Best of the Week #40

Happy December!!! That means we’re getting into Christmas season, aka my favorite season! But before I get all cookies and carols and Christmas trees, it’s time for Best of the Week. And this is two weeks worth of links, thanks to Thanksgiving. Sooo here we go!


My most popular post this week was Thanksgiving Break in Pictures. I'm from a beautiful place, no?

Speaking of beautiful places, I also live in a beautiful place right now. I LOVE this. A lot. See an Amazing Stop-Motion Video of DC at Night:





District Nights from Drew Geraci on Vimeo.

This article is hilarious and true on all counts: “10 Things 90s Kids Will Have To Explain To Their Children.” 

Liking the Backstreet Boys gave you a bit more of a cultured palate, as there was no clear Diana in those Supremes. Nick was kind of the wholesome, if northern-Florida-redneck safe choice (save for his humiliating younger brother, Aaron). Brian was the shy, sensitive type. AJ was the hottt, dangerous meth addict. Kevin Richardson was mute with sexy, sculpted facial hair. No one liked Howie.
“I wanna really really really wanna zig a zig ahh,” has a meaning, and all true nineties kids know it, but we must never share it. Like the Illuminati, it must remain between us, the keyholders. With great power comes great responsibility.

A win for BU – go terriers! “Just today, Unigo ranked Boston University the best place to go to school in the United States.” (article here)


Amusing:

New Zealand is the least corrupt country in the world (it scored a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10), North Korea and Somalia tied for last place with scores of 1. Read the full results and enjoy the infographic.

Gum chewing makes us smarter! Now I feel totally justified…

Those randomly assigned to the gum-chewing condition significantly outperformed those in the control condition on five out of six tests… The sugar content of the gum had no effect on test performance.

This video is going viral, I’m really impressed with how well-spoken this guy is. Powerful stuff.





Congo Election in Pictures (look at images 19-30).

And speaking of the Congo (because I usually am), my post about Congo (A Brief History of Congo's Wars) was on the Christian Science Monitor this week. AND at work I finally launched the brand-spanking-new The Crisis and Our Programs sections on our Congo website. I can't take all of the credit, but I'm going to go ahead and take most of it...

I find octopi fascinating. Seriously, I could (and maybe have) watch the one at the zoo for hours. Read the article. 

Smithsonian's National Zoo has a feisty new grapefruit-sized octopus that is lacking only two things: its sexual identity and a name.

Running quote of the Week:

"Overtraining is the biggest problem incurred by runners who lack the experience or discipline to cope with their own enthusiasm." - Marty Liquori, former American record holder for 5,000m

I also like this quote. (Remember when I read Heart of Darkness?)

“Moulded in the template of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, an eighteenth century explorer novel, today’s Congo is often seen as a dysfunctional jungle state of horrific mass rape, endless conflict, incurable tropical diseases and blood coltan. These largely Western constructions rarely go beyond the singular, stigmatising tropes of Conrad’s savagery to understand the complexities of post-conflict nation building. As the Congolese prepare for another flawed, but necessary ballot, it’s clear the creation of alternate, multiple Congo narratives is possible.” Tendai Marima writes in Al Jazeera

I read a blog about writing blogs, called Will Write for Food. I thought this post offered some wise advice for any and all bloggers.

Comparing is evil. But it’s normal too. I try not to let it crush me. When it does I can’t write anything because I am too busy beating myself up…After falling apart for a while and questioning myself and all my abilities the one thing that brings sanity is to stay true to yourself and keep in mind why you are doing this in the first place. Many want to find fame and fortune through blogging and photography, and many do. Most don’t.

I want this gingerbread house!

There’s a sugar-cookie-shingled roof, Romanesque Smarties columns, and stained-glass windows (the sugar versions melted, so now they’re acetate sheets). Outside, marzipan children play amid gumdrop trees and Rice Krispie treat bushes on a layer of edible shimmer. Now, in the dining room, a candy-filled train acts like a (cute) moat around the castle to protect against kids with wandering fingers.

Hmm ok, I guess that's all. Is anyone running the Hot Chocolate 5K/15K this weekend? If so maybe I'll see you there! :)