Vintage OAHN: Thoughts and Why We Ignore Them [06.19.15]

Howdy! Happy Friday! You’re beautiful! You’re brilliant! The weekend is nigh!

Based on (very much appreciated, adored and revered) feedback from last week, I’m going to try to send these early in the day! So this is my attempt. I will say that the trade-off for the timeliness of the below mental meanderings is that there will be far more grammatical errors. Alert! This has not been reviewed! Risky, I know. But, I accept this failing with dashed hopes and lowered eyes but a significantly lighted yoke of proofreading-responsibility. I hope you can forgive me, but let’s be real, it’s not like you’re going to take the time to respond just to tell me that, as a 24 year old human who spends 10 hours a day on a computer, I should care about missing words. So, effectively, it will stay this way until a grammar-fiend blows up and chews me out. I look forward to the day. I need to be taught that lesson. Permanently, you can find the archive of these dastardly, overly long and outrageously onerous (as pointed out by a very trusted and endearingly honest mentor last week) at http://ahighnote.weebly.com/​ per your fancy.

Now, as the good ol’ crew knows, I don’t often tether myself to a theme here. But, I found that all of the things I wanted to say centered around thoughts we sometimes don’t think about. Let’s proceed.

Friday (Today!) is World Sauntering Day. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Sauntering_Day That may be irrelevant to all of you who were raised in the South, but as a nor'easter born and bred, I don't walk slowly. I don't just walk quickly, every cell of my body is constantly running a race with the air particles directly ahead of me. Which means every waking moment I am losing a race, unfortunate at best, but also that means I cannot stand impediments to my neverending competion against nobody. So I hate people who walk slowly. I actually think that slow walkers increase both my motivation to move as rapid as possible, a feat in and of itself, given how adverse I am to anything athletic, but also my fury (read: blood pressure) towards those people who do not ever want to get places faster. But that's me being a horrible person who is flushed with the industrialized chemicals and psychological toxins this American Dream infuses into my produce and maturation environment, respectively. And I, as a self-aware individual, realize that even while I appreciate things about me and am decently observant, I do not saunter in the slightest. So I set off to learn about the origins of this clearly desperately needed holiday. It's totally something that happened in the 70's and it's perfect. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1145254​ Also, here's a tutorial on how to walk properly. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/multimedia/proper-walking-technique/img-20007670​ 

Inflation. The struggle is real. It's breath-catching every time. It makes people who are not that old feel super old, insofar as a newspaper today costs n times more than it did when they were young. Fortunately for most of us, there won't be newspapers when we gingerly tip toe over the meridian between young and not young. But inflation will still happen regardless of the print industry. And proof of that is what a million dollars can get you in real estate. A million dollars is SO MANY DOLLARS. And it gets you some pretty cool stuff according to this site. http://www.purewow.com/money/What-a-Million-Dollars-Gets-You-in-Real-Estate?utm_medium=email&utm_source=national&utm_campaign=A_Foolproof_Way_to_Manage_Your_Photos_2015_06_16&utm_content=Tech_and_Tools_editorial​Um....but then it doesn't get you the same in the home cities of most of the people who will receive this black-and white conversion of my brain. So think about that, guys. Think about that! ​

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/14/million-dollar-homes_n_4591119.html

I've written about poetry before. Because it's nice and it deserves it. And it makes you think about things, so take a two minute vacation and indulge your neurons. http://thoughtcatalog.com/koty-neelis/2015/06/20-soul-stirring-passages-from-shinji-moons-poetry-that-are-hauntingly-beautiful/​ 

Raise your hand if you know what Tableau is...okay, a good number of you. For those souls who haven't had the pleasure, Tableau is a program that basically lets you translate boringly rigid and mind-meltingly right-angled excel data into interactive, bouncy, multilayered infographics, dusted with rainbow sprinkles and snappy heat maps. It seems like Nat Geo would have raised both hands in my first call to arms (hands),as they pulled together a spiffy tableau-esque graphic. Which is cool, because, as I mentioned they are fun and make data less vision-blurring and gray. But it's actually devastating. Because within this hip little graphic is a poignant message; animals are traded like nobody's business and we totally know all about it. There is enough data to create a five-layer, jam-filled, buttercream and fondant covered cake of an infographic, then we, as a universal human, have clearly got some semblance of an idea that, yet again, we're kind of commercializing the only planet we can live on for the foreseeable forever. ECOSYSTEMS, PEOPLE! THEY ARE THERE FOR A REASON AND HUNTING GUNS ARE NOT A COHESIVE LINK IN NATURAL SELECTION SO THEY ARE THERE FOR NO REASON. I am 50/50 on the all-caps but I am keeping them there because it was my first instinct. Okay. So you're sad right? Nope, probably not. Because you haven't gone to the link yet! The link will probably blow you away and it might be sad but you should know what's going on and there are some fun facts that aren't as sad. If you have heard/seen/read/googled/passively consumed the news in any way in the past 3 months you are ethically and categorically mandate to click. Nat Geo does a good job not spinning this politically, but holy guacamole, just look at the numbers! Also, in a hilarious, though surely factually substantiated turn of events, sea cucumbers, leeches, and snails are listed in their very own categories, on par with mammals....so basically humans are on the same level as leeches. Which will likely be your subjective conclusion about you fellow man after perusing the myriad manners in which we suck the life blood out of this planet.  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animal-trade/

Speaking of thoughts, I think that the most heartwarming thing that I know about is when strangers are kind. Which is, at its core, is a truly troubling thing. Strangers should be kind. But, honestly, people suck most of the time. We are a bundle of nerves, insecurities, and fears, reined in only by the scant chains of a meek prefrontal cortex, harnessed to a gargantuan, rippling muscly, tail-swinging lizard brain. And our lizard brains are rude, selfish, territorial curmudgeons. So when, by some miracle of humanity and our socially-programmed motivation to build a positive self-concept, people are nice, it turns me into a puddle. That’s what happened when airport staff did any adorable thing for a little kid for no reason other than it was adorable. Get ready to change physical states. http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/hobbes-epic-airport-adventure

Another thought we don’t think about is the risk involved in beautiful things. I feel like most of us wander about, appreciating the character and influx of art in our everyday life, woven into the cityscape that we take for granted as we scurry to happy hours. Well that stuff doesn’t come from nothing, folks! And graffiti has a special place and role in one city with a  spotted history. If you aren’t a puddle from the Hobbes adventure, then prepare to have your brain fuzz and fluff http://magazine.good.is/articles/graffiti-revolution-blooms-in-worlds-deadliest-city

Lamps think better than I do. Specifically the stock-investment lamp. A precious little invention that you have to check out, as it is clearly more insightful and analytical than I and you've already read the majority of my ponderings so give that little lamp its just deserts http://www.psfk.com/2015/06/invest-in-stock-market-stocks-aspirational-lamp-copenhagen-institute-of-interaction-design.html Not only are lamps better at math and money than me, but they are better at responding to text messages…sorry guys, you know I don’t mean to leave my phone in my closet as often as I do, right? I sweat. It’s not on purpose, nor Freudian, I assure you. http://www.psfk.com/2015/06/social-smart-lamp-message-notification-witti-design.html

Yes another brilliant thought; there is a paper bridge out there. So next time you’re asked to complete the infamous and perpetually burdensome ultimate team challenge, to build the strongest paper structure, know that you will always lose. Always. Because this thing exists. http://honestlywtf.com/art/paper-bridge/