Cute! Attack of the Box-Crushing Cat

Gertie is absolutely perfect in every way.  When she sits on a cardboard box, the top collapses because it was structurally flawed, not because of her size.  Which is perfect.

Singalong! Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

Today I'm going hiking for the first time in a very long time.  Well, not really.  The first time I went on a hike in a very long time was when I hiked Dog Mountain in the fall (remember, Ryan was there).  But that's one little blip in a many-year stint where my only times walking on mountains was the paved roads around my parents' house.  This, combined with the fact that I posted about mountains yesterday, makes me want to keep the theme going and do a mountain-related singalong.  I considered the obvious choices: Ain't No Mountain High Enough or perhaps River Deep, Mountain High, but I'm just not feeling that vibe today.

Instead, in honour of mountains, I'm sharing another Arcade Fire favourite - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).  This may seem completely nonsensical.  After all, the mountains beyond mountains they refer to are the piles of rejected shopping malls that surround suburban sprawl.

This song reminds me that I need to go where the city lights don't exist.  Spend some time in nature, in the actual mountains.  I hardly ever do it, but whenever I leave the city behind it feels like heaven.  Don't get me wrong, I am 100% a City Girl. That's where I found my kind. But there's also a significant part of me that wants to run away, grow my own food, and dance in the forest.

SPRAWL II (MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS)

They heard me singing and they told me to stop

Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

These days my life, I feel it has no purpose

But late at night the feelings swim to the surface

'Cause on the surface the city lights shine

They're calling at me, come and find your kind

Sometimes I wonder if the World's so small

That we can never get away from the sprawl

Living in the sprawl

Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains

And there's no end in sight

I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights

We rode our bikes to the nearest park

Sat under the swings and kissed in the dark

We shield our eyes from the police lights

We run away, but we don't know why

Black river, your city lights shine

They're screaming at us, we don't need your kind

Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small

That we can never get away from the sprawl

Living in the sprawl

Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains

And there's no end in sight

I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights

They heard me singing and they told me to stop

Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock

Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small

Can we ever get away from the sprawl?

Living in the sprawl

Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains

And there's no end in sight

I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights

Learning! Introverts Love Their Mountains

A recent study shows that there is a link between personality traits and what kind of nature you like to hang out in.  Turns out that introverts tend to prefer mountains and extroverts prefer open terrain/ocean.

A possible outcrop of this is that introverts might be more likely to choose to live on or near mountains - like, say, in the city of Vancouver.  Food for thought!

Source.

Inspiration! Leading the Big Picture

I find myself in leadership-type positions with some regularity, which is a strange thing for someone who doesn't really consider herself a natural leader.  In my mind, it happens because I like to be involved, and if you're involved with something for long enough, you wind up up being in charge of it.  But of course, that's not the case.  There are a lot of people out there who like to be involved in things, and they don't all wind up as leaders.

Now, when I'm a leader, I generally see myself as a basic support to everyone else.  I'm not special or important, I'm just the one who makes sure everyone can get their stuff done and the one who sets the general course of action.  I often remind myself that my role is to serve everyone else.

Recently I had to lead a big, potentially-super-contentious meeting for a board I'm the chair of, and I was pretty nervous.  I suddenly felt quite out of my depth, leadership-wise.  I sent out a few "I need support!" texts, and my Dad responded with this gem:

First of all, I love Dad Texts.  They are always a mixture of practical details and super supportive, encouraging language.

That aside, what great advice!  Sure, I got it after the meeting was already done, but still - as the leader, your job is always to re-orient the conversation around the big picture.  Everyone else's jobs are specific.  They are getting things done and that matters, but it's very easy to get caught up in a rabbit trail and forget why you're doing something in the first place.  The leader's job is to remind you.

I like that.  I can do that.

What's more inspiring than something that makes you say "Yes, I can do that."?

Pedals and Feet and Engines, Oh My! (5 Steps to Harmony on the Road)

My name is Andrea, and I ride my bike.  I also have, at a different point, traversed through life behind the wheel of a car.  At another point I was all about feet and transit to get around.  I have even ridden in planes and on the backs of horses!  I have conquered transportation!

