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*Ask Jen: Size Matters Edition

Jim writes, "How did 12 ounces become the standards size for a canned/bottled beverage? Is the standard different in other countries?"

How many inches are in a foot? American bottlers tend to favor multiples of 4...8 ounces, 16 ounces, 20 ounces, 24 ounces...you get the idea. My bottle of Diet Pepsi Max here is 24 fluid ounces of highly caffeinated awesomeness. It's also marked as being 1.5 pints and 710 milliliters. Whatever that means. Canadians have the same sized cans and bottles we do because their southern neighbors are highly influential. If they want to keep getting their American soft drinks, they'll just keep quiet.

Europeans get all metric with it, as you'd expect. Whether the actual sizes are the same, I couldn't tell you because as an American I refuse to acknowledge metric...or calculate any conversions of the same.

Do you have a question for me? You can e-mail it. If I know the answer, I'll answer it. If I don't know the answer, I might make something up.

*Ask Jen: Alotted Memory Edition

Nic left a comment pondering her lack of ability to reference songs released in her adulthood. She ended with the query, "Jen, does the brain undergo some change at the age of 18?"

The brain does not undergo any changes at this time, but a person's life normally does. At 18, most people graduate from high school and either enter college or the workforce. Priorities change. You have to become more self-sufficient. You spend more time working and less time lying around with the radio on. Your supervisor is inexplicably less impressed with your knowledge of Queen lyrics than your lunchroom tablemates had been.

Adults generally have other things to keep straight besides which Bon Jovi album had the song "Never Say Goodbye" on it. (Slippery When Wet, 4th single.) So their memory focuses on things that are more important for them to remember. Some adults find music to be just as important to them as it ever was...but the rest of us start focusing on other things. Our available memory is used up by those other things.

Do you have a question for me? You can e-mail it. If I know the answer, I'll answer it. If I don't know the answer, I might make something up.

I'll Give You a Topic: Fiscal Vices

I went to Barnes and Noble recently to peruse the selections, and noticed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was $34.99.

Or $37.09 with tax.

It's not in paperback yet.

So my question is: are y'all insane? You, the ones who paid that for that? *cough*SarahK*cough* I know crackheads will pay any price for their fix, but yikes.

If you're not one of the HP crackheads, what do you spend money on that would be hard to justify to an East African? Manolos lining your closet? Hummer in your driveway? Boat requiring monthly motor repairs docked at the marina? Name your poison.

As for me, I probably won't spend $34.99 on a single book unless it is a textbook and I have no choice, but I often find myself in the 2nd hand bookstore buying a pile of books for about that. I also have a bad habit of being unable to stop myself from buying DVDs I want rightnow. But the book hording is bordering on out of control.

Despite the booklove, I will wait until Deathly Hallows comes out in paperback...I find hardback books annoying to hold in my hands anyway. I like to bend the crap out of my books.