We’re not sure what this means (though if the editors of SMITH magazine are reading this, we’d still love those Planet Earth DVDs…), but Jarred’s entry in TreeHugger/SMITH Magazine’s six-word essay contest on “The Green Life” is currently featured prominently on the contest’s site. In case you missed these in the comments of my previous post:
Jarred: Kermit’s Right, Being Green Ain’t Easy.
Taylor: Don’t act in isolation; isolate inaction.
While it’s too late to enter the contest, I wanted to highlight this topic again because apparently six-word writing is all the rage. Rachel enlightened us in the comments of my previous post:
“Someone once bet that Hemingway that he couldn’t tell a story using only six words. And he came up with the following: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Is it a story? No. Is it compelling as hell? Yeeeeeah.”
Just today I saw that the Freakonomics blog is hosting its own “six-word motto for the U.S.” contest. My favorites so far are:
Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay
AND
Just Like Canada, With Better Bacon
Is a new art form emerging, or are our attention spans so limited that we can’t handle longer prose…..
So I walked out of my apartment this morning to head to work for a few hours, and it was hot outside. I was wearing a winter jacket and I had my knit hat in hand in preparation for what I thought would be a chilly stroll to the Metro. It is February, after all. I had even considered throwing on a sweater. Good thing I didn’t, because it was HOT. When I finally got to work, I looked up the temperature. The high in D.C. today is 74 degrees.
I ate lunch outside for the first time since at least October. I pushed up my sleeves, put on my sunglasses, and walked around in the sunlight. People were happy. Birds were chirping. Ladies were looking good. I felt like exercising for the first time since Thanksgiving.
Beautiful. Thanks, global warming.
I went back to the weather report, hoping that the trend was going to continue. Hmmm… Tuesday, high of 46? Wednesday, 45?? Thursday, 33?! Talk about a buzzkill.
It’s interesting how much the weather can influence behavior and emotions. Our bodies and minds seem synced to the seasons. Is it the temperature? The light? The attitude of the people around us? The fact that something is changing after months of the same-old same-old? Some evolutionary cause-and-effect that we’ve developed over thousands of years?
What do you think… or does anyone actually know? I’m sure there have been studies done. Bruce, I’m looking at you.
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user Yago Veith.
This isn’t a challenge, since I stole it from a Google blog… though you’re certainly welcome to try your hand. If you check the answer at the Google blog, be a pal and don’t speak up in the comments. Leave the glory to the diehard Google Earthers.
Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day from Tropophilia. Single or involved, lonely or in love, independent or engaged (*cough* TAYLOR *cough*) — have a lovely day, whatever your status.
Image courtesy of Google.
TreeHugger and SMITH magazine (I’d never heard of it either…) are hosting a contest called “Six Word Memoirs: The Green Life.” Basically, the challenge is to summarize your philosophy on environmental issues in 6 words or less:
“Got a swell philosophy? Traveled a strange path? Fall off the eco-wagon often? Lay your tiny tale on us [...] Everyone on this big blue marble has a green story. So, what’s yours?”
Let me warn you, it’s a challenge. Maybe you, dear reader, are less verbose than I am, but six words is a limited canvass for anyone. The contest hosts are offering great prizes (my fingers are crossed for the Planet Earth DVDs), so you should give it a shot. And be sure to add your submission to the comments here as well. In a few days, I’ll share my submission–though if you’re clever you can probably find it on the contest site. Good luck!
via Lifehacker (that’s right, Rachel, another Lifehacker shout-out!]:
Here comes a great essay called “The Nerd Handbook“. Note that this is not “How To Be A Nerd” or “Nerdiness for Dummies.” No, “The Nerd Handbook” is written for the friends, family, and romantic interests of nerds. It’s the missing nerd manual. If there’s a nerd in your life, this will help you understand him or her.
One of my favorite excerpts:
Nerds are f___ing funny. Your nerd spent a lot of his younger life being an outcast because of his strange affinity with the computer. This created a basic bitterness in his psyche that is the foundation for his humor. Now, combine this basic distrust of everything with your nerd’s other natural talents and you’ll realize that he sees humor is another game.
Humor is an intellectual puzzle, “How can this particular set of esoteric trivia be constructed to maximize hilarity as quickly as possible?” Your nerd listens hard to recognize humor potential and when he hears it, he furiously scours his mind to find relevant content from his experience so he can get the funny out as quickly as possible.
I’m pretty sure I fall somewhere between Geek and Nerd on the Popular <—> Dork spectrum. (Exhibit 1: the fact that I just described myself by placing myself on a spectrum). But I am unashamed of it, if not damn proud. Sure there are some things that I could improve on social skill-wise (see the section on “Your nerd may come off as not liking people”), but surely having an obsessive desire to completely understand something can’t be an entirely bad thing. Right? Am I right or am I right? Guys? Where’d they… aw, wait up you guys! (*nerd trot to catch up with cool kids*)
As we head into the Valentine’s season next week, don’t forget to reach out and love a nerd/geek/dork! Happy Friday!
(P.S. Forgive my goofiness, but it’s just one of those days.)
Image used under a Creative Commons license courtesy of Flickr user bayat.
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