![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
After an extended funk culminating in a spectacularly wasted weekend, here are some New Things I've Learned, as the year-long project enters the home stretch. (Next year's story arc is pencilled in as "whining about Politics", which I know is a repeat but it does keep coming around again.) So:
In conclusion, David Tennant is a bigger screaming fangirl than all the rest of us put together. Nuff said.
- New Thing Learned for 2 November: Gaius knows two different ways to compress a .PDF with a lot of pictures in it, one at saving and one after; the first method results in a slightly bigger file, but a better compromise for later printing. [Source: the WCKG newsletter wouldn't fit through the mail-hole.]
New Thing Learned for 3 November: Our DVD player will turn itself on and eject its tray when "eject" is pressed from the remote, which means we have to be careful not to leave the remote lying face-down on any hard surface when not in use. [Source: and came in the room to find Snip watching "the Caves of Androzani" with the sound turned off later.]
New Thing Learned for 4 November: Peanut allergies are on the rise to a degree where many schools are now having to establish peanut-free zones in the lunchroom. [Source: Newsweek]
New Thing Learned for 5 November: The "olive" dye breaks up into its red and green components under certain circumstances, an effect I mean to explore in some detail. [Source: experimentation.]
New Thing Learned for 6 November: ComCast's OnDemand keeps some programs from our PBS affiliate under "Get Local", which is nice when one forgets one's following a multi-part Masterpiece Theatre. [Source: kept forgetting to watch "the Amazing Mrs. Pritchard" at the appointed time.]
New Thing Learned for 7 November: The antibiotic gentamicin can in rare cases destroy the systems of the ear that are responsible for the sense of balance. Must remember that next time I have to fill out a medical form, my sense of balance is iffy enough as it is. [Source: Balance : in search of the lost sense, Scott McCredie.]
New Thing Learned for 8 November: In the event that one has to make three knitted stitches turn into two knitted stitches, work SSK, then put the tip of the left needle into the second stitch of that SSK and work it k2tog with the next, viz.:
[Source: needed to center a multiple-of-4 ribbing on a 70-stitch sock.]
New Thing Learned for 9 November: The Artist Once Again Known As Prince was doing the whole name-change thing as a contract dispute, and changed it back once said contract expired. Kooky, sure, but maybe not quite as out of left field as the Corporate Media would so desperately like us to believe. [Source: Wikipedia.]
New Thing Learned for 10 November: The upgraded Walgreens at Lawrence and Pulaski is now open. Sorry, Saturday is the day I run errands and I don't have as much time to research these New Things. [Source: drove by and the lights were finally on.]
New Thing Learned for 11 November: The North Park Village Nature Center preserve is big enough to support a herd of deer, which can be an issue when one of them decides it needs something at Walgreens and starts wandering south down Pulaski. [Source: Animal Control was giving it a good talking-to as we drove past.]
New Thing Learned for 12 November: In scenes where Spider-Man 2's Doctor Octopus needed to physically interact with things with his tentacles, up to four puppeteers per tentacle were required, and probably got to know each other real well, considering. [Source: some DVD-on-TV presentation.]
New Thing Learned for 13 November: Despite having an otherwise pentagonal symmetry, morning glories produce their six seeds two each in a grouping of three chambers. [Source: a few made it all the way through my indifferent gardening to reproduce, and have been rewarded with... preservation.]
New Thing Learned for 14 November: Zac Foley, the late bassist of EMF, allegedly liked to amuse himself by stuffing fruit into his foreskin. Hey, everybody's gotta have a hobby. [Source: Rock & roll heaven, Robert Dimery.]
New Thing Learned for 15 November: Roller chains, like the ones on bicycles, come in massive sizes, and can be attached to one another side-by-side for increased traction power. Alas, the program didn't mention for what, but I'm picturing roller-coasters. [Source: I watch too damn much "How It's Made", I think.]
New Thing Learned for 16 November: There's a blogger out there who duly posts pictures of the tie Keith Olbermann is wearing each night. Come on, I know we all want to drag him off for our hyperintelligent-liberal breeding program, but really. [Source: Wikipedia and an argument I was having with Mum about Olbermann's age in relation to Barack Obama, which BTW is that Keith's two years older.]
New Thing Learned for 17 November: Periodically dip the cookie cutters in flour as you go. Still theoretical knowledge at this point, since I got a little distracted this weekend and never did get around to making the second batch of cookies. [Source: Mum.]
New Thing Learned for 18 November: There is a Krispy Kreme in the food court at Sydney Airport. Kill me. Kill me now. [Source: Sydney airport homepage.]
In conclusion, David Tennant is a bigger screaming fangirl than all the rest of us put together. Nuff said.