Toby Geeks Out!

So apparently Americans just “discovered” lüften, — the German practice of airing out your home — and gave it the very dignified name of “house burping.” Germans have been doing this for CENTURIES. A Yale sleep psychologist explains why it actually works:

“You know that feeling when you’ve washed your sheets and they’re so clean and fresh? It’s almost like you’re giving yourself that feeling on a daily basis.”

Spring cannot get here fast enough. My tiny house needs all the fresh air it can get — ready to fling open every window and the front door.

Someone walked into a South Carolina library and filmed the empty YA shelves. Said they hadn’t realized how bad it had gotten. Honestly? That’s most of us. Read this Book Riot piece. It’s a lot.

Okay, Mars just got more interesting. A new study flipped the script — ancient Mars wasn’t a frozen wasteland. It was warm, rainy, and potentially habitable for millions of years.

Perseverance found clay pebbles in Jezero Crater that tell a wild story. Researchers in Nature Geoscience say they

“likely represent some of the wettest intervals and possibly most habitable portions of Mars' history.”

Rain. On Mars. For millions of years. 🚀

Photo: Illustration of the Perseverance rover on the floor of Jezero Crater. Credit: NASA

Have you heard of dark showering? Showering with the lights dimmed or off before bed. TikTok is obsessed, and the science is actually interesting.

“Showering with the lights off promotes melatonin release, preparing the brain for sleep ahead of time.” — Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, neuroscientist & sleep expert

Warm water raises your body temp, then the drop when you step out mimics what your body naturally does before sleep. I’ve tried it and find it really relaxing. Worth adding to your nighttime routine!

Photo by Victor Furtuna on Unsplash

An artist spent 3 years building a 3-foot haunted dollhouse set in 20th-century Mississippi. Rancid fridge, pet carcasses, crime scenes with her actual blood. It’s a Southern Gothic ghost story told in miniature. Fascinating and wildly detailed, right?

Winter-bound? There are kits: Crochet, macrame, & decorating beautiful cakes. I always want to learn those new things. There are so many ways to keep your hands busy that aren’t doomscrolling. Pick up a hobby kit & turn the cozy season into something actually creative. Check it out here.

This Pittsburgh contractor built her house with a 6,000-pound copper spiral slide — a safety exit — and an 800-pound glass floor craned through the window. She’s hosted 32 slide rides in a day. How cool is that? Would you live in a house with a slide and a glass floor?

AI tools are everywhere now - every app racing to add generative features. But there’s a backlash brewing: AI fatigue.

As Siddhant Khare puts it:

“People can smell AI slop from a mile away.”

And he’s right. We’re drowning in content from the same bland algorithm - polished but lifeless.

His piece nails why I keep my writing voice authentic. AI helps with writer’s block, but can’t capture weird brain connections or how you’d explain something over coffee.

The internet doesn’t need more generic content. It needs real voices.

Saw Mummy films & enjoyed all of them. Brendan and Rachel are coming back for another Mummy movie! May 2028. She wasn’t even in the 3rd one, so getting both of them back is amazing. After Brendan’s comeback w/ The Whale, this feels perfect. Two years feels like forever to wait though!

I love Spiderman! There is another Spiderman coming! Nicolas Cage is playing Spider-Man Noir in a new series dropping May 27th on Prime Video, and it looks incredible. 1930s noir detective vibe, and they’re releasing it in both black-and-white AND color. I’m definitely watching it in noir.

Before Dracula, there was Carmilla—literature’s first major vampire, and she was a lesbian. Published in 1872, Le Fanu’s novella features Laura’s tortured attraction to the mysterious Carmilla.

“I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust.”

Carmilla whispers,

“You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.”

The novella predated Dracula by 25 years and established the lesbian vampire archetype. Though Dracula (born 1400s) is older in his story than Carmilla (1698) in hers.

I came across this fascinating study abt how the Chincha Kingdom in Peru fertilized their way to success w/ seabird poop! They used guano to grow surplus maize, which they traded w/ the Inca for ceremonial beer. They even celebrated this in their art, showing seabirds & sprouting corn together!

Here’s something wild: an old Texas coal mine is now a garden feeding 3,000 people a year. The Dewey Prairie Garden near Jewett grows 10,000 pounds of produce for local food pantries—turning land that once powered plants into something that actually nourishes families. Pretty cool redemption story.

Just read this fascinating study where older adults (65+) did brain training for 10 weeks and reversed about a decade of brain aging. They actually measured brain chemistry changes. Kind of makes me think about what I could be doing now at 50 to keep my brain sharp down the road. Read more here.

This year: more bloom than doom. Bloomscrolling means intentionally curating uplifting content instead of doomscrolling. I won’t avoid hard topics—open wounds need discussion—but I want scrolling that serves me, not just drains me. Small shifts, better mental space. Read more about it here

Today I learned pine cones are little weather predictors! Fascinating, isn’t it? Their scales close up when they sense humidity rising (rain’s coming), protecting the seeds inside. When it’s dry, they open back up to release seeds. Nature’s got some clever tricks.

Photo: Technogeek75 via Instagram

Our happiness depends on the habit of mind we cultivate.” – Deena Kastor, Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victor

5 yrs ago during COVID, my glasses broke & I cldn’t make an eye appt. Started using reader. My eyes have worsened, bumping up the diopter over time. Need RX glasses anyway. Will see eye dr appt next week.

Fact: Turns out, squinting at your phone isn’t just annoying—it’s a sign.

Read here.

Tech gadgets are my kryptonite—saying no is NOT my superpower. 🤷‍♂️ Are you taking the no-spend challenge? I’ll try my best, but zero guarantees here. Fun fact: The average American makes 3 impulse purchases per week. Suddenly feeling very called out right now. Link

Just learned a new word tonight: phubbing. Yeah, it’s a portmanteau of “phone” and “snubbing” — when you’re sitting across from someone and instead of actually engaging with them, you’re scrolling through your phone. I’ll be honest, I’ve been guilty of this more times than I’d like to admit. You’re in the middle of a conversation, someone’s telling you something, and that little buzz pulls your attention away. Before you know it, you’ve checked three apps and completely lost the thread of what the person was saying. The timing of learning this word is perfect since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. The article makes a solid point: if there’s one …

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I’ve loved Winnie the Pooh since I was a baby. My Pooh doll was such a comfort to me and I still have it. Just heard Lego is making a Pooh set and I’m thrilled! I love building Lego. Already have the Gizmo from Gremlins set. This 85-piece Pooh set is mine! P.S. I also have the Acre house set!

This doodle art is amazing … I wish I could learn how to do that. For sure, it will take a lot of practice. Check it out! Link

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. …

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The hardest part is letting go of what used to work." - Apolo Ohno, Hard Pivot: Embrace Change. Find Purpose. Show Up Fully.

Photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash

Found a good article that really resonated with me. Forget grand New Year’s resolutions—meaning comes from small, consistent actions. One page read, one short walk, one message sent. Those tiny tweaks add up. Worth a read if you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed. Read more here.

People who experience more meaning tend to report better wellbeing, lower stress and depression, and greater resilience when life becomes difficult.