Libby the mud dog

Seeing-eye and hearing-ear dogs help those who have visual and audio impairments.  Therapy dogs help those who suffer from anxiety, and other conditions.  Out pet dogs improve our lives just by sitting near and letting us pet them.  And by making us laugh even when they roll in the mud.

Small house by Bluesky

There was a great article in The Oregonian this Sunday about Rich Daniels, a builder of small homes.

Seems he (and several others) have found a growing market for houses as small as 400 square feet. With a price tag in the $40K range, these homes are becoming quite popular with people looking to cut back living expenses to a minimum.

What an awesome idea.

And small doesn’t mean you have to compromise style.  This photo is a home built by Canadian builder, BlueSky MOD, focusing on low-impact, high-design.

Definitely something to consider. In case you’re curious, here’s a directory of small home builders.

Awesome.

Hanging glacier, Mt. Cook National Park, New Zealand

This one is in the Mt. Cook National Park in New Zealand.

I’m not sure there’s really more to say other than:  awesome.

Christmas socks

Nothing quite gets me in the spirit of the holidays like a colorful pair of Christmas socks.

Christmas socks are whimsical, fun and more than a little corny. And they’re also awesome.

Every year Santa puts Christmas socks in our stockings and we promptly put them on Christmas morning–while still in our pjs and drinking mimosas. I start wearing the Christmas socks of years past right after Thanksgiving. Even if they don’t match what I’m wearing.

Try it.  See if it doesn’t put a little Ho-Ho-Ho in your holiday.

Olive fingers

Some of us are olive finger people.  Some of us are not.  But me…I’m an olive finger kind of girl.

Humanity

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this collection of images is priceless.

Humanity: A Celebration of Friendship, Family, Love & Laughter showcases the work of 150 new photographers. Yes! magazine has put a small collection of them online for us to enjoy.

These images come from all over the world, and remind us that we’re really all the same.

Humanity. Awesome. Lovely. Human.

Coin-operated horse

Giddy-up!

Love

Everyone knows love is awesome. Everyone also knows love releases endorphins that make us feel really good. Now we know that intense, new love is as strong a pain killer as cocaine, according to a recent Stanford University School of Medicine study.

From the e! Science News article:

“It turns out that the areas of the brain activated by intense love are the same areas that drugs use to reduce pain,” said Arthur Aron, PhD, a professor of psychology at State University of New York at Stony Brook and one of the study’s authors. Aron has been studying love for 30 years. “When thinking about your beloved, there is intense activation in the reward area of the brain — the same area that lights up when you take cocaine, the same area that lights up when you win a lot of money.”

Well, there you have it. Reason # 347 why love is awesome.

In downtown Los Angeles they make you feel like an alien.

Alien restaurant booth

Booth, please!

Image from Solar Impulse, via Ode

We have electric cars, so why not electric airplanes?

Solar Impulse, a Swiss company, has a zero-emissions airplane that’s powered by solar energy and electricity.  They hope to fly internationally by sometime next year.

That’s pretty darn awesome.

Read more on Ode Exchange.