Surprising killers Jun 17, 2011
Torrential rains recently killed a bunch of people in China.  And a few weeks ago, a few people died in the US because of a heat wave.  I'm always surprised by things like this because I have trouble imagining how people die in cases of relatively standard weather patterns and natural events.  It makes sense when people die in tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes since these events are typically unexpected and fairly violent.  But rain?  Even if it's a lot, can't you just make sure you keep your head above water?  (Although in the case with China, the rain caused pretty severe flooding, which explains the number of deaths.)  And with heat, when exactly does the dying happen?  Can't you find some shade or turn on a fan?  I doubt I would survive a tsunami, but I routinely survive both rain and heat. #nature
Nominative determinism Jun 16, 2011
Nominative determinism is the idea that a person's name plays a role in determining their future profession or other attributes.  Mental Floss has a bunch of examples.  I like golfer Tiger Woods and sprinter Usain Bolt. 

News of the Weird routinely does a segment called "Names in the News" that includes many similar examples, like Kevin Lee Cokayne who was arrested for dealing marijuana. #sociology
Humped by warmth Jun 15, 2011
"According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, more and more knitters are making sweaters from their own dogs' fur.  Nothing is cozier.  It's like having your entire torso humped by warmth." - Host Peter Sagal on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 5-28-11 #nature
Chipotle pronunciation Jun 10, 2011
There's a faux Mexican restaurant called Chipotle, which is also the name of a pepper.  It's pronounced chih-POTE-lay.  Get it right, white people. #language
Post diet Jun 7, 2011
One of the things I should've expected but didn't after being on a diet and subsequently coming off of it was that holy crap I can eat anything I want! 

This is good because life is so much less complicated when you have no dietary restrictions.  Hungry at 2pm?  Stop at the coffee place and get a smoothie.  At a barbecue where they don't believe in serving vegetables?  No problem, just be a carnivore/carbivore. 

This is bad, however, because in the past month or so since I've been off my diet, I've eaten every single type of junk food I've ever craved in my entire life.  I'll walk past something at the store and think, "A few months ago I wasn't allowed to eat that; hence I should eat it now."  That's not good logic, but damn I like oatmeal cream pies. #health
Legs for arms Jun 2, 2011
This pitcher looks like he has legs for arms: 



His name is Paul Splittorff and he played for the Kansas City Royals in the 1970s. #sports
BPM running (2) Jun 1, 2011
I got into this a little last summer, but I've finally come to the conclusion that running with music whose beats per minute match your normal pace is an incredible way to run.  I kind of stumbled into it by accident when I noticed my pace matched a few of my favorite songs.  Alternatively, I would assume it's fairly trivial to measure one's pace by simply counting the number of steps taken in a certain amount of time and dividing the former by the latter.  Once you have that magic number, it's just a matter of finding music with that BPM or a multiple of it.  I find that not only do I run faster, but I completely zone out and feel awesome (although that could be a function of how music affects me personally).  It's almost like instead of running while listening to music, I'm listening to music while also running.  Very therapeutic. #sports
Logical punctuation Jun 1, 2011
I like the fact that logical punctuation (commas and periods outside of quotation marks) is becoming more and more acceptable as more and more people read and write primarily online without needing to deal with the judgmental eyes of English teachers and copy editors (via Daring Fireball). 

Related:  Grammar my way #language