Fun at Work Check-In

Okay, so it's actually an internship. Not sure if that qualifies for the title of work. Although I do A LOT of work there. Just not paid. Yet. Anyway, in my attempt to up the fun level at this place I've been dreading going into I reengaged myself in Pandora and 8tracks while writing case notes. Now I'm sure most of you are familiar with Pandora. 8tracks maybe not so much. But you should be. It's essentially that good ol' middle school mixed tape (may have dated myself here) in its online version. And the peeps who post them come up with the best titles. The one I was listening to the other day as my supervisor walked in: http://8tracks.com/claramdiez/fuck-my-problems-i-m-happy-to-be-alive?mix_set_id=3. Nothing dirty on there but Oops!

I don't know if this minor change has made a huge difference but baby steps. I did enjoy myself more than usual this week so it must have.

Any suggestions for next week?

Rediscovering Fun

I've been bordering on becoming what was my nightmare about going to school for social work. That I'd become the stereotypical martyr/negative thinking/no smiling/there's no room for fun in this job because the world is so horrible social worker. I don't actually believe in this kind of philosophy so I haven't yet become that but I am hating my internship this year and that's seriously affecting how much fun I'm having on the J-O-B. And since I left a nightmare job full of martyrs and negative Nancys to go back to school (AGAIN!) this is something I must resolve for my sanity. Therefore my goal this week is to find the fun at my internship. Or create it if necessary. It's up to me to be the person I want to be, which is to squeeze as much fun and enjoyment out of life as possible.

Green Space

I know, I know. It's been forever since I've written. Which may not be a huge deal since I haven't heard from anyone that they've noticed this. Perhaps because pretty much the only traffic I get to this is due to my parallel parking entry. Who knew so many people googled parallel parking? But it's a big deal to me. Because this is good self-care for me. After writing so much research for so long it's nice to be able to write what I want without having to worry about biases and finding evidence. So I thought the perfect thing to get the ball rolling again would be to post an op ed (opinion editorial) I wrote for a class that I was actually allowed to have an opinion about! I hadn't realized until writing it how quiet my opinion had become in my attempt to remain fair and unbiased. I'm hoping I'll allow that to be inspiration to become more louder (awesome grammar!).

Green Space

Being “green” has become the newest fad, which few could argue is a bad thing. The part that many aren’t aware of, even the greenest environmentalists, is that the benefits of the green movement aren’t only about clean air, water and soil. Availability of and access to plentiful green space is also strongly linked to increased mental health. As prevention and wellness programming becomes more prominent in the provision of mental health services, it’s important to conserve and increase the availability of and access to green space, as well as incorporate the use of it into mental health programming.

Time spent in nature, whether it’s camping in a forest, hiking in the mountains, or sitting in an urban park makes you feel happy, peaceful, rejuvenated, connected to something bigger than oneself. There’s good reason for this. Green space is directly linked to decreased stress, decreased aggression, improved concentration, spiritual connectedness, and enhanced physical health. The reasons for this can be at least partially explained through Attention Restoration Theory (ART), which asserts that directed attention plays an important role in information processing; however, fatigue in that area can lead to negative consequences (stress and its resulting effects). Urban environments require significant directed attention due to the larger amounts of stimulus, whereas natural settings have been found to be highly restorative to this process, reducing directed attention fatigue and stress levels (Kaplan, 2004). There are also many social benefits including reduced crime and road rage, economic stimulation, and increased social networks. All of these factors play an unspoken, yet important role in our mental well-being.

Since more and more people are living in urban environments and the availability of green space is decreasing worldwide, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to access the nature that provides these benefits. Those who live in more rural areas-where forests, meadows, rivers, and lakes are right outside their front door or minutes away-don’t have to put extra effort into accessing such green space because they’re enveloped by it. For those living in urban environments, not only do they not have immediate access to such green space but they must also put in considerably more effort to reach comparable natural areas. Then, once they reach these areas, the green space is frequently packed with other urban dwellers seeking similar benefits, taking away from some of the serenity nature is supposed to provide. Of course there’s green space closer to home in the form of urban parks, some of which are fairly amazing as far as parks go, but there can be challenges to overcome in accessing those as well. There often aren’t enough quality parks so they too can become packed with visitors, not allowing for the same restorative experience one would have in the more rural natural settings. This is particularly problematic for those living in low-income areas (and already at a higher risk for poorer mental and physical health) because overall there are fewer parks in such areas, they aren’t as well maintained, and some aren’t entirely safe to be in.

While a lot of us are aware of the mental health benefits we receive from nature and that less accessible green space is a reality for many, the magnitude of conserving our natural surroundings and creating more where they don’t exist, is out of the realm of consciousness for many. It’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day routines and neglect the big picture, not fully noticing what we’re feeling and how we’re living. With rapid advances in technology and people not interacting with nature on a regular basis, it becomes easy to forget our intimate connection to it. Prevention and treatment of mental illness is also something many rarely think about unless we become personally affected by it. Even then, when we’re aware that something needs to be done it’s hard to know what to do and taking action on any issue can sometimes feel so overwhelming that we don’t do anything.

