In this video posted by Life in the Doghouse, Stig, a very buoyant rescued pit bull, gleefully evades capture while playing with his canine buddies by jumping from couch to couch at high speed, gaining some serious air in the process.

via HooplaHa, Daily Picks and Flicks

These 14-week-old polar bear twins were presented to the public with their mother for the first time Wednesday at Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany. Sometimes you just need to smile.

Michael Dalder / Reuters

AP Photo/dpa, Andreas Gebert

AP Photo/dpa, Stephan Jansen

AP Photo/dpa, Sven Hoppe

View Entire List ›

Disco, a very talkative parakeet, must have been watching re-runs of Burn Notice because he’s certainly latched on to the very distinctive tag line of Michael Westen, the lead character who opened each episode with “My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy“.

via Nothing To Do With Arbroath

Her Universe founder Ashley Eckstein in a Darth Vader inspired look, photo credit Kelsey Edwards Photography

If you love TARDIS gowns and gender-bending Loki cosplay, you’re going to love to see what Her Universe brings to San Diego Comic-Con. If you like to design those things, you’re going to want to participate. Her Universe will be presenting a “geek couture” fashion show and design competition, and the grand prize is your own fashion collection for Hot Topic.

This isn’t a cosplay competition. It’s a fashion design contest. They can be couture-style or ready-to-wear. (See below for a few sample idea sketches.) And you don’t have to be a professional to enter–call it your own at-home, geeked-up version of Project Runway. (You’ll have to furnish your own Tim Gunn telling you to, “Make it work!”) Two grand prize winners will get that chance to co-design a collection for Hot Topic with Her Universe’s founder Ashley Eckstein.

For those who just want to see the results, The Her Universe Fashion Show will be held July 24th during SDCC at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel (near the San Diego Convention Center where Comic-Con is held). Entry will be first come-first served and admission is free with a San Diego Comic-Con 2014 badge.

“Fangirls are already using the halls of San Diego Comic-Con International as their runway to showcase custom fashions. We wanted to give these designers a bigger stage to share their talent and also provide an educational experience in the fashion industry,” said Eckstein.

Only 30 people will be chosen to show their designs at SDCC, so get to work! The deadline is April 4. Enter at www.heruniverse.com/fashionshowcontest. You can also watch Eckstein rocking a handcrafted leather ensemble designed by Doug Dunnam in this video:

Bumblee-inspired look, credit Her Universe

A frock to make even Captain Kirk jealous, credit Her Universe

Lookin’ like Loki, credit Her Universe

Try to look a little livelier than Lori’s Ghost, credit Her Universe

TARDIS dress not actually bigger on the inside, credit Her Universe

The post Get Ready For Geek-Inspired Couture In The Her Universe Fashion Show at SDCC appeared first on GeekMom.

Lorraine Robinson of Fairy Tale Miniatures transformed an old guitar into an elaborately detailed dollhouse. She explains how she created it in this 2013 blog post.

photos via Fairy Tale Miniatures

via Recyclart

It’s one thing to design infographics, but it is quite another to be well-versed in the art of creating infographics that don’t suck. I know that whenever I see an infographic, I think it’s pretty awesome and am immediately impressed. I love that complex information can be brought to a reasonable comprehension level. Not being a designer myself, I tend to get wrapped up in the pretty colors and focus less on whether the infographic has done its job.

That’s why when I received The Best American Infographics 2013 in the mail, I was anxious to see what the experts had to say about creating infographics that not only didn’t suck, but were, in fact, the best of the year. Much to my delight, the book over-delivered. There were cool infographics (Mixology), impressive infographics (Paths Through NYC), humorous infographics (Quantified Self) and ones that straight-up blew my mind (Wind Map). Best of all, these delightful examples of data visualization helped me come up with a list of eight qualities that non-sucky infographics possess.

The next time you’re creating infographics for your clients, consider the following:

1. Reflect the subject matter in every design element.

Breaking Bad Body Count by John D. Larue for TDYLF Blog

The Breaking Bad Body Count infographic is clever in that every aspect of the design is a callback to the show’s focus on a chemistry-teacher-turned-drug-overlord. This graphic, which recounts the death toll in the first 54 episodes of the show, uses a chemistry-like compound formula to tell the reader not only who died, but also how, when and by whom. Underneath the figure (human, pink bear, turtle) and name, readers learn what season the death occurred (S followed by a subscript of 1-5), the cause of death (Sh for shot, Ps for poisoned, etc.) and who was responsible (H for Hank, Ma for Multiple Assailants). The Periodic Table of Death guide and formula key help readers determine what the symbols in the death toll portion of the infographic mean. Pure brilliance!

2. If the concept is complex, make the design simple.

Wind Map by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg from hint.fm/wing

Wind Map was an ambitious infographic: It shows the what the wind is doing across the country in near-real time. That’s right. If you’re wondering whether it’s a good day to go surfing in the Pacific or just how brutal the Windy City’s namesake weather condition is before you leave the house, this infographic has you covered. Hell, they’ve gotten fan mail from scientists who track butterfly migration, so you know it’s going to work for whatever you need to know. But in order to keep from overwhelming viewers with an infographic that’s constantly in motion, the designers chose a muted, monochrome palette. They also were conscious of how much information they wanted to display. In the end, they created an infographic that’s easy to read and understand.

