Minnow’s Five Things
Selfies caught my attention more than usual this week—not just at the Oscars, but everywhere. So did Rob Ford, breast milk, swaddling babies, unplugging and head lice.
With all of the hype about Ellen’s Oscar selfie, it was a relief to read the headline in this article from TechCrunch titled ‘Thoreau Warned Us About Ellen’s Oscar Selfie’. Finally, I’ve found someone thinking along the same path I am (thank you, Henry David Thoreau). Apparently after he learned about the electric telegraph in the 19th century, his comments were: ‘We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.’ Is there any reason why Ellen’s selfie was the most retweeted image in Twitter history? I’m not looking for anything extremely meaningful—just a reason to care. Why are all those people caring so much? Thoreau was right.
My obsession with the importance of selfies in our society led me to this alarming article about head lice. Indeed, the rise in selfies has led to an increase in the number of cases of head lice. And don’t be thinking that your friends are not the kind of people that get lice—I used to think that way about my children, but it happens. Now scroll back up to that celebrity selfie and just imagine…
When it comes to our mayor, the good people of Toronto certainly aren’t worried about lice—we have much bigger issues with him, to be sure. The Mayor was on late night television talking about how much he loves us, but I am tired of the debates about whether Jimmy Kimmel was too hard on him as a guest on his show. Jimmy did what no other person in Rob Ford’s life has done, ever. He bravely faced him in front of millions of people and suggested he get some help for his addictions. Only a friend does that. I agree with Jon Sufrin who wrote this article on torontolife.com saying: ‘Thank you, Jimmy Kimmel’.
In mom news, the latest headlines are telling us that swaddling babies is dangerous and the benefits of breastfeeding have been drastically over stated. It’s a confusing world we live in. Wait until those kids grow up and find out that they can’t take selfies anymore because they’ll contact lice.
All this crazy news, combined with the cold weather, is enough to make you want to shut down and go on vacation. Just get away and reflect (maybe read a little Thoreau?). That’s what I’m going to do next week for March Break and you should, too. Or at least try it for a day—March 7 is the National Day of Unplugging. I bet you never knew that was a day, but it’s meant to encourage families to put down their screens and reconnect with each other.
Have a great week!
