Outfox Your Distractions!

In today’s overstimulated society, we are overwhelmed by distractions: Smartphone apps. Flashy advertising. Uninvited jugglers. How can one learn to focus again? At the Cutetropolis Institute, you can learn the Cognitive Ability Lengthening Method (CALM), in which students are conditioned to tune out stimuli such as ringing phones, flashing lights, and uninvited jugglers. Upon completion of the course, students can withstand any distraction, such as this successful graduate:

That must be a really good book, Elizabeth G.

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31 thoughts on “Outfox Your Distractions!

  1. Gigi The cat lady January 11, 2018 / 8:08 am

    Uninvited jugglers LOL!! Mike you are priceless!!

    • fkaWaldenPond January 11, 2018 / 9:33 am

      I think mimes would be worse.

      • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 9:41 am

        Fox mimes?

        • fkaWaldenPond January 11, 2018 / 10:17 am

          Well, if it is a fox mime that is entirely different matter. 😉

          • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 10:26 am

            ? What does the fox mime say? ?

            – Nothing.

      • debg January 11, 2018 / 10:57 am

        “Nobody deserves mime, Buffy.” (Rewatching the whole series for at least the 10th time–so many great lines.)

  2. Dana January 11, 2018 / 8:16 am

    Who knew that foxes got the zoomies?!

  3. allein ? January 11, 2018 / 8:26 am

    Can the juggler juggle zoomy foxes? Cuz I’d invite him then.

  4. allein ? January 11, 2018 / 8:27 am

    And also, why does this person have a fox running around her couch and I do not?!

  5. Dubravkamcvmd January 11, 2018 / 8:28 am

    I saw this somewhere else yesterday, where they explained that fennec foxes are notorious for their hyperactivity when domesticated.

    • Claire January 11, 2018 / 1:34 pm

      Yeah, the ones I’ve seen in zoos always seem like total maniacs, zooming around their enclosures.

  6. Doug January 11, 2018 / 9:18 am

    Zombies juggling zoomie foxies ?

    .. Start DECAFF little one ..

  7. allein ? January 11, 2018 / 9:31 am

    Funny thing – I have an app on my tablet called Calm, which I downloaded a while ago but haven’t really used at all, but yesterday it randomly put a little “mindfulness reminder” thing in my notifications. I wonder if it would help me ignore a zoomy fox.

    I would be happy to test it, if anyone wants to send me a fox.

  8. LunaChickFringe January 11, 2018 / 10:17 am

    Oooh…that fox is on fire….

    • debg January 11, 2018 / 10:57 am

      It’s a firefox!

  9. Alice Shortcake January 11, 2018 / 10:38 am

    Yes, it is a good book – Charles Dickens’ “Hard Times”. But I couldn’t get engrossed deeply enough to ignore a madly zooming fennec.*

    Madly Zooming Fennec – another great band name!

  10. Kar January 11, 2018 / 12:09 pm

    Kind of like my cat when the aliens/ghosts/brownies in the walls harass her mysteriously at 1am.

    • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 12:20 pm

      You have brownies in your walls?! Does your house smell like chocolate??! ? ?

      • Murray C January 11, 2018 / 12:27 pm

        ?

        • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 12:30 pm

          (The town I went to college in is home to an M&M Mars factory. When the wind is right, it smells like baking brownies.)

          • Claire January 11, 2018 / 1:39 pm

            I used to work in downtown Chicago where it frequently smells like chocolate from a chocolate factory just west of The Loop. It was miraculous. Apparently a few years ago the factory was told by the EPA to reduce their emissions, but thankfully it did not eliminate the glorious, uplifting smell of chocolate in the air.

            • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 2:34 pm

              I live practically across the street from a Nestle plant. When it’s going to rain, the whole town smells like coffee. I like it but I’d prefer the chocolate. (I don’t drink coffee, but I grew up with that smell, so it’s a bit of nostalgia for me, I suppose.)

              • Alice Shortcake January 11, 2018 / 3:47 pm

                I once lived near and worked at the Terry’s factory in York, which was frequently surrounded by the smell of melted Chocolate Oranges. I now live near Rowntree’s, also in York, and when the wind is in the right direction the air also smells of chocolate (so does my laundry when I hang it out in the back yard).

                • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 3:51 pm

                  I miss the chocolate smell from school, but when the wind was wrong, it smelled like cows, and I don’t miss that. At least I don’t have that at home!

                  • Murray C January 11, 2018 / 10:55 pm

                    We live near the Y I go to, used to work at – before it was a Y on the land it was a bubble gum factory and when the wind was right you could tell if they were making tutti fruity or sour cherry on a particular day. Too bad there wasn’t any chocolate bubblegum.

      • Amy January 11, 2018 / 12:30 pm

        IKR? Seems like a waste of good brownies 😀

        • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 12:31 pm

          🙂

          Now I really need to try that brownie recipe this weekend…

      • Kar January 11, 2018 / 9:41 pm

        I guess you weren’t a girl scout.

        They’re like fairies or elves who either help with housework or hide your shoes.

        • allein ? January 11, 2018 / 9:59 pm

          lol…I know; I’s just kiddin’

          (I was a Brownie/Girl Scout for a few years, too.)

          Hmmm….they certainly aren’t helping with the housework around here, but I am missing a slipper….. (Seriously, how the heck did I lose a slipper?!)

  11. Faye January 11, 2018 / 2:39 pm

    Does anyone else remember the episode in The Original Star Trek where the bee-like people were living in a faster time than the humans?

    They were zooming while we were almost standing still. Of course captain Kirk sped up to kiss the beautiful bee woman!

  12. Emsthemonster January 11, 2018 / 3:20 pm

    I would badly need a CALM course at the Cutetropolis Institute.

    My mother was here not long ago and we watched the zoomie fennec together. She said it reminded her of my brother after 1 cup of coffee or me after 5 cups 🙂 the same speed and level of activity 🙂
    (No big ears and cuteness though)

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