I’ve bought a bunch of books for all the airplane riding I’ll be doing soon. I couldn’t wait to dive into the best-looking one, “Conversational Style” by Deborah Tannen. She spends the entire book analyzing a two-hour Thanksgiving Dinner conversation between people with different cultural backgrounds and personalities to bring insight to the way people relate.

I think most people would rather be having the conversation than reading about it. But me, I had the pencil out and started underlining by page 4. I find it fascinating why I gravitate towards certain kinds of people and certain situations, which make me “flower” in ways that are remarkably rare. It feels like a miracle when it happens. But maybe it isn’t such a magical mystery as it seems. If I understand it better, maybe I can figure out how to help it happen more often.

[more...]

I’ve been heavy-handed with the quotes lately, but I just can’t help it. I keep running into good ones that won’t let me leave them alone. I can’t believe I haven’t posted this one here before. This is the thing that made me want to see Garden State.

“You know that point in your life when you realize that the house that you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of the sudden even though you have some place where you can put your stuff that idea of home is gone. You’ll see when you move out it just sort of happens one day one day and it’s just gone. And you can never get it back. It’s like you get homesick for a place that doesn’t exist. I mean it’s like this rite of passage, you know. You won’t have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it’s like a cycle or something. I miss the idea of it. Maybe that’s all family really is. A group of people who miss the same imaginary place.”

This, and the song “A Place Called Home” by Kim Ritchey. They understand.

[more...]

• Scientific American: Who’s happy? You are
  There Denmark goes, bein’ all awesome again… :)
  (tags: international)
• Minority Report: The burden of parenthood
  “We live in a society that ostensibly honors families but won’t provide any social support to back up those values.” Article makes me want to scream.
  (tags: women)

• Crystal Skulls Deemed Fakes
  So the newest Indiana Jones movie is based on a real Aztec legend. But the crystal skulls proudly on display in Paris, London and D.C. museums? … Not so real.
  (tags: movies science)
• The Space Between: Bon Anniversaire
  Oh BOY does this ring true. It’s about the non-stop voices that begin to ring in women’s heads, louder and louder the closer we get to the big 3-0. (I don’t know what happens after that).
  (tags: women)

Well, there’s been a lot of down time after Paris, but that is soon to change. 2 weeks from now I start an avalanche of traveling. First I’m off to San Jose to see my sisters. We will go bridesmaid dress shopping and who knows what else. Then I’m off to Long Beach vicinity for my cousin’s wedding. Then, I’m going to Leipzig, Germany! It was either that or Seattle which was not an easy choice. But in the end international + place I’ve never been before won out. I just think there will be better stories :).

So that’s what I have to look forward to in the near future. What about the rest of us?

Well, it appears reservatrol is back in the news. This is the stuff that you may have heard makes “drinking red wine good for you.” Before, what I understood is that it helps prevent cardiovascular disease. Which didn’t elicit more than a passing interest. But NOW I hear that in addition to that, in large doses, it’s a fountain of youth.

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• Psychology Today: The Timid Die Young
  More precisely: neophobic rats die young. This may not apply to me since I wouldn’t say I’m afraid of new things. In fact, I rather crave them. I am instead afraid of being judged negatively. Also, I’m not a rat.
  (tags: psychology)

Josh took out a book of Nietzsche aphorisms the other night. He said they are way easier to handle than his dense rambling prose. I said, “I love quotations so let’s have at them” and thoroughly enjoyed the moments that followed.

I’d like to share a few that struck me. Some of these are from that night (out of the book “Beyond Good & Evil”) and others I found around online afterwords. Most are cynical, but there’s a place for that. The place is a dark drafty room with a single candle flickering inside and rain pouring down outside, while the author paces the floor muttering to himself. That’s the scene I imagine while reading…

He doesn’t replace Oscar Wilde as my favorite quotationist. I like Wilde’s light and playful style better. Nietzsche takes himself so seriously that it is harder to overlook the places where I disagree with him. But he leaves an impression, that’s for sure.

Onward —>

[more...]

• St. Anthony’s Bridal
  FREE wedding dress / supply shop in MD. I don’t qualify to use them, but what a great idea!! I would love to do something like this wherever I end up.
  (tags: local)
• MindHabits: Mental Well-Being Computer Game
  This sounded cooler than it is. It may have actually made me more stressed. All those flying faces! You might like it though :).
  (tags: games selfhelp)
• Dobson uses mushy logic to play politics with faith — chicagotribune.com
  I LOVED the speech referenced in this article wherein Obama discusses the role of religion in politics. Dobson HATED it.
  (tags: politics religion)

It’s been a long time since I planned dinner for Josh and I. I haven’t done it since I switched jobs. My schedule changed and the grocery stores along my route changed. Wegmans is now way out of the way…boohoo. The only grocery store actually on the route is a Bloom. Which I liked more before I learned they’re just renamed Food Loins :(. Anyhow, I mended my ways last night. And I did it in a way that particularly impressed Josh because instead of simply following a recipe, I blended the best of two recipes together into a unique creation I can call my own. Plus, it turned out super tasty.

Many moons ago I fell in love with a chicken mushroom crepe dish at O’Tooles. I tried to recreate it but was thwarted by the non-availability of crème fraîche. This is no longer the case because of the aforementioned wonderful Wegmans. So, I now present to you, Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Crepes “Worth Going Out of the Way For”

[more...]

• Galaxy map hints at fractal universe
  “Nearly all physicists agree that on relatively small scales the distribution [of matter] is fractal-like… The point of contention is what happens at even larger scales.”
  (tags: science)
• Biofuel use ‘increasing poverty’
  “The replacement of traditional fuels with biofuels has dragged more than 30 million people worldwide into poverty.”
  (tags: environment)
• Death of the Nerd? Oxytocin and EMAs Threaten the Pocket Protector
  Funny response to the miracle shyness drug #1: The nerds are all gonna start breeding now!!
  (tags: funny)
• Moonlight Masquerade: Let’s Dope the Shy People
  Funny response to the miracle shyness drug #2: We don’t wanna “fix” the shy people! Shyness is a beneficial trait. Shy people rule. (I like her) :).
  (tags: funny)