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Remember my post about shopping and the nucleus accumbens? Well, there’s more to the N.A. than just buying stuff.
Clive Thompson had an article about music and the mind a couple of weeks ago in the New York Times. Unfortunately, the NYT wants you to fork over five bucks to read it, but Clive, great guy that he is, has the article permanently hosted on his excellent Collision Detection blog.
It’s a long, but thoroughly fascinating look at pop music, psyche, and emotion in the research of Dr. Daniel Levitin.
“he came up with an elegant concept: He stopped people on the street and asked them to sing, entirely from memory, one of their favorite hit songs. The results were astonishingly accurate. Most people could hit the tempo of the original song within a four-percent margin of error, and two-thirds sang within a semitone of the original pitch, a level of accuracy that wouldn’t embarrass a pro.
“When you played the recording of them singing alongside the actual recording of the original song, it sounded like they were singing along,” Dr. Levitin said.”
While you’re there, check out Clive’s post about baby squirrels who can predict the future… no joke.
An 06 review meme from Jennifer.
1. What did you do in 2006 that you had never done before? Blew two tires in one day.
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions and will you make more for 2007? Since I don’t make them, they were easy to keep.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Yes, three people actually.
5. What countries did you visit? Just the one I live in, but I saw a whole buch of it.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? Nothing.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? September 16th. That’s when I saw this:
8.What was your biggest achievement of the year? Learning how to deliver the mail. It’s funny I know, but then again, it’s not.
9. What was your biggest struggle? Learning how to deliver the mail.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No, and thank the Lord for that. Well, I was sick twice this year, but neither illness slowed me down.
11. What was the best thing you bought? The best thing? My new Dell Inspiron E1505.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? There are a few (and they will please forgive me for not linking… perhaps tomorrow when I can keep my eyes open). Gwynne With the Unpronouncable Last Name, Cowtown Pattie, Eric Siegmund, Jimmy Patterson, Jeff McDonald, Jennifer and Brian King. Thanks for opening your homes and/or hearts to a traveling stranger.
13. Whose behavior appalled you? I’d rather not say.
14. Where did most of your money go? Hard to say. Probably to Render’s Family Market.
15. Excited about this year? Maybe cautiously optimistic would be more a propos.
16. What song will always remind you of 2006? There isn’t one.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: much happier, nicer or richer? Definitely happier, I’m not sure about nicer and certainly not richer.
18. What do you wish you had done more of? Delivering the mail. Not.
19. What do you wish you had done less of? Not sure.
20. Did you fall in love in 2006? Yes, every day, with the same woman.
21. What was your favourite TV program? What’s TV?
22. What was the best book you read this year? I finished The Baroque Cycle, the last installment of which was called The System of the World.
23. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Beatles: Love
24. What did you want and get? A new job.
25. What was your favourite film of the year? Prairie Home Companion.
26. What did you do on your birthday and how old did you turn? I turned 41. I delivered mail.
27. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying? Getting the job I didn’t get.
28. How would you describe your personal fashion statement this year? Jeans, t-shirt, camp shoes.
29. What kept you sane? Nothing, apparently.
30. What celebrity did you fancy the most? I don’t fancy any celebrities.
31. What political issue stirred you the most? Sorry to say, not one. Me to politics: “I’m done with you.”
32. Who did you miss? Lots of people. I was sorry I couldn’t see my Ohio friends at the Christmas Coffeehouse this year.
33. Who were the best new people you met this year? Erica, my favorite barista.
33. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year. Do not try to maneuver your nutting cart full of mail when you are standing on the parking lot surface and it is on the loading dock (where it will not be for long). Oh, and watch out for turkeys.
