TMG Philosophy: Balance

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Most people, seemingly, struggle to juggle life’s demands whether they are personal, social, family or work commitments.   We may even be pushing the limits of our daily time allotment to see how much can be accomplished in 24 hours.  Less and less down time is “scheduled” into our lives. 

Personally, turning “off” the go button for me has always taken great effort, and probably will always take extra discipline.  Though I’ve usually been aware of my fight to find balance, it hasn’t been until the last couple years that I’ve worked so hard to achieve that stability.  

Two years ago, I was an office manager who worked too many hours and days, had an amazing husband of 10 years, lived in a lovely home with our puppies, and yearned for a day we would become parents.  I didn’t hate my job, but I wasn’t happy.  My husband and I filled our calendar squares with working, camping trips, hikes, fishing and hunting trips, dinners with friends and family, movie dates, dinner dates, and alone time.  

Then came Nathaniel who will be 2 years old on Wednesday.  Then came a major work change from office manager to working from home doing something I get pleasure from every day at The Transmogrifier.  Then came Lyla, 7 months old.   So now, here I am, given an incredible gifts of my babies, being at home with them, and the opportunity to work with other creative people.  I get to do artistic and original work every day whether it is writing or photography and all that comes with it. 

Never before have I felt I’m where I should be.  Never before have I felt such happiness in all areas of my life.  Never before have I struggled so much to find balance.  Our calendar squares and the hours each square encompasses are filled with baby memories, field adventures, taking pictures, writing, picking, laughing, teaching our kids and learning from them.   Now the work that fills my squares brings me such pleasure I have to compel myself to stop.  Or, when I’m not doing it, I find myself pulling away from other things to focus on work. 

It occurred to me the other day that my work and family life/free time are no longer neatly compartmentalized, but are seamlessly becoming jumbled up together.  Our family vacations, field adventures, and road trips are full of image photography opportunities, blog entry inspirations and family memories.  To a multi-tasker like me, that seems pretty darn cool!  I get to check multiple things off my list with one event!  Win win win!  Or is it? 

That depends on me.  A few weeks ago on a field adventure with our babies and my husband, Chad, I realized with no small amount of horror that I was losing my balance.  Or maybe I had lost my balance.  We were out taking pictures, stopping at the San Francisco Zoo and the Japanese Tea Gardens.   Throughout the day, Nate kept tugging on me, beckoning me.  I can still hear his eager voice, “Momma!  Momma!  Momma!  Mom! Mommy!”.   Each time, I told him to wait.  Each time, I barely acknowledged him because I didn’t want to miss my shot.  I had work to do.  I couldn’t be bothered with the love and exuberance of my son.  

It wasn’t until I was lying in bed that night that I realized I hadn’t ever stopped to discover what Nate was so excited to show me.  Epic fail.  I then began wondering how many other times I had done this to him.  How many times had I dismissed him or my husband?  I was most certainly out of balance.  With renewed vigor and effort, I have begun the battle to regain some balance. 

Having a balanced life is different for each person as we all have different components that make up our wheels of life.   But I do really believe it is realistic to get to a balanced place, even if the glitches come.  The glitches will come.  It comes down to with what and how we choose to fill our calendar squares. There is that word again: choices.  We choose, for the most part, what and how much of what comes first in our lives.  Quality and quantity.  Obviously this fluctuates on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.  But we have a large say in how busy we are…and being busy all the time doesn’t mean we are more productive or more fulfilled, necessarily.  It might just mean we are busier.  And that might mean we are missing moments and opportunities, like I did with my son. 

Nate’s Notes: My Favorite Things (yes like the song)

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I am almost 2 you know.  Next week it’s my birthday. The other night, before bedtime, Momma and Daddy were asking me what some of my most favorite things are.  I’ve known them both long enough now to recognize that they become reflective around birthdays and milestone dates.   They both like to talk about what has happened since the last time I had a birthday and how much I’ve grown and learned, although Momma goes on and on.  No really, she does.  She makes lists.  Always with the lists.

Here are some of those things… (You may have to sing this to the tune of some song or something- that is what Momma said.)

Nate’s Favorite Things– *with a few extra verses

Tunnels!!!

Tunnels!!!

Race cars and tractors, and things that go choo-choo. Juice drinks and berries, corn, beans, avocado.  Sleeping all snuggled with Momma and Daddy.   These are a few of my favorite things.

