Wow, this Baby Name-O-Meter is pretty cool. Enter your name and you can see its popularity graphed over the last century. Kristine seems to have appeared out of nowhere in the 1940s, peaked in the ’70s (when it landed on me), and it’s now in decline. Now I’m totally curious about its origins. Was there some famous World War II chick named Kristine that everybody copied? (Link courtesy of Gael.)

Go vote for your favorite Dum Dum flavor. I think the poll is pretty much academic, though, since everybody knows that Cream Soda is far and away the best. Sour Apple is pretty good too, though. (Link courtesy of fellow Cream Soda-lover Max.)

Shell shock.
Did I mention that I’m trying out all the classes at my gym? Well, I am. I got inspired last week and took in a session of Body Pump, which nearly killed me. It’s basically synchronized weight lifting to music, and even though I used the least amount of weight possible I still couldn’t walk for two days. I did it again later in the week and it went much better, though. I’m gonna keep doing that one. Then on the weekend I tried out Pilates, which I thought was BORING. Seriously. It wasn’t even as stretchy or breathey as I expected. It was like baby yoga. I have changed my mind about it slightly, since I woke up the next day with crazy soreness in unusual places, like the sides of my abs and my triceps. So obviously I got something out of it. But overall, I wasn’t impressed.

So tonight’s experiment? A beginner’s step/aerobics class. Okay, those of you who know me in person are probably laughing at this point. Why? Because I’m the clumsiest person ever. I can be walking on a perfectly flat street with nothing nearby and fall flat on my face. So I want you all therefore to picture me, big ol’ clumsy me, huffing and puffing and flailing away on the babiest step they had. It was comical. Our instructor and the rest of the class would be bouncing around in syncronized step perfection and I’d be going the wrong way with the wrong leg at the wrong time. Regardless, I toughed it out for half an hour until we switched it up to aerobics. Then I really made an ass out of myself. I haven’t done “the grapevine” since high school, and it seriously showed. I actually bumped into the girl next to me, like, three times because my body persisted in “step-touching” left when everyone else was going right. The extra loud music and yelling of the instructor was just so confusing. It was nearly as bad as spinning. Within ten minutes I gave up and hauled my bewildered ass to an exercise bike. I don’t think I’ll be doing any more that.

Wisdom Springs is an interesting site where real people post about the city they live in – what they like about it, what they don’t, and what visitors should know. I’ve added an entry for Sydney. You should add one too, especially if you live somewhere interesting!

I just saw the weirdest thing. I was walking into Newtown to get my “Lance in Space” CD booklets printed (more on that later), when I passed this guy wearing a tuxedo jacket with tails. “That’s odd,” I thought. Then I realized he was also wearing a black T-shirt, red three-quarter length pants and bright yellow tennis shoes. Picture that in your mind and tell me who it reminds you of. That’s right… MICKEY MOUSE. He was dressed just like Mickey Mouse. But he wasn’t wearing, like, mouse ears or anything so I don’t know if it was intentional or not. But there’s no way you could put that outfit together by accident, right?

How Jedi Are You? Of course I can’t pass up a quiz like this. Check me out; I’m a Jedi Knight. Of course, I think that’s sorta the default if you’re not A) evil or B) trying to get into Padme’s pants. (Link courtesy of one scruffy looking nerf herder.)

My friend Martin went to Cornwall recently and took some pictures worth checking out. My favorites are the ones from the Eden Project, where giant domes have been built in a crater to create different climates (a “Living Theatre of Plants & People”). The scale of the place is just astonishing. It looks so tomorrow. I can’t believe it’s in England.

Happy birthday to Brigita! I imagine she’s hitting some Seattle bars right about now…

Friday Five:

1. Do you have a car? If so, what kind of car is it?
Nope. I haven’t had one in years. Luckily you don’t need one in London or Sydney. The last couple times I went home I rented one to make the trip to Indiana from Chicago.

2. Do you drive very often?
Nope. The last time was November of last year when we stopped off in the States on our way to Australia. I don’t even ride in cars that often. We take a cab occasionally, but mostly I use public transport. Actually I probably won’t be driving anytime soon since my US license expired in March and Indiana doesn’t let you renew over the Internet. I could get an Australian one, but it’s much harder here and I probably wouldn’t pass (since I don’t have a lot of experience driving in big cities).

3. What’s your dream car?
A vintage cherry red Volkswagen Beetle convertible with leather interior.

4. Have you ever received a ticket?
I’ve gotten a couple of warnings, but only one ticket. See below.

5. Have you ever been in an accident?
I think it was the summer before college, and I was driving with my then-boyfriend near his house in Michigan. It was a really bright day and we were tootling through town at no more than 30 mph. Suddenly I noticed that the car in front of me (a Corvette, naturally) had stopped to turn left. I didn’t have time to do anything but slam on the brakes. I couldn’t have been going more than 5mph when I hit it, but of course I had to put a big scratch in the bumper. My car fared worse; I had jammed the brake pedal so hard that it got stuck down and my boyfriend had to yank it up so I could pull off the road. Soooo, anyway, the lady driving was already calling the cops on her mobile within ten seconds and I knew I was pretty much screwed. I ended up getting a $100+ ticket for “rear ending” and my insurance, of course, went through the roof. Whatever. I’m so glad I don’t have to drive anymore.