Sometime between January 26th and February 1st, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Why Are You So Terribly Disappointing?: "Big f—ing deal. We just do not care. It's all a big disappointment. Hey, I was expecting to be blown away. I was expecting miracles and transformations and multiple twitching orgasms on sight. Do not come at me with tantalizing promises only to reveal that you can fulfill most of them to a fairly good degree, and not far exceed all of them in every imaginable way. We're Americans, goddammit. Ye shall know us by the tang of our bitter and untenable jadedness."
• Many Successful Gay Marriages Share an Open Secret: "A study to be released next month is offering a rare glimpse inside gay relationships and reveals that monogamy is not a central feature for many. Some gay men and lesbians argue that, as a result, they have stronger, longer-lasting and more honest relationships. And while that may sound counterintuitive, some experts say boundary-challenging gay relationships represent an evolution in marriage — one that might point the way for the survival of the institution."
• Mathematician Uses SETI Formula to Determine He Has a 0.00034% Chance of Getting Laid: "Backus has modeled his search for a human being on a planet coated with human beings by using an equation designed to locate communicative civilizations in the vast reaches of our galaxy. What does that mean? He's assuming that 'women I can have sex with' and 'communicative aliens' are roughly comparable values. If you consider the rest of the Drake Equation, that would make most women into the equivalent of dead planets, empty space, and alien life without intelligence. A tiny percentage of those women might not be dead or empty. An even tinier percentage could communicate intelligently, but possibly not during his lifetime."
• Football Games Have 11 Minutes of Action: "According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, the average amount of time the ball is in play on the field during an NFL game is about 11 minutes. So what do the networks do with the other 174 minutes in a typical broadcast? Not surprisingly, commercials take up about an hour. As many as 75 minutes, or about 60% of the total air time, excluding commercials, is spent on shots of players huddling, standing at the line of scrimmage or just generally milling about between snaps." And people wonder why I have absolutely no interest in football. Yikes.
• El Nino Helping Green River Valley Avoid Floods: "Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric science at the University of Washington, said the current mild weather could lead to Seattle's warmest January on record. And in this region, he said, 'Once you get past the 20th of February, one month from now, I mean, winter's over.' For those living and working below the dam, 'I think they're home free at this point,' he said."