Friday, June 22, 2012

Best of the Week #64

Guys. I’m getting a trampoline. Not even kidding.


Sister2 is working here this summer and sent me this text last night: “We’ll give you a trampoline. Probs not for a few weeks though.” So I’m going to test it and blog about it and it’s going to be awesome. (Look forward to my dreams of being the cool kid in the neighborhood with the trampoline fulfilled…I AM SO EXCITED!!!)

So there’s that. Happy Friday to me (and to you too)!

My most popular post this week was “Hip Flexor and Piriformis Stretching and Strengthening.” You know what’s not fun? Injuries. You know what’s even less fun? Injuries you could have prevented by a few simple stretches and exercises. Just saying….

And now for Best of the Week!

Awesome architecture. (more)


Worth the read: “Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.” I don’t totally agree with all his points, but overall this is a great commencement speech.
  • I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
  • Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
  • There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
  • Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
  • I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
  • Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.
Remember my friend Chris who visited? This is his first news story in Nashville. "Sales Of Oversized Caskets Rise With Obesity Problem." Watch it here!

Well this is adorable: "The Face Baby."


A book review by The Wall Street Journal, “The Hidden Obama.” Agreed.
  • When one co-worker, knowing that Mr. Obama was a runner, suggested that they jog together after work, Mr. Obama declined, saying: "I don't jog, I run."
I have hereby pleged not to comment about the weather anymore. It’s hot. We will deal. "How to Stop Complaining and Love This Heat Wave."
  • We move with less aggression and purpose through the streets, simply because we can't speed up; our limbs have become slow and molasses-like and inadvertent, like Gumby-limbs. Just making it into the office is a triumph for which you get an A. Trudging to whatever after-work activities you have planned for later, an A+. Basically, you win, just for signing in.
  • Things like "lateness," and "tiredness," and "excessive perspiration," are no longer actually issues because we are all faced with them. Things like, "your makeup dripping off your face," "upper-lip and pit sweat," and "feeling like you might pass out," these are the problems of everyman. We all look awful, like mice the cat dragged in from a neighborhood pool. We all smell. We all want our ice coffee and we're sipping it like it's an IV. But there is solidarity in this community, and there's no one to impress, here.
  • If you want to only eat ice cream you can, because your metabolism has gone into overdrive, so heated is your core. Even your slow movement from the subway to the office is a workout. So, yay. No need for squats today.
My artist/illustrator friend Caitlin Heimerl. So talented!


Some interesting trivia for you: “Why are cities in Angola and Chad so expensive?”
  • Alongside notoriously pricey places such as Geneva and Tokyo, there is Luanda, Angola — a country where 41 percent of the population lives in poverty — holding down second place on the list. And N’Djamena, Chad — capital of a country where 55 percent of the people live below the poverty line — is ranked eighth.
  • In Luanda, day laborers make roughly $50 per month, but a hamburger meal costs $12.62, and a two-bedroom apartment is $4,114, according to Mercer’s numbers. So how did these African outposts get so costly?
The singing is a bit painful, but WOW the dancing is impressive. “Young Ryan Gosling Sings And Dances In Mormon Talent Show.”




Love this tumblr: “The Daily Typo. Because copyediting isn’t dead yet." I aspire to have the attention to detail this author does…
I am very bad at this, but “invest in your rest!
  1. It’s good for your memory. 
  2. It’s good for your weight. 
  3. It’s good for your overall health. 
  4. It’s replenishing emotionally. 
  5. It’s replenishing physically. 
  6. When you enter a deep sleep state, your brain releases repairing hormones that improve your very existence. Your skin, your eyes, your fingernails. All these things need time to repair from the damage we inflict upon them during the day. 
  7. You know how you REALLY want to watch a movie TONIGHT at 11PM, because you won’t have time tomorrow? Well, the hours you’re saving tonight are being shaved off your life. It sounds dramatic, but it’s true. People who sleep for the recommended 7-8 hours per night live longer. 
  8. Your attention span is reportedly at least 30% better when you are rested. 
What’s your state’s sandwich?
This is really helpful for us non-photographer food bloggers: “Food photo-editing tips.”

A tragedy, but some good reminders about running safety:
  • Always tell someone where you are going.
  • Stay on well travelled and well lit roads. Don’t take short cuts through woods, poorly lit areas, etc.
  • If possible, run with a dog, a group or at least one other person.
  • Ditch the headphones.
  • Bring your phone.
  • If someone looks shady to you, cross the street or go the other way.
  • Vary your routes. Don’t be predictable.
  • Know where you’re going. Looking confused and lost can make you a target.
  • Don’t be distracted. Perpetrators specifically look for people who aren’t 100% aware of their surroundings.
  • Consider taking a self defense class. You never know when you might need these skills.
And finally, my own little WTF Friday: "'Bored' Belgium fans sell themselves to Holland on eBay for Euro 2012."
  • A group of Belgian fans who put themselves up for sale on eBay after their team failed to qualify for Euro 2012 have been bought by an anonymous Dutch buyer for £2,400.

That's all. Have a great weekend!