getting smarter...and vice versa

as you well know, my job isn't necessarily challenging. in fact it's hard to stay awake most days out of boredom. thus i fill my time with a lot of magazine reading. and luckily with subscriptions to self, austin monthly, professional photographer, and smithsonian i have a steady stream of 'zines to choose from. and occasionally ill splurge and get the $2 in touch at heb to catch up on my hollywood gossip. while the latter is solely for entertainment purposes, the rest of them serve a slightly educational purpose. self gives me great info on fitness and eating better, pro photo. gives me inspiration for picture taking, and austin monthly fills me in on the happenings and to-dos of this great city i call home.

smithsonian on the other hand is on a different level. and just for the record, my subscription was a christmas present from the parents. maybe their subtle way of saying, please get smarter, honey. although they claim it's because smithsonian is known for its great photography (which i agree is true). i'll be honest though..i can't get thru all the articles b/c i'm just bored..or not smart enough to find it interesting. but occasionally i run across one that i'll make it to the end of and actually feel a little bit wiser after reading. for example i just finished an article about the migration of pronghorns in wyoming and how their trails are being blocked by oil rigs and such. did you know that pronghorns are arguably the fastest animals in the world? cheetahs could beat them in a 100 yard sprint but the pronghorn's endurance eventually prevails and they could outrun any competitor in a 400 yard dash and mile. they can run a mile in a minute..yep..60 miles per hour. that seems absolutely amazing to me. also, pronghorns almost always give birth to twins. neat huh?
don't you feel smarter? i do. and i needed that because yesterday i was on the other end of the spectrum. i was reading the word 'parable' except that i read it as 'puh-ra-bull' and it took me 2 tries before i realized what the word was and the correct pronunciation. yeah...i real smart...

all to say...i'm a little concerned that i'm losing brain cells at a rapid rate. well, actually after the age of 20 you do lose 50K brain cells due to atrophy. ok enough with facts you don't care about. back to what i was saying...i think the fact that i'm productive 4% of the time at my job might be getting the best of me. therefore i'm going to make the extra effort to combat the problem. how, i'm not sure but i'm going to start with trying to get thru entire articles in smithsonian and also by brushing up on my spanish online. i was taking verb conjugation tests online yesterday and i can't tell you how fun it was...seriously...i love spanish.

anyways, i'll let you know how it all goes and maybe fill you in with useless facts along the way...you never know when you'll need them.

have a great weekend everyone!