Author: signordal
Yawn: Adventures in Boredom
At the beginning of the first day of my freshman high-school English class, our teacher went to the blackboard and wrote the word ennui. Then she drew a circle around the word; then she drew a slash through the circle. The message was clear: Boredom, lassitude, and adolescent world-weariness would not be accepted in this classroom. I now recognize Mrs. Stebbins’ strategy as a cat-herding tactic, a way to prime a group of kids raised on TV to be interested and attentive to literature, with the added flair of an unfamiliar word. (Unfamiliar to me, anyway.) The irony, though, is that great literature is often filled with slackers, layabouts, and other souls whose drama is born of their boredom. What would Proust have made of this no-ennui traffic cop?
This strange push and pull that boredom has on us—the way it can stimulate and decelerate us, and how we can never quite shake it—drives Yawn, Mary Mann’s brief and lively book of reported sketches on the subject. Mann herself was inspired to investigate after she and her thirty-something friends were lamenting their workaday drudgeries, which is a common affliction: She cites a study that 70 percent of Americans are bored with or actively dislike their job. Worse, the supposed escape hatches from boredom—sex, travel, “adventure” loosely defined—tend to generate their own vortex of tedious clichés. Looking at dating sites, Mann observes plenty of good times of the zip-lines and martini-drinking variety, but rightly points out that “the thing about everyone seeming interesting is that interesting starts to seem boring after a while, or at least like something with too many predictable parts.”
We’re easily bored with “excitement” if we’re too familiar with it—it’s the old nobody-goes-there-anymore-it’s-too-crowded lament. Even that complaint is boring: It’s what the Internet would call a #FirstWorldProblem, and Mann is alert to the ways that boredom is often a function of upper-middle-class existence. Boredom has always been with us, but it reached full flower with the rise of office work and leisure time. It’s the motivating force behind the package tours that British entrepreneur Thomas Cook launched in the 1840s, launching a “tourism economy [that’s] as much about catering to habits as it is about supplying novelty.” It’s the prompt for couples anxious to rejuvenate their sex lives with toys and “7 Ways to Drive Him Wild” techniques, “the Protestant work ethic getting all mixed up with sex.” Presumably a lot of the people who are bored at their jobs are working in industries designed to relieve our boredom.
But boredom-as-affliction cuts across class lines, and Mann points to research suggesting that while boredom is distinct from depression, the two have a nervously close relationship. The former can slide easily into the latter; Mann speaks with Andrew Solomon, author of the superb 2001 study of depression, The Noonday Demon, who sees spates of boredom as an early warning system for more dire feelings. That relationship matters, because it suggests that there are a lot of people on the brink. And it’s on that point that Mann is at her best, exploring the boredom that stalks soldiers in war zones or refugees in camps. Yet expressing that boredom opens you to a culture-wide contempt. She notes a report on Syrian refugees feeling bored in limbo that prompted one commenter to call them “ungrateful people”; another recommended somebody “drop a bomb on the camps.” (Criticizing others’ boredom is as much a #FirstWorldProblem as criticizing your own.)
“Feeling bored doesn’t require any sort of privilege, but doing something about it often does,” Mann writes. But what’s the right thing to do, even if you have the privilege? Mann herself is at a loss to answer the question. Her travels suggest that we humans, being creatures who crave nature and companionship, benefit from “meaning” and “agency” and “narrative” and “purpose.” We’re uplifted by humor and free time and the ability to daydream, or even just the “stuff” that she sees Google employees enjoying on the job. I was never bored reading Yawn, but its wanderings also reflect the impatience of the modern-day ennui sufferer, bouncing from meme to book to interview, leaping from novels to Alaskan cruises to A.J. Leibling to internet porn. I felt, reading it, like I do after spending too long surfing Wikipedia pages or YouTube videos, gorged on data points but foggy with a sense of their disconnection. “Researching boredom meant researching everything,” she concludes. But a tighter culling of material might have focused the story on the roots of boredom, not just the way it constantly stalks us.
But that’s the trouble: Every experience, given enough time, is going to court boredom. (In David Foster Wallace’s unfinished novel The Pale King, IRS drones are practically vibrating with it—they’re “wigglers” who labor at “Tingle tables.”) As a culture we celebrate productivity, adventure, attention, novelty. We deliver no-ennui dictats, and even our efforts to relax (mindfulness apps, yoga classes) can feel a whole lot like work. Mann closes on an up note, suggesting that the closest thing to a cure for “the itch, everyday restlessness of this troublesome mood [is] other people.” It certainly seems like a more enduring and less artificial option than the rest of the available choices. But the weariness we feel, it seems, is less something we can conquer than one we have to learn to live with.
