two very intelligent women telling it like it is… almost makes you want to actually pick up a book and read again.

Artisinal gummmies from Portland, OR. What’s not to love?

Oh lord, did I really just read about an app called Saga that helps you create a “lifelog” by automatically recording everything you do (got coffee at El Beit, took L train to Union Square, bought lettuce, etc) and then lets you share aforementioned (and thrilling) lifelog with your friends? Please say it ain’t so…

Oh and Dear God, while I have you on the horn, please let the near-future version of my daughter be like Amanda Soule’s son Ezra in Maine, whipping up concoctions for his family and dancing around the kitchen while he does it. It’s moments like these that make all the other bullshit worthwhile…

People have all sorts of things to say about Malcolm Gladwell. I say listen to the man himself and then decide if you’re going to be one of the 10 or 15 people on Earth who choose not to read his latest book…

And while we’re on the topic of professorial men of african descent, PBS has just aired the first of Henry Louis Gates’ six part series called The African Americans: Many Rivers To Cross. It is a comprehensive look at the crazy, multilayered, intense and often inspirational history of African Americans. Required viewing, as far as I am concerned.

Nothing like a vampire creeping up your stairs to get you in the mood for Hallowe’en. That and living with a little girl dying to transform herself into a witch. Photo courtesy of Flavorwire.

Yesterday was my father’s 76th birthday, so I took the day off to roast a fresh ham and bake him red velvet cake. More on the ham later, which was delicious. But I’m back on track now, and for your web-surfing pleasure this week I hope to provide you all with some motivation to bring your best game to Halloween this year. Or at least to remind you that it’s coming up, so those of you with kids better get on it. Enjoy.

Leave it to the listmakers at Flavorwire to provide us with 20 “essential” vampire movies to get us in the mood this season.

Speaking of a little girl and her costume, this is the witch getup we’ve finally settled on this year. Thank you, Chasing Fireflies, for having the best selection of pre-made-but-not-totally-horrible costumes out there.

Here’s a great book by Lemony Snicket about a little boy who gets over his fear of the dark.

Leave it to Kim France to point us towards this crazy Cinderella/Carrie video mashup that turns our favorite princess fairytale into a bone chilling nightmare.

Perhaps this guy in Mustang, Oklahoma has taken his Halloween decorating a bit too far this year…

Do you guys think I could justify buying these Isabel Marant boots by claiming that they are going to be part of my witch costume?

Lastly, this video below might not be actually frightening, but it does feature our favorite wizard, one Harry Potter. Well, not Harry, but the man who brought him to life, British actor Daniel Radcliffe, in a more current role singing and dancing his a** off in a Broadway musical. And to my shock and surprise, he is GREAT.

When asked what could possibly be worse that a government shutdown, I must admit that the words “Barbie Movie” come immediately to mind…

I am over just abut everything right about now because my landlord postponed (AGAIN!) the repair of my damaged and collapsed ceilings in our apartment for another 2 days.

Here are a few other things I am finished with:

How can anybody really think that the Affordable Healthcare Act is worse for our republic than shutting down the government? Maybe they are afraid that Obamacare will actually work.

Really North Carolina? You guys are still trying to make it hard-if-not-impossible for those citizens you deem undesirable to vote? Like we don’t see what you’re doing with your new voting law?

Why does anybody ever let their kids watch Barbie movies?

I’m sorry, did you say Placenta Art Prints?

I’m over everybody pretty much just getting guns whenever, no matter how insane or violent they might be. I am not, however, over Jon Stewart agreeing with me:

WHAT???? An iPod stand for a toddler training potty? Is nothing sacred?

And then, finally, on a more positive note, when I ran accross this letter from a grandfather scolding his daughter for disowning her gay son, I thought, perhaps, there is hope for us yet…

Cute kitten, or international spy?

No rhyme or reason with the links this week. Sort of like my life.

Turns out that some of our most effective spies aren’t human at all.

It also turns out the best thing we can do for our kids at school is to talk to them at home.