3. Give the design breathing room.

Popification of Top 40 by Gavin Potenza from Billboard

Popification of Top 40  shows how pop musichas dominated the Billboard Top 40 list for the past 20 years. Although there have been some ebbs and flows, overall dance, hard rock, country, R&B, rock and rap haven’t come close to snagging as many spots as pop hits have. Because the designer had limited space, however, he was careful to create a formation that would work within the restrictions. The winding chart goes from 1993 to 2012, and readers can easily follow the rise and fall of pop music hits from 40.9% in 1993 to 68.4% two decades later.

4. Supplement ambitious infographics with a straightforward key or legend.

Gay Rights in the U.S., State by State by Feilding Cage and Gabriel Dance from the Guardian online

Gay Rights in the U.S., State by State wanted to tell a story about how gay rights laws in America have evolved over time. The authors didn’t just stick to gay marriage. They included information on adoption by gay couples, employment, hate crimes and school bullying with respect to gay, lesbian and transgender people. This information was then broken out by region, by state and by particular rights. The colors (red for marriage, blue for adoption, green for employment, etc.) were also more or less intense to help tell the story. For example, dark red indicated marriage, medium red indicated civil unions, light red indicated domestic partnerships, stripes indicated prohibited or banned and clear indicated none or unclear. With so many colors and stats and states and overall information, the infographic could have been a complete mess. Instead, the designers created an infographic key or legend to help explain the set-up before throwing everything together into one colorful wheel.

5. Use the design to tell the story.

And the Oscar Goes to…New York City by Stevie Remsberg, Rebecca Berg, Amanda Dobbins, Eric Sundermann and Thomas Alberty for New York magazine

And the Oscar Goes to…New York City is a fearless depiction of how people in New York City view the world map: NYC is both hugely important and the center of the world. I jest… The infographic here actually depicts how many Oscar-nominated films were shot in various locations. While New York City steals the show overall, California, the U.K./London, France/Paris and New England all give it a run for its money. The best part, however, is that the shape and size of each location gives the reader information without forcing them to dive in. Even from a distance, people understand that some places have more Oscar nominations than others. I don’t need to look closely to see that NYC-shot films have a good chance of taking home a little gold statue, but if I want to know more than that, I can look closely and see other locales that set the scene in some kick-ass movies. The authors here do a good job of creating an infographic where the design—not the text—is the real star.

6. Readability should be a prime focus, from type choice to graphic shape.

Mixology by Ben Gibson and Patrick Mulligan from popchartlab.com

Mixology (Constitutions of Classic Cocktails) is probably one of my favorite infographics in the book. If I ever host a cocktail party, you can bet I’ll be using this as my companion guide. While the photos above likely don’t do it justice, this bartender’s best friend gives anyone the ability to craft 69 tasty alcoholic beverages with the correct ingredients, glassware and garnishes. Mixers are broken up into cordials, juices, sodas, condiments and miscellaneous items. Glassware is depicted so that a Collins glass is never again confused with a highball glass. Thin, colorful lines connect every part of the drink elements so that you know everything you need, right down to the ounces of bourbon in an Old-Fashioned. The zoom button helps, but the authors were also careful to pick legible typefaces and color code everything, without sacrificing the fun factor.

7. Images can speak louder than words.

Paths Through New York City by Eric Fischer from flickr.com/photos/walkingsf

Paths Through New York City proves that occasionally type is unnecessary. Based on tweets with locations tagged by the sender, the authors were able to develop a map of how people travel through NYC. By used a map and thick lines to indicate heavily-trotted paths, the reader gets a good idea of what the road less traveled means in the Big Apple. Here, based on the line thickness alone, you get a feel for where people are walking and where few people dare to wander. It’s easy to read while being super informative. After all, sometimes less really is more.

8. Have some fun.

Quantified Self by Nicholas Felton from Feltron.com

Quantified Self is part behavioral study, part self-discovery. The author looks at how he spends his time (where he is, who he’s with, etc.) and how it affects his personality. He then went so far as to create a corporate report based off the infographic and the information he uncovered. In cases like this, it’s best not to take yourself too seriously, and the author does a great job of noting things like how servings of filtered coffee he drank in NYC from 2010-2011 (296) and how many “crises involving a tick” he had while in the Bay Area (1).

After seeing some of America’s best infographics, it’s hard not to be inspired. Whether you’re interested in tackling a topic like weaseling your way into first class seating or describing social media through the use of bacon, the world of infographics is your oyster. But remember: you want to make sure you’re creating infographics that don’t suck. For that, HOW is here to help out. On March 17, the talented E. Genevieve Williams shows designers how to craft infographics your clients and fans will drool over. With advice on everything from how to gather information to how to embellish a design, you’ll be a worthy contender for next year’s best-of list. Sign up for the Data Visualization course today!

The post Creating Infographics That Don’t Suck appeared first on HOW Design.

Designed by John Caserta for the Noun Project

As we do every Friday, we’ve collected our most-shared Twitter links for your weekend reading pleasure.

