Alternate Merge

Alternate Merge. It's a concept. There are opinions. Like this one from Joe--a late merger married to an early merger. The idea is that cars take turns to merge into one lane--from a toll booth, on-ramp, when a lane ends, etc. Californians seem to have the "alternate merge without rage" experience well in hand. Elsewhere in the United States I've experienced it to be less than graceful on many levels.

Alternate merge was on my mind this past holiday weekend, when lots of folks were on the roads. Did you merge nice with your fellow holiday travelers? Ah well, Autopia had its issues, too.

Now it's back to our regularly scheduled program, and most people are thinking about alternate merging into the work week: twenty minutes of procrastination, twenty minutes of work.

This site is on the cusp of something, only I'm not sure what. Reality or virtual reality, there is some humor to be had.

Have you met The Guide Girls?

I'd rather be playing Space Invaders.

Happiness is...

...the sound of a twin sonic boom. Welcome home, Atlantis.

I love a good long holiday weekend. It affords me a good amount of time to read. I devoured the New York Times. I particularly enjoyed this piece in the Magazine section about Conan O'Brien's move to The Tonight Show, this book review, and this article that made me lament the loss of the era of the kinder, gentler pin-up girl.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Take a few minutes to view this message from the Commander-in-Chief.

Enjoy the day. You can put off procrastinating until tomorrow.

Spent, conversation skills, and a weekend project

The unofficial start of summer is looming largely this Thursday. There are a million things to be done before taking off for the long weekend (longer if you start early tomorrow). But before you check out for the holiday, here are a few tidbits to pass the time.

First, an intellectual item: this from the New York Times (it references a new book, sex, and shopping--all of which could enhance your holiday weekend).

Second, study up on some social skills for the weekend ahead. This is especially if you have a wedding to attend this weekend or in the upcoming high wedding season. (P.S. If you happen to be socially savvy and come across a socially awkward person at such an event, please be kind.)

Third, enjoy these bloopers.

Last, if you are looking for a weekend project, you could always build a hobbit house.

That's all for now. If you have serious procrastination needs this weekend, spend some quality time with FOD. Now go do something productive. Finish packing for the weekend. Or find a happy hour budddy.

Hubble

My mind is on the crew of the Atlantis today. They are nine days into an eleven day mission, with plans to return home to planet Earth this Friday morning. Mike Massimino is still tweeting from space after successfully repairing the Hubble Telescope. If you've never viewed the images from Hubble, you're missing out.

Which got me thinking about Hubble. A funny-ish word. I Wiki-ied Edwin Hubble (kids and journalists, don't try that at home) and was delighted to discover he was born in the Show-Me-State (in good company with Mark Twain, Harry Truman, and Walter Cronkite). NASA tells a nice story of Hubble the Astronomer.

Sex and the City has a few Hubbell moments. Which are either a knock off or an homage to this scene with Katie and Hubbell, depending on your perspective. (Pardon the homophone).

And since it's Wednesday, have a laugh at these awkward family photos. One of them might be yours.

Red, White, and Black

Have you seen this commercial for a furniture company in North Carolina called The Red House? It is rich with levels of humor, mass marketing, cultural mores, and cult following appeal. Here's a look at the behind the scenes making of the commercial. Talk amongst yourselves.

Have you been introduced to Stuff White People Like? I'm still waiting for the post on sarcasm.

Feeling racy? Take part in the continuing research on race and perception at Harvard's Project Implicit.

Unplugged

At the University of Pennsylvania commencement ceremonies today, Google CEO Eric Schmidt urged grads to unplug and live "analog" for a while. This even as Goole's new search offerings are designed to pull one deeper down the super-nano-hyper-techno rabbit hole.

While watching this clip from the Today Show on NBC (text version, if you prefer) , my brain briefly wandered to the concept of early intervention for tech-isolated kids. Then the memory of a voice jolted me back to reality--"you kids stop playing those records so loud!" I resisted the temptation to jump into the fuddy-duddy pigeon hole and moved on.

The most laughable statement (as reported with journalistic earnestness by Matt Lauer) is this: "The biggest challenge was figuring out what to do with all the time he [David Silver] now had on his hands." Seriously? David's initial reaction to the situation? He described the experience as “chaos … just because you don’t know what to do, so you’re freaking out sometimes.”

Yes, free time. What to do? Perplexing.

Maybe the one girl can learn how to read time on a wall clock.

Are the days of "go outside and play" and "be home when the street lights come on" really gone?

Another voice, that of Peter Falk as the grandfather in The Princess Bride, comes to mind: "That's right, before television we had BOOKS."

Which brings me to the story of a mother with young four daughters (no this is not an Austen or Alcott novel synopsis), all of whom loved to read. One day she brought home a book and the girls began to bicker about who would get to read it first. The mother intervened, briefly: "figure out how to share it, or I'll take it away and none if you will get to read it."

The solution that presented itself was simple. All four girls piled into bed and took turns reading. Aloud. To each other. And thus began many happy lifetimes of unplugged diversions (not to mention countless hours of procrastination).

Verlyn Klinkenborg offers some thoughts on the lost art of reading aloud in this editorial observation from yesterday's New York Times. (Bonus points to VK for referencing the reading aloud of Shakespeare IN an Austen novel.) Read it aloud to whomever happens to be nearby.

Organic Sarcasm

Sarcasm is an often misunderstood literary form. Generally speaking, the purpose of sarcasm is to direct ridicule at its subject. Most journalists I know tend not to employ it--giving grand exception to the folks at Comedy Central.

This clip from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is a good case study for sarcasm. Well done, Samatha Bee.