Twitter is an amazing platform because it democratizes hilariousness. You don’t have to have the biggest number of followers or be someone famous to potentially hit the 150k retweet barrier. All you have to do is be hilarious.
I believe humanity can be divided into two basic categories: the morning people who are just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the minute the sun comes up, and the night owls who hit their stride when the sun goes down.
While there’s nothing wrong with being one or the other, day people definitely have an advantage, since the world tends to operate on a 9-5 schedule.
“A huge number of people struggle to deliver their best performance during work or school hours they are not naturally suited to,” said lead researcher Dr. Elise Facer-Childs. “There is a critical need to increase our understanding of these issues in order to minimise health risks in society, as well as maximise productivity.”
Roughly 50% of people identify as a night owl, which for the purpose of the study meant going to bed “late” and rising after 8:20am.
If that’s the half of the world you fall into, this new study published in the journal Sleep proves it’s not just something you can up and change – your brain is physically and chemically different from those who leap out of bed in the morning.
The international team of scientists, led by the University of Birmingham in the UK, found that night owls have lower connectivity in the areas of the brain linked to consciousness. That means that during “normal” working hours, night people are affected by sleepiness, a lack of attention, and slower reaction times.
“This mismatch between a person’s biological time and social time – which most of us have experienced in the form of jet lag – is a common issue for night owls trying to follow a normal working day. Our study is the first to show a potential intrinsic neuronal mechanism behind why ‘night owls’ may face cognitive disadvantages when being forced to fit into these constraints,” explains Facer-Childs.
38 volunteers completed questionnaires and underwent MRI scans at various points of the day, all the while reporting how sleepy they felt.
Research concluded that morning people were less sleepy and had faster reaction times in the early morning working hours, while night owls hit their stride around 8 in the evening and struggled after rolling out of bed. Night owls did not, however, perform significantly better than morning people at 8pm, which could mean that society’s business hours could have a detrimental effect on those whose natural body rhythms encourage them to wake up later.
Facer-Childs explains how this can be applied to the real world:
“To manage this, we need to get better at taking an individual’s personal body clock into account – particularly in the world of work. A typical day might last from 9am-5pm, but for a night owl, this could result in diminished performance during the morning, lower brain connectivity in regions linked to consciousness and increased daytime sleepiness. If, as a society, we could be more flexible about how we manage time we could go a long way toward maximising productivity and minimising health risks.”
Which is to say, you just might have an argument if you want to lobby your boss for flexible work hours.
Traveling is an essential experience that expands your horizons in ways you could never have experienced at home. Traveling with people to share that experience is definitely awesome, but traveling alone is a great experience too!
That said, traveling solo isn’t without its challenges – particularly if you’re a woman. Let’s face it, if you can get harassed walking the block in your own neighborhood, you certainly should trust fate in places where you don’t know the lay of the land or speak the language.
That’s why Ciara Johnson, a popular Black travel blogger on Instagram, shared a series of solo travel tips for women.
“I’m a woman and I travel the world alone, from Mexico to Morocco to Cuba to Bosnia to many other countries. Here’s a thread on how I stay safe,” Ciara wrote on Twitter.
First, Ciara is “hyper aware” of her surroundings. “Scan your surroundings,” she said. “Is someone walking close to you? Does someone appear to be watching you? Did that car just pull beside you & slow down?” If you notice something awry, don’t hesitate to get out of there. Always trust your gut.
As Ciara writes: “It’s better to look a little paranoid than to be harassed, robbed, or worse.”
Second, Ciara recommends doing a lot of research before you go. You can never be too prepared, so look up “cultural norms, customs, how to dress, scams, natural disasters, political climate, etc.,” she writes. She also recommends looking for accounts by other solo female travelers, and checking reviews for hotels.
Third, Ciara uses technology wisely. She avoids pulling her phone out randomly on the street. But she does use Google Maps, translation apps, Uber. She makes sure to have access to data to keep her family and friends aware of her location.
“Make sure someone, anyone… knows where you are & where you’re staying,” she said.
Fourth, Ciara trusts other women before other men. Solo travelers have to rely on strangers to some extent, but don’t trust just anyone. “If I need directions, I usually ask a woman. This is not to say all women can be trusted, but I feel more comfortable trusting a woman on first instinct.”
And fifth, Ciara avoids giving out information that could be used against her. She doesn’t let her massive social media following know exactly where she travels until after she’s left, for example. She lies if someone asks if she’s travelig alone.
Armed with these tips, there’s nowhere you can’t go – and the experience is totally worth it!
They’ve got the very serious duty of shaping the minds of tomorrow’s leaders… at a time when those leaders would rather be getting drunk and laid. It’s definitely not for the weak-hearted. You’ve got to handle things like making sure students pay attention, making sure they arrive on time, and giving exams in hopes they will all pass.
David Red, a professor at St. John’s River State College in Florida, takes his teaching to a new level by poking fun at failing students. But it’s not what you think! He’s relating to the 21st-century student by meeting them on their level.
