This is the final post of On the Other Hand. The last six years have been wonderful, but it’s time for me to move on to a new website and a different approach to blogging.
Effective today, I will be blogging at lydiaschoch.com. There’s a post there explaining why I made the move and what you can expect to see from me next.
I hope to see all of you over there!
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Why Your Next Move Should Be to Orange County
Orange County, CA is best known for its many tourist attractions. It is home to Disneyland, Downtown Disney, Huntington Beach, and Laguna Beach. Some would consider it a surfing mecca while others come to see the cities themselves.
Whale watching, sunbathing, hiking, shopping, and events are all awaiting every tourist that enters Orange County. However, OC might just be your next home if you’re an active, social person with a love of events, mild climates, and beautiful natural scenery. Here are a few reasons you should make your next move Orange County.
The Local Culture is Diverse and Vibrant
Orange County is home to a wonderfully diverse community of people. The internationality of the area is celebrated by its many festivals and events, the largest of which being Orange County International Street Fair, the Tet Festival, and the Irvine Global Festival. While both the Irvine Global Festival and the International Street Fair celebrate all of the cultures found in Orange County, the Tet Festival is the largest Vietnamese Lunar New Year Festival in the U.S. and is well worth a visit.
The Climate is Perfect
The mild climate of Orange County offers plenty of sunshine without the excess heat of other sunny 
locations. These lovely temperatures allow year-round dwellers to enjoy outdoor activities all year long, including sunbathing, swimming, surfing, boating, and hiking.
Of course, this also means beaches. Orange County falls on a coastline with 45 miles of beach along its edge. Living this close to the ocean would give you an excuse to spend day after day soaking up the sun, catching some waves, exploring tidal pools, and even building bonfires in the shoreline coves.
Natural Beauty Combined with City Life
While Orange County may be full of cities, city amenities, and city populations, there is also a component of natural beauty for the nature lovers. A Californian version of the Grand Canyon called Red Rock Canyon, can be found just down a leisurely trail while the county’s highest peak, Santiago Peak, is always available for the more rugged climbers. State parks and wildlife reserves are plentiful, featuring the native plants of both the shoreline and forested areas.
Meanwhile, in the cities, you continue to enjoy things like aquariums, museums, events, and even tourist attractions such as Disneyland. Things such as First Thursday Art Walk in Laguna Beach or the Elvis Festival can be on the agenda for one day with a full day of hiking the next.
Moving to Orange County may seem a little preposterous at first with its famed tourist population. But Orange County is a bright, colorful place to live that permits the city dwellers their activities and comforts while simultaneously satiating the needs of the avid outdoors-lover. Between state parks, wildlife reserves, hiking trails, festivals, museums, and the famed Disneyland, even a quick vacation to Orange County may end with you never wanting to leave. So take the leap. Move to the bustling Orange County and experience life in a way you may have never thought possible.
Image via Pixabay by larsen9236
Vee Cecil is a wellness coach, personal trainer, and bootcamp instructor. Vee is passionate about studying and sharing her findings in wellness through mynewwell.com.
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1. It gives you a hopeful vision of the future.
As I’ve mentioned on Twitter, my spouse and I have been slowly watching Star Trek: The Original Series over the past few months.
One of the things I appreciate the most about this show is its unbridled optimism. The characters live in a time and place where no humans go without the stuff they need to survive.
Everyone always has enough food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. Regardless of who you are, you have a chance to explore the deepest galaxies. Nothing will hold you back from fulfilling your potential if you’re willing to work for it.
To run a society otherwise is completely unthinkable to them.
If anything is possible for Captain Kirk and his fearless crew, the same might be said for us as well one day.
2. It warns about darker times ahead.
Not all science fiction series are cheerful or hopeful, of course. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
The world Offred lived in before the Sons of Jacob took over was nothing at all like the quietly terrifying life she lead a few years later as a citizen of Gilead. She’s lost her partner, her only child, her name, her identity, and her ability to make even the smallest decisions about how her life turns out.
I like the fact that this genre switches between warning us of the dangers of fundamentalism in any form and giving us tantalizing glimpses of what could be in store for humanity if we uncouple work from money and learn to stop discriminating against people for things that should have no influence how they contribute to society.
