tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:19:37 +0000http://www.sophiadembling.com/home.htmnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)Blogger325125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-4605002676169172845Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:01:00 +00002009-07-09T13:19:37.701-05:00self-promotionblogstravelbloggingtravel in americaAs many of you know, my old Flyover America gig with World Hum succumbed to the economy. But the good news is, Jenna Schnuer and I, with the addition of Matt Villano, have launched Flyover America independently.Y'all know I haven't been a good little blogger here for a while. That's because I've been two-timing you. My energy has been going into Flyover America ... and that is likely to continue,http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/07/flyover-america-hits-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-7799669872875676562Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:25:00 +00002009-07-02T08:50:10.108-05:00psychologyfriendshipgripingWhere do you stand on bitching and moaning to friends?Some people staunchly refuse to gripe. I suppose that’s partly temperament. They’re all sunny-side-up 'n' shit. As an enthusiastic griper, I have trouble relating to that. It seems cockeyed to me. And when people reflexively deflect legitimate gripes with some sort of Suzy Sunshine crap, I put a little checkmark next to their names in my head:http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/06/bitching-and-moaning-friend-or-foe.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-2438282495348794146Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:01:00 +00002009-07-09T12:26:28.862-05:00researchbird watchingHowdy. Today, we’re talkin’ farm animals.We’ll start with a story I enjoyed in this morning’s paper about a couple of Vermont dairy farmers who changed what they feed their cows, thereby reducing the amount of methane their cows emit via burps. (I guess that whole cow farting thing is overplayed; according to this article, most of the gas actually comes from the front end.)Also according to this http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/06/chicken.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-4761494207675098785Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:51:00 +00002009-07-09T12:47:45.276-05:00videophotographypsychologyresearchnostalgiawritingFirst, for no particular reason, here’s a totally random photo from my last trip to Oklahoma. I have a lot of photos. Might as well toss some out there from time to time.OK, so, what’s on my mind today?Well, I’ve had a semi-crappy week and I’m stressed out, so I’ve been watching this awesome interactive music video a lot. It’s a guaranteed stress reducer. Really, go watch it. Use your cursor to http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/06/flotsam-friday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-1960955585091762783Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:59:00 +00002009-06-11T12:16:24.715-05:00memoirdeathclutterI am recently home from three weeks in New York City sorting through my late parents’ possessions with my brother. Wow. I have something to say to all you parents out there: If you have a lot of stuff, as a loving gesture to your children, get rid of some, OK? My parents had a lot of cool stuff but they also had a lot of junk. A lot. See the photo? Multiply it by an eight-room apartment. Where http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/06/burdens-of-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-2214266452475135546Fri, 08 May 2009 02:22:00 +00002009-05-07T21:51:53.764-05:00dillard'smother's dayadvertisingThis is such a festive time of year! Sunday is Mother’s Day, which means it’s time for the parade of identical, badly dressed Dillard’s MILFS. This year, get your three moms expensive and wildly unflattering “patio dresses.” Nothing says “I love you” like a paisley tent.(Take a little walk down memory lane, through Dillard's posts past.) http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/05/mothers-day-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-6947475331305244002Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:05:00 +00002009-04-29T17:02:33.201-05:00introvertstravelpsychologybooksintroversion"I just stumbled on your article 'Confessions of an Introverted Traveler' and I just wanted to tell you how pleased I was to read it. I am in my second year of college and hope to travel extensively after school. I've been scouring the internet reading countless articles, blogs, personal accounts, etc about traveling and a vast majority of them speak of the great experience of meeting people http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/04/five-tips-for-introverted-travelers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-7903188424127915910Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:16:00 +00002009-04-21T11:15:25.017-05:00traveloklahomabird watchingprairie chickensI left my comfort zone this weekend and spent it with a bunch of hard-core birders at the Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival in Woodward, Oklahoma. Because I’m a wee bit of an idiot, I didn’t realize until I’d committed exactly how hard-core the event would be. It was the kind of event where I met people for whom seeing the prairie chickens dance was the culmination of a lifelong dream. No, really. http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/04/doing-prairie-chicken-dance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-286043002047277815Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:49:00 +00002009-04-13T08:23:07.837-05:00craftstravelslide showhumorJust got home from a road trip through southern New Mexico. Our favorite stop was Truth or Consequences. (Read a little more here.) Not much going on in the little town except hot springs, which is good enough. We loved it.The whole downtown pretty much shuts down on Tuesdays, which is why a thrift store was a highlight of our sightseeing. And I don't mean vintage (though T or C has lots of thosehttp://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/04/gay-goobers-in-sweaters-souvenir.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-1512118106914621165Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:00:00 +00002009-04-12T17:07:17.903-05:00videotravelDozens of people break into choreographed dance at Antwerp's Central Station. You must smile. http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/04/joy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-1431202461215942708Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:37:00 +00002009-04-03T13:12:33.817-05:00newspapersadvertisingdallas morning newsYou know I have only the greatest respect and affection for newspapers, for my former employer (well, mixed feelings there, but generally positive), and certainly for the brave souls who go to work each day under the darkening cloud of desperation, layoffs, and now pay cuts. And so it is with deep regret that I am forced to mock this sad, ill-advised in-house ad.These are fine reporters doing a http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/04/one-sad-bad-ad_03.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-6433471104590899771Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:47:00 +00002009-03-27T14:03:06.182-05:00travelpsychologyresearchflotsammarriageAh, here’s just a wee bit o flotsam for ya, friends. Because it’s been a long time, it has…To start, some research that caught my attention:I like this study from the University of Toronto that points out that many people find uncertainty much more stressful than clear negative feedback. Oh yes, oh yes. It’s true. I would much rather know the worst than wonder. Of course, I much prefer praise andhttp://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/03/return-of-flotsam-friday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-4269656394857026110Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:13:00 +00002009-03-24T09:29:44.956-05:00birthdaysmemoiragemidlifeIf you’ve been hanging with this blog a while, you may remember my 50th birthday. Ah, ‘twas a grand weekend. My nearest and dearest gathered to pay joyous tribute to my 50-ness. I wore a tiara, ate chicken fried steak. By the end of the weekend I’d concluded that if that was 50, then I was just fine. Life was good.OK, so now I’m looking down the barrel of 51 and you know what that means, don’t http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/03/midlife-crisis-du-jour.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-3893929319043384137Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:55:00 +00002009-03-11T12:04:59.662-05:00writerssexismbookswritingfeminismI’ve been thinking again about chick lit vs. lit lit since reading this Salon review of Elaine Showalter’s history of American women writers, A Jury of Her Peers. (That the book is called “monumental” in this review is, frankly, a deterrent for me to take it on. Some words just scare me off a book: monumental, lyrical, postmodern, magical realism. I’m stodgy that way. And linear. But I am http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/03/women-and-writing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-8826892038603822555Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:32:00 +00002009-03-09T11:42:23.519-05:00introvertsmemoirtravelintroversionMy latest on World Hum, about being an introverted traveler, here.http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/03/im-totally-milking-introversion-thing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-3873084057932577085Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:48:00 +00002009-03-08T14:35:06.143-05:00memoirpsychologymoviesrelationshipsmusicThe cover story of the latest issue of Psychology Today (I’ll link to it as soon as it’s online) is about dealing with all those annoying little things our mates do--things like leaving dirty socks on the floor. Evidently (Do I use that word too much? I think so), over time, those little things can stress the fabric of a marriage until they cause big trouble.Hm, really? That’s sad, isn’t it? Is http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/03/this-and-that-re-relationships.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-2046924518174338998Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:01:00 +00002009-03-02T18:05:12.183-06:00photographyslide showair travelhttp://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/03/travel-photo-cliches.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-4932859193779992057Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:20:00 +00002009-02-27T12:35:18.128-06:00david foster wallacetravelwritingcruisingI finally got around to reading the late David Foster Wallace’s famous essay, "Shipping Out," about seven days on a luxury cruise. (It’s included in his book, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments) I’m spending the night at the Four Seasons Resort & Spa in Las Colinas and a friend sent me a copy as perfect reading material for a night swaddled in comfort. Or, as Wallacehttp://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/david-foster-wallace-cruising-and-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-7082954477250930471Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:39:00 +00002009-02-25T10:16:36.523-06:00social networkingkoterbafacebooktwitterThis Jeff Koterba cartoon (2/19/09, if you’re coming to this post late) ran in my newspaper on Saturday and it made my eyes roll so hard, I got dizzy.Want to sound outdated and left behind? Then smirk about how online social networking is only being done by pathetic losers living sad, sad lives in their mothers’ basements.Stupid. That’s one reason newspapers are circling the drain—they simply http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/why-youre-wrong-about-facebook.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-6292761562141044687Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:42:00 +00002009-02-24T15:26:06.695-06:00videomardi grasdallasI’ve never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and it sounds like hell to me. Crowds of drunken people who have thrown off inhibitions is not my idea of a good time, to understate the case. But I went to my very first Mardi Gras parade on Sunday and it suffered the opposite problem. It was “family friendly.” And you know that can’t be good for Mardi Gras. I’m guessing that family-friendly http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/fat-sunday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-5070943352756407088Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:38:00 +00002009-02-24T12:02:45.014-06:00photographyI'm also entering this photo of spring flowers, from Ocracoke Island, NC, in the photo contest (I have to post pix on my blog to enter.)http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/another-image-of-spring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-5833593572038180591Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:20:00 +00002009-02-23T12:27:15.507-06:00introvertsmemoirpsychologypersonal growthbooksintroversionI’ve had a really wonderful response to my DMN column on introversion. Lots of emails, lots of gratitude. One guy said his therapist gave him a copy—perhaps the same therapist who told me she planned to distribute it to her patients.I respond to everyone who writes to me. (Everyone who is not unhinged, that is, and fortunately most of my correspondents seem perfectly lovely.) This time, I urged http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/introvert-party.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-6205676407278879453Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:15:00 +00002009-02-20T10:30:13.381-06:00introvertsself-promotionbooksintroversiondallas morning newsI wrote about the book Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength in this blog a while back.I wrote about it again for this column in the Dallas Morning News and I've had a wonderful response from grateful introverts. One guy wrote that he and his wife were going to a party this weekend and planned to leave shortly after arriving. Rock on, introvert guy!We have all been http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/you-saw-it-here-first.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-3744163416792559184Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:12:00 +00002009-02-20T09:26:25.729-06:00photographytravelSonomaIf you'll pardon me for doing a little business here, I decided to enter this image of springtime in Sonoma in a photo contest for a little extra do-re-mi. (Very little, but that's OK. It's an old image.)The image has to be focused on the right side, with the left side relatively uncluttered. I am finding that most of my photographs are the opposite--I hang left in my shooting. Kind of http://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/one-image-of-spring.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3717790273617681922.post-6239697504846829740Sat, 14 Feb 2009 19:04:00 +00002009-02-14T14:45:07.992-06:00videotraveltexashotelsdallas Tom and I spent last night at the Hotel Palomar, here in Dallas, for a story. On the desk, along with a note pad, the hotel directory, and some snacks, was this poor fishy, trapped in a tiny vase--bored, restless, pleading for freedom with his little fish eyes. Sometimes he would look at the wall, sometimes he would look at the bed, sometimes he would float to the top of the water and with hishttp://www.sophiadembling.com/2009/02/save-fish.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sophie)3