Yet something must be done. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately 25% of U.S. adults have a mental illness and the economic burden of mental health treatment was estimated to be around $300 billion in 2002. In addition to those with a diagnosable mental illness, the National Health Interview Survey found that “75% of the general population experiences at least ‘some stress’ every two weeks” and that “half of those experience moderate or high levels of stress during the same two-week period.” Stress is linked directly to depression and anxiety as well as most, if not all physical diseases; therefore, decreasing stress levels would increase overall well-being for much of our society.

Increased availability of and access to green space would also reduce our society’s economic burden, which we know for policy makers is often more of a motivating factor toward change than outright concern for constituents’ health. Aside from the cost benefits of utilizing green space as a preventative measure for mental health treatment, there are also numerous other economic benefits (that could also positively affect mental well-being). For those who still need mental health services, incorporating green space within such services may decrease the time (and money) one needs to spend in treatment overall. Increased physical health would further reduce the cost of health care services. Housing prices are higher in areas with easy access to parks and other outdoor areas, as was demonstrated by Boston’s Big Dig project. Boston significantly increased its green space over a 15 year span and as a result the value of those properties located in close proximity to the green space increased. Green space also attracts economic development, which in turn creates employment opportunities, and increased foot traffic to the businesses in those areas. Proximity to green space is also linked to worker satisfaction, which increases productivity and reduces work-related stress. In an indirect way, reducing the economic burden could also reduce stress overall, which as stated previously would improve mental health.

With all these obvious benefits it’s time for us as individuals to take action and really become “green.” Who doesn’t want increased mental and physical health and more money in their pockets? Who doesn’t want to leave a healthier environment and society all the way around for generations to come? It is our responsibility as citizens to educate ourselves and once we’ve done that, educate those around us. Talk to family, friends, and neighbors about the benefits of availability of and access to green space. Communicate with professional organizations and policy makers so that even if they’re educated on the issue they realize that it’s important to others. Lobby, advocate, storm Capital Hill if necessary. Most importantly utilize and encourage the utilization of green spaces to physically demonstrate the value of such spaces. It all sounds so simple, yet it’s often the simplest acts that make the biggest difference.

Fun Food: Lasagna

The bf and I love to cook. Him more so than I but I love eating freshly made food so I'm getting in on the fun more too. I've recently realized that my fav thing to cook is lasagna. One of the reasons being it's absolutely delicious. But the other being that it solves one my biggest cooking conundrums of getting everything done at the same time so it's all still warm and not overcooked. You simply layer all the ingredients any which way you want, stick it in the oven for an hour or so, and then all you have to do is prepare the side dishes, which are usually a salad (no worries about keeping it warm there) and garlic bread (pop it in the oven with 10, 15 minutes to go). So easy!!! So in honor of my fav dish to make here's my most recent lasagna recipe that was given rav reviews by the taste testers (no matter that the taste testers are friends):

Ingredients:

- Lasagna noodles

- 3 c. Sun dried tomatos

- 4 c. Marinated artichoke

- 1/2 c. Pesto

- 16 oz. Ricotta cheese

- 16 oz. Mozzarella

- 8 oz. Parmesan

Preparation:

- Boil the lasagna noodles first until they're almost done.

- Once the noodles have boiled pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

- Spread a small amount of pesto on the bottom of the pan so it's just barely covered.

- Add a layer of the cooked lasagna noodles.

- Add a layer of the marinated artichokes.

- Add a layer of the sun dried tomatoes.

- Add a layer of ricotta and mozzarella.

- Add another layer of the cooked lasagna noodles.

- Add another thin layer of pesto.

- Add another layer of the marinated artichokes.

- Add another layer of the sun dried tomatoes.

- Add another layer of ricotta and mozzarella.

- Sprinkle the parmesan on top.

- Place the dish in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.

Notes to Self:

The amounts of ingredients are estimated as I made this recipe up and can't actually remember how much I used but you'll know how much is enough for you (That's more of the fun part of making lasagna!).

It's so delicious! Enjoy!

Do you enjoy cooking? And if so what do you love to cook?

This isn't quite the one from above but since I didn't take pic but this one looks pretty similar.

Carmageddon

This is a little late and people are probably sick of hearing about it but a little reflection on this event feels needed because after all the fuss and fear that it would destroy Los Angeles, it ended up being an amazingly good time. The streets were empty! Millions of LAiens left town, took public transportation, or simply stayed home. Since the bf's place was at one end of the 405 closure and mine was at the other end, we had decided to hole up at his place for the weekend (mostly because of the pool) and do nada. Then, when we realized that there was no one out alternative plans to attend festivals and parties started to churn but then we decided to stick with the original idea of doing nada. Therefore, our weekend consisted of a lot of naps, delicious home cooked and local restaurant food, walks in the 'hood, movies, the women's World Cup, and some pool time complete with leisurely reading. Both of us are usually pretty high energy with a lot going on so this is rare for us but much needed. And that seemed to be the case for many of our fellow LAiens as it was extremely quiet even with a lot of people out and about walking around enjoying their local community with happy, peaceful smiles on their faces. Not a single horn was heard the entire weekend, which may be unheard of. All in all our vote is for a monthly shutdown of some major LA freeway! Or maybe we'll just impose our own Carmageddon on ourselves every so often.

How did you spend Carmageddon if you live in the LA area? Or if you had the opportunity to not drive anywhere for an entire weekend what fun things would you do that you don't normally get to?

Resume Shirt

I stumbled upon this brilliant, fun website, ResumeShirts.com. Not sure yet if I'd do it but I'm glad they're having fun!