We’ll need both the lure of the carrot and the rightful fear of the stick to have any chance of creating a better world.
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3. It defies your expectations.
Not everything in life is always as it seems.
Think about the opening scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer where late one night a teenage girl is followed into a deserted alley by a menacing stranger.
In most shows, this would end with her being attacked or killed.
Buffy isn’t like other teens, though. Without giving away too many spoilers about a nearly 20-year-old show, she isn’t the one who should be worried about what could happen when no one else is watching.
As soon as I saw this scene, I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen to her next. I’d never seen a female character like her before, and I was thrilled to imagine a world where a girl doesn’t have to worry about who might be following her or what their intentions were.
4. It teaches skepticism.
One of my favourite things about watching The X-Files episodes back in the day was trying to 
figure out what would happen to the victim of the week when he or she ran into something or someone that defied explanation.
You had to be pretty intelligent and resourceful to survive one of these encounters. There was little room for self-doubt or for going back to get a second glimpse of whatever it was that sent a shiver down your spine.
The mainstream media wasn’t necessarily something to count on, either. How it described a situation after the fact was almost never correct.
You had to rely on your own observations instead of what they wanted you to believe. While this isn’t always the best way of figuring out the truth, I’d much rather have people think critically about what they’re told than swallow everything hook, line, and sinker.
Science fiction is such an important and unique genre.
It pulls us away from the dangers of fanaticism.
It pushes us to imagine brighter futures for everyone, not just a select few.
It challenges our preconceptions about what life should or could be like.
Humanity will need more of all of these things in the coming years. I, for one, will be reading a lot of science fiction and dreaming about all of the futures that could be in store for us. Only time will tell if it will be closer to Gilead or to the Federation.
Do you have a favourite sci-fi show that wasn’t mentioned in this post? Tell me about it in the comment section below! I’d love to hear from you.
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Here is this week’s list of paintings, confessions, advice for setting boundaries, and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.
It’s extra large this week because I couldn’t bear to cut anything out. Everything was important, so I hope you enjoy all of the bonus links.
Confessions of a Dirty Shoe Dancer via maryanne_pope. Let’s start off with something lighthearted and funny today. The photo on the left captures the feeling of this link beautifully, I think.
On Fire. I wish Klara Bowman was still with us. I would have loved to talk to her about the meaning of this painting. Isn’t it gorgeous?
Approaching the Holidays with Trump-Supporting Relatives. The advice in this post doesn’t only apply to US politics, by the way. I’ve used and will use them for all kinds of sticky situations. The first point that the author made was the most important: you are under absolutely no obligation to spend time with someone just because they’re related to you. It’s always okay to RSVP “no” if they’re being nasty.
Why We Write at Times Like This via LindaWonder. Stories are such an important part of life for many different reasons.
Rainy Mood. The sole purpose of this site is to play recordings of thunderstorms. If you find them as relaxing as I do, enjoy.
Too Rich to Be Poor, Too Poor to Get By. My thoughts jumped from “the system is broken,” to “Wow, I need to donate to the food bank way more often than I already do,” to “no one who works that hard should suffer that much” while reading this.
This Is Not My Beautiful House. Keep reading this one until you reach the end. The last sentence is 99% of the reason why I’m recommending this to you.
5 Self-Care Tips During Recovery from a Suicide Attempt via iamsteveaustin. This was a very good article.
What have you been reading?
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Photo credit: Tony Hisgett.
Lately I’ve been scouring the web for distracting and silly news stories.
One of the nicest ones I’ve come across so far was the semi-official announcement of Canada’s national bird.
The link above shares facts about grey jays as well as discusses why they were selected for this honour.
It also talks about the other species of birds that were being considered for this position.
I am not the kind of person who spends a great deal of time thinking about national symbols.
I’m not against having them. They simply don’t strike me as particularly interesting or important.
So I was surprised by how many people had strong feelings about this decision when I read what folks were saying about it on Twitter.
Some of them had some incredibly strong opinions both for and against this idea.
A few of them were genuinely offended.
What really made me giggle, though, was the thought of asking grey jays themselves what they thought of becoming our national bird.
They’re birds!
