awe

we spend all day in front of computers, all night in front of tvs and iphone in between. do people even have contact with awe-inspiring things any more -- like mountains, meteor showers and sunsets?

leyden cheese

leyden cheese with whole cumin seeds tastes like nachos -- but without all the calories of onions, tomatoes peppers and beans.

afternoon tea

in new zealand, they have "morning tea" at 10:30 and "afternoon tea" at 3:30. literally the whole country shuts down. adults eat biscuits together at work. kids pack morning tea for school. it's a "for real" snack time the whole country partakes in.

i can't think of anything like that in america. sure, people eat snacks. but there's no set "morning snack" or "afternoon snack" time.... and lots of people don't snack.

am i mistaken? do we have a national snack time?

tears for nummi

listening to this american life (my new radio kick), tears came to my eyes when i heard stories about how the lean, teamwork-based toyota techniques turned a plant and the worker's lives around.

did i really shed a tear for efficiency or are they misplaced wedding nerves?

open doors

even in windy, rainy, 45-55 degree weather almost all wellington shops keep their doors wide open.

perhaps i don't mind opening doors because i grew up between blizzards.... but either way, it makes me thankful i work from home....

"It's so easy to communicate these days that there's no reason to communicate anything of interest." (This American Life)

That pretty much sums up facebook status updates versus hand-written letters 100 years ago.

happy place

i didn't sleep well last night and i was tired (read: CRABBY) today. but the alphabet of nations always lifts my spirits. (usually after 2 or 3 viewings).

everyone needs a happy place to believe in: mine is west xylophone.

easter hangman

this weekend i overhead two kids playing "easter hangman". the "easter word" was "christ"....

"christ? as in jesus christ? what's he got to do with easter?"

happy easter everyone.