Sunday 7 December 2008

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning, praise the dawning
It's just a restless feeling by my side
Early dawning, Sunday morning
It's just the wasted years so close behind
Watch out, the world's behind you
There's always someone around you who will call
It's nothing at all
Sunday morning and I'm falling
I've got a feeling I don't want to know
Early dawning, Sunday morning
It's all the streets you crossed, not so long ago
Watch out, the world's behind you
There's always someone around you who will call
It's nothing at all
Watch out, the world's behind you
There's always someone around you who will call
It's nothing at all
Sunday morning
Sunday morning
Sunday morning

- The Velvet Underground

Oh xkcd, you complete me:

Also, this article:

Happiness is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, siblings and
spouses like the flu, according to a large study that for the first time shows
how emotion can ripple through clusters of people who may not even know each
other.

The study of more than 4,700 people who were followed over 20 years found
that people who are happy or become happy boost the chances that someone they
know will be happy. The power of happiness, moreover, can span another degree of
separation, elevating the mood of that person's husband, wife, brother, sister,
friend or next-door neighbor.

...Previous studies have documented the common experience that one person's
emotions can influence another's -- laughter can trigger guffaws in others;
seeing someone smile can momentarily lift one's spirits. But the new study is
the first to find that happiness can spread across groups for an extended
period.

When one person in the network became happy, the chances that a friend,
sibling, spouse or next-door neighbor would become happy increased between 8
percent and 34 percent, the researchers found. The effect continued through
three degrees of separation, although it dropped progressively from about 15
percent to 10 percent to about 6 percent before disappearing.

...Unhappiness also appeared to be catching, but not as strongly: An unhappy connection increased the chances of being unhappy by about 7 percent on average, while a happy connection increased the chances of being happy by about 9 percent. While having more friends is important for a person's happiness, the benefit of having more friends appears to be canceled out if they are unhappy, the researchers found.

Kind of makes sense, kind of doesn't so much, but makes me want to administer hugs all round either way!

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