The Barnes & Noble Review http://ift.tt/2tmDyUT
It’s Flag Day! One of the best stories about Old Glory is from…
It’s Flag Day! One of the best stories about Old Glory is from Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Maryland. During the 1814 Battle of Baltimore, a massive flag measuring 30 feet high and 42 feet long flew over the fort. After a night of British bombardment, Francis Scott Key saw the flag still waving above the fort and was inspired to write the words for the “Star Spangled Banner.” It remains a moving sight to this day. Photo of a Blue Angels demonstration over Fort McHenry by Trent Pitsenbarger (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
ÖÖD Designed a Wonderful Hotel Room for Short-Term Accommodation and Holiday Housing
ÖÖD hotel rooms are designed for short-term accommodation and holiday housing. They require little effort to complete installation, as much as eight hours of work, and can be installed in any part of Estonia without needing any special permission. Its price-per-unit is approximately €33,000 and includes custom-built Estonian furniture. Each unit can house two or three people, and fits in perfectly both with urban landscapes as well as the more..
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Cryptocurrency Is On The Rise: Are You Prepared?
Americans are using less cash than ever before and this trend is happening worldwide for a multitude of reasons.
According to Gallup, “As technology and consumer preferences evolve, companies will constantly seek ways to make retail payments more efficient to gain an advantage with customers. The economy has become more internet-oriented, and it is already becoming easier to make purchases using mobile technology. People are more familiar and comfortable with cashless transactions and are now primed to use those services in live retail environments.”
In other words, it’s not so much that cash is falling out of favor. It’s just that other payment methods are becoming easier and more common. There are more types of currency than there ever have been before and each has its own upsides and downsides.
Here’s the inside scoop on cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency Isn’t Just For Criminals Anymore
You may have heard of Bitcoin exclusively in the context of Silk Road criminals or hackers, but it is becoming a widely used form of virtual currency. Throughout the world, so-called “Bitcoin Islands” are popping up. These are places where the majority of businesses accept bitcoin. Bitcoin millionaires can seek out these places and pay for food, lodging and goods using their Bitcoin fortunes.
Once such place is the Isle of Man, a British protectorate.
According to Bloomberg, “Bitcoin startups tend to cluster where the venture capital money is: London, New York, San Francisco. Taking on these behemoths might appear to be a stretch for a tiny British protectorate that can seem more time capsule than Tomorrowland. Yet the Manx government is indeed seeking to make the island the world’s foremost hub for the technology. Some 25 startups working with digital currencies or the blockchains that underpin them are already based here—and that number is growing steadily.”
The article goes on to tell the story of the folks who flock to this island paradise to live the libertarian dream- all thanks to bitcoin. One such believer is Adrian Forbes who sees the digital currency as a step toward a better world.
“It’s a global currency that can’t be manipulated by any government, can’t be devalued on a whim,” he says. “You have these debt crises going on; these things couldn’t happen if everyone used bitcoin.””
Currency Devaluation Is A Real Threat
One of the biggest problems with government-backed currency is that the government can declare it without value. They can even seize it at will. While that generally doesn’t happen with stable governments, the threat is always there. Plus, forward-thinking investors rely on diversified currency to protect their wealth.
Once such place where the government created pandemonium by declaring the majority of bills in circulation without value is India. In an attempt to curb corruption and tax evasion, the government gave citizens a window of opportunity. They had to turn in 500 and 1000 rupee notes. This created a run on banks with lines that wrapped around the block.
According to Mashable, “The transition to new notes, though, has caused a major sense of panic among many. All banks in the country will remain shut today and ATMs will remain shut till tomorrow, in order to prepare for the transition. Even when they open, limits will be placed during the first few weeks on how much old currency can be swapped for cash as well as limits on the amount of money people will be able to withdraw from ATMs in a day. Soon after the shocking announcement, people could be seen queuing up to withdraw cash in Rs 100 bills. Most ATMs in India are stocked with the higher denomination currency bills that are now untenable.”
