Today I Feel Greenish Yellow

While Gothamist was out this weekend, it became evident that something had changed. The jacket was left at home, the usual fast-forward walk was replaced with a much more gentle and laid back pacing, and the overall mood was one that hadn't been experienced in quite a while. While passing the hordes of people watching the movie filming in the east village, it became obvious that we weren't alone. The city streets were flooded with people soaking in the warm and pleasant evening in a scene that was reminiscent of a summer night. And everyone seemed happy.

This got us thinking about how something as simple as a pleasantly warm evening can change the mood of a whole city. The weather can have a range of effects on our mood. The most publicized being Seasonal Affective Disorder which is essentially a treatable form of winter depression. But aside from that, sudden changes in barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, sunlight, and other weather factors can affect our mood. There is good evidence that certain weather conditions can cause recurring ailments to flare up such as arthritis. We have all had the grandfather or uncle who said, "Gosh narbit... my knee's actin' up again. There's some rain a coming..." (or maybe that was from the movies...) There are also studies that tend to support that high concentrations of negative ions make people feel relaxed, energized or just plain good. Negative ions are negatively charged air molecules that are in high concentration just before thunder storms, near beaches, the woods and other generally pleasant areas. Gothamist has a desk fan that also generates these negative ions blowing constantly, but would still much rather just be outside right now.

Intellicast has a daily mood index map for you to check what your mood should be today. We think the "positive" side of the color key should be more in the red/orange area rather than the putrid well... puke color.