Tunnels and fast cars, and cars and lots more cars.  Stories, my puppies, my cat and my chickens.  Talking and reading my books all day long.  These are some more of my favorite things.

Digging in dirt or just jumping in water.  Running in circles or dancing and singing. Riding on Daddy while Momma takes pictures…Yes, even that is a favorite thing!

Field adventures!  Learning new things!  Meeting people there!  Distracting the ones that think Momma is crazy…well, that doesn’t make the list!

Looking for lizards, rocks, lichen or acorns.   Finding the moon or the clouds in the sky. Taking my own pictures, yes Momma lets me!   These are just more of my favorite things!

Road trips, I have to admit they’re amazing.  Music and bath time, flea markets, my lovey. Playing with cars, oh yea, I mentioned that.  Well- that is probly’ my most favorite thing!

Coloring, painting or building with Legos.   Grandparents, cousins, my aunts and my uncles. Family dinners with laughing and joy.   Those are most definite favorite things!

Lyla laughing!  Momma smiling!  Daddy giving hugs!  Now those are the best of my favorite things.  The ones that show me I’m loved!

 

RSWL: Another Keri Smith Book

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You may have noticed we tend to write about creativity, exploration, and  inspiration as recurring themes.   It’s only because our team at The Transmogrifier believes in these ideas so profoundly, we seek both out daily ourselves.  A few months ago, Tim introduced you to the Canadian author, Keri Smith and her wonderful book How To Be An Explorer of the World.

Well, I found another fun and inspiring book by her I want to share.  It is called  Living Out Loud: Activities to Fuel a Creative Life.  As Keri Smith writes in her introduction,  “my favorite books are those that make me burst with energy and inspire me to drop everything and get down onto the floor and fearlessly create for hours.  Living Out Loud is a “to do” book, not a “how to” book.  I hope it will encourage you to play, and to face the fears that hold you back.”

Just like How To Be An Explorer of the World, this book gives activities to encourage you to play, do and create.  The activities are easy and inexpensive.  A lot of them are free.

Here is an example with also embodies how our Transmogrifier Team hopes people will look around them, really LOOK, and SEE things from a different perspective.  This idea actually feels a bit like looking through a camera lens…

It’s called The Finder.

“Charles and Ray Eames praised the use of a finder in their teachings.  A finder is a small piece of cardboard (about three-by-four inches) with a one-inch-square hole cut out of the middle.  Viewing the world through this hole forces you to lose context and content, and to greatly shift your perception.  The finder allows you to focus on small sections and negative space.  It also singles out color and isolates pattern.

The Finder

[Photo credit: from Living Out Loud by Keri Smith]

“Make a finder and place it on a stack of magazines.  Cut through as many layers as you can with an X-Acto knife.  Sort through the pieces, picking out the ones you like.  Look at the shapes you’ve created by accident.  Use the cut-out squares as reference for other projects or to create new ideas, concepts, and compositions.

“Take the finder with you on a walk.  Look at familiar places with a new eye.  In your sketchbook, sketch out what you see.  What do you notice that you didn’t see before?”

I love any suggestion that changes the way you look at something and ignites a spark.  And this activity is not the only one like it.  Smith’s book is packed with games, suggestions and ideas to encourage you to tap into the enthusiasm, joy for life and playful spirit that some may have left in childhood.  The book also leads to a lot of self observation, which I’m always ready for.  I might not like what I observe, and that kicks me into a growing movement…never a bad thing!

Add this book to your list and dare to live out loud!   

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TMG Philosophy: Work

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Today, in the United States, we are celebrating Labor Day.  As a kid, growing up in Michigan, the idea of Labor Day was more about the end of summer with the first day of school being the next day.  We would often spend the day at a barbecue in the backyard of a friend’s house with the Jerry Lewis Telethon on the black and white TV in the house, the rabbit ears on the TV positioned just so.

Labor Day in the United States was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 as an effort to lessen the tension between big business and the workers after several large strikes in which workers were killed.  It was quickly approved by a unanimous vote in Congress.  In upper society in the US, Labor Day was considered the last day of the season in acceptable fashion to wear white clothing.

