Where grass grows (4) Aug 10, 2010
The sun beats down relentlessly on my front yard, ruining any attempts at growing the vile green weed known simply as grass.  Just for kicks I've tried a variety of methods to encourage the growth of this simple organism:  Planting more seeds, spreading a natural fertilizer, aerating.  Nothing really seems to make much of a difference, which is fine because I've only mowed the lawn like twice this summer.  But what baffles me is this:  If grass has such a hard time growing in my lawn, why does it grow so effortlessly and abundantly through the cracks in my sidewalk? #nature
Music vs. running speed Aug 4, 2010
I'm a nerd, so I went running today with an iPod and a GPS device, and I extracted and correlated the data from each device to show which song was playing at different points along my run and how fast I was running at each of those points, and I put that data into Excel and plotted it: 



See?  That's nerdy.  What I was trying to determine was if certain music made me run faster or not.  The specific songs don't particularly matter, but each was selected (by me) for the purpose of working out, which means they were of the rock variety, and generally loud and fast.  In general, my speed decreased throughout the run, which makes sense.  And those big spikes in the data are just GPS noise; nothing significant.  But what stands out to me is the following: 
  1. I started out pretty quick, both because I had lots of energy and also because that particular song matched up exactly with my pace.  The internet says it's 162 beats per minute, which equates to a little less than three steps per second.
  2. Right around the 600-second mark was when I experienced my first cramp, and then right around the 1200-second mark is when I got the second one.  Both cramps brought about a decrease in speed, and then a subsequent increase after they passed.
  3. That song right about in the middle of my run, which corresponds to track number 5, seemed to have a small but noticeable effect on my speed.  That particular song has been in my music collection for a good decade, and it still pumps me up.
In conclusion, music is like a drug to me, and it makes me do things I otherwise normally wouldn't or couldn't do.  Here's to running, and music, and nerdiness! #sports
Sugar refill Aug 3, 2010
Always refill the sugar container over the sink.  Don't question it.  Don't try to remember all the times you didn't spill something.  Just do it, and your life will be infinitely better. #food
Wooden houses Aug 3, 2010
I was awoken the other morning by the wonderful sound of soft tapping on my bedroom wall.  I got out of bed to find out that it was a stupid woodpecker, boring its way into my house.  As with the squirrel incident, if I owned a gun, this bird would have been surprised to find some extra metal in its fleshy parts. 

The thing I don't understand about this situation is this:  Why in the name of God's green earth do we humans decide to build our living spaces out of the most pest-ridden, rot-prone building material on earth, i.e. wood?  Why don't we use stone or metal or plastic, or some other material that isn't made of irregularly spaced grains and has a tendency to soak up water like a sponge?  Perhaps we could choose something that isn't a natural meal for ants, bees, termites, mice, squirrels, woodpeckers, and hell, really anything that feels like it could use a snack.  I mean, we have iPods and high def TVs and nuclear bombs.  In 1000 years, we'll still have iPods, high def TVs, and nuclear bombs, but our stupid houses will be worthless heaps of garbage because they're made of a once-living substance. #lifestyle
Isotopes of baseball Aug 2, 2010
The Albuquerque Isotopes are a minor league baseball team based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I verified this with my own eyes on a recent visit.  This is notable because (a) nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory was and is heavily involved with nuclear weapons research (isotope = nuclear thing), and (b) the team name was inspired by an episode of the Simpsons (the Simpsons' home town of Springfield has a nuclear power plant).  Yay science-TV-real-life! #sports
Bird roadkill Aug 2, 2010
One of life's great mysteries is how birds get hit by cars.  Ground animals like squirrels and ground hogs, I understand.  But birds have something most animals (and cars) lack:  Vertical position modification, i.e. the ability to fly.  Whenever I see a dead bird on the road, I just want to walk up to it ask it, "Honestly, what happened?  Did you forget that you knew how to fly?  Clearly you use that ability to evade every other dangerous situation in life.  What's so different about a car?"  But that would mean talking to a dead bird, which is weird. #nature