Building Blocks

Conversational Drift

Topics hop across individuals who are not in direct interaction.  The last time I saw this happen I was in a Home Depot and the topic was woodpeckers.

Wonder

I think there's unique value to imagining possibilities before looking to the experts.  After all, the experts may not have imagined the right possibilities.

                               

Situational Assimilation

It occurred to me that people always seem crazier at first blush.

The Material Culture of Elementary Schools

Temporary Moral Communities

          

The Value of Taking Breaks

When we return to our work after a break, we bring the fresh impressions of the outside world with us.  My sense is that these impressions diminish over time.  

Everyday Enthusiasm

Fluctuations in interpersonal enthusiasm seem patterned.

Memory's Forms

The Character of a City

I visited a neighboring city the other day and saw all the regular big name stores, but it still felt like a very unique place.  Geographic arrangement seems important to the character of a city.  

Place Perception

I recently went back to my elementary school and had the thought, "this is smaller than I remember."

The Myth of Individualism

Medium Suspicion

I like to think that newspapers were once viewed with suspicion.

Social Life in Public Space

The juggling clown is taking advantage of an audience assembled for another purpose.

Mouthwatering Mariachi

The mariachi music becomes associated with eating Mexican food within a restaurant and then triggers the thought of Mexican food outside of that context.  I think Pavlov would agree.   

Twitter's Behavioral Economics

Different Twitter followers hold different value for getting one's message out.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Ancient Television

Sometimes when I'm watching television I like to imagine that I'm engaged in an ancient ritual.

'Increasing' ADHD

To what extent are we calling an old thing by a new name?

'Domestic' Animals

I wonder if dogs can really pass on human sensibilities to their offspring.

The Lenses We Wear Pt. 1

How much of what we perceive is guided by our immediate interests?  I once drove through a new town looking for a lunch spot and it seemed to shape my general impression of the place.

The Lenses We Wear Pt. 2

The half-heart in the bottom panel symbolizes a desire to find an eligible mate.  Looking at the world through that lens, people appear as prospects and non-prospects.

The Crumbs Left by a Method

What we see depends on how we look.  Or, our way of looking leaves its imprint on the thing we look at.

Neighborhood Cats

There are quite a few cats around my neighborhood lately... made me wonder.

Self

When we imagine ourselves from the point of view of the other, self is said to arise.