Room to Think

For those of you who are following, I got caught up watching talk after talk tonight and never got around to writing anything. Now it's after midnight, I'm at risk of being sick for the third time in a month and a half, and I'm exhausted. So, I leave you with these fine gems until I can get back to them. Their lessons? Listen to beautiful music, allow yourself to be awe-inspired, and don't be afraid to let your mind wander. You'll be happier** for it.  Enjoy.  =) **update below. 10pm UPDATE: Okay, I really hope you enjoyed the music by the Earth Harp lady (it's so soulful and wonderful, how could you not enjoy it?), because clearly I didn't watch that mind wandering TEDtalk before I posted it. In it, the guy pretty much suggests that letting your mind wander may, in fact, actually be responsible for your unhappiness...and therefore probably does not make you happier. You caught me. I am a slacker. But I will remedy that now. "That guy...

Manarola, third of the Five Lands Another Friday is here, and I'm ready! Today's Florence Friday is a follow-up on the Amalfi Coast.  We're going to learn a little more about it's cousin to the north, Cinque Terre. Also, I have an embarrassing admission to make. The first picture in my Amalfi Coast Blog , is actually a picture of Manarola. >.< See how confusing this is??? Cinque Terre is probably the coastline I laid eyes on first in my google searches, as it is much closer to Florence than the Amalfi Coast is. This map is particularly helpful to me...what with my need to learn basic Italian geography before I head over there. >.< **also, Milan isn't on there, but from my hotdog pizza post, I know it's more north than Venice is! =) Like the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cinque Terre National Park), and it literally means "The Five Lands".  These five lands are the five villages along the co...

Happy Tuesday everyone! The 2012 Bi-annual TED conference started today! My facebook news feed and blogger reel have exploded with updates from TED, and it's great.  It also means I've spent close to three hours watching TEDtalks today.  It was wonderful and awful at the same time, because I know how much homework I'm putting off right now.  It's even worse that I can write off watching so many TED videos as "doing homework" for this blog. Most of the TEDtalks I've watched tonight pertained to dance, or music, or the arts.  They were brilliant, interesting, and captivating.  I even found that if there was a speaker involved with the dancing, or with the music-making, I was more prone to remembering what they were saying, even if the talks themselves were over 30min long. I guess there's an element of hybridity that's encouraged in TEDtalks.  We've moved beyond that phase of Orator + Powerpoint = presentation.  (thank god) TED en...