113) Social Types 9:54 PM

Lately, I've been having a lot of conversations about types of people, in the social sense. Here's the best scenario I've heard so far. Imagine you've just taken your seat on an airplane. Your carry-ons are stowed and stuffed, seat belt clicked and tightened. Someone shuffles over and plops down in the seat next to you. After a similar settling ritual, the person turns to you and strikes up a conversation.

Let's omit the scenario where this person is an attractive member of the opposite sex. In general, how enthusiastic are you about the conversation? Do you spend the whole flight chatting, or do you keep politely to the basics while silently wishing you could get back to your book/iPod?

Of course, there is a whole range of answers that are largely dependent on the situation. But when you boil it down, generally there are two types of people. Those who enthusiastically engage in these conversations, and those who would rather keep to themselves. Think about it - which type are you?

112) How to Be Alone 5:06 PM

This video appeared on my Facebook news feed today. Not only is the poem, How to Be Alone by Tanya Davis, beautifully written, but its lines ring and strike at a deep, universal truth. We, as humans, are terrified of being alone. These days, even if we are alone, we use crutches like our cell phones, our iPod, or a book to casually keep us company. And with the Internet in our back pockets, we are never really alone, are we?

The poem does a good job in reconciling that age old question of whether being alone is a good or bad thing. Humans are social creatures, aided exponentially by today's social network platforms. Being "social" is considered a positive quality, just as having lots of friends is smiled upon. And yet, we still put value on "me" time. We all have things that we do that allow us to be alone with ourselves. What the poem suggests is that we embrace and cherish our alone time, and take the perspective we gain from that time and share it with the ever-present community.

(Mini aside: I deem this week the week of dismantled plans. Whatever preconceived notions I had about plans both big and small have come undone, spinning out of control in ways that are both frightening and stressful. I guess this is the price one pays for a temporarily unstructured life. I know I've already written a post on the simultaneous futility and essentialness of planning, so I won't dwell on this. Just needed to get down where my head's at.)

111) Interactive Trailers 2:06 PM

The interactive Scott Pilgrim vs. The World trailer has been making its way around the Interwebs, thanks to its staggering, never before seen levels of interaction and its ability to be easily embedded. The first of its kind, the trailer invites viewers to click anywhere during the trailer to unlock facts, behind the scene bits, sneak preview scenes and director's notes. It's also built like a video game to reflect the movie, so every click is rewarded with points and a satisfying cha-ching sound effect. I can't even wrap my mind around how much content is contained in this one 2:30 trailer widget. Check out the trailer here and go crazy. (Update: it was brought to my attention that the embedded trailer's music was taking over my blog. Thus, just the link).

It's yet to be seen whether the interactive trailer will convert to ticket sales, but there's no question that people will be spending more time than usual watching the trailer. I expect that the industry will follow suit, and that we'll see a flood of interactive trailers in the future. Now that a medium standard has been set, it will be interesting to see what kind of things people come up with to raise the bar.

110) Feral Bee 11:01 PM

Today's Tasting Table email featured Feral Honey & Bee. The concept is simple. Silver Lake residents Amy Seidenwurm and Russell Bates maintain bee colonies in their backyard, and harvest the honey in small batches to the delight of fellow Angelenos. Since bees don't travel more than a few miles from home base, the honey has a distinct flavor profile that reflects the flora in the area - orange blossom, clover, lemon and lavender. It doesn't get any more local than that.

What struck me about Feral Honey & Bee is how this small operation reflects some of today's biggest macrotrends. Localvore (locally produced, flavors specific to local flowers), all-natural (chemical-free, no pesticides), a return to basics ("We subscribe to the principles of Backwards Beekeeping: a return to hands-off beekeeping, letting natural selection do the work that gave us bees in the first place at least 14 million years ago."), artisanship (small batches), and randomized luxury (each batch different from the last, unique in flavor).

109) Rip n' Go 3:33 PM

I was at the grocery store yesterday restocking my foodless apartment, when these babies caught my eye in the granola bar section. Growing up, my family had always been brand loyal to Quaker Chewy, so the sight of the stacked bars minus the white box made me look twice. As you can see, the stack is held together with a sticker label that's perforated for easy ripping on the run. See them in action here. According to the label, this method of packaging uses 33% less material than the standard box, and as a result 6,000 trees per year are saved.

Thinking this was a brand-spanking new product, I looked them up online when I got home, only to find that the sustainable packaging niche blogs had been all over it back at the end of June. Despite the fact that this isn't breaking news, I still think it deserves a nod. When large food companies like Quaker make sustainable changes to their packaging, however small, it's called progress. And to give it a cool name and market it as convenient for the consumer? Bonus.

108) Currencies of Love 4:42 PM

My grandmother on my mother's side uses food as an expression of love. I went down to Seal Beach yesterday to visit her, and within the first five minutes of my arrival, I had a glass of juice in one hand, a nectarine in the other, and a plate of rice cakes hovering nearby. She's always pushing unreasonably large amounts of food your way, to the point where a hint of exasperation starts to creep into your fifteenth refusal.

After I'd eaten, we went to see my grandfather at his Alzheimer's care facility. While he's lost the ability to do most things on his own, he maintains a voracious appetite. My grandmother came armed with a lunch box full of food. He ate with his hands as a child does, working his way through pieces of fruit, duk (rice cake), and a protein shake. Every now and then, my grandmother would reach over, take a piece of fruit and pretty much force it into his already full mouth. At first I couldn't understand why she would want to put him in danger of choking - it was clear from his bulging cheeks that he had plenty in there already. But she can't help herself. She loves him, and that is her way of showing it. Plain and simple.

Currencies of love, both positive and perhaps detrimental in excess. I think there's something worth exploring here. To be continued.

107) Why Why Why 3:24 PM

I returned home safely from Barcelona, only to be greeted by the worst kind of email from Palo Alto. Can someone please tell me why it's always the most charismatic, full of life people who get taken away painfully prematurely? The rare ones who are truly happy with who they are and what they're doing in life. The funniest ones, the spontaneous ones, and the ones that make really good friends. The irony of it makes my heart ache.

As much as I want to hypothesize as to why this might be the case, it seems all too analytical at a time like this. Though, is there ever a good time to think about it? We never ask why until tragedy strikes. Do we, then, just accept it as one of those incomprehensibly cruel facts of life?

Note on the photo. A few months ago, Dan sent me a small package containing two pieces of his chocolate. He'd decided to take a break from grad school to focus on his artisan, fair trade creations. His chocolate and note were delicious.