Currency Diversification Is The Only Way To Protect Yourself
In a volatile world where the government can declare your currency without value, hackers can empty your bank account while you sleep and gold is still the only thing with lasting value, the only answer is to diversify. We diversify our investment portfolios, so why not our holdings? Learn more about the rise of cryptocurrency and the need for currency diversification from this infographic!
See Also: 7 Top Tips to Avoid Being Caught in a Phishing Net
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A House in the Woods in the South Downs National Park
For me, and I know that also for many people, one of the greatest pleasures in life is to enjoy and spend time in nature. Its smell, its color, its sound, each of these sensations connects us with it in a unique and incomparable way. This wonderful home is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty, within the South Downs National Park, in Hampshire, England, in the United Kingdom…
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A Modern Home in Ascot Vale, Australia
This beautiful home of 190 square meters, located in Ascot Vale, Victoria, Australia, was designed by architects Michael Artemenko and Adi Atic in the year 2016. The house was designed with a family of five in mind, and, despite being in a neighborhood of traditional structures as far as design is concerned, it is somehow distant from belonging to the same design. Its modern style makes it stand out among..
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A Simple Guide On How To Buy And Ship Your Car Online
Buying a car online is no longer a fantasy of the past. It might sound sketchy to purchase something as big as a vehicle without being able to test drive it and check it over yourself first, but it can be a completely safe and viable option.
Save time and eliminate the stress of haggling with a dealer and give online purchasing a shot. However, now that you’ve decided to buy a car online, where exactly do you start?
Do Your Research
According to Google’s latest stats, 71% of people turn to online search first to solve their problems. So, start with a quick search.
The Internet is home to many resources. This includes Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book, which offer comprehensive estimates on the value of vehicles. They can also give you ideas on which one might be right for you.
To get an idea of what you need, consider your family size, daily commute or vehicle usage and your budget.
If you have a specific used vehicle in mind, run the VIN number through a website like AutoCheck or Carfax to get an idea of the car’s history.
Start Negotiations
Once you have an idea of which vehicle you want, you can start contacting the seller. Most people don’t enjoy the high-pressure sales situation created by dealers. This process is designed to wring the most money out of you, and it can take hours of your time.
When you choose to buy a car online, the power is back in your hands. Choose two or three dealers in your area that stock the specific car you want and contact their online sales department through their website. They’ll usually send a follow-up email and this is when you include any extra features you want in your car at this stage. Just don’t mention your trade-in, if you have one, or bring up financing options yet.
Be sure to clarify in your discussions whether or not the quoted prices they give you include any additional fees. If any of the fees sounds fishy, do a quick search for legitimacy.
After you’ve received a few quotes, take the lowest quote and send it to the other dealers to see if they can give you a better price. Repeat this process until one of them offers you a price you’re happy with. It should be one that fits your budget and the estimated ranges you found for the vehicle online.
If you’re unhappy with the thought of having to go through back-and-forth haggling- even through email- there are websites, like Truecar and Vinadvisor, that can negotiate with dealers for you.
If You’re Buying a Used Car, Get It Inspected
In case you’re buying a used car, you should always have a local mechanic inspect the vehicle before you pay for it, especially if you are buying from an individual seller. Search for a mechanic nearby the seller and arrange a date and time for the inspection to take place.
If the seller doesn’t agree to a third-party inspection, that’s your sign that you need to find a different vehicle. The results from a mechanic’s report are incredibly valuable in your purchase decision.
The inspection will cost you about $100, but that’s a negligible cost when you consider how expensive car repairs can get.
See Also: How to Find a Good Mechanic in the Age of Social Media
Have Your Car Shipped To You
If your new car isn’t located in your town, you’ll want to look into car shipping options.
Shipping your car offers you peace of mind that your car will arrive safely. It also allows you to have your car delivered on your time, without having to plan a road trip. Car shipping can also be cheaper than you think, especially when you consider travel costs and the added wear and tear on your car.
There are several reliable auto transport companies, such as Montway Auto Transport and Central Dispatch, who will ship your car from anywhere in the country. All you need to do is schedule a pickup window and make sure someone is present when they pick up your car.
There are options for every budget, including uncovered options to save money and covered options for more expensive vehicles.
Forget About the Dealership
You can purchase a brand new or certified used car completely online, just like from a dealership, without leaving your house. Sounds amazing, right?
These websites offer car inspections, delivery right to your door and the ability to return your car if you didn’t fall in love with it. There are currently two major contenders that sell used cars nationwide: Vroom and Carvana.
