I had missed hearing the countdown. The people in front of me just started charging into the waters of Lake Ontario. In the chaos of excited participants, wind, bare skin, and a belated realization that we should move closer to where T would be trying to take photographs, the countdown didn’t even register with me. My buddy A and I exchanged a look, and followed on in. The Toronto polar bear dip of 2015 was on. Continue reading I did the 2015 Toronto Polar bear dip, and lived to tell this tale
All posts by jtoh
Happy New Year 2015!
Happy New Year, friends! I hope this year greets you with the bright eyes of hope and the ambition of doing things that make you delightful.
Looking back at 2014, it’s safe to say that it was a year of transition for me. And while some of it (aka resigning from my job) took a lot of courage to move past the inertia of being in a familiar and comfortable position, I’d by lying if I wasn’t feeling anxious of what lies ahead. I’m sitting here feeling disoriented as I don’t have a firm destination in mind yet. That leads me to start feeling guilty about my apparent aimlessness, whether that’s fair to myself or not. So my overarching theme of 2015 will be to plot my destination, to have that plan fixed in my mind so I don’t feel so aimless.
Then on to victory!
May 2015 be fruitful for you as well. Cheers!
~Jen
Jeneral finds of the week: 2015-01-04
It’s a new year! Good/interesting/provoking finds I’ve stumbled across this week: 2015-01-04
- If you’re a Serial fan (like I am)…here’s part 1 of 3 of an exclusive interview with Jay, the prosecution’s key witness that Sarah Koening was not able to get interviewed for Serial. It has another timeline and a motivation for the inconsistencies to date. It’s great to hear his point of view, and I understand his wariness to be involved with Koening’s efforts, but now I wonder if there is any way forward with the disruption this has obviously caused in his life.
- I’m not usually a fan of sharing “listicles” (a glorified list of something that passes as an article), but this one from NPR Monkey See is a very good one for a list of 50 Wonderful [Cultural] Things from 2014.
- An awesome comic to educate about vaccinations in an entertaining format. If only those with an anti-vaccine stance would be open-minded enough to take a read.
~Jen
Jeneral finds of the week: 2014-12-28
Good/interesting/provoking finds I’ve stumbled across this week: 2014-12-28.
- A look at the gender gap in the technology sector/Silicon Valley through the lens of the 20 year reunion of the Stanford University class of 1994.
- Did you know there is a live-action Disney version of Cinderella going to be released next year? I didn’t, until I saw this trailer yesterday while watching another Disney movie. Why is there even a need to make a live-action version of this? Don’t tell me there will be live-action Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast coming soon.
~Jen
The Christmas Miracle of 2008: The Return of Cartman
“Cartman” was an invaluable addition to our family when we lived in a condo back in 2008. We received Cartman from the previous owners of the condo. The story goes that they purchased him from a “Masters Choice” grocery store fire sale when it was being renovated, but we suspect a more nefarious origin. During our time in the condo, he bore the weight of many a grocery bag, IKEA box–any load that cannot be lifted by one person. He did this without complaint and with only the slightest of rattles and squeaks. He lived happily by our parking spot #48, next to the ventilation fan, always happy to greet us and our loads to bear.
Then, in November 2008, Cartman was taken from us by an unknown assailant. Continue reading The Christmas Miracle of 2008: The Return of Cartman
Jeneral finds of the week: 2014-12-21
Good/interesting/provoking finds I’ve stumbled across this week: 2014-12-21. (I realize I’m a day late…life happens)
- This past Thursday saw the conclusion of season 1 of Serial podcast, which I loved. Of course, there are the inevitable parodies made since then, but this one by SNL is really hilarious, and holiday seasonal to boot! [su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9XpS6mIZfI” width=”480″ height=”300″]
- This article has an interesting view about how the success of sharing Uber economy is predicated by the growing and continued income inequality. It describes some of the reasons I feel uncomfortable with the concept.
- When I saw this article headline from the Washington Post about these YouTube videos created by this woman of sounds to purposefully induce a physical reaction called Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), I was skeptical to say the least. “It’s like showers of sparkles,” says Maria, speaking as herself. “It’s like warm sand being poured all over you, trickling over your head and down into your shoulders. It’s like goosebumps on your brain.” Then I watched one…and I seriously got the tingles in the back of my head! I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised, it was similar to the wonderful tingle-y feeling I get from having my hair brushed. This one is her most-viewed video, do you get the same tingles?
~Jen
Jeneral finds of the week: 2014-12-14
Good/interesting/provoking finds I’ve stumbled across this week: 2014-12-14.
- This post from www.handsfreemama.com wonderfully describes my same feelings last year when I was frustrated with how I was becoming as a mother. My role at home last year was turning into a family manager, instead of family nurturer. When both parents are working and have work schedules to commit to, you start trying to manage people to do things to your schedule, like at work, except these people are your young children who have different wants and needs than your coworkers. Thanks to Cookie1968 for sharing the link for me to find, in her own great post calling BS to the whole work-life balance thing.
- Why Poor People Stay Poor: this excerpt from Linda Tirado’s book Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America gives an account of how the daily realities of a working poor person makes it hard to get ahead, no matter how conscientious and hard working they are. This is should be a must read for all those who shape policies thinking poor people stay that way because they are lazy or don’t work hard enough.
- I was excited to find this Kickstarter campaign for the Spark Notebook because I like using an actual physical notebook for work, but was never really satisfied with any notebook I had found for being able to not only take notes of meetings, but actually strategize and plan ahead my goals and my progress towards them. This notebook looks like it may satisfy that!
~Jen
Serial—Seriously addicting
I know I’m coming to the Serial podcast party 11 weeks late, but better late than never, right? And after listening to just the first podcast, I know I’m hooked.
What is Serial? From its website:
Serial is a new podcast from the creators of This American Life, hosted by Sarah Koenig. Serial will follow one story – a true story – over the course of a whole season. We’ll follow the plot and characters wherever they take us and we won’t know what happens at the end of the story until we get there, not long before you get there with us. Each week we’ll bring you the latest chapter, so it’s important to listen in order, starting with Episode 1.
National Ballet of Canada Review: Nijinsky
I’m continuing on with my reviews of the 2014-2015 season of the National Ballet of Canada with the performance of Nijinsky. I must admit, the first time I saw this ballet in 2013, my gut reaction was, “Meh.” Sure, the physicality of the dancing was impressive, but the performances by the NBOC are so often impressive. It just didn’t wow me, or move me. When I saw that they were mounting it again this 2014-2015 season, I was actually tempted to switch out the tickets to a different show. Now I’m satisfied I didn’t.
Jeneral finds of the week: 2014-12-07
Good/interesting/provoking finds I’ve stumbled across this week: 2014-12-07. Continue reading Jeneral finds of the week: 2014-12-07