Friday Favorites is a weekly round up of my favorite stories and products from around the web. See what I’ve loved in the past here.
Play
- Ever wonder where police horses live? In London, they live in stables right in the heart of the city.
- Another horsey story today: Equestrian sports tend to be dominated by white people, so I love when I see stories about programs that connect minorities in vulnerable communities with horses. I loved this article from the New York Times about a program pairing inner-city kids with horses, and why close encounters with animals has such a therapeutic affect on many people.
Create
- Meet your new favorite spider: Lucas. In addition to the a-stinkin’-dorable video I’ve embedded below, you can watch him play in a sink, escape capture, beg to come in out of the cold, and play a mbira. I firmly believe that this cutie can cure anyone of their arachnophobia.
- The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam staged an entertaining flash mob straight out of a 17th Century painting by Rembrandt.
- I’m a purist when it comes to Simon and Garfunkle’s song “The Sound of Silence.” I don’t love that cover by the heavy metal artist that everyone got excited about a few years ago, but I DO love this cover played on an 18-string guitar. I didn’t even know that was a thing, but I need one now.
Learn
- Business Coach Steve Eakin shares what he learned from reading more than 100 books in 2017 in an article for Entrepreneur.
- Matt Goldman, one of the founders of Blue Man Group, gave an inspiring TED talk on how educators can encourage innovation and creativity in their students.
- Turns out, Venus Fly Traps aren’t total jerks to every bug that happens to land on them. A recent study has shown that they are very careful to not eat the bugs that pollinate them.
Conserve
- My new favorite TED talk ever: how one man started a plastic bank to keep plastic out of the ocean and help developing countries at the same time. Watch the video above or on TED.com.
- The North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is up for renegotiation, and things are not going well. President Trump has promised to renegotiate NAFTA to protect American farmers, but the New York Times reports that Trump’s proposals do more to protect large corporations than rural America. But it’s not just American farmers who might suffer: Wisconsin dairy farmer Jim Goodman offers a compelling argument for why scrapping NAFTA and starting from scratch could be the best option for everyone.
- Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, explains how consumer boycotts are the Achilles Heel of Big Food.
Believe
- During our last Stake Conference, a counselor in our Stake Presidency shared a lovely story about Joe Fairbanks, a missionary with Down Syndrome. While serving in Welfare Square in Salt Lake, Elder Fairbanks was counseled to keep a journal during his mission. While reading and writing are difficult for him, Joe devised an impressive system of using hieroglyphics to record spiritual experiences on his mission.
- I’ve often found myself caught in the middle between a religious culture of ultra conservatism and what I feel true Christianity means. And while I don’t agree with many liberal political beliefs, I still related to this article about an often overlooked silent minority: the Christian Left.
Bonus
- Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve discovered one of Brett‘s new favorite foods. This Indian Butter Chicken recipe is divine. Eat it. Now. You won’t regret it.
