Happy Tuesday!  It feels so good to be back home and I’m really looking forward to getting back into a routine with the new job.  Per tradition, here are three things that I’ve found interesting this week.  

 

The desert is in the midst of a superbloom, due to large amounts of rainfall, and the photographs I’m seeing flash across my social media feeds are enchanting.  The desert bloom is a unique, inspired beauty that’s enchanting and breathtaking.  As this NYT piece says, ” A cactus in bloom is pure poetry — particularly that famous line by Walt Whitman: ‘Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself.’” 

 

When I was a pre-teen, I drooled over the catalog pages of PBTeen that arrived each month.  I tore them out and put them in page protector filled binders, pinned them to my walls.  One of my favorite bedrooms had a tennis racket hanging by the doorway, photographs and small notes attached to the strings with clothespins.  As a tennis player myself, I found the thematic element inspiring.  When I came across these embroidered tennis rackets made by Danielle Clough on Cupcakes and Cashmere last week, I was transported back to those torn out pages.  While I don’t love any of the designs I see in the current shop, I do love the idea that art can be made out of absolutely anything, so long as you find it beautiful.

 

 The world of tech is a fascinating one that does not conform to any rules of a traditional industry – sometimes this lack of respect for cultural norms brings about incredible advantages and other times I think it will lead to its own demise.  As a female in tech, there’s a lot I can say on the subject but that’s a post for another time.  What I will say is that between skirting the rules, the rampant sexual harassment, and the always-plugged-in culture Uber seems to embody the very worst this industry has to offer.  That said, I did find this NYT expose on how the founder came to start Uber, and the many choices he made once he did, absolutely fascinating.  I strongly encourage you to begin using Lyft instead of Uber; however, I also encourage you to read this piece.  It’s long but there’s a lot to be learned from the course Uber took and the values it embodied.