Fear is only as deep as the mind allows.
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Motivation
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Chicken wings. They appear small and insignificant, don’t they? But there are restaurant chains dedicated to serving a wide variety of these glorious little bites of heaven. You can also bet to find chicken wings served at Super Bowl, birthday, office, and most other parties and get-togethers across the country! I make these babies to serve as a snack, lunch, or dinner at least once a week because they’re super easy to prepare… and oh, so yummy!
Here are 30 delectable chicken wing recipes for you to try, featuring creative twists on familiar favorites… Enjoy!
1. Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
Crispy skin without the mess! Served with either ginger-soy glaze or buffalo sauce.
2. Tebasaki Japanese Style Chicken Wings
Super crispy Japanese-style fried chicken wings with brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic glaze. This is our family favorite!
3. “Blow Your Mind” Baked Chicken Wings
Baked wings with garlic, ginger, chili flakes, and scallions.
4. One-Pot Chicken Recipe: Korean Fried Wings
Crispy, crackling wings with an easy to make, garlic, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and chili paste glaze.
5. Hot Thai Chilli Chicken Wings
Marinated chicken wings deep fried and tossed in garlic, red curry paste, and tomato ketchup sauce.
6. Sweet and Spicy Chicken Wings
Sweet and spicy baked chicken wings made with garlic, soy sauce, honey, and red pepper flakes.
7. Brown Stew Chicken Wings With Cauliflower Dip
Great tasting wings prepared a little healthier.
8. Restaurant-Style Buffalo Chicken Wings
Just like the wings served at the popular restaurant chain!
9. Grill Master Chicken Wings
Grilled wings with a soy, hot pepper, and butter sauce.
10. Vietnamese Lime Chicken Wings
Delicious wings with chili sauce, honey, and lime leaves.
11. Caribbean Chicken Wings
Easy to prepare baked wings with habanero, honey, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper glaze.
12. Sticky Guinness Chicken Wings
Lazy wings recipe with a definite bite from the pepper corns and Guinness.
13. Firecracker Chicken Wings
Guy Fieri’s sweet & spicy chicken wings with honey, sriracha, ginger, and chili-garlic sauce.
14. Cranberry Glazed Sticky Chicken Wings
Sweet & sour wings with a sweet chili and cranberry glaze.
15. Smoked Jerk Chicken Wings with Honey-Tamarind Dipping Sauce
Jamaican flavored wings with a fragrant and spicy jerk marinade.
16. Teriyaki Chicken Wings With Sesame And Cilantro
Teriyaki chicken wings with sesame and cilantro.
17. Grilled Turmeric and Lemongrass Chicken Wings
Wings with a coconut milk, garlic, lemongrass, jalapenos, tamarind, and turmeric marinade.
18. Indian Style Wings
Skinless Indian-style wings with a flavorful ginger, garlic, tomato, and onion sauce.
19. Grilled Chicken Wings with Spicy Chipotle Hot Sauce and Blue Cheese-Yogurt Dipping Sauce
Chicken wings with a refreshingly spicy but mildly sweet sauce.
20. Honey-Sriracha Chicken Wings
Simple to prepare honey and sriracha wings with a perfect balance of sweet and spicy.
21. Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings
Crispy and flavorful baked Parmesan and garlic chicken wings.
22. “Call the Fire Department” Hot Wings
Hot and delicious cayenne pepper and Tabasco chicken wings recipe.
23. Crock Pot Chicken Wings
What could be easier than making chicken wings in a crock pot?
24. Sticky and Spicy Thai-Style Chicken Wings
An amazing combo of flavors from the peppery Sriracha, sweet and smoky hoisin sauce, and the flurry of cilantro and scallions.
25. Sticky Honey-Soy Chicken Wings
Sticky chicken wings cooked in honey, soy sauce, ginger, cilantro, garlic, and lemon juice.
26. Balsamic Chicken Wings
Tangy wings cooked in a honey, ginger, and balsamic vinegar glaze.
27. Chicken Wings With Spicy Peanut Sauce
Wings with spicy peanut sauce. The perfect combination of sweet, salty, and roasty.
28. Smoked Chicken Wings
Crispy wings smoked in apple wood chips.
29. Coca-Cola Chicken Wings
Simple caramelized chicken wings recipe using cola and soy sauce.
