On Happiness

It's been a month and a half back stateside, and today in class my professor brought up the fact that the Danes are the happiest people in the world.  Now, I've spent years trying to be the best possible version of myself.  The problem, I think, is that what I've considered the "best" version of myself has varied greatly at different times in my life.

I think at this point, my goal is just to try to be happy and to do the best I can within those confines.  And, for that, I'm trying to pull some lessons from my time in Denmark.

So, without further ado, Rachel's Keys to Happiness (The Danish Way):

• Don't Try to Do or Be Everything: This is completely antithetical to the UR way of life, and I know that.  I go to a school of over-achievers and the over-involved.  But from now on, I'm going to try and stick to only those things that I have the time to do and do well, rather than beating myself up for not having three majors, two minors, and being the president of six clubs.
• Don't Forget to Take Care of Yourself: I've noticed I feel a lot better about myself when I take the time to take care of myself -- to eat foods that make me feel good, drink enough water, work out.  They take up time, but I end up feeling like an entirely different person.
• Don't Judge Yourself in Comparison to Others: Thank you Jantelov.  This set of the tenets of Danish life come down to "Don't think you're better or smarter or more deserving than anyone else"...but at the same time realizing that it means you're no less of those things either.
• Don't Take Life Too Seriously: If there's one thing I really learned from the Danes, it's that when it comes to joking, nothing is off limits.  And not taking life or any one aspect of it too seriously is a struggle that I need to remind myself of on a regular basis -- but one that will ultimately leave me a lot less stressed and a lot happier.
• Don't Be Afraid to Take Some Time: Danes put off going to college longer than we do.  Danes put off marriage and kids longer than we do.  And that time to make the big decisions, I think, probably gives you some analytical distance and maturity to help make those decisions when the time is right.  I'm not as a afraid to not know RIGHT NOW what I want or need to do.
• LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS: The secret to happiness is low expectations. Seriously.

So that's the life goal right now -- live life just a bit more Danish (and embrace the happy that hopefully follows).  So I have the keys... now I just have to look for the locks.

Keyed in,
Rachel Leigh

On "Nerd or Hipster?"

Big, thick-rimmed glasses used to be a pretty big giveaway that someone was a nerd.  Combine that with a button-up shirt, pocket protector, and pants that are a bit too short, and suddenly the "Revenge of the Nerds" theme song starts playing in the background.  But thanks to the advent of hipsters, who also seem to rock the too-short pants and the heavy-framed glasses, it's become a bit harder to tell the difference.  So, as promised by an earlier post, let me teach you how to tell if that guy you've just spotted is a nerd or a hipster.

• If he looks like he hasn't showered in the last week: hard to call. Potentially either.
• If he's rocking the "computer tan," that absurdly pale complexion that only comes from spending far too long inside (we're pretty sure at this point that eventually the screen sapping the tan from your skin as a form of ritual sacrifice): Definitely a nerd.
• If he's wearing a My Little Pony shirt:
• Ironically: Hipster
• Unironically: Brony. Run.
• If he references a band you've never heard of: Hipster
• UNLESS it's K-Pop, J-Rock, J-Pop, or from the soundtrack of any major video game, in which case Nerd.
• If he kind of looks like Skrillex: Hipster. Also likely a girl.
• If he references Star Wars, Harry Potter, Back to the Future, or ANY movie in the strain of WarGames, Hackers, or Revenge of the Nerds: Nerd. Also, he has great taste in movies and you should probably ask him out like right now.
• If he references any movie by Wes Anderson: Hipster. Also, he has great taste in movies too.  (Hey, I'm just a fan of good movies.)
• If he's wearing a wolf t-shirt
• And looks like a member of a one-man wolfpack: Nerd.
• And pairs it with a pack of Parliaments/Spirits and an ironic sense of humor: Hipster

And thus ends another horribly stereotypical post from me.  For the record, I love both nerds and hipsters, but sometimes this is a legitimate question (and also a game I frequently play when people-watching).

If anyone is interested in another one of these kinds of posts, let me know!

DFTBA,
Rachel Leigh

On My Problem with Nate Silver

When you look at this graph, what percentages do you think is being represented?

For the first, it's kind of hard to eyeball.  I'd probably guess about 1%.  But what about the second one?  If you said 50%, then you're probably an average American, and your selection makes perfect sense.  But you're also wrong.  Though my issue is more with the graph than with you.  That graph represents 28%, but appears to represent nearly half.  (For the record, that first one represents .12%.)

At first glance, Nate Silver seems like the kind of guy with whom I would get along quite well.  With a shared penchant for poker and for proving people wrong, and the understanding and admiration for probability and statistics that comes with those things, he actually seems like he could be one of my major nerd heroes.

