Month: September 2012 | Shiny Bits of Life

September 30, 2012September 30, 2012

Top Ten List of Shiny Bits of Life

Hey there! My name’s Johanna. I’m a fellow reader of SBOL. It’s Paul’s birthday today — be sure to wish him a happy birthday.

I missed mailing Paul a package of analog shiny bits of life, so I decided to go digital this year, highjacking his blog. Enjoy my curated list of the best of Shiny Bits of Life. Enjoy!

10. Really, really sweet
9. A little whine for you
8. Mom & me
7. Hidden beauty inside
6. My longest-owned thing
5. Space invaders
4. The ultimate photographic project
3. Happy halloween
2. Fun Friday picture
1. Closed captioning for music

What’s a favorite post of yours?

September 24, 2012September 23, 2012

Times goes fast

Autumn leaves in a green tree Autumn is nearly upon us. As I ride my bicycle to work, I’m reminded of the disappearance of summer. (It’s chilly!)

I love the fall. Cool crisp air, leaves changing color, the feeling of being warm under the blankets, and how hot drinks just taste better.

Three months is a very short time. What are you doing to celebrate this glorious season?

To my readers who are in the southern hemisphere or on the equator – I hope that you are enjoying your season as well.

September 17, 2012September 23, 2012

Protecting us from ourselves?

New York City recently banned super-size soft drinks at restaurants (LA Times story). There are two ways to think about the law…

1. It violates our right to do whatever we want.

2. It is a great way to save all of us lots of money by preventing obesity-related health problems.

What is your take? Here’s a little poll. I’ll tell you what I think on Friday, September 21st. And please share your thoughts in the comments (link above, next to the title). Enlighten me and other readers!

[polldaddy poll=6537118]

As promised, I’m sharing my take on this. I feel that it is a good thing when any of us is prevented from doing harmful things, with a few exceptions. I’m not a fan of big and expensive government, but I am a fan of prevention of cruelty to humans. Buying a 64-ounce soft drink at a restaurant for consumption by one person is just not a smart thing to do.

Update: “Researchers say they have the strongest evidence yet that sugary drinks play a leading role and that eliminating them would, more than any other single step, make a huge difference.” Source.

September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

Labels

My nephew's drawing of a person and a house My nephew is very creative. He views the world in a unique way. He’s super smart and has the ability to focus on many things other people miss.

I love this artwork he created. He enjoys drawing very small and detailed things. Someday he may be an inventor.

He was diagnosed with a very mild form of autism a few years ago. Autism is a complicated thing. Though some people see it as a handicap, I think that people with autism can function in ways other people can’t. Autism gives a person an interesting set of filters to view life that “normal” people don’t have. If you haven’t seen the movie Temple Grandin, I would highly recommend that you do. It was one of my favorite movies of the last five years.

Everyone has some level of “abnormalities” that are used to categorize individuals. We may not have enough to be put into a distinct personality disorder box, but we all function strongly in some areas and weakly in others.

We’re all weird. And I’m glad about that.

September 4, 2012September 2, 2012

A tip for your motoring pleasure

flat tire So we had a flat. What made it fun was that our spare tire had no air pressure. The result was not as bad as it could have been, but an hour of our lives and our rescuer’s life could have been spent doing more fun things than recovering from that minor crisis.

Tip: check the air pressure in your spare tire every once in a while. I promise it will save you some hassle.