I was listening to this song in the background the other day, when the lyrics suddenly pierced through my concentration: "I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up." What the perfect description of... well, everything! I mean, she's writing about being an artist, and that is definitely the rallying cry of artists everywhere, but it speaks to so much of life.
L.E.S. ARTISTES
by Santigold
What I'm searching for
To tell it straight, I'm trying to build a wall
Walking by myself
Down avenues that reek of time to kill
If you see me keep going
Be a pass by waver
Build me up, bring me down
Just leave me out you name dropper
Stop trying to catch my eye
I see you good you forced faker
Just make it easy
You're my enemy you fast talker
I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up
If I could stand up mean for the things that I believe
What am I here for
I left my home to disappear is all
I'm here for myself
Not to know you
I don't need no one else
Fit in so good the hope is that you cannot see me later
You don't know me
I am an introvert an excavator
I'm duckin' out for now
A face in dodgy elevators
Creep up and suddenly
I found myself
An innovator
I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up
If I could stand up mean for the things that I believe
As a regular consumer of aspartame, I am not pleased: a very robust study has shown that people who drink one diet soda a day are more likely to become obese. Of course, it was just correlational, and correlation does not equal causation, but still. That combined with the disheartening Science Vs. episode I recently listened to that showed pretty compelling evidence that artificial sweeteners can change your gut bacteria for the bad means I probably can't operate in this denial for much longer, no matter how sweet it is. (Pun!)
Your Social Class is on Showing
This is pretty interesting: a new study shows that people can accurately judge your social class from your neutral face. The study individually photographed students with neutral facial expressions, and then had other people judge whether they were "rich or poor" based only on those photos. Gender and race did not impact the results, and it only worked with neutral expressions.
It used to be that married people had lower mortality risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This is no longer the case. Us young folk who get married are now just as likely to die as our single counterparts, AND we are more likely to have weight gain over the course of our lives. Now, this could be because the single life has become healthier (it's easier for single people to access care than it may have been in the past), or thanks to married women carrying the work-family balance on their shoulders.
Whitewashing History with Marble
Check out this eye-opening video about the history of race and whitewashing. Did you know that marble statues used to be painted in colours? That reflected a multi-racial society???? I didn't!!!!
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Welcome to the series wherein I share my take-aways from church. The things that, I think, are beneficial to all of us to know or think about, whether or not we believe in any church-related things.
This week in church we talked about wonder.
"God is not so much the object of our knowledge, but the cause of our wonder."
-Kallistos Ware
What a great definition for God: that which causes wonder. There is so much to wonder at. Wonder at the notion of pure love. Wonder at the act of creation. Wonder about existence.
Perhaps wonder is somewhere near the heart of the spiritual experience. Maybe instead of seeking happiness or fulfillment or other such things, we should seek out wonder, in both meanings of the term: wonder as in "awe" and wonder as in "hmmmmm, what happens if I do this?"
Both might bring us all closer to something meaningful. That seems interesting.
This week in church we talked about the incarnation.
The quote was shared in the light of the incarnation, which is the whole idea of Jesus being God, embodied as an actual human. Whether or not you believe that happened, it's kind of a wondrous thing to consider: "Imagine for a minute that there is a god, and that god wanted to know what it was like to be a human. So it took a part of itself, stripped it of its godly powers, and made it into a complete human. What torture: to have all the knowledge of a god, but no power. To be helpless. To experience and witness pain, loneliness, heartbreak, joy, and the stiltedness of human love, and to be able to do nothing but live through it."
What a weird thing to consider. I don't know what it means, but it is something to think about.
(Full disclosure: I got to church suuuuper late this week, so I missed all the context. For all I know, this is nothing like what the pastor was going for in sharing this message.)
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Lately I can't stop thinking about getting a tattoo, and I have been really drawn to plant life. I love the work of tattoo artists Pis Saro - it's so delicate and realistic. Maybe I need to go to the Crimea and get her to tattoo me.
A video that follows toddlers who have just learned to walk as they explore the world all on their own.
I Think My Life is Passing Me By
Life can disappear on us just like a cup of coffee consumed on autopilot. In other words, to really experience life itself, as opposed to just more thinking about life, we need to remember we’re having an experience.
