Tag Archives: memorial day

Tell His Mom, Conspiracy Closure, Environmental Pope, Helium, Slow-mo Nature, and Raccoons

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This entry is part 34 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Not too long after I got home form work on Friday, I turned right back around and went out. Then didn’t come back until nearly sunrise.

The only Memorial Day type thing I did this past long weekend was that barbecue on Friday night. Saturday and Monday were spent mostly just zoning out, letting my subconscious decompress and work through everything it’s been tasked with dealing with while I keep on keeping on with some semblance of a normal life.

The big break between bouts of couch sitting was to hit Spellbound for the first time since August. I used to be there every weekend. I should probably start going there more often, but without a car, I’m at the mercy of public transportation and feel trapped. No quick and definitive way to make an exit if I need to, no opportunity to stay out late and grab crepes with people down the street if I want to. I used to metro there all the time… then I got spoiled (and got used to numerous other aspects of going out there).

But, on Saturday night, I closed the place down, lasing a bit after most of the other people I knew had left.

And then it was back to the couch and A/C in the apartment. A setup that is much more indicative of how the rest of my life will likely be at this point.

Can’t really complain about the weekend. Kind of dreading how crazy tomorrow at work may be. But looking forward to the local premiere of a film a bunch of people I know made (and I chipped in to help pay for) after work tomorrow.

Anyway… here’s a long list off the feed going back to Friday morning.

Legal Footwork, Hidden History, Tasty Science, and Some Really Good Ideas

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This entry is part 24 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

It never ceases to amaze (and impress… and confuse) me what people get passionate about.

The big story in the feed today was about the Vibram Five Finger toe shoes class action settlement. Vibram is paying out a pretty penny to a lot of people due to some unsubstantiated claims they made in their advertisements for their “shoeless shoes”… and seem to have done so in order to help quell some noise being made about their footware doing exactly the opposite of what they were saying it can do.

Needless to say, there are a lot of articles out there that lead with the sensation, snarky headlines. (Because, let’s face it the shoes look odd and the people who wear them most are not the most mainstream most of the time… plus, no better way to get traffic than to get people pissed at you, right?) But, almost amazingly, most of the discussion I’ve seen in the FB comments where those articles are shared is both impassioned and calm. A rare combination if there ever was one on the Internet.

There are a lot of examples on both sides–a lot of them personal anecdotes–that people feel strongly about. For every person who had a bad experience, there’s one that had a great experience. And they’re actually discussing their differences instead of just outright shouting one another down.

The bottom line seems to be that, no matter what, nothing is going to work for everyone. But, Vibrum is changing its course a little and doing what it can to keep those bad stories from coming out and ruining it for those who do use and enjoy their product. They’re handling it sensibly (from everything I’ve seen, at least) and the public seems to be responding in kind (some online gossip/clickbait articles aside).

That’s good to see.