April 15th, 2011 by lindsay
What the Frack?
Fracking is bad. But animation is good. Check out our latest piece for EarthJustice about the perils of fracking, and visit their campaign page to learn more about ways to fight back.
April 13th, 2011 by dory
A Bad-a** Non-Profit
I just read about a non-profit organization that can only be described as, positively bad-a**.
They are a group of Bay Area swimmers, called Night Train Swimmers, who take on treacherous stretches of open-water to raise money for great causes.
Tomorrow the 6 local swimmers will attempt 30 miles in 50-degree water, from the Farrallones to the Golden Gate, to raise money for support and empowerment of wounded veterans. Amazingly, these guys are going to actually swim through waters that are often called “Red Triangle,” due to an unusually high concentration of Great White Shark attacks. Last year, one attempt to swim the choppy waters was cut short when one of the swimmers suffered severe hypothermia after just 42 minutes in the water. It is estimated that each of the Night Train Swimmers will be rotating 1 hour in the water at a time, until the 30 miles are complete.
If (and that’s a big “if”) the swim is successful, they will be passing the Golden Gate Bridge at approximately 7pm.
All proceeds from this swim are going to the Wounded Warrior Project, The Semper Ti Fund, and the Navy Seal Foundation. To donate (or track the swim via live GPS!) visit the site: www.nighttrainswimmers.org.
These guys are my heroes at the moment. I can think of nothing more bold or admirable than what they are doing. Except, maybe, risking your life for your country.
April 12th, 2011 by lindsay
Mad Libs & the Dimensions of Thought
A study from University College London published this week in Current Biology has discovered that there are actually differences in the brains of liberals and conservatives. Specifically, liberals’ brains tend to be bigger in the area that deals with processing complex ideas and situations, while conservatives’ brains are bigger in the area that processes fear.
(via GOOD)
…The study was based on 90 “healthy young adults” who reported their political views on a scale of one to five from very liberal to very conservative, then agreed to have their brains scanned.
(via AFP)
Ugh.
They reported their political views on a scale of one to five? I have no idea where I’d put myself on that scale. It doesn’t even make sense to me.
We take the figure of the Political Spectrum for granted, but it’s just that — a figure. And a one-dimensional one, at that. If your ideas differ from mine, they can only differ in two directions: left or right. But I think we need at least four dimensions to capture the complex nature of ideas. Opinions are slippery, malleable, and always in motion. Shine a light on them, and they change.
But when we try to squeeze these exquisite and subtle creatures into the blunt figure of the Political Spectrum, they shrink and wither. This is something we have to resist, because if we don’t, it will change the way we think — for the worse. If you’ve got a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and if you’ve got a powerful metaphor that claims to represent viewpoint, everything looks dumbed down.
When I tell people I don’t identify as liberal or conservative — that I object to the very notion of such labels — they usually respond in one of two ways:
1. By conceding that no, labels are not perfect, but we need some common ground to discuss things, to compare and contrast.
2. By claiming that my failure to stake out a position is a copout.
Fine. But the notion of calling myself a liberal or a conservative fills me with disgust — a personal, not a political, disgust. It’s not that I reject certain tenets of these ideologies, it’s that I reject the oversimplification that permeates our thinking, our being. Even if it would make things easier. Even if it means being annoying.
My favorite people have the ability to surprise me. Their opinions on one issue don’t give away their whole body of thought like some domino-liberal or conservative whose beliefs always fall according to plan. These people demand time and attention and are forever slipping out of grasp just when you think you’ve got a hold of them. It’s frustrating and exhilarating and there are no shortcuts.
Remember Mad Libs? You feed a list of verbs, nouns, and adjectives to your friend, who fills in the blanks and reads you back a story of delightful non-sequiturs. Sentences seem to be heading one way, but then veer off unpredictably. Grammar is intact but the rhythm of language is distorted. We’re used to sentences gathering a certain momentum and taking off in predictable ways. But with Mad Libs, it’s impossible to know where a sentence will end up. It’s ridiculous, but in its best moments, it can create a resonant, meaningful ridiculousness.
Let’s treat people — let’s treat life — more like Mad Libs.
April 12th, 2011 by dory
Can you spare an hour?
It is National Volunteer Week.
Since 1974, NVW has grown exponentially in scope, drawing support and endorsement of all subsequent presidents, governors, mayors, and other respected elected officials.
This week, stop to consider what inspires you and seek out a way to help your community. Find a cause that is close to your heart, whether it is here in SF or abroad, and see if you can give just an hour of your time. This week is all about working together to accomplish positive change, and inspiring others to do the same.
Here is some short wisdom in the spirit of inspiring change:
I Wanted To Change The World
By Unknown Monk, 1100 A.D.
By Unknown Monk, 1100 A.D.
When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I could not change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.
Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself. Suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.
–
Here is some reading material, and resources to help you get started:
http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/
www.volunteermatch.org/
http://www.serve.gov/
http://www.servicenation.org/
http://www.allforgood.org/
Happy volunteering!
April 7th, 2011 by lindsay
Just Say Yes
I’ve always been told to just say no to smoking. That whatever fleeting pleasure a cigarette offers, it subtracts minutes from our lives, plants cancers in our lungs and mouths.
The one awful puff I took of my friend’s cigarette in middle school was enough of a deterrent for me; I’ve never been tempted to go back for more. As a kid, I’d watch my uncle enjoy a cigarette and wonder how many he had to suffer through until they started tasting good. Why would anyone do that, especially when cigarettes give you cancer? To look cool? I couldn’t think of any other explanation.
But a while back, I heard an interview on NPR that made me rethink my assumptions about smoking. It was with a guy who, though not a smoker himself, had written a book in defense of smoking. Smoking, he argued, was an adult pleasure, and all adult pleasures have an element of poison, of danger, of pain. The bitterness of coffee, the sting of alcohol, the tenderness of sex: these things are not just incidental but essential to enjoyment.
When we get older, our ideas of pleasure change. I remember sneaking a sip of my dad’s coffee, and feeling perfectly mystified at the strange world I was destined for where bitter black liquid tastes good, and where it was conceivable to enter an ice cream store and not order anything.
But when I was a little older, my dad would sip scotch and pour me a taste, and we’d argue and discuss the world in a way that only a New York lawyer Jew and his daughter can. Scotch started to taste good in that context. He’d share bits of wisdom with me like “with freedom comes responsibility,” and, come to think of it, you could say the same thing about adult pleasures. Scotch and sex are more demanding pleasures than popsicles and Polly Pocket. They require knowing the size of your own stomach, as Nietzsche said.
If you don’t pay proper attention to adult pleasures, they will hurt you. But the dark side of a thing needn’t be its refutation. We should teach our children to avoid risk, yes, but we should also teach them to use discretion, to savor. I think that method would go a long way in reducing smoking deaths – because the worst part about addiction is that you don’t enjoy your poison as much. You can’t taste nuance when you reach for something by rote.
So instead of a just say no campaign, why not a just say yes campaign? Say yes to enjoyment, say yes to your own limits. Smoke Well. Don’t remove danger; heed it. Be present. Smoke a cigarette like you’re in yoga class. Inhale, taste the smoke as it dances down your throat, hold it in your lungs and enjoy its…well, I don’t know. I’m no smoker. But I can appreciate it from afar.