30. Crab Fat–Caramel Wings
Mind-altering wings cooked in jarred crab paste.
The post 30 Mouth-Watering Recipes For Chicken Wing Lovers appeared first on Lifehack.
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How smart do you have to be to succeed?
What about to become a creative genius? Did Picasso and Mozart use superhuman intelligence to create their masterpieces?
And similarly…
- How intelligent do you need to be to become a successful entrepreneur?
- How good does your training program need to be to become an elite athlete?
- How perfect does your weight loss program need to be to burn fat?
These are questions that we don’t often ask ourselves, but they are built into our beliefs and actions about many phases of life. We often think that the reason we aren’t succeeding is because we haven’t found the right strategy or because we weren’t born with the right talents.
Perhaps that is true. Or, perhaps there is an untold side of the story…
“The Termites”
In 1921, there was a psychologist at Stanford University named Lewis Terman who set out on a mission to conduct a research study unlike any before it.
Terman began by finding the 1,000 smartest students in California between the third grade and eighth grade as measured by IQ. [1] After much testing and searching, Terman gathered a final sample of 856 boys and 672 girls. The children became known as “The Termites.”
Terman and his team began testing the children in nearly every way you could image. They tracked their IQ, analyzed how many books each student had in their homes, took their medical histories, and on and on. But that was just the beginning.
What made Terman’s study unique is that it was the first longitudinal research study, which meant that Terman continued to track and test his subjects for years afterward. The study, which is now famously known as Genetic Studies of Genius, collected data from the students throughout their entire lives. Terman collected additional data in 1928, 1936, 1940, 1945, 1950, and 1955. After Terman died in 1956, his colleagues continued tracking The Termites in 1960, 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1986.
To summarize, the study started with the smartest group of children in the entire state of California and then tracked their success throughout their entire lives. Decades later, the researchers had discovered something very interesting…
Threshold Theory
The surprising discovery that came out of Terman’s study is best described by creativity researcher and physician, Nancy Andreasen…
“Although many people continue to equate intelligence with genius, a crucial conclusion from Terman’s study is that having a high IQ is not equivalent to being highly creative. Subsequent studies by other researchers have reinforced Terman’s conclusions, leading to what’s known as the threshold theory, which holds that above a certain level, intelligence doesn’t have much effect on creativity: most creative people are pretty smart, but they don’t have to be that smart, at least as measured by conventional intelligence tests. An IQ of 120, indicating that someone is very smart but not exceptionally so, is generally considered sufficient for creative genius.” [2]
Remember our question from the beginning: “Did Picasso and Mozart use superhuman intelligence to create their masterpieces?”
According to Threshold Theory, not necessarily. Being in the top 1 percent of intelligence has no correlation with being fantastically creative. Rather, there is a minimum threshold of intelligence that you need to have, and after that it comes down to a lot of deliberate practice, putting in your reps, and developing your skill set.
Threshold Theory in Everyday Life
If you look around, you’ll see that Threshold Theory applies to many things in life. Success is rarely as simple as “just work harder.” The fundamentals matter. There is a minimum threshold of competence that you need to develop in nearly any endeavor.
After that, however, the difference is between those who put in the work and those who get distracted. Once you have a basic grasp of the right things to do, it becomes about the consistency of doing the right things more often. Once you understand the fundamentals, it comes down to your habits.
Some examples…
Weightlifting: Assuming you’ve met some minimum threshold and are doing reasonably effective exercises (like these) with reasonably effective form, the details don’t really matter that much. Once you’ve passed this basic threshold, what makes 95% of the difference is this: Are you showing up to the gym and putting in your reps?
Writing: Assuming you understand the core principles of writing and the basics of grammar, what determines your ability to write well more than anything else is writing a lot. Once you reach the threshold of writing a decent sentence, the thing that leads to success is writing more.
Entrepreneurship: Assuming you know what the most important metric is for your business, what makes the biggest difference is focusing on that metric every day. Once you cross the basic threshold of knowing what to work on, the most important thing is continuing to work on that one thing and not something else.
If you’re brand new to an area, then it’s possible you haven’t learned enough to cross the threshold yet. But for most of us, we know what works and we have enough knowledge to make progress. It’s not about being more intelligent or more skilled, it’s about overcoming distraction and doing the work that already works.
