It's Friday, I'm in Love: interweb syllabus for April 2012

I'm An Open Book To You; Why Confessional Blogging? by Marianne Kirby
"Your stories are personal – and the more personal they are, the bigger a risk you take when you lay them out in front of people, all your words in what you hope are the proper order. When people reject that, they’re not only rejecting the work you put into writing, but a slice of your history and identity."

Judging Moms May Be Good for Your Traffic, But It’s Bad For Your Feminism at The Feminist Breeder
"How are they forming the opinion that these practices are oppressive or unsafe for women and children? Well, that’s the catch. Their opinions don’t actually seem to be based in any sound science or education on these topics. If they researched these practices, they might actually have to stop judging these mothers. And THEN how would they drum up traffic?"

Nutrition agnosticism. at The Fat Nutritionist
"I don’t think people pick nutrition theories at random – but they pick ones that feel suited to their particular beliefs (ethical, observational, aesthetic) and that complement their worldviews. These are actually very good reasons, not some kind of humanoid silliness to be scoffed at from on high. It’s only logical that you’d be more inclined to align yourself with something that makes sense to you on multiple levels – but here’s where our sometimes-clunky habit of pattern-finding intrudes. You generalize the theory to everyone else. The one that seems custom-tailored for, uniquely-suited to, and perfectly paired with your life – which was the reason you chose it in the first place."

and just for fun...

Paul Feig walks us through Freaks And Geeks (Part 1 of 5) at The AV Club
"I was in this sad hotel going, “I’ve got to start writing this.” I took a walk, and saw as I was walking around—it was pretty desolate—this group of surly-looking high-school girls walking and smoking. I was watching, and there was this one girl in the pack. I remember she looked back—she didn’t look at me, but she kind of looked away. I just saw her face, and she looked like this sweet poser that was with the group. I remember going, “Wow, that.” Because I had never had a sister. I was an only child. So I knew I wanted to write about myself and my nerdy friends, but I knew I needed to represent the freak group. So when I saw her, I was like, “Oh, I like that character. I like the idea of this girl who looks like she’s trying to fit in that way.” That’s where Lindsay came from."

Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5 are also online for your reading pleasure.