Okay, I'll shut up about my freaking booboo after this, but I just have to share the weird phenomenon that, while watching TV or reading, I keep expecting the characters to be hobbled, more so with the book I'm reading. I keep being surprised that they are able to do what they're doing, you know, like, "shouldn't they ask for help for that? the writer's cheating, there's no way they could do that task for so long without needing to sit down! How can Harry be throwing kicks on a bum leg?" and then have to actually remind myself that the character isn't injured. It's really strange.

Tom Hiddleston. I think I just melted.

He is just too much. ridic crush on that one.

Who gave him permission to read sex poetry? That seems an oversight.

Map projections never fail to blow my mind [link] I expect that's one of the many reasons I'm so bad at explaining them.

Wow. That is mind-blowing. Perspective is so useful!

I don't understand why that's surprising. Do people generally think Africa is not that big?

Do people generally think Africa is not that big?

That's what the commentary on the map itself says, but ignoring that, if you look at a Peters projection, would you think you could fit all that in the Dark Continent?

What percentage of people do you think understand why there are different projections in the first place, much less grasp the limitations of any given one? What input are they getting that would tell them the information in the surface area-alone comparison? I doubt many people are doing the math in their free time.

The only way I'm going to find my finishing sander is to buy a new one, isn't it?

I'm not saying it's not a useful pedagogical tool, it's a nice demonstration of relative size, just - my mind is not blown. I keep seeing links to that with great expressions of amazement and I feel left out.

I knew Africa was huge, but seeing what else fits into it, for lack of a better explanation, gives me a much better idea of the actual size. I do much better with side-by-side comparisons.