James Clear writes at JamesClear.com, where he shares science-based ideas for living a better life and building habits that stick. To get strategies for boosting your mental and physical performance by 10x, join his free newsletter.
This article was originally published on JamesClear.com.
Sources
- Interestingly, Termin actually created the IQ test that he used to determine the intelligence of his original group. The IQ test was originally created by French psychologist Alfred Binet and Termin adjusted the test to create the “Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales”, which is now in it’s fifth edition and is probably the most well-known IQ test.
- “Secrets of the Creative Brain” by Nancy C. Andreasen. June 25, 2014.
Thanks to reader Dean Dwyer for sending me the creativity article by Dr. Andreasen, which led me down the long, twisted path to this article. As usual, you all are keeping me on the right track.
The post Threshold Theory: How Smart Do You Have to Be to Succeed? appeared first on Lifehack.
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We all need a hobby. It’s what gets us out of the house, and whether it is stamp collecting or paragliding, everyone loves to escape from the humdrum of work and let their mind escape into something they love.
But of course it’s not always feasible to do the things we love. It’s impossible to be a skiing fanatic living in Texas, without travelling thousands of miles and spending hundreds of dollars to touch the snow. Just as you’re going to have to spend hundreds to even reach China before playing the tables of Macau.
But never fear, you can find viable alternatives, and they won’t break the bank either. Below, you’ll find 20 hobbies we have compiled to keep you busy while not going broke.
Physically and Mentally Active Hobbies
1. Indoor Skiing
Of course we’ll start with all those skiing fans. The skis themselves will set you back upwards of $700 and that’s without boots, salopettes, jackets, and slope fees, but you can enjoy your hobby for much, much less. Ski hire is the obvious option, while you don’t have to travel to the Alps to enjoy a black run, but rather visit your nearest dry or indoor slope.
There are hundreds across the world, from Dubai, to Manchester, to Lynchburg, Virginia with facilities for both boarding and skiing, alongside ski hire and plenty of classes so you can learn to cut through the snow with not a flake in sight.
2. Rock Climbing Inside
Like snow, mountains are not easy to find – particularly ones that are safe to climb. But climbing centers? Well, they’re a little easier. Of course you don’t get the stunning views, but you also don’t have to brave the elements either.
You can stay dry and wind-chill free while sampling lead climbing, boldering, and top roping without the need for specialty shoes, which alone can retail up to $250. This is in addition to the savings you enjoy from not having to purchase a rope, harnesses, and other protective gear.
Not only is a climbing center a great place to develop a hobby, but also the perfect location to keep in practice between trips away to the mountains.
3. Yoga and Meditation
Not only are yoga and meditation hobbies that will improve your physical and mental fitness, but they can also be practiced with little investment. Knowledge and time are all that are required to learn the fundamental basics of each, while you may also need to purchase a simple, $20 yoga mat to optimize comfort during daily workouts.
These disciplines have a noticeable impact on your outlook and physical well-being, making them enjoyable and soothing past-times that actively improve your quality of life.
4. Hike and Ramble in the Great Outdoors
There are numerous types of cardiovascular activities, and your preferred option will depend a great deal on your level of fitness. Less intense forms of cardio are often considered to be gentle and recreational past-times, with hiking a relevant example.
Simply by investing in an affordable pair of hiking boots and independent layers of clothing, you can tackle some of the UK’s most picturesque and challenging trails at your leisure. This can cost as little as $100, depending on your existing clothing and the footwear that you own.
5. Jogging in your Local Park
In the UK market, the cost of joining a gym can vary between £50 and £60 per month nationwide. Those who select a daily membership plan can pay as much as £5 per day, and regardless of your preferred option you will be required to pay a considerable sum over the course of a year.
Gym membership is not a pre-requisite of a healthy lifestyle, and those who wish to remain active in their leisure time should instead consider jogging at their local park. This is far more effective and even more challenging than using a treadmill, while your body also benefits from an intake of fresh air and running along variable terrain.
6. Volunteer
If you are keen to develop your philosophical outlook and learn by embracing new cultures, you may want to consider volunteering your time to participate in a host of overseas projects. Western nations like the US and UK offer a wide variety of overseas community programs, with the latter’s government currently managing an estimated 150 projects across 25 countries all over the world.
This can help you to further your personal development, expand your mind and discover a purpose without having to spend heavily or outside of your means.
