Not, of course, limited to Wednesdays. Today just happens to be one. …Barely.

I shall open with a video of Nayna, my belly dance instructor, from a couple of months ago:

I’m somewhere off to the left, wishing I’d brought my own camera. This was after class, so I don’t feel bad about watching my instructor dance instead of dancing myself.

• Posie Gets Cozy: Well, Things Fell Apart – Sadness.”For six days, as we waited for the results of the DNA test, we loved her with our whole hearts…”
• 10 things the iPhone Siri will help you get instead of an abortion | The Raw Story – “Ask in New York City, and Siri will tell you ‘I didn’t find any abortion clinics.’” Be sure to see the last line of the article.
• Adventures in Indiana State Fair Food 2011 | The Incidental Economist – An old TIE post (from August–somehow I missed it), but it made me so glad I’ve left Indiana behind. Just read about the… well, “food”. Keep reading >>

It’s been a hot minute since I posted any links. Apparently this is also the Elf Sternberg addition, since three of his posts appear here. Good stuff.

• Lands of Dream Donation Drive – Jonas is doing one of the coolest donation drive ideas I’ve seen. Donate, and receive a detailed description and beautiful picture from the Lands of Dream. What in the hell is the Lands of Dream? Go play The Book of Living Magic. Took me about an hour (I read every description!), and everything about it is gorgeous: the art, the writing, and the music. Then take a look at some of the art/writing that Verena and Jonas are producing as part of their drive.

  Then donate. (Mine is in the queue, and I’m so excited to see what I get!)

• Embracing pain | dooce® – “What this therapy enabled me to do as well was hold that blight in my bare hands and cover it with tears. Because the Heather who had mounted all those excuses would have acknowledged it, tipped her hat, and moved right along. Too much to get done to dwell on such things.”
• Elf M. Sternberg – On picking up Stoicism… – My own struggle with Buddhism separation from other people led me to examine the idea of the Bodhisattva, but that feels… arrogant. Elitist. Dragging people to enlightenment. I don’t like it when skeptics who are assholes do it, so why would I want to join the party?

  I’ve become too much of a people person to want to detach and be a pure observer. I’m not sure that Stoicism is a good fit for me, but after reading Elf’s account, my curiosity is piqued. Keep reading >>

This week’s internet cruising:

• EA takes games from Steam – Hilariously written, and found because I was eyeballing Dragon Age 2 to see if it still comes with Mass Effect, as it did once. …Not that I want DA2. I haven't finished the first one yet.
• Abortion may be legal, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get one – Includes numbers from a rather large sample-size survey that was done.
• Showcase of Inspiring Arabic Calligraphy Artworks – Just a compilation post, but gorgeous.
• Showed up on my news feed. Made me feel shocked,… | – Aw, hell no.
• Keep reading >>

There’s no real theme here, just some fun, educational reads.

• Why Whites Avoid Movies With Black Actors | Miller-McCune – "White moviegoers seem convinced that films with black stars are not made for them; they are not the films’ intended audience."
• The Autism/MMR Fraud – Lots of good details on the publication that started the Autism-MMR link that anti-vaccine parents believe in. The comments on this post get very wonky, but the post itself is good.
• Revenge of the Feminerd: Geek Peeves | Bitch Media – There's a Hello Kitty XBox? Kate Mulgrew is anti-choice?!
• Photo: Self Identity – Let me self-identify however I want.
• How to Run a Profitable Garage Sale – I totally want to do a garage sale as we get ready to move. I haven't done one since I was a kid, and based on this article, times have changed.

I’ve been all over The Incidental Economist lately, and it’s really hard not to link to every one of their posts that I can make heads or tails of. They’re really prolific by my standards, though, which means it’s a struggle to keep their posts from falling off the 30-day cut-off in Google Reader.

• Simply put: Marginal cost/benefit – "You’ll consume as much health care as you think worth it for the transaction price (your copayment if you’re insured). The lower the price, the more you’ll consume. You’ll keep using health services until the marginal benefit falls below the price you pay."

  I'm not sure I agree that people will keep gobbling and gobbling up health care, but I definitely understand that people will use more if it's cheaper.

• Student drowning in debt needs professional help – I think my brain stopped working when I saw the mortgage payment of $1900 a month. That's… what? A $350,000 house? Fer skerious. That’s a whole lotta house. Keep reading >>