I don’t know why, but it’s oddly comforting to know there are massive volcanoes nearby.

…Sometimes I think my brain’s a little odd. And a little geology-crazy.

But still! Beautiful examples of the power of nature! Reminders of potential doom! Available for viewing on your daily commute!

Who couldn’t love that?

The post This is a Rainier Part of the World, Don’tcha Know? appeared first on Under A Rock Art.

Here I was scratching my head over what in the world to post, and I run across a gem of a video. The open and closing narratives are a bit schmaltzy, but the heart of it is pure gold. I really suggest giving it a watch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone quite as self-knowing and self-confident than the person profiled.

Self esteem really is an odd beast. Too little, and you pass on opportunities you could have succeeded at. Too much, and you tend towards arrogance, thinking yourself capable of things you can’t do. Even the middle levels can be more of a hodge-podge of the two extremes rather than a true middle.

It takes a lot of soul-searching and accepting all your flaws, as well as all of your strengths. Many can manage one or the other, but still run imbalanced. And tracking down each and every one takes time, especially given how many don’t reveal themselves every day.

But there is a certain joy in knowing exactly what you’re capable of. And, should you find that state of mind, life no longer seems so overwhelming.

The post The World is an Open Field of Possibility appeared first on Under A Rock Art.

Sometimes it’s amazing what people can forget.

Wallets left on the dresser. Keys in the car. Children in grocery stores.

And, on rare occasions, things as simple as closing your trunk.

You’d think this driver would have noticed, what with how noisy driving on a highway at high speeds is.

The post A Slip of the Mind appeared first on Under A Rock Art.

This may seem random, but cucumber water is fabulous!

I just made up a batch today, and it is delicious. Super-simple to make, too. Just slice up a cucumber, toss it in a pitcher of water, and let it sit for an hour or so. The cucumber taste will migrate into the water, and it just works marvelously well. It looks pretty nifty too, since the cucumber pieces float at the top.

You can also toss lemons in there, if you want. But I don’t. I just like the cucumber-y goodness.

It’s super-hydrating too. There must be some sort of electrolyte or what not that the cucumber add to the water, because I’m feeling properly hydrated for the first time in weeks.

…Though that might also have something to do with the, oh, five glasses of water I just had.

The post Cucumbers, they float! Like Jellyfish! Sort of… appeared first on Under A Rock Art.

Sheesh, I share one awesome site I find with you yesterday and now I go and find another one.

This one’s a lot simpler, at least. It’s just a bunch of graphs, showing strong correlations between things.

Completely unrelated things.

For instance, “Per capita consumption of cheese in the US” and “Number of people who died by becoming tangled in their bedsheets”? VERY CLOSE MATCH. If you saw two similar lines on a graph tracking, say, appearance of steam from a geyser and time of eruption, you’d not even think twice about them being related.

But these things aren’t, at least not directly. So then, why do they match so well?

Picking and choosing data, of course. If you look through hundreds of possible data sets to compare, some will have matching graph patterns purely by chance. It’s, well, inevitable. There’s no way that every single pattern would be different, especially if you play with the scales on the graph.

Just scroll through those and think about how much you trust other graphs people put out, ones that aren’t quite so clearly unrelated. Some of those may just be coincidences, after all…

And, as always, remember that correlation does not imply causation!

If it did, well, we’d never eat cheese again. Or at least never use bedsheets again.

The post I’m sure there’s a correlation between reading my blog and awesomeness! appeared first on Under A Rock Art.