Online Hobbies
7. Online Gaming
The same principle of fees can be applied to bricks and mortar casinos, which often charge a premium for membership, drinks and food. While you won’t find the glamour of Las Vegas and Macau anywhere else in the world, you can still enjoy the thrill of the green felt with relative ease.
Whether you’re a high roller or just learning the game, you could visit your local casino, or better still, fire up your laptop and bring the casino to you. Playing a few rounds in an online casino has become incredibly popular over the last few years with the likes of Full Tilt dealing to millions of members.
You can play roulette, blackjack, and poker without even booking a flight to McCarran, and better still you don’t even have to play for real money. Practice your craft before playing for real stakes, and you never know – you might build up a bankroll big enough to get you to the Bellagio.
8. Social Gaming
If your preference is for traditional video gaming, you may very well balk at the cost of individual platforms and titles. If you are willing to swap your console for the type of social gaming experiences available online and through your mobile devices, however, you will be pleasantly surprised to find a diverse and thrilling range of titles.
These can often be accessed for free through either social media outlets or mobile app stores, and you retain the autonomy to decide how and when you spend your money during game play. Players usually have the choice to progress through levels either by paying real world money or completing in-game challenges, and those who are willing to invest time into the endeavor can access titles regularly with a minimal investment.
9. Blogging
While Google’s aggressive drive to improve the quality of online content may have made it increasingly difficult to earn a lucrative living out of blogging, this remains a cost-effective and potentially satisfying past-time that enables you to indulge your creative side. This is especially true for those with a flair for website design, as broad templates and domain names can be purchased for a minimal cost before being transformed into a responsive and attractive blog.
Not only does blogging represent a cost-effective hobby that exercises your creativity, but it can also deliver some remuneration in terms of paid advertisements and sponsored posts once your blog has been established.
10. Sell Unwanted Goods Online
On a similar note, embracing e-commerce and selling goods online also represents an affordable and engaging hobby that can also deliver a financial return.
It is also relatively easy, as you simply need to register an account on e-commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon, before listing your items and completing transactions. The main benefit of this hobby is that it can consume as much or as little of your time as you want, while costs can be kept to a minimum if you simply choose to sell recycled or second-hand goods.
You can also easily scale your e-commerce operation over time, although it is important to retain a keen sense of perspective and enjoyment when selling items online.
11. Online Community Projects
As we can see, the thrift market has exploded recently, thanks primarily to a combination of increased environmental awareness and a gradual fall in the average rate of disposable income. Beyond creating an opportunity to save and make money, however, the burgeoning online thrift market has also developed entire communities of people who wish to share and swap items in the local area.
Take Freecycle, for example, which represents a non-profit movement that promotes the virtues of reusing and recycling unwanted items. Participating in such a community movement can be extremely worthwhile, as it occupies your time and also enables you to make a positive contribution to the environment.
12. Trace your Ancestry
As of late, software and websites have been developed to help individuals trace their family history back to its origins. This has emerged as something of a hobby for some, especially those with a thoughtful nature and an innate passion for history.
The growing interest in genealogy underlines how engrossing this past-time can be, while there are also a rising number of online communities that can help you to trace your family history and indulge your passion. This is also extremely affordable, with outlets such as Ancestry.com offering competitive rates and membership discounts.
13. Connect with an Online Pen-pal
The online revolution and the development of remote communication techniques has made it possible to connect with people regardless of their geographical location. This has revolutionized traditional hobbies like connecting with an international pen-pal, as this is now more affordable, and enables you to connect with these individuals in real time.
While you may be able to cut costs by saving money on stamps and stationary, you will need to identify viable websites through which you can connect with like-minded pen-pals. This enables you to identify free or low-cost resources, while also targeting individuals with similar interests.
Arts and Craft Hobbies
15. Create Personalized Travel Mementos
Regardless of how or where you travel, it is nice to keep mementos that fill you with warm and pleasant recollections of your adventures. The only issue with this is the cost of traditional souvenirs, which are often sold at a premium to capitalize on the lucrative tourism market.
You can create your own mementos for a relative pittance, however, while also developing a passion for art and photography. Simply by enlarging your photographs and transforming them into beautiful canvases, you can enrich the visual appeal of your home while also creating low-cost and everlasting memories of your many travels.