They don’t care what humans call them.
In fact, they wouldn’t understand the conversation at all.
Yet people still argue over this.
I don’t know why this strikes me as so funny, but it does.
What are some of the offbeat news stories you’ve been amusing yourself with lately?
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Karma – Brandyn Burnette from Minhal Baig on Vimeo.
This short film includes a brief scene from something horrifying that happened in the U.S. recently. I don’t normally like to give spoilers for the stuff I share here, but I think this warning is vague enough to brush away if you don’t mind violent scenes while also specific enough to pay attention to if you are triggered by such things.
The message of this film was fantastic, though. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, one of the first fitness goals I set for myself a few years ago when I wanted to get back into shape was to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.
Reaching this goal was much easier for me in the beginning when the weather was nice. A long, leisurely walk in autumn or spring could easily get me halfway or more to my goal before I even realized what was happening.
The cold season was an entirely different story, though. It was difficult at first to find ways to stay active when the streets were covered in icy slush and the outside temperatures were frigid.
This is a tricky time of year even now that my daily goal is much higher than 10,000 steps. With winter only about five weeks away, it’s time to start dusting off some of these tips again and preparing to stay active indoors until spring arrives again.
Today I wanted to share some of the tricks I’ve discovered over the last few years that help me reach my step count goals even when the weather is frightful. I hope that you’ll find them helpful, too. Let me know in the comment section below what you think of them.
The cool thing about aiming for a specific step count goal is that every single step you take counts toward it. You definitely do not have to break a sweat every time you want to add to your tally.
One of the things I liked to do when I first started counting my steps was to chop up big grocery shopping trips into smaller excursions. I might have picked up milk, produce, and canned goods on Monday, and then gone back to the store on Tuesday for bread, meat, and frozen stuff.
It especially helps if you don’t shop for stuff that is all located in the same area of the store for that day’s trip! If you’re able to stick to your shopping list, this can be a great way to increase your step counts while still staying within your food budget.
Depending on how close your store is to your home and how many aisles you walk up and down, you could add several hundred to several thousand steps every day.
Go to the MallMalls are temperature-controlled, well-lit, and usually pretty safe places to visit.
There are almost always many other people around, especially at this time of year when the Christmas shopping season is starting to pick up speed.
While I strongly prefer to exercise outdoors, I can’t deny the fact that malls give people a convenient and casual gathering place if they’re looking to add more steps to their step counter or do some window shopping.
I know people who absolutely love walking around in this environment as well. If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend doing it once if you live near a mall.
You may love it. You may be like me and not enjoy it so much. The only way to know for sure is to give it a shot, though.
This usually add two or three thousand steps to my count.
If you’re waiting for a pot of water to start bubbling, walk around in circles in the kitchen.
If you’re waiting for the washing machine to buzz so you can switch your clothing over to the dryer, walk back and forth at your laundromat or in your basement until it’s finished.
If you’re vacuuming, dance a little jig to add in a few extra steps when you turn the corner or pull the vacuum to another room.
These are only a few of the many ways to add small amounts of movement int your life while you’re doing other things that also need to be accomplished.
They might not seem like they’d add up to much individually, but I’ve been surprised by how much they add up at the end of the day.
I generally add one thousand to three thousand steps to my tally on the days when I use this trick.
Walk to a TV ShowThis is by far my biggest tip for people who seriously want to increase their step count but who’ve come to the end of their day without getting as much accomplished as they’d hoped.
Be sure to put down a yoga mat or something similar to that if you have hardwood floors before you try this one.
What I do is I march in place while watching whatever show it is that I’ve been looking forward to seeing today. You can do it as slowly or as quickly as you desire.
At a slow march, I can add three or four thousand steps this way in forty minutes or so. If I pick up the speed, I can double that number.
The right show will suck me into the storyline so completely that I barely even notice that I’m walking at the same time.
What are some of your favourite ways to add more movement in your day when the weather outdoors isn’t great?
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Here is this week’s list of paintings, poems, essays, and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.
For Bradie. I shared a different Klara Bowman painting next week, and I’ll share another with you all next week. Look at all three of them before you google her, though.
