OMG – It’s HOT

It is… HOT… here. Record heat & sun this summer.  Ridiculous snow storms this past winter.  Ah, climate change!     That said, I’m LOVING the sun.  (Though my apartment was so hot last night, I honestly considered sleeping on my balcony!)   Update:  We hit 102F, breaking the 1994 record of 100F.

Could You Resist “The Marshmallow”?

I am a “wee” bit behind on my stack of New Yorkers.  However, on the plane this past weekend, I finally had a chance to read a few. Jonah Lehrer’s article,  “Don’t! The secret of self-control,” about Stanford Prof. Walter Mischel’s Marshmallow Experiment was really interesting. In a nutshell, Mischel told a bunch of unsuspecting 4 year: You can eat ONE marshmallow now.  Or, if you sit here quietly while I leave the room for a bit, you can eat TWO when I get back. Turns out, kids only lasted on average 3 minutes before they gave in and ate …

Memorial Day

I don’t know about you… but I will admit to often forgetting the importance of Memorial Day.  It’s not just another 3 day weekend – especially given the current state of the world. While in Miami this past weekend, I stumbled on an incredibly poignant memorial.  Along Ocean Drive in South Beach, thousands of paper tombstones commemorated those who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan (4,985 to date).  Each tombstone had the handwritten name and age of a fallen veteran.   Each tombstone was written by a different person. The simple symbolism, especially with the juxtaposition of South Beach during “Urban …

Napa for the Weekend

I was in wine country last weekend… Nothing beats wine + sun (unless it’s wine + sun + cheese).                        

Obama’s White House, on Flickr

During the campaign, Obama created his own Flickr account.  The photos during election night were amazing – and very personal.       Obama now has a new Flickr account: The Official White House Photostream.  The first set – Delivering on Change – was just posted.  Here are a few of my favorites.   superbowl briefing on swine flu Michelle Obama with Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of french president   a day in the office

Scary Diagrams

Just saw this on the NPR Planet Money blog. It depicts the inter-connectedness of credit default swaps.  Kinda reminds you of a really complicated “who hooked up with who” diagram… 

What’s In An Inauguration Speech?

Robbie just blogged about this, and I thought it was super cool. ReadWriteWeb created Word Clouds showing the word frequency of recent inaugural speeches.  It’s a good insight into these presidents… and the mindset of the country at the time. President Obama (2009) President Bush (2005) President Clinton (1997) President Reagan (1981)  

Ohh…. Pretty

I just got the most beautiful rings from my friend, Meghan. I know Meghan from high school, and she’s always had an eye for jewelry. Meghan is now making jewelry herself, and has amazing collection of gold and silver pieces. Check it out!

Seattle Snow

After many flight cancelations, I finally arrived in Southern California yesterday – 48 hours after originally planned. Here are a few (now distant) Seattle snow vistas.

No Longer Giddy About the Snow

So it turns out… snow can be a pain in the ass. On Thursday, when the snow started, I was really excited. It was beautiful, seeing the city coated in a blanket of white. However, 3 days of being really cold, falling down a lot, and not easily getting where you want to go… is starting to aggravate me. Tomorrow, I fly down to Southern California for Christmas. Or, at least, I’m going to try to. The weather people have 40 more hours of flurries predicted. UPDATED 12/22: Still in Seattle, two canceled flights later… Hoping I actually make it …