London living.

London living.

Leaving the Isle of Skye was one of the saddest things I’ve ever had to do. It’s full of wonder, and mystery, and geography that’ll make you short of breath.

Leaving the Isle of Skye was one of the saddest things I’ve ever had to do. It’s full of wonder, and mystery, and geography that’ll make you short of breath.

After 12 hours of relentlessly exploring as many nooks of Edinburgh as humanly possible, it’s now a window. And a book. (Dune) A sunset behind a castle. And the sounds of a dozen languages spoken in what has to be one of the most international cities on the planet.

After 12 hours of relentlessly exploring as many nooks of Edinburgh as humanly possible, it’s now a window. And a book. (Dune) A sunset behind a castle. And the sounds of a dozen languages spoken in what has to be one of the most international cities on the planet.

Wood fire in a real fireplace. One block away from Edinburgh Castle. Leather chairs that engulf the sit-ee (me) up to the armpits. Cobblestone streets. The best accents in the world. I leave in a matter of days. Whoever chooses to visit this wonderful city, be nicer to her than I will be. Don’t ever leave her.

Wood fire in a real fireplace. One block away from Edinburgh Castle. Leather chairs that engulf the sit-ee (me) up to the armpits. Cobblestone streets. The best accents in the world.

I leave in a matter of days. Whoever chooses to visit this wonderful city, be nicer to her than I will be. Don’t ever leave her.

There are places in the world, and then there are places in the world that are named World of Whiskies. I crawled into the fetal position near the 30 year Macallan. I like this big ole’ island north pf France.

There are places in the world, and then there are places in the world that are named World of Whiskies. I crawled into the fetal position near the 30 year Macallan.

I like this big ole’ island north pf France.

Simple Truth (Scotland trip edition) #1 It’s going to be difficult to take captivating photos without my tank of a SLR. Difficult is good. Difficult means failure, followed by deliriously fantastic success. Challenge, accepted. Two hours from takeoff.

Simple Truth (Scotland trip edition) #1 It’s going to be difficult to take captivating photos without my tank of a SLR. Difficult is good. Difficult means failure, followed by deliriously fantastic success. Challenge, accepted. Two hours from takeoff.

By early next week, I’ll be rummaging around on this, the Isle of Skye. There are worse places to spend your time. In seven hours, I’ll be flying across the Atlantic Ocean. In a week, I’ll be poking around London pubs. In about two days, walking the wharf in Edinburgh. Somehow, this trip gets more exhilarating when detailed out of chronological order.

By early next week, I’ll be rummaging around on this, the Isle of Skye. There are worse places to spend your time. In seven hours, I’ll be flying across the Atlantic Ocean. In a week, I’ll be poking around London pubs. In about two days, walking the wharf in Edinburgh. Somehow, this trip gets more exhilarating when detailed out of chronological order.

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”
Maurice Sendak (via bobulate)

(Source: elkdogmen)

theatlantic: The Funniest Graph About Why the Euro Is Totally Doomed If you spun a globe and stopped your finger 12 times on 12 random countries, they just might make more sense for a monetary union than the euro zone. That’s the conclusion from this awesomely clever chart showing the difficulty, and maybe impossibility, of the euro experiment. Here is what this chart shows. Compared across more than 100 factors measured by the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, from corruption to deficits, JP Morgan analyst Michael Cembalest calculates that the major countries on the euro are more different from each other than basically every random grab bag of nations there is, including: the make-believe reconstituted Ottoman Empire; all the English speaking Eastern and Southern African countries; and all countries on Earth at the 5th parallel north.And here is your tweetable fact: A monetary union might make more sense for every nation starting with the letter “M” than it does for the euro zone.  Read more. Oh…my.

theatlantic:

The Funniest Graph About Why the Euro Is Totally Doomed

If you spun a globe and stopped your finger 12 times on 12 random countries, they just might make more sense for a monetary union than the euro zone. 

That’s the conclusion from this awesomely clever chart showing the difficulty, and maybe impossibility, of the euro experiment.

Here is what this chart shows. Compared across more than 100 factors measured by the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, from corruption to deficits, JP Morgan analyst Michael Cembalest calculates that the major countries on the euro are more different from each other than basically every random grab bag of nations there is, including: the make-believe reconstituted Ottoman Empire; all the English speaking Eastern and Southern African countries; and all countries on Earth at the 5th parallel north.

And here is your tweetable fact: A monetary union might make more sense for every nation starting with the letter “M” than it does for the euro zone. 

Read more.

Oh…my.

