1. I’m pretty sure this week needed….more Toby!
That’s all, actually. What could top Toby?
Friday Unrelated Information
August 2012
Speaking Of Hippies
…how could I not post this?
(Actually, Scott McKenzie here, almost-original member of The Mamas and The Papas, died just last week at age 73. Peace, dude.)
Hippie Power, Now With Science
Here’s something to ponder: “Listening to Complainers is Bad for Your Brain.” The article summarized a book which sites “reasearch” saying that
exposure to 30 minutes or more of negativity–including viewing such material on TV–actually peels away neurons in the brain’s hippocampus.
As a worrier and a misanthrope, negativity is almost my natural state. But my inner hippie wants to change, and now my inner scientist has some proof that
Our actions and states of mind matter…Working on our own consciousness is the most important thing that we are doing at any moment, and being love is the supreme creative act.(Ram Dass, via Mystic Mamma)
Tuesday Project Roundup: Car Knitting
There’s a road trip going down and I can almost gaurnatee that I won’t be needed as a relief driver. So what will I be doing (besides sleeping the width of Nevada)? Knitting!
I’ll be working on Skyler’s little Hobbit sweater (here’s the beginnings of the hood) and expect to make a lot of progress. I’m even packing extra yarn.
Going To California
Led Zeppelin’s hair is enough to brighten up any Monday.
Damn, they were good.
Friday Bradbury Information
1. I didn’t want to steal my dad’s thunder, but Wednesday also would have been Ray Bradbury’s 92nd birthday. In honor of that, did you see that the Curiosity rover named its landing site after him?
2. The video in the post linked to above is really, really great–Ray talking to a roomful of JPL and Caltech engineers in 1971 on the eve of Mariner 9 going into orbit around Mars and then reading one of his poems.
So don’t let the politicians of the world get you down. There’s engineers and the next Ray out there too.
Coming Out Of My Bubble To Point Out This Contrast
I find it unbelievable that the same country that gives us people who can figure out how to land a robot on Mars also gives us people–people in power–who fail to grasp the very nature of biology.
No, Rep. W. Todd Akin, it is actually NOT true that women who are victims of “legitimate” rape can avoid pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Wasn’t true in the 1200s, isn’t true now. While we’re talking science, I bet I can clear some things up about evolution for you, too.
Todd Akin is on the House Committee for Science, Space, and Technology. Can we replace him with Bobak, please?
Happy Birthday To My Dad!
It’s my dad’s 65th birthday today. He is riding 100 miles on his bike and then we will eat pie. I’ll let the video do the talking this year, except to say, “Happy birthday and don’t fall off your bike!”
Tuesday Project Roundup: I’m Taking Requests
I finished the boot toppers and they were such a satisfying project: The cables kept thing interesting, they were small enough that you saw real progress even with a short amount of knitting time, and they used up leftover yarn.
So I was pretty happy when my friend asked for a pair for herself–more cables and nearly-instant gratification ahead!
(Amber, is this yarn the right color?)
It’s Monday
Let’s watch a supercut of Don Draper saying “what?” and see how many times we can do that today, too.