A SWTCTW public service announcement: Save the 89 cents! It’s free Taco Day at Taco Bell until 6 p.m.! Despite the inevitable tummy ache, I’m all for some T-Bell. I’m going to get mine now. Get yours.
Don’t say this blog never did anything for you.
[Posted by Kathleen]
My psychology professor just sent my class an interesting article about perception from good ol’ David Brooks over at the NY Times. We’ve talked a lot in my class about the way you essentially see what you want to see. You pay more attention to facts that fit with what you already know; you attribute your own successes to hard work and others’ successes to dumb luck; etc.
In this article, “The Behavioral Revolution,” Brooks links this idea to The Second Great Depression. It’s a thought-provoking article, and worth reading at least these excerpts:
[Nassim Nicholas Taleb] believes that our brains evolved to suit a world much simpler than the one we now face. His writing is idiosyncratic, but he does touch on many of the perceptual biases that distort our thinking: our tendency to see data that confirm our prejudices more vividly than data that contradict them; our tendency to overvalue recent events when anticipating future possibilities; our tendency to spin concurring facts into a single causal narrative; our tendency to applaud our own supposed skill in circumstances when we’ve actually benefited from dumb luck.
He goes on:
If you start thinking about our faulty perceptions, the first thing you realize is that markets are not perfectly efficient, people are not always good guardians of their own self-interest and there might be limited circumstances when government could usefully slant the decision-making architecture (see “Nudge” by Thaler and Cass Sunstein for proposals). But the second thing you realize is that government officials are probably going to be even worse perceivers of reality than private business types. Their information feedback mechanism is more limited, and, being deeply politicized, they’re even more likely to filter inconvenient facts.
This meltdown is not just a financial event, but also a cultural one. It’s a big, whopping reminder that the human mind is continually trying to perceive things that aren’t true, and not perceiving them takes enormous effort.
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under news
I have a confession to make: I sort of love Blair and Chuck together. I often hate them on their own, but when they get together and tell each other to just “say those three little words,” those two evil Upper East Siders sort of melt my heart. I know. I’m embarrassed too.
Also, what the hell are you doing Little J? Whoring around with that model and the sketchball photographer? How do you go from innocent 15-year-old to black-eyeliner-wearing whore sexpot with bangs in ONE WEEK? Oh, that’s right. This is Gossip Girl. Plotlines can be inconsistent and absurd, and I’ll still watch. At least Nate’s still beautiful:
And now, because they’ve added a little poll feature to my blogging toolbox, let’s try a poll:
[Posted by Mallory]
Filed under crushes, humor, pop culture, TV
Helloooo everyone! It’s been a while. I don’t have time to post a lot right now, but I wanted to get a few quick thoughts out since I’ve been MIA the past few days.
I’ve been MIA partly because my computer is still broken ($755 later it should be fixed in a few days…awesome) and I feel sort of awkward blogging in public. Except I just found a secret computer dungeon filled exclusively with nerds, so I don’t feel as embarrassed anymore. The other reason I haven’t been blogging is that I went back to my beloved undergrad university for Homecoming this weekend. (Sadly Kathleeny could not attend.) I may post more about it later, but for now let’s just say it was wonderful, and that a lot of Bloody Mary’s were consumed.
In other news, I’m totally digging the fall weather. It means I get to wear long coats and riding boots, and, even more importantly, that I’m no longer drenched in sweat 99% of the day. See, DC was pretty hot, weather-wise, for a while there, which meant that every time I walked more than three blocks I looked as if I had just run a marathon. I spent a lot of time complaining about how pants are like prisons for your legs and that if it was socially acceptable I would no longer wear them. Ever. (Unfortunately it isn’t socially acceptable, yet, which also means that you ladies out there should not be wearing leggings as pants. BECAUSE LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS. It’s okay if you’ve been working out, or if you are wearing a shirt that more than covers your ass-thigh junction, but other than that leave those leggings at home. Otherwise I will not-so-silently mock you to everyone I see.)
So the point is, I’m loving the crisp fall weather.
My final random thought of the day is that I love Larry David. I feel like I’ve been straight plagiarizing my friend Caroline’s blog, but I simply must post some of Mr. David’s article about waiting for the election:
The one concession I’ve made to maintain some form of sanity is that I’ve taken to censoring my news, just like the old Soviet Union. The citizenry (me) only gets to read and listen to what I deem appropriate for its health and well-being. Sure, there are times when the system breaks down. Michele Bachmann got through my radar this week, right before bedtime. That’s not supposed to happen. That was a lapse in security, and I’ve had to make some adjustments. The debates were particularly challenging for me to monitor. First I tried running in and out of the room so I would only hear my guy. This worked until I knocked over a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “Sit down or get out!” my host demanded. “Okay,” I said, and took a seat, but I was more fidgety than a ten-year-old at temple. I just couldn’t watch without saying anything, and my running commentary, which mostly consisted of “Shut up, you prick!” or “You’re a fucking liar!!!” or “Go to hell, you cocksucker!” was way too distracting for the attendees, and finally I was asked to leave.
