Reading roundup: Balanced-budget pitch, “Parks” returns — plus, ship your enemies glitter!

First grad-school class in the books! But I’ve still done plenty of procrastinating, er, web browsing in the past day to keep up with current events. Here’s a roundup of 10 or so of my best finds to start your day:

• A surprise proposal from Gov. Mike Pence during his State of the State address Tuesday night: a balanced budget amendment to Indiana’s constitution. (IndyStar) | On education, Pence pushed more funding for school choice, but not preschool. (Chalkbeat Indiana)
• *sniffle* The final season of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” debuted Tuesday night. (Hulu) | Did the flash-forward to “2017” for the Indiana-set series really work? (AV Club)| The show’s tallest guest star, the Pacers’ Roy Hibbert, took time out of his busy NBA schedule to chat with Rolling Stone about the funny folks from Pawnee, his secret song-and-dance plans for the finale and having dinner with “Jean-Ralphio Saperstein.” Jealoussss. (Rolling Stone)
• Coming to your Facebook feed: Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015 is Dress Up Your Pet Day. Are you (and your animal) participating? My cats aren’t nearly as costume-positive as our neighbor Maac. (Mass Ave Animal Clinic)
• Indy police are aiming for a 5% cut in violence in Indy’s worst areas. Is this possible? (IndyStar)
• Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indianapolis, is poised to become the first Muslim member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. (Politico)
• This Colts fan-Patriots fan mixed marriage is really going to be put to the test Sunday. (IndyStar) | See also: Tom Brady trolls the Colts with a photo of himself riding a blue horse. I asked readers: Is that the BALTIMORE Colts logo? (Facebook)
• Kudos to Heather Tallman for sharing her story on WISH-8’s IndyStyle and on her blog of striving to cook healthy for herself and her family while struggling with her weight. (Basilmomma)
• These Butler University sorority sisters watch “The Ellen Show” every day. This month, they got a surprise: A phone call and prizes for each girl. (IndyStar)

• How Urbane — And Adorable! Dog Rides Seattle Bus To Get To The Park (NPR’s The Two-Way blog)
• BEST IDEA EVER: Ship your enemies glitter! It gets EVERYWHERE. Take revenge on someone you hate for a mere $9.99. Or, you know, just buy some glitter and a stamp. (ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com)

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What are you reading? Leave a link in the comments!

Author: Cori

Cori Faklaris (aka "HeyCori") is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Department of Software and Information Systems, College of Computing. Faklaris received her PhD in human-computer interaction in 2022 from Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, School of Computer Science, in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. She also is a social media expert and longtime journalist, and/or "Doer of Things No One Else Wants to Do." View all posts by Cori