The battery that enabled my car to start these past four and half years decided to die last Friday.  I personally don't blame him; car batteries are only supposed to last for two or three years, so his life was longer than expected and his work greatly appreciated.  My one complaint, however, is the way in which I was notified of his death:  My car didn't start, and a light on my dashboard alerted me to the fact that my battery had likely died.  Perhaps it's just me, but I'd much rather be notified before my battery dies than after, and I'm quite positive this would be possible with a little voltmeter circuit that simply suggested replacing your battery when the current battery's voltage dropped below a certain value.  This isn't rocket surgery. #travel

I think there's great value in summarized information.  I was about to watch another hour of American Idol last night (making it my third hour this week), but since it was a "results episode" and simply revealed the winners of the previous night's contest, I decided I could much more easily and efficiently get this information the following day in summarized form.  It was the same (and is always the same) for Jobama's speech last week, and for any "important" political stuff like state of the union addresses and debates.  There's so much fluff; I just want the results in an easily digestible format, preferably a bulleted list.  It's not like watching a sporting event where there might be several important events in the game, many of which wouldn't be covered in a game summary.  Plus, game summaries miss the emotion, the anticipation, and the fact that you just don't know what will happen in the end.  With American Idol and planned political speeches, somebody knows the end result.  They just have to go through the laborious process of using big words, pregnant pauses, and hand motions to keep the audience interested enough to stick around until the end.  Screw that.  I prefer my information in summarized form. #psychology

This was passed around the internet a little while ago, but every time I see it, it makes me happy. 
It's an adult female jumping spider, and it was photoshopped to make it look like it's smiling.  It's originally from here, but the photoshopped version is from here.  I prefer to think dangerous bugs and animals have personalities and are merely misunderstood. #nature

I love the fact that the crazy woman from California who produced octuplets to supplement her existing six children is colloquially known as "Octomom".  I can't stop picturing a large, angry beast holding an infant in each of its tentacles.  It makes me laugh. #entertainment

I learned a new card game this weekend called Wizard.  Let me clearly state that I hate card games.  There are too many rules, the rules aren't organized in any type of digestible way, and said rules are always explained by at least two people speaking simultaneously.  Then there's the fact that new people always lose.  Card games are never full of novices all learning together.  There's always at least one or two masters who explain the game to the beginners.  Since I'm a beginner, I lose.  I don't like losing.  But the only way I'll ever get better is to keep playing.  So in other words, I should keep losing at a game I don't enjoy so that I'll learn to like it.  Fascinating. 

It's kind of like developing a taste for certain types of food or alcohol.  I mentioned a few months ago that I don't like Sam Adams beer, but that I'd like to like it, but that it's hard to develop a taste for something you just don't like.  To do that, you'd need to consistently force yourself to do something you don't enjoy, which sounds like a form of insanity or at the very least masochism. 

Developing a taste for something needs to happen instantaneously and effortlessly.  When I was around 10 years old, I played basketball for the first time, and I immediately developed a taste for it even though I was horrible.  I eventually got better and had the pleasure of sitting on the bench my freshman year of high school.  Similarly, when I was 21, I remember trying Yuengling and hating it, then trying it about four years later and really enjoying it.  Something changed, and it didn't require any effort on my part. 

That being said, I had a fun time playing this new card game.  By the end of the game, I was at least getting positive points, though I still lost overall.  As much as I hate losing, it was at least good to gain a little ground.  Maybe I'll develop a taste for Wizard, so long as I can remember all the ridiculously complex rules. #psychology