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26 March 2009

This is a WOW thread. →[More:]

While I was waiting for the bus this morning, I watched a pair of crows building a nest. They were building it about 30 feet up in an ash tree that's just now budding out. In the immediate vicinity, there were several other equally tall trees that were already fully leafed out, and several that kept their leaves all year round.

But these crows, even though they prefer their nest concealed in order to protect their eggs and young from predators, were building in a bare tree.

I was kinda thinking, "Heh, stupid crows," until it dawned on me that these crows KNOW that the tree will be green and leafy by the time they start to brood.

And I went, WOW.

This is knowledge that they only have to use once a year, and it's not something they have to know, instinctually, in order to survive (as in, that owl is swooping for me, must fly off now). It's a bit of pretty arcane learned trivia for a bird: This tree is bare now, but within the next week or two it won't be anymore.

Wow.

What's made you go 'Wow' lately?

post by: mudpuppie at: 10:19 | 23 comments

I had a meeting in the Woolworth Building the other day, and there was a sign outside that said there was no tourist access to the building. And I thought, huh, why would tourists want to go into this old office building. This is why. Wow.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 26 March | 10:35

Oh, I wanna see that, TPS!

My recent Wow occurred last night. I went for a walk at a nearby beach where you can go through the woods and come out on a rocky shore. When I got to the shore, I found myself stepping through an awesome installation of impromptu beach art. There were cairns, a lobster-pot sculpture, several mosaics including a flower and a peace sign, and a mini Stonehenge.

Beach art is one of my fascinations, and one day I'd like to put together a book of photos of folk sculpture at the beach. However, this is going to depend on me remembering to take the fricking camera when I go to the beach.

posted by Miko 26 March | 10:47

I had a meeting in the Woolworth Building the other day, and there was a sign outside that said there was no tourist access to the building. And I thought, huh, why would tourists want to go into this old office building. This is why. Wow.

What a shame that they don't want to share that treasure with people. What's the point of a gorgeous building that no one can see, anyway? How sad.

posted by loiseau 26 March | 10:50

I hope this doesn't sound maudlin, but I get a 'wow' every time I come home from work and see my wife's smiling face waiting at the door. She can't wait until I get home and I realize there is at least one person in the world who loves me completely. Plus, she's gorgeous and smart and she puts up with me.

I mean, is there a bigger 'wow'?

posted by trinity8-director 26 March | 11:06

I have a memory that I've always mistrusted. You know on most pinball machines, when you win a free credit by breaking some high score or filling some meter or other, there's a loud solenoid knock from the inside of the machine? Well, I have this memory of a Q*bert machine doing the same thing when a character fell off the pyramid; it was like Q*bert or Coily had fallen and smacked against the bottom of the inside of the machine.

I always thought, no way that's real, I must be misremembering some dream or prank or fabrication, I was only eleven, no way the game designers were cool enough to rig a knock into a video game. But I was reading just now about Q*bert and it turns out that not only were some dedicated Q*bert machines equipped with solenoids, some were rigged with a falling beanbag for a more lifelike thump.

Wow!

posted by Hugh Janus 26 March | 11:14

I'm pathetic. I read the title and thought "huh, didn't know that many people here played WOW."

posted by kellydamnit 26 March | 11:25

Heh, kellydamnit, I thought the same thing.

posted by Hugh Janus 26 March | 11:28

That's awesome, 'pupp.

The same day I got that email from Assholio, I went to run an errand while I mulled over what to do. I passed under this bridge & then between 2 streetlights on either side of the road. Sitting on each light arm was a really big redtail hawk. Like gatekeepers. It felt like it was my mom & dad looking down on me as my protectors, & I knew that everything would be ok as I dealt with Assholio. That's my most recent wow.

posted by chewatadistance 26 March | 11:29

I've gotten that thud on Q-Bert, Hugh!

posted by Miko 26 March | 12:02

You know the bird (on Planet Earth) that flips around and makes his tail feathers look like a face? That is pretty wow.

