So... thanks to the Internet, I found out that 3-way and 4-way chess sets exist. And now I want to see a miniseries where they challenge chess grand masters to 3 or 4 way matches instead of the usual two. Because that would be fascinating ( Read more... )

Holy crap! I just found out ravens in captivity can mimic human voices BETTER THAN PARROTS! And there's proof on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfsnHVaScjgRead more... )

This is fucking weird and cool: Apparently the Ottoman Turkish soldiers back in the day had a fighting technique they could use if they lost their weapons, called the Ottoman Slap. These guys could slap hard enough to knock out a horse or kill a human being. And they did it because in their culture, punching people was what women did, and slapping ( Read more... )

The fact that a lot of these eye glass charities require a prescription before they can help you gave me an idea for an invention I wish I had the skills to build. It's a computerized visor type thing you put over your eyes, and then you press a button and it does this computerized automated eye exam, asking you to read the lines and so on, then ( Read more... )

Great news! Got a call earlier today from the low-income apartment complex Brooke lives at, telling me my name came up on the waiting list! I go in Tuesday at 3pm to see the place and, presumably, fill out paperwork. And I asked about Amy, and having a roommate isn't a problem; she just has to be run through the background checks or whatever as ( Read more... )

I learned something the other day that's pretty cool: you can teach infants simple sign language so they can sign for what they need rather than crying. Apparently, you can start training them right away, too ( Read more... )

I love old stuff, and new stuff made to look old. I've been fascinated by modern touch-tone versions of antique-looking phones, and other similar things, since I was a kid (an aunt had one that was wood and mounted on the wall). And now I have one ( Read more... )

I had a fuckton of dreams last night. Some were interesting, others were just my brain being bored. (I can tell which ones those were, they were the dreams about reading my LJ friends page or dreams about playing games.) Most aren't worth talking about even if I remembered them. However, there is a major exception: I had a high-definition dream ( Read more... )

I spent hours earlier writing. Most of it was character development and becoming familiar with the lifeforms of Ah'Bahss. I am once more impressed by the stuff coming out of my imagination. I'd say more, but that would give away too much. But these poor people are NOT going to have a good experience on Traipah. But damn, the journey will be awesome ( Read more... )

I bought an inverted pentagram necklace last night on eBay. It's 2 inches tall, high quality pewter, and comes with a chain. I spent hours finding just the right one. Actually, I wanted one made of iron or steel, because silver is expensive and I had a slight pewter phobia, thinking pewter had to have lead in it to be pewter. But one I found said " ( Read more... )