Improving your life doesn’t have to be complicated
This edition: fire shrooms, emoji vocab, and retro snackies
When it comes to living life well, a lot of it comes from within. None of us exist in a vacuum—no “brain in a vat” kind of situation—so how you perceive the world and others makes a huge difference in how you navigate your life.
If you find yourself leaning into pessimism or general “funk” and want to get out of it, remember that many possibilities are within your reach—the good and the bad. Go out there and get ‘em (the good ones, that is).
Have a great week ahead, folks.
—Connie
Burn, fungus, burn: this mushroom only appears after forest fires
<< Link to article >>
Mushrooms are wild. They’re delicious. Bitter. Medicinal. Poisonous. And they’re just the fruit of fungi, complex organisms—not quite plants, not quite animals—that live all around us. It’s only recently that we’ve been able to identify the myriad of fungus species that exist in the world; and some mushrooms look so similar, we’ve only been able to differentiate the type of fungus it grows from with DNA sequencing.
So cue in fire morels (also known as burn morels), an edible type of mushroom that grows in the year following a forest fire. The growth of these mushrooms is one of the first signs of regrowth in the burned area, typically coming up in clusters. If you spot one, chances are you’ll find more nearby.
These fire morels are still a bit of a mystery, mainly because fungus are still an under-researched area of science. We’re still trying to figure out the exact mechanisms that trigger these fungus to start fruiting in the aftermath of a fire—do these fungus sense heat? Or is it perhaps the exposure to a threshold of certain compounds from ash-fertilized soils?
Curiouser and curiouser!
Worth a thousand words: upcoming emojis may include new heart colors and… ginger?
<< Link to article | Link to list of proposed emojis >>
3,633. That’s how many emojis currently exist. So what are we still missing? Apparently we don’t have hearts that are light blue, grey, or pink. Nor do we have a goose (AKA devil spawn) or a moose. A couple of the highly anticipated emojis for me are the “pushing hands”, which can be used to symbolize high-fives or encouraging/discouraging something.
Keep in mind that the ones in the article are just samples, and that each vendor (e.g., Apple, Microsoft, Google) will also have their own versions of each emoji. But looking at the list, I don’t think there’s any potential cross-platform misunderstandings since none of them in this upcoming release are facial expressions, but you never know—maybe the donkey will look too much like an ass. 😛
For realsies: actually change your life with simple, actionable advice
<< Link to article >>
Listicles (i.e., list articles) are sometimes low-quality content fodder, a lame curation of platitudes that make my eyes roll to the back of my head. BUT—other times, I’ll come across ones that have me nodding as I read.
This is one of those articles.
If you’re feeling stuck in your life, or if you just want to continue improving on (loving) yourself, take note. Huge fan of #11, “Work on shifting your conversations with people to be wholly positive, if not neutral.”
Fun stuff
Boomers pretending to be millennials making fun of Gen Z. Is it cringey? Or funny? (Correct answer: it’s both.)
Your personality as told by your fave retro American snack. The illustrations are a treat in themselves! FYI: I’m a little bit Fun Dip and Handi-Snacks.