Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming It’s important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members’ interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I’m going to tell you that libraries are important. I’m going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. And I am biased, obviously and enormously: I’m an author, often an author of fiction. So I’m biased as a writer. And I’m here giving this talk tonight, under the auspices of the Reading Agency: a charity whose mission is to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. And it’s that change, and that act of reading that I’m here to talk about tonight. I was once in New York, and I listened to a talk about the building of private prisons – a huge growth industry in America. It’s not one to one: you can’t say that a literate society has no criminality. It’s tosh.
Strange Post-in Note Hand Drawing | Hand Drawing Art Pictures and Ideas Published on March 2nd, 2011 If we look at the drawing above what we find is pictures of animals. At first glance you may think that these are photograph. But don’t be astonished hearing that all these are drawing. Believe it or not, these stunning pencil drawings are not photographs – they were drawn using only one pencil. In the art drawings above if you look closely, in some of them the sketcher tried to create hand drawing so lively that when people will watch it they will be in confusion whether this is real or hand drawing. In these incredible pencil drawings of animals the color black and white is used to make a dramatic effect. Check even more photos on authors website…
Casey Key Guest House TOTeMS Architecture studio have designed this guest residence in Casey Key, Florida. The house is built on a barrier island where it is surrounded by oak trees. The owner asked lead architect Jerry Sparkman to built "a house in the trees", which resulted in an impressive piece of organic architecture made out of laminated pine beams. www.totemsinc.com Ubu Roi The title is sometimes translated as King Turd; however, the word "Ubu" is actually merely a nonsense word that probably evolved from the French pronunciation of the name “Herbert”, which was the name of one of Jarry’s teachers who was the satirical target and inspirer of the first versions of the play.[4] Jarry made some suggestions regarding how his play should be performed. He wanted King Ubu to wear a cardboard horse's head in certain scenes, "as in the old English theatre", for he intended to “write a guignol". Ubu Roi was followed by Ubu Cocu (Ubu Cuckolded) and Ubu Enchaîné (Ubu in Chains), neither of which was performed during Jarry's 34-year life.[6] One of his later works, a novel/essay on "pataphysics", is offered as an explanation behind the ideas that underpin ‘’Ubu Roi’’. Synopsis[edit] The story may at first glance seem merely frivolous—the obscene nonsense of schoolboys. Development[edit] Ubu[edit] Jarry's woodcut of Ubu Première[edit] Adaptations[edit] Cast[edit] Notes[edit]
100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the Better | Nerds Do It Better May 7th, 2008 100 Simple Ways to Change Your Life for the Better No matter how perfect you may think you are, the fact this there’s always some small way you can improve for yourself and others. Whether it’s broadening your knowledge or reducing your impact on the earth, there are seemingly endless little things you can do to make a change for the better and make yourself more attractive to others at the same time. Here, we’ll discuss 100 of these steps, and how you can go about doing them. Health Good health is the foundation of a good life, so make these improvements, and they’ll resonate out to the rest of your life. Social Take these steps to change your social life for the better. Join a book club: Get some social interaction while improving your knowledge with a book club.Get out of the house: Believe it or not, the world just isn’t going to come to you. Emotional Improve your emotional life with these simple strategies to improve your health and relationships.
Funny The QI Philosophy They say the primal drives are food, sex and shelter. QI says there is a fourth: Curiosity. We are hard-wired for curiosity: it is innate - a fierce need - and, unlike the other three drives, it is what makes us uniquely human. But pure curiosity, completely standard in children under seven and found in great artists, scientists and explorers, is, for some reason, quickly suppressed, sublimated or shrunken in most people. We make do with crossword puzzles, gossip, football results, pub quizzes and Jerry Springer. Our first three drives get plenty of fuel. The world brims and bulges with interesting information, but these days it rarely reaches us. People are living in a daze: swamped with information, starved of stimulation. The human brain is the most complex object in the known Universe, with as many neurons as there are trees in the Amazon rain-forest. People say the brain is like a computer, but it is not. What is life? Whatever is interesting we are interested in.
101 Revolutionary Ways to Be Healthy | RevolutionaryAct.com Do the healthy thing, even when it's challenging, inconvenient or considered weird. Take pride in that. Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's smart or good for you. Enlist fellow trend buckers and create a trend of your own. Use your healthy frustration about the unhealthy status quo to spark creativity and determination. Look for signs of progress (beyond pounds lost) and rejoice when you find them. Don't be boring. Fitness Advice, Workout Videos, Health & Fitness | Bodyrock.tv I completed this killer 550 reps workout in just 32 minutes and 46 seconds. I am getting really competitive lately and it is totally thanks to you guys. You are always posting your times to let me know how you did and that’s great motivation for me. If you don’t find it challenging enough to beat my personal record, you can try to beat Frederick’s. He completed this workout today in 24 minutes and 4 seconds. Zuzana. There are 11 exercises in this workout and you will do 50 reps for each of them. 1. Start by lunging backwards. 2. Get into position and do one push up. 3. Get into the starting position and then just jump up to switch legs. 4. Stand with your feet wide apart and squat down. 5. Lay on your exercise mat and put both feet flat on the ground. 6. Stand with your feet wide apart and squat down. 7. Lay on your side and place your hand on the floor next to your bottom shoulder. 8. Lay on your back and lift your extended legs up towards the sky. 9. 10. 11. comments
97, Walker Percy This interview was conducted by mail, from May to October, 1986, at an enormous geographical distance; but the interviewer does cherish the memory of a personal meeting. It was on May 4, 1973, a warm Louisiana evening, at Percy’s home in Covington, a small town at the northern end of the causeway running above Lake Pontchartrain (New Orleans is at the southern end). The house is in a wooded area by the bayou, along the Bogue Falaya River. Percy was a tall, slender, handsome man, with a distinguished and thoughtful mien. His manner that day was unassuming, gracious, and gentle. Even later, judging from our correspondence, he was still the same warm, helpful, generous, and patient person, as the very existence of this interview, carried out under such difficult circumstances, will testify. How did you spend your seventieth birthday? An ordinary day. You and your wife recently celebrated your fortieth anniversary. Mine has been a happy marriage—thanks mainly to my wife. Philosophical? Why?
50 Ways to Get Your Life in Order This is an article by guest writer Mark Foo, author of The 77 Traits of Highly Successful People. There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of chaos in your life. As Albert Einstein once stated, “Three rules of work: out of clutter find simplicity, from discord find harmony, in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Unexpected challenges are what make us stronger, so don’t avoid them. Keep in mind the following 50 tips and you’ll be able to streamline your life and get back on track in the New Year. Recycle old papers that are filling drawers in your house. Do you have a tip to help us get our lives in order?
“The Art of Clean Up”: El arte de ordenar por Ursus Werhli, vía bumbumbum “The Art of Clean Up” es un libro del artista alemán Ursus Werhli, aquí recopila distintos objetos y situaciones completamente organizadas. Drunk Mailman Drunk Mailman byJonathan Rogerson May 22, 2015 The drunkest man I ever saw was a mailman. I had gone down to the Echeconnee Creek with my fishing pole and was startled at the sight of him slumped against a bridge piling. There was always trash under the bridge at the Echeconnee—beer cans and fast food wrappers thrown from passing cars, old tires and broken palettes, the remains of campfires. I mistook the mailman at first for a pile of something left on the bank by the latest flood. He fixed me with heavy-lidded yellow-brown eyes. The mailman’s head swayed on unsteady shoulders, and he blinked slowly as he mumbled and slurred something in my direction. “Pardon?” The mailman squinted at me and raised himself to something closer to a sitting position, trying to focus his free-floating hatred.