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Thanks to my folks for sending the link to this site where you can “check out your old stomping grounds during the times of the penny postcard.”

I love this example of the importance of critical thinking that I received via e-mail. Unfortunately, its source was not attributed.

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26.

He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment.

In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical “dihydrogen monoxide.”  Read more... (192 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

I think this is a joke, but one can’t be too careful with one’s life….

Have trouble balancing travel, writing, a day job, a family, and running a household? If so, you might want a daily dose of inspiration from Fly Lady.

Thanks to Bradley Charbonneau for sending these helpful directions for Adventure Travel to London:

1. Go to Google
2. Click on “maps”
3. Click on “get directions”
4. Type “New York” in the first box (the “from” box)
5. Type “London” in the second box (the “to” box)
6. Click on “Get directions”
7. Scroll down to step #23

Now you know.

Here’s one of those missives you see from time to time making the rounds on the www. I liked it.  Read more... (253 words, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

Who thinks this stuff up, anyway?

1. Evidence has been found that William Tell and his family were avid bowlers. Unfortunately, all the Swiss league records were destroyed in a fire. Thus we’ll never know for whom the Tells Bowled.

2. A man rushed into a busy doctor’s office and shouted “Doctor! Doctor! I think I’m shrinking!” The doctor calmly responded, “Now, settle down. You’ll just have to be a little patient.”

3. A marine biologist developed a race of genetically engineered dolphins that could live forever if they were fed a steady diet of seagulls. One day  Read more... (557 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

Although this sketch has nothing to do with travel writing, it is too fun to leave out.

Thanks to Chris Lunn for sending the link to this video about a man who can move anything. “Wally Wallington has demonstrated that he can lift a Stonehenge-sized pillar weighing 22,000 lbs and moved a barn over 300 ft. What makes this so special is that he does it using only himself, gravity, and his incredible ingenuity.” What does this have to do with travel writing? Well, maybe you want to write about Stonehenge …? Honestly, I just thought it was really cool.

Testing image upload process with this shot of the Dixie Belle.

What’s the connection between travel writing and the Beach Impeach project? Let’s see: freedom to travel, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech … not to mention human decency. Here’s a link to a powerful Beach Impeach video, Run to the Rock, by Jamie Cavenaugh, which YouTube yanked because of “inappropriate” content. What’s inappropriate about it? Well, it shows what’s happening in Iraq, that’s what.

Here’s Impeach on the Beach, shot by thirteen-year-old Sam Rubin. This one is on YouTube.

The movement for impeachment has mushroomed; there are a lot of YouTube entries. Here are a few more:  Read more... (128 words, estimated 31 secs reading time)

Thanks to John Montgomery for forwarding this inspiring reminder:

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor.

The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups — porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive and some exquisite — telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said,  Read more... (266 words, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

Thanks to Laurie Weed for sending the link to this Free Hugs video. It just makes ya feel good all over!

Thanks to Pamela for sending the link to this Travelers’ apology (“I’m sorry my president’s an idiot. I didn’t vote for him!”) T-shirt for those of us who want the world to know we didn’t vote for Bush.

For anyone who doubts that there’s a difference between many bits of information floating about the universe (cyber and otherwise) and organized, compiled information, take a look at this site. Scary! (Be sure your sound is turned on.)

At whosaliveandwhosdead.com you can learn just that. Search by category (musicians, politicians, actors, other), check out notable birthdays, or sign up for the free mailing list (roundup of notable deaths). If you’re really bored, you can learn more about WA&WD’s webmaster (an oboe-playing born-again Christian political science major computer networking consultant who also maintains a website called the Texas Executions Information Center and posts photos of his cats and the volleyball courts near his house).

At snopes.com you can check the veracity of urban legends, join a discussion group (topics include alligators in sewers, headlight flash gang initiations, HIV-loaded needles in theatre seats, business cards for a dying child, and $250 cookie recipes), check the scam report (e.g. find out more than you need to know about those Nigerian money-laundering e-mails), and even sign up for a free newsletter that promises to keep you informed about recent urban legends.

Thanks to Carla King for posting a link to Sarah Boxer’s October 26 NYT article about memes (“infectious ideas”) and their relationship to blogs (which function as vehicles for transmitting and spreading memes effeciently). The article includes a list of links for more info.

Thanks to April Orcutt for sending these silly signs. April says, “While I doubt that these are real signs, they are fun in the grammar-punctuation way of “Panda eats, shoots and leaves.”

In an office: TOILET OUT OF ORDER. . . PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW.

In a laundromat: AUTOMATIC WASHING MACHINES: PLEASE REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES WHEN THE LIGHT GOES OUT.  Read more... (216 words, estimated 52 secs reading time)

Is there no escape? Thanks to Bill Zarchy for sending the link to Rebecca Solnit’s article, “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Writer” about HDH (Human Grammar Hormone).

(Yep, I’m pretty far behind in my postings, but it’s still worth a read.)

Been sitting still at your desk for far too long? Need a quick exercise that won’t distract you too much from the work at hand? Try this one, suggested by Alan Ruffalo:

While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Continuing with the foot circles, draw the number “6″ in the air with your right hand. Your foot will inevitably change direction.

When you’ve tried this exercise enough times to convince yourself there’s nothing you can to to keep your foot from switching to counterclockwise, it’s time to get back to your writing.

Begining writers sometimes ask whether it’s better to write on paper or on a computer. Here’s the answer:  Read more... (230 words, estimated 55 secs reading time)

“Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
– Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

And now for something truly silly! I don’t know the original source of this (received it via email), but it’s way too good not to pass along:

At New York’s Kennedy Airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a calculator.  Read more... (349 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Click here and enter your name for the kind of high-performance computing we all appreciate from time to time.

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