- The mysterious case of the introverted extrovert -- a phenomenon I too discovered in myself while making the Expat Harem anthology, in The Accidental Anthologist -- here written about by Karen Nicole Costa, the self-described "queen of the Irish goodbye." (That means leaving without any closing niceties.)
- Why use social media? To discover who you really are, writes content strategist Dan Blank at We Grow Media. "When you start sharing more openly for all the world to see, outside of the social construct that surrounds you in your daily life, you share something that is uniquely you." (Here at expat+HAREM we wrote about the self-actualization of social media, especially for the far-flung and previously invisible.)
- The chronic "American smile does not mean anything," claims a Russian writer, who says Russians also feel uncomfortable with the smiley-ness of Thais, Chinese and Japanese. Reminds us of Scary Azeri's post for us about the stern facial expressions of Eastern Europeans.
- Wonder about your genotype? Last week was "World DNA Day" (who knew?), and expat+HAREM pal Dr. Nassim Assefi draws our attention to 23andMe, which will analyze your personal genetic info for health and ancestry purposes. Not only will you get monthly updates on DNA, and predictions for disease risk, drug response and other conditions, the report will help connect you to relatives and map your heritage. $99 at the moment, used to be thousands!
- Cultural creatives carry the cultural change in society. The (R)evolution: the first international movie about (200 million!) cultural creatives pulls together the threads of their philosophies and their work, which are part of "a quiet but necessary revolution taking place in today's culture." Watch the trailer, donate or help promote to view the whole film. Connect with the cultural creative community on Facebook and Twitter.
- Always happy to see an expat writer make good! Journalist Alan Paul's memoir Big in China: My Unlikely Adventure Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Reinventing Myself in Beijing scheduled to get the Hollywood treatment. I was pleased to be featured alongside Alan in Chantal Panozzo's Writer Abroad interview series last year...
- "Travel back in time, and around the world": This travel film archive takes you to bygone eras in faraway lands.
Comment below on any of the above, we're on the same page now...