And because of THAT graph, I find myself exceedingly annoyed with him.  That graph was pulled from Chapter 1 of Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise, a book about how bad or poorly-read data can lead to bad predictions.  And in this midst of all of this warning about how when you only choose to see the data the way you want to see it, your predictions will end up being not only wrong but potentially really harmful (this section in particular was on the housing bubble), he chose to use a graphic that was willfully manipulative and presented in a way which fools the average thinker into being a lot more concerned than they need to be.  Don't get me wrong, the fact that the number of securities which failed was 500 times the predicted number is a pretty damning statistic.  But don't compound that with intentionally misleading representation.  You're giving credence to the idea that there are "lies, damned lies, and statistics" in a book that is supposed to be defining the traps that our predictions fall into.  One such trap is EXACTLY what you did just there.  And it's unfair and manipulative.

I have since come to enjoy quite a bit of the book, which I am nearly through, but I can't help but remain hung-up on that one glaring point (and copious typos - did you even HAVE a copy-editor?) and getting really disgruntled about how knowingly misleading it is.

Irritably yours,
Rachel Leigh

On Being Out of Shape

It's no secret -- I am entirely unathletic.  Made of tiny little wrists and next-to-no-muscle-mass and lungs that are ready to give out at any given moment, the idea of working out has never exactly appealed to me.  I mean, seriously, I get out of breath just THINKING about having to walk across campus.  And let's not even talk about how much I felt like dying after walking up the steps to Prague Castle.  Take my word for it, I have spent most of my life so out of shape that it was actually pretty laughable.

Which, of course, has sparked this never-ending cycle of not wanting to work out because I was so out of shape, and being out of shape because I didn't want to work out.  I've been trying over the last couple of months to be better about that, and I think to some extent it's been working pretty well.

The big question is going to be whether I can keep up this good behavior when I get back to school, or whether the lure of D-Hall fried chicken and being "too busy" (watching Netflix) to go to the gym will win out.

I've always had an odd relationship with working out, a combination of disliking how out of shape I was and feeling so helpless and overwhelmed (and, okay, I admit, lazy) to even know where to start to make it better.

Ohwell, here's hoping I can keep it up in the coming months.  If not, you have my permission to hit me.

"Round is a shape, right?"
Rachel Leigh

On Richmond

In a few days, we'll be loading up the car to take this show on the road, again.  And by "on the road," I mean about 275 miles down south to my second home, the River City, Richmond, Virginia.

Over the last three years, I've heard a lot of people say a lot of things about Richmond.  From my friends in high school who promised they'd send Sherman in after me if I wasn't surviving the South to friends from much further south commenting on how far North RVA really is, I've pretty much heard it all.

Which got me thinking -- Is Richmond really Southern or is it Northern?

On the one hand, Richmond was the Capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

And yes, this is what the ACTUAL Confederate flag looks like.  Learn some history, fools.

And trust me, riding down Monument Ave, it's easy to tell that they'll never forget it.  And Virginia itself isn't exactly known for being a beacon of northern ideals, though who doesn't love a little Southern hospitality from time to time?  (Although if you so much as dare to say "Bless your heart" in front of me, we might have a problem.)  Besides, I have never been called a Yankee so many times in my life (you know who you are).

But at the same time, Richmond itself is a relatively Northern city -- more progressive than a lot of its more-Southern counterparts, and I dare you to find someone with a twang.  Go ahead, try.

In a lot of ways, it's almost like this little Northern Bubble inside a very Southern state (and don't get me wrong, the University itself is even more a Northern Bubble (two words: Nantucket. Red.)).  Never truly Northern and never truly Southern, not really belonging to either.

Confusedly yours,
Rachel Leigh

On Back to School

Going back to school has always been something of a toss-up for me.  On the one hand, the stress levels are definitely not on my list of my favorite things – particularly when I know that I’m going back to a class that I’ve been dreading for years (yes, I’m looking at you, Methods).

But on the other, I find a certain comfort in being back at school – not just in being surrounded by friends and having things to do, although I absolutely miss those things.  And also not just the River City itself, though I am extremely excited to get back to that as well.  But in some ways, I feel comfortable in a classroom in a way that I don’t feel comfortable anywhere else.

It’s one of the few places where I don’t feel like I need to temper myself or work to impress anyone – I can just be open about the things that get me passionate or things that I nerd out about, and not have to worry about being socially awkward.  Outside of the classroom, it takes a very different comfort level for me to act the same way.

On the other hand, back to school means that I have to pack this week, which everyone knows is my least favorite activity.

Good luck to everybody!

Procrastinatorily yours,

Rachel Leigh

Happy New Year, readers!  Also, Happy We-Didn't-All-Die-in-2012 and Happy Avoiding-the-Fiscal-Cliff-Though-Just-Barely!

2012 was a big year for us here on WCS!  Our lead (and only) writer went to Europe.  We hired and fired a graphics team (by which I mean after my 100th post, I hung my head in shame and swore never to make terrible graphics again...and then ended up doing it anyway on Election Day).  We watched an election and yelled at a lot of people in the process.  We laughed, we cried, we wasted a lot of time on Netflix.  All in all, a good year.

Now, I'm not going to post any New Years' Resolutions on here -- not because I think resolutions are stupid or for some practical reason, but because I don't want to have to shamefully post at the end of the year about how much I have failed to complete.

Here's hoping 2013 keeps the ball rolling!