Dancing Queen

I know dancing's a major fear for many people but I love to dance! Anywhere. Anytime. With anyone. Okay, there are probably some limitations but I haven't yet found them. I dance after a few drinks. I dance stone cold sober. I dance at clubs. I dance at weddings (The bf and I are thinking about becoming professional wedding dancers.). I dance at non-dancing venues. With or without music. I dance in crowds where there are so many people, wobbling slightly would probably be a better descriptor. I dance in my room all by myself. I dance in the sun. In the rain. Clothed. Unclothed. Happy. Sad. Dancing makes me feel alive. But I do have a slight vendetta against my parents because they never forced dance lessons down my throat so I'm entirely self-taught. Which makes for a kind of Night at the Roxbury/Fame/Beyonce style that's all my own.

The bf and I as pro wedding dancers

In the event this hasn't yet convinced you non-dancers that dancing can be fun here are some reasons for dancing and how to have fun with it:

Benefits to Dancing

- Burns calories. Secretly. When you're having fun dancing it doesn't even feel like a workout but in actuality burns 265 calories an hour (if you're a 130 lb. gal according to Medical Movement). What!

- Aside from the calories it has much health benefits.

- You might meet your significant other. That's how I did. And dancing's still an important part of our relationship. I'd say he's a cross between Fred Astaire/Usher/Carlton/Andy Samberg, which compliments my own self-taught style perfectly.

- Other social connections. Should you work up the courage to do it in public.

And How to Make it Fun:

- Dance Alone: Choose your fav music and let loose. You don't need a mirror if even that makes it too embarrassing. At worst just wiggle your hips slightly more than normal. The average person might not even be able to tell you're dancing. But you know what? It doesn't matter because you're all alone and the average person isn't going to see you. See if it doesn't make you smile just a little.

- Get lost in the moment. When you do that there aren't any worries. You have nothing to worry about anyway. No one's judging you. Okay, no one who counts is judging you. And anyone who is judging you is probably not a very good dancer themselves or they'd be too caught up in their own movement to notice yours. The trick is to not worry and have an absolute blast. Dance elegantly. Dance goofily. Dance perfectly. However, you do it do it and as long as you're truly having fun people will be lining up to be your partner, or at least drift near your vicinity to steal some moves.

- Smile. And laugh. That always makes it look like you're having fun even if you aren't.

- And along with that fake it til you make it. I'm not entirely sure I actually am a good dancer but I fully believe I am. But it wasn't always like that. I had to get over some insecurities. And I did that by faking it until I turned pro.

Flat Stanley

About a month ago my bro called me to see if I'd help his boss' daughter out with a school project. I agreed and next thing ya know Flat Stanley was making a visit. I've never read the book or did this project while either in or teaching elementary school but I know it's a popular project in that circle. The bf, his parents, and I took him to the Huntington Beach Pier and had an absolute blast taking the following pics. Just goes to show ya even as adults you can still have tons of fun with the kiddy things.

It's Not the End of the World...

as we know it. That song ran through my head much of yesterday as I prepared for the demise of our existence. And by prepared I did yoga, went for a run, and attended a couple of parties completely unrelated to doomsday. Needless to say doomsday didn't occur. Unless that is even fewer chosen ones exist than previously thought.

While I obviously didn't think the world would actually end nor do I think it's going to end in 2012 or any time during my lifetime, events like this get me contemplating. Our lives could end in any moment. I won't go into all the ways this could happen since that would be the antithesis of fun. And really we all know this. But how many of us actually live like we're dying (not to steal anything from the song with the same title)? I probably deliberate over this more than the average Joe but even I live a life more in fear than love, adventure, spontaneity, and fun. Or at least in more fear than I'd like to. And so in honor of the latest doomsday prediction to go wonderfully wrong I vow to spend more time enjoying all of the moments of my life.

Perhaps a little more time spent riding these

Finishing Things

Having fun doesn't mean always getting to do what you want when you want to do it. There are many times I think I'd love it if my life were like this but in actuality it'd probably have the reverse affect if it actually happened. Plus I don't think there exists a single person who has this kind of life. So we all have to do things we don't particularly want to. Knowing that they contribute to an ultimate goal or allow us to more quickly get back to doing what we want to do helps the situation. Also, if you can somehow turn it into something more fun in some way that also helps. Or knowing how accomplished you'll feel in the long run. But there are times when next to nothing helps in that moment. So the next moment when you're FINALLY done that's when the fun really begins.

Studying is rarely fun but it always feels so good to be done.

I Am

If there's one movie you see this year you need to make it this one: http://www.iamthedoc.com/.

Mothers

In honor of Mother's Day and my mother in particular all of the reasons my mom is fun:

- She sends me cute and silly things in the real life mail (like the kind you go to the post office to buy stamps for).

- She calls me just because she saw something little that reminded her of me.

- She turned my childhood into my own personal after school program.

- She still cheers me on just like she did during AYSO.

- She plays with all the toys that make noise in the toy store.

- She sings loudly with me on road trips.

- She teaches me about all kinds of good stuff in life.

- She buys me all kinds of little surfing memorabilia I didn't know existed in the midwest.

- She's always excited to hear from me.

- She's always down to play and have fun.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you mucho!

Fun Buster: Energy Suckers

Yesterday I finally realized my problem. Yep, I only have one and luckily it's because of other people (kidding for anyone who knows me... or doesn't know me). I am a sponge. That's what a newsletter I got from Oprah.com told me yesterday. I tend to absorb others' lower energy, take it upon myself, and then become unbearable to be around (okay maybe that isn't true but it's slightly unbearable to myself in my mind). I'd kind of realized this but it suddenly became clear just how much power I was giving these people and letting it affect my life (which is my problem).

We all know these Energy Suckers: The Debbie Downer, the Anger Management Candidate, the Ruminator, the Basket Case, the Worrywart, the Non-stop Talker, etc., etc., etc. I could probably think of at least a dozen more pseudonyms for my arch enemies. But that wouldn't be fun (actually I lied, that was pretty fun) and I've given away enough of my fun to these folks.

In recognizing this as MY problem I've realized I need to do something about this because this is something I'm letting interfere with my life and how much fun I'm having in it. Ideally I'd just not interact with Energy Suckers (Thich Nhat Hanh actually suggests this in his book Savor.). But since this isn't practical living where I live and doing what I do on a daily basis, I've come up with some fun alternatives to enhance my entertainment in dealing with them, which I'm going to list by my pseudonyms since I believe that each Energy Sucker must be dealt with in a different way.

Debbie Downer Strategy: When Debbie Downer gets going counter every complaint with a benefit of that complaint. For example if he/she says, "The weather's so awful today. I really hate rain," you could reply with, "Gosh, I sure do love rain. I don't have to wash my car then!" Do this often enough and Debbie Downer will probably disappear from your life forever on her own accord (or partner with you).

Anger Management Candidate Strategy: Stare lovingly, almost googly-eyed like at the Anger Management Candidate when he/she starts going off. That alone should be disruptive enough to at least cause an angry exit.

Ruminator Strategy: This person may not even have anything all that negative to say but the fact that they go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on is enough to drive anyone crazy no matter what they're saying. I suggest carrying a small tape recorder and when your Ruminator gets going hit record and then play it back to them. They'll either get the hint or want the tape recorder so they can listen to themselves in their free time.

Basket Case Strategy: Since this person is always in crisis mode play the one up game. If they think their significant other is about to can them bring up starving children. If they got a flat tire right after getting fired remind them that Mrs. Jenkins down the street got a fired, a flat tire, and lost her house all in the same day. Eventually they'll get tired of playing this game and you win!

Worrywort Strategy: Play the one up game here too. For every worry they have counter with an even bigger worry. What if I fail this test? Hmmm... well, what if you get kicked out of school? What if he never asks me to marry him? Hmmm... what if he leaves you and you're alone forever?

Non-Stop Talker Strategy: Start talking non-stop too. Either they'll stop and realize what they're doing. Or they won't and at least you can use that time to vocalize your true feelings (don't worry about doing this; they won't even notice), state your grocery list aloud, or practice for a presentation you have later on in the week.

A couple things to keep in mind:

- These strategies are only meant for chronic and persistent cases. It won't help anything if your usually cheery, half glass full best-friend is having a rough day. In this case be supportive and let them have their rough day.

- Many Energy Suckers will have multiple energy sucking techniques. In which case if you can remove yourself from the situation do so immediately. If not be prepared to employ multiple strategies and try to have as much fun as you can doing it.

Does anyone have difficulty with Energy Suckers? What are some techniques you've used that work?

Made Up Word Scrabble

I love games! Which should come as no surprise to ya'll. That'd pretty much be blasphemous (I really wanted to use the word blasphemic but thanks to online dictionaries, alas it is not a real word.). Board games. Sports games. Word games. Pretty much the only games I don't like to play are mind games. And I don't stop at games other people have made up, marketed, and made a shite ton of money off of (or not; I don't know what board game makers are getting these days). Oh no! I make up my own games. Typically with the help of others. This began in my youth with my siblings, making our own board games. And while I don't do that as often now as I did back then, there are still moments such as when-with a little help from my friends-(or a lot of help since I can't actually remember where the idea originated)we created Made Up Word Scrabble. This resulted from the boredom of trying to play the standard version of Scrabble insanely late at night (or early in the morning depending on how you like to look at it), possibly with a few drinks (not of the fruit juice kind) consumed.

How you play:

- Begin like standard Scrabble with each person drawing 7 tiles and taking turns spelling words

Here's where it gets real crazy:

- Arrange your letters in any way that you see fit to make up your own made up words.
- Then, create a definition for that made up word. The more ridiculous the better.

And that's it. I'm not sure if we assigned point values or threw that out the window. But our "dictionary" of made up words is still in the box and added to each time we play the newest version of our old favorite. Yes, this is a game that has lived on beyond that night/morning (even when drinking only fruit juice). We've even had emphatic requests by other friends who weren't present for it to play.

Does this sound like something fun to you? Have you ever made up your own game? If so, what was it? I hope you have fun recreating our Made Up Word Scrabble or your own game in the very near future.

April Roundup

Aaahhh!!!! I've had such a busy April I haven't even had a spare moment to post here. Luckily that mostly means I've been having a whole lotta fun. There was the Coachella music festival, the 2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational (Yep, you heard that right), and Easter. While I could easily have a post on each let me list my top three fun things about each event:

Coachella:

1. Warm (okay hot) weather. After feeling like I'll be spending the rest of my life in southern California's version of winter this was much needed.
2. Camping. I love to camp. Even if it's next to thousands of other people.
3. The music. Of course. I saw a number of phenomenal acts but my favs were Mumford & Sons, Arcade Fire, The Black Keys, Duran Duran, and Erykah Badu.

