Friday, August 31

Weekly roundup: Friday potluck

Welcome to another installment of the weekly roundup we all know and love: Friday potluck!

First, the topic on every newscaster's lips this week: Hurricane Isaac

Pensacola was spared the worst of the storm. We had coastal flooding, some downed trees, and my home had a couple of power surges but no real loss of electricity. Read: lucky. Not everyone was so lucky, but that shouldn't stop us from poking fun at the Jim Cantore-esque media blitz.

Some of the thigh-slappingly funniest things I read this week:

What it's really like to prepare for a hurricane on the Gulf Coast. (If you think this is a joke. It's not.)

Did you notice? Newscasters like to call Louisiana "New Orleans" and often do not mention Mississippi at all. "That Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile" decided to fight back to get Mississippi the attention it deserves.

I also got a good laugh out of what to wear to a hurricane (pants optional). Apparently AB Chao's fashion and booze-soaked hurricane posts set off a Twitter fight over what was and was not appropriate storm-related blog material.

My take on this: if we're IN the path of the storm, we get to poke fun at it.
As I said earlier this week, you can either laugh. Or cry.
Laughing > crying.
End of argument.


Drink up!

Two thirds of Americans drink alcohol on a regular basis, they prefer beer over wine or hard liquor, and the average drinker has 4.2 drinks per week according to a new poll.

The only other question the Gallup alcohol consumption survey didn't answer was "How can I sign up to field test your data?"


When I'm 102...

The world's oldest marathoner is also the world's oldest traveler, according to this week's news from Runner's World. My new life goal: to live to be 102 so I can beat his record.

(Maybe if I ask nicely he'll give me pointers on how to keep traveling and running into 3-digit age bracket? Imagine the AG award potential!)


Mapping our world

Did you know you can (virtually) walk through the White House or the Metropolitan Museum of Art using Street View?

Google maps is one of my favorite tool for travel. I street-view places before I arrive so I have a sense of the running route options. Are the city streets bustling with life or eerily empty? Are there sidewalks or will I be running in the gutter?

But I'll admit that I really hadn't thought about the incredible effort that goes into developing and maintaining those maps until I read an article that details the data and effort required to keep Google Maps up to date.


Quote of the week:
"A New Orleans credo: When life gives you lemons--make daiquiris."
Chris Rose, Times Picayune writer and author

Happy Friday, friends!

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