The Weekly Map

I read somewhere (I have forgotten where) that Tuesday is the most productive day of the week.  Now certainly, especially lacking my source, I have no idea how productivity was measured, but there's something that feels very true about this.  (Except for those six months where I had six conference calls on Tuesday.  Unless we count telling everyone about my progress as productivity.) 
So, I am noticing a thing in my weeks.  Monday I head into the week ready to start again, check things, get going, and probably work late.  Usually around five thirty or so, my desire to work late has been overtaken by my fierce desire to take a nap, get a snack, go for a walk, or really do anything else.  (Sometimes I overcome this, but we are talking in generalities.) 
Tuesday, I go, go, go.  I send many emails.  I check on things.  Wednesday people have started to respond to all my Monday Tuesday stuff and I recap and check in, and remember that Monday or Tuesday I promised something or other and have not even looked at that even though it's right here on the post it in front of me.  In other words, Wednesday I start to freak out.  Thursday I wake up already running through my list, not quite sure how it's Thursday already, how did that happen?  And I start to wrangle my in box and take control of the to do list.  And Friday, by Friday I have found some zen.  I will accomplish what I can accomplish and the rest will happen when it happens. 
When I switched to this role I met with my mentor on Fridays and she said I was always very calm and I told her that was partly because by Friday I had just moved past some (not all) of the stress and felt a little more aware of what had happened, needed to happen, and was just going to happen later. 
So, as I break this week from my normal routine I am reminded, that in addition to the time away from the day job environment, and time to see other things and other people, there is enormous usefulness in simply changing up the pattern of one's week.

Three Interesting Things

1.  The answer to why they will continue to inspect your toiletries at airports may be here, with this attempt at smuggling.
2. When my book club discussed Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, several more gamer folk mentioned they found that the lack of girl specific backlash was, well, possibly a sign that it was told from a male POV.  Now, sure, it takes place in the future, so some things may have improved.  As an example of where we are with this now, many, many people linked to this account of a guy logging in under his girlfriend's ID and being immediately given grief.  Doesn't much improve when he demonstrates his gamer chops. 
3. So mice are cute in theory but less cute when non-pet mice attempt to share your living space.  However, tossing said mouse into a pile of burning leaves may lead to loss of house.  So maybe stick to traps.  Or cats.

Three Interesting Things: The Belated Edition

1. NPR had an interesting piece examining if the latest portrayal of Tonto reinforces or overcomes Native American stereotypes.  I have not seen the movie yet, but my thought is - probably both.
2. Scoutmob talked to the folks at DC's Cause to find out why they added they have alcoholic cereal on their brunch menu. (My preliminary thoughts - Genius!)
3. And graduations have all happened which means yearbooks, which means there might be evidence of some sort of student using a chemical rap to slip some creative profanity in.  That's right.

Mockery as Advertisement

Lo some years ago, a local marketing group ran an ad comparing readers on other regions metro systems to DC's, using a romance novel as the example of the less educated riders in other places.  The romance readers were not pleased. So, while I have not managed a good picture of it, you can imagine my supreme pleasure that there are currently ad's for Sylvia Day's Crossfire series in the DC metro.  (Woot!  I've read the first, need to get going.) 
But now apparently in New York, in subways even, there are ads for a show called "Knitting Wars"*.  Except, on further inspection the poster claims if you thought this was a real show, you suck.  (I'm paraphrasing.) I recognize a lot of advertising works on the premise that people who do, watch, or use certain things are therefore better, but boy am I tired of people picking on the things I do.  (The mime community is probably just as tired, given they are targets of one of these too.) 
PBS currently airs at least two knitting type programs that I am aware of, in addition to their other news, entertainment, and children's programming, which makes the targeting of the folks most likely to perk up at the idea of a competitive knitting show an interesting choice. 
And while I support the programming that PBS brings to the airwaves, nothing about this makes me want to donate**.

*H/t to the fellow knitter who alerted me to this. 
**Yes, this was for the WNET station, not my local.  Still annoyed. 

Dear Cancer

Dear Cancer,
You may have heard us talking about you.  Hi.  Yes, we were talking about you behind your back. In some cases someone, possibly even me, may have employed a choice swear word or too.  And most recently we called you stupid.  But, on further examination, I have decided it is much more likely you are ill informed.  So, if you will accept my apologies for mean things I may have said in the past, I will attempt to explain my position. 
I understand that you have a longstanding tradition with humans, and well, other animals.  And humans have often not been very nice to you.  We carve you away, blast you with radiation, and attack you with medications.  Here's why - if we don't we die.  Now, sure all animals die.  But, I'm sure you can understand why we are not fans of dying.  And without you we tend to die less fast than we do with you. 
But here's the thing, as a non-communicable disease when you kill off your host, you die too.  So, this is what led us to use the s word.  But I wandered if maybe we could talk about this.  Because if you weren't so gung-ho in taking over everything and therefore killing off your host, we wouldn't have to take such drastic measures in response.  So, I would like to suggest that maybe we could reach some kind of detente. Otherwise, well, I'm gonna go back to the name calling.