2nd 8th Annual Grilled Cheese Invitational

1. Eating lots of grilled cheeses... duh! 'Course now I'm completely grilled cheesed out.
2. Doing something different.
3. Cooking some pretty fantastic sourdough bread, brie cheese, and mango and jalapeno marmalade with the bf as our entry. We didn't place but we're always winners in my book!

Easter

1. Delicious food items that weren't grilled cheeses.
2. Polish horse shoes (probably incredibly un-PC but I've never heard it called anything else... wait, just looked it up and it's actually called ladder golf.) with the bf's fam.
3. Leftover goodies to take home.

And of course, there were the requisite bday parties and other shenanigans involved. Here's hoping to a little less hectic month coming up so I can write a little more.


An amber view of Coachella

Wedding Update

Went to my 8 millionth wedding in the past year last night. Perhaps that's a slight exaggeration but the bulk of my social life this year has revolved around getting married-related events. While it's mostly been a tremendous amount of fun I am looking forward to the four month break I'm getting. But in honor of the streak I was on here are some of the more fun things about the weddings I've been to this past year:

- Outdoors: I love to do everything outdoors anyway so anyone who decides to say their nuptials amongst nature wins points with me.

- DIY(Do-it-yourself)ness: I'm a crafty kind of person so I really appreciate when the decor is hand-made with love rather than cheesily man-made manufactured ugliness.

- Many dance parties: Anyone who knows me knows I love to dance. And so does the bf. So at this point we're pretty much professional wedding dancers (We're thinking about going into business.).

- Cake: I've had some amazing cakes over the past 12 months and am contemplating pretending to be getting married for the rest of my life so I can continuously eat wedding cake samples. Big big ups to the most phenomenal vegan cake I've ever tasted.

- Food: Also have had some amazing food and variety. Big winner was the hors d'oeuvres cornucopia of fresh home grown, homemade food at one of my pal's weddings.

- Candy table: I'm starting to notice a theme here with my most fun items. This I'm hesitant to encourage because I really don't need any more candy ever again in my entire life but oh, it's so good!

- Kids: I know some people don't like them at weddings but I think they're hilarity in small packages, especially during the dance party.

What are some of the fun things about weddings you've gone to? Please share.

Spontaneity

As we become grownups (Oh no! Did I really just type that outloud?) sometimes spontaneity goes by the wayside. "I can't, I have to work," "I can't, I have the kids," "I can't, I have a mortgage," etc., etc., etc. Responsibility can be important. Certainly I'm not advocating running amok until you've lost your house, job, kids, cat, whatever's important to you. But it's also important that you aren't so responsible you can't remember the last time you truly enjoyed that cat. That's where spontaneity comes into play. That's where not washing your dishes until the next morning so you can play a game of Twister (with your cat) comes into play. Or taking off on an impromptu road trip without telling anyone where you're going and turning off all modes of communication comes into play. That's exactly what the bf and I did for a dayish this past weekend. While the level of responsibility the bf and I take could be debated, we are without a doubt dependable. If anyone needs anything or has any kind of celebration we're there. And while the celebration part is usually a great deal of fun it doesn't always promote proper spontaneity. It was so freeing to do something we wanted to do simply because we wanted to do it. Without any sense of obligation. And that my friends is what spontaneity can do for you. And what I will be incorporating much more into my life.

Fun Buster:

I'll recognize that there is some potential for fun in this. For instance if you didn't have to go into your office and could work from home in your pjs, knock it out in a matter of a couple hours and then head off to the beach for the rest of the day. I would consider that to be fun from time to time (or all the time). But unfortunately it seems to less that and more the gateway drug to Workaholics Anonymous (from here on out WHA). Now, unless you don't have a computer at home there is no excuse not to answer emails right away or work on projects that would otherwise never leave the office.

To be honest the first time I had Go To My PC on the job I was completely freaked out by it. I couldn't get over how I could literally turn my at home laptop into my at work desktop and there was no discernible difference (other than speed). It took me awhile to work up the courage to actually use it. And even then I did so rarely. As might be apparent by this blog I'm not a workaholic and am in staunch refusal to participate in such shenanigans. From my experience, workaholics stress themselves out to the point of future heart attacks while accomplishing less than their Type B counterparts (And here is one research study-amongst others-to back it up.). I did use it from time to time but was really turned off when I'd get into work the next day and find emails from co-workers the next morning sent off at 3 in the morning. No wonder they were crabby most of the time!

And so I am now against anything that encourages workaholics to compromise their physical health and mental and emotional sanity for the sake of subpar productivity, especially when they then try to force that crap down the rest of our throats. We won't even get into iphones.

A Man After My Own Heart

If I had made a video first I would have done it exactly like this:

Stacking Rocks

While on a bike ride on the bike path from Culver City, CA to Marina del Rey, CA I came across these:

Remembering (or simply making it up in my head and calling it remembering) something about rock stacking being a sacred practice I wanted to know more about it and so I turned to google. I found a few things that alluded to rock stacking as being a spiritual practice but little to no elaboration and so being way too boring to read any further, I gave up. Overall it seems to be a practice that some people do for fun, either as a spiritual practice or simply to challenge themselves. While it isn't my chosen way to have fun I'm glad others are doing what they enjoy most. And because of them I'll continue to enjoy random rock statues on my bike rides.