From around the web:

• How one man spent years dreaming of working at Apple, worked hard to finally get there — and then hated it.
• 10 rejections letters sent to now-famous people.
• What to do when an email from your boss’s is cryptic and short.
• The one thing you need to be an invaluable resource: Leverage.

From 99U:

• The 5 Assumptions That Will Sabotage Your Client Work 
• Answering the Dreaded “So, What Do You Do?” 

Follow us on Twitter.

The flipside to Japan’s major cities being so crowded is that large patches of the country are hardly developed at all. The need to be close to an urban center for work or school means that if you’re willing to spend a couple hours getting out of town, you can find scenes of pristine natural beauty.

Recently, a group of Japanese Internet commentators engaged in an impromptu debate about which of Japan’s rural villages is the most beautiful. They haven’t come to a consensus yet, and after looking at photos from the numerous contenders, we can see why they’re having trouble deciding on just one.

The discussion was kicked off by these bucolic snapshots, which the poster referred to as being from “the most beautiful village in Japan.”

From the distinctive look of the mountains, commentators determined the photos were taken in Hakuba, high in the Japan Alps of Nagano Prefecture. Hakuba is a huge draw for skiers during the winter, but with less than 10,000 permanent residents, far fewer people have had the chance to see the town after the snow thaws. “I’d love to spend a summer there,” pined one impressed individual.

The tranquil images even stirred a bit of nostalgia in a man who grew up in the village. “I haven’t been back in three years,” he said wistfully. “I wonder how my mom’s doing.”

Before long, other visitors to Tetsugaku News, the site hosting the pictures, chimed in with their choices for Japan’s most picturesque town. Staying in Nagano, one man nominated the section of Kamimura Village known as Shimoguri no Sato. Like many of Japan’s mountainous areas, each fall sees the foliage turn dazzling shades of yellow, orange, and red.

Kamimura doesn’t have a monopoly on fall colors, though, as shown by this view of the Nakatsugawa River Gorge in Gifu Prefecture.

Still, Nagano frequently came up in the discussion, such as with this vote for Kinasa, where the white mist of the fog provides a compelling contrast with the vibrant leaves.

Nagano got a fifth nod for Ogawamura, which with an estimated population of less than 3,500 is even more sparsely-populated than off-season Hakuba.

Going from the mountains to the sea, Kushimoto’s position on the Pacific coast in Wakayama Prefecture makes it the southernmost settlement on Japan’s main island of Honshu. Kushimoto has more than just its geographic claim to fame, as it’s also a site of geological and historical interest. Its unique spire-shaped rock formations are a local tourist attraction, and the town is also where the USS Lady Washington, the first American ship to reach Japan, tried to make landfall during the country’s enforced period of isolationism.

Moving farther south still we come to Aogashima. Thanks to the volcanic landmass’ official status as the southernmost member of the Izu Island chain, Aogashima is technically part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, despite being hundreds of kilometers away from Mt. Fuji. As you’d expect from its remote location, only some 200 people call Aogashima home.

Saitama Prefecture, Tokyo’s neighbor to the north, is the frequent butt of jokes because of its unhip image compared to the cosmopolitan capital. All that snickering belies some beautiful mountainscapes, though, such as this one found in Okuchichibu.

The area becomes even more beautiful on winter nights, when the sub-freezing temperatures create dramatic icicles.

Like Kushimoto, the coastline of Hotokegaura, in Honshu’s northernmost prefecture of Aomori, have been letting sailors know exactly where they are for generations.

Finally, any discourse on Japan’s most visually striking village has to include Shirakawa-go. Located in Gifu Prefecture, the town has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its traditional architecture. The most distinctive feature of the buildings, some of which are open for travelers to spend the night in, is their steeply-sloped roofs that keep snow from piling up during the region’s harsh winters.

Honestly, spending an hour drooling over these photos has made us less capable of choosing which one outshines the rest. On the plus side, though, we do have our next half-dozen vacation destinations picked out.

Source, images: Livedoor

• The Five Japanese Streets That People of Japan Most Want to Visit
• Japanese couples pick their favorite World Heritage sites for dates
• Places you simply must visit: Toyama Prefecture
• The best of Japan’s “top 3” tourist hotspots【poll】
• Japan’s 20 best free sightseeing spots

Origin: Internet users can’t decide on Japan’s most beautiful village, and we can totally see why
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Do you have experience with sleep paralysis? Many scientists believe that sleep paralysis is the biological answer to such mysteries as spirit visitations, alien abductions, incubi/succubi, and out-of-body experiences. My old friend Rodney Ascher, director of the excellent film Room 237 and other movies, is making a documentary about the phenomenon and would love to hear from you. Rodney writes:

I'm working on on a new film - it's about Sleep Paralysis, a surprisingly common phenomenon where people wake-up totally frozen from the eyeballs down, unable even to make a noise, and they frequently see sinister intruders and other disturbing visions. I've been obsessed with it ever since it used to happen with me (in my case, I saw sort of a living, 3D shadow looming over in me in judgement).

The film is going to be largely built on interviews with people who've had vivid, first-person experiences with it (and have given some serious thought to what's really happening to them) - if anyone wants to share their stories, the easiest way is to contact us via the film's Facebook page.

The Nightmare: A Nonfiction Film About An Unreal Experience

Books that help us make sense of ourselves, our world, and our place in it.

