You know how some people collect stamps or vintage records? I collect random things. It’s honestly my favorite thing - shuffling through the vast web, discovering stuff I never knew existed. So here’s what caught my attention lately.
Someone once said, “The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.” Turns out that’s annoyingly true. Especially when you discover entire personality types you never knew existed.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
The Great French Toast Identity Crisis
French toast. Not French. At all. Plot twist: it’s Roman.
Back in the 4th century, Romans soaked stale bread in milk and eggs, fried it up, drizzled honey on top. Genius way to not waste bread. Germans called it “arme ritter” (poor knights' bread). The French? “Pain perdu” (lost bread). They even called it “pain à la romaine” for a while, giving Rome full credit.
So how did it become French toast? An innkeeper named Joseph French wanted to call it “French’s Toast” in 1724, but forgot the apostrophe and ’s'. We’ve been calling it wrong for 300 years because of a typo.
Best part? Every culture has a version. Holland’s “wentelteefjes” translates to “turn over, little dog!” India makes savory “Bombay toast” with spices. Portugal has “rabanadas.” Spain has “torrijas.”
Pro tip: Use day-old bread. It soaks up the egg mixture better. Fresh bread gets too squishy.
Me? I’m team Lewis' Texas Toast. Thick slices, fried golden, loaded with cinnamon and sugar. Pure happiness on a plate.
Are You an Otrovert?
Introvert. Extrovert. Ambivert. But what if none of them fit?
Psychiatrist Rami Kaminski coined a new term: otrovert. It comes from “otro” (Spanish for “other”) plus “vert” (to turn, from Latin vertere). People who are perpetual outsiders - and totally fine with it.
Otroverts aren’t shy or awkward. They’re warm, have close friendships, and meaningful relationships. But zero interest in belonging to groups. No clubs, organized religion, political tribes, or sports teams. The “are you in or out?” thing? They don’t care.What they do care about: thinking for themselves. Evaluating every idea before accepting it. Freedom and independence. Questions over answers.
Kaminski says introverts and extroverts are both “inherently communal.” Otroverts? Fundamentally, outsiders - and that’s not a bad thing. Recognizing it can be freeing.
Take Kaminski’s free test and see where you land.
I’m an introvert, but some days I feel like an otrovert. Like I’m watching everyone play a game where I don’t know the rules - and I’m not sure I want to learn them anyway.
What a Corporate Lawyer Learned (That They Don’t Teach You)
David Elikwu spent five years at one of those massive corporate law firms where partners pull in millions. You’d expect typical hustle-culture garbage, right? Nope. Here’s what he learned instead:**
Don’t wait to be happy. Stop saying “I’ll be happy when…” Your satisfaction isn’t waiting for you around some corner. The people chasing “one day” end up washed downstream. Carve out happiness now, or don’t expect it later.**
It’s more important to be kind than intelligent. Smart people make dumb moves all the time when they forget about the humans involved. Want to actually get somewhere? Communicate clearly, save people time, and stop trying to sound clever.
You can’t please everyone. Some compromise is necessary. But most of the time, you can set better expectations upfront and stay in control of your sanity. Choose your battles.
Make great mistakes. Not all failures are created equal. Don’t repeat what someone else already screwed up. Make your mistakes cheaply, learn fast, and build a playbook. Fail forward, not sideways.
Don’t be an asshole. Success isn’t a free pass to treat people like garbage. Basic decency and humanity will take you further than being the smartest jerk in the room.
I agree with everything David says here. He’s got 15 unconventional lessons about life, money, and success, total—I just picked my favorite 5. Read the rest if you want the full wisdom. And honestly? “Don’t be an asshole” should be lesson #1 everywhere.
When Women Rioted for Bread
April 2, 1863. Richmond, Virginia - Confederate capital, Civil War raging, hyperinflation making food unaffordable. Working-class women watched their families starve while husbands were away fighting or dead.
Two women - Mary Jackson and Minerva Meredith - led hundreds to the State Capitol demanding help from Governor Letcher. When he dismissed them, they armed themselves with knives and pistols, stormed down 9th Street, crying: “We are starving! Bread or blood!”
Four hundred women raided warehouses for bacon and flour. Two hours of chaos before authorities shut it down.
Here’s what matters: these were women in a society that demanded they be passive and subservient. They asked politely first. Got ignored. So they rioted. Many were charged, mostly poor and older women, who got punished while better-dressed ones walked free.
But it worked. Historian Douglas O. Tice Jr. said it best: “Women, up until this event, were basically ignored… This was a desperate act, which took great courage… They stood up for once and were noticed.”
Sometimes asking nicely doesn’t cut it. And watching grocery prices climb today? Makes you understand why people get desperate when basic food becomes a luxury item. We’re not rioting (yet), but we’re definitely feeling it every time we check out at the store.
Time to Dust Off That Dictionary
Writer Austin Kleon has a tip: buy a used paper dictionary for $5 and keep it on your desk.
Why? Serendipity. When you look up a word, you brush past dozens of other words. You discover connections Google won’t show you. “Patina” sits right after “patient” – one about enduring time, the other about its residue.
Stephen King says: “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word.” Alan Moore called his Random House Dictionary the one book he’d save in a fire.
The slowness is the point. Flipping pages, running your finger down columns, stumbling onto unexpected words. That friction creates space for curiosity.
I’ve been going more analog lately, and this got me thinking about my own dictionary. I’ve got this massive unabridged one sitting in storage. Haven’t touched it in forever. But reading this? I think it’s time to dig it out. Put it on my desk where I can actually use it. Because yeah—stumbling onto words I wasn’t looking for sounds way better than Google’s instant one-word answer.
That’s it for this week. Hope you learned something you didn’t know before. Or at least got inspired to question why French toast is called French toast.
What random thing sent you down a learning spiral this week? Hit reply and tell me - I love discovering new things to dive into.