The Week: May 3, 2013

It is going to be 80 degrees in the Pacific Northwest this weekend. EIGHTY FRIGGIN DEGREES. The weather is so nice that one school has cancelled class due to sunshine. No, I’m not even remotely kidding.

I am getting out from behind my desk right this second, and heading out to enjoy the day (after safely slathering on some sunscreen and putting on a hat). This links were hastily put together because, really, all I wanted to do was go out and play.

But they’re still worth a gander. Enjoy.

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Foreign Policy culled together the top 500 most powerful people in the world (the list includes presidents, past and present, dictators, and even leaders of drug cartels). I can’t tell if I was more surprised to learn that Henry Kissinger still has influence, or that he’s still alive.

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Paul Miller writes about the year he spent offline without the internet. And what it felt like to return to this world wide web of ours.

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I’m currently studying a new language (an undertaking which deserves its own post, at the very least). The process had made me acutely aware of the nearly-non-sensical expressions we use every day. I may need to send this list of idioms to some of my friends for whom English is a second language.

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Awk-ward. A women’s group in North Devon, U.K., dressed up as pirates for a talk by a captain … who was one held hostage by Somali pirates. (via my pal Elaine)

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The Matrix, as retold by one mother. Man, I hope Moshimo and Leo get out of this okay with all their judo.

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Christopher Elliot wrote a piece on plane etiquette. While I don’t entirely agree with him (we have an absolute right to recline our seats, damn it) he makes some good points.

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The British Film Institute’s YouTube Channel is full of shorts from the early days of cinema, including silent films, historical videos, and what might be Britain’s first sound film. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.

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This week, Chris Kelly (one half of the teen rap group Kris Kross), died of an apparent drug overdose. In the mid-90s, the band was known for their song “Jump, Jump,” and for wearing clothing backwards (we recently sang it to a friend’s 3-year-old son after he inadvertently put his pants on the wrong way around).

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This might be the greatest wedding website, ever. Just go and read it, and try not to get all misty eyed, okay? I’m not saying you’ll succeed, but TRY, DAMN IT.

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That’s it for me this week. I hope you have a little sunshine in your forecast, too, wherever you may be.