Asparagus Cake

If I ever learn to like cake, this is totally one I would love to have. Not make, serve.

Of Course

Where to live to avoid a natural disaster. And, not surprisingly, Dallas area is the worst place to be. This seems just right.

Why do Americans still dislike atheists?

Long after blacks and Jews have made great strides, and even as homosexuals gain respect, acceptance and new rights, there is still a group that lots of Americans just don’t like much: atheists. Those who don’t believe in God are widely considered to be immoral, wicked and angry. They can’t join the Boy Scouts. Atheist soldiers are rated potentially deficient when they do not score as sufficiently “spiritual” in military psychological evaluations. Surveys find that most Americans refuse or are reluctant to marry or vote for nontheists; in other words, nonbelievers are one minority still commonly denied in practical terms the right to assume office despite the constitutional ban on religious tests.

Obama's White House Correspondents' Dinner Roast

Juliana Santacruz Herrera

Juliana Santacruz Herrera decided the streets of Paris were too gloomy and needed a little fresh touch. With these in mind she came up with the concept of decorating the potholes of the city using colorful strips of fabric. These were placed randomly in shallow breaks and cracks, creating a fun and colorful change in the landscape. The artist’s visual intervention brings a happy touch to the gray streets of Paris and creates a fun and appealing contrast with the dark cement.

..via freshome

OCD Cutting Board

I really don't need to add to my problems by getting something like this. The ones I have now are plenty.

16 Corporations or We The People

..via Coffee Party USA

Breathe, Relax, Repeat

So perhaps it is the combination of the annoying debacle of the dress from China for the wedding, the desire to feel physically different from the draining two weeks I spent holed up in my apartment writing reviews every evening without change, or the freedom that was involved in the daily required walking in Seattle, but I have had constant cravings to exercise in the last few weeks back in Dallas. I have been running consistently for a year, but the last few weeks have made me desire to hit the trails or the gym every day, and feel frustration when I have not been able.

Not to say that the time I have spent in other activities has not been enjoyable. The friends I have seen, the simple act of cooking, sleeping in, etc. have been remarkable. But I hate the feeling when my body requires me to give up. When the muscles ache at night, when I cannot run another step without my lungs exploding or do one more repetition without shaking arms that drop the weight.

I sit here tonight, exhausted, addicted, wanting to do more, prove myself to me, and really, hating the healing time of the body most. Setting goals and seeing results is a driving force, but mostly, I need reminders that not everything can be done at once, that everything takes time.

Reimagining the Skyscraper

 

eVolo's Skyscraper Competition for 2011 takes the ides of a skyscraper very loosely, allowing the designer's imagination to create whole new ideas of what classifies as a building. The third place winner (my favorite) above, was designed by Yheu-Shen Chua as a new world over the Hoover Dam, combining the "power plant with a gallery, aquarium, and viewing platform that engages the falling water directly." So much more beautiful.

..via Architizer

Drams for Sale!

Master of Malt offers a sample dram (3cl) to purchase for many of their spirits. Whereas there is no way I could afford a Glenfarclas 1981 Family Cask bottle for my 30th birthday this year, I can afford a sample in honor of my birth year. Great way to taste different types of whiskeys and scotchs (and a few vodkas and gins) that otherwise would require laying out a lot of money in hopes you like the flavor.