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Thursday I learned that you can set your Amazon wishlist to show you all of your stuff if you're logged in, even the stuff that has already been purchased. So if Christmas or your birthday or whatever is coming up, you can still look at your wishlist and change stuff around without having to see what all has been bought already. That's cool.

Friday I learned about tin foil hats. People wear tin foil hats because they think that aliens (or someone else) is trying to control their brain with signals, or because they think it will protect them from electromagnetic fields and the like. A really well-made foil hat might actually help protect you from some things, but for the most part it does not work (mainly because it doesn't completely enclose your head) and sometimes it might actually help signals get in.

Saturday I learned about eggnog. I was not sure exactly what it in eggnog. It is milk or a blend of milk and cream plus sugar and spices (like cinnamon or nutmeg) and then eggs are added to make it frothy. Eggnog that you buy is usually pasteurized so you don't have to worry about dying from the raw eggs, but if you make it yourself you should heat the eggs slowly to 160 degrees to make sure they're safe.

Today I learned that the Grand Canyon is in Arizona. I always think it's in Colorado, and I know that's wrong, but then I can't remember where it actually is. Bill thought it was Colorado too.

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Grr. I actually learned this yesterday, but as usual I forgot it by the time I did my blog. In 8th grade my English class read the book "And Then There Were None" by Agatha Christie. I knew that it was also sometimes called "Ten Little Indians" but that "Indians" was not P.C. and so they changed it. What I did not know what that the book was originally titled "Ten Little Niggers." Yikes! It was based on the "Ten Little Indians" rhyme which was also originally titled "Ten Little Niggers." You can read the original rhyme here. I can't believe I never heard that until now. I guess some high school was planning to do the play of "And Then There Were None" but had to cancel the production because people had complaints about the racist nature of the original title. That kind of seems like overkill to me, but then again I guess I don't really know what I'm talking about.

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Today I learned about advent calendars. Advent calendars began at the start of the 19th century or thereabouts, with the German Lutheran community. I guess that is not surprising, because I always bought my advent calendars from the German Club in high school. Your traditional advent calendar has little doors you can open with either a Christmas picture or a Bible verse behind each set of doors. Mine always have chocolate behind the doors although this apparently is less common and is supposed to be anti-Jesus/pro-Santa Claus. I don't know why Jesus would have had a problem with kids getting a little piece of chocolate every day for a month. In fact my brother and I used to nicely divide up the pieces of chocolate by odd and even days, which seems like something Jesus would have been in favor of.

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Today, after many hours of fascinated clicking on Wikipedia, I learned that mice may eat their own tails if they are starving. That's so sad! Don't eat your own tail. Things will get better, mouse...just hang in there.

("If you were a mouse, and you were starving, would you eat yourself?")

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Saturday I learned the phrase "mackerel snapper." It is a derogatory term for Catholics, which comes from their abstaining from meat on Fridays. My dad said that he heard this term while growing up Catholic but no one else knew what the hell he was talking about.

Today I learned how to put up the clear plastic stuff that goes on the inside of your windows to help keep the heat in/cold out. This includes cleaning the window frame, applying the tape, applying the plastic sheet, and then blowing it with a hair dryer. I also learned how to take down the blinds in my house. I did not even know that you could take blinds down.

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Wednesday I learned that there are 2 different types of allergy tests you can get done. In one type, you get pin-pricked with little particles of different allergens to see which one(s) you react to. In the other, you get these big strips pasted onto your back. The strips have like 20 of the most common allergens on them, and you leave them on for two days (gross) and then get them removed and the doctor sees what things you are allergic to. I do not like the sound of either of these.

Thursday I learned that the wish bone on a turkey is actually called the furcula. It is part of the sternum/clavicle region and it helps support the wings in flight. I like to break the wish bone because I am superstitious about wishes, but I don't like to do it because I am terrified of bones breaking. This year I did not get to break the wish bone, and I also did not get my birthday wish on my birthday cake. This may be a bad year.

Today I learned what sweet potato pie tastes like. It tastes mostly like pumpkin pie, but a lot less gross.

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Today I learned where the Westerville BMV is, and how much it costs to renew your license and registration, and that I now can't drive w/o my glasses (damn you, "B" restriction!).