Heart In Minny

perspective.

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:45:23 -0500

Everything is relative. And it turns out, *everything* is relatively good.

I forced my sleepy self out of bed particularly early this Monday morning, on a mission to Fall Back in Love With Running.

Three panting miles later, rueing the loss of my athleticism and mentally compiling a list of things I need to get done this week, I wasn’t exactly in the zen, running-to-Robyn, happy-to-be-alive state I was hoping for.

But then an old man, slowly hobbling around the lake with his walker, flashed me a big smile and a thumbs up, and contentedly said “Life is GREAT, isn’t it?”

Yes, yes it is.

Do you think your blog title feels slighted by your new journalism post?

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:29:07 -0500

Pish-posh. My blog title can never be slighted.

theatlantic: Today in 1969, humans walked on the Moon for the...

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:59:22 -0500

theatlantic:

Today in 1969, humans walked on the Moon for the first time.

And we may never do it again.

"The country knows not yet, or in the least part, how great a son it has lost."

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 01:45:59 -0500

“The country knows not yet, or in the least part, how great a son it has lost.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson, in a remembrance of Henry David Thoreau published shortly after his death.

theatlantic: A couple kisses before the second run of the bull...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:34:22 -0500

theatlantic:

A couple kisses before the second run of the bull of the San Fermin Festival, on July 8, 2012, in Pamplona.

[Image: AFP/Getty]

I’d want a kiss before I was mauled by a bull as well. Thing is, I have no defense. Pamplona is on the life to-do-and-not-be-mauled list. I’m athletic, but in a very specific sense. I’ll find out if that athleticism meshes with the avoidance of bulls very, very quickly I’m sure.

Words from a media maven—that I couldn't write down fast enough.

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:44:24 -0500

ashleyaram:

“Finding a career is like dating.” No explanation was necessary.

“Be part of what you’re doing. Don’t let the Internet get in the way. Go to that museum you’re writing about. Drink at that bar you’re recommending.”

“If the hed and the dek don’t make sense, people won’t read the rest.” Insert jelly metaphor here.

“Don’t write generic, throwaway clichés. That’s what bloggers do.”

“If your name is on it, it needs to be your voice. Challenge your editors.”This piece of advice came with a lovely story about an editor changing the word breasts to udders in a story she wrote. (All to keep from the repetitive use of the word breasts. Typical.) You could feel the female fury building as she explained how she refused to put her name on it.

“Trust that little sixth sense of yours. If you chose this career path, you’ve got one.”

“A good editor knows what the reader wants before the reader knows they want it.”

Best piece of advice she ever received? “Just do it.”

The Declaration of Independence

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:27:24 -0500

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

"He lived, as I suppose is the lot of most geniuses, in some strange world of his own, full of..."

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:50:23 -0500

“He lived, as I suppose is the lot of most geniuses, in some strange world of his own, full of nervous tensions of which we lesser mortals know nothing.”

- John Turing, on memories of his younger brother, computer pioneer Alan Turing.

"He called the wind and the wind came. It was magic. Real magic. The sort of magic I’d heard..."

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:58:51 -0500

“He called the wind and the wind came. It was magic. Real magic. The sort of magic I’d heard about in stories of Taborlin the Great. The sort of magic I hadn’t believed in since I was six. Now I didn’t know what to believe. So I invited him into our troupe, hoping to find answers to my questions. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I was looking for the name of the wind.”

- Kvothe | The Name of the Wind | Ch. 8

When I've got the CMS open in five different tabs

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:35:22 -0500

editorrealtalk:

London living.

Sat, 26 May 2012 15:39:03 -0500

London living.

Leaving the Isle of Skye was one of the saddest things I’ve ever...

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:29:44 -0500

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...

Sun, 20 May 2012 13:49:48 -0500

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...

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:40:14 -0500

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...

Sat, 19 May 2012 10:21:00 -0500

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 of France.

Simple Truth (Scotland trip edition) #1 It’s going to be...

Fri, 18 May 2012 19:25:28 -0500

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...

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:47:22 -0500

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..."

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:18:31 -0500

“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)

theatlantic: The Funniest Graph About Why the Euro Is Totally...

Mon, 07 May 2012 17:04:13 -0500

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)

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:58:00 -0500

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. Somewhere isn’t anywhere until you know what nowhere really is:

(Update: This GIF refuses to work. It should show the bird walking down the up escalator. It’s always the little things.)

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.

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:

And don’t ever stop.