I'm Not the Only One

Sometimes when you get into a routine and it seems as though everyone around you is caught up in a similar routine and no one's winning an Olympic medal for it, you forget that you aren't the only who has a different vision of what the world can be. I was reminded of my fun mission today when I saw the following video:



Kevin Richardson's idea is akin to an idea I've had about law enforcement and how ineffective it is. We have a million police officers whom everyone is afraid of and yet I'd dare to guess pretty much everyone breaks the law in some tiny or humungous way on at least a monthly basis. Obviously something isn't working. Why not borrow from the little elementary school classroom management behavioral technique of ignoring bad behavior and rewarding good behavior? Now I'm not saying we turn a blind eye to violent criminals but as Kevin demonstrated in his video people are more likely to behave in a societally accepted manner when there's something in it for them. My idea was passing out ice cream coupons to people obeying laws but I like Kevin's too!

And another thing I really liked about this video is its association with thefuntheory.com, which is "dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better." I agree completely and it was just the inspiration I needed to know that I'm on the right track and the world can be improved through fun.

Most Fun Video Game EVER!

Now I am not a video game fan. I've enjoyed me some Atari and Sega Genesis (mostly Sonic the Hedgehog)over the years but for the most part I SUCK at video games. Like even when someone's telling me to push A to punch, my guy's still kicking. I have quite a bit of hand-eye, foot-eye coordination when it comes to sports but when it comes to pushing buttons to coordinate someone or something else's coordination I can't do it. Which is fine with me. But one game that has endured the test of time and I may perhaps be world champion at is the funnest video game in the world: Tetris! It's also the most addictive and probably should be placed as banned on my computer so I don't waste any more time in my life.

Grammar Girl

It's been challenging to come up with any funness when working on projects/papers for school I really don't care much about other than finishing them so I can get a good grade. But I did manage to come up with one and that is the Grammar Girl website. I can be a bit of a grammar junkie so while I've heard of the site I hadn't had to use it yet but today when I got a bit confused with the good ol' semi colon I popped on over there and had a grand time. I'd highly recommend her for all your grammar needs.

Elliptical Machines

I do not find gyms in any way fun. Running or biking on something that isn't actually going somewhere really bores me. 'Course I am quite spoiled since I live in a location where I'm able to thoroughly enjoy outdoors activities all year round (although you can ski, snowboard, and snowshoe in the snow all winter). But I suppose if you do find gym equipment fun and need some sun in your life I saw elliptical-like machines at a park I was biking by the other day. Unfortunately I have no idea how to get to the park other than from the bike path I was on...

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

But not always in an airheady, we can't play sports or think with our brains kind of way. This post is inspired by yet another coed soccer match where a guy made a sexist comment. To get my rant out of the way since that isn't what this blog is about one, why are you playing in a COED league if you think girls are inferior and you don't want to play with them? And two, honestly, the majority of the girls are way better and have played at a way higher level than you. Sorry, I have low tolerance for the male ego. Or perhaps a high tolerance and after awhile it boils over.

Now that I got that out I can move onto the fun part. Which is relevant whether you're a gal or a dude (with an ego or not). Fun is often conceptualized as something to do when we aren't working on serious things. And serious things are more highly valued in our society. Oh, those Puritans! They're work ethic is HILARIOUS! Hilarious because it appears that those who are most successful in their careers followed their passions, truly love what they do, and are having a damn fantastic time doing it even if they're addressing "serious" issues. And they aren't wasting their time. They're using their brains, creativity, talents and skills. And frequently the world benefits from their fun. Think Bill Gates, dude from Facebook (whose name I should know because I use facebook and saw the movie), the Dalai Lama, U2, Oprah. Many of these people are also closely scrutinized and criticized but I think that's more out of jealousy than anything. Perhaps if we all made doing what we most enjoy more of a priority we wouldn't have a thing to be jealous about?

Brushing My Teeth

This may seem like a fun stretch to some and really I can't make an argument that the actual brushing of the teeth is fun. But there's nothing like the feeling of freshly cleaned teeth. Even if I've been out late and had perhaps a few too many to drink I make sure my teeth are brushed before I go to bed. Sometimes I don't even remember this. But I'm always grateful the next morning.

Snow

I spent the past two weekends out of town... in a shite ton of snow. First I went back to the motherland (aka Michigan) and this past weekend was spent in Big Bear, CA. Now it's a common misconception that I left Michigan because of the snow. To clear up any rumors, I left Michigan because of the excessivity of the snow. I thoroughly enjoyed the massive dump ons the past couple weekends but after five months or so it gets a little old. But to pay homage to the fun I had in the snow this winter is my top five fav moments in the frozen water:
1. Snowball fight with the bf who hadn't seen snow in a good fifteen years.
2. Relearning how to snowboard (after I got over how much I initially sucked).
3. Exploring and really appreciating the Dirty D (aka Detroit) laden in fresh snow.
4. Sitting in a hot tub with some amazing peeps while white flakes adorned our hair.
5. Taking pics of nature in its natural winter glory.