16. Knitting and Crocheting
Knitting and crocheting have to be two of the cheapest and most versatile of hobbies. You can pick up knitting needles, crochet hooks and all kinds of wool from most craft supply, thrift and charity stores.
What’s more, if you cannot quite find the color that you like, you can always dye it yourself using Kool Aid. You can then weave the wool into pretty much anything – clothes, decor for your home or even toys.
The best part is that you can find a whole host of free patterns on knitting forums on the internet, or commit to an affordable monthly subscription with a crafts magazine that supplies materials and inspiration.
17. Embroidery
Once you have knitted or woven fabrics into garments and accessories, you may want to embellish them with needle, thread and yarn. This is a past-time known commonly as embroidery, and it is renowned as an extremely affordable and enjoyable hobby.
Embroidery is the process of decorating fabric with colored threads and patterns, although it can also incorporate materials like metal strips, pearls, beads and even sequins. It is most commonly used on clothing and garments, and those with a passion for this past-time can reduce costs by embellishing their existing clothes to create a unique new look.
A basic sewing kit can cost as little as $15, while yarn can be purchased in bulk from thrift or charity shops for just a few dollars.
18. Upcycle
Upcycling is an excellent and thrifty hobby to undertake because you can get started simply with the materials and DIY tools that you already have at home. You can pretty much transform anything, including mirrors, dressers, television cabinets or cupboards.
It is amazing how simply adding a lick of paint, some new handles or even a little stenciling can give an old piece of furniture a whole new life. As your confidence grows you could even try combing furniture to alter its use and create something unique.
Your imagination and sense of adventure really is the limit to what you can achieve, while you can also use your passion to participate in upcycling business start-up and non-profit collaborations.
19. Origami
Learning the art of origami, the ancient Chinese paper craft, is another versatile hobby that you can do anywhere. And you don’t even need to devote considerable amounts of time or money to it.
You can pick up the basics in an hour or two using an online tutorial on YouTube or in a book borrowed from library. You can then go on to fold and crease paper into all sorts of wonderful creations that can be used to amuse, decorate or even store your household items safely and securely.
An engrossing and low-cost hobby, origami can also wow others and become a unique party trick.
20. Loom Weaving
Despite its recent popularization in modern culture, loom weaving is not just for kids. It is also a relatively ancient art. These versatile little loops are also extremely versatile, and can be weaved into pretty much anything, not just bands.
Patterns are available on the internet for how to weave them into rings to wear, sleeves to decorate the arms on your glasses, toy animals or even clothes. They come in a huge array of colors, including some that are quite luminous, and they are even available in glow in the dark, so there is enough diversity to interest those with a real passion for arts and crafts.
20. Decoupage
Decoupage is a deceptively easy and diverse craft, and one that some have turned into a visually stunning art-form. It is also extremely engaging and affordable, as you can simply utilize colorful tissue paper that has either been discarded or left at the back of your cupboards.
By cutting this fabric into a host of shapes and decorating it, you can create everything from a trinket box cover to a unique piece of artwork.
Featured photo credit: Freelance it Labs via freelanceitlab.com
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A true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart. – Hercules
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Julian Beever is a talented artist who has mastered the art of creating unbelievably life-like optical illusions in the street. A master of perspective and creativity, Julian creates unique art using a technique called anamorphosis.
The art is drawn from a certain perspective, so you can see the picture perfectly from one angle. And when standing in the right place, these mind-blowing pavement drawings leap off the street, looking so life like it’s hard to believe they’re just drawings.
What did you think of this 3D pavement art? Comment below!
Featured photo credit: Julian Beever via tuningpp.com
The post 30 3D Pavement Drawings To Blow Your Mind appeared first on Lifehack.
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“A dog has the soul of a philosopher.” – Plato
Are you one of the 70% of people who sign their pet dog’s name on greeting cards? No need to confess, just read on! Did you know that three dogs actually survived the Titanic? They were a Newfoundland, a Pomeranian and a Pekingese. I do not know what was in their genetic makeup which helped them do that. Maybe they were just lucky.
So, are dog breeds all different? What role does genetics, training and the dog’s own personality play in determining whether they are indeed man’s best friend? Let us look at 8 facts which are backed by science which will help us understand this better.
