Stuff and Words

Did you know that all but one of the planets in our solar system rotate counterclockwise.

The direction the planets rotate is the same direction the sun rotates, and the sun rotates counterclockwise because the material from which it formed happened to do so as well. To clear things up, after the sun was formed from a cloud of dust and gas inside the protoplanetary disk surrounding it, which rotated counterclockwise, the planets that are now present in our solar system eventually formed. This resulted in a consistent pattern of spinning among all planets except Venus. (source) 

Venus—such a rebel; a real free spirit; the solar system's radical hippie!

Avocados are not vegetables, they’re fruits. You undoubtedly knew that already. No surprise here—I didn’t.

Jolabokaflod (pronounced yoh-luh-boh-kuh-flawd)
     noun
an Icelandic tradition in which books are given as Christmas presents and opened on December 24, after which the evening is spent reading the books
Jolabokaflod comes from Icelandic Jólabókaflóðið, literally “(the) Christmas book flood,” with Icelandic Jól “Christmas,” a cognate of English Yule, “Christmas.” (source)

I love this! I believe I need to introduce Christmas book floods to my winter solstice observances.

Sloths can hold their breath under water longer than dolphins. ‘the fuck?!!!! Dolphins need to come up for air every 10 minutes, but by slowing their heart rate, sloths can actually hold their breath for 40 minutes. 40!

Skookum
   adjective
large; powerful; impressive.
Skookum comes from a word in Chinook Jargon that means “fearsome, powerful,” from Lower Chehalis skwəkwə́m, “ghost, spirit, monster.” (source)

The skookum senator from Pennsylvania roamed through the halls of congress responding to jagoff MAGAts with his laser wit.

Schadenfreude
     noun
satisfaction or pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune.
Schadenfreude comes from German. It’s formed from the words Schaden, “harm,” and Freude, “joy.” Schaden is related to the English word scathe, meaning “to hurt, harm, or injure.” (source)

With every new Cheeto self-own, fresh indictment and announcement of another flipped former sycophant, my schadenfreude grows.

Spumescent
     adjective
foamy; foamlike; frothy.

NOT to be confused with smegma OR santorum (though, I imagine, the latter could be/is rather spumescent).

Sardoodledom
     noun
mechanically contrived plot structure and stereotyped or unrealistic characterization in drama : staginess, melodrama

The word is of relatively recent origin: it appears to have been coined by George Bernard Shaw at the end of the 19th century. The sardoodle- portion of the word taken from the name of a French playwright criticized by Shaw for the staginess of his works (Victorien Sardou), while the latter portion is a combination of doodle and the noun suffix -dom (“those having a (specified) office, occupation, interest, or character”).  (source) 

All this is positively fascinating but now I have that children’s tune, Polly Wolly Doodle, stuck in my head. You know:

Oh, I went down South
To see my Sal
Singing Polly wolly doodle all the day
My Sal, she is a spunky gal
Singing Polly wolly doodle all the day

Lastly (for today anyway), Blue Whales—the largest of the baleen whales can be as much as 108-ish feet (33 meters) in length and live to 80 and 90 years old. Their heartbeat can be heard as much as two miles away. Motherfucking WOW!

Maybe it's just me but I'm guessing that, if aliens really have visited Earth, they've been spending time with Orcas, Blue Whales and the awesome three-hearted Octopuses. Hell's bells, if I'd just touched down from Proxima Centauri b that's who I'd go see, not those violent, greedheaded, tiny-brained humans.