Arcade Fire

I love them tonight. Because they're saving me from the monotony of my part of an insanely boring, entirely irrelevant to my future group project. Unable to find any fun in it I am instead more fully appreciating the upbeatness of this band.

Vday

That was yesterday so this is slightly irrelevant but hey, we have the holiday every year so why not plan for the next one. The bf hard core surprised me with my first "real" Valentine's Day ever but that isn't to say I haven't enjoyed me some Vdays in the past. In fact all but one were pretty spectacular. During the Vday surprise last night the bf asked me what my favorite Valentine's Day ever was. Of course yesterday's! But my second favorite Vday ever was the one I spent with my bestest undergrad friends either our junior or senior year of college (they all run together). We started the night out volunteering at a dance for adults with developmental disabilities. And then (before you start to think we're the biggest dorky do-gooders in the world... although, there may be some truth to some of that) we continued to volunteer at a bar passing out condoms (while possibly slightly intoxicated) as part of the Safer Sex Patrol. We even got a free t-shirt that said Safer Sex Patrol on it. Now if that isn't a fun way to celebrate the big Vday I don't know what is.

Superbowl

I love the Superbowl. For much more than the football (although I love that too). It's a way better holiday than Christmas. Far less drama amongst family members. Well, unless maybe you're living a little too vicariously through one of the teams. Everyone has parties with their bests full of delicious (extremely healthy) food and drinks, fun games and pools, and clever, fun conversation. Plus it's always on Sunday so everyone has the day off to celebrate. And I'm loving the Superbowl even more than usual this year because my team (well, one of my teams), the Packers, are in it. While I watch them kick the Steelers arse I will be enjoying one of my favorite Superbowl (or any party) foods, 7 layer bean dip, which I also love because it's so easy to make. Oh happy day!

The Simple Things

It really is the simple things that make life worth living and fun. Sure, backpacking in the Andes is going to be a grand time and something you'll talk about forever but what really creates a consistently "good" (quotation marks is indicative of subjectivity) life are those teeny tiny daily moments you aren't sure anyone other than you thinks are wonderful. For instance, the inspiration of this post was that I just sent an email entitled "Running and Sociopaths", which cracked myself up. And I have many moments like this which I hadn't realized were so fulfilling until today. But I believe that that my friend is the secret to true happiness and fun in life.

Parallel Parking

I love to parallel park. I have no idea why. I can't even remember learning to do it. But somehow I am AMAZING at it. I think it's super fun. I get excited every time I see an open spot that I have to get into without just pulling straight in. Parallel parking is just one of the strange things I find fun that probably a lot of others don't. What things do you enjoy doing that the average person would avoid at all costs?

New Vantage Point

I've spent much of grad school round dos frustrated and not having a lot of fun. At least with the school part. I went round and round trying to figure out how I could get more out of it to no avail. Until this week. Thanks to some staunch supporters who both kicked me in the butt and gave me loving support I came to a realization. One I already knew but apparently hadn't entirely understood. Disappointment (and thus no fun) comes from having expectations that aren't met. I had gone into my program expecting it to be a great intellectual/academic challenge and so far, haven't found that to be the case. What I hadn't expected was it to be so emotionally challenging. That it would challenge me in ways I wasn't prepared for and up until now didn't want. That I have skill deficits that this program is bringing to light and forcing me to deal with. For that I am now quite thankful and excited. Because I'm sure this is what I need more than an academic challenge to reach my future goals. And perhaps that new perspective will lead to what I had originally expected as well. So this is scientific evidence people of the importance of being mindful and letting go of expectations in terms of complete life enjoyment. It's necessary to find the silver lining in all challenging situations. My situation hasn't changed one single bit but because I'm looking at it differently and have found the importance of it to me it's becoming much more fun.

Duh Moment

I'm not entirely sure how this relates to fun but I had a good laugh so thought I'd share. Literal quote from an article I'm reading called Integrating Family Resilience and Family Stress Theory: "These variations in functioning following risk exposure are similar to Hill's (1958) roller coaster model of family stress when he proposed that stressed families return to a level of functioning at, below, or above their precrisis level." I'm not sure who this Mr. Hill is but he sure is a funny man. I could be wrong since I have yet to publish anything in any significant academic journal but I would assume that a person's level of function in any given moment would be at, below, or above their previous level of functioning and so on for the rest of their lives. But perhaps I should conduct some research on that.

Vanity Plates

I'm not a big fan of vanity plates but plenty of other people think they're fun since I see them everywhere. But I did see one today that made me laugh. "DR 007"(unfortunately I couldn't click and drive so this was the closest pic I could find to it). I forgot to look at the type of car but I'm judging the owner to have a slight ego. Love it!

Fun Buster: Reading for Class

Tonight I'm experiencing a fun buster. I need to read for my classes and I don't want to. And I usually like to read. Pretty much anything. And a lot of stuff for my grad school program is interesting to me. But there are so many more fun things I want to do right now. Like go to the movies. Or a moonlit stroll because it's finally warm again. Or grab a drink (even though I really don't want to drink). Or paint art to hang on my bedroom wall which is currently a depression of bareness. Or anything with the bf. Or hang upside down on monkey bars. Or even cleaning is seeming more appealing right now.

