Happy happy happy Friday! It was an exciting and great week. I got genuine compliments, committed to a new home, and now I get my first full weekend off since March. I don’t even know what to do with myself. That’s not really true. I have way more plans than I could ever get done in one weekend, but that’s how it goes, isn’t it?
I hope your weekend is lovely and filled with spring blooms!
To get us started on the right foot today, this link presents an idea I love. Spring is my favorite season and this concept is about enjoying and soaking in spring while it is here, amidst the to-dos you have to check off and the chores you have to do. Take a walk outside with friends, do some work while sitting on a porch, fill your home with blooms. Enjoy spring! I’m all about that.
Staying on the subject of spring, this illustrated mental guide is a humorous take on the transition from winter to spring by different people. As you can tell from the paragraph above, I’m in the first group. Bring on spring!
I’m not middle aged, and hopefully not near mid-life yet, but I think there are some items in this article that are applicable to people of all ages. I sometimes struggle to start new things – hobbies, activities, types of tasks, etc. This is not because I don’t want to, often times I really want to, I am afraid of being the worst when I start. The line “at every stage of life, you should be a rookie at something,” is a good reminder that it is better to just start. No matter how good you are at the beginning, it is still an accomplishment to start something new. http://www.npr.org/2016/03/17/469822644/8-ways-you-can-survive-and-thrive-in-midlife
Working with computer scientists and seeing so many computer science demonstrations has given me a great appreciation for the various tasks computers and programs can perform. A recently revealed project in Amsterdam by computer scientists shows how computers can paint replicas of famous artwork, by using data from 3D scans and hundreds of the artist’s other paintings. It reminds me of some of the computer vision projects we demo that use a million images from Flickr, Yahoo images and other open source photo websites, compile similar photos, and from the similar data in those photos (even though they are taken from all different angles in different lighting), run code to create 3D reconstructed models of the landmarks. Do I sound nerdy yet? My dad would be proud ;)
Speaking of technology, let’s talk about Tesla. This article claims that best selling car brands in the US typically sell 300,000 annually. Tesla sold 276,000 in two days. Whattttt?! Gas is out, electric cars are in. Orbit City, here we come!
Talk about a time to be a North Carolinian. Set your clocks back a few decades and marvel at the stupidity of our state legislature. It often boggles my mind.
Instead of ending on that note, here is another shot of those flowers for your weekend. Have a good one, friends!
I am always proud of you, Hope.
Dad