Happy people are better workers.

An article in The Observer yesterday talked about a recent study on the relationship between happiness & productivity. The finds? When people are happy, they are most efficient. So, while you refill your coffee cup this morning, consider that you will get more done (hello raise?) if you perk up & get happy. Another way of looking at it is: When you come back from lunch 20 minutes late, point your boss to the newspaper article & tell him that you're happy to have gotten some fresh air & good food & will now be a diligent little worker bee. Well, maybe avoid the latter of the two. But I do think the article is interesting.

I actually find that being productive makes me more productive. When I work in the morning, & I get a lot done, then I feel more productive (schoolwork-wise) in the afternoon after I leave work. Okay, well, I say this, but it hasn't really been happening lately. I just can't get back into the dissertation groove. It's a new week, though, & I feel good about it!

Actually, I think I have been productive, but just with other things. I've started getting my Etsy shop together, and (as you can see) I'm revamping my blog. My favorite part so far is the white border on all the photos. It's not done yet, though. I have a banner to put up & will probably do a bit more tweaking. Oh, but I do have to ask: Is my new layout too wide? I like wide, but for netbook users etc I'm not sure if it's too much. Let me know if it is.

What makes you more productive?

Happy Monday! (Literally.)

<3

Paul the Octopus!

For those of you who are not obsessing over the World Cup, Paul the Octopus is a supposedly psychic octopus who has been predicting the outcome of the World Cup matches, mostly involving Germany. For each game, he is presented with two boxes, one with each team's flag, and he then chooses food out of the box of the team that he thinks will win. He hasn't been wrong so far in this World Cup.

Well, apparently, some Argentineans have gotten angry at Paul the Octopus, blaming him for their loss in the quarter finals. (I assume this is because they think either (a) that he has some kind of power over the outcomes of soccer matches or (b) that he is giving the team he chooses the psychological advantage.) Anyway, these angry South Americans have threatened to EAT PAUL! A local newspaper even gave a recipe for preparing Paul Paella. Whoa guys, let's take it easy. He's just an octopus.

To put even more pressure on Paul, a new (supposedly) psychic animal, Mani the Parakeet, has been presented to the world by his 80-year-old fortune teller owner. Paul has predicted that Spain will win against the Netherlands in the final on Sunday, and Mani has chosen the Netherlands. So I guess Sunday will be a telling day.

The world is a ridiculous place.

<3

[image via]

Sleep Talkin' Man

Good morning! I've just arrived at work, coffee-deprived, & the first thing I do (after checking my calendar & work e-mails of course) is take a quick little look at Blogger. My day is always brightened by my new favorite blog. It's so amusing that I feel obliged to share it with you!

It's called Sleep Talkin' Man. The blogger, Karen, is married to a British guy who has a bit of a sleep talking problem. He does it practically every single night. After giving up on trying to write down his mumblings in the dark in the middle of the night, she bought a voice-activated recorder. And now, she posts his sleep talking every day. (Yes, he knows about it.)

He says the most ridiculous things in his sleep. Here are a few of my faves:

"Where are all the sleep sheep? Everyone's got a sleep sheep. My sleep sheep's not here. Oh. How am I meant to sleep without my sleep sheep? Sleep sheeeeeep... Wait, you've got two, you bastard! I'm taking that one. He's so soft. Ah, sleep sheep. Don't leave me again. Baaaaaaahhhh."

"I've got a horrible urge to catch tuna in your stockings. Sustainably, of course."

"Shhh. I can smell you. I hear through my nose."

"You speak your mind, I punch your face. I think it's a fair exchange. We'll both be hurting."

"That's it! That's the last fucking time we're ever going on holiday with beavers. Can't take their chattering. Always chattering!"

You really must take a look. Enjoy!

<3

How to Throw a Fantastic Cocktail Party

Step 1: Make lots of homemade nibbles.

Roasted red pepper bruschetta, caramelized onion hummus, pesto hummus, & pita bread were all made from scratch by me. My housemate Nell made the lemon fairy cakes, jam tarts, & spicy cheese pinwheels.

