Words from a “lost” generation

Only 1 minute 44 seconds, so watch the whole thing:

(Thanks to Brenda for the submission!)

ManBabies

Here are some of the most popular entries from the ManBabies website.  Funny, sweet, creepy, or just plain weird?  You decide…

(Thanks to Charlie for the submission!)

Awkward family holiday card photos

Some of my favorites from the Awkward Family Photos website (click a thumbnail to see the full photo in all its glory, then use your “Back” button to return to this page):

Hippo and tortoise

This true story has been going around the Internet for years, but it still makes me smile. More proof that differences don’t have to matter.

NAIROBI (AFP) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. “It is incredible.. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. “After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately , it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,” the ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added. “The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,” he explained.

(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)

Mysterious Letters on Kickstarter

I recently ran across Kickstarter.com, a website that provides “a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers…”.  Propose a project, and if you’re lucky enough to make it onto the site you can promote your project and bring in pledges from site visitors.  Bit by bit, dollar by dollar, projects are successfully funded every day.  A pretty cool concept.

A lot of the projects are what you’d expect:  books to be published, movies to be made, bands who want to “come play in your town”.  But here’s a wacky one that caught my eye:  Mysterious Letters, a project by two artists in Ireland who want to send a hand-written letter to everyone on the planet.  So far they’ve covered one town in Ireland (see the video on the website) and raised  $1,518 towards their $2,000 goal.  But my favorite part is what you get for your pledge.  In particular:

Pledge $5 or more: You will have your name written in calligraphy on a list that will be read in a reverential tone of voice into the letterbox as we post all of the letters. (Specific accents requestable.)

…

Pledge $24 or more: You will receive a unique hand-written postcard composed whilst we were sober, clear-headed and utterly focused on the task.

Pledge $25 or more: You will receive a unique hand-scrawled postcard written while we were drunk, which we’ll regret horribly by the time it arrives.

Not surprisingly, the highest number of pledges are in the $25-or-more category.

This project not your cup of tea?  No worries, there are plenty of others to choose from.  Your pledge could definitely improve someone’s day!

Contagious laughter and the Bodhisattva

In Tibetan Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is anyone who is motivated by compassion and seeks enlightenment not only for him/herself but also for everyone…someone dedicated to the ultimate welfare of all beings. A true Bodhisattva will strive to “attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.”

So can anyone be a Bodhisattva, especially if you don’t want to go all-out with the Buddhahood thing?  Sure!  Just spread a little love so that others can have a better time.  Wanna start simple?  Try laughter.  It’s definitely contagious…  Skype proved this in 2008 when they launched the Skype Laughter Chain with this video (scroll down a little further to see the Bodhisattva version):

Now, the Bodhisattva part…  Enjoy!  (And DO try this at home.)

(Thanks to Debbie for the submission!)

Post-it love

This reminded me of our soon-to-be-married friends (and Day Improver subscribers) Olivia and Drew.  A little over a month ’til The Big Day!  Ah, love…we’re clearly fans.

Like having fun with stickies? Check out Post-it stop motion as well!

(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)

What are you so afraid of?

For me, it was drowning.  Well, swimming, actually.  Despite growing up in Florida, I’ve never been a strong swimmer.  And it’s a fear that’s kept me from participating in so many fun times with friends and family–they go swim in waterfall pools, I stay on the rocks.  Need a day-improver?  Need to conquer that fear.

For me, it took the idea of a friend and the final nudge of my wonderful husband to give me wings (or, in this case, fins).  So I signed up for a triathlon.  No Ironman, just super-sprint distances (still pretty challenging if you’ve never done it before)…but obviously it starts with a swim.  Yes, over the past six weeks, as part of my triathlon training, I’ve relearned to swim–actually, we figured that I’ve probably swam more in the past six weeks than I have in my entire life.  And not only have I not drowned, I’m kinda loving it!

Which is a really long way to say that a great day-improver comes from doing something you never in a million years thought you would or could do.  In mid-October I’ll hopefully post that I’ve just finished my first triathlon.  In the meantime, however, I’m celebrating all firsts–like swimming in a waterfall pool with my husband and our two great friends, Eric and Chrissy, up in the North Carolina mountains.  That first picture up above is the actual waterfall…here’s the proof that I actually plunged myself into the freezing depths and SWAM in it with people I love:

So what are YOU so afraid of, and what’s it holding you back from?  Time to take a little step out of your comfort zone and experience something new.  It’s the ultimate day-improver, not just for the day you do it, but for all the days after!

(Thanks to Eric for finding the path down to the pool, to Chrissy for braving the cold with me, and as always to Paul for knowing I could do it…next step, triathlon!)

What’s virgin mean?

A lovely mother-daughter moment…wait for it…

(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)

Kiss someone’s forehead today!

I hereby declare today (and for that matter, every day) International Kiss Someone’s Forehead Day. As you can see, it’ll make you BOTH feel better!

(Thanks to Nick for the submission!)