He told Bored Panda, ““Students generally seem to really like the memes or really anything I do that makes it feel to them like I’m actually trying to talk to them and not just reading from a script or text. For example, in one of my classes this year I wore pink every Wednesday and the first test was entirely themed on Mean Girls. Some of them started wearing pink on Wednesdays too and they really enjoyed it. It became almost like a “team color”.
“Anything that makes the students feel like I put my real-self into the class helps, whether it’s memes or one of these other gimmicks. If my real-self is in the room, then their real-self shows up too. And when they’re fully present like that, they learn.”
Makes me wish I had a teacher in college like him!
After a long cramped flight, most folks look forward to seeing a familiar face welcoming them home. Perhaps, there will be a heartfelt embrace or a warm handshake. Then, the loving partner or best bud will handle their carry-on as stories from the road are shared. Making their way to baggage claim, they think it’s so nice to be home. What wonderful people I have in my life to pick me up from the airport so graciously with nary a complaint.
But that doesn’t always happen, does it. To be honest, no one wants to pick you up from the airport. It’s a pain. You should know that.
That’s probably why these put-upon people decided to make airport signs that serve a dual purpose: 1) to entertain the other suckers that were roped into picking someone up at the airport, and 2) to prevent you from ever asking again.
I’ve always felt that the greatest revenge you can get on your haters is to succeed in spite of them. Haters never have anything good to contribute, so you’ve got to just ignore them and keep going on your path.
While plenty of celebrities have had that experience growing up, Lady Gaga has completely lived that truth.
You see, back when she was a college student at NYU, playing dive bars and open mics for anyone who’d listen, a crew of her classmates created a Facebook group specifically meant to bully her. They used the forum to tease her mercilessly, making fun of her appearance, her music, and her dream of becoming a famous singer.
The group, which uses her real name, is titled “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous,” and accused her of things like being an “attention whore”. It also repeatedly stated that she’d never, ever be successful at her chosen calling.
The group was first exposed back in 2016, when Lauren Bohn, a former classmate of Gaga’s made a Facebook post about it:
Lauren wrote how Gaga’s story is a perfect example of what happens when you don’t let your haters get in your head.
When I was a freshman at NYU and Facebook was only a year old and people created/joined groups like “I have dimples, f*** me” and “Fake ID, please!,” I remember coming across a Facebook group that broke my heart. It’s name: “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous.
The page housed pictures of a pretty Norah Jones-esque young 18-year-old NYU student who sang and played piano at local bars. The group was peppered with comments, sharp as porcupine needles, vilifying the aspiring musician for being an “attention-whore.” Scores asked: “Who does she think she is?” I also remember one dude posting a flyer for one of her upcoming gigs at a local village bar. He had clearly stomped on the flyer, an outline of his muddy sole [soul] struggling to eclipse her name.
I couldn’t shake the raw feeling of filth while scrolling down that Facebook page, but I pretty much — and quickly — forgot about that group and that girl with the intense raven eyes.
Until about five years later. I was on an Amtrak train from NYC to Philly, reading a Vanessa Grigoriadis New York Magazine profile on Lady Gaga. I floated somewhat mindlessly through the piece until I got to the first sentence of the second graf:
“Before the meeting, I assumed that someone with a stage name like “Lady” (her given name is Stefani Joanne Germanotta) was going to be a bit standoffish…”
“HOLY SHIT,” I screamed to an empty car (Those who hang with me will know that I actually shrieked). “LADY GAGA IS STEFANI GERMANOTTA? STEFANI IS LADY GAGA?”
I was overcome with a dizzying emotional cocktail of stage-mom-at-a-beauty-pageant and nerd-revenge triumph. But also shame. Shame that I never wrote on that group, shame that I never defended the girl with the intense raven eyes — the girl whose brave flyers were stomped on, probably somewhere near my dorm.
But again, I soon forgot about that revelation and that feeling. Feelings. They’re so fleeting. Even more so, revelations. We need to constantly re-discover them every damn day. Like last week, when I woke up to this meme. I saw the muddy sole eclipsing her name. The eye-rolls. The cowardly virtual-giggles. The “Who does she think she is?”
I’ve got a lot of feelings, but the easiest one to articulate: gratitude. Stefani, thank you. Thank you for always thinking you’re a superstar, for using your cracks to let the light come out more brightly. Humans, let’s follow suit. #LadyGaga #ThatsWho
Well, Gaga is clearly getting the last laugh today. She’s a household name who recently broke barriers by becoming the first woman to win a Grammy, Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA in the same year for her incredible performance in “A Star is Born.”
Others also noted that this just shows how people will always try to hate on each other, but that haters should never be the reason you give up on your dreams.
As winter keeps dragging on, there’s a good chance you already have a request for some time off sitting on your manager’s desk. Maybe you’ve even started browsing Airbnb for that perfect spot to stay at. If so, check out these 9 reviews of places that range from downright weird to absolutely incredible.
So, tally up your paid time off and get ready for adventure. Because booking your vacation with a phone app means not exactly knowing what you’re in for.
Hopefully now you understand even a fraction of the power of Snapchat. Because, as I said earlier, if you don’t appreciate the snaps… YOU DON’T DESERVE THE SNAPS.
