Killer Cars

Do you see the image below turning clockwise or counterclockwise? Don’t be skeptical, with a little concentration, the image can flip directions if you trick your brain. According to science, whichever direction you see first tells you which side of your brain is more dominant.

Clockwise viewers, right side of the brain. Counterclockwise viewers, left side of the brain.

On my first encounter, I was able to see the image counterclockwise at first, but by focusing on the reflection of the dancer’s feet, was able to flip the direction. I have been seeing it clockwise ever since.

From The Daily Telegraph article

The Right Brain vs Left Brain test … do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
“big picture” oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

Radiohead has announced over the weekend that they will lets fans pick price for their new album, In Rainbows. It will be available online as a download, and feel free to pay as much as you like.

Could there be any other band that could possibly pull this off? When you are as big as Radiohead, probably not.

During my vacation in France, I had the unfortunate liberty of having one of my friends who I met there accidentally drop my digital camera with the lens retracted. I was utterly heartbroken when the camera’s lens assembly was broken, therefore not allowing me to take photos till it was fixed, or more importantly for the remainder of my vacation.

I tried to play it off like it didn’t bother me. I explained to my French friends that it was nothing but a flimsy camera anyway (although it was a Canon SD450). Although even with their basic understanding of English, 90% of my translation is in body language, and I ended up looking like a cheap American. They could tell I was upset, but why?

After moping for an hour, it became clear that I had become way too attached to the camera to just lose it too easily. It was far from the $200 price tag, it was the memories I created with it.

The answer was simple, for as long as I had that camera, my life had gotten better.

Think, about it. I had purchased the camera to document my birthday party in the month of February 2007. In that same month, I got accepted for a new job, decided to move back home, and met my future girlfriend.

From there it kept playing out. I had started the job, it moved me into a position where I was better able to use my abilities in be compensated appropriately. The debt that I had incurred from moving to Boston the year had finally been paid off (the amount was several thousands), and moving back home relieved me from all the stresses with living cheaply in Boston. I had started dating again, and I had never been happier.

The camera itself had traveled more than most do in a given half year. From Boston to New York City, Tampa, Boise, Seattle, Las Vegas, Montreal, Portland, London and Paris before finally crashing on the deck of a mobile home in Southwest France. The camera was never the sole reason I was traveling so much, but it made for a great companion.

Fast forward to then, I was on vacation visiting my cousin with the money I had saved. Considering I haven’t been on vacation in over a year and a half it was long overdue. I was riding high. My vacation had been in budget, my relationship with my girlfriend was still going strong, and France had been a blast.

Frankly, for as long as I had the camera with me, it was always a sort of good luck charm.

Up until that crash.

I was fortunate enough to borrow a camera from my cousin for the remainder of my trip, but that still doesn’t fix the camera that I have become so attached to. Could it be possible that my good luck has run its course?

As of 1 month without the camera, so far so good. We’ll wait and see. I always make my own luck anyway.