The idea of a national holiday that celebrates the laborer may sound suspiciously communist to some of you, but nonetheless – it is the holiday we have.  For most of us in the US, Labor Day is more of a name and a chance to have one last big backyard party with our friends and family, while enjoying a day off, than a chance to honor workers.

Stop and think about the idea of hard work and what that means for a moment.  We are often told as we grow up that if we work hard, we will get what we work for.  Some people get this and dive into their work with enthusiasm for the sense of accomplishment that often comes at the end, and some on the other end of the spectrum seem to be as accepting of doing work as a pulled pork sandwich vendor would be at the Wailing Wall.

But let’s be honest, not all hard work leads to a positive end.  Sometimes we work really hard and things still don’t turn out the way we expect.  I know a few people who work hard and have a good work ethic, yet they struggle to find work.  I am sure we all know a few people like that, just like we probably each know a few people who don’t seem to work much at all, yet are doing just fine.

At the Transmogrifier, we believe in the value of work and the realization that pretty much anything of value, takes a lot of work and effort to create, maintain or make grow.  It takes a special level of commitment to stick with the work even when the rewards are not readily apparent.  That is why we have been committed to our websites and the incredible amount of work it takes to build them up, for several years now , and we know it will be work for many years to come.

We are happy with the “fruits of our labor” and we hope you are too.  Give us a “Like” on Facebook if you like what we have done, sign up for an account (it’s free) on our sites if you have not done that already, or share what we are doing with a friend or coworker.  We would appreciate that work on your part, which helps us with our work.  Let’s take this Labor Day to think about the work we all do and show some appreciation for the work other do, as well at take pride in our own efforts.

Thanks, and Happy Labor Day!

 

 

Nate’s Notes- Learning Is Fun…You Didn’t Hear It From Me!

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Yes, I know I’ve talked about the amazingness of trains before.  What? Like you’ve never talked about something you love over and over and over???  Where do you think I learned it??  Yea, I’m here to tell you that big people definitely tell the same stories over and over and over.   So, yea…trains.

This weekend Momma, Daddy, me and, oh yea, Lyla went to Sacramento.  Sacramento is….is…the Captain, no…yea, Captain City of California….or something like that.  We even got to stay in a different house that had soooo many bedrooms, and up and down closet ride, and a swimming pool.   On the car ride there, Momma started in on her “Nate- we get to learn new things” speech.   She’s always talking about how learning is so much fun.  Remember how I said big people repeat themselves?  Well, I’ve only heard this speech, like, a hundred-eleventy-five times in my short life of 23 months.  So, she was about 3 sentences in before I decided to shut that down.  I took a nap.

Old Sacramento State Historic Park_0010 DSC_0955When I woke up we were in Sacramento, and Daddy even looked excited.  Momma gathered us, did a weird clap/jump maneuver, and said, “Okay- let’s go learn! Yay! So much fun!”.   How can so much dorkiness live in one person?   I often ask myself that as I stare at Momma.  Then I looked past her to…trains.  A whole building full of them, and even more behind the building.  Well, no one told me trains were involved!!  Pshaw.   It’s possible I missed that part of the speech while I napped.

Old Sacramento State Historic Park_0070It got better.  We RODE a train!  Some nice people talked to us on the train about…you guessed it: trains!   As we rode along the river, I heard so much stuff, letting it sink into my growing brain.  Did you know that trains are used to move people and things from town to town?   Did you know that a train runs every single minute of the year? Did you know that the average train weighs more than ten elephants? Elephants are HUGE!!! Did you know that, if the weather is snowy outside, you may not hear a train’s whistle?  What’s snow??

I was sad when we got back to the station, and it’s possible I freaked out a little.  Can you blame me?  I loved it.  I didn’t want it to end.  I wanted to learn more!   Wait…Momma was right!  Learning is fun. Oh man…learning IS fun!!  Shhh.  Don’t tell her or Daddy I said that.   But you should look at the train pictures!

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RSWL: Knowledge

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To some of you, this may seem like an odd choice for this blog entry – but, I believe that the life-long (and yes – it should be a life long journey) pursuit of knowledge is as much about exploration (a common theme of ours) as is exploration of the physical world around us.

Knowledge, and the accumulation of it in books, in computers or even in our own memory, can be (huge understatement warning!) the key to many, many things.  Knowledge is powerful.  When we share our knowledge with others and they share as well, there are very few limits to what we can accomplish together.  Our collective knowledge is built on the knowledge of those that came before us just as ours will be passed on for future generations to use.