Because I am such a Renaissance Woman of Getting Places, I am here to solve the eternal issue on modern city roads: the battle of resentment between drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists.  I think we can all just get along!

Here is the secret: the anger, yelling, inappropriate gesturing, and annoyance generally boils down to fear and entitlement.  Fear happens when you feel like you almost got killed or because you feel like you almost killed someone.  Nobody wants to be involved in killing, it's unpleasant.  It gets our hearts racing and our ires standing on end.

Either that or you are being entitled or perceive the other person to be entitled because they got in your way or didn't follow a rule.

So... you're a human who needs to get somewhere, are you?


1) Remember! You are not the only person trying to get somewhere for a reason.

When I got annoyed at drivers being speedy jerks as a teenager, my mom would often suggest that maybe it was someone whose wife was in labour and they were rushing to the hospital.  If that were the case, I would be cheering them on as they hopped lanes and got there as quickly as possible.

Most people are not men whose wives have just gone into labour (or women whose wives have just gone into labour!  Or people whose significant other they are not married to... oh phooey, just assume inclusivity on this, okay?), but people often drive like jerks for a reason and that reason is probably not just that they are actually a jerk.  Something is happening that they perceive as urgent and they need to get their butts somewhere else.

Very few people are in motion between two points for no reason at all.  Their important thing is probably as important to them as your important thing is to you. Also, what if they are BATMAN? Do you want to get in the way of Batman?


2) Nobody wants to be involved in killing, but sometimes people make mistakes because of their humanness.

Just because someone cuts you off or takes your right of way or steps into the street or whatever doesn't mean they are a jerk or an idiot or trying to kill you or trying to get killed.  They probably just weren't paying proper attention in that moment because they were distracted by a bird or remembering to pick up their grandma from the hospital or wondering if they locked their door or worrying about their friend or stressing about their demanding job or remembering the last time they had sex.

I know you have no idea what that's like because you are always fully alert and aware of everything that is going on around you and never have a wayward thought enter your mind and distract you, but it would be great if you could have compassion on the rest of us mere mortals.

SUMMARY THUS FAR: If someone does something jerky it's probably because they either have something urgent going on and need to rush or because they got distracted which is something all humans do.  Don't fall prey to the fundamental attribution error!


3) Follow the Rules!

Rules are more than just a way for The Man to oppress us.  They are also tools for harmony, safety, and reasonable traffic flow in an overpopulated city.

Of course, I am a believer in the spirit, rather than the letter, of the rules.  So yes, cyclists don't belong on sidewalks.  Except maybe if you are going to a coffee shop halfway down the block and there aren't any pedestrians and it's not very safe to just stop on the street right in front of the coffee shop and lift your bike onto the sidewalk because there's no cutaway there.  Pedestrians should only cross at crosswalks.  Unless there are zero cars around, then it's just silly.  Drivers should always stop at stop signs.  Unless you slow down considerably and you have really good visibility and can see that there are no cars or bikes or people around.

BUT!  An important rule to always follow is keeping your right of way when you have it!  Drivers, I'm looking at you.  I know you're trying to be nice when you stop in the middle of the street to let a pedestrian or cyclist pass, but you are just throwing the whole system into disarray.  We'll wait.  Thanks.


4) Safety is sexy.

Not in the sense that there is anything sexy at all about safety gear, but that being alive is FAR MORE SEXY than being dead.

Cyclists!  Get those flashy lights, reflectors, helmets, and dingy bells!  They will help keep you alive, I promise.  Pedestrians!  Your main safety mechanisms are to wear clothes of some kind (not a great defence) and to stay on the sidewalk.  I know walking in the middle of the road in the middle of the night wearing dark clothing sounds fun and carefree, but it means that I almost hit you with my bike last night.

Drivers!  You may think that wearing a seatbelt affects only you, but what if your body shoots out the windshield and lands on a nearby pedestrian, hmmmm?  Do you really want that involuntary manslaughter on your record when you reach the pearly gates?


5) BE PREDICTABLE!

