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Something Wonderful

I Watched All of Safiya Nygaard’s Videos

YouTuber Safiya Nygaard is, technically speaking, young enough to be my child. She has drawers full of lipsticks; I own one lipstick, one lip pencil, one lip gloss, and two lip balms. She occasionally does things that make me squirm with discomfort, such as using a screw to apply mascara. (Keep that thing away from […]

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Make a Difference

We Need to Be Creative If We Want to Change the World, Part 2

Two weeks ago I wrote about the importance of creative approaches to world problems. I also shared some examples of what that sort of creativity looks like, from William Wilberforce’s attempts to abolish slavery by first focusing on abolishing the slave trade (a small step, but too big in the eyes of his opponents) to […]

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Something Wonderful

A Valentine’s Day Playlist That’s Not Just About Romantic Love

I believe that Valentine’s Day should be about celebrating all kinds of love, not just romantic love. So this year I decided to pull together one of my bizarre, genre-blending playlists for this blog in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Yes, there are some romantic songs on the list, including, I hope, some that will be […]

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Something Wonderful

Know This Name and Impress Jazz Lovers: Terri Lyne Carrington

Just as it can be difficult for people to name five or more women artists, it’s far from easy to name female jazz musicians who are not vocalists. Here’s one name you need to know: Terri Lyne Carrington, one of the best jazz drummers alive today. Born in 1965, Carrington was a child prodigy. She […]

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Something Wonderful

In the World of Music, Jazz Dominates Autumn

Being a quirky person with broad musical taste, I create themed playlists that could give many people whiplash. While I’ve never shared any of my odd, multi-genre playlists on the blog before, I thought I’d give it a try with this selection of autumn-focused music. It’s dominated by jazz — not merely because I love […]

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Something Wonderful

Get to Know American Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry

  Eulabee Dix is not the only female artist I became aware of through the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The museum also introduced me to American Impressionist Lilla Cabot Perry. Given her lengthy career and prominence, its a shame I hadn’t heard of her before. Perry came to painting relatively late in […]

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Something Wonderful

Dear Emma Newman: I Want to Write Like You

Dear Emma Newman, It’s tempting to ask, “Where have you been all my life?” but I already know the answer to that question. Until 2013, you had only one published work, a 2011 anthology of short stories Then the floodgates opened. Since 2013 you’ve published five books in your Split Worlds urban fantasy series, four […]

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Something Wonderful

Shamelessly Listen to Anime Music

In 1979, I was watching American animation like The World’s Greatest Super Friends, which opened like this: Fortunately, I also was being exposed to higher-quality animation in the form of the Japanese series Space Battleship Yamato or, as it was known in the United States, Star Blazers. Here’s how it opened: Not only were the […]

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Something Wonderful

Staggerford Is More Than a Regional Read

I’d never heard of Jon Hassler until I moved to Minnesota. That’s a pity, because while Jon Hassler’s novels are almost exclusively about Minnesota — small-town Minnesota, to be specific — they are beautiful stories of ordinary people trying to get through life. And while Hassler wrote many good books, I don’t think he ever […]

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Something Wonderful

20 People Who Prove That Illustrators Are Artists

  Do you love illustrations but hesitate to call them art, because aside from the occasional painting by Maxfield Parrish or Howard Pyle, you usually don’t find such work in major art museums? Do you ignore the work of illustrators because you don’t believe they are “real” artists? Too often we treat illustrators like we […]