Life observations at 12:58 a.m. (GIF edition)

1. Human beings don’t need so many possessions. The only thing that keeps me from throwing out half of what I own is the nagging voice in the back of my brain that says one of two things:

  • “STOP THINE SELF. You may need that one day.” When I ask that voice what I’m going to need 77 pogs and a slammer still sticky with gross candy residue for, my brain says nothing. It’s silent like it knows something I don’t. And the eerie silence always convinces me that it, in fact, does.
  • “PUMP THE BRAKES. Remember that one time in 10th grade when the girl you had a huge crush on said you looked sort of cute in that shirt before she went back to living her life without you? If you throw this garment away, you will never be able to recall that memory ever again.”

Understandably, it is difficult to erase tangible pieces of our life:

But lets try to focus our energies, shall we? My goal: Whittle it all down to a few plastic totes worth of goods and a few quality, worthwhile items. So far on the list: My 1958 Hermes 3000 typewriter, my bed, my lovely oak desk and very lovely dresser. Spend your money on experiences, not possessions.  

(Exception that proves the rule: Books. Never, ever feel bad about buying a book.)

2. Procrastination is somewhat vital to creativity. I’ve finally given into this one. We’re all so guilty about procrastination. We always use it as a this terribly universal excuse for not fitting the classic mold of productivity. And maybe we’re not fitting into that classic mold.

But you can’t have love without heartbreak, you can’t have a sense of danger without knowing what safety is is. Somewhere isn’t anywhere until you know what nowhere really is:

You need to have a touchstone. Productivity isn’t universal, and when it comes to the creative process, you need to know when you’re being lazy so that you can get your life together and be, well, not lazy.

3. Always, always have something on the horizon to pursue. I’ll be in Scotland in 18 days. After that, scheming for the next adventure will begin immediately. This is what gives life purpose and power: The desire to continually achieve something that makes you fundamentally happy.

Yeah, it’s almost painfully simple. But it constantly astonishes me how many people reject simplicity because of a belief that life needs to be complicated to be worthwhile. Be like this hilarious owl. Relentlessly pursue new things for you eyeballs to absorb:

theatlantic: Remembering the Nazi Scientist Who Built the Rockets for Apollo Few figures in the history of technology provoke a reaction as quickly as Wernher von Braun. The rocket scientist was a card-carrying Nazi who built the world’s first ballistic missile with slave labor from concentration camps. As the war wound down, he surrendered to the Americans and took his rocket-building team and talents to the United States. Eventually, he became a leader in the American space program, building the rocket (the Saturn V) that carried Apollo 11 to the moon. Today would have been his 100th birthday. He died in 1977. Roger Launius, a senior curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum, wrote a nuanced evaluation of the man’s life. Wernher von Braun was a stunningly successful advocate for space exploration and has appropriately been celebrated for those efforts. But because he was also willing to build a ballistic missile for Hitler’s Germany, with all of connotations that implied in the devastation and terror of World War II, many of his ideals have also been appropriately questioned. For some he was a visionary who foresaw the potential of human spaceflight, but for others he was little more than an arms merchant who developed brutal weapons of mass destruction. In reality, he seems to have been something of both.

theatlantic:

Remembering the Nazi Scientist Who Built the Rockets for Apollo

Few figures in the history of technology provoke a reaction as quickly as Wernher von Braun. The rocket scientist was a card-carrying Nazi who built the world’s first ballistic missile with slave labor from concentration camps. As the war wound down, he surrendered to the Americans and took his rocket-building team and talents to the United States. Eventually, he became a leader in the American space program, building the rocket (the Saturn V) that carried Apollo 11 to the moon. Today would have been his 100th birthday. He died in 1977.

Roger Launius, a senior curator in the Space History Division of the National Air and Space Museum, wrote a nuanced evaluation of the man’s life.

Wernher von Braun was a stunningly successful advocate for space exploration and has appropriately been celebrated for those efforts. But because he was also willing to build a ballistic missile for Hitler’s Germany, with all of connotations that implied in the devastation and terror of World War II, many of his ideals have also been appropriately questioned. For some he was a visionary who foresaw the potential of human spaceflight, but for others he was little more than an arms merchant who developed brutal weapons of mass destruction. In reality, he seems to have been something of both.

My trip into the deep, foggy wonder of Scotland is coming together. I’ve decided on a bus. A big, yellow, wild and sexy bus. Haggis Adventures runs these all over Scotland, from day trips to 12-day excursions into Nessie’s lair. I opted for a 3-day push into the Highlands, which includes hiking on the mysterious, wondrous Isle of (FUTURE BABY NAME ALERT) Skye.

My trip into the deep, foggy wonder of Scotland is coming together. I’ve decided on a bus. A big, yellow, wild and sexy bus. Haggis Adventures runs these all over Scotland, from day trips to 12-day excursions into Nessie’s lair. I opted for a 3-day push into the Highlands, which includes hiking on the mysterious, wondrous Isle of (FUTURE BABY NAME ALERT) Skye.