It’s Official

According to Mensa, I’m a genius. I got 19 correct on this intelligence test. As if there was ever any doubt.

Who Really Discovered America?

So who really came across the North American continent? We all learned in school that it was Christopher Columbus who made the grand discovery in 1492. However, this claim has been debated for a number of years now. Many say it was a Viking named Leif Erikson who first landed in North America.

Or could it have been the Chinese? A map set to be unveiled in Beijing and London next week may be proof that the Chinese made it to North America decades before Columbus.

Nod For Yes

An interesting article via Digg about why nodding one’s head means yes and shaking it means no.

Scanner Tunes

Some geek figured out how to play Beethoven’s Fur Elise on his HP scanner. Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of the page. As a fellow geek, I find this pretty impressive.

I Have a Sister-In-Law

As some of you know, my brother, Adam, got married in November. Some of you actually knew this before I did as he didn’t bother to tell me until ten days after the fact. He was originally supposed to get married in July of this year but things didn’t seem to work out that way.

For those that aren’t in the know, I suppose I should give you a very condensed back-story at this point… so here goes. Santa (insert Kris Kringle joke here, though her name is pronounced Sahn-ta) is a college student from Latvia. She came to the United States to work for the summer in Hill City, South Dakota, which is a speed bump of a town not far from my hometown of Custer. She ended up at the same restaurant that my brother worked at for the summer and the rest, as they say, is history. Less than four months later, they were engaged to be married.

There was a small problem, however. Santa still had a year of university left to complete in Latvia. So as quickly as she came, she was gone again. But she came back quickly enough and was able to visit her fiance for a few weeks in November. While she was in the U.S., her and Adam went to visit an immigration lawyer to get the ball rolling on all the paper work. As it turns out, he advised them that it would be easier just to get married at that time. So a few days later in a small ceremony at the Vermillion, SD courthouse, Adam and Santa were married. And once again, as quickly as she came, she was gone. Two days later, she was back on a plane for Latvia. Has this girl taken playing hard to get to a whole new level or what? So that was wedding #1. Yes, you read that correctly… wedding #1. There’s more to come!

The day after Christmas, it was Adam’s turn to make the trek to Latvia, which is where he’s currently located. Yesterday, he got married for the second time in less than two months. This time, however, I was at least privy to the fact as I got to speak with him a few hours before and the day after. I’m back in the loop now! I feel so important!

So that takes care of wedding #2. Yeah… two weddings and I didn’t get to attend either of them. Hell, I wasn’t even invited to the first one! But I’ve got one more chance. The happy couple is planning on having another ceremony this summer in Custer so hopefully I’ll be able to get my butt to that one.

At any rate, I’ll leave you with a picture of the newlyweds. This was taken at their first wedding. She’s a real cutie. Kind of makes me wonder what the heck she’s doing with a thug like my bro. I don’t think she’s fully aware of what she’s gotten herself into. Notice how the slacker didn’t even bother to shave for his wedding. Pfft… kids…

 

Mars In Three Hours?

Somewhere in the near future, we may be able to travel 11 light years in a mere 80 days. I admit, this sounds pretty far-fetched but it’s also pretty darned cool.

Arachnophobia

I’m not one for spiders or any other kind of creepy, crawly bugs. That being said, I’m more scared of the little ones than the big ones. I’m not sure why that is but I think it has something to do with smaller spiders being harder to spot. With bigger spiders, it’s much easier to keep an eye on them. However, I’ll admit that I was still a bit surprised when I removed my jacket from the coat hook near our door to reveal this “little” guy.

 

 

It’s a beauty, eh? Justin (my roommate) had been telling me about the house spiders here in Taiwan but I had yet to see one for myself . I called him into the living room to verify that this was the kind of spider he had told me about and in fact, it was. Apparently, they aren’t bad to have around as they are quite skilled at hunting and killing cockroaches. Despite that, my roommate still felt it was best to dispose of our guest. Armed with a can of bug spray, Justin was able to vanquish his foe after a vicious ten minute battle. Here’s a photo of the carnage he unleashed.

 

 

Out of respect for our fallen enemy, I decided to hold a small memorial service before proceeding to the bathroom for a burial at sea. May he rest in peace.