Monday -- the Beginning

Whenever Monday comes around, I always feel like it's a new start--a new week to pin some hopes and dreams on and hope that I am doing better than I did the week before.  Some weeks are better than others, but Monday is that day that seems all hyper-charged with possibilities.  I know I should consider each new day it's own new start, but I've lived so long with that Monday start to my week that it's really hard to get out of that mentality.  And if a Monday doesn't go right?  Well, sometimes that can lead to some pretty lackluster weeks.  But today?  Today is not one of those Mondays.

Good Weekend, Happy Monday

Today at 3 p.m. people everywhere will take a moment to honor our fallen--those men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country to ensure our freedom and our nation's continuing existence.  I hope that each of you will take that one minute to do the same, and then maybe take the minute after that to be thankful for all that we have today because of their sacrifice and their courage.  You may not agree with the wars or the fighting; you may not even have supported what they believed in, but the fact that someone was willing to give their life for others is worthy of remembrance.  So please, remember them today in your thoughts at 3 p.m.

Friday Melt

So this past Wednesday evening, John and I headed off to a Lindsey Stirling concert--me with my cold head and all.  I was feeling a lot better, but I still can't smell anything, and everything tastes like cardboard (FUN!).  But, the concert was a lot of fun--even though a lot of the people there didn't seem to realize they should be "rocking out" to the music.  And I could go on a rant about people and their cell phones and trying to record things, but I'll leave it at this: I think it's terrible.  How can you enjoy and experience a concert when you're holding up your phone, blocking people's views, and trying not to move?  It seems antithetical to me to the whole idea of "going to a concert".

There.  I'm done.

It Feels Like Summer

So the start of this week ended up with me having a flu/cold.  I'm not even sure how I've gotten over this so quick save that tonight we are headed to a Lindsey Stirling concert, and I didn't want to be a zombie during it.  Maybe that was part of it, or else it was the juice, water, and drugs that have helped me over the edge to the other side of "less sick", but hopefully this will be gone by next week--fingers crossed.

Friday Play List

You might be noticing a trend--that on Fridays, I like to link videos here.  Sometimes words just don't cut it; though sometimes, bad videos can make an experience ten times worse.  Looking at some of the recent NASA uploads with regard to their Humans to Mars project, I have to say that I'm actually kind of disappointed with how uninspiring they are.  I feel like I'm back in my 1980's science class watching one of those ridiculously boring learning videos in which there will be a quiz afterward.

The most interesting part of that is that while I'm watching them, I can see the enthusiasm of NASA's Charles Bolden, but that sentiment doesn't carry over into the framing of the video.  It's like he's saying, "This is going to be the most awesome human achievement ever!"  And then I get four more minutes of a late-night infomercial that doesn't have any of that Billy Mays excitement.  I'm not looking for something extraordinary, but I do wish NASA would step out of the 80's with their videos and actually join us in the 21st century.

Play Date

Well, it's Friday, again, and I am all ready running an hour behind to start my weekend.  That said, what I found to share with you all today was worth it.  So, sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show!

I Love that Nathan Fillion and I Share March as a Birthday Month!

And it's true!  So he's an Aries and I'm a Pisces; it's still March!

But here's the cool thing about his birthday--it's this week on March 27th!  (And yes, before you ask, I know the above quote is incorrect--but doesn't it look awesome!  And also, what a great sentiment for Nathan's birthday!  And how awesome is it to be in the same company as Leonard Nimoy and Harrison Ford?)

Well, to celebrate his birthday, our favorite ship's captain is spearheading a campaign to bring clean water to the world--definitely heroic, and one of the many reasons I love him.  He's not only a great actor, but a wonderful human being.  So in honor of his birthday, I ask you to consider donating some money to this great cause, and if you need more convincing, here's a little video all about it.

The Future

Yesterday was all about science, and today offers a little more science coupled with imagination.  The things I want to share with you today are ideas and concepts that are taking off right now--hopes and dreams that in another twenty to fifty years may be realities.  Or, they could just prove to be yet another of those many nifty ideas that never made it into our present future. 

Let's start off with a great song by Imagine Dragons--"Radioactive."



So what do you think of when you think of flying cars?  The Jetsons?  Those futurists from the 90's?  A Schwarzenegger movie?

Well, the dream of a flying car might not be that far off--as well as cars that can drive themselves.  As we become a more technologically advanced society, those same networks and systems that allow us to traverse the internet could be allowing us to travel in the real world, too.  Or at least, that's what the people at Terrafugia believe.

This next video was done in May of 2013, and I found it by checking out a Twitter comment by Nathon Fillion of Firefly and Castle fame and THE Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  Apparently this is his dream car.


If you're interested in learning more about this, there is an informational webcast going on tomorrow that you can sign up to attend.  Check out this site here, and if you do attend, please let us know what you found out!

From the future to the "past of future", I want to take you now on a journey to Disney and their idea of what life would be like in Tomorrow Land.  I have always been excited about what life would be like in the future, and watching many old videos from the sixties reminded me of just how far we have, and haven't, come.  Where are all those amazing fold away storage units for our dishes?  Why can't my clothes come with a self-ironing tool?

In this video, Spotted Dog Productions takes us back a ways to the beginnings of Tomorrow Land and shows us what Disney has done to update it over the years.



Last, but not least, I leave you with two really exciting medical articles about advances that are coming in our future for diabetes sufferers and people with heart conditions.

The first article details a 3-D printed, electronic heart membrane that has a lot of uses, among them being able to prevent heart attacks.  It's still in the early stages of development, but could be viable and useable within 15 to 20 years.  By being able to create a membrane that is essentially a "fit" for peoples' hearts--using MRI scans and CT scans to get a good model of the heart and then using those to "print" the membrane--they can monitor pressure, pH levels, stimulate the heart for people who have arrhythmias, and likely a whole host of other things.

Our next article comes from Google's own blog about their intention to create contact lenses that can measure glucose levels through tears to help diabetes sufferers around the world.  By 2030 they estimate that one in three adults will have some form of diabetes, and while people right now have to prick their fingers to measure glucose in a blood sample, these contacts would eliminate that need, as well as providing a warning system to sufferers when their glucose levels are low.  How cool is that?

Google admits it's still in the planning phase, but I'm certainly looking forward to what the future holds.

Oh!  I nearly forgot one last video.  This is from a TED talk about being able to use our current technology in brain imagery scanning to make better thought-to-image translations.  That may sound a little far-fetched and scary, but they've all ready managed to create "thought images" from our brains using technology we all ready have.  Unfortunately, the images are not very focused yet, and they could use some refining.  And that's what Mary Lou Jepsen is aiming to fix.  Check it out!