researchgirl : parse

May 14

Home sick

1:59 pm Category: archives

I went to sleep last night and woke up this morning with the “kickinest” sinus headache ever and itchy watery eyes. The local weather station helpfully informed me that tree pollen levels are extremely high. Not that I didn’t know I had allergies before, but it’s helpful to know that the grass makes my nose and throat horrible and that tree pollen affects my sinuses and eyes. And it’s only the beginning of the season. I can’t wait! This might call for an allergen/symptom matrix with check marks at the appropriate intersections so I know what to expect next year.

Anyway, I’ve tried to get some sleep since the headache doesn’t leave me useful for much else. Then I spent some time online and found some stuff:

• Courtesy of GOOD Magazine (to which I will be subscribing shortly), a short video about how much advertisers spend on getting people’s attention (specifically in NYC for this example):

• And now, a video that only shows us more of what we already knew; namely, that the images we see in photos, ads and magazines have no direct correlation with reality. We’ve all seen, I’m sure, the retouching sites where they show you before and after images of models whose skin has been smoothed, eyes enlarged, hair lengthened, etc. - but the extent to which these things can be changed is additionally scary. (Some of those sites are listed at the end of this post.)

NOTE: If Beyonce’s “Bootylicious” rubs you the wrong way, turn down your speakers.