Category: Curious Mind & Modern Life
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Word of the Year: Things You Didn’t Know You Wanted to Know
Ever fall down a rabbit hole you didn’t mean to? I learned that “Word of the Year” has a long (and weird) history — and some truly entertaining choices. From “bushlips” to “goblin mode,” here’s everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about WOTYs.
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Grandma Got Run Over by a…Christmas Tree?
A look back at the wonderfully chaotic Christmas trees of my childhood—crooked trees, melted candy men, flying tinsel, and all. Perfect? Never. Memorable? Absolutely.
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65 Cucumbers, One Minute, and So Many Questions
A weird news article about snapping cucumbers sent me spiraling into the world of bizarre Guinness World Records — from naked roller coaster riders to dogs balancing glasses of water. Come down the rabbit hole with me. You’re welcome in advance.
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Someone, Somewhere, Named It “Dog”
A funny, curious reflection on how words are created and why we call things what we do. Inspired by The Professor and the Madman, this post explores the origins of language, from “albatross” to “dog,” and all the wonderfully weird words in between.
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Statistically Speaking… There Are Too Many Clowns
A funny, honest Halloween story about clowns, candy, and raising a neurodiverse kid in a not-so-neurotypical world.
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Maybe We Can Just Call It Marriage
One afternoon, my daughter Mae got into the car after school and said, “Mom, I’m half gay.” I looked at her in mock horror and asked, “Oh my God— which half?” She grinned and said, “The left.” And I replied, “Thank God. If it were the right, it would be a disaster.” In case you missed the point of…
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My Google History Proves I’m Basically a Scientist
During the summer of 2019, I was considering finishing my college degree. I had dropped out in the late 1990s because I was a very poor college student and couldn’t afford to finish. Funny enough, my GPA would suggest I was a poor college student in more than one sense. So at 2 a.m., in…
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Spoiler Alert: That Limo Wasn’t Magic
I recently had an ultrasound. I have them done every six months. Maybe one of these days, you’ll hear the story why. Anyway, my appointment was for 4:15, although we arrived a little early. When I went to check in, there was an older couple in front of us. An ultrasound tech soon called the…
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Meet Jarvis: My A.I. Sidekick
When my daughter Mae was a kid, she took art lessons from a local artist. The artist was wonderful, and Mae was—and still is—very talented. One Father’s Day, when she was seven or eight, she gave her Papa a drawing she’d made in art class. “How did you draw that?” Papa asked. “It just comes…
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What’s in Your Google?
In a recent post, I discussed my love of Google. So I’ve decided to post a description of my most recent Google searches. Sometimes I Google multiple unrelated topics over the course of a day. Other times, one topic I Google will lead to another seemingly unrelated topic. But my crazy brain will make connections.…
Brain Fog & Brilliance 