Where ARE They?

I have been warned that "Brood X" is coming.  The news pundits have done their jobs.

I poked around Google and even downloaded "Cicada Safari" (available for Android and iPhone) thinking this event will be interesting but probably annoying for the most part.

Brood X is a particular group (if you call billions a group) of insects known as Cicadas.  There are a few different broods, but this happens to be the one causing all the fuss.

SKIPPY vs JIF

 I always buy Skippy Peanut Butter.  As a snack, it goes quite well with bananas.  

I tried buying another brand once.  I peeled the banana and then opened the jar.  There was a shimmering pool of oil (or some viscous substance) floating above what I assume was the peanut butter.  The sight made me think I should be 'Oreo-dunking' the banana.  Still, after many years, the thought makes me well, gag a little.

It was not difficult to promise myself that I would never experiment again. I deduced it was not good to fool with Mother Nature.  Sorry, scratch the word ‘Nature’ in favor of ‘Taylor’.

I See Them Everywhere

Recently a friend bought a new car.  Suddenly, I am noticing that “his” car (Make, model, and color) is everywhere!  This always seems to happen, and I have always wondered why this is true.  

I decided to check it out.  Scientifically, this is called the “Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon”. Wikipedia states that:

“Frequency illusion, also known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, is a cognitive bias in which, after noticing something for the first time, there is a tendency to notice it more often, leading someone to believe that it has a high frequency (a form of selection bias).”