What is Beauty to a Blind Person?

Beauty is often (not always) perceived as a product of vision, as in physical beauty. But if a person doesn't have sight, beauty still exists. Here's what happened when BuzzFeed asked a group of blind people how they defined beauty. I think there's a lesson here for all of us. Inspiring stuff.

Pet Love

I just watched a video about bullying (it was an awesome video, not a bad one. It was by John Green, who is one of my favorite bloggers but who is also an amazing author who writes about young people realistically. If you haven't read anything by him, I urge you to give him a try).

At any rate, the video got me to thinking about people and how we make each other feel, both good and bad (sorry, writers spend umpteen hours a day placing themselves in the heads of others, trying to imagine how each person feels). It made me wonder, what are some of the things that redeem us and help make us better people than we might ordinarily be? I think that pets must be somewhere right near the top of that list. They accept us unconditionally, they have to rely on us totally, and they give so much that we're better people for simply being around them. They almost force us to respond to them in positive ways, and I think that makes us kinder.

Now mind you, I have no pets (I know. If you're a regular here, you already know that), but I would hate to live in a world where pets didn't exist. So here are a few Flickr pet photos (as always, click through to the source links to see more of the photographers' images).

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About That Power of Persistence We Hear So Much About...

If you're a writer or a musician, an actor or an artist or...so many other things (someone learning a new way of doing things or a new skill, a person looking for a job, for a big break, for the perfect home, the perfect life, the perfect mate, the perfect anything), then you've thought about the power of persistence. You've discussed it, considered it, and wondered if it's really true that if you believe something hard enough and/or work for it with enough determination, then you'll succeed. If you simply keep trying, will you really realize your dreams and touch the rainbow?

It's impossible not to think about these kinds of things when you're doing something very difficult, something where many other people have fallen by the wayside, too discouraged to continue. We want to believe that persistence will win the day for us. And...I think we have to keep believing that, because while it's true that not everyone can succeed despite making a Herculean effort, it's even more of an absolute for most of us that without persistence and dogged determination, we'll never get to grab the brass ring. And after all, doesn't all that hard work make the success at the end of the road--even if it's a rather small success--feel wonderfully satisfying?

Watch as this little mouse tries to do everything in its power to claim a cookie. Now that's persistence!

5 Reasons Why I Wish I Were More of a Night Person

Having covered the reasons why I enjoy being a morning person, I have to say that there are still days when I'd love to be more of a night person. Okay, let's face it. There are days when I wish I could be both...but where would that leave me? Sleep deprived, cranky and probably in need of a doctor's care.

Still, I'd like to try being more of a night person for a short time. Here's why:

1. Stars, stars, stars. I'd get to see a lot more stars.

2. I might actually get to hear that owl hooting in the night that everyone talks about the next morning, but which I never hear because once asleep ONLY A TRAIN CRASHING THROUGH MY ROOM WOULD WAKE ME.

3. Once night falls, I'm unable to work (my brain refuses to create at some point), but I can still read and watch movies. Think of all the lovely movies I could watch.

4. Those fun midnight shows they have at the theaters. I've never been able to stay awake long enough to attend one of those.

5. I've heard that nighttime is when magic happens. Sounds promising. More magic, please.

Why Do We Kiss?

As a romance reader and writer, kissing is obviously something I spend a lot of time thinking about. Even the tamest romance novel has to at least end with a kiss (although I recently reread a series romance novel I'd read and enjoyed when I was rather young and was surprised to find that the hero and heroine merely held hands at the end. And no, that did not work for me anymore).

Still, despite the less than satisfying book mentioned above, there's clearly a lot of kissing going on in books, but more importantly, in the world at large. So...how did all of that get started? Why kissing? Well, Hank Green from Scishow explores those questions and more in the video below.

Your Life (in Jelly Beans)

Using jelly beans to represent the days of our lives, Ze Frank asks some serious questions about how we spend our time. How will you spend your jelly beans (days)?

How We See Ourselves

You may have already seen this video (by Dove). It's been circulating for a few days while I've been doing other things. But as a writer (and a human being) I find it interesting. I spend a lot of time observing others. It's both my nature and part of what I do in writing a book. But I wonder if I would be any different from the women in this video. I wonder if men would be the same, too. Don't we all tend to notice our physical flaws more than the big picture? And there's also the fact that most of us don't want to be seen as conceited or egotistic, so I'm guessing that there's a general tendency to minimize our finer points when describing ourselves. Still, the question remains: can  we ever really see ourselves as others see us?

The Weird (and Sometimes Embarrassing) Things Humans Do

There's a new video series going around (well, okay, there are only two videos as of yet) called Take the Human Test. The videos focus on the bizarre and irrational things humans sometimes do, the kinds of things we would never publicly discuss. Here's the first video (the second one was even a bit stranger, but you can easily find it in the sidebar if you click through on YouTube).

By the way, the answer to the question, "Have you ever done any of these?" is yes, I am human. I'm just glad that I could answer no to some of them!

It's the Season for Giving, But...

Maybe it would be better to spread some of our giving to other parts of the year. In this video, Can Money Buy Happiness? by Asap Science, the concept of what we do with our money and how that affects our sense of well being is explored.

How Often Do You See Something Like This Happen?

In 2011 Paul Hillier was taking the train home when the passengers joined in spontaneous singing.  What fun! (Oh, and this was in Canada. They ended with the Canadian National Anthem).

Improv Everywhere's Black Tie Affair

At the beach, that is. I missed this video because it was released when I was on vacation. The reactions of people are always fun. I couldn't help wonder where people got all that clothing, since they knew everything would be destroyed. On the other hand, don't we all have some formal wear that we know will never see the light of day again? It might be fun to have an excuse to bring it out again for a day.

What Would You Do if the Equipment You Use to Make a Living ($13,238.86 worth) Was Left in a Taxi Cab?

That's what happened to Casey Neistat in New York city. Here's his story that deals with the difficulties of locating lost gear.

If You Have a Pet Peeve or Two

We all have them. This guy has a lot of them. Are any of his the same as yours?

A Challenging Vending Machine

I don't even really know what Fantastic Delites are, but I liked this vending machine video. The maker of Fantastic Delites put a vending machine in a mall, but money wasn't what was required in order to get the product. Instead a free box was offered...if a person was willing to work for their Fantastic Delites. And as each challenge was met, the stakes were upped and became more demanding and creative. I'd say the makers of Fantastic Delites achieved their goal. By the end of this video, a crowd had gathered (and they also got me to write Fantastic Delites a whole bunch of times in this post).

We Are the World (Where the Hell is Matt? 2012)

I'm sure you've seen some of the Where the Hell is Matt? videos. This one is especially nice (love the ending). The fact that (as one person in the comments said), these videos point out the "We are one world" message is wonderful. Dance, music (and clearly Matt in this case) can help us find common ground. Lovely.

A Photographer's Dilemma

National Geographic photographer Ed Kashi discusses what happens when a person makes eye contact with the camera.

Improv Everywhere - Quadruplets

Improv Everywhere is based in New York City. According to their website, they create scenes of chaos and joy in public places. (I've seen their work, and they're always polite, always law-abiding. This is just fun stuff). Here, they send 8 sets of identically dressed quadruplets out into the park. Watch what happens.



Here's the background on how this went down. (Scroll down for the report).

Remembering How it Was When You Were Very Young...

Blik is an animation about a boy's first crush (a 2010 graduation film) made at the Utrecht School for the Arts.

Have a Symmetrical Day!

For some of us, it's all about symmetry. We need things to be balanced. It keeps us sane. Here's a video that illustrates symmetry in a creative way.

Symmetry from Daniel Mercadante on Vimeo.

So, are you into symmetry or are you a rebel who doesn't mind having things a bit off balance?

Have a great (symmetrical or asymmetrical) day (depending on your preference).
Best Wishes!