Step 2: Buy lots of mixers & fruit, & some of the usual liquors, & invite your friends to bring their favorite cocktail ingredient to add to the mix. Pre-making a delicious punch is a plus!

Step 3: Make a classy cocktail party playlist, & switch to some dancing tunes once the party has been in motion for a while.

Step 4: Enjoy a night to remember with the wonderful people you live with & your amazing friends.

The Flat 11 crew.

My Aussie friend Sarah, who I lived with in Oxford. She's in the

UK/Europe for the summer & came to visit me last weekend!

<3

Simple Happiness Tip #7

Cook enough to have leftovers. It takes very little extra effort to double the ingredients in your dinner. And then you can save it for lunch or, better, for some night later in the week when you are exhausted & can't find the energy to cook. You'll have a more relaxed night without ordering greasy Chinese takeout or snacking all night.


<3

West Wedding

Wedding party on the left, me & Jonty on the right.

Hi guys! I've been a been lazy about blogging lately, aside from my Kenya posts, so I hope to fill you in about all the lovely things I've been doing lately. Last weekend (as in a bit over a week ago), I went down to Portsmouth for my friend Denise's wedding. It was on a gorgeous, sunny, warm summer day at an amazing location: Stansted Park, outside of the small town of Rowlands Castle in southern England.

The wedding was in a small, ridiculously old, & incredibly beautiful chapel.

Afterward, we headed outside for a couple hours of photos, chat, canapes, & PIMM'S.*

Dinner was served inside the historic Stansted House.

The groom picked these centerpieces out! Impressive, right?

Since we were down near the ocean, we stayed at a B&B near the wedding & took the opportunity to check out some seaside towns & beaches.

Portsmouth:

Emsworth:

We all were lucky to have such a fun-filled weekend planned while the sun was gracing us with her presence!

<3

* For those unfamiliar with PIMM'S, it a British liquor that is popular in the summertime & served with ice, lemonade (aka lemon-lime sode without the lime), & lots of cut up fruit.

Travel Thursday: Kenya {Safari}

Okay, to be honest, I don't know if what we did counts as a safari, but our friend Syano's dad hired a car for us (and I should point out how appreciative we are that he did that for us!) and we drove around Nairobi National Park looking for/at animals for an afternoon.

Nairobi National Park is pretty close to Syano's family's house (where we were staying). Syano and the driver paid in Kenyan shillings, but Jonty and I had to pay in US dollars! Isn't that bizarre?

We got there mid-afternoon after running around town getting dollars and whatever else.

Right upon driving in, a bunch of baboons (a congress of baboons, to be technical) was blocking our way.

They took their sweet time moving out of the road. But we didn't mind because we loved watching this little one.

I was snapping photos right and left.

Our next obstacle was a couple of giraffes having an afternoon meal. We were able to get very close to watch them because they were definitely not scared of us.

Giraffes are such beautiful animals. I loved watching their bodies move as they walked.

We saw loads of giraffes, no doubt more than any other animals. They were everywhere, usually in small groups. Of course, they are the easiest to spot!

The park is only 7 kilometres from the city! Some of our shots had high-rise buildings in the background, and airplanes from the nearby airport flew overhead. (These are waterbucks. They tended to shy away from us.)

A few hippos were out for a swim in this pond. Our driver told us that hippos are quite dangerous, since they're strong and, contrary to appearances, can run very fast (up to 20 miles per hour; they can run at the bottom of a pond too!). We stuck around for a while, hoping they'd do something exciting (and ready to drive away like hell if they tried to involve us in the excitement!). They yelled at us a few times, but didn't do anything else all that interesting. And they were a bit too far away to really take proper photos.

We then saw some male ostriches get into a little squabble over a high maintenance female.

There was a rhino sighted by others in the park, and we could see it in the distance, but we could never find a road that would get close to it. We started a bit too late in the day to see everything we wanted, but we did get to see a few amazing animals and have a little adventure. I did just discover this blog though, which has some more exciting pictures and stories in Nairobi National Park. And the sunset at the end was worth it.

<3