travel

StumbleUpon Sunday (10)

Trish1 Comment

StumbleUpon is a giant collection of the best pages on the Internet.

StumbleUpon is a great way to lose hours of your life.  Luckily, I braved the Internet vortex so you don’t have to.  This week I found these especially interesting websites:

  1. 9 Photo Composition Tips
    This video quickly gives advice and examples on how to take the best photo possible. I hadn’t heard of #7 before, “Center Dominant Eye.”  A new trick to try!
  2. 16 Incredible Van Gogh Paintings Tilt Shifted
    WOW.  With a simple twist, Van Gogh’s work becomes dynamic and almost life-life.
  3. Beautiful Map Posters of Anywhere
    This is perfect for people who are moving, or who particularly love a place.  I want several!
  4. 19 Animals Photographed Trying Things for the First Time
    OMG so cute.  I love the dog on his first subway ride and the tiny bear trying to climb a tree.
  5. These are the 10 Best U.S. Cities to Relocate To
    Described with cute infographics, I’m proud to see cities in Illinois and Texas on this list…although neither were cities in which I’ve actually lived.
  6. Smile Alarm Clock by Kim Jungwoo
    Hahaha!  An alarm clock that only turns off if its smile sensor thinks your grin is big enough.  This is diabolically brilliant.
  7. Minimalist Posters of Disney Films
    I especially love the one for Peter Pan….but the Bambi poster looks kind of creepy!
  8. World’s Most Beautiful Trees Photography
    Trees!  I love trees!  So many different colors and shapes, and two crazies scaling a 700-foot Sequoia!
  9. An Anthology of Mythical Creatures
    This infographic is super helpful in categorizing the origins of various mythical creatures, from kelpies in Scotland to Japan’s Ittan-momen, “a sentient roll of cotton that flies through the night and suffocates people.”
  10. 23 Animals That Have Totally Mastered the Game of Hide-and-Seek
    One of my favorite things that Rory does is when he hides behind the shower curtain with his tail sticking out.  Idiot animals are delightful!

My 4-Year Mongolia Anniversary

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Timehop reminded me that four years ago today, I was flying from Chicago to Seoul to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  I spent three weeks in the Asian country (south of Russia, north of China), and that trip remains one of my absolute favorite traveling memories, in large part because of how it came to be.

In the fall of 2010, Samaritan’s Purse Children’s Heart Project sent 14-year-old Sarangoo and her mother, Byamba, to Peoria, IL for heart surgery.  They stayed with a couple from my church, and the rest of our congregation poured food, entertainment, and love into their lives.  Except me.  I was recently returned home after college and five months in Senegal.  Bored with the familiar and feeling very single amongst married or dating friends, I was depressed.  And in my depression I couldn’t be bothered to help someone else.

Luckily for me, there was another depressed person in the mix.  Gany was Sarangoo’s translator, and their host family sent out an email that essentially read: “Gany is bored!  Will someone take her out for something fun?”  That sounded exactly like me, so I volunteered.  We went out to eat at Culver’s, took pictures of the Holocaust Memorial at the mall, and played the piano at my parent’s house.  Almost immediately, I knew I had found a kindred spirit.  Continue reading →

StumbleUpon Sunday (7)

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StumbleUpon is a giant collection of the best pages on the Internet.

StumbleUpon is a great way to lose hours of your life.  Luckily, I braved the Internet vortex so you don’t have to.  This week I found these especially interesting websites:

  1. 16 Things I Know Are True But Haven’t Quite Learned Yet
    Great words of wisdom!  “All you need to do to finish things is keep starting them until they’re done.“
  2. Rashad Alabarov Paints with Shadows and Light
    These are so incredible I almost can’t believe they’re real.
  3. 35 Tumblr Posts That’ll Make You Reevaluate Your Entire Existence
    Hahaha!  Great (idiotic) thought-provoking scenarios like:  “I won’t take a bullet for anyone because if I have to jump in front of a bullet, you have time to move.”
  4. 31 Places Everyone Should Visit Before They Die
    Wow!  Chittorgarh, India looks like a fantasy land!  *checks flight costs*  AND #27 is incredibly useful.
  5. A Photo Exploration of the Nomadic Culture in Mongolia
    Mongolia!  Probably my favorite place I’ve visited, in terms of uniqueness and beauty.
  6. Bookshelf Porn
    If I weren’t before, I’m now convinced that my future home must be wall-to-wall bookshelves.
  7. Funny Airplane Announcements
    “As you exit the plane, please make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.”
  8. Photos: What the Sky Should Look Like Without Light Pollution
    These are stunning.
  9. 10 Things You’ll See in Almost Every Tim Burton Film
    I love Tim Burton, and knowing he repeats himself does nothing to lessen my affection.
  10. 14 Amazing Psychology Facts Everyone Needs to Know
    Cool stuff!  I was especially intrigued by this one:  “Your decisions are more rational when thought in another language.”