Vroom.com vehicles undergo a 126-point inspection before they’re accepted for sale. Browse through their list of vehicles right away and create a free account to start the purchasing process.
You’ll get a free nationwide shipping to your door as well as a 7-day or 250-mile test drive. All cars also come with a 90-day/30,000-mile warranty and a free year of 24/7 roadside assistance. Through Vroom, you can access financing from over 30 different lenders and apply directly from their website.
Carvana.com vehicles, on the other hand, must pass a 150-point inspection as well as undergo an Experian auto check report. After purchase, customers have the option to test drive their cars for seven days before they can return them.
Delivery is free for customers located within 100 miles of one of Carvana’s southern U.S. hubs. If you’re located between 100-250 miles of these hubs, the delivery fee is $199. Anyone needing their car shipped beyond the 250-mile range will need to secure another shipping option.
In addition to Vroom and Carvana, there are other local options depending on your area, such as Nowcar and Carsense. You can also look into the newly developed car-leasing website Prazo, if you’re interested in leasing a new car.
See Also: How To Get The Best Deal From Your Local Used Cars Dealership
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June 14th
As he caught his footing, his head fell back, and the Milky Way flowed down inside him with a roar.
How To Live In This Moment
You’re reading How To Live In This Moment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’re enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Look around you. Do you see that? This is where you are right now. Look in the mirror. See that face? That’s you, my friend. So, this is what you’ve got – right here, right now – yourself and this very moment.
Don’t panic. You aren’t stuck here. You can still get to where you want to go in life – without waiting for the perfect time and without worrying about all the ‘what ifs.’ You just need to find the strength to do so. (Notice I said “find.” You have the strength, you just may not know where you put it.)
In the meantime, maybe these 4 tips will help…
- Living in the moment does not mean you aren’t growing. With society always telling us we need to go further in our career or be something or someone better than who we are, we often spend our days dreaming of the future. If only I could… or If only I had… or If only ___ would… See, “if only” doesn’t help you move forward. In fact, it halts you in the moment and stunts your growth. After all, you cannot focus on the present if you are stuck trying to dream up a fictitious future. Be present, be in your moment, and absorb all that you can.
- Mantras or personal affirmations work. Remember years ago, when it was rumored that records or cartoons had subliminal messages that made kids do crazy things? Why not create your own message to yourself? Find something positive that you can repeat to yourself several times a day. Make it something that will bring you back when your mind starts to wonder and something that can remind you to live in the moment. Then, tape it to your mirror, your steering wheel, or write it in permanent marker on your hand – wherever you will see it and remember to repeat it. Then believe it!
- Slow down. You heard me. Apply the brakes and back away from the driver’s seat. The simple idea of slowing down is hard for those who cannot live in the present. Rushing from point A to point B, in and out of appointments and meetings, social engagement after social engagement, then home to cook, clean, do laundry… all on about 5 hours or less of sleep because, face it – you need more hours in a day! No, no, and NO! This is not the way to live life. If you want to find yourself happy and settled in the future, then you need to slow yourself down now.
- Take on less work.
- Prioritize social engagements – and then pick only one to attend.
- Spend at least five minutes with yourself each day (in solitude).
- Remind yourself what is important – and what can wait.
- Sleep at least eight hours every night.
- Force yourself to physically move slower.
- Give attention to the insignificant things. Sometimes we overlook the trivial things in life that make our day. It is not that we are ungrateful, we just may not realize their importance. For instance – a toilet, coffee, transportation, a hot meal, your favorite song, etc. These are all things that make our life a little more enjoyable and without them, well, we maybe wouldn’t be so… pleasant.
Acknowledge these things by writing them down, physically seeing all the perks you have this very moment in life. Sure, it may not be that house on the beach you always dreamed of when you were younger – but you have a roof over your head which means you are one step further than a lot of people! Keeping a journal of these things can help you focus your attention on the present, as well as become more appreciative of where you are in your life’s journey.
If you keep traveling ahead in your current manner, you won’t even know that you reached your future once you reach it! Your eyes will be so focused on the next thing. Start now and learn to enjoy life in the moment – this moment.
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Michelle Blan is a freelance writer and avid blogger determined to motivate even those lost in their darkest moments. There is always a way out…I can show you. Check out my blog at www.shellblan.com or follow me on Twitter @ShellBlan
You’ve read How To Live In This Moment, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you’ve enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Sig Nordal 