Monday, April 29, 2013

Monday evening roundup

Speaking of marketing misfires, look what showed up in my Twitter feed this morning:
Newt males attract females by smell.

Check out this hole in the International Space Station's solar array.

These voice samples are hilarious, though I think they have two male samples (unless they've fixed it).

Everyone should experience struggling with math. I love this quote:
Mathematical failure—much like romantic failure—leaves us raw and vulnerable. It demands excuses.
I love most of this quote, from Michael Pollan:
The meal is a really important institution of civilization and of democracy. I really do think that the family meal is nursery of democracy. It's where children learn how to share, take turns, and argue without offending, and they learn the news of the day from adult conversation. Humans are a complicated species. Food is not just fuel. It's communion and a medium of social life. I guess the more I've cooked, the more I've become aware of and sensitive to the social meanings of food and how important it is to so much more than health.
But I would like to point out that meals are a really big deal in a lot of places that are not democracies. I'm all over the social meanings of food, but you know that. My family is also from a country that always loved itself some meals even when it wasn't even pretending to be a democracy. Speaking of which... of these Buzzfeed-type lists that explain the world, the awesomest by far is 14 Hairless Cats That Look Like Vladimir Putin.

Humans have always judged by appearance--specifically, by style. Remind me to blog about my recurring first world problem (actually, it's a variation) with regard to dressing my big butt. My butt is not big in a bad way, but it is, nonetheless, big, and I don't want to dress to draw attention to it. But if I go baggy, it does look big in a bad way. What to do?

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