10 Useless Bits of Trivia OR I’m Super Fun at Parties

Feeling a bit braindead this week. I was feeling so braindead, in fact, I totally spaced on writing a blog last night!. Going forward I’ll just be planning to post new blogs every Saturday morning. This week, though, I thought I’d throw out some fun facts that like to rattle around in my brain, rent free as it were. 

So, lucky you, dear reader, will now be the victims of these mental squatters.

  1. The binary code used in computers (1s and 0s) is actually just voltage present or absent (usually 5v or 3.3v) and isn’t what we’d think of as a 1 or 0. A 1 just means that for that particular clock cycle there was a 5v current present.
  2.  The hard end of a shoelace is called an aglet. (Thanks, Phineas and Ferb.)
  3. DVD doesn’t stand for digital video disc, but instead stands for digital versatile disc because it can be used for video, audio, or data storage. Remember when DVDs used to be a thing?
  4. The reason modern touch screens can read your touch is because your skin somewhat conductive and completes small circuits on the screen of the device. It’s kinda, sorta electrocuting you to do that. Just a little. Neat, huh? 
  5. Potatoes are nightshades, along with tomatoes and eggplants. Some people think nightshades can have negative health effects. You’ll take my potatoes out of my cold, dead hands, though.
  6. The song “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music is often thought of as a Christmas song but has no actual ties to Christmas in origin. 
  7. Bananas are going extinct and it’s not the first time it’s happened in the last century.
  8. The name of the evil stepmother from the animated movie Disney’s Cinderella is Lady Tremaine. The name of the evil stepmother from Ever After is Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent. Also a fact, there is never a bad time to watch either version. Same goes for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Brandy and Whitney Houston. “Ten minutes ago I met you, and we said our ‘how do you do’s….”
  9. Though there’s much debate, some people say the difference between a drawing and a painting is pretty easy in digital art. If the original sketch is painted over, it becomes a painting. If the sketch is preserved as line art, that makes it a drawing. I’d never thought of it that way before and it makes a ton of sense, if you think about it.
  10. Pockets used to be separate garments worn underneath pants/skirts and accessed through slits in the outer garment or worn on the outside of pants or skirt. Pockets on the outside were basically asking to be stolen, if you ask me.

There we go! Ten random factoids from my brain to yours! Expect something more hard-hitting and introspective next week. 

ComforTube OR What’s Saving My Sanity

Last week, a madman with some pliers yanked some bones out of my face.

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One of the teeth didn’t want to go (it fought the good fight) and ended up getting drilled out of my face instead. As a result, I’m still gummin’ down yogurt and mashed potatoes while everything heals.

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Thus, my original plan of recounting the harrowing event is happening (yet). Instead, I decided to share what’s been keeping me entertained while feeling miserable.

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I’ve compiled the cream of the crop from my favorite 5 YouTube channels. I do follow over 400 YouTube channels, so I’m a bit of an expert and doing you a huge favor in sharing the below.

Jazza (Josiah Brooks) – Draw with Jazza
  1. Draw with Jazza (the Craziest Artist in Australia)
    Do you want to see how to draw with homemade charcoal? Do you want to see someone add dragons to a thrifted painting? Do you want to see what would happen if Chun Li from Street Fighter had a love child with Jar Jar Binks? Here’s your man!
    Get started here: Customizing Giant THRIFT SHOP Paintings!
Trixie and Katya on UNHhhh
  1. UNHhhh with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova
    If you haven’t seen this, prepare for a mind-blowing experience. Will you be better or worse for the experience? I…honestly have no clue. Trixie Mattel and Katya play off each other SO well in this series that it’s physically impossible to not laugh. (Warning: NOT safe for work)
    Get started here: UNHhhh Ep 29: “Halloweenie”w/ Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova
    This is a great one, too! UNHhhh Ep 49: “PornOh Honey” w Trixie Mattel & Katya Zamolodchikova
Linus Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips
  1. Linus Tech Tips (and the entire Linus Media Group family)
    Do you want to know what the fastest gaming computer is on the market right now? Do you want to know how to make your computer run faster with a literal car radiator? Do you want to see inside of Deadmau5’s studio and nerd out about networking? This is the channel for you. Here’s a great retrospective on something that touched all us Millennials – Windows Vista
Drawfee Show
  1. Drawfee Show
    Four friends cracking jokes and drawing nerdy art inspired by ridiculous prompts. Their pedigree from College Humor and Dorkly is very apparent and wonderful. Want to see Disney Princesses as Dark Souls bosses? Random doodle shape turned into a nude Sonic the Hedgehog reading a newspaper in bed? Or, the ever-popular, post-apocalyptic challenge where DW from Arthur becomes the big boss of a Shinra-esque corporation sucking the life out of the planet? This is EXACTLY the channel for you.
    This is a top tier video that’s a great starting point: Artists Draw Disney Characters as Dark Souls Bosses
Natalie Tran (CommunityChannel)
  1. CommunityChannel aka Natalie Tran, the Original One-Woman Comedy Channel
    She’s been on YouTube since the very beginning and she’s got a HUGE catalog of amazingly hilarious short videos. Her comedic timing and ability to call out the craziness of day-to-day life and human interactions (waiters making you pause your conversations, the awkwardness of cutting a cake for a group, why jigsaw puzzles have boring art, the craziness of ‘tell them I said hi’ when talking to a friend, and much, much more) always brighten my mood and I watch at least one of her videos a week, despite her posting only one new video in the last four years. Watch all of the below to enhance your life.
    Indoor Plant Serial Killer
    King Size (Candy Bars)
    Dealing with Multiple Sneezes

Let me know if you watch any of these videos and what you think below! And any other suggestions you have for what I should watch!