25 October 2009

Flying

I am going to be flying again in the next couple days. I feel like since I graduated from college I have done a lot of flying. I prefer flying to driving any day! Well technically I prefer flying alone to driving alone. Apparently I am alone in this thought. This article on "Why People Aren't Flying" is an interesting look at the numbers of people flying and motivations behind the drop.
I especially like what he says about riding the train. Having done my share of train hopping in Europe I can honestly say I think train travel is fantastic. If America was smaller and trains cheaper I would take them all the time.
As for the other argument on the hassle of air travel. Well I don't really see it. Of course I always pack light and carry on. Plus I print my boarding pass and check-in before hand. Then all I really need to do is hop on the plane. I have found that to be pretty easy. Almost as easy as the train!

19 October 2009

Book Of Odds

The Book of Odds is a compendium of statistics that is supposed to make it easier for us to understand statistics... Okay so my college Statistics class was hands down my lowest grade EVER. But this is actually interesting and fun. You will have to register for the more advanced stuff.

Some examples:
The odds a child 5 - 17 living with a single parent is unhappy or depressed are 1 in 17.24
The odds a married female 15 - 44 has given birth once are 1 in 4.44
The odds a never-married female 16 or older will volunteer in a year are 1 in 4.44
1 in 26.15 registered motor vehicles have vanity plates

18 October 2009

Women's Happiness

Being single and working I found this paper entilted "The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness" very interesting. The authors abstract states:
The lives of women in the United States have improved over the past
35 years by many objective measures, yet we show that measures of
subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined
both absolutely and relative to men. This decline in relative wellbeing
is found across various datasets, measures of subjective wellbeing,
demographic groups, and industrialized countries. Relative
declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness
in which women in the 1970s reported higher subjective well-being
than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap
is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men.


I plan on reading this eventually. I feel that it is just one more proof that the Gospel is the way to go. I also have a feeling that my sisters will find this an interesting read. If you read it tell me what you think!

17 October 2009

Piano Stairs

Introducing the piano stairs.


Read here for an interesting analysis

16 October 2009

Good Question

This article asks a great question. "So what did Obama do to get the Nobel Peace Prize?" Unfortunately the answer is pretty lame. If I had the time, or inclination I would look up what the typical schedule is for a new president. My guess? It probably isn't very different from what is in the article.

01 October 2009

Visual Music

Two awesome videos that help to visual music. As my Mom said it helps you to see just why the song is so pleasing to the ear. I have heard both of these pieces before but the video made me understand them in a different way
Beethoven's 5th Symphony


And Mozart's Symphony #40 in G Minor


(oh and I got this from OpenCulture-sweet blog)