In a recent piece about the Manual for Civilization — the Long Now Foundation’s effort to assemble 3,500 books most essential for sustaining or rebuilding humanity, as part of their collaboratively curated library of 3,500 books for long-term thinking — I lamented the fact that Stewart Brand’s 76-book contribution to the Manual contained only one and a half books authored by a woman. To their credit, the folks at the Long Now reached out immediately, inviting me to contribute my own list to the collaborative library they’re building.

In grappling with the challenge, I faced a disquieting and inevitable realization: The predicament of diversity is like a Russian nesting doll — once we crack one layer, there’s always another, a fractal-like subdivision that begins at the infinite and approaches the infinitesimal, getting exponentially granular with each layer, but can never be fully finished. If we take, for instance, the “women problem” — to paraphrase Margaret Atwood — then what about Black women? Black queer women? Non-Western Black queer women? Non-English-speaking non-Western Black queer women? Non-English-speaking non-Western Black queer women of Jewish descent? And on and on. Due to that infinite fractal progression, no attempt to “solve” diversity — especially no thirty-item list — could ever hope to be complete. The same goes for other variables like genre or subject: For every aficionado of fiction, there’s one of drama, then 17th-century drama, then 17th-century Italian drama, and so on.

But I had to start somewhere. So, with the discomfort of that inescapable disclaimer, I approached my private, subjective, wholly non-exhaustive selection of thirty-three books to sustain modern civilization and the human spirit — books at the intersection of introspection and outrospection, art and science, self and society.Above all, books that help us (or, at least, have helped me) learn how to live — how to make sense of ourselves, our world, and our place in it. Please enjoy. (A parenthetical “more” link appears after books I’ve previously contemplated in greater detail on Brain Pickings.)

1. The Principles of Uncertainty (public library) by Maira Kalman (more here)
2. On Photography (public library) by Susan Sontag (more here and here)
3. The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety (public library) by Alan Watts (more here and here)
4. Varieties of Scientific Experience (public library) by Carl Sagan (more here)
5. Ways of Seeing (public library) by John Berger (more here)
6. Optimism (public library) by Helen Keller (more here)
7. Man’s Search for Meaning (public library) by Viktor Frankl (more here)
8. The Diaries of Maria Mitchell (public library) by Maria Mitchell (more here and here)
9. I’ll Be You and You Be Me (public library) by Ruth Krauss, illustrated by Maurice Sendak (more here)
10. On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes (public library) by Alexandra Horowitz (more here and here)
11. Letter to My Daughter (public library) by Maya Angelou (more here)
12. The Accidental Universe (public library) by Alan Lightman (more here and here)
13. Collected Poems (public library) by Edna St. Vincent Millay
14. The Year of Magical Thinking (public library) by Joan Didion (more here)
15. The Color Purple (public library) by Alice Walker
16. Here Is New York (public library) by E.B. White (more here)
17. The Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen (public library) by Hans Christian Andersen (more here)
18. Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists (public library) by Kay Larson (more here)
19. Orlando: A Biography (public library) by Virginia Woolf (more here)
20. A Short History of Nearly Everything (public library) by Bill Bryson
21. The Collected Poems (public library) by Sylvia Plath
22. How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer (public library) by Sarah Bakewell (more here)
23. Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World (public library) by Lisa Randall
24. The Politics (public library) by Aristotle
25. Freedom from Fear (public library) by Aung San Suu Kyi (more here)
26. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood (public library) by James Gleick (more here)
27. Does My Goldfish Know Who I Am? edited by Gemma Elwyn Harris (more here)
28. The Feminine Mystique (public library) by Betty Friedan (more here)
29. The Collected Poems (public library) by Denise Levertov
30. The Pillow Book (public library) by Sei Shonagon (more here)
31. Bird by Bird (public library) by Anne Lamott (more here)
32. Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar (public library) by Cheryl Strayed (more here)
33. The Little Prince (public library) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (more here)

Keep an eye on the Manual for Civilization for more reading lists to complete the 3,500-book library, and consider joining me in supporting the project here.

Donating = Loving

Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month. If you find any joy and stimulation here, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner.

♥ $7 / month♥ $3 / month♥ $10 / month♥ $25 / month

You can also become a one-time patron with a single donation in any amount.

Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what to expect. Like? Sign up.

Brain Pickings takes 450+ hours a month to curate and edit across the different platforms, and remains banner-free. If it brings you any joy and inspiration, please consider a modest donation – it lets me know I'm doing something right.

Image: Ecco/Little, Brown Book Group UK

This book arrived at the perfect time for me, as my parenting confidence was at an all-time low. As a family, we’re adjusting to a new baby who abhors continuous sleep, plus a four-year-old who is currently specializing in challenging behavior. I knew that lack of sleep colors everything negatively, but I was starting to feel like I wasn’t really doing a great job. What I needed was reassurance that my feelings were normal, that other people find this parenting lark as difficult as me. Could All Joy and No Fun really help me understand my feelings about parenting?

