random ramblings of Yours Truly.
Just noticed a new Explore feature on my Google Reader. When I clicked the little arrow beside one of its suggestions for me, this menu popped up:
Is there some way I can apply this sort to the reports I develop at work? Or maybe I should just pull this terminology out of my hat sometime when there IS no sort: “Oh, yeah, that’s actually not sorted by last name or by medical record number. It’s sorted by MAGIC.”
*snort*
As much as I love cats for what they are, they’re not exactly the trainable type. As their “person” (because, really, can anyone actually *own* a cat?), you’ll be lucky to get them to actually do anything on command, and it’ll happen mainly by getting the cat to do something they already wanted to do, anyway.
For example, the cat I had during middle school and high school, Sylvester, used to sit on top of the fridge and turn his head upside-down. We thought it was so cute that we started catching him at it, telling him to “be cute,” and giving him a treat. After a while, he would “be cute” on command, especially if you were already armed with a treat.
Cats can definitely recognize and respond to certain vocabulary words, though not quite as many as a dog can. They can also tell time — some cats better than others.
When Aaron and I got our cat, Mei, about five years ago, I took it upon myself to train her to know when it was time for dinner, and to say please (or at least “meow”). It took Mei quite a while to pick up on this as a kitten, even though I repeated the same words and the same actions at the same time every day. By now, though, it’s our evening ritual.
[Download: kittydinner.mp3, 660KB, 42 seconds]
Postscript: I played this mp3 so many times — to edit out the hum of the refrigerator, and to test the niftyplayer I downloaded — that I confused the shit out of Mei, since she kept hearing my voice say “the words,” even though it’s well after “time.” So, I gave her kitty treats.
When I was still using the free version of TwitterFon, I got a couple memorable ads for IQ tests online. They were so memorable, in fact, that I took screenshots so I could share them later. I’d hoped to collect more inane ads, but I’ve since upgraded to TwitterFon Pro, and I’m successfully ignoring the ads that pop up in other apps (like Weather Channel, USA Today, QuickTip, Shazam…)
Anyway, these are the two that caught my eye:
Can you FAIL an IQ test? I don’t think you can! So, yes, I can pass an IQ test. With flying colors, in fact — thanks for asking!
I think I’m smarter than you, Mr. I Work At An Ad Agency And Don’t Know The Difference Between Your And You’re.
*facepalm*
The graphic designer Milton Glaser once said,
There was in the sixties a [gestalt therapist] named Fritz Perls who … proposed that in all relationships people could be either toxic or nourishing towards one another. It is not necessarily true that the same person will be toxic or nourishing in every relationship, but the combination of any two people in a relationship produces toxic or nourishing consequences. And the important thing that I can tell you is that there is a test to determine whether someone is toxic or nourishing in your relationship with them.
Here is the test: You have spent some time with this person, either you have a drink or go for dinner or you go to a ball game. It doesn’t matter very much, but at the end of that time, you observe whether you are more energised or less energised. Whether you are tired or whether you are exhilarated. If you are more tired, then you have been poisoned. If you have more energy, you have been nourished. The test is almost infallible and I suggest that you use it for the rest of your life.
My friend Dan has to be one of the most nourishing friends there is.
I was actually on time to work this morning, having returned from a two-week vacation and a long weekend. Well, as on-time as I get, anyway: 8:05am or so.
I’d awakened well before my alarm, at 6:40am, thanks to insane jet lag messing with my daily rhythms. It was kind of nice, actually, being a bit of a morning-ish person, if just for a while. I had a nice slow and relaxed morning.
Now, this evening, I’ve been chilling on the couch, not doing any of the to-do list I’d made for myself (and quite enjoying the low-key evening, too). I’ve been dozing in and out, doing what I said I wasn’t going to do: staying up later than my body wants to. I should really use our VCR instead of staying up “late” to watch my current favorite show.
I hope I haven’t sabotaged my newfound morningness by staying up to watch my TV show. We’ll see tomorrow, I suppose.
