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Lizzie Velasquez was called the “ugliest woman in the world.”

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When you look into that wonderful and equally terrifying place called You, with no judgment, just honesty, what defines you?

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Right before I was ready to pounce, he offered up a tidbit of wisdom that left my sophomore soul in awe. “I keep an index card by my bed. On one side, I write what gets me up in the morning. On the other side, I write what keeps me up at night. I look at it every day, and if I decide I disagree with it, I tear the thing up and write a new index card.”

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Trying to make it as a writer and editor is often frustrating, sometimes degrading, and always extremely difficult. But if you love what you do and are proud of your work, it won’t matter.

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If you want the real, quality book porn – there’s a website called TED.com. Not only has all reading been eliminated, but authors will present you the gist of their book in a condensed video of 20 minutes or less. The next logical step will have to be USB ports installed on our heads for transfers at 12 megabytes per second.

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And on the left, utilitarianism tends to say: “Well, we should have institutions that help everybody in the world.” Well, that sounds nice, but there’s this odd and difficult empirical fact, which is that people are really, really good at extending themselves and helping those that are close to them, and really, really bad at doing it for people far away.

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The Dickwolves imbroglio has served as a reminder that, especially in the democratic realm of internet media, not even a Geek God is safe from censure. Penny Arcade is still standing, but you can tell they’re shaken. Gamers are never more taken aback than when the battle’s not on a screen.

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In his recent Ted Talk, photographer/street artist JR recounted his experiences working on art in impoverished, violence-ridden neighborhoods in countries such as Kenya and Brazil. While humor and wit are central to the artist’s charm, what seems to set him apart from his often-gimmicky, pop-art contemporaries (i.e., Banksy, Shepard Fairey, etc.) is a genuine empathy for the people living in the neighborhoods where he installs his work.