This is very cool. I came across it accidentally this morning. The ability to browse millions of LIFE Magazine historic photos, dating all the way back to the 1750's, via Google Images.
LIFE Photo Archive
They should do more to make people aware of some of the cool stuff available on their site!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Happy Turkey Day!
My kids and I always watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV as part of our Turkey Day morning tradition. You know, me slaving and cooking in the background while they lounge on the couch gleefully spotting Elmo and Pikachu floats...I love it! This year took the cake though!
I can't believe the Macy's Thanksgiving parade was Rickrolled
That has to be the best parade moment ever! Even my husband, who is not a huge parade fan, got a kick out of that one. (Actually, there was some gloating involved, since he introduced me to the phenomenon in the first place...hehe.) Cartoon Network's float was way too cool for school this year!
I can't believe the Macy's Thanksgiving parade was Rickrolled
That has to be the best parade moment ever! Even my husband, who is not a huge parade fan, got a kick out of that one. (Actually, there was some gloating involved, since he introduced me to the phenomenon in the first place...hehe.) Cartoon Network's float was way too cool for school this year!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tigers and Insomnia
Occasionally, I suffer from insomnia. For me, it strikes after I've already been asleep for awhile, but always before I've been asleep long enough. Tonight it was a tiger.
I often wonder if the oddities that I think are part of just me and my brain are actually a part of, like, the fabric of humanity...to attempt to put it in a way that sounds all deep and profound. (This being my inaugural blog entry and all, I want to set the proper tone, right?) For instance, consider dreaming. Sometimes when I'm dreaming it's almost like I'm sitting in a chair at the side of my bed - watching myself dreaming. I'm aware that I'm asleep and that this is a dream, and I'm like the FCC with my finger at the ready, hovering over the censor button, because I have a feeling something is coming that I'm not going to like.
Tonight it was a tiger. I was in a sparsely furnished bedroom when a tiger decided to wander in and close the door behind himself. (I wish my kids could learn that trick.) Apparently, he wasn't totally unexpected because I happened to already be hanging out underneath the twin bed that was the only piece of furniture in the room. He was just standing there between me and the door, (the one that he'd closed). There was a window above the bed, but naturally it was closed and he didn't seem too interested in opening it. There was a closet, but I'm guessing it wasn't a viable option because I couldn't even focus on what type of doors it had.
Now, it's important to note that this is when I became totally aware that I was dreaming, when I couldn't decide what type of doors the closet had, let alone exactly how far away it was. It was sort of a subliminal awareness, but at that point I was definitely both experiencing the dream as well as "observing", (for lack of the perfect word), myself experience the dream. I was totally aware of considering my options...maybe breaking the window and hoping he'd take it as an invitation to exit that way, for instance. I also attempted to "change the channel". I clearly remember thinking that this dream wasn't going anywhere unscary, so it might be a good time to "leave". I wasn't successful. Try as I might I remained in that room pretty sure that I was going to hear the tiger's stomach growl at any moment. That's when I got impatient with my inability to either control the outcome of the dream or leave it completely. So I decided to wake up, and I immediately did.
This is where the insomnia kicked in because I started wondering whether other people had these odd, out of body dream experiences. Are other people able to sometimes "turn the channel" on their dreams? Because sometimes I can! Or, sometimes when I'm in that semi-aware state I'm able to just quickly tie it all up with a bow to get out of the scary situation or end the bad dream. In this case that would have involved something like throwing a rock that I would have magically found in my pocket at the window, breaking it and watching the tiger leap out and run away. Sometimes I'm able to accomplish something like that without totally waking up and disturbing my sweet, sweet, slumber. Not always. Not tonight.
Tonight I woke up and found myself wide awake, unable to stop my mind from pondering these deep questions...over and over and over again. So, I decided it was as good a time as any to start this blog, which I've been meaning to start for awhile now.
One of the main roadblocks to my starting said blog has been the monumental decision of what to write about first. How to kick this thing off appropriately? Major decision, right? That turns out to be tigers and insomnia. Now, note the date, please. Just over 24 hours past the monumental occasion of the first black man being elected president. I wasn't Oprah Winfrey - crying in the crowd, but I was extremely moved and...proud, for lack of a better word. My cup definitely overfloweth with emotion and appreciation for what I was witnessing, sharing in, experiencing, along with my family and other fellow Americans.
I thought about starting my blog with that. It seemed a little too deep though. I mean, I have visions of blogging about my family - the frustrations of raising teenagers, my extremely intelligent husband's inability to put his things away, put the toilet seat down, remember where we keep certain things that we have always and forever kept in the same place, etc., blogging about amazing beauty products or other household products that I love so much I just have to tell the world, blogging about great books, TV shows and movies, heck, maybe even blogging about knitting - which I'm just learning how to do. I have a lot to say, but I'm not sure much of it is super deep, so I think I felt like talking about something of such great importance right off the bat might not set quite the right tone. So I waited. (Procrastinated, really, until it was no longer November 5th, but we'll label that 'waited' at this point in time. I don't want to be too hard on myself, after all. I'm only human.)
I often wonder if the oddities that I think are part of just me and my brain are actually a part of, like, the fabric of humanity...to attempt to put it in a way that sounds all deep and profound. (This being my inaugural blog entry and all, I want to set the proper tone, right?) For instance, consider dreaming. Sometimes when I'm dreaming it's almost like I'm sitting in a chair at the side of my bed - watching myself dreaming. I'm aware that I'm asleep and that this is a dream, and I'm like the FCC with my finger at the ready, hovering over the censor button, because I have a feeling something is coming that I'm not going to like.
Tonight it was a tiger. I was in a sparsely furnished bedroom when a tiger decided to wander in and close the door behind himself. (I wish my kids could learn that trick.) Apparently, he wasn't totally unexpected because I happened to already be hanging out underneath the twin bed that was the only piece of furniture in the room. He was just standing there between me and the door, (the one that he'd closed). There was a window above the bed, but naturally it was closed and he didn't seem too interested in opening it. There was a closet, but I'm guessing it wasn't a viable option because I couldn't even focus on what type of doors it had.
Now, it's important to note that this is when I became totally aware that I was dreaming, when I couldn't decide what type of doors the closet had, let alone exactly how far away it was. It was sort of a subliminal awareness, but at that point I was definitely both experiencing the dream as well as "observing", (for lack of the perfect word), myself experience the dream. I was totally aware of considering my options...maybe breaking the window and hoping he'd take it as an invitation to exit that way, for instance. I also attempted to "change the channel". I clearly remember thinking that this dream wasn't going anywhere unscary, so it might be a good time to "leave". I wasn't successful. Try as I might I remained in that room pretty sure that I was going to hear the tiger's stomach growl at any moment. That's when I got impatient with my inability to either control the outcome of the dream or leave it completely. So I decided to wake up, and I immediately did.
This is where the insomnia kicked in because I started wondering whether other people had these odd, out of body dream experiences. Are other people able to sometimes "turn the channel" on their dreams? Because sometimes I can! Or, sometimes when I'm in that semi-aware state I'm able to just quickly tie it all up with a bow to get out of the scary situation or end the bad dream. In this case that would have involved something like throwing a rock that I would have magically found in my pocket at the window, breaking it and watching the tiger leap out and run away. Sometimes I'm able to accomplish something like that without totally waking up and disturbing my sweet, sweet, slumber. Not always. Not tonight.
Tonight I woke up and found myself wide awake, unable to stop my mind from pondering these deep questions...over and over and over again. So, I decided it was as good a time as any to start this blog, which I've been meaning to start for awhile now.
One of the main roadblocks to my starting said blog has been the monumental decision of what to write about first. How to kick this thing off appropriately? Major decision, right? That turns out to be tigers and insomnia. Now, note the date, please. Just over 24 hours past the monumental occasion of the first black man being elected president. I wasn't Oprah Winfrey - crying in the crowd, but I was extremely moved and...proud, for lack of a better word. My cup definitely overfloweth with emotion and appreciation for what I was witnessing, sharing in, experiencing, along with my family and other fellow Americans.
I thought about starting my blog with that. It seemed a little too deep though. I mean, I have visions of blogging about my family - the frustrations of raising teenagers, my extremely intelligent husband's inability to put his things away, put the toilet seat down, remember where we keep certain things that we have always and forever kept in the same place, etc., blogging about amazing beauty products or other household products that I love so much I just have to tell the world, blogging about great books, TV shows and movies, heck, maybe even blogging about knitting - which I'm just learning how to do. I have a lot to say, but I'm not sure much of it is super deep, so I think I felt like talking about something of such great importance right off the bat might not set quite the right tone. So I waited. (Procrastinated, really, until it was no longer November 5th, but we'll label that 'waited' at this point in time. I don't want to be too hard on myself, after all. I'm only human.)
Tigers and insomnia. I could have started with Barack Obama, but I waited. Now I'm left with tigers and insomnia. I did not set out to get here, but I find it kind of ironic that in the end this first blog entry almost reads like a thesis in support of the title I finally settled on for this blog. Today is always the first day of the rest of your life. It's never too late for a fresh start. I really do believe and try to live that every day. Hindsight is always 20/20 though, which sometimes sucks. I could have had Barack Obama, but I'm stuck with tigers and insomnia. Tomorrow is the next first day though, so who knows...
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