The book grew from an article exploring why parents have been observed to be no happier than non-parents, and sometimes are considerably less happy. Children are supposed to fill our lives with unending joy and happiness, so why aren’t parents happier? Guiding us through a selection of reasons why this might be the case, author Jennifer Senior expands on the idea that actually, parenting is a difficult job, especially in modern times, and explores different ways that parents are dealing with these issues. Where this books differs from many of the other scientifically-based parenting books available is that the author looks at research on how children affect their parents, rather than the other way around. She pulls together research from a range of scientific papers, interspersed with interviews with parents from broadly middle-class backgrounds. This makes the text accessible and interesting, as it allows the reader to see how their experiences are similar. I certainly identified with stories of attempting to negotiate with a recalcitrant child and trying to balance the needs of my children with my own needs as a person, not just a mother.

One area which really struck a chord for me is that Senior explains that there is no real way to prepare for a baby. You can paint the nursery and buy a crib, but until the baby arrives, there’s no predicting exactly what looking after an infant entails. This “Transition to Parenthood” is abrupt and can be traumatic, not even taking into account the physical effects of childbirth on the mother. This was very true for me personally. I’d never looked after a baby or even changed a diaper before my daughter arrived. Although I understood the basic concept, the actual day-to-day reality of infant childcare was a shock, especially the lack of sleep. Moving far away from my family has meant that I don’t have relatives available to give me a break, and my friends have children of their own to manage. This puts more pressure onto parents—how can you cope if you don’t have the metaphorical village to help you?

Another aspect which I found interesting was the fact that the trend is for first babies to be born to older mothers. At 33 when my first was born, I wasn’t the youngest in my antenatal class, but neither was I the oldest. At that point, I’d had 12 years after finishing university where I had been an independent adult with my own life and hobbies. Suddenly, along came someone who completely subsumed me and took away my autonomy. Senior suggests that this is more of a shock when you are used to your independence, and that younger parents might find this transition easier. I think that this is something that is even harder for us geeks. We are passionate about things, our hobbies define us in some ways, and they tend to take up a great deal of our free time. For me, my darkroom became a nursery, the time to draw or photograph became consumed by the needs of my infant, and my spinning wheel became dusty in the corner of a room. When I do try to balance my need to be creative with the needs of my children, I find I’m constantly interrupted and unable to reach the state of flow in which the creative activity will actually have a restorative effect.

Flow, that lovely feeling when you’re “in the zone” as athletes describe it, is when you are so engrossed in a task that time seems to stretch and bend. Geeky hobbies, by their very nature, tend to be time-intensive and when your free time is split into two-minute chunks by interruptions, it can be more frustrating than relaxing. For example, some of this article was written on my phone, in the dark, while trying to convince my seven-month-old son that it was time to sleep. This type of interruption to your thoughts can leave you feeling like your life before children has been completely swept away, which is a difficult feeling to cope with.

I particularly enjoyed the sections which talked about how some childhood behavior can be explained by the way that their brains are developing. Biologically, children have an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex. This section of brain, which is placed just behind the forehead, controls the organization of thought, allows adults to focus on tasks, allows us to plan, and controls inhibitions. No wonder children are so different, as their brains have not yet developed the functions which we as adults consider to be normal. Even though I see this as a teacher and work round it in my lessons, to understand that some of the things which my daughter does that are so infuriating can be explained through the development of her brain was a revelation. It takes the pressure off a little. It’s not our bad parenting which is causing the behavior, four-year-olds really are just like that!

Although this is not a book of advice, one thing which really helped me was that Senior describes a theory of “ego depletion,” which explains why tempers can fray so easily. Suggested by psychologist Roy F. Baumeister and columnist John Tierny, it argues that self-control is a limited resource, so that the more you try to hold yourself together in the face of annoyance, the more likely you are to explode at the next infraction. As a teacher, I’ve always been proud of my ability to hold my temper when dealing with children and their annoyances, but recently I’ve found it harder to do that at home. As well as stressing for me how important it is for me to create time for myself, if only two minutes to have a cup of tea while the baby explores a new toy or takes one of his short naps, this theory explains why tempers become more frayed in the evenings in our house. It clarified for me that it’s easier to take a deep breath and not explode at yet another difficult episode with our four-year-old in the morning when we’re rested and have topped up that self-control somewhat overnight.

The interviews with parents are also enlightening. We see parents coping with shift work and young children while trying to divide the workload fairly, parents trying to work from home, and parents trying to deal with the way that their adolescents are moving towards adulthood. One of the most moving parts is the story of Sharon Bartlett, who had adopted her grandson Cameron after his mother had died. Sharon was incredibly committed to Cameron and when she was sadly diagnosed with brain cancer, her only thoughts were for Cameron’s welfare. It shows that parenthood is a broad brush; it comes in all colors and flavors. Sharon embraced the parenthood of a young child again, if only for a short while, and that made Cameron’s life all the richer for it.

This is a very readable book, which covers much more ground than I’ve been able to mention here. I can see myself coming back in years to come to reread the sections about adolescents and the way that their parents are coping, for example. It’s helped me think about parenting in a wider context, particularly how attitudes to children have changed as children are no longer expected to work to support the family. I don’t normally highlight books, but whole passages in my Kindle version are yellow, which says a lot about how much impact this book has had with me.

