Mental Floss Blows My Mind!

Okay, you may have read that title and thought that I have extremely good dental health...well, I try. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about a site I've discovered. They have these wacky, informative and fun short videos that recap a variety of topics. Just pick one that appeals to you.

As a writer I enjoyed '79 Common Mispronunciations'. The host, John Green, is hugely entertaining on a topic that you might think was just a step above watching paint dry. But really, when he instructed me in the proper pronunciation of Harry Potter's 'Hermoine' and added 'They should have been a couple but life is full of injustice and Weasleys' I was hooked!

So, maybe you don't care one way or another how people pronounce some of these words, although it can be very annoying! (I'm talking to you, verbal manglers of Illinois...that 's' is silent, people!) But as an author I really enjoyed '43 Words Invented by Authors' where I discovered that Chaucer invented the word 'twitter', thereby laying the groundwork for that 140 character behemoth that not only limits spaces but words, drastically narrowing the odds that anything Chaucer wrote will ever show up there!

Alright, do I have to use a three letter word to get your attention? Then check out '20 Misconceptions About Sex', hosted by Dr. Aaron Carroll. But beware, it can be clinical. You don't have to be an author to find the subject matter fascinating, but I would recommend it for Romance writers--it's very illuminating!

And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Mental Floss's offerings. They tackle all kinds of misconceptions and explanations, from make-up to mating seasons, alcohol to allergies, founding fathers to...cheese names?? So the next time you are passing time on hold with your cable company, check Mental Floss!