1. Belgian shepherd dogs can sniff out cancer and other diseases
It is generally known that dogs have an extremely acute sense of smell, about 100,000 times sharper than ours. Scientific studies have been done on the Belgian shepherd dogs (the Malinois) which have shown that they can detect prostate cancer in men. These dogs were able to correctly detect the cancer by sniffing urine samples.
Apparently cancer cells leave a particular odor which these dogs can pick up, after training. They got 63 out of 66 right! These studies were conducted by a French researcher and were presented at a conference organized by the American Urological Association.
2. Border collies, poodles and German shepherds are the most intelligent dogs
If you ever wanted a really intelligent dog as a pet, choose one of the above. These dogs are actually as clever as a two year child and they can process up to 165 different gestures, movements and words. Not bad for a dog. The Afghan hound comes at the bottom of the list as being pretty dumb. These findings were the result of research carried out by a canine researcher, Dr. Stanley Coren, of the University of British Columbia.
3. There’s selective breeding for tailor made dogs
Consumer tastes and dog breeders have collaborated in producing dog breeds which meet market demands. This is why we have hunting dogs, sociable dogs and guard dogs. The only problem here is that the inbreeding leads to many dogs having typical diseases which are now very hard to eliminate.
Golden retrievers are more liable to get cancer while King Charles spaniels may have more heart diseases. Experts say that pugs could be bred to have larger muzzles so that they do not suffer from respiratory diseases, like they do now.
4. A special dog breed is supposed to help autistic children
A cross breed of the golden retriever and poodle (the golden doodle) is now being bred to help children with autism (ASD). They have been incredibly successful in that the kids’ sleeping patterns and general behavior have improved by leaps and bounds. This new breed of dog combines the star qualities of both in that they are friendly, patient, loyal and above all forgiving when the kids give them a rough time. These dogs have enriched the lives of autistic children and helped them to lead more normal lives.
5. Chocolate can kill a dog
Chocolate can make your dog very sick or even kill him or her. An 8 lb. pound poodle was fed one pound of chocolate on her birthday and nearly died. If you feed a golden retriever who weighs about 60 pounds with a bag of Hershey kisses, then the effects will be much less severe. The problem is that chocolate contains theobromine which is toxic for dogs. Another bad idea is to feed a dog with apple or pear seeds as these contain arsenic which can also be fatal for dogs.
6. The Newfoundland is the best swimmer
This breed of dog is known for its webbed feet and strong swimming skills. It is no surprise to learn that it was first used to help fisherman in Newfoundland to pull in their nets and also in helping to haul back wood from the forests. They have a double waterproof coat which helps them survive in icy waters. They are strong, loving, courageous, and loyal. They make great guard dogs, too. The only problem is that they adore water and mud which can make them a difficult home pet.
7. Moscow stray dogs
These 35,000 feral dogs are famous for many reasons. One is that they have become much smarter at getting people to drop their snacks just bought at the food kiosks. They sneak up and bark at the customer who, startled, drops it and the dog gobbles it up. This is known as “the hunt for shawarma”.
Another incredible thing is that these dogs have become adept at travelling on the subway to get from one part of the city to the other. They seem to possess an inbuilt sense of timing to know when to get off at the right metro stop! They are also better behaved on the metro than they are on the streets when hunting down food. Biologists, such as Andrei Poyarkov, who have studied these dogs noticed that they have learned how to cross streets by using the traffic lights. They have also adapted to the continually evolving Russian capital.
8. Dogs who look like wolfs live longer
Generally, dogs live about 15 years but this does vary according to the size and face features of whichever breed we are talking about. Bulldogs and pugs who have flat muzzles tend to live shorter lives. Those who look more like their wolf ancestors with sharp, pointed features will live longer. This is just one of the fun facts mentioned in Planet Dog: A Doglopedia by Sandra and Harry Choron. The longest living dog was a Queensland Heeler called Bluey who lived to the ripe old age of 29 years and 5 months.
Do you have any fun facts about dog breeds to pass on?
Featured photo credit: Spoosquatch/ Perry McKenna via flickr.com
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Are you over 6 foot? You probably despise riding public transport and staying over at someone’s place as the couch always tends to be too short. Here are ten more life difficulties any tall person can absolutely relate to:
1. Hearing all those shabby lines and recycled jokes
People are not original with their jokes about your height. If you got a dollar each time you hear: “What’s the weather like up there?”, “Can we stand back to back for a pic?”, “Do you play basketball?”, “What did your mother feed you as a child? Miracle Grow?” etc, you’d be a millionaire today. Yet, the most frustrating is that some people still find it witty and are 100% sure you have never heard that before.
