Fun Collection of Links

Stuart Firestein, Professor of Neurobiology at Columbia
...really looks like he's trying to take your pants off in photo 1

Hilarious photos on how to toast/drink like a good Swede, via Serious Eats, here. Tell me Hiroko Shimbo doesn't look like Edna from the Incredibles. Looking at the head angles captured in these pictures of visual contact for a semi-ceremonial drinking activity reminded me of one of my favorite videos [see 3:40].

I finished reading The World Without Us yesterday and my mind is still processing a lot of the possibilities of an ecosystem without our constant bombardment of stress. The book really made alternate utopian landscapes with minimal human impact stick with me. Naturally I was drawn to these images of a remote island in the Indian Ocean as a fascinating preview of what could be.


On another very separate note, many of my dear friends graduated from college last week. Spending time celebrating with them brought on a deluge of memories from last year when I was in their shoes. It terrified me somewhat to realize that it has been a full year since I finished college and went on that amazing backpacking-road trip. I've hardly shared any of the knowledge gained from that experience, and the time seems right to rectify that. For the next few weeks I will be revisiting my trip notes from one year ago, putting up some drool-worthy pictures, and posting lessons learned.