Priorities

I survived another layoff, still have a job.
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Indulge me for a moment while I take a break from the dick jokes and do some navel-gazing. If you're over it, come back tomorrow, and it'll be business as usual. Promise. 
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It's been an interesting month over here in me-ville. The company I worked for got 'acquired' by another company, so I had to wait out another round of layoffs (they cut 25% of the old company yesterday). It was the fifth round of cuts in 2 years. Also, there were some other personal disappointments I had to deal with at the same time.

These hiccups encouraged (forced?) me to examine how I felt about my job-career, my personal life, future happiness, and all sorts of other shit I don't pay much attention to when I'm busy practicing yoga / working / reading books / playing guitar / traveling to amazing places / working out / riding motorcycles / dominating / generally being awesome and doing awesomely. But sometimes things don't go your way, and instead of waking up every day noticing how good your life is, you wake up and wonder what the hell just happened. This is not my preferred Default Setting for navigating the day.

So where are we now? I don't think that all my life lessons need to be reproduced in this space, but the short version is that I appreciate my life more than I ever have. It's good to be me, though not because I'm anything special. Instead, it's good to be me because my friends and family are amazing. (If you're reading this, you're probably one of them.)

Have a good day today.
Thanks for reading.

Shocking news you will never believe

Apparently you don't lose most of your body heat from your head. I looked for the original source for more information but I couldn't find it. And the British Medical Journal probably doesn't have it available for free anyway.
Edit: Here's the same info in an easier-to-parse format, courtesy the BBC.

Other myths debunked:

• There is a cure for your hangover. In fact, the only cure is not to drink to excess. A ha.
  
• Sugar makes children hyperactive. Turns out that people rate their children's behavior as hyperactive after they've had some sugar, even when they hadn't.
• Snacking at night makes you fat. Apparently it depends on what you eat, and how much, and how much exercise you get.
• The bracts (red leaves) of the poinsettia plant are poisonous, and suicides rise during the holidays. Both are myths, but I had a hard time believing suicide one. I'm guessing their data is at least reasonable for it to be published.
  

And here's a link dump of 100 top sites for 2008. The Guardian only does a list every other year, so it's worth including here.

(image courtesy icanhascheezeburger.com - it has nothing to do with the post but I thought it was funny.)

Elitism is for losers

Lots of ink has been spilled lately around the idea that Barack Obama is elitist.
According to the online dictionary, elitism is:

1.	practice of or belief in rule by an elite.

2.	consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group.

I don't think either one of these applies to Obama. He got a law degree from Harvard and he's very smart, but that doesn't make you elitist. It means you're a high achiever. Two different things. Why are people threatened by this?

Being smarter and better-educated than most of America is a GOOD quality to have in a presidential candidate. It means you're higly qualified for the job. Obama tends to hang out with other smart, well educated people. That's not elitism. You tend to hang out with people that have the same backgrounds/interests as you. That doesn't in itself make you elitist or racist or whatever else.

As for being out of touch with the people, try this: If you think the current president cares what you (the common man) really think, then go try and talk to him some time. See how 'in touch' he is. Meet with him in person or get him on the phone, tell him how you feel. He's waiting to hear from you. I promise.