2. Flying anywhere
Firstly, you are always asked to put something in the upper baggage storage. Secondly, economy class was not designed with even a single thought for tall people. I don’t even want to mention low-cost airlines where you basically have to sit with your knees pulled up to your chin. Sometimes we just have to splurge for those luxurious seats with extra leg room to sit next to a much shorter passenger who’s still complaining!
3. Standard-sized furniture
Kitchen stalls, desks, sofas and even toilets are designed for “normal-sized” people. Your office desk is too low, your chair is uncomfortable in every possible way and you can make it even lower to have your computer at your eye level. You often get cut when slicing veggies and spill salt, sugar or whatever as it’s just too low for you to watch properly what you do. Getting a massage isn’t your best relaxation method either – the tables are always too short.
4. Pants equal to capris
Your awesome cozy pajama pants turn into capris after the first wash. High-waisted shorts are not your thing either as they seriously need to make inseam more than 2 inches. Dresses look like shirts on you and shirts never have the right sleeve and collar length. I know bare ankles are trendy this season, but it’s damn cold in winter!
5. Talking to shorter companions in loud places
How many times have you got severe neck pain after having a night out at a crowded bar? Or a music gig? Either you stand in silence and sip your drink or spend the night bending down to hear your mates talks and looking awkward.
6. Being a grabber
Can you, please, fetch me that book/ mag/ cookie/ backpack/ cat from that top shelf/cupboard/overhead storage/tree?
7. Hiring clothes
So you need a wetsuit for diving/rafting or sky gliding. Good luck getting a decent size! XL versions will either be too short or too short and too loose. Just deal with the fact that no what epic extreme sports you are doing, people would still laugh at your ridiculous outfit on the photos.
8. Amusement parks are not your thing.
You simply don’t fit properly in those tiny roller coaster sits and even if you do, you have serious concerns about your safety and always have to watch your head if there’s a tunnel ahead.
9. Being easily spotted
You always stand out in the crowd, so your friends can easily call you up and you rarely have troubles locating your buddies at jam-packed event either. Yet it get’s really awkward when you try to sneak unnoticed (good luck!), avoid someone or just pretend you didn’t see them (duh, how could you from that high?!). The apogee of this is when random people approach you and ask if you can direct them to their friends.
10. Caressing is always clumsy
You think your hugs feel like a clamp. Or worry about smashing into your rib cage. Your partner has to stand up on tip toes when you kiss or you have to lean down really really low if they are shorter. Cheek kisses isn’t your type of greeting either. It’s hard to side-hug someone as either you end up leaning too low to place your arm around their shoulders or they have to clasp you around the waist.
The struggle is real as a tall person! But overall, the benefits outweigh the difficulties.
Featured photo credit: mendhak via flickr.com
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Nordam:
Have you ever thought about the books that influence thought leaders like Malcolm Gladwell? With over 4.5 million book sales and counting under his belt, Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most popular and successful authors alive today. His quirky narratives about the hidden nature of achieving success have propelled him to a media-darling status that only a handful of writers can relate to.
Gladwell possesses the rare skill set of being able to dig deep into subjects that deal with human behavior — such as Social Science and Psychology — and to pull away tiny little details that others would’ve probably overlooked, and then tie them into big ideas that affect our lives quite significantly…
It’s his attention to detail that resulted in his string of best-selling books and his stellar writing career as one of the world’s leading non-fiction writer. Several thought-provoking books influenced Gladwell’s way of thinking, which of course had a direct impact on his writing.
Here are nine that Malcolm Gladwell recommends you read.
#1. ‘Freakonomics’ by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Gladwell told The Week that Freakonomics was the book that turned a boring subject like economics into an entertaining topic, and it’s an enjoyable read to boot.
#2. ‘Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession’ by Janet Malcolm
Gladwell considers the author of Psychoanalysis, Janet Malcom, his “nonfiction role model.” Gladwell was quoted in The New York Times as having said the following about the book and its author:
“I reread Malcolm’s Psychoanalysis: The Impossible Profession just to remind myself how nonfiction is supposed to be done.”
