Whaaaa??

Rhode Island: not actually Rhode Island. NPR broke the news to me today that the real name of the state is Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. i had my 50 states and capitals memorized by the time i was eight (and was a rather proud little brat about it), and it took until i was 34 to learn this fact? i'm left wondering what other knowledge i feel secure in but have wrong. nobody thought to mention this???

i had a similar reaction when i learned about lymph, The Bodily Fluid They Don't Tell You About.

at least in this i'm joined by millions of intelligent Americans. there's a This American Life segment (episode 293) showcasing examples of where someone is alone in their misunderstanding---like the guy that thought Nielsen Families all had the last name Nielsen---until they have Their Moment: they say something that betrays their misunderstanding, everyone laughs at it, realize the person with the misunderstanding isn't laughing, awkward silence as they stop laughing, then the realization. it's the same episode where they define the "modern jackass" phenomenon. i recommend it.

this is getting bizarre

i haven't adjusted to the new models of communication. i'm a little weirded out when someone from work with whom i've never had a personal conversation friends me on Facebook, and i don't know what to think about Google Latitude. my friends knowing where i am at all times? why would they want to? why would i want them to? and wouldn't they just contact me when they are around and want to hang out? i guess what tweaks me is i no longer get to discretely choose what personal information i share with whom. now people come asking for access to my photos, my status updates, my friends, my professional contacts, and my location, and it's considered rude if i turn them away.

in the same week my former PhD advisor sent me a Facebook friend request and my dad sent me a request to share my location with him on Google Latitude. i can't even explain why this feels so bizarre. is it because these are authority figures in my life and this seems to me to dramatically change the nature of our relationship? or is it because they're from the previous generation and seem to be more comfortable with this than i am?

to be honest, i'm even still adjusting a bit to the blogging thing. i thought i was all good until a guy i met on eHarmony Google-stalked me and posted a comment on one of my posts. he was extremely pleased with himself. that ended that (both dating the guy and my posts for a while). i'm already worrying what my dad will think of this post.

word of the day

snarge.

it was supposed to be the word of the day when i first learned it a month ago just after the US Airways jet was landed so gracefully in the Hudson River, but here we are. snarge is the goo (NPR's word choice) left behind when a bird runs into a plane (or vice versa), and this week Carla Dove (seriously) and her team at the Smithsonian identified the snarge from 1549's engines as being Canadian Geese snarge. true to its meaning, the word sounds slightly off-putting, a little funny, and faintly intriguing. but i don't think it's living up to its full potential. i think we should free snarge from its avian confines and start using it to describe any gooey substance of mysterious origin that requires further investigation. as in, "what's that snarge on your face?" or "chef, what is this snarge?".

snarge.