Also my husband just booked us at Gaylord Palms for 80 bucks a night! Wow! I'm excited!

posted by LoriFLA 26 March | 12:19

Jon took me for Pho, a kind of Vietnamese soup, the other day. The place was so fragrant with yummy spices as soon as we walked in, and in no time, we had huge steaming bowls of the most delicious broth with thin slices of beef and vermicelli noodles, and lots of special condiments and bits to add -- spicy chili paste and a tangy brown sauce, mint leaves and bean sprouts. Truly delicious. A definite wow. And Vietnames coffee, which I love.

posted by Pips 26 March | 12:51

The pho in question:
≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by jonmc 26 March | 12:52

I dealt with Assholio
≡ Click to see image ≡
"ARE YOU THREATENING ME??!"

posted by jonmc 26 March | 12:55

pips, your description of the restaurant sounds lovely and divine. jonmc, I wish I had that soup for lunch instead of the fake cheese and ham sandwich I just ate.

posted by LoriFLA 26 March | 12:56

LoriFLA, I wish there was some way to post aroma to the internet, since that soup (esp, with some chili sauce and mint leaf added) is one of the most unique and amazing scents on earth.

posted by jonmc 26 March | 13:08

What a shame that they don't want to share that treasure with people. What's the point of a gorgeous building that no one can see, anyway?

That, and the Chrysler Building. (This is from the rarer-than-rare architectural tour, I guess.)

posted by dhartung 26 March | 13:44

I used to eat pho about 3 times a week in graduate school. Did me lunch and dinner. Yum.

posted by gaspode 26 March | 14:07

I got a job interview for a job I really want that pays well! Tuesday noon!

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by loiseau 26 March | 16:12

This is going to be so unpoetic after all the coolness in this thread, but I'm going with ADD meds for my WOW.

I went on them a month or so ago, and literally the first day felt like I'd been reborn.

This will be hard for people who don't deal with adult ADD or ADHD on a daily basis to understand, but I've grown up feeling like having a zillion pinging thoughts ripping through your head every few seconds, plus zero memory recall was just "being artistically-minded." When it was suggested to me I had ADD/ADHD as an adult, I took it as an insult.

But now, I can focus. I can remember things. I don't put my keys down to pick up my phone and then forget where the keys went.

I've gone from being thought of as crazy and undependable to being complimented by my mentors and doing immensely positive things in my community and for myself. That is the only WOW I'll ever need.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 26 March | 17:48

I am getting better and better at coming up with descriptions for the interiors of homes I may never see, based on what's been written about the building, what the descriptions for the other units look like, some key words and phrases from my boss, knowing her verbal aesthetic, and having read lots of other types of real estate listings.

The fact that it's almost a year later and I'm doing well at this job? That's a "WOW" for me.

posted by TrishaLynn 26 March | 17:51

LT, I'm with you on that, man. People who don't know really have no idea. It's like trying to explain the flavor of salt.

Glad you found something that works for you.

posted by trinity8-director 26 March | 23:20

Hooray, LT! I was just diagnosed a couple of years ago myself. After a couple of weeks on meds the most noticeable difference was that I felt so much more certain of myself when I was speaking. It was like I suddenly had time to compose a thought before saying things. I was so accustomed to feeling like there was a nebulous fog between an idea and it coming out of my mouth.

posted by loiseau 27 March | 06:15

A fairly recent WOW for me was when I got thinking about the fact that our most intimate, unique, essential sustaining force, our blood, can be removed from our bodies and put into someone else's... and not only does it sustain them, but it becomes their blood.

I'm not a scientist, clearly, but I find this wondrous almost beyond comprehension. With all the ways we can interact with people, from the mundane to the intimate, we are still individuals. And even donating organs, those are like little machines. But blood... it's really incredible, almost terrifying, that we can give it to other people.

posted by loiseau 27 March | 06:24

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