On the joy side of things, Senior describes the “bursts of grace” which pepper the child-rearing experience. These have been a saving grace for me. I try and burn them onto my brain, so that I can recall them when times are more difficult. The time when my son fell asleep in my arms, smiling, while a Chopin étude played, my daughter’s first steps, and when she said she loved me to the moon and back one hundred times. I’m cutting myself a little more slack these days, and trying to remember that my daughter’s underdeveloped prefrontal cortex is causing her outbursts, not my actions. I read the last chapter of this book in the dark while feeding my son to sleep, his warm smooth fingers holding onto my arm. These are the moments that make things worth it, and it’s these I’m holding onto as my parenting journey continues.

All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood is available now.

For more GeekMom views on parenting and parenting books, have a look at 13 Things That Change When You Go From Geek Girl to Geek Mom, There’s More To A Tantrum Than You Realize, and Life With a Spirited Child: A Geek Perspective.

GeekMom received this item for review purposes.

The post Book Review: All Joy and No Fun appeared first on GeekMom.

As a big fan of Game of Thrones, I was happy to get my hands on this Westeros pop-up book. But oh my goodness, I had no idea how amazing a pop-up book could be! With five spreads and 33 pops, the book is fun enough as a beautiful pop-up. But then I noticed a mysterious sheet of paper – titled “Unfolding the Map” – taped to the back of the book with illos that looked like origami instructions. Huh? I figured there was a pull-out map inside the book that I missed. But as I followed the somewhat complicated steps (okay, I had to call Mark into the office to help me out, and it took us over five minutes to properly unfold the thing), I realized this wasn’t just your typical paper map we were dealing with – we were unfolding the actual book (almost as tricky to do as one of those intricate puzzle boxes from Japan) until it turned into a very large, interactive, three-dimensional atlas of the Seven Kingdoms.

More photos of Game of Thrones: A Pop-Up Guide to Westeros

Object Élevé is a clever, semi-suspended staircase that also serves as storage and work space. It uses a “samba stair” arrangement—alternating left and right steps—to take up less floorspace. Object Élevé was designed by Dutch design firm Studio Mieke Meijer and was commissioned by Just Haasnoot.

photos via Studio Mieke Meijer

via Dezeen, My Modern Metropolis

Nikola Tesla

Redditor VanVictor has created Famous People in Fiction, a series (part 1, 2,and 3) of images that show historical figures as portrayed by actors in movies and television shows. You can view more images from the collection on Imgur.

John Lennon

Diana, Princess of Wales

Walt Disney

Martin Luther King

William Shakespeare

images via vanvictor

via reddit

This year, the sakura cherry blossoms are scheduled to start appearing in Japan as early as March 20 and will slowly move their way north as the country begins to thaw after a particularly snowy winter. Just one day after the appearance of the actual blossoms, McDonald’s will release a spring-inspired burger that takes a cue from the very sakura that Japan is so famous for. But with a pink-colored bun and sakura mayonnaise sauce, it’s unclear if the odd combination will be as well received as cherry blossoms and beer.

Officially called “Sakura Teritama,” the burger is filled with a fried egg, ginger teriyaki pork patty, lettuce and sakura daikon radish mayonnaise sauce. Oh, and don’t forget the pink bun!

McDonald’s Japan will also be selling a Sakura Cherry soda or float and will decorate each store with cherry blossom decorations.

So if winter in Japan has got you down, turn to your local McDonald’s for a bit of a spring pick-me-up!

Source: NariNari
Images: McDonald’s Japan (1, 2)

• Teriyaki Egg Burger Set to Make a Comeback at McDonald’s Japan
• Cherry Blossom + a Sprinkling of Snow = Incredible Beauty 【Photos】
• Volkswagen celebrates Girls’ Day with Beetle sushi
• We combine McDonald’s and MOS Burger for forbidden deliciousness
• Starbucks Japan SAKURA 2012 Collection in Full Bloom, Koreans Crazy for Color-Changing Tumbler

Origin: Celebrate spring with pink buns at McDonald’s Japan
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

Tuluko is a 2-year-old Little Owl (yes, that’s it’s real name) who lives in an apartment in Tokyo. His owner goes by the name KIMUPIKO on Twitter and regularly posts photos of his tiny owl friend, much to the delight of Japanese netizens. The photo above in particular has been melting hearts across the internet. Just seeing Tuluko hunkered down on the warm heated floor is cute enough, but wait until you see some of her other photos.

▼ Tuluko likes to perch on top of things…like a slipper.

▼ But she likes to be under things, too.

▼ Sometimes she even likes to be on top of and under something at the same time.

▼ Of course she likes to perch atop the couch.

▼ And on the table…

▼ How would you like a little buddy to watch over you while you do the dishes?

▼ But most of all Tuluko likes to snuggle up.

▼ She really likes to snuggle.

▼ It could just be her favorite thing.

Does anyone else wish they had a pet owl now?

Source: Net Lab
Images: Twitter (KIMPUPIKO)

• We visited the owl cafe in Tsukishima where the awesome never ends【Photos】
• Adorable chinchilla causes Japanese netizens to have cute attack 【Photos】
• DIY panty-shots: Something about these panty-flashing figurines isn’t right 【Photos】
• “Where are ya!? I’ll fight ya!!!” Cat battles air for over a minute in adorable video
• Beauty is pain: A journey through one South Korean woman’s plastic surgery 【Photos】

Origin: Lovable house owl delights netizens 【Photos】
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

We here at RocketNews24 know there’s a lot to love about Asia. With unique traditions, fascinating people and awe-inspiring landscapes, there’s a certain atmosphere and sense of beauty that has us hooked.

