Nothing Fancy

Hi there. I'm Anna. This is a blog about the things that flow in and out of my brain. Won't you join me?
Marina Keegan, a 22-year old Yale student, wrote this piece days before graduating and days before being killed in a car accident. It is heart-wrenching, yet timely and applicable in my life right now.   Click the picture for her article. 

Marina Keegan, a 22-year old Yale student, wrote this piece days before graduating and days before being killed in a car accident. It is heart-wrenching, yet timely and applicable in my life right now.  

Click the picture for her article. 

Memorial Day, part II

As a civilian and a member of a family with no active-duty military members, I often feel a disconnect from the brave soldiers and their families who endure such hardship and loss. While I pray to God that I never have to experience what they go through, I also feel like it is my duty to try to understand; to remind myself of the men and women (and their support system back home) who give of themselves for my freedom. 

It’s stories like this one that help bridge the divide between military and civilian. Please take a minute to click the above link to read and reflect on all the service members of past and present who fought and died for our country. 

Memorial Day

A resounding and heartfelt thank you to all the men and women of the military who have fought for the freedom we so mightily enjoy today.

President John F. Kennedy proclaimed in his inaugural address,

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

It has been the members of the military who have carried out that mission. Our liberty, our freedom to speak out as we please and to live our lives without fear of tyranny has been hard fought and sorely won. 

To them, we say thank you. Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you for exemplifying all that this great nation strives to be. Thank you for your sacrifice. 

This is too amazing for words. 

brooklynmutt:

The sweetest and most amazing marriage proposal, ever. - @nickbilton

If you’re young, try not to get involved with the “too cool” crowd. That quickly becomes the crowd that’s too cool to work hard, too cool to take chances, and too cool to succeed.

—Ain’t that the truth?

(Source: humansofnewyork)

Kudos to the people at Marvel for recognizing a true superhero! thedailywhat: Heartwarming Tearjerker of the Day: Four-year-old comic book fan Anthony Smith is deaf in his right ear and has hearing damage in his left. He also refused to wear his hearing aid (which he calls “Blue Ear” because it is blue), because “superheroes don’t wear hearing aids.” So in a long-shot attempt to help her son, Anthony’s mom emailed Marvel for ideas. “She didn’t know a specific person to write to here at Marvel, and even figured it might get caught in our spam filters, but she sent it in anyway, because that’s the kind of great parent Christina is,” said Marvel editor Bill Rosemann. “And it was her inspiring effort to help her son that touched so many of us here. As a fellow parent of a toddler, I can understand where she’s coming from, so I forwarded the email around the rest of Editorial, asking what we could do to help, and like when Cap yells, ‘Avengers Assemble,’ the gang leapt into action.” Not only did Anthony receive an image of the superhero Hawkeye, who lost 80 percent of his hearing back in the ’80s and wore hearing aids — Anthony also received a drawing of a brand-new superhero: “Blue Ear.” Now, with his hearing aid back in, Anthony is able to “fight battles and help people.” His preschool, for hearing-impaired kids, recently hosted a superhero week to inspire the students to overcome their limitations. DON’T miss the video. It’s the best thing you’ll see all day. [death+taxes / robot6]

Kudos to the people at Marvel for recognizing a true superhero!

thedailywhat:

Heartwarming Tearjerker of the Day: Four-year-old comic book fan Anthony Smith is deaf in his right ear and has hearing damage in his left. He also refused to wear his hearing aid (which he calls “Blue Ear” because it is blue), because “superheroes don’t wear hearing aids.” So in a long-shot attempt to help her son, Anthony’s mom emailed Marvel for ideas.

“She didn’t know a specific person to write to here at Marvel, and even figured it might get caught in our spam filters, but she sent it in anyway, because that’s the kind of great parent Christina is,” said Marvel editor Bill Rosemann. “And it was her inspiring effort to help her son that touched so many of us here. As a fellow parent of a toddler, I can understand where she’s coming from, so I forwarded the email around the rest of Editorial, asking what we could do to help, and like when Cap yells, ‘Avengers Assemble,’ the gang leapt into action.”

Not only did Anthony receive an image of the superhero Hawkeye, who lost 80 percent of his hearing back in the ’80s and wore hearing aids — Anthony also received a drawing of a brand-new superhero: “Blue Ear.”

Now, with his hearing aid back in, Anthony is able to “fight battles and help people.” His preschool, for hearing-impaired kids, recently hosted a superhero week to inspire the students to overcome their limitations.

DON’T miss the video. It’s the best thing you’ll see all day.

[death+taxes / robot6]

Building a Smart City

This is one of the neater things I’ve seen. Building a city from scratch just for the purposes of research and innovation. No one will live there, it will just be a play ground; a 15-square mile, fully functioning but empty town next door, unlike any other R&D facility in the world, that will be used to test everything about the future of smart cities, from autonomous cars to new wireless networks.

Cool!

An interesting statistical look at population and religion. It’s probably not what you think. 

jtotheizzoe:

Hans Rosling: Religions and Babies

Watching Hans Rosling chase data points across a screen with a huge pointer as he gives breathless play-by-play of statsitical changes will never get old.

In a planet that’s getting increasingly full, we must ask a couple of questions: How can we prepare for tomorrow’s population, whatever it will be? How do birth rates relate to lifestyle around the world?

I’ve heard it said before that certain religious beliefs lead to more children per woman. There’s the stereotype extremes of Latin American Catholics and Northern European athiests. Do they hold water?

Hans takes a look at world religions, average income and family planning and how they relate to birth rates and population growth in the way that only Mr. Rosling can.

I’ll let you watch the details, but controlling population is most certainly about providing more opportunity, not less religion. An instant TED favorite.

(via TED)

File this under “Not Surprised” thedailywhat: Infographic of the Day: According to the CDC, meals have quadrupled in size since the ’50s — and subsequently, we’ve gained an average of 26 pounds apiece. Sick. Literally. [gizmodo]

File this under “Not Surprised”

thedailywhat:

Infographic of the Day: According to the CDC, meals have quadrupled in size since the ’50s — and subsequently, we’ve gained an average of 26 pounds apiece.

Sick.

Literally.

[gizmodo]