Video Rec: HeyUSA Season 2

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Last summer, I fell in love with HeyUSA, a video series about Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart traveling around the United States in order to wear weird outfits, drink a lot of alcohol, and participate in hilarious adventures.  I wrote a blog post about it!  When I found out there would be a second season, I was pumped.  When I found out Grace wouldn’t be in it, I avoided the videos for two months.  It just couldn’t be the same, I whined.  But in a moment of desperation (aka boredom), I caved.  And I’m so glad I did!   Continue reading →

So Happy I Could Die – Moments of Divine Beauty

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I’m fangirling really hard over Christopher West’s Fill These Hearts, a book that combines theology and pop culture to discuss the universal longings of everyone’s heart for ecstasy, truth, beauty, and Love.  It is explaining so much of myself, things I thought were silly but are maybe profound.

One of the things he talks about is how our world is a twisted version of what is meant to be.  Death appears where there was only meant to be life, ugliness and pain where there was meant to be only beauty and pleasure.  But despite the presence of these evil things, we still get to enjoy life, beauty, and pleasure.  And it is in these gifts that we get a taste of what eternity with God will be like.

I don’t know about you, but there have been many times in my life when I’ve felt so happy I could just die.  Most of the time, I’ve stopped myself.  Of course I’m not really ready to die.  I’m just really happy.  But there are two times when I caught myself, then realized yes, I really would be okay if this were the moment I were ushered into eternity.  Here they are:  Continue reading →

Learning to Bow by Bruce Feiler

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I think I’ve made it clear in previous travel related posts that Japan is at the top of my Wanderlust list.  Reading about Feiler’s year as a junior high English teacher in Tochigi ought to have boosted my interest, but…it didn’t.  Feiler does a great job describing and analyzing the cultural distinctions of the Japanese, especially where education is concerned.  But his account lacks a certain spark.  Although he calls people friends and briefly describes his date-scene failures, there isn’t a lot of life in his recollection.

Perhaps he is imitating the Japanese custom of avoiding offending others.  There are times when his frustrations at constantly being othered as an American appear, but he doesn’t dig into those feelings.  The more I think about this, the more it seems he is honoring his Japanese friends.  But since so much of his book asserted his American identity, I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see more of his fire, independence, and emotion.

Learning to Bow is great as an introduction to Japanese culture.  But as a memoir, I wasn’t satisfied with the level of self-disclosure.  I suppose that makes me extremely American!  Hmm.  Continue reading →

StumbleUpon Sunday (5)

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StumbleUpon is a giant collection of the best pages on the Internet.

StumbleUpon is a great way to lose hours of your life.  Luckily, I braved the Internet vortex so you don’t have to.  This week I found these especially interesting websites:

  1. Clever Illustrations Reveal the Two Kinds of People There Are in the World
    Well, I’m definitely the neat freak.
  2. 30 Places You’d Rather be Sitting Right Now
    A great way to feel worse about your desk/couch/location.
  3. Powerful Illustrations Show Women How to Fight Gender PrejudicesFor example:  “Rebecca had depression, and only after many months she was able to wear clothes that revealed the scars left on her body.  Rebecca, these marks are a reminder of how brave you have had to be!  Psychological pain is also human, and suffering it does not make you any less of a person.”
  4. Pudding the Fox is Too Friendly to Go Free
    I know he says he doesn’t support keeping foxes as pets, but with a name like Pudding?  Give me one!
  5. When Their Trailer is Transformed Into a House, Everyone is Left Completely Amazed
    This amazing camper has all the clever hacks that has made me love tiny houses.
  6. This Artist Doesn’t Just Drink Coffee, She Also Makes Incredible Portraits With It!
    Yoda!  Mario!  Daenerys!
  7. This Sentence Has Five Words
    Incredible writing advice given in an incredible format.
  8. The 30 Best Films of the Decade
    I’ve seen only 10!
  9. 30 Shower Thoughts You’ve Never Had Before
    “The saying ‘Money can’t buy you happiness’ should be changed to ‘Money can’t prevent sadness.'”
  10. The Hero’s Journey Outline
    Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey, with multiple lists and charts!  This will be very interesting to a very specific set of people.

Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

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By the time books arrive at my library after months of sitting in my request queue, I usually forget how I heard of it in the first place.  Such was the case with Unbecoming, and the cover didn’t grab my attention.  I very nearly decided to return it unread, but I decided to give the first page a cursory look.  The very first sentence grabbed my attention, and by the end of the first chapter, I knew I was going to read the whole thing.

The first lie Grace had told Hanna was her name.

Unbecoming is an excellent example of one of my favorite tropes:  the unreliable narrator.  Grace shares what she wants to share, and as the reader, I had no idea how much of the information presented was truth, fibs, omissions, or outright lies.  I loved it!  The suspense was heightened even more by alternating sections that described her present life in Paris or her past in Tennessee.  Halfway through the book, I was dying to know what had happened in the past as well as what would happen to her in the future.  The double mystery made the book twice as interesting.

I don’t want to say too much, because I want people to experience the book as I did:  totally unprepared.  The characters are rich, the themes fascinating, and the plot fantastic.  What more do you need?  Read it now!  (Or click through to read the book jacket, which does do a great job of setting up the story.) Continue reading →

StumbleUpon Sunday (4)

TrishLeave a comment

StumbleUpon is a giant collection of the best pages on the Internet.

StumbleUpon is a great way to lose hours of your life.  Luckily, I braved the Internet vortex so you don’t have to.  This week I found these especially interesting websites:

  1. Silk
    This is the coolest website that allows you to create fantastic art by messing with rotational symmetry and colors.  It’s intuitive and impossible to make something ugly.
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  2. 49 Locals Tell You What You Absolutely Must Not Do in Their Home Countries
    Some are helpful, some are hilarious.
  3. 5-Year-Old Little Girl with Autism Paints Stunning Masterpieces
    My cynical side often thinks these child geniuses are not all that genius, but this girl’s paintings are genuinely beautiful.
  4. Time Lapse of Snow
    Oh my gosh, as a deeply devoted fan of snow, this massive accumulation of snow is fantastic.  It’s just so much!
  5. These 20 Thoughts are So Deep Your Brain Will Drown
    “If the toys in Toy Story died the kids would keep playing with them like normal but the other toys would be playing with their dead friend.”
  6. 10 Best Places to Live for Escaping World Conflict
    Never hurts to start planning ahead for retirement.
  7. If You Really Want to Connect With Someone Then the First Date Should Cost Zero Dollars
    Compelling idea–if the first date involves no money, the focus is on creativity and getting to know a person rather than going through the motions.
  8. Greek Frappe
    This video teaches you how to make a Greek frappe and is guaranteed to make you thirsty.
  9. 25 Spectacular Movies You (Probably) Haven’t Seen
    Hopefully you’ve seen some of these movies, because based on the ones I’ve seen, I completely agree that they are spectacular recommendations!
  10. 10 Reasons to Avoid Talking on the Phone
    98% of the time, I hate talking on the phone.  For exactly these ten reasons.

StumbleUpon Sunday (3)

TrishLeave a comment

StumbleUpon is a giant collection of the best pages on the Internet.

StumbleUpon is a great way to lose hours of your life.  Luckily, I braved the Internet vortex so you don’t have to.  This week I found these especially interesting websites:

  1. The Amazing World of Dogs in Photography
  2. Too Beautiful to be Real?  16 Surreal Landscapes Found on Earth
  3. 33 People Who Prove the World Isn’t Such a Broken Place After All
  4. The 5 Most Terrifying Civilizations in the History of the World
  5. 20 Places to See in Your 20s
  6. Writer Creates “Color Thesaurus” to Help You Correctly Name Any Color Imaginable
  7. Confessions of a Feminist Makeup Addict
  8. 23 Couples Who Decided to Get Tattoos and Absolutely Nailed It
  9. 23 Mind-Blowing Animal Pictures
  10. 8 Ways to Get Likes and Followers on Instagram