Today I lost my ‘Starbucks’ virginity.

It was my first time, and probably my last. I'd never been to a Starbucks before, partly because Naomi Woolf gave them such a bad rap in her book about rampant globalism, No Logo. Anyway, that didn't seem such an issue now that Starbucks have announced the closure of almost all their Australian stores. I read about it here.

 

That wasn't enough on its own to prompt me to break the habit of a lifetime and start drinking coffee. But a colleague who couldn't take a lunch break was desperate for her last 'Grande Mocha with skinny and no whip'. What a mouthful! What have I been missing?

 

A bill for $4.75, that's what.

 

As I handed my colleague a cardboard cup and her 25 cents change, I had little sympathy for her not being able to buy her favourite coffee any more. I have plenty of sympathy (and empathy) for the staff who are losing their jobs.

 

But apart from that, I won't miss Starbucks. They never were my cup of tea.

Why are Dutch people so tall?

A Dutch girl started work at me office recently. She's 6 foot 3 inches tall. But when I thought about it, that's not so unusual. All the people from Holland that I've met have been above average height. Which got me wondering, why would people from the Netherlands be taller than other countries? And I think I have the answer:

Because in a country that's below sea level, you have to be prepared.

Did you know you can order a Netherlands Flag White T-Shirt by flags of the world

Netherlands Flag White T-Shirt by flags of the world

Show that you're proud to be dutch.

My mother is a man.

The birth of a baby girl to a mother who is legally a man highlights the changing definition of the mother/father relationship in modern society.
Thomas Beatie kept female sex organs but underwent hormone treatment and chest surgery to become a man. He famously became pregnant in 2007 with photos of his belly circulating widely on the Internet and a popular TV talk show.
Perhaps because there have always been discussions and jokes about ‘if men became pregnant’ the story has really captured the world’s imagination.
Now, with the birth of his daughter, Beatie has fulfilled what he described as a gender-neutral desire to have a biological child.
While this may be a unique case of a ‘pregnant man’, it’s certainly not the first or only time a child has been conceived in unconventional circumstances. Like Thomas’ wife, many women cannot conceive naturally due to hysterectomies, problems from a previous ectopic pregnancy or caesarian or a host of other reasons. Like Thomas himself, many choose to become pregnant through artificial insemination or other means.
And like him, they often face problems receiving the medical help they desire due to a conflict with the doctor’s ethics or prejudices.
Same-sex couples are treated differently in different parts of the world, and their legal rights in relation to parenting are changing in many countries. When a gay or lesbian couple do decide to raise their own child, curiosity piques many person to ask who the ‘real’ (meaning biological) father or mother is.
One lesbian couple I know have no such qualms. Their child calls one of them ‘mum’ and calls the other one ‘dad’. Nonetheless, many parents who are gay find they need to assert that they are both the real mother or both the real father.





If they both feel real love for the child, who could argue with that?

A puzzle you've never seen before.

Do you like puzzles and riddles? You know the kind, like the one where you have to join nine dots with four straight lines, or come up with one question that will tell you which of two doors (guarded by two people, one of whom always lies and one of whom always tells the truth) leads to freedom. Or about the dead body found in a field of snow with no-one else’s footsteps nearby.

Anyway, the point is, we all know the same puzzles. They keep cropping up. So here’s one you haven’t heard before (unless you’re reading this post for the second time lol).

Question: Two people regularly nod to each other on the way to work. Most work days they see each other and nod. But standing in line together at the sandwich bar at lunchtime, they don't acknowledge each other at all. What’s the explanation?

Don’t look yet, but the answer is near the bottom of this post. If you’re one of those who look for puzzle answers straight away, that’s fine too.

Otherwise, while you wrack your brains for the answer, you might want to look over the big collections of puzzles in these puzzle and riddle books...


..or ponder the world’s shortest puzzle – this question mark t-shirt.



For one answer to the question mark, read the first post on this blog.

You might also enjoy these Escher posters. Escher is the guy who drew the hand drawing the hand, and other mind-bending concepts.

Drawing Hands Rectangle Magnet by CafePress

When I think of Escher artwork, this one called Drawing Hands always comes to mind. It shows hands drawing the illustration that they are part of. It's typically counter-intuitive and Escheresque.

Drawing Hands Rectangle Magnet by CafePress

If someone had never seen Escher's art before, this is the one I would want to show them first.

Prices and styles for Drawing Hands Rectangle Magnet vary and are subject to change.

Anyway, the answer to the puzzle is…

Answer: They’re both motorcyclists, who nod to other motorcyclists (as many bikers do as part of motorcycling etiquette*) but then don’t recognise each other without their helmets when they buy lunch at the same sandwich bar.

Now that you know the answer, you can stump other puzzle fans, because they won’t have heard it before.

*One puzzling thing about motorcycling etiquette, is who to nod to. For example, if you ride one of the popular Japanese motorbikes, you can nod to most other bikers. But someone on a Harley or the expensive European motorbikes might turn their nose up at your gesture of camaraderie. On the other hand, someone on a Vespa or scooter might not get why you are nodding either.