Davka Days

"Those quotations were really quite obscure. Anyone can see that he is a very well-read man." — Barbara Pym One of my hobbies is collecting quotes. Proverbs, aphorisms, book passages, lines in a magazine, unknown statements, and anything else worth quoting. They're profound pieces of wisdom that have shaped me as a person since I started my collection as a teenager. Now, I have over 1,100 quotes, as well as a collection of words, phrases, law, rules, and related references. You can check them out for yourself. Perhaps my favorite thing about collecting quotes, is that whenever I can't think of anything else to read, or if I need inspiration, or when I want to seek solace, or during times of confusion and struggle, I have access to over 3,000 years of the collected knowledge of all humanity already curated for me to rely on. I think if more people felt this way, the world might be a better place.

(Credit: Kevin "Rashid" Johnson) If you're a fan of Netflix's  Orange is The New Black, then you know exactly what I'm talking about here. With the release of season 4  this sentiment has been brought to the forefront of a show that not only pushes the boundaries of television, but of our entire concept of social justice in a country simultaneously more progressive than ever and yet also more oppressive in sheer numbers than at any other time in history. But for me, the core of what OITNB has shown us over the course of this season is that, regardless of what you've done: y ou are still a person . Maybe you sold crack. Maybe you robbed someone. Maybe you even killed someone. That doesn't mean you are no longer human. That doesn't mean you deserve the kind of treatment we're seeing in America , courtesy of the prison-industrial complex, bigotry, and apathy. As seen through the eyes of prisoners, former prisoners, and investigative journa...