When people travel, their eyes open up to a whole new world.
A friend of mine went diving recently and she told me about how her experience changed the way she saw everything.
We're so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget to see what's around us.
And when we go deep sea diving and find ourselves in a space that one can only describe as infinite and blue, it makes us feel small. And our problems seem silly.
But, since we're all not fortunate enough to experience this, we tend to get lost in our own lives and think that the world revolves around us.
So take a moment.
And think.
I did.
I couldn't sleep one night last week.
And it was at that strange time when you couldn't be sure if it's night or morning.
And all of a sudden it was like all the birds of the world had woken up.
And let me add that this wasn't the chirpy little tune you hear in Cinderella-like movies where the birds sound like they are singing nursery rhymes and lullabies while helping Cindy get dressed.
In my case it was crows.
Only crows. Cawing.
And thankfully not attempting to help me get dressed.
Which made me wonder.
Did they all just wake up from their slumber?
Do birds actually sleep?
How do they sleep?
Standing?
Isn't that weird?
It was such a simple question and even though I thought it would be obvious that they would sleep, I didn't know anything about how that happened.
And so I googled it.
Here's what happens:
Some birds have special flexor tendons that help them hold onto branches that help them sleep standing up.
Some float on water.
Some of them sleep with their head in their feathers.
And some birds like owls are just party animals. They stay up all night.
That's it.
After this I went on to how do fish sleep and other interesting facts that most people don't care enough to know.
But you should care.
About the birds.
And the bees.
And the birds and the bees.
Here's what wikipedia says about the coining of the phrase:
According to tradition, the birds and the bees is a metaphorical story sometimes told to children in an attempt to explain the mechanics and good consequences of sexual intercourse through reference to easily observed natural events. For instance, bees carry and deposit pollen into flowers, a visible and easy-to-explain example of male fertilization. Another example, birds lay eggs, a similarly visible and easy-to-explain example of female ovulation.
According to tradition, the birds and the bees is a metaphorical story sometimes told to children in an attempt to explain the mechanics and good consequences of sexual intercourse through reference to easily observed natural events. For instance, bees carry and deposit pollen into flowers, a visible and easy-to-explain example of male fertilization. Another example, birds lay eggs, a similarly visible and easy-to-explain example of female ovulation.
But I meant it literally.
Which led me to a whole range of videos by Isabella Rossellini.
It's called Green Porno.
Starring Isabella Rossellini.
Where she explains how animals have sex and reproduce.
Pretty interesting and funny.
And quite educational too.
And if someone walks into the room while you're watching this, they'll just think you're strange and that's not too bad.
It's better than watching a movie like Her and having to explain to your mother that Joaquin Phoenix is having sex with his OS.
