Pink? Yes, Pink.

I have to admit I barely knew who Pink was before her performance at the Grammy’s last night.  With my judge’s finger hovering over the “cheese” button, I found myself halted by the beauty of the minor keys, then by the performance itself, comfortably within that narrowest of margins between “safe”and “stupid” which can also be referred to as “art.”  I loved it.  Bravo, Pink.

(You may be able to find the performance on YouTube, though they keep taking it down for copyright purposes.  You could also buy it on iTunes, but it’s $3.  I’m all for paying for art, but that seems a little high for a single 5-minute performance, as cool as it was.)

Microdonations

I continue to amaze myself by how cavalierly I’ll buy an iPhone app for $0.99.  I’m typically one of those cautious, research-intensive buyers who must touch and feel something before he buys it.  Typically the most you get to see of an app is a few screen shots, yet I’ll go ahead and hit the “Buy” button and let them charge my credit card.

It struck me that this is what altruistic non-profits should do – create an app that allows people to hit a button and donate $0.99 whenever they’re in a giving mood.  And don’t collect the giver’s email and mailing address and bombard him or her with solicitations afterward.  Kind of like the little glass box on the counter at McDonald’s where you can give spare change to charity.

(Mis)calculations

What do you do if you’re taking a test and have no idea what the answer is?  Get creative.

Proudest Monkey (DMB)

Swing in this tree
Oh I am bounce around so well
Branch to branch,
limb to limb you see
All in a day’s dream
I’m stuck
Like the other monkeys here
I am a humble monkey
Sitting up in here again
But then came the day
I climbed out of these safe limbs
Ventured away
Walking tall, head high up and singing
I went to the city
Car horns, corners and the gritty
Now I am the proudest monkey you’ve ever seen
Monkey see, monkey do

Then comes the day
Staring at myself I turn to question me
I wonder do I want the simple, simple life that I once lived in well
Oh things were quiet then
In a way they were the better days
But now I am the proudest monkey you’ve ever seen
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do

~ Dave Matthews Band

Sound of Music Flash Mob

Stop reading this

With the Internet, “the promise is of infinite knowledge, but what’s delivered is infinite information, and the two are hardly the same…. Brain studies show that true learning is largely an unconscious process. If we’re inundated with data, our brains’ synthesizing functions are overwhelmed by the effort to keep up. And the original purpose – deeper knowledge of the subject – is lost….
I’m not wishing the Internet away. It has become so integral to my work – to my life – that I honestly can’t recall what I did without it…. [Yet] as alluring as we can find the perpetual pursuit of little thoughts, the net result may only be to prevent us from forming the big ones.”
– Peggy Orenstein
NY Times Magazine, October 25, 2009

Tim Kreider’s “Referendum”

“It’s funny because it’s true.”

(from the article) “The Referendum is a phenomenon typical of (but not limited to) midlife, whereby people, increasingly aware of the finiteness of their time in the world, the limitations placed on them by their choices so far, and the narrowing options remaining to them, start judging their peers’ differing choices with reactions ranging from envy to contempt.”

Pushed into tomorrow

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

~Robert Frost, from Reluctance

Thinking back the pain: Dr. John Sarno

If you have chronic pain (back pain or otherwise) that the “established” medical profession can’t seem to fix, you might try the three steps below.  I and two others I know personally have been cured of chronic pain (foot, back and neck, respectively) by Dr. Sarno’s program.

1. Read this Wikipedia entry about Dr. Sarno.
2. Buy and read his first book.
3. Buy, watch and follow the instructions in his video (and stick with it.)

Good luck.  (Note:  I’m not a doctor, and I am in no way associated with Dr. Sarno and don’t make any money from sales of his books/video!  I had chronic foot pain for almost two years, saw many doctors, and was even told I might need foot surgery.  After two people (one a chiropractor!) referred me to Dr. Sarno’s book, the pain went away in about 3 months and has been gone now for over 6 years.)

Shipwaving

I don’t know who started it, but I love the fact that whenever people on a boat or ship pass you (especially when you yourself are on a separate boat or ship), you wave to each other. You sometimes see this phenomenon with people on those open-top tour buses as well. There you are standing on a city corner, stewing about something and waiting for the light to change, when a bright red, double-decker bus with no roof (or sometimes shaped like a duck) glides by, full of smiling faces and hands waving your way. Only the Scrooges resist waving back.

What’s odd is that this phenomenon simply doesn’t translate to other public arenas, even if it’s the exact same people involved. Sitting on a crowded city bus, my back to the window, facing the people sitting just a few feet away, I imagine that if I started smiling and waving, at least one of them would come over, punch me directly in the face, and ask me (rhetorically) what the hell was wrong with me.

People are strange when you’re a stranger, unless you’re on a boat, or a tour bus shaped like a duck.