This is the final answer that will save us all!  I fully believe that most of our problems on the road can be solved by predictability.  If I can predict what you're going to do, then I can go where I need to go without anyone getting hurt, and vice versa!

So far my mind reading abilities are very limited, and so until they get better, I can only guess what you are going to do from what you are currently doing.  I assume you will continue at the same basic trajectory until I have a clear indication you will not.

Keep doing whatever you're doing and use whatever signalling devices are at your disposal to let people know if that is going to change.  COMMUNICATION IS KEY - in relationships and on the roads/sidewalks.

Now enjoy the rest of these gifs I found of a 1963 bike safety video:

Cute! It's a Dog This Time

This is my friends' dog. Isn't he the cutest?

Singalong! Dinosaur Sex by Emmy the Great

My dear friend Libby introduced me to Emmy the Great many years ago, but it took me a while to start actually listening to her.  Which is silly, because she is GREAT.  It's right there in her name!  Dinosaur Sex was on of the first of her songs that I listened to on my own and I just love it.  Musically it's sweet and sad and lyrically it's simple and evocative and reminds us that we are not a very big deal, but that we still have somewhere to go.  So keep on keeping on, but don't get too caught up in yourself.

DINOSAUR SEX

by Emmy the Great

These roads, they lead as far as they can lead

That's why they're called the ways that make you feed

Cranes are lifting cargo to the sea

They are the size the dinosaurs would be.

Power station shivers, then it leaks

Bleeds onto the fields and kills the wheat

Harvest comes but will we ever eat?

Power station shivers, then it leaks.

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

And maybe we will lead to nothing

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

But we will lead as far as we can lead

These days I watch the screen for what I need

I take my food on trays across my knee

Leaves are always falling from the trees

I think I see my future in the leaves.

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

And maybe I will lead to nothing

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

But I will lead as far as I can lead

I think I see the future when I sleep

The sky splits like an almond under feet

Skin is peeling off of us in sheets

I think I see the future when I sleep

And power stations shiver and they leak

They bleed onto the fields and kill the wheat

A sea of clouds is billowing in heat

Oh, harvest comes and babies born with teeth.

And skin is peeling off of us in sheets

I think I see the future when I sleep.

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

And maybe you will lead to nothing

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

But you will lead as far as you can lead.

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

And maybe you will lead to nothing

And dinosaur sex led to nothing

But you will lead as far as we can lead.

Learning! Are You Peaking?

If you are not 20 years old, you no longer have to live in the knowledge that your mind is slowly fading into oblivion with each moment that passes you by!  New research shows that different mental abilities peak at different times in life, all the way up to our 60s or 70s.

Here's your handy guide to age and peak abilities:

18 years: mental agility
25 years: visual working memory
30-35 years: working memory for numbers
40-60 years: ability to identify other peoples' emotions
65-75 years: vocabulary

So, sure, you might not be quite as quick on your mental feet as you were when you were 18, but you'll keep learning new words until you're an actual senior citizen!

Source: BPS Research Digest

Inspiration! Pushing and Hugging with Seth Godin

Surprise!  Seth Godin said something inspiring!  Also, this one is just kind of adorable and makes me think of a kids book with a slug that likes to hug.  (Note: if you search "slug that likes to hug" the google images will bring you some adorable gifts.  Go try!)

"When push comes to hug.

This is a much more stable response than pushing coming to shoving, because shoving often leads to something unsustainable.

Hugging is a surprising and difficult response to pushing, but it changes the trajectory, doesn't it?"

-Seth Godin

Cute! Sea Otters HOLDING HANDS!

What is it about animals doing human things that just kills me?  These sea otters are holding hands.  Wayyy too cute.

Me & Ryan Gosling at an 80s Prom

If you like me on Facebook or have paid attention to my little avatar on Blogger, you might recognize this Me & Ryan Gosling photo.  My friend was hosting a big ol' 80's prom party, and I showed up dressed like a member of the yearbook staff.  I was posing for a picture by myself, when Ryan snuck in for the second take.  He wasn't even dressed 80's, but I forgave him.  Who can stay mad at that face?

