Sideswipe: December 7: Give us Torbay back

"The new owners of the corner cafe in the Torbay village painted over a popular mural depicting life in Torbay," writes a reader.

Unbearable brilliance

You might think being more intelligent would be a good thing (and for most of us, yes, it would be great) but for the super intelligent, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Here are some of the pitfalls of being really brainy.

1. It can be socially difficult. When someone's just said something completely inaccurate, it's hard to stifle the urge to clarify.

2. Thinking instead of feeling. "This is a common problem for smart people, especially ones who are highly verbal. They use words as a smoke screen, and it's all the more effective when their words are true. Less articulate people tend to vent through physicality. They yell, punch, kick, run, scream, sob, dance, jump for joy ... I explain. And when I'm done explaining, everything I've explained is still stuck inside me, only now it has a label on it," explains Marcus Geduld.

3. Spending too much time contemplating and analysing. "When life takes its toll on you and you realise how moribund everything is and that nothing really means anything. You search for answers and it drives you crazy," writes Akash-Ladha. "You are bored almost all the time. You cannot savour the pleasures that not-so-intelligent people get. And you keep ruminating about the forbidden thoughts, intensifying it until it leaves you despaired. Sometimes you're stuck in a loop and you just won't quit thinking about it without figuring a way out."

4. You understand how much you don't know. Being super-intelligent often means appreciating the limits of your own cognition. Try as you might, you'll never be able to learn or understand everything. (Via IFL Science/quora.com)

Bus talks back.

Family-friendly Twitter jokes

1. Remember when we all bounced around unbelted in the back of station wagons with our sunburns and candy cigarettes?

2. My goldfish died. The good news is I'm inheriting a tiny treasure chest.

3. "Hey, we're wearing the same shoes," I say to a teenager, ruining her day.

Dramatic hospital logo.

Good read: "Desperate wives and husbands in China are hiring "mistress hunters" to sabotage their partner's extramarital relationships. Zhu Lifei heads one such firm. The team at Changzhou Sincere Heart Marriage and Family Consulting includes psychologists, lawyers, counsellors and beauticians. A recent plot to thwart a relationship invovled covering a woman in chicken blood and damaging her car to fake an accident in order to attract her husband's attention." Read more here.

Video: If you are a child of the 70s you will probably remember the touching story of the lower case n from Sesame Street...

Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz