Friday, March 22, 2013

Best of the Week #98


Well I kind of dropped off the face of the blogging world this week…but I’m here! And bringing you some Best of the Week linkage that is a little late but worth the wait.

On the running front, I feel like I’ve totally recovered from my marathon, but rumor/people more experienced than I have it that this is a misconception. So I’m relaxing, not running, and doing many fun things instead!

My most popular post this week was my Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon Race Report. Thanks again to everyone who cheered me on!

I like to think this was taken towards the end
and that's why my form is all twisty and weird...
Priorities guys: TEAM ALPACA! Vote now in Animals March Madness!!!


This may have been me recently…sorry. The race is over so I’ll stop now! (From SUAR.)



Well now I want to go to Laos. And am very impressed with Outside Magazine's writers! "Don't Mess with Perfect." I don't know if I have a "perfect" place or meal...anyone else?
  • Elizabeth Gilbert says she’s never going back to Luang Prabang. Her memory of the place—and of one meal in particular—is too wonderful to risk a second glance.

  • In the lifetime of every traveler, we encounter two distinct types of unforgettable cities. There are the cities we love so much that we wish we could return there every year. For me, this list includes such places as Rome, Bangkok, Miami, and Vancouver. Then there are the cities we love so much that we must never, ever go back again. For me, that list is short: Luang Prabang, Laos. It’s the only city I’ve ever encountered that is so marvelous that I refuse to revisit it, because I can’t take the psychological risk that anything might disturb my perfect memories of the place.

Every March when Holi comes around I think I WANT TO DO THAT! (source)


Every 9-year-old’s (and let's be real, 26-year-old's) dream – to have a dinosaur species named after you!!!

  • A nine-year-old girl has had a prehistoric creature named in her honour after fossilised bones she found turned out to be an undiscovered species.
  • Daisy Morris, from the Isle of Wight, stumbled upon the remains on Atherfield beach four years ago.
  • A scientific paper stated the newly-discovered species of pterosaur would be called Vectidraco daisymorrisae.
Guys, you can freeze avocados?!?!
  • AVOCADOS – Freeze quartered and peeled or mashed with a squeeze of lemon

"23 Apologies That Will Make You Less Embarrassed To Be Human." I like this one:


And probably someday will need to use this one:



I love everything about this and think it should be mandatory reading for anyone who writes anything ever: “Washington Post’s Outlook section avoids these words and phrases.”
  • At first glance
  • As a society (or, “as a nation”)
  • Observers
  • Pundits say (or “Critics say”)
  • The American people (unless in a quote)
  • The narrative (unless referring to a style of writing)
  • Probe (as substitute for “investigation”)
  • A rare window (unless we’re talking about a real window that is in fact rare)
  • Begs the question (unless used properly – and so rarely used properly that not worth it)
  • Be that as it may
  • It is important to note that
  • Needless to say
  • Any “not-un” formulation (as in “not unsurprising”)
  • To be sure

Need a thumbs up? Many more where these came from...



Yaaay good news! “Good News Beats Bad on Social Networks.”
  • One of his first findings to be reported — which I still consider the most important social-science discovery of the past century — was that articles and columns in the Science section were much more likely to make the list than nonscience articles. He found that science aroused feelings of awe and made Times readers want to share this positive emotion with others.
  • Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting or funny, or that inspired negative emotions like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused one way or the other, and they preferred good news to bad. 
  • [BAHAHAHA!] This social consciousness comes into play when people are sharing information about their favorite subject of all: themselves. This is intrinsically pleasurable and activates the brain regions associated with rewards like food, as demonstrated in a study by Diana Tamir and Jason Mitchell of Harvard. In fact, the study showed, it’s so pleasurable that people will pass up monetary rewards for the chance to talk about themselves. 
Well this is some cool data visualization: “The Internet Map.” Type in different countries and see how they compare.

DR Congo
United States
  • Every site is a circle on the map, and its size is determined by website traffic, the larger the amount of traffic, the bigger the circle. Users’ switching between websites forms links, and the stronger the link, the closer the websites tend to arrange themselves to each other.
And similar (but in my opinion easier to conceptualize), “Global Internet Map 2012.”


Thanks to the “Flowchart: Gandalf problem solving,” I want every problem I have to be solved by “Call in the eagles!”



The future of keyboards? Oh dear I hope not!


So this exists: "Animals Eating Donuts, a Coloring Book." Awesome!


If I had way way waaaaaayyyy too many dollars (i.e. never) I’d buy these:


Oooh and new (to me) music: Carolina Chocolate Drops. Listen to this song. And this one is a silly/awesome remix situation.


Mmmmk that is that. Happy Weekend!!!