The Alphabet Meme, via Jeff
Play along using Jeff’s words, or substitute your own. I used his…
A. Available or Married? Married
B. Best friend? Joy
C. Cake or pie? Pie. Duh.
D. Drink of choice? Coffee.
E. Essential item? Dell Inspiron E1505.
F. Favorite color? Blue, no gree…. aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
G. Gummi bears or worms? eugghh.
H. Hometown? Currently Pottstown, PA, originally Trenton, NJ.
I. Indulgence? Books.
J. January or February? January, particularly the middle, and especially tomorrow.
K. Kids and names? 2 girls. Kristin and Amy.
L. Life incomplete without? Beatles music.
M. Marriage date? March 24, 1990.
N. Number of Siblings? Brother and a sister, both younger.
O. Oranges or Apples? I like Jeff’s answer: Apples. Ever heard of orange pie? Didn’t think so.
P. Phobias/fears? I’m afraid I have none anymore.
Q. Favorite Quotation? “He must increase, I must decrease.” –John the Baptist
R. Reason to smile? Joy.
S. Season? Spring.
T. Tag three people: Tagging is so 2006.
U. Unknown fact about me: I (and the friends I was with) got kicked out of the Bahamas, after being robbed.
V. Vegetable you hate: Asparagus, brussel srpouts, spinach. I despise them all.
W. Worst habit? I’d rather not say.
X. X-rays I’ve had: Just teeth. Oh, wait. I forgot!… C-spine.
Y. Your favorite food? Steak. Medium rare. With hot peppers.
Z. Zodiac? Capricorn. See letter J.
Okay, now you try.
Considering my personal history, faith journey, worldview, etc I must say that this is one of the most wonderfully encouraging and uplifting blog posts I’ve seen. It is written by Searchie*, who honors me simply by dropping by this blog (and occasionally leaving a comment).
Do her the favor of reading it, if you would..
I love your dream, W.
*If Searchie allowed comments on her blog, this would be mine: Regarding the visual illustration at the beginning of this post, I would contend that the future looks like that for all of us, but only the courageous admit it.
Yo! I’m huge!
You are the single biggest feature of the surface of the Earth. You cover 28% of the planet, more than all the land put together, and contain enough water to fill the moon. You also contain, almost as an afterthought, four-fifths of the world’s islands. If your coastline were to be stretched out straight, it would reach around the world five times, and a lot of people would get very wet indeed.Which Extremity of the World Are You?
From the towering colossi at Rum and Monkey.
But you knew that.
Thank you Patti.
stolen from will
| Your Movie Buff Quotient: 84% |
You are a movie buff of the most obsessive variety. If a movie exists, chances are that you’ve seen it. You’re an expert on movie facts and trivia. It’s hard to stump you with a question about film. |
Well, that was interesting. Gotta work tomorrow, good night.
And then she woke up… apparently early, and did a whole buncha memes for Christmas!
Here’s my fave…
| Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas |
For you, it’s all about sharing times with family. Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times. |
What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?
I wish it was a Charlie Brown Christmas, but I didn’t know how to fool the test. Oh well, check out the full array of Bethmeme-ittude here, here, here, and here.
A couple of people have posted their own desk pictures since yesterday. It’s made me nostalgic for my days in advertising research. We used to do “ethnographic” interviews, where we would visit someone (usually a person who fit the ‘target’ profile for one of our ad campaigns) in their home and see how they lived their lives. We shot pictures (on slide film) to craft a presentation for our clients.
One of the things we always made sure we shot was the interviewee’s refrigerator door. Very rarely did we encounter a fridge door that didn’t yield a whole bunch of information about the household. The clients always found them fascinating.
Well, this whole desk meme thing fascinates me in much the same way those ethnos, with their fridge door pictures, used to.
Here’s mis_nomer’s desk.
Here’s Whisky’s (at the end of the post).
Here’s Gwynne’s description and links to pictures of her desk.
Did I miss anyone? Maybe you’d like to play along.
And thanks again to Spookyrach for the idea.
Spookyrach is perpetuating a “what’s on your desk?” meme. I think it’s a swell meme along the lines of the “here’s a picture of my workspace” quasi-meme from some time ago. That earlier meme is how I found Denise, which was a happy occurrence.
I’m all about participating in the current fun, but I have no desk. Sure, I own a desk; it’s in our “office” but I don’t use it nor do I have anything on it… except a bunch of change, a pen, and two different sets of keys.
So, instead, here is a picture of my portable desk, handmade by my father-in-law.
Clockwise from left*.
Handknit christmas stocking
Inspiron E1505 sitting atop portable desk.
Passat Key for when Post Office calls and I need to run.
Spoon left over from coffee.
Blistex.
Timex watch. I’ve actually gone for over five years without losing this one.
Borders gift card from someone in our church.
CD of pics for my overdue freelance marketing project
Fire Ant Gazette coaster– not autographed. 😦
What’s on your desk?
*Contents of desk may change without notice. Actual crap on desk may vary.
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