Audio-Adderall, Ambiance and the New Ergonomic

If you can read Romanian, check out http://where-the-strength-lies.blogspot.com, from where I snagged this decadent picture. If you can't read Romanian, have Google Translate read it for you. 

"I swear they put crack in it!"

Was there ever a more frequently uttered statement than that as the Starbucks Virus pervaded throughout the continent over the last decade? Probably not. Did Starbucks really put crack cocaine in its coffee? Probably not. (Though, I wouldn't put it past Big Business... I mean, Coca-Cola thought it was a good idea, only eliminating trace amounts of cocaine from its secret recipe in 1929. True, by 1904 it was only 1/400 of a grain of cocaine per ounce of pop... I digress...) But maybe Starbucks is putting it in the airwaves; maybe that's why people go there so often. An abstract thought? Indeed. But, abstractions are the brain children of creativity. And a new product harnesses the findings of a University of Illinois study linking moderate noise levels to efficient creativity; moderate noise levels such as the those environing you in a popular coffee shop, per se.

Religiously Routine, Ritualistically Regular

Regularity is hugely important in our lives; it's the basis of day-to-day functionality. [Insert bowel-movement joke here.] We do all sorts of things every day with regularity, but are those things regular occurrences? Or are they little rituals we have? That sounds cultish, so maybe they're routines of ours... These little habits, do we do them religiously? 

© Spencer Higgs, 2012

One of my little habits, one of these little things I did day-to-day, was drink. Yes, alcohol; yes, copiously. However, as of today, I'm a day or two out of what was a month-long temperance movement. A little 'time out' from alcohol after what have proven to be a rather indulgent few months, especially that month of and preceding the holidays. So a month off to cleanse and be in control – to break habit and prove I wasn't alcoholic – sounded good. Right, I'm a drinker, but what kind? I'm certainly not dependant (in fact, now free of abstinence practice, I still don't feel any urge to drink), but did I drink copious amounts of alcohol religiously, routinely, ritualistically, or regularly? In a fit of inability to describe myself, I decided to learn the difference in these very similar words, and then share my findings. 

Lucky you.