Adding Keywords

Drumroll, please.

I've added keywording where appropriate. Not to back issues, yet ~ but every new post will have up to three keywords for you to follow if you choose. You can also click on the keyword link at left for a comprehensive selection.

Let me know what you think.

Prune Roll

No, that's not a new kind of Danish. That's me performing a little horticulture on my blogroll at left.

Please, those of you who no longer appear there, do not take this in any way as an insult. I'm still reading your site. (You should see my aggregator ~ it's scary!) I'll still point to it in posts when I want to share what you've written, or what you've found. I just want to open up some slots for a few newcomers, probably folks who don't get 1/10th the traffic that you do.

Next up, fixing my archives so they work right and look right. Restoring all comments. And giving you some categories/keywords to navigate by. I hope to get these renovations done by my blogiversary, which is January 16th. Gulp! That's really soon!

Apparently, I am a man.

From today's Washington Post (scroll down):

Psychologists have long noted that when some people confront a challenge, such as students facing a big exam, they resort to a perilous strategy: They refuse to study and instead watch a movie, go to a bar or do almost anything but hit the books.

Researchers call it self-handicapping. If the student does poorly on the exam, he can explain it away by saying that after all, he didn't prepare for it. If he does well, he can crow -- to himself and others -- that he is extraordinarily talented. Failure doesn't threaten his sense of competence, while success boosts his belief in his abilities.

What researchers didn't know is why men are more likely to go down this risky road than women.

Apparently there are also big differences in self-awareness about this reality avoidance trick, and that's where my manlike behavior falls apart.

When groups of men and women were presented with case-studies of self-handicapping, women were more likely to see through the game, whether the self-handicapper was a man or a woman, and to question the person's ulterior motives. Besides, the researchers noted, "women have little respect for individuals who lack motivation and fail to put forth effort in important performance settings."

The worst of both worlds, act like a man, judge like a woman. *sigh*.

;-)

What's wrong with this picture?

Turning Kate Winslett into Twiggy, as noted by ain't too proud to blog:

Yet another case of Hollywood Photoshopping gone horribly awry... This makes me so angry on so many levels. As if we could ever measure up to the likes of Kate Winslet anyway -- but would it be so wrong for the readers of British GQ to be allowed to admire her as-is? It's one thing to touch up forehead shine and misaligned chins. It's quite another to lop 30 lbs. off a woman. And note to whoever edited the photos: If you're going to alter/stretch the main image, make sure you get the one in the mirror behind her as well.

The Image is the Message.

[via shutterclog]

This one's a keeper.

I don't usually do the Quote of the Day thing, but this one got my attention:

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
~ Bertrand Russell

It's not a popular message in a puritanical society, where productivity is the ultimate idol.

[via Seb's Open Research]