Weekly Picks — 3/24/17

Dusty Canyon

These colleges are better than Harvard at making poor kids rich

This is an interesting exploration of data on how low income individuals (bottom fifth) can have high earnings later in life based on the school they choose.

It’s not a witch hunt of Harvard and Stanford, but rather an praise piece to schools around the country that give low income folks a chance at quality education.

Favorite quote:

“…schools like Harvard and Stanford should probably be recruiting and enrolling vastly more low-income students, because when they do, the results are truly incredible”

Read.

Kay McKinley

Lessons from the first ‘tiny house’ evangelist, Henry David Thoreau

I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the tiny house movement that’s swept across America and home improvement/real estate tv shows. This article ties Thoreau into the modern movement, and reminds us that this movement is not as new as we thought it was.

Whether you like the idea of a tiny house or not, I don’t think it’s outside of the realm of possibility that we all just own too much shit. Maybe having more stuff doesn’t satisfy the emptiness in our souls after all.

Favorite Quote:

Thoreau hoped to jolt his readers into the realization that they were living a hand-to-mouth existence, driven to this not by necessity but by its evil twin, luxury.

Read.

Morgan Silver

Calligraffiti

A style of graffiti formed through the sweeping serifs and accents of the ancient art of Arabic calligraphy.

Favorite Quote:

Traditionally, Muslims believe that creating figurative images runs counter to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, which is why abstract geometric art and calligraphy flourished in the early days of Islam. Originally, calligraphy was not used to record information, but practised as a form of meditation by those seeking to capture the essence of universal harmony.

Read.