Learn how to say no. And then when you get good at it, please teach me.

Joanna Goddard shares a friend’s recipe for homemade masala chai… perfect for the change in season.

You can see all sorts of sculptures by world class artists for free in NYC if you know where to look.

Evidently, memory and fiction are more akin than we might think.

I do not have a harding problem compared to these people.

Look what I found this morning when I turned on the lights in my office!

The long (lovely, but still long) summer vacation is finally over. School has started again, hallelujah. Routines have settled back into play. All is good with the world.

Oh no wait…

When we woke up on Saturday morning, we discovered that our tenants (we rented our place while we were in San Francisco this summer) left us a little goodbye gift. In the form of fleas. So much for renting to people with dogs ever again. Sorry dog lovers.

So instead of a relaxing weekend getting settled back into our place after being away for so long, we went on full offensive to get rid of the fleas. Plus we called the pros, who will be taking the fight to the next level over the next few days.

Then, this morning, I turned on the light in my office only to discover that a good part of the ceiling has fallen in. Yep. So fun. A good part of today, therefore, will be spent clearing rubble, relocating my piles of belongings, and cleaning. I did a little research and found this article full of good dusting tips.

But I must maintain a positive attitude. I must. No matter how much I want to cry, or how covered with dust my record collection is at this moment. According to the Huffington Post, my good attitude may even reduce my chances of heart problems. (Though there are times when I wonder if it might not just be easier to have a heart attack and get it all over with quickly.)

So now I will look at things that make me feel good about the world…

Like Tess Giberson’s new collection for Spring 2014.

Pretty much any post on the Ace Hotel’s blog. I mean, it’s called Everything Will Be OK, for crying out loud.

Making yummy pink lemonade popsicles.

Just the fact that Stripes exists is proof that the world isn’t all bad…

Two women at work during World War II. Photo © Emmanuel Joseph.

In my life, Labor Day is generally a bittersweet day marking the end of summer. Bitter because the lazy afternoons on the beach or by somebody’s pool are pretty much done for a year. Sweet because school is about to start, meaning my days as sole care provider for my daughter are rapidly coming to an end.

Not that I don’t love hanging out with her, but, as anyone with a young kid can tell you, keeping up with them is a full time job in itself, let alone feeding them and preventing them from killing themselves by doing things like skateboarding across the street with their eyes closed or jumping into the deep end when they can’t swim.

I am exhausted, and am looking forward to a September full of more sleep, solo trips to the market and not having to squeeze my own work in between 6 and 8 am or 10 pm till midnight.

But I digress.

In reality, Labor Day is actually a celebration of, well, labor. And I am lucky lucky lucky to find myself surrounded by a bunch of women whose work is truly inspiring. So in honor of this auspicious holiday, please allow me to share some of the amazing things my friends are getting up to these days. — Read more

Ok see the guy in the sunglasses a little up and to the right of Dr King in this photo? That’s my dad, fifty years ago, being part of history at the March on Washington.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the original March on Washington, a few links to get our minds moving…

Danny Glover does a beautiful reading of Langston Hughes’ poem “Montage of a Dream Deferred.”

Ever spend time actually thinking about what happens to a dream deferred? In the case of one of our most famous collective dreams, Gary Younge believes that Martin Luther King’s most famous speech has been misremebered.

Check out these 10 slogans that helped to turn dreams into reality and changed the world (not always for the better)

But then sometimes, those dreams start to fall apart. Like that silly fantasy about all Americans having equal rights to vote. Seems the Supreme Court doesn’t feel it’s a right worth protecting. Read a little about what that decision means in the real world.

When do we dream? Often while asleep. Neuroscientist Russell Foster lays out what happens when we sleep and why we need it so much.

Learn how to interpret your own dreams online! (could be total bunk, but hey, you never know…)

And then get Sheri Clyde’s book A Child’s Library of Dreams and help your kids learn how to cope with, learn from and be empowered by their own dreams.