Here Are the Reasons Why I Think Prostitution Should Be Legalized via wendygarfinkle. I couldn’t agree with this more.
A Conversation with a Woman Who Walks via LindaKSienkwicz. While I’m a big fan of both walking and reading, I never would have thought to combine them. Have any of my followers ever tried this?
Duck, Death, and the Tulip via brainpicker. This is the best book review I’ve read in my entire life.
A Poem to Get Rid of Fear. Watch this even if you’re not generally a fan of poetry. I couldn’t get the video to embed in this post, but the imagery and message in it were truly fantastic.
Hate Trumps Love via dorothysnarker. What a difficult thing to write.
From Twenty-First Century Victorians:
But the Victorian ethos is not dead, not by a long shot.
It lives on, manifesting itself in our contemporary upper middle class’s behavior. While some aspects have gone the way of the waistcoat, the belief that the bourgeoisie holds a place of moral superiority over the other classes persists.
What have you been reading?
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Photo by William Crochot from Wikimedia Commons, license # CC-BY-SA 4.0.
I have a folder full of pictures that I’ve found online at various points.
Today I wanted to share some of the unusual, funny, and unique ones with you.
If you’re a writer and you find inspiration in one of them, feel free to grab it. I’d love to see what story or poem ideas you come up with for it.
All unlabelled images are stock photos and can be used for any purpose. William Crochot’s picture can be used, too, as long as you credit him and Wikimedia Commons as well as include the license number above.
The statue guy above has been running through my imagination for months now.
My first thought when I saw him was, “how long does it take to scrub all of that makeup off?”
My second thought was that sniffing a flower just might be the first thing that a statue who suddenly came to life would do!
Everything would be so new and unfamiliar to him that it makes sense for him to stop and marvel at the small things for a while.
The Abandoned HouseAbandoned homes make me sad.
I think about all of the years people spent living in them. There was a time only a few generations ago when many folks spent their entire lives in the same area.
Were they happy years or miserable ones?
Did the people who lived there ever wish to move elsewhere? If they wished for it, did their wish come true?
How many babies were born in that house?
How many people died there?
Why was it abandoned? Are the owners still alive?
If you stepped inside of it, what secrets would the walls whisper to you?
A Woodland SacrificeThis picture makes me shudder.
There is something unnerving about the juxtaposition between the bare skull and the healthy, young woman who is holding it up that I don’t like to dwell on.
Did she slaughter the animal who once used that skull?
Is this some kind of ritual?
Is she going to be blamed for something that wasn’t her fault?
The possibilities are endless. I haven’t been able to come up with a satisfying story to explain what is going on here, but maybe someone else can.
This one is just plain silly.
Cat owners, can you explain it?
I would expect a cat to be thoroughly pleased by the presence of a gift bag.
It seems like the perfect place to hide while you’re waiting to swat at anyone who wanders too close to your sharp, little claws.
Why, then, does this cat look sad?
Does she need more tissue paper to cover herself up with?
Has someone refused to give her any treats today?
Or is she actually happy? Is this simply how her face and ears developed?
Lick My LipsFinally, let me bring you lips covered in sprinkles.
This one makes me feel hungry.
My first thought was, “did the model get to lick the sprinkles off of her lips once the photoshoot ended?” I sure hope she did!
If this were a book cover, I’d expect it to be a young adult romance novel.
The protagonist would be fifteen and falling in love for the first time with a mysterious, new neighbour.
The rainbow sprinkles might be a subtle hint that this story has a lesbian, bisexual, or transgender protagonist. I would not expect her sexual or gender identity to play a big role in the plot, though. She’d be whoever she was, and everyone would be okay with it.
One possibility for the actual conflict in the plot could be the main character conquering an eating disorder. The storyline could open with her trying to eat desserts again without feeling horribly guilty about it.
I would definitely pick this imaginary book up and read the blurb. It caught my eye right away.
What were your first thoughts when you saw these pictures? How do you think the stories hiding in them should be told?
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You don’t have to have anxiety to find this video useful.
I like it because the host gives her audience many opportunities to customize the breathing exercises for our own bodies. It was really nice to make those little changes as I followed along.
This is something I’ve been using regularly this autumn. It’s incredibly relaxing.
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