The Merry Month of May
05/02/2022
I love May. It's usually the month when things finally turn around, and it truly starts to feel like Spring in my corner of the world. It doesn't usually snow in May (although it has. . . ), and everything is beginning to green up and finally look like spring. At last!
Turning the calendar over to May . . . means it's also time to . . .
On the first Monday of the month, I share random things that have recently caught my eye. Interesting articles, little factoids, and inspiring this-and-that, for the most part. Things that might help get your day started in a revved-up kind of way.
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Let's start things off with a quote . . .
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now."
--- Steven Pressfield
I feel some boldness in the air. May just bursts with possibility, doesn't it?
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Get Yourself Some Magic Windows
A couple of weeks ago, I shared my "magic windows" with you. You don't have to have actual stained glass windows to get magic windows of your own, though! You can get yourself some "magic window stickers" or hanging prisms and create rainbow rooms of your own.
If you want to turn your regular windows into stained glass-looking windows, this company makes custom stickers that convert your windows to "magic windows." (I have never ordered from the company, and I didn't check out their pricing. I just found them through a Google search, and cannot vouch for them. But their windows look pretty cool.) If you're looking for a less "custom" option, there are all kinds of cool stained glass window decals here, and a quick Etsy search yielded hundreds of options for window stickers and clings, hanging prisms, and more -- with a wide variety of prices. (I actually ordered a large set of these window clings for $14.95. I'm planning to use them in some of my big windows -- for rainbow magic AND as an attempt to keep birds from flying into our windows.) Anyway. . . maybe you'll be tempted to set up some "magic windows" for yourself!
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The Covid Time Warp is Real
If you're like me, you probably feel like time "folded" (or something) since the Covid pandemic began. My concept of time . . . got really skewed, and it didn't really make sense to me. Well. Turns out I'm not the only one -- and that it's a Real Thing! A recent UCLA study demonstrates that most of us are experiencing a pandemic time warp, with 2020 and 2021 kind of meshing into one big blob of time. You can read the fascinating article about the concept here. But, in short, we lost the "markers" we usually use to tell time -- birthday celebrations, vacations, holidays, etc. -- and our brains just . . . got confused without that "breadcrumb trail" to follow.
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Remember Macro May?
I've never participated in Macro May, but I know several people who do/have. Anyway, check this out for some iPhone Macro Photo Inspiration! These 10 photos represent the winners in Apple's iPhone Macro Photo Challenge. They're pretty incredible!
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Looking for an Audiobook?
I love to have a good audiobook going whenever I walk JoJo or work in my garden or take up mundane home chores. Not all books make for good listening, though. The narrator can really make or break the whole experience! Esquire magazine just released a list of the 30 Best Audiobooks of All Time. This is a great list, covering a wide range of genres. Some books are fairly new releases, and some have been around for awhile. I actually downloaded 2 titles from this list to enjoy over the summer. (Bonus points if you can guess which ones!)
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Just for Fun
When I was a kid, I used to love flip-books. Y'know, those books with animation on the edge of the pages . . . you flipped the pages and the drawings magically "moved?" Well . . . check out this quick little video and be amazed over the lost art of "fore-edge painting" (which is much cooler than those basic flip-books I loved as a child). It's awsome, and well worth the 3 minutes it'll take you to watch.
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And with that, we're OFF!
Here's to a great week for all of us.
Happy May, everyone.