Alright, here we go! Another one! If you’re feeling brave, you can google what ballerina’s feet look like, but I won’t put it here. You can imagine that putting your whole body weight on the very tips of your toes would leave some bruises, some calluses, and even some black toenails. Dancing on your toes is a pretty painful experience, to say the least. And yet. The ballet shoe, by and large, has stayed intact since its invention in the 1830’s.

I have been known to endlessly sing the praises of Caffe Reggio, the cramped Italian establishment that has been a staple of Manhattan’s West Village since the 1920s. The caffe is known for its walls covered in “byzantine clutter”—pieces of art ranging from Renaissance prints and originals by students of Caravaggio, to religious icons and busts of Nefertiti. It also boasts numerous claims to fame including having been featured in books and movies, being the home of the world’s first cappuccino machine (so they say), and being situated across the street from what was once the house of Louisa May Alcott.

California sober. If you haven’t heard the phrase before, “California sober” is a clever way to say, I’ve quit drinking or using drugs, but I still smoke pot. Because cannabis doesn’t count. Cannabis is medicine. Occasionally people who use the phrase extend it even further, usually to psychedelics. To be California sober, you see, is not to be sober at all. I kept thinking about California sobriety as I read Matthew Perry’s autopsy report, a tragic and depressing glimpse into the way far too many Americans live now.

Debbie Gibson was 16 years old when she got signed to a development deal with Atlantic Records on the basis of this song, which by spring of 1987 reached the number 4 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She went on to have four top ten hits from her debut album, Out of the Blue, all with songs she wrote during the time her first single was rising up the chart.

So, funny story. I was given the chance to write a paper on whatever viral piece of content I chose. As a totally normal non-insane person, I thought: I bet no one was writing about that time a Trigun fan account became the biggest buzz in the writing and publishing community. So I did what any totally normal non-insane person would do. I went to my professor and told them the short story about how Bigolas Dickolas became a viral sensation literally overnight.