Fun Friday Resources

How about a random grab-bag of resources?

Here’s an odd one: the Congressional Research Service is an arm of the government that does exactly what its name says. Any member of Congress can ask for a report on any topic, and they will be given just the facts, ma’am. The reports are not classified and do not contain individualized advice to any specific member of Congress.

Here are two places to look for this information. One is the actual CRS site, and the other is EveryCRSReport.com, which claims a kind of activist mantle in providing these reports. (There is a third, older site linked on the About page of EveryCRSReport, crsreports.com, but it’s really barebones.)

Here’s a delightfully weird one: Which Weird National Holiday Falls On Your Birthday? Happy Sticky Bun Day, everyone! Want weirder? Try wellcat.com. (Click on the Holidays menu button.) Or try holidayinsights.com, which stubbornly clings to its 1990s style but which is an awesomely, squirrelly-ly complete resource.

How many times have you needed to type a ♖ or a ☯ or a ♲? Not to mention a ⅋ or a ⅊ or a ☂? Or even a ⌘? Head over to copychar.com and click. Categories include letters, punctuation, math, numbers, currency, symbols, arrows, and emoji. (If you’re on a Mac, many of the letters, etc., are available to you right on your keyboard: ü, ø, ≈ • ° ß ¿ and more.)

And finally, my favorite video of the last week or so, the blanket octopus.

(Here’s another, if you need more razzle-dazzle cephalopods in your life.)