I taught at the university level for almost twenty years and one of the things I tried the hardest to install in my students was the desire to learn.  The specific information and skills that came with taking the class were important of course, but to me, that was secondary. The real priority was to instill in them a strong, never-ending desire to learn and an eagerness to continue that process long after they were out of school and out into the “real world”.

One of the best compliments I ever got from a student was when they told me that the best thing they appreciated about taking my classes was that I taught them how to learn.  I still have a 1″x6″ by three foot long piece of wood above my office door that was painted for me by a student of mine during scenic painting class.  It is a speckled gray color with pink lettering that reads “What do you think? – Tim”.  She made it and gave it to me because that was what I was known for saying often, in response to their questions.  I know that it bugged most (if not all) of them for a while because they wanted me to solve the problem for them so they could move on.  I felt it was more important that they knew how to solve problems like that than to use my knowledge and experience as an immediate fix.  Which is why I would answer their question with the question “What do you think?”  I wanted them to reason through the problem and a majority of the time, they were eventually able to answer their own question.

If you look at our Imagery site you will see that one of the things that sets us apart from all of the other sites that provide stock images, is that we have included information that we believe, provides context to the image.  Each of our images has some information about the image that will tell you things like:  where it is, when it was created, a short story behind its creation, interesting facts about the subject, etc.

For instance, if you looked at images on our site you would learn things like:

  • The San Francisco Zoo has a bald eagle that they named after comedian Stephen Colbert.
  • The man who is credited with having the patent for the modern fire hydrant, cannot prove it as the patent office in Washington DC burned down and his records were destroyed.
  •  The 55 gallon drum was credited with helping to win the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific during World War II.
  • The Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 was the beginning of the idea of the traveling carnival.

There are many, many more bits of information like these that we have taken the time to include with our images.  We believe that this information helps to give you more of a connection to what you are looking at.

Take a look randomly at images on the site and read some of the information.  Do not be surprised when you find yourself saying, “Huh – I didn’t realize that!”  At that point you will have learned something…

…You’re welcome…

 

TMG Philosophy: The Amazing Power of RESPECT

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Respect is something I have written about before.  It is a subject that is personally very important to me and I firmly believe that if the rest of the world felt the same way – it would be a far, far better world.

The incredible, life-altering power of respect was made crystal clear, last week, on Tuesday, August 20th in an elementary school in Georgia, just outside Atlanta.  If you have not heard this story, then you really, really need to go look up the details.  It is an amazing story and that is NOT an exaggeration!

I want to focus on one aspect of the story that has not been directly mentioned in the news much if at all, and that is the respect element to the story and how, when it was used with honesty and love, it was more powerful than any gun.

On that Tuesday morning, a 20 year old gunman came into the front office of the school with an AK-47 (he may have had other guns as well) and at least 500 rounds of ammunition.  He was clearly there to commit mass murder.  In the front office that day (even though she originally was not supposed to be there but ended up being there as a result of a scheduling change at the last minute) was a woman by the name of Antoinette Tuff.  We have since learned that she was one of a few school administrators that had received some training on how to deal with a crisis situation, but let’s be honest – what she does goes well beyond any training any school administrator would ever take part in.

Standing in front of her is a troubled young man who is heavily armed and clearly intent on killing as many people as possible.  We know the whole story because she was on the phone with a 911 operator and the time and her entire conversation with the gunman was recorded of course.  At first, when in a moment of frustration he goes outside and fires his weapon into the ground, she asks the 911 operator if she should take this opportunity to run.  The vast majority of us would have seized the opportunity to run and save ourselves.  But she stays as he walks back into the office!

She then proceeds to talk to him and try and calm him down.  Listen to the entire conversation and you will see something truly amazing.  She treats him with love and respect!  She sees him for what he really is, a troubled fellow human being and tells him about the struggles she has dealt with in her life, making it clear that she wants to help HIM.  Seriously…?!  Again – a vast, vast majority of us would be thinking about ways to either flee from him or hurt or kill the gunman, but she, through the strength of her character – reaches out to him and treats him with the respect that he deserves as a fellow human being!  In later interviews she credits her faith and the strength she received from God in that situation.  While I believe that was true, I also believe that she was still acting in a way that was true to her character.  God may have given her the strength to do what she did- but who she truly was as a person was what He strengthened.