I don't know if this is because I started with the worst article ever about support systems for parents. Surprisingly all studies of parental support systems indicate that parents are better at parenting when they have social support systems. Imagine that! Now for the longest time I've wanted to be an academic and I love asking questions and finding answers. However, when the answer is an obvious one why the need for so much research to support what everyone already knows?! This is one of the reasons I question whether that's actually the right career path for me. I have no desire to be Captain Obvious.

And I thought about simply not reading. I did that last semester and it worked out quite well for me. But this semester the reading accountability level seems to have been upped (probably due to my way too honest assessment of the classes). So I'm thinking reading would be a good idea. Plus it would probably be helpful to have the knowledge. Then, I still continue to debate myself, but is there a such thing as too much knowledge? Maybe I'm experiencing knowledge overload? So that is my fun buster. And blogging is another fun way to continue to postpone what I've already postponed this entire weekend.

Bubble Wrap

So simple. So not what it's supposed to be used for. So satisfying. I think the single most effective cure for stress is popping bubble wrap. And my fav part of it is just when you think you've popped all you can pop you find some you haven't and the fun continues. I wonder if we could find world peace by sending every single human being a piece of bubble wrap?

Oh the People You'll Meet: Potentially Former UCLA Prof

When I first started blogging that was the title of my blog. It was meant to capture all of the colorful characters I encounter along my journey. But I bored of that a bit. Then, I was relaying a story to a friend of mine the other night of a fella I met on the bus the other day and she said, "You meet the most interesting people." So I thought a part time revival of the old blog was needed.

I met Potentially Former UCLA Prof unwillingly. It was one of those days where fun to me was sitting quietly reading my book on the Number 12 from UCLA to my home. I made the fortunate mistake of sitting in the seat for those with disabilities but was totally unaware that I needed to make room for one of those people until a man following a walker gruffly told me, "Young lady, you need to move." Since I recently turned thirty and he called me "young lady" I was happy to do so. I moved not too far from him and slightly dreading it, knew some strangeness was about to ensue. First thing he did was begin mocking a woman speaking what I assume was Chinese since that's what he said he knew how to speak. Something didn't sound right, though, and she ignored him. After talking to himself for a bit he turned his attention to me. "What are you reading?" I paused because I was reading a book I assumed some people may have strong reactions to and didn't feel like getting into any type of metaphysical debate. Finally I said, "A book I got from my mom for Christmas," and showed him the cover. Sidenote, the book is called "The Power" written by the author of "The Secret" and is about the power of love and what it can accomplish. I had literally just read a page all about paying attention to everything that happens to us because our experiences are providing us with guidance and also that many people believe that we are near the tipping point of expanding consciousness. Literally as soon as I read that some believe that this tipping point is happening now Potentially Former UCLA Prof informs me that the world is ending and we're all going to die. He repeated several times that specifically I would die and I'd die soon. Now most people might get a little upset at hearing this information or at least annoyed. Bemused was probably a more accurate description for me but I still didn't quite want to talk to him. But curiosity got the best of me so the words "Oh yeah?" slipped out of my mouth. He continued out mostly spouting things I couldn't follow. But along the way I was informed that he had been a UCLA physics professor and had gotten more into quantum physics. He was fired because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and was now homeless. "Did I have any money?" I seriously didn't even have a single penny and told him so. To which he replied, "Well, you can help someone out in another way." I thought for a second because I did have half a grapefruit in my bag but have had bad experiences offering people who are homeless my food. But alas I offered it to him and alas he yelled at me for the offer. Throughout this exchange he kept getting up and down and walking to the front of the bus and back without any difficulty causing me to question the need for his walker. It was at that point I decided to turn my attention back to my book. But he kept talking, telling me that he was friends with the "gray people" and they're all over. By his description of the gray people I figured out Potentially Former UCLA Prof is friends with aliens. I was quite thankful at that moment when some other dude got on and Potentially Former UCLA Prof turned his attention to him until he exited the bus.

And so that is the story of Potentially Former UCLA Prof that I'm not quite convinced was actually ever a prof there nor is friends with the gray people nor has any inside information as to the end of the world... just in case anyone was scared.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is something I mentioned in my last post of New Year's resolutions and even in writing this I'm challenged in being mindful. Put quite simply (because it could be put quite complicated) being mindful is observing that which is without judgement (ironic as I sit here judging my writing). There are many corresponding terms, acceptance, meditation, being present, awareness, that go along with this and really we could go on and on. It's one of the most difficult simplicities to explain and understand (along with love). Yet that's all it is.

Mindfulness might sound like too spiritual of a practice to include in a blog about fun. But it's impossible to get the most out of your fun without it. Think back to the last super fun time you had. Maybe you were playing a sport? Perhaps you were adventuring with your significant other? Having a dance party with friends? Eating your fav meal? Climbing on the jungle gym. Can you remember anything else that was going on in that moment? The answer is probably not because you were so absorbed in the fun of that moment.

The key to really experiencing life and all of its fun to its fullest is being mindful in every moment. Eckert Tolle calls it The Power of Now and made a fortune off of writing a book that my one statement encompasses. It's that simple and that complicated. Remember a time when you were driving and the next thing you knew you were at your destination but couldn't recall the trip there at all. Now metaphoricalize (I can make up words; it's okay) that driving trip into your life. Do you really want to be on your death bed (aka end of your trip if you have difficulties with metaphors) and barely remember the journey?