Some things that caught my eye recently, in no particular order:

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From How to Be a Good Ally (Colorlines):

“’The job of a good ally is not to save anybody but rather to help create the conditions under which people can assert and grow their own power,’ said Rinku Sen, President and Executive Director of The Applied Research Center.”

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From What are you here to teach? (Tara Sophia Mohr):

Tara: I have a dream to teach x. How do I know if I’m ready, qualified, to teach that subject?

Jen: You are never ready. Ready comes from teaching, from being in the transformational conversation itself, from being a humble teacher/student–so skip asking if you are ready to teach. It’s not a useful question.

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Recipes I endorse:

• With all of the fixins (in my case, Sriracha, lemon, and feta), I couldn’t stop eating this stuff.
• In good times, in bad times, these salted peanut butter cookies will be by my side forevermore. I’ve made them several times and while they’re excellent as written, I can attest that all-purpose flour is fine; regular chocolate chips are fine; a mix of natural peanut butter and more processed stuff works out fine. I always freeze the batter before baking and watch my oven starting at about the 11 minute mark.
• This salad is extremely delicious. And while I completely love and endorse farmers’ markets and would love to live a full-on locavore diet…I do not live in the LA paradise this blogger does. It’s still attention-grabbing with produce fetched at a Midwestern grocery store.

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Two takes on The Mindy Project as the first season wraps: one Crunk Feminist eeshap says she won’t watch the show anymore; Rachel Sklar offers a more Pollyanna take.

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In Chicago and itching for some escapism?

• I almost couldn’t stand up after Head of Passes at Steppenwolf. Beautiful performances, beautiful design and direction, big questions about faith.
• Thanks to some generous friends, I finally saw The Book of Mormon. My experience: laugh hard; hope we were all laughing for the same reasons; worry that was not true; repeat. Would love to debrief with anyone who’s seen it.
• The 2013 Dionysus Cup Festival of New Plays is happening this weekend and next. If you like seeing new plays while they’re in development and participating in the democratic process, this is a steal. See one staged reading and enjoy a talk-back with the playwright and cast and know that your feedback might actually shape a new play. Or see two or more readings—an unlimited pass is just $10—and you can vote for your favorite to win the Cup (and cross your fingers that Polarity Ensemble Theatre might mount a full production).
• In April I performed at the Park West (what?!). You can too! Last info session for the next Fear Experiment is next week. You can be a stepping or a cappella star. No, really, you can.

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Coolest job spotted this week: Rookie is hiring a full-time editor.

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This link roundup owes love to The Ann Friedman Weekly and Saya Hillman’s Smatterings, both of which I relish on the regular. Should I do more of these?

Photo above: Bouquet from Saipua in Brooklyn, spring 2011, 35mm.