Here is verbatim what she says to him towards the end after he has agreed to give up and lie down on the floor so the police can come in and arrest him:  “It’s going to be all right, sweetie.  I just want you to know I love you, though, OK? And I’m proud of you. That’s a good thing that you’re just giving up and don’t worry about it. We all go through something in life.”

Read that again.  She actually tells him she loves him…!  I would be willing to bet that virtually none of us when faced with a mentally unbalanced, heavily armed gunman, intent to kill us, would tell him that we love him and go on to say that we are proud of him for now doing the right thing and not harming anyone.  The cynical (and I would add – heartless) among us would have you believe that she (having been trained) was simply acting a part, and was therefore telling him things to calm him down so that he wouldn’t hurt her.  I say that is complete 100%, Grade A, directly off the stable floor – bullshit!

The NRA has said time and time again that the only way to stop a badman with a gun – is a good person with a gun.  While it is hard to argue the cold, simplistic and narrow-minded logic of that – I think on August 20th we were given a powerful reminder that there are things that, when we recognize the humanity in another person, can do that are far more powerful and with greater positive results than reacting to anger and aggression with more of the same.

A lone woman, fearing for her life, used RESPECT to disarm a heavily-armed gunman with the intent to kill, and saved many lives (including his) in the process.

Think about that…

Nate’s Notes: Full Hearts

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Momma usually takes her camera everywhere so she can take pictures for work.  I just learned that, by the way:  Daddy works away from home and Momma works at home or when we go on field adventures.  I’m not sure which is cooler.  Anyway, a couple of days ago, we went to what felt like a big party.  There were tents, balloons, music, food and lots of people.  Seemed like the perfect place for Momma to embarrass us with her crazy picture taking shenanigans.  I’ll let you sit down before I tell you this next part.  Sitting yet? Okay-  she didn’t bring her camera…on purpose…like, for reals.

I’ll let that sink in.  Yea…my super-camera-freak Momma did NOT bring her camera to this party thing.  Missed opportunity if you ask me.  But no one asked me.  I, however, did ask in increasing volume as we were leaving the house, “Momma, Momma, Mom, Mommy… camma? Camma?”  But they just rushed me and Baby Lyla into the car and away we went.  Okay.  I tried.

DSC_0308When we got there it was pretty fun to see all the tents and balloons and hear the music. Look at the cool pictures Momma could get with those balloons! There were banners everywhere, but I couldn’t read the words.  People kept saying “Relay for Life” though, whatever that means. We started walking…around and around and around the track.   We walked with me in the stroller, with me pushing the stroller, with me running away from Momma and Daddy, with me running with Momma, with me on Daddy’s back, we walked.  We just went around and around.  I didn’t mind because I’m really fast.   I just kept going and saying, “Nate weely fast.  Nate weely fast!” 

While I was showing off my super-hero-in-the-making super fast skills, Momma and Daddy started talking.   They were super serious.  How can anyone be serious with balloons and music around???  I heard them say they were both glad we had left the cameras home so we could just focus on this moment.  They said they felt peace to be here today and just remember people they loved that aren’t here anymore because they got sick.  Momma said she was honored to walk, happy to help fight this sickness, and excited to see friends who were sick be hopeful.  They got quiet and both started crying a little.  That made me get quiet.  They were holding hands, so I grabbed their hands.  That made Momma cry more.  She told me her heart was very full.  Ummm…like my tummy?  Does that mean we weren’t eating lunch?

Momma said she wished we could walk the whole 24 hours, to walk until it hurt and walk some more because it was like nothing the sick people had gone through.  I could tell this meant a lot to both Momma and Daddy so I gave them hugs.   They said they were so happy because 2 years ago, when they walked the whole 24 hours at Relay, when it was all over, I was born and their lives became better, their hearts fuller.  And that, they said, helped heal the sadness of lost loved ones.

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RSWL: Virtual Travel

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This week’s Random Stuff We Like entry is about traveling around the country and world without ever leaving home!   Our Transmogrifier team loves to travel.  We all have that spirit of adventure, that need to discover and learn.   My thirst to travel and explore has been fostered since before I can remember!    My grandpa traveled the world in his later years, always bringing us postcards, books, coins (eh-hem…Tim), and many many stories from each country.  My parents showed us the states on numerous summer road trips.