It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one screaming “Go to hell, you cocksucker!” at the television on the occasional weeknight.
[Posted by Mallory]
This is some of the craziest shit I have ever seen on the internet. So it’s slow in the beginning, but hold on because things get wild after the one minute mark. I am speechless. Is this madness or genius? Is it noise or music? AHHHHH. My brain is fried.
[Posted by Kathleen]
Filed under blogging, definitely not politics, music, pop culture, random, technology, the arts, Uncategorized, YouTube
Vodpod videos no longer available.
I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT.
Really, this is the best SNL has been in years. And in even better news, my twin, Maya Rudolph, is coming back!
AHHHH.
[Posted by Kathleen]
Filed under celebrities, crushes, humor, news, politics, pop culture, random, TV, YouTube
So my friends all know that I’m nature girl–yeah, it’s weird. My envrionmentally friendly mom put me in a lot of nature classes growing up. What of it? NATUUUUUUUUUURE! GOULET!
Knowing that I LOVE nature, imagine my reaction when I saw this headline, and this picture:
Giant spider snapped eating bird in backyard near Cairns
Yup. I freaked the eff out. This will no doubt appear in my nightmares.
Despite my fear of spiders, I went to a school where the mascot was a spider. SPIDERS EVERYWHERE ON EVERYTHING. AHHH. Yes, I am a proud Richmond Spider. And devastated that I will not be able to make it to Homecoming this weekend. Miss me. GO SPIDERS! (But only the nice ones. That go to Richmond.)
[Posted by Kathleen]
Filed under animals, blogging, definitely not politics, news, post-college depression, random, sports
And by pals around, I mean wears them around her neck. I can’t help but wonder if this was part of the $150,000 the RNC (AKA those who donated to the RNC–don’t you feel hoodwinked?) paid for.
The main point of this post was to point out how clueless Palin is. I mean, the woman is legit wearing a scarf that screams vote Democratic. (Where can I get me one of those?!) Buuuut since I have your attention, let’s talk about that $150,000.
So much for being a small town hockey mom, eh? That’s probably twice as much, if not more, than Joe the fake plumber makes in a year. That’s more than a college education. That’s health care for a small business. That’s a ton of money to spend on clothes.
So I think the argument of Republicans being fiscally conservative is now thrown out the window. Because, oh girl, some of those clothes…I could have gotten at Forever21 for twenty bucks. And if I wanted to go “upscale”, I could still find them at Macy’s. On sale. Those clothes are pretty basic. So we all know what the Republicans and Sarah Palin choose to do with their money. They are not bargain shoppers. I mean, look at the national debt.
What would you do with $150,000? Where do your priorities lie?
How dare she talk about relating to Americans struggling to pay their bills and get their kids through school. How dare she? Oh doggone it, you betcha that Joe Six Pack doesn’t go on shopping sprees with the RNC’s plastic.
UPDATED: From Politico, here is Johnny’s defense of the $150,000.
“She needed clothes at the time,” McCain told a group of Florida reporters.
And now, to add on to tragedy that is Sarah Palin, let me just attach a supposed copy of her report card and SAT scores, compliments of one of our DC correspondents.
OUCH. Baby girl didn’t even break a thousand.
Sorry for ranting a bit. I’m all fired up.
[Posted by Kathleen]
Filed under blogging, celebrities, fashion, money, news, politics, pop culture, random, thoughts
Ken Mink is a badass. The 73-year-old just made the Roane State basketball team. Roane State, by the way, is in Tennessee. He’s listed as a senior on the roster–not to be confused with a senior citizen (ohhhhhhhhh). Anyway, the Minkster played college hoops back in the day too. But, like I said, he’s a badass. According to the Knox news:
So Mink, whose playing career at Lees (Ky.) Junior College came to an unceremonious end in 1956 when he was dismissed – wrongly, by his account – for allegedly soaping the coaches’ office with shaving cream, wrote to several colleges in search of a place to play.
Oh man, there’s a prank that went out of style. Time to bring back soaping, ya’ll. But I digress.
Mink is nearly twice as old as the school itself, which was founded in 1971.
Damnnnn.
Look how intense he is in that picture! Sadly, in a one-on-one game, this septgenarian would probably kick my ass. And then out drink me at the bar. Whatev, he seems cool.
[Posted by Kathleen]
Filed under crushes, news, pop culture, random, sports
six words to change the world. 