Hello!
A very strange thing about creating with other people is not knowing how things happened. Even when I make things alone, I don't always know where the ideas come from, but when you make things with other people, the story really does get lost.
You hear about two different band members taking credit for the same lyric, or the entire band deciding that every song is written by the band, regardless of which member contributed what.
This week, an app I developed with my friend Bria Sullivan went crazy viral and was, for around 24 hours, at the top of both the App Store and the Google Play store. Lots of people wanted to write articles about this, and both Bria and I did interviews. One question neither of us was expecting was, "Why does the bean have a butt crack?" Bria's answer to this question was, "It was Hank's idea," while my answer was, "I think the artist asked if it should have a butt crack, and everyone agreed it should."
But Bria actually dug up the conversation. The artist, in fact, asked a more general question about the anatomy of the bean, and I replied with an answer, adding, "It should have a lil butt crack." Not the most original idea, but since we do keep getting people asking, I guess it does matter.
As for why I thought it should have a little butt crack, I cannot tell you. As I have said before, butt is legs, but you can have legs without butt. Probably I just thought it would be cute...
Thank you to everyone who has downloaded Focus Friend. Bria and I were always very excited about the idea, but we had no idea so many other people would feel that same excitement!
Hank
You can always email us at [email protected]
This Week in Stuff
You can take a virtual tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. (naturalhistory.si.edu)
Bam Bam, the emotional support dog, went missing in June. He was returned to his home this week! (YouTube)
There’s a Pink Pony Club parody all about tetrapods. (YouTube)
The San Antonio Zoo shared a compilation of clumsy baby famingos. (Instagram)
Be Smart explained why so many fruits are seedless, even though it defeats their natural purpose.
Please send us stuff you think we should feature to [email protected]
Oil spills from tankers have fallen to less than one-thirtieth of the levels seen in the 1970s
Hannah Ritchie and Veronika Samborska
We’ve all seen the dramatic images of vast parts of the ocean caked in oil; birds and other wildlife stuck in the thick, dark liquid. These spills are both environmentally damaging and expensive to clean up.
As the chart shows, in the 1970s, over 300,000 tonnes of oil were spilled from oil tankers in most years. By the 1980s and 1990s, this had dropped, but the annual average was still over 100,000 tonnes.
These losses have fallen dramatically since the millennium. Last year, 10,000 tonnes were spilled, less than one-thirtieth of the amount lost in a typical year in the 1970s.
This decline has occurred despite global oil production and trade increasing dramatically.
Our World in Data is a UK-based non-profit organization that publishes research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. You can find more of their data insights here.
This Week at Complexly
A new batch of Study Hall courses started yesterday, August 21st! Join the first-ever Real World Statistics course, or a classic like Code and Programming for Beginners, Macroeconomics, and Intro to Psychology.
Sign-ups are only $25, and each course comes with a supportive cohort of classmates, a knowledgeable ASU instructor, and unique assignments to apply what you've learned from the Study Hall videos. Best of all, if at the end you're happy with your grade, you can turn your efforts into real college credit!
Whether you’re dusting off your backpack or your curiosity, a Study Hall course is the best way to get in the Back-to-School spirit!
What did it mean to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”? In this episode of Crash Course Native American History, we’ll learn about assimilation and allotment: a period where the U.S. government tried to eliminate Native Americans by erasing their culture, their way of life, and their claim over the land.
Some Games to Play!
Blossom (by Merriam-Webster)
SpellCheck.xyc (by Answer in Progress)
This Gubbins postcard was made by Ian. Send yours to [email protected]
If you post your results on social media, we’d love it if you post a link for folks to subscribe to “We’re Here” (https://werehere.beehiiv.com/subscribe)
Your Imaginary Friends
Last week, we asked if anyone had an imaginary friend story! Thanks to everyone who introduced us to your childhood pal.
When I was a kid I had a nameless imaginary friend who always stood directly behind me so I could never see them. I remember I would sometimes angle what book I was reading so they could look over my shoulder and read it too.
I did not have an imaginary friend as a kid, but all of my friends had one. I felt left out so I made one up... That's right, an imaginary imaginary friend. I think her name might have been Sarah? Or I made up a new one every time it came up.
When I was little I was science obsessed (still am) and I had a set of imaginary friends that were anthropomorphic versions of the planets of the solar system (plus the sun, and Pluto). I even had a song to summon them and I will still sing it to this day to remember the order of the planets
My imaginary friend was Chanel and she was my attorney. I don't know why as a five year old I felt I needed legal representation. I think it's because my grandma watched a lot of General Hospital.
I had the BEST Imaginary Friend when I was a kid. Her name was Okra, yes like the vegetable, and she came from the mirror at the local Red Robin my family went to. (How I grew up in the Mojave Desert and was at a burger joint when I "met" my imaginary friend and came up with the name Okra is still a mystery.) Okra was the absolute best, and being from the mirror she looked just like me! We played practical jokes on my parents, and I 100% used her to find out what potential consequences would be. "Moooommm, Okra doesn't want to wear her seatbelt", or "Daaaad, Okra says jumping on your bed looks like fun." 10/10 highly recommend!
When I was little I spent most of my life on the road (a vanlifer before it was common) and my imaginary friend was a young woman with dark hair that would run along the powerlines, treetops, and the steel highway barriers keeping pace with the speed of the car. She would lag behind when there weren't tall objects to run on top of, and speed ahead when there were plenty, and I could look out the window for hours watching her run free and keep pace with me.
My imaginary friend's name was Ben and he lived behind the piano at our house. If I ever did anything wrong, it was 100% Ben's fault. Still is... as far as I'm concerned.
I had three imaginary friends: Rohit, Crystal, and Emerald. Crystal and Emerald were identical twins and the four of us were a superhero squad. We would bounce around for hours and hours. Sometimes when automatic doors opened for me I imagined Rohit was holding them open. And in our imaginary world I was a boy, too, and they liked me all the same.
When I was young, I had an imaginary pet dog named Layla. She was a yellow lab who would only eat purple grapes! I still remember exactly where her imaginary food bowl was.
When I was preschool age I had an imaginary friend named James. All I really remember now is that I buckled his car seat belt when he was "in the car" with us.
Fast forward to highschool graduation (at which point I had completely forgotten about my imaginary friend) and my best friend is named James. He's still my best friend at age 36. We were groomsmen in each other's weddings.
We’d love to meet your Focus Friend bean! Send us a screenshot of your bean and their room.
Send your bean to [email protected].