Our team at The Transmogrifier doesn’t travel to the same places or at the same time.  So when one journey ends that isn’t mine, I eagerly await the pictures on the website, ready to “visit” places I’ve never been to before.   When silence finally comes in my house, I have been known to grab a beer and some popcorn and begin perusing the images, immersing myself in the adventures I see and imagine.

This is most easily done in the Cities Gallery on the Imagery website.   Here I can dream of being on the Amalfi coast in Italy, wander among the castles of Scotland, walk in history from Jacksonville, Oregon to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Georgetown, Washington DC; I can explore the beauty of Hanoi, Vietnam and the rising power of Dubai, UAE; I can discover Albania; I can walk through Pisa, Florence and Rome;  Get the picture?  (Ha ha).

I encourage you- no, I challenge you to visit one of the places in our Cities Gallery.  See what there is to discover.  Learn about the destination.   And do it all from your home.  Virtual travel: explore the world.  We love it and you will too!

*Note:  Check back often because we are constantly adding new images, cities and countries to this gallery!

TMG Philosophy: “Exploring Your Neighbor”

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Now, before some of you start thinking, “Ahhhh, poor Tim.  He must be getting a head start on senility.  He must have meant to say ‘Explore Your NeighborHOOD’ and not neighbor…” I will tell you that I, in fact, meant to say just that.

By now, I am sure any of you loyal readers will have noticed a number of themes that appear regularly in each of the sections of our blog.  One that we clearly believe strongly in is the idea of exploration.  Quite simply – the world is a great big playground and since we are curious people, we here at the Transmogrifier believe there is no doubt that we are meant to explore every bit of our world.  That desire to explore and the world to be explored is one of the very best things about our jobs here.

Obviously, exploration can be a scary thing.  The thing that makes it scary is the (insert dramatic music sound effect here)  the unknown…  We are both intrigued by what is on the other side of that mountain in front of us and scared of what may be lurking there.  This is not a new idea at all.  If you doubt me, take a look at old maps.  It was a widely held fear before Magellan circumnavigated the globe, that if you sailed too far you would fall off the edge of the world.  And to make it extra scary, map makers of the time put ravenous sea monsters at the edges of the maps to reinforce the fear of the unknown.

From the 500 year old map known as Carta Marina. It is in the public domain.

From the 500 year old map known as Carta Marina. Presumably the sailors are hoping the sea monsters will eat the cargo and not them.  My guess is the cargo is really just an appetizer.

While we all understand that exploration has both risk and reward and it is that combination of the two in unique proportions that taunts us to do things like climb Mount Everest, why is it that we rarely see the challenge in getting to know people as a worthy exploration?

Yes- people (especially those we do not know) can be even more scary than sea monsters, but I will bet that all of us can think of a great story of when we took a risk and spoke to someone.  That may have started out scary or hard, but then turned out to be a wonderful experience, and may have even led to a life-long relationship in some cases.  A blind date leads to a marriage.  A suicide leads to a strong friendship among those that dealt with it.  Offering a homeless guy a chance to stay somewhere on a cold winter night leads to a friendship and a life saved.

I am not naive, clearly good things do not happen every time or even a lot of the time when we risk reaching out to people.  Just like the risk that comes with exploring the world, there is real risk in getting to know people.  But the rewards can be so much greater than a cargo hold full of spices (that was what Magellan’s crew saw as their dream goal and why they were willing to take the risk of falling of the Earth.)

I am not suggesting that we spend every waking hour walking up to complete strangers and offering to be their BFF, but certainly we can agree that if we at least change our perspective of people we do not know from a virtual map with sea monsters, to the chance to discover and explore, that will be a step in the right direction.  This applies to those who look different, talk different, and even have different views, customs and beliefs.  If we see those people as a chance to explore and get to know them, rather than scary and unknown, there is no telling where you might go next.

So that nice, cute waitress who smiles at you – talking to her is like stepping up onto a pitcher’s mound compared to the Everest that is talking to the homeless guy who smells of urine and stale beer.  Both deserve our time and both deserve to be treated with respect.

Go ahead – talk to someone you don’t know and see what is at the edges of that map…