While it’s not always easy to translate the magic onto film, one photographer from Thailand is leading the way with an amazing collection of stunning photos and an open invitation for others to join him on his photo travels across the Asian continent. From Myanmar’s mist-shrouded temples to the quiet rivers of China and India, these photos will simply take your breath away.

Weerapong Chaipuc only recently took up photography after retiring early from a medical profession. Despite the late start, he’s already showing an incredible talent for capturing moments of quiet stillness in the world’s most populous countries. While he uses Photoshop to enhance his images, Chaipuc believes the real magic is in capturing the moment at the right time of day, in the right season, with the perfect light. For an inspiring tour through some unique landscapes, take a quiet scroll through the pictures below.

Li River, China 

• China’s hauntingly beautiful lost city is no myth
• Nature photographer in Hokkaido captures beautiful sun pillar 【Video】
• Out of control plane fight made even better with silly subtitles【Video】
• Hold on tight: 10 unmissable roller coasters in Japan
• “Where are ya!? I’ll fight ya!!!” Cat battles air for over a minute in adorable video

Origin: 21 breathtaking photos of Asia
Copyright© RocketNews24 / SOCIO CORPORATION. All rights reserved.

You can’t handle the smooth! (JK, you totally can.)

Chocolate Raspberry Fig Smoothie

Oh YUM. Figs? In a smoothie? Yaaass. Cook Republic's recipe also includes cashews, paprika, and maple syrup. Intrigued? Get the full recipe here.

cookrepublic.com

Vegan Piña Colada Smoothie

This is one of those genius ideas that makes you go, "Why didn't I think of that?" The more adventurous could add rum. Just sayin'. Get the full recipe at Foodie With Family.

foodiewithfamily.com

Vegan Green Tea Chia Smoothie

Mom Foodie's combo of banana, matcha powder, and chia seeds packs this treat with 10 grams of fiber. Get the full recipe here.

blommi.com

View Entire List ›

Image capture: Patricia Vollmer.

My youngest son is our Adventure Time fan. Based on our multiple product reviews and the birthday party he had in January, our blog regulars probably know that already.

GeekMom received an invitation to check out the new Adventure Time: Card Wars app for iOS and Android, and I was happy to check it out and let my sons play. The review here discusses our download of the iOS version for my iPad 2. We did not test it on our Android tablet.

The game is based on the Season 4 Adventure Time episode, “Card Wars“, in which Jake the Dog unearths a card deck and challenges Finn the Human to a game. The winner of the game is to be deemed “Cool Guy,” while the loser is the “Dweeb” and has to drink a grog-style drink of assorted ingredients as penance. The card game in the episode pays homage to popular TTGs such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon. In the episode, you see a wide variety of capabilities and non-capabilities that can be used to battle your opponent.

You begin play as Jake the Dog (shown here playing against Finn the Human with the “Dweeb” and “Cool Guy” cups of soda), but will collect other Adventure Time characters as the game progresses. You can play those additional characters in parallel. My sons are playing as Jake, Finn, and Lady Rainicorn simultaneously right now. © Cartoon Network

The app is based on this game accurately enough, even though I saw some reviewer on iTunes complain that not all capabilities from the television episode were available in the app. Players will start with a tutorial that covers the basics of game play. Then, you’re all set to venture on your own.

First, you’ll lay down your “land” cards, which provide the setting. These cards frame what warriors and spells you’re able to set up on the tabletop. After your opponent sets up his/her land cards, warriors, and spells, you will then “battle.”

The battle part of the game takes a little bit of tablet savvy. As seen in the image below, there’s a spinning pointer on-screen. Tap the tablet to time the pointer with where you want it to land. Where it ends up corresponds with the level of attack or defense you will have. You win/lose the game according to the types of cards you have in combination with your ability to tap the tablet properly. It’s an interesting mix.

Tap to attack. This will test your hand-eye coordination. The green signifies a successful attack, while the red is a loss. © Cartoon Network

My sons are really enjoying this game and continue to play it often after nearly three weeks. However, there are in-app purchases available that they claim would help them enjoy it more. We ordinarily don’t do in-app purchases, but gems are available for purchase at approximately $0.99 each.

Image: Turner Entertainment.

Like other games, the in-app purchases will help you achieve tasks more quickly. However, the game can be played perfectly well without the investment.

Adventure Time: Card Wars retails for $3.99 and is now available at both the iTunes App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android devices. In-app purchases start at $0.99. The game is rated for ages 9+ for infrequent/mild cartoon or fantasy violence.

GeekMom received this item for review purposes.

The post App Review: Adventure Time: Card Wars for iOS and Android appeared first on GeekMom.

