What a life: Lawrence Guyot, Civil Rights Activist Who Bore the Fight’s Scars, Dies at 73

Dorothy Day Takes Another Step Toward Sainthood. One of my favorite prayers is the one Dorothy Day used to say every day before heading to distribute food to those in need, something along the lines of (I can't seem to find the actual prayer): "God, I know you will be in that line today, please don't let me miss you." (Said more eloquently, I'm sure).

Image: truth.

So much good stuff to read in the Believer online archives, check it out.

From ZenHabits: Untrack: Letting Go of the Stress of Measuring.

Oh boy am I a measurer... Susan Sontag’s List of Beliefs at Age 14 vs. Age 24

Listening to: the Singles soundtrack. So f-ing solid! Westerberg, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam ("State of Love and Trust," one of my all time favs) , Chris Cornell....90's forever.

Sounds like a great new program in NY: Plan Would Provide Help to Contest Deportation Cases: "60 percent of detained immigrants in the New York region did not have counsel at the time their cases were completed. In addition, 18 percent of detained immigrants with representation had successful outcomes in their cases, compared with 3 percent of detained immigrants without counsel. Unlike in criminal proceedings, defendants in immigration court have no constitutional right to a court-appointed lawyer. Ignorance, fear, language barriers and poverty also can keep legal counsel out of the reach of immigrants."

"What we would like to do is change the world--make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, the poor, of the destitute--the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor, in other words--we can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as our friend." - Dorothy Day

Check out, and support if possible, a friend of a friend's new project: Life, Told, an oral history and interview start-up helping people record and preserve life stories, memories and important messages.

Random gift recommendation: I got my bff an Oregon cutting board (with a heart located over our hometown) as a gift a few years ago, and it remains one of my favorite things I've given. In fact, I'd love to buy one for myself some day! Check them out here if you're still searching for holiday presents.

Luther is coming back for Season 3! (Really hope that Idris Elba is the next Bond, love that idea...)

Image: Still full from yesterday's bounty? Help someone else feed their family and generate income - be a veggie garden! Love Oxfam's Unwrapped program: "You are what you give, so be all-natural, be food, and be income. Be a vegetable garden! $30 at OxfamGifts.com."

If you're in the Boston area, you should come check out Angela Y. Davis and Noam Chomsky in dialogue for the first time! I'm looking forward to it, I've never seen either of them speak.

From WNYC: "Rebeca Solnit, historian, activist, and author of several books including A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, discusses the history of how disasters create communities in the context of our post-Sandy reality-and what climate change activists should do now."

Loved this: "I've Started Telling My Daughters I'm Beautiful"

I've seen variations on the "run every day" project, but particularly liked this one committing to running every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It can be a stressful time of the year, and a chilly one, so it seems like a good time to push yourself to get moving. Maybe I'll give it a try, as long as I keep it reasonable and only commit to a minimum of a mile every day - doable, right? (Famous last words...)

More from Anne Lamott, I'm looking forward to reading her new book (although I just saw it in the bookstore and it's so short!)

Image: source.

Media intake update: just saw Argo and was really impressed! It didn't look particularly interesting to me beforehand but I heard so many rave reviews that I finally went (with my dad when he was in town this weekend - hi Dad!) and I'm glad I did. It was excellently cast, acted, and paced - and very suspenseful. On the podcast front, I've started listening to Slate's Culture Gabfest (thanks to the insistence of my media-saavy girlfriend), which has quickly joined the ranks of Pop Culture Happy Hour in my "listening to nerds talk about pop culture" line up. Books wise, I'm currently reading The Hollow Man by Oliver Harris, a mystery that was on the "staff recommendations" shelf at my local bookstore. It reminds me of some other first novels by young male mystery writers like Josh Bazell's Beat The Reaper (although The Hollow Man is less gory, so far). It's been pretty immediately engrossing, which is the main thing I ask of a book these days. On tv, we are fully engrossed in Season 2 of Homeland. The SNL spoof wasn't amazing, but if you're even a casual Homeland watcher (is there such a thing??) you'll get a few laughs.

I made (and proceeded to chow down on) this sweet potato and spinach mac and cheese recently, and loved it - recommended if you need an addition to your Thanksgiving line up (or general autumnal comfort food). Also, these double chocolate peppermint cookies that Amy made look amazing....

“Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether you're going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.” - Anne Lamott

"We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4am of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget." Joan Didion

REM "You Are The Everything" (skip to 0:55)

A friend introduced me to Jane Hirschfield a few weeks ago and it was just what I needed. I was feeling somewhat unmoored - new job, new city, new routine - and then I read these poems and was immediately and powerful thrown back into myself (for better or worse). Some new favorites by Hirshfield: A Hand, This Was Once A Love Poem.

Wevther: Weather forecast with relevant sartorial suggestions, I like it.

Image: source.

Exactly what it sounds like: The Scribble Project.

Listening to: The Lumineers "Stubborn Love" (a live recording from Oregon...sigh).

And speaking of the best state in the U.S.... Portland Street Food: 10 Carts We Really Love

The always awesome Stephen Thompson (of the vital-to-me Pop Culture Happy Hour) gives advice on mixtapes.

From the New Yorker: Love On The March: Reflections on the gay community’s political progress—and its future. Hardly a comprehensive history, but a moving and powerful personal remembrance.

"This could be our revolution: / to love what is plentiful / as much as / what’s scarce." - Alice Walker, "We Alone"