The Office Time Machine

Whoa, this is nuts: Joe Sabia spent the last year and a half creating The Office Time Machine, in which he has organized all the cultural references in The Office by year. For example, above is 1995, and below is 2011...
Look up any year you'd like. It's so addicting!

P.S. How to tell a joke, and Seinfeld reruns.

(Via the always awesome Kottke)

Pit stop ballet

When we were little, my dad watched every Grand Prix and Formula 1 race, and, although I liked to sit in his lap while he watched, I was never all that interested. Until! This video of the Ferrari team doing a pit stop in TWO SECONDS is totally mindblowing. Seriously. Worth watching. They are so cool under pressure.

P.S. More random posts, if you're in the mood.

(Via Kottke)

A brutally honest NYC tourism ad

I love New York, but it can be loud, dirty and gross. This NYC tourism ad written by comedian Daniel Hubbard made me laugh out loud.

P.S. 9 crazy things about NYC.

(Via Mashable)

Party tip: Roaring fire on a TV

We went to our friend's holiday party last weekend, and, although he doesn't have a fireplace in his small apartment, he had a roaring fire on his TV. Apparently, it's a netflix video. Genius!

(Wouldn't it be awesome to pair with a a fireplace-scented candle?)

P.S. How to help your guests relax and how to give a high five.

The power of empathy

In this wonderful animated short, Dr Brené Brown talks about the difference between empathy and sympathy. "Empathy is a choice," she says, "and it's a vulnerable choice because in order to connect with you, I have to connect with something in myself that knows that feeling." Funny, beautiful and definitely worth watching.

P.S. Encouragement.

(Via Swissmiss)

French café charges extra for rudeness

A café in Nice, France, has a sign charging brusque customers five times more for a cup of coffee than customers who say hello and please. How funny is that? "Most of my customers are regulars and they just see the funny side and exaggerate their politeness,” says the manager. "They started calling me 'your greatness' when they saw the sign."

I worked at a coffee shop for four years in college, and this would have been awesome! My pet peeve is when people say, "Gimme a..." instead of "Please may I have"!

P.S. French waiters are trying to be more polite, too.

(Photo by @tokai06, via Kottke)

Mindblowing Volvo commercial

We'll be posting photos of our house makeover today, but meanwhile, I wanted to share this ridiculously awesome Volvo commercial. It was filmed in Spain at sunrise in one take. Have you seen it? Insane.

When Harry Met Sally prank

Improv Everywhere just pulled a hilarious stunt: They sent twenty women to Katz's Deli to reenact the famous orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. Check this out...Read More >

New York subway signs experiment

"In New York City, subway conductors have to point at a black and white sign. At every hour of the day. At every stop. They do this to show that they've fully arrived on the platform. We decided to show our appreciation for their work." —Yosef Lerner.

This video is amazing!

Scratch-and-sniff wine book

Richard Betts is one of a couple hundred master sommeliers in the world, but he’s not a snob. He actually believes that “wine is a grocery, not a luxury.” Cheers to that!

So he has written a scratch-and-sniff book all about wine. You learn how to identify wine aromas from bacon to fruit to cat pee (for real) and figure out which wines you like best. The book is beautifully illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton and seems to have a great sense of humor. More photos, below...Read More >

Kid & Coe: Vacation rental website for families

Kid & Coe is a brilliant new site that curates family-friendly vacation rentals—with cribs, toys, books, high chairs, everything you might need when traveling with little ones. You wouldn't have to tiptoe around worried that your child would mess up a fancy sofa or get into the bookcases, and your kiddo would have bunch of cool new toys to play with!

Here are three beautiful places, below...Read More >

SNL's Spoof on Girls

You've probably all already seen this SNL spoof of the show Girls, but just in case there's one person out there who hasn't, I figured I'd post it. It's too hilarious to miss. Their impressions of the characters are SPOT ON—especially Hannah and Jessa. I was laughing out loud the whole time.

Are you scared of public speaking?

Alex hates public speaking but sometimes has to make speeches for his job. He stresses out the whole night before. Luckily, I heard about a cool trick...

Make a fist with your left hand.

"Freaking out is primarily associated with the left hemisphere of the brain," wrote The Atlantic, so researchers found that making a fist with your left hand helps "draw focus away from the left hemisphere" and turns off the worrying part of your brain.

Cool, right? Will you try it? Do you find public speaking nerve-wracking?

P.S. My elevator phobia.

(Photo of Yves Saint Laurent being pushed onstage, Paris, 1986, via Messy Nessy Chic)

Tina Fey is always hilarious.

Since I'm still in a newborn baby haze, I'm not sure what's old news versus new news to people. But! Have you heard that Tina Fey sold TWO new sitcoms this week?! The first will be a Cheers-like comedy set on Fire Island, and the second is about a women’s college that begins accepting men.

Above is a clip of Tina on Letterman this week describing how her two-year-old is a psychopath. And a fun fact you might not know: Liz Lemon's catchphrase "I want to go to there" was originally said by her then-three-year-old daughter Alice.

P.S. Four more hilarious Tina Fey moments.

(Via Jezebel)

A fourth grader's documentary about school lunch

Have you guys heard about Yuck, the documentary about school lunches written and directed by a fourth grader? Zachary is the brave filmmaker who goes undercover to reveal the truth about the gross meals at his NYC elementary school. He's hilarious, adorable (love his polo shirt and gelled hair!) and totally intrepid ("I could get in big trouble for this," he says, while sneaking his mini HD camera into the cafeteria). He has a big future ahead of him!

Here's the trailer, below, and you can watch the full 20-minute documentary online here.

P.S. 20 favorite documentaries, and cooking with toddlers.

Humans of New York

When you walk around New York City, it's easy to get in a zone and barely notice the people around you. But Brandon from Humans of New York reminds you that everyone has a beautiful  story to tell. He takes photos of strangers on the street and elicits funny quotes about their marriage or kids, or asks them simple frank questions like, "What was a difficult time in your life?" or "When were you most scared?" Every time I visit the site, I get sucked down a rabbit hole.

I cannot wait for his book to come out this fall.

P.S. This was a great one:
"There’s six people in every relationship: you, the person you think you are, and the person your partner thinks you are. Then there’s your partner, the person they think they are, and the person you think they are."