Did you know Jared Logan was the first infant to climb Mount Everest? It's true. He blogged about it.

Rachael Mason is a little annoyed with symbolism itself. Haven't we all had days like that? "Dear Symbolism, You can get f*cked too. I saw a dead bird and a broken bottle and a car crash and an ambulance and a homeless man all before 10 am today and last night I had a dream about bugs in my guts. I get it. I can see you. You know a picture is worth a thousand words right? Stop beating me over the head with the imagery already. My life is a scary movie. Fine. Piss off and leave me alone."

Mike Bridenstine plans to drop $3 million at the Peninsula this New Year's Eve, but only 'cause they're throwing in a Bentley.

Allison Bills pointed us to a fascinating article in Vanity Fair called "Why Women Aren't Funny" by Christopher Hitchens, who uses a study from Stanford University School of Medicine to explain that comedy, like everything else, is about getting laid. Oh, and then he made some piggish statements about women. Aw, Christopher Hitchens, sometimes you say the cutest things.

Speaking of funny/smart girls, Jena Friedman has given us permission to share her senior anthropology thesis from Northwestern with our readers. It's called "Whose Truth and Comedy? An ethnography of race, