Saturday, 2005-04-30
birds birds birds (and hair hair hair)
Outside the Art building, after Art History yesterday, I saw a bird hanging out on a bench-set table. The little creature remained still as I approached. Considering the bird's bravery — in not budging — it was safe to assume s/he was injured.
By the time I could figure out the condition of the bird, another swooped from above, grazing my head. Lucky (second) bird, I thought. My once almighty faux-hawk, a.k.a. the talon, was but a remnant of it's former height, having been cut down a day or so before. We could have otherwise been an entanglement of hair and feathers.
This particular bird dived again and again, barely missing every try. My best initial guess as to why: the swooping bird was protecting the injured one I was saying "hello" to. But then I saw a nest... "Ah." Guarding the home.
On the day or so before, with the pompadour style still intact, the bird might have otherwise mistaken my hair for nesting material. Such are the risks one takes for perfect hair.
Saturday, 2005-04-16
chris jordan says it best
Chris Jordan says it best, so I won't sully his thoughts with my color-commentary.
I also am becoming more interested in the cultural aspects of our consumerism, in contrast to its better-documented environmental effects. The most insidious symptom of the American lifestyle may be its deadening effect on our individual spirits. Americans now are working more hours than any other society in the world, spending less leisure time with family and friends, and taking fewer and shorter vacations than ever before. A huge percentage of Americans — including highly-paid professionals — describe themselves as unhappy with their jobs and work schedules, wishing they were doing something more personally rewarding. Yet we make a more fulfilling lifestyle impossible; Americans are spending more money, saving less, and racking up consumer credit card debt at the highest rate in history — all to support a rate of material consumption such as the world has never seen before. It is no surprise that our self-rated happiness index has shown a steady decline since the 1950's when we worked fewer hours and consumed less than half of what we consume now.
Take a look at his gallery "Intolerable Beauty — Portraits of American Mass Consumption" (that is, if you have the time).
[Via Metafilter.]