Polar bear cub climbing his mother [x]

Photo courtesy of WNO by Scott Suchman

From an email:

“Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced two free special events in conjunction with its forthcoming production of The Magic Flute. WNO celebrates its sixth season of free opera simulcasts at Nationals Park with the M&M’S® Opera in the Outfield performance of Mozart’s classic The Magic Flute on the opera’s opening night, Saturday, May 3, 2014. Gates open at 5 p.m. for “pregame” activities for the entire family. The Magic Flute, which will be performed in English in a new eye-popping production featuring sets and costumes by Japanese-American artist Jun Kaneko, will be broadcast live from the Kennedy Center Opera House to the high-definition screen at the ballpark at 7 p.m.

WNO will also present a free exhibition of large-scale ceramic works by Mr. Kaneko in the Kennedy Center Hall of Nations, April 9 to May 19, 2014.

For more information about Washington National Opera,
visit www.kennedy-center.org/wno.

Visit www.facebook.com/WashingtonNationalOpera
for behind-the-scenes news, special offers, and advance notice of events.”

“You don’t need true love to thaw a frozen heart, just soak it in water for a few hours. It works on turkeys…”

Screen Junkies has released an honest movie trailer for Disney’s 2013 animated musical fantasy-comedy film Frozen. We’ve previously written about Screen Junkies and their ongoing series of honest television and movie trailers.

‘Frozen’ melted the hearts of audiences everywhere – and drove them crazy with its catchy songs. Now, relive the smash movie musical in the first animated Honest Trailer EVER!!

Milo the cat videobombs the recording of his human’s yoga routine before shutting the whole thing down with a thwack of his paw.

via reddit, Daily Picks and Flicks

Simply wonderful.

House of Stark - A Song Of Ice And Fire.

dahlek / Via reddit.com

Sherlock.

nerd-girl-nails.tumblr.com

Harry Potter.

omnails.tumblr.com

Welcome To Night Vale.

timeladyofhogwarts.tumblr.com / Via fuckyeahnerdynails.tumblr.com

View Entire List ›

THIS RULES.

Says Betabrand founder Chris Lindland, "When you look beyond the ranks of the professionally beautiful, photography becomes a lot more fun."

betabrand.com

To find the women, the company sent out a casting call on social media; 60 Ph.D.s and doctoral candidates replied.

betabrand.com

betabrand.com

View Entire List ›

The Owls Are Not What They Seem by Joshua Budich

“In Dreams” is a group art at the Spoke Art gallery in San Francisco that features a “dynamic range of artwork influenced by the prolific and innovative films of director David Lynch.” The show began on Saturday, March 8th, 2014 and will be on display until Saturday, March 29th. You can view and purchase artwork from the show online at Spoke Art or RSVP for the event on Facebook.

Comprised of over 50 artists from around the globe, each of the exhibited works evoke the emotional complexities and stylistic ventures of Lynch’s work through a variety of mediums, such as painting, sculptures and limited edition fine art prints. Often defying the conventions of filmmaking, the films of David Lynch feature all-too-familiar worlds that, beneath their vibrant exteriors, guard unthinkable secrets.

Here is a list of the participating artists:

Akira Beard, Alex Kirzhener, Allison Reimold, Audrey Pongracz, Christine Hostetler, Cuyler Smith, Dave MacDowell, Epyon 5, Jason D’Aquino, Joel Daniel Phillips, Joemur, Johannah O’Donnell, John Wentz, Jonathan Wayshack, Kate Copeland, Kate Zambrano, Kelly McCernan, Ken Davis, Kukula, Mandy Tsung, Matt Macabre, Meghan Stratman, Michael Ramstead, Peter Adamyan, Rich Pellegrino, Rodrigo Cifuentes, Sandi Calistro, Sarah Joncas, Scarecrowoven, Veronica Fish, Zach Tutor, Evan B Harris, Fugscreens Studios, Matt Ritchie, Cuddly Rigor Mortis , Rebecca Rose, Tessa Morrison, Geoff Trapp, Guillaume Morellec, Adam Maida, Bartosz Kosowski, Blunt Graffix, Brian Methe, Chuck Sperry, Clint Wilson, Dan Black, David Moscati, Fernando Reza, Jermaine Rogers, Joshua Budich, Lauren Gregg, Matthew Skiff, Sam Gilbey, Shaun Lynch, Tim Jordan, Mat Weller, Matt Chase, and Ruel Pascual.

David’s Lunch by Joel Daniel Phillips

Lady Log by Cuddly Rigor Mortis

In Dreams, David Lynch (satin black) by Chuck Sperry

Eraserhead by epyon5

Twin Peaks Action Figure Collection by Max Dalton

images via Spoke Art and credited artists

via Spoke Art

Wired's Jordan Golson covers the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, now entering its fourth day. The experienced captain, with 18,000 hours of flight time, gave no warning and issued no mayday. Even with GPS, hardened recorders and pervasive radio, it might be a long time before we know what happened.

Whatever happened, it happened quickly, aviation experts said, and catastrophically. The fact it happened over the ocean–presumably the South China Sea, but possibly the Gulf of Thailand–means it could be months or years before we know exactly what went wrong. The ocean is a very big place, and finding clues will be slow. It took investigators two years to recover the black box data recorder from Air France Flight 447, which went down over the Atlantic on June 1, 2009.

A key data point: "Once a plane is more than 100 or 150 miles from shore, radar no longer works. It simply doesn't have the range."