Singalong! Word Crimes by Weird Al

Today is the stagette of one of my nearest and dearest friends!  Alison and I have spent almost every single day together for the past 6 years (working in the same tiny office will do that).  She is my work husband and usually the first person to hear about anything happening in my life.  Today I am super excited to have co-planned to best stagette ever in her honour.  We're keeping most of it a secret, but it's no secret that Alison loves Weird Al so we're going to be listening to some Weird Al at some point.

This is one of my favourite Weird Al songs because it takes the worst song ever and makes it about something fantastic: grammar. And no, I am not linking to the "worst song ever" because I don't want to give it more attention than its already getting from this. If you don't know what song I'm talking about after listening to Word Crimes, you lead a charmed life.

WORD CRIMES

by Weird Al

Everybody shut up, WOO!

Everyone listen up!

Hey, hey, hey, uh

If you can't write in the proper way

If you don't know how to conjugate

Maybe you flunked that class

And maybe now you find

That people mock you online

Okay, now here's the deal

I'll try to educate ya

Gonna familiarize

You with the nomenclature

You'll learn the definitions

Of nouns and prepositions

Literacy's your mission

And that's why I think it's a

Good time

To learn some grammar

Now, did I stammer

Work on that grammar

You should know when

It's "less" or it's "fewer"

Like people who were

Never raised in a sewer

I hate these word crimes

Like I could care less

That means you do care

At least a little

Don't be a moron

You'd better slow down

And use the right pronoun

Show the world you're no clown

Everybody wise up!

Say you got an "I","T"

Followed by apostrophe, "s"

Now what does that mean?

You would not use "it's" in this case

As a possessive

It's a contraction

What's a contraction?

Well, it's the shortening of a word, or a group of words

By the omission of a sound or letter

Okay, now here's some notes

Syntax you're always mangling

No "x" in "espresso"

Your participle's danglin'

But I don't want your drama

If you really wanna

Leave out that Oxford comma

Just keep in mind

That "be", "see", "are", "you"

Are words, not letters

Get it together

Use your spellchecker

You should never

Write words using numbers

Unless you're seven

Or your name is Prince

I hate these word crimes

You really need a

Full time proofreader

You dumb mouth-breather

Well, you should hire

Some cunning linguist

To help you distinguish

What is proper English

One thing I ask of you

Time to learn your homophones is past due

Learn to diagram a sentence too

Always say "to whom"

Don't ever say "to who"

And listen up when I tell you this

I hope you never use quotation marks for emphasis

You finished second grade

I hope you can tell

If you're doing good or doing well

About better figure out the difference

Irony is not coincidence

And I thought that you'd gotten it through your skull

What's figurative and what's literal

Oh but, just now, you said

You literally couldn't get out of bed

That really makes me want to literally

Smack a crowbar upside your stupid head

I read your e-mail

It's quite apparent

Your grammar's errant

You're incoherent

Saw your blog post

It's really fantastic

That was sarcastic (Oh, psych!)

'Cause you write like a spastic

I hate these Word Crimes

Your prose is dopey

Think you should only

Write in emoji

Oh, you're a lost cause

Go back to pre-school

Get out of the gene pool

Try your best to not drool

Never mind I give up

Really now I give up

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

Go Away!

Learning! Vi Hart is the Coolest (and so is math)

I have said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't really like watching videos on the internet. Constantly streaming a TV show in the background so that I start to feel like I actually am a staff writer for TGS with Tracy Jordan or that I am a silent member of the Parks and Recreation department of Pawnee? Sure. Stopping whatever I'm doing, turning off my music, and watching a 3 minute video? Nope. For some reason, that really annoys me. But Vi Hart might help change my online video-watching lifestyle. She is so cool! And smart!

Vi Hart makes videos about math. Funny, smart, and entertaining videos about math. My fellah is a math geek and introduced me to her, and I couldn't be more grateful. He started me off with her three videos on spirals and plants, and so now I think that's where everyone should start.

So, without any further ado, may I present, VI HART! (Wild applause, high fives, high kicks, leaps, and spins ensue.)




You're welcome.