#3. ‘Fooled by Randomness‘ by Nassim Taleb
This is the book that most likely inspired some of Gladwell’s assertions in his best-selling book, Outliers: The Story of Success, where he notes the lack of consideration we place on “opportunities” (luck, chance, or circumstance) when we survey the contributing factors to success for individuals like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.
Gladwell told the New Yorker that Nassim Taleb, author of Fooled By Randomness, “is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses were to the Catholic Church.”
#4. ‘The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game’ by Michael Lewis
Gladwell considers Lewis to be an inspiring role model. Reportedly, Gladwell even told The New York Times that he reads Michael Lewis’ books for the same reasons he watches Tiger Woods play golf: “I’ll never play like that. But it’s good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like.”
If Gladwell’s endorsement weren’t enough to get you to pickup the book — you should also probably know that The Blind Side is an extraordinary story about love and redemption that gets you thinking about how we’ve all got vulnerabilities — and whether we’re ready for it or not — life can “blind side” us when we least expect it. And it’s our ability to get back up that makes us successful in the long run.
#5. ‘The Opposable Mind’ by Roger Martin
Bookstores — both online and off — are crowded with books about how great CEOs and leaders stand out from their peers. According to Gladwell, The Opposable Mind is the only one you need to read.
“I realize that there are thousands of business books on the subject, but, trust me, this is the first to really answer the question” Gladwell says.
#6. ‘Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do’ by Tom Vanderbilt
Traffic is an investigation of how our behavior behind the wheel relates to human nature… this seems like a tall mountain to climb, until of course, you think about how otherwise normal and well-tempered people turn into total maniacs when they get behind the wheel.
Gladwell says that the author of Traffic, Tom Vanderbilt, has a clever way of writing. Which is suitable, seeing as though you’d have to be pretty savvy to put together a best-selling book about why we drive the way we do (and what it says about us) — and then to have it make Malcom Gladwell’s list of recommended books.
#7. ‘Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man’ by Garry Wills
This book is an outlier when you compare it to the rest of this list, but it’s a classic nonetheless, at least according to Malcolm Gladwell it is.
Here’s what he told The Week about the book: “A classic from the early ’70s by one of the great political writers of his time. Written just before Richard Nixon resigned, it’s as devastating a portrait of him as has ever been written.
#8. ‘Should I Be Tested for Cancer?’ by H. Gilbert Welch
This is a book that brings together a wide body of little-known medical research — and presents this data in a compelling argument against the constant testing for cancer in the world of medicine — which seems to result in unintended consequences by way of invasive treatments, misdiagnosis, and much, much more.
This book asks a simple question: are there situations when you shouldn’t be tested for cancer? The author’s answer brings data together in an engaging and stylish way that really gets you thinking. Which is precisely why it makes Malcom’s list of books for you to read.
#9. ‘The Person and the Situation’ by Richard Nisbett
Gladwell told the New York Times that the author of this book, psychologist Richard Nisbett “was the most influential thinker in my life.” Gladwell attributes his world general way of thinking about the world to Nisbett and his book, The Person and the Situation; saying that “if you read that book, you’ll see the template for the genre of books that The Tipping Point, and Blink and Outliers belongs to. That book changed my life.”
Okay, now that you’ve the nine best books straight out of Malcolm Gladwell’s library — which one will you read first?
The post 9 Books That Malcolm Gladwell Wants You To Read appeared first on Lifehack.
Nordam:
Are you having troubles navigating the sea of new image types? Saving a file used to be simple – programs had one option for how to save a document, plus image files were no more complicated than a jpeg. Times have changed however, and as our applications offer ever more ways to modify, edit and create images, so have the ways we share them evolved too.
Despite the opportunities that come with new ways to present images, the variety of file types is frankly, overwhelming. What might be a perfect option for your own viewing from a harddrive is suddenly too big to download when you post it online; what looked crisp in your image editor is suddenly a blurry mess after you save.
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Knowing which filetypes support razor sharp edges, a variety of bright colors, transparent backgrounds, or animation takes time – time you may not have. Thankfully, the good people at the website Who Is Hosting This? have created an eye-popping, well-executed cheat sheet for determining which file you need, right now.
Featured photo credit: Mike via flickr.com
The post Know The File Types: When To Use JPEG, GIF, And PNG appeared first on Lifehack.
