10 Random But Hopefully Interesting Facts About Me

It's been about a month since I started this blog, and whether you've been reading it all this time or you're just now finding my site, you probably want to know a bit more about me. So here's 10 random things about me that hopefully you'll find at least somewhat interesting.

1. My favorite soda is Diet Dr. Pepper. Yes, diet. I don't know why, but with Dr. Pepper, I like the diet version better.

2. I hate needles. Hate them. I can't even think about needles without getting creeped out. I have to look away every time they use one in movies, like the Hunger Games or Divergent.

3. I've only ever been to two countries, the U.S. and England. I have, however, been to more than ten U.S. states.

4. I hate coffee. I know it's immensely popular, and I've tried it, but I just don't like it. It's too bitter. The only way I will drink coffee is when I can't taste the coffee.

5. I used to live on Mercury. For real.

Just kidding about that last one. That was just the street I lived on.

6. My favorite movie is AristoCats, all the way. I can quote nearly the entire movie. In case you haven't heard of it, it's a Disney movie made in 1970. Basically, you can't go wrong when you put kittens, music, and Paris together in one movie. You just can't.

7. I actually want to write a sequel to the AristoCats, because more people need to know about the awesomeness that is that movie. And there needs to be more of it.

8. I'm totally not  a sports person. At all. I never really played any sports as a kid, and I don't really like watching sports. That is, excluding high school football games with the marching band. I love band.

9. That being said, I am super competitive. I cannot stand being second place when I could be first.

Last but not least...

10. I currently have one pet, my cat Biskit. And no, his name is not Biscuit. It's Biskit, like kit for kitty. Clever, huh? If you think so, then I totally came up with it. If you think it's stupid, then it was definitely my dad's idea. (It actually was  my dad's idea.)

If you want more randomly interesting facts, feel free to ask random but interesting questions in comments!

8 (Somewhat) Surprising Things Music Does For Your Brain

I've never met anyone who didn't enjoy music, even just listening to it. Most of my friends and family enjoy making it, through singing or playing a musical instrument. Overall, it's obvious that people just generally really love music. Simply put: it's fun.

Learning a musical instrument is already a good idea simply for the fact that it's fun and it's something interesting to add to a list of skills. But music does much more than make you look cool- it actually engages and helps strengthen your brain, in more areas than one.

1. Playing a musical instrument actually engages almost all areas of your brain. The visual cortex is involved in reading the music or watching the conductor, and the auditory cortex is involved in listening to the music. The sensory cortex, motor cortex, and cerebellum deal with actions such as physically playing an instrument, conducting or dancing. The prefrontal cortex deals with decision making and expression. The hippocampus, nucleus accumbus, and amygdala control our emotional responses to music and memories of music. 
2. Because learning a musical instrument involves learning rhythms and sound patterns, it actually improves your verbal skills. Studies show that the skills enforced with musical training also help with recognizing human speech amid other noise and improving your auditory memory. In other words, you'll be more likely to hear, understand, and remember what someone says. 
3. As any musician will know, music actually involves a lot of math. There's counting beats, rhythms, measures, and rests. There's subdividing beats to better understand the rhythms, and mathematical relationships also connect musical intervals, scales, chords, and keys. Because of this, studies show that music can actually help improve your math skills. Not to say that you automatically become a human calculator, but it does contribute to recognizing patterns and thinking quickly.
4. Music has actually been shown to raise academic IQ points, and musicians often have higher IQs. Interestingly enough, music contributes more to academic IQ than to emotional IQ. It's also worth remembering that intelligence is much more than a test and a number. 
5. Because of many of the same reasons as number 1 and also because musical directions are often in languages such as Italian, French, or German, musicians are generally better at learning foreign languages. They are usually more skilled at picking up on sound patterns and learning the grammar behind it, as well as developing larger vocabularies. 
6. Simply put, music requires you to listen. Whether you play an instrument, sing, or just like listening, you have to listen. In a group setting, you have to listen to your section, to other sections, to the director, to the melody, harmony, and tone. Even in a solo setting, listening to tone and pitch is necessary. So, it follows that music can make you a better listener. 
7. Music can slow aging. Studies show that musicians that play their instrument for years- we're talking around ten or more- retain the bonuses that we've already mentioned as they age. This means that their brain declines at a slower rate, and they have a stronger memory. 
8. I know a lot of us like to put on our favorite songs when we're in a bad mood, but it's scientifically shown that music can make you less anxious, and more confident, happy, and creative. Music releases endorphins and neurotransmitters in our brains that can put us in a good mood and make us feel better. Also, music training can cause the areas of your brain that control depression, anxiety, and attention issues to thicken, meaning it becomes easier to control your emotions and focus on tasks.

And as a bonus, here's a fun fact (that's also a hint) for the topic next week's post!

In the 1920s, it was fashionable to wear a different outfit for day, afternoon, and evening. Women would change clothes several times a day. The hemline indicated which outfit was for which time of day.

Sources: 

Music Benefits

Fun Facts