-David Cain
I have had this thought more than once in the past five years. As I let my life get busier and busier, I realized one day that I had no idea what I had done with myself yesterday, the past week, or the past year. Everything was a blur, because it was crammed so full nothing sunk in. I'd like to say that this realization woke me up and I immediately changed my ways, but that is so not true. I am still working on how to lead a life where I actually get to experience my experiences. It's hard.
It's been a while since my last book club post! I feel compelled to let you know that I have still been reading books, as if you care and are judging me about my lack of demonstrated reading.
For my IRL book club, we just read Stung by Bethany Wiggings. Spoiler alert: this post contains spoilers.
The world:
Within the span of four years, the world has gone post-apocalyptic. It's because of the bees. You know how the bees are dying? Well, that is basically the beginning of the end and everything they try to do to fix it ruins something else until the most elite children in society have turned into something akin to fast-moving, super-aggressive zombies (but this isn't a zombie story).
Our main character wakes up in her bedroom, where everything is destroyed and years have gone by. The last memory she has is being a happy thirteen year old.
The rest of the book follows the basic template for young adult fantasy fiction: she is Born Sexy Yesterday, falls into the hands of someone who uses her ignorance for their own means before she is captured by someone else. Then her and her captor fall in love with each other, he risks everything to save her, it turns out she is The One, and together, they will fix the world. (But this is book one in a series, so we don't actually see them do that.)
The Worst Parts:
The love story. I don't have anything against a love story as a concept, but this one is everything that's wrong with the genre. At first, he treats her like an animal, laughs when she gets hit in the head with a gun, and calls her 'it". Then, before he even starts treating her like a human, she's waxing poetic about his eyes, "the colour of summer." Blech.
Honey. In a flashback, our heroine remembers her sister predicting that as the bees go extinct, honey will become the rarest, most precious food on the planet, worth more than gold. Then - mercy me! - it comes to pass! Listen, I love honey a lot. So much so that I only eat it if it comes from my aunt and uncle's bee farm. Yet, if bees go extinct, I will not line up to trade vials of honey as currency. I think we'll be too busy worrying about pollinating crops, and maybe will trade food or medicine instead.
It's also kind of rapey. I mean, I get it. Rape is a weapon in war, and this is a war scenario. Women who aren't protected by the system (in this case that means getting married at age 14 and starting to make babies asap, so fun times for them), tend to get sold into the black market for all the usual reasons. It just sucks when a part of the love interest demonstrating his goodness is the fact that he wants to try not to rape her.
And yet:
All that aside, I ate up the book. I ate it up like a bag of chips. Not fancy chips like Miss Vicki's Apple-Smoked BBQ. No, this book is a giant bag of No Name Sour Cream 'n Onion. They remind you of better-tasting chips and go down easy, but they aren't special, aren't well-made, and every once in a while you question your life choices while you're eating them.
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Right now, Siri has trouble understanding people who speak English with any accent aside from a standard American white male. So does Alexa.
If you are not a white male who was born speaking English in America, you can help! Project Common Voice is seeking to create a library of speaking samples for people from all genders and all accents in order to improve accessibility to voice recognition software.
Just click "donate your voice" and read a sentence. There! Now AI can be better available to everyone.
(If you are already in Siri's current target audience but still want to help, you can validate other peoples' sentences.)
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I was visiting my cousins recently, and they have the sweetest dog! Her name is Lily, and she will look at you with the sweetest brown eyes if you aren't petting her. Except sometimes, when she gives you the side eye.
I completely forgot that All Saints had more hits than just Never Ever! Reading their Wikipedia page is a strange saga of failure and renewal. They split twice and got dropped by two labels but kept getting on the horse and releasing more albums, including one released just last year. Who knew?!??
PURE SHORES
by All Saints
I've crossed the deserts for miles
Swam water for time
Searching places to find
A piece of something to call mine
(I'm coming)
A piece of something to call mine
(I'm coming)
(I'm coming)
Coming closer to you
Went along many moors
Walked through many doors
The place where I wanna be
Is the place I can call mine
(I'm coming)
Is the place I can call mine
(I'm coming)
(I'm coming)
Coming closer to you
I'm moving
I'm coming
Can you hear, what I hear
It's calling you my dear
Out of reach
(Take me to my beach)
I can hear it, calling you
I'm coming not drowning
Swimming closer to you
Never been here before
I'm intrigued, I'm unsure
I'm searching for more
I've got something thats all mine
I've got something thats all mine
Take me somewhere I can breathe
I've got so much to see
This is where I want to be
In a place I can call mine
In a place I can call mine
I'm moving
I'm coming
Can you hear, what I hear
It's calling you my dear
Out of reach
(Take me to my beach)
I can hear it, calling you
I'm coming not drowning
Swimming closer to you
Moving, coming
Can you hear what I hear?
(Hear it out of reach)
I hear it calling you
Swimming closer to you
Many faces I have seen
Many places I have been
Walked the deserts, swam the shores
(Coming closer to you)
Many faces I have know
Many way in which I've grown
Moving closer on my own
(Coming closer to you)
I move it
I feel it
I'm coming
Not drowning
I move it
I feel it
I'm coming
Not drowning
I'm moving
I'm coming
Can you hear, what I hear
It's calling you my dear
Out of reach
(Take me to my beach)
I can hear it, calling you
I'm coming not drowning
Swimming closer to you
(Take me to my beach)
I'm moving
I'm coming
Can you hear, what I hear
It's calling you my dear
Out of reach
(Take me to my beach)
I can hear it, calling you
I'm coming not drowning
Swimming closer to you
(Take me to my beach)
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Scientists in China have teleported a photon into orbit. TELEPORTED IT. Into ORBIT. COME ON!!! They used a technique called quantum teleportation, where the properties of one particle are instantly transferred to another.
Don't Bother Running
Just when I started to get into jogging, it turns out that it is the worst way to get fit. Well, fine then. Be that way.
Beware the Second-Born
New research shows that second-born children are more likely to cause trouble. We (I say we, because I am a middle child) get in trouble with school and, when we're older, the law in greater numbers. This may explain the fact that I have always had a bit of an urge to steal stuff. Seriously. I never have, but I remember as a kid, standing in stores staring at all the stuff and just wanting so badly to take it. I was a little criminal at heart!
Listen to the Voices in Your Head
Typically we think that people who hear voices are in need of help, but there is a growing movement of people who hear voices and don't want to stop. There are even support groups that give tactics like wearing headphones when you talk to the voices in your head, so that people think you're talking on the phone to an actual person.
As the laws around marijuana became more and more lax in BC, dispensaries began popping up all over the place. At this point, I think there are more dispensaries than Starbucks in Vancouver, which is saying something. Turns out, that these dispensaries lend to the safety of the streets they are on, and when they are forced to close, crime increases. (This still doesn't explain to me how they all stay in business, I know a lot of people smoke pot, but that many? I guess I also wouldn't expect four coffee shops on the same street to be able to stay in business either, but they do. The world is funny.)
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Guys. Avocados. They're a trick. A trap. A tricky trap!
That's right! The millennial, health-conscious, hipster SAVIOUR of foodstuffs! The magic ingredient in pretty much every paleo, keto, and vegan dish! The instagram-ready toast topping! They are a trick!
Why?
They. Have. Calories. CALORIES!!!
Did you know that?
Okay, so obviously avocados have calories, but I mean the Have Calories. Like, a weighty amount of calories.
So... let's just say that you have noticed that your sweatpants have become unusually form-fitting against your thighs and your shorts from last summer are just a liiiiiiiittle too tight. Let's just say that this kind of thing happens enough that it is no longer an anomaly of one particular item of clothing, but a reality of your changing body.
Let's also say that you don't really fancy buying a whole new set of clothes, and instead would rather go the cheaper route of investigating the cause of this newfound body padding.
Then let's just say that your diet hasn't really changed much except for the fact that you started adding avocados to things. Throw an avocado on your breakfast eggs! Add some avocado to that salad! Mix some avocado into that smoothie! It's healthy fat and it tastes good! It adds nice texture! It's great!
No problem, one avocado just adds 300-400 calories. Just enough to more-or-less double the calorie count of your breakfast without you realizing it. That's A LOT of calories for one little piece of fruit!
So if you're wondering how much damage a measly avocado could do, the answer is, a comfortably-fitting summer wardrobe's worth of damage.
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The Backstreet Boys weren't exactly known for their lyrical greatness, but I still think that if you have a team of professionals writing your songs, they should be able to stand up to some scrutiny.
For the sake of simplicity, this analysis won't even delve into the weird music video, where the boys of the backstreets transform some intelligent-looking women into fun fantasy ladies. Let's focus on the song lyrics instead.
My main beef with As Long as You Love Me is pretty much the main point of the song:
"I don't care who you are / Where you're from / What you did / As long as you love me"
Really? You don't care ANYTHING about this person or their past?
First of all, this demonstrates a very low level of interest in the person at all. I realize that small talk on dates can be a bit dull, but we ask people where they are from in order to learn more about them. If you don't even care who they are... What do you care about? Are you the worst date ever?
Second, I mean, sure, we've all made mistakes. But since they later say "Doesn't really matter if you're on the run", so it sounds like they don't care about how legal this person's history is.
Again, we all make mistakes, and just because someone has broken a law doesn't mean they don't deserve love, but are there no limits? Is it just enough for them to love you?
Okay, let's get into this: here are some potential scenarios that could unfold for the BSB if they took this song to heart.
Howie: He met his beloved at a party. She was standing off to the side looking bored and superior to the whole thing, which was very alluring to him. Turns out she is a hired assassin who was there casing the joint to later kill the owner: Howie's best friend. By the time he found this out it was a real Romeo and Juliet situation.
Brian: Brian was at a gas station when a frail young thing ran in looking frantic: she was literally on the run. He looked in her eyes, fell instantly in love with her, and swore to protect her no matter what. He left his life behind to escape together, and so not only was the latest BSB/NKOTB tour cancelled, but it turned out that she had orchestrated a terrorist act and was running from the FBI.
AJ: Swiping on Tinder, AJ came across a cute guy with eyes like magic. They met, and it was instant love. A couple weeks later, AJ noticed that this guy was really secretive about his past relationships. At first he thought that he was just uncomfortable bringing his past into their new love. Nope, turns out that all his past lovers disappeared about 2 months into their relationships. AJ was sure this time would be different. It wasn't.
Nick: Really into the whole "I don't even care who you are", aspect, Nick lets his friends set him up with strangers all the time, and never asks them anything about themselves. Unfortunately, because he didn't even bother to find out who he was dating or what they did, it later turned out that he had been harbouring a fugitive who ran an international scam out of his house, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. (This actually helped his career, as he had been trying to break the "good boy" identity he had honed in BSB.)
Kevin: Kevin was shopping in Whole Foods and met a lovely woman. When he found out she had been born with male genitalia, he told her he didn't care, as long as she loved him. She was relieved. They shared an intimate, loving, healthy relationship and adopted two kids, teaching them to judge a person by the content of their character, not the private parts they were born with.
So things turned out pretty great for Kevin and his family.
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This week's "I want to go to there": I just spent the weekend at my cousin's cabin on a lake, and now
I'm dreaming about this whole "recreational property" thing. (Key word: dreaming.)
Photo credit: Foter.com
Light Up Your Brain
Neuroscientist Greg Dunn wanted to refresh his work and inspire others to admire the wonder of the brain. So he created this stunning piece of art, illustrating the brain's neural connections through LED lights.
r u a bunny?
Artist Del Kathryn Barton has a new series of paintings called r u a bunny? that gloriously explores femininity.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
“I can ignore what you’re saying, and just look at your actions. Our actions always reveal our real values.”
This little reminder has been coming up a lot in my life lately. Most frequently (believe it or not) through my workouts. I've been doing online HITT videos, and they always suggest resting instead of quitting when you're tired. It never occurred to me to take that advice outside of my workouts until this moment (because, genius)!
"Growth for a nonathlete is working toward one's full potential in expressing your best self and feeling good about it--. to know that you're pushing in a direction that is fulfilling, makes you feel good, and makes you feel like you're working at your best."
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