Your Left Side Is Likely Your "Good Side"

Straight from September's issue of Reader's Digest:

Your "good" side is more science than pose. Scientists at Wake Forest University showed research subjects photographs of 20 male and female faces taken from opposite angles. The participants uniformly found the left side of the faces more appealing than the right. 

Since the brain's right hemisphere is better at signaling emotion than the left - and controls the left side of the face - facial expressions tend to be stronger on the left. 

Perhaps that's why iconic paintings like Vermeer's Girl With The Pearl Earring lead with the left side.

Which photo of Angelina do you think looks better? 

Science says the one on the right!

America's Thanksgiving Parade

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Everyone knows about Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan, but did you know about another fantastic parade that happens in Detroit, too? I've spent many Thanksgiving mornings experiencing it live, but this year I decided to learn some things about it instead, while watching the coverage on TV (it's really cold!).

Here's a brief highlight of its history via the Walter P. Reuther Library blog:

This Thanksgiving marks the 84th anniversary of a Detroit favorite now known as America’s Thanksgiving Parade. The parade was started in 1924 by Charles Wendel, the display manager of the J.L. Hudson Company department store on Woodward Avenue. Along with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, which was founded the same year, Hudson’s Thanksgiving parade was one of the first of its kind in the United States.

Inspired in part by European carnivals, the parade featured large papier-mâché heads imported from Italy, floats depicting nursery rhymes, and bands marching down Woodward Avenue. Since his first appearance in 1925, Santa Claus has remained a staple of the parade.

...The Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation was established in 1982 to support the parade, which is now managed by The Parade Company.

The Parade Company creates all of the floats and balloons from scratch! It's a year-long process for the staff and 1500 volunteers (plus another 3000 volunteers the week of), culminating in a spectacular 2-hour 1.5-mile walk down Woodward Avenue.

Thanks, Detroit, for brightening our Thanksgiving mornings for 84 years!

[images via Virtual Motor City & The Parade Company]

Happy Birthday Photoshop!

February 19th marked the 20th anniversary of the amazing photo-editing software Adobe Photoshop. Let me put that another way: a version of Photoshop premiered on 2/19/1989. I didn't think computers in the late-80's were even capable of displaying "photos"!

Appropriately, I used Photoshop to make this picture of the icon revolution. :)

Like a lot of cool inventions, Photoshop was developed at the University of Michigan by brothers named Thomas and John Knoll. Their father, Glenn Knoll, a professor at U of M, taught his sons an appreciation for both photography and computers. In 1987, PhD candidate Thomas began working on a computer program on his Apple Macintosh Plus to display grayscale images (since previously images were only in black and white pixels)... and the rest is history!

For a great description of Photoshop 1.0 and its features (including pictures), click here!

(source)

Closet Apartment

An out-of-work architect Sergio Santos was trying to find a cheap deal on a rental apartment. When even the bedroom of a house became too expensive, he asked to rent a walk-in closet in the house instead. Using his interior design skills, he turned the 5.5'-by-14' into a hip, comfortable living space:

In his words:

"It's a legal rental. The landlord cut out a door so I'd have access to a kitchen and bathroom, which I share with three other tenants. I have a mini-fridge, a microwave, and a storage bin for dry goods. I made a loft for my bed, TV, and DVD player. My clothes hang on a metal rod.

I don't really get claustrophobic. I've learned to be comfortable in small places. If I keep the window open, I can just about see over the terrace and into the street. Next to my window is a bench—I call it my veranda. I've entertained as many as 11 people at my place. I can seat seven."

It's a pretty ingenious idea! He only pays $150/month in rent and word of his creativity has attracted new customers. Double win!