As society's attitudes toward gender shift, so do baby-naming patterns. Expect to meet a lot more baby boys with gender-neutral names in the coming year, like Artemis, Shiloh, Blair, Nyx, Indigo, Sasha, Scout and Wren. Retro names have been popular for a while, but this trendzeros in on the 1950s specifically. To some parents, these mid-century names may capture an idealised time in American history. Think Betty, Frank, Sally, Louie, Polly, Mae, Ralph and Vincent. Parents love naming their babies after songs, and in 2022, more of them may name their children after the technical aspects of their favourite music - Allegra, Caprice, Minuet, Rhapsody, Strummer, Madrigal, Calypso, Symphony. The "fastest rising" names - meaning they rose in popularity more than any other names in 2021 were, for boys: Amiri, Eliam, Colter, Ozzy and Loyal. And for girls: Raya, Wrenley, Angelique, Vida and Emberlynn.
Bed-sized Tarantula
These giant tarantula plushes have flexible wire-frame legs for posing and wrapping around yourself in a permanent spider hug. They are really expensive (US$1500 plus shipping).
A reader writes: "I called (the non-emergency police line) once for my across-the-way neighbour playing Christmas music at all hours for weeks. Turns out the person was deaf and had no idea that their music was 1) playing 24/7 and 2) so loud I could hear it in any room of my apartment across the driveway. The operator was absolutely cracking up because I was like look, it's July, I can't take hearing holy night again. The call back I got when they made contact with the person was absolutely hilarious - the cop couldn't stop chuckling every few words."
Tongue twisters to try
Bill Badger brought the bear a bit of boiled bacon in a brown bag. Gig-whip. Gig-whip. Gig-whip. The broom blooms when the bluebells bloom. Weak writers want white ruled writing paper. Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone.
