0 Friday Randutiae

An unexpected change in my weekend plans leaves me with some time this afternoon for blogging a bit of randutiae...

• My dear friend Amanda MacGregor recently wrote a piece for Modern Loss about what happens when the experience of traumatic loss collides with the way we use social media. She writes that following the sudden death of her father, "Thanks to social media, his death was old news by the time I found out about it." This piece brings up some questions it would benefit us to think about – like, what is lost when a person who's grieving doesn't even have the privilege of telling their own bad news? Check it out.

• At School Library Journal, Lauren Barack has written a great piece called "LGBTQ & You: How to Support Your Students," about the importance of the school library to the young LGBTQ community. That smiling library assistant in the photo is, in fact, my dear friend Amanda MacGregor, who wrote the Modern Loss piece – she is just popping up everywhere, that lady :o). Amanda is one of a number of library assistants and librarians interviewed in the piece.

• If you've been around my blog for a while, you may remember that in times past I flew through the air with a touch of unease, the daring young lass on the flying trapeze. In case my mother is reading this, don't worry, Mom, this isn't a segue to the announcement that I'm on the flying trapeze again. My feet are firmly planted on the ground. However, my dear darling trapeze school, TSNY Beantown, currently situated in the Jordan's Furniture entertainment complex in Reading, is looking for a new home! Do you know of anyone in the greater Boston area who might have a suitable space for an indoor trapeze rig and an interest in supporting the aerialist arts? If so, please contact Christine De Souza or Hailey Dodge at TSNY Beantown, 781-942-7800 or bostoffice@trapezeschool.com. TSNY Beantown provides something extraordinary and unique.

My time is up so that's it for today, but here's what I'm looking at on my desk these days: