Hello, friends. Today at work I made a huge paper chain and strung it up at the Circulation Desk. Do you remember making paper chains? They’re so satisfying and fun! The holidays are truly the best season for crafting. Here’s 5 things I found this week:

1. You Can’t Trust What You Read About Nutrition, FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight is a really interesting website. This talks a good bit about diets and specific foods, but it’s exposing how easy it is to manipulate scientific study or survey results to whatever claim you want to make. Food surveys are ridiculously inaccurate, so much so that
   “the Energy Balance Measurement Working Group that called it
   “unacceptable” to use “decidedly inaccurate” methods of measurement to
   set health care policies, research and clinical practice. “In this
   case,” the researchers wrote, “the adage ‘something is better than
   nothing’ must be changed to ‘something is worse than nothing.’”

   They used a short food survey along with other personal data to make very silly associations (eating egg rolls is associated with dog ownership; Drinking soda is associated with having a weird rash in the past year, etc.)

2. What’s All This About Journaling? NYT. I love journaling! Here are some of the benefits: “There are the obvious benefits, like a boost in mindfulness, memory and
   communication skills. But studies have also found that writing in a
   journal can lead to better sleep, a stronger immune system, more self-confidence and a higher I.Q.” I would highly recommend journaling as a practice, and don’t be too hard on yourself if you feel like you’re “not writing anything important,” or if you miss a few days/weeks. Journals are always there for you and they can be a wonderful record of your growth, relationships, faith, pop culture favorites. Highly recommend!

3. Toward a More Radical Selfie, The Paris Review. “In 2018, the ambivalence toward how to treat one’s digital self, how to
   create one’s “character,” is a particularly unwieldy knot for women. The
   collapse of the critical space between one’s personality and one’s
   online persona erases the distinction between self-expression and
   self-promotion. Every post now seems to fall into a dangerous trap.” Interesting. I do get tired of “putting myself out there,” which is why my Instagram has slowly transformed into a one-dog (one-PERFECT-dog) show. But this essay is beautifully written and introduced me to an impressive piece of fiber arts that I’d never seen before!

4. The military secret to falling asleep in two minutes, The Independent. This trick actually sounds like it could work for me! It’s basically a body scan and then about 10 seconds imagining you’re in an incredibly still peaceful place. But click through and read the details, I’d love to hear if it works for you!

5. Man Discovers a Family of Mice Living in His Garden, Builds Them a Miniature Village, Bored Panda. The pictures in this piece are MAGICAL. The guy is a wildlife photographer with a big yard, so I can only hope this habitat he’s built for the mice is a good good distance away from his house. But the photos are really precious and Beatrix Potter-like.