Relax and Take Notes

Recent research reveals:

Describing a Baryonyx dinosaur as "like a real life dragon" is misleading.

"Texas" is a delightful word to write or say out loud. So is "pretty."

Haagen Daaz makes you fat.

"Kvelling" is a real word, not something Amy Heckerling made up for Clueless. (this made my day)

Keira Knightley really does look like a Fassbinder heroine.

Martin Kippenberger's work is more fun to talk/read about than actually look at.

Let's Hear it for the Left!

I’ve always been fascinated with handedness. Only 10% of humans are left-handed, and being left-handed has some consequences for how the brain is organized. In lefties, language, a normally left-hemisphere dominant function, is more lateralized between both hemispheres of the brain – some even show a right-hemisphere dominance. While it is still unclear what effects these differences in cortical organization have on everyday functioning, it is possible that lefties, being wired a bit differently than 90% of the population, may have a few extra tricks up their sleeves.

With that being said, I was reading a popular press article about the handwriting styles of the candidates. While this stuff is probably a bunch of bunk, I thought it was fun to see that our two nominees (for all intents and purposes) are both left-handed. And, that four of our last six presidents were left handed (the exceptions being Bush Jr. and Carter).

Now we just have to hope that the left-leaning lefty becomes the next president.