Bedugul Coffee: The problem with how we discuss abortion

The Huffington Post

This week we're talking about 3-D printed houses, John Lennon's drawings, Monica McClure's slam poetry, a modern-day Lolita, and how the exclamation mark went from :-O To ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

Yoko Ono On John Lennon's Forgotten First Love -- Drawing

"[John] Lennon began drawing far before he entered the realm of music. He attended the Liverpool Art Institute before working with his band -- you know the one -- full time. Even after his musical career took off, he continued drawing throughout his life, immortalizing everything from his romance with Yoko to his experiences signing autographs for super-fans in minimal black ink." (Read more here)

How The Exclamation Mark Went From :-O To ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"The punctuation mark can be interpreted not as a yell or an interjection, but as a sort of textual smile -- a means of achieving conversational harmony. Deborah Tannen, a Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University, echoed this sentiment in an interview with The Huffington Post: '[Exclamations] no longer necessarily show emphasis, because for many women, they are the most common, or neutral, way of ending sentences. Leaving them out indicates negative intentions, while including them simply shows an expected level of enthusiasm." (Read more here)

Poet Monica McClure Boldly Confronts The Problem With How We Discuss Abortion

"McClure is one of a bevy of young women writers working against the established notion that poetry is a stodgy, predominantly male pursuit. The tone of her work is conversational -- even confessional. She says she aims to describe her own views in a relatable way by sharing experiences she's had, or potentially could've had. 'I study women very closely,' she said. 'We study ourselves very closely.' (Read more here)

The Modern-Day 'Lolita' Every Nabokov Fan Should Read

"In this, and in his baroque contortions to win that approval, [our hero] resembles no literary figure so much as the iconic sympathetic villain, Humbert Humbert. [Author Adam] Thirlwell winks occasionally at the influence of Lolita on the novel. He even names one of the protagonist's young love interests Dolores; the hero refers to her un-self-consciously as a 'nymph.' The climactic scenes of the book, in their slow-motion, florid violence, are reminiscent of Lolita's own closing pages." (Read more here)

New Play Tackles Infamous Gang Rape In India To Break The Silence About Sexual Violence

"[Yaël] Farber's newest testimonial play, 'Nirbhaya,' makes its North American debut in New York this week. Written and directed by Farber and produced by Jagannathan, the play recounts the horrific 2012 tragedy and uses it as a catalyst for cast members -- who are all survivors of sexual violence -- to share their own testimonies." (Read more here)

The Awkward Black Girl Who Is Going To Change Television

"Issa Rae stands strong, arms akimbo, on the jacket of her new memoir, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. By most measures in entertainment, she is a wonder woman. Nearly 25 million views of her YouTube videos. New York Times best-seller status for her debut book. A greenlit pilot for HBO. She is collaborating with Shonda Rhimes and Instagram'ing with Oprah. Such feats are not achieved by awkwardness alone. Like the projects she produces, Issa Rae is endearing and quirky and earnestly self-aware." (Read more here)

This Controversial Chinese Company Wants To 3-D Print Your Next House

"WinSun's 3-D printed structures have attracted equal parts buzz and controversy. The company advertises itself as the breakout innovator in a field that will dramatically reduce building waste and labor inputs. But the academic credited as the founding father of this field says WinSun infringed on his patents, stealing innovative techniques that took him decades to formulate. Developers, architects and researchers remain similarly divided over whether 3-D printed houses are safe, affordable or even desirable." (Read more here)

How Romantic Comedies Are Failing Women (And How To Fix It)

"Girl enters coffee shop. Orders intricate-sounding latte. Rushes off toward very important meeting only to run smack into a tall, strapping man casually strolling through the door. Their eyes lock, coffee flies all over his white T-shirt, and 90 minutes later they're walking down the aisle as the film rolls to credits. Just some harmless rom-com fun, right? It's actually a lot more complicated." (Read more here)