links!

Okay, serious stuff first. This account of how gay marriage is beginning to affect people in the workplace is scary. A man lost his job because he stated that his religious beliefs did not allow him to accept it. Not because he was harassing anyone. Because he had an opinion. Yikes.

Jen of Conversion Diary on what having an empowered birth really means. So true.

This map of where all the characters are throughout the Lord of the Rings is AWESOME. I want it for my wall.

An excerpt (the first chapter) of a soon-too-be-published Twilight parody. Having half-giggled/half-groaned my way through the books, I think it's hi-la-ri-ous. Example:
One nice thing about my dad is, as an old person, his hearing isn't too great. So when I closed the door to my room, unpacked, cried uncontrollably, slammed the door, and threw my clothes around my room in a fit of dejected rage, he didn't notice. It was a relief to let some of my steam out, but I wasn't ready to let all of it out yet. That would come later, when my dad was asleep and I was lying awake thinking about how ordinary kids my age are.
Or this description of the hero:
Edwart continued to jab at his computer. With each pounding finger I could see the blood surging through the bulging veins on his forearms to his biceps, straining against the tight- fitted, white Oxford shirt pushed cavalierly to his elbows as though he had a lot of manual labor to do. Why was he typing so loudly? Was he trying to tell me something? Was he trying to prove how easy it would be for him to fling me up into the sky and then catch me tightly in his arms, whispering that he would never share me with anyone else in the entire world? I shuddered and smiled coyly, terrified.
I want to know how to shudder and smile coyly at the same time, while terrified. That'd be neat! (heehee)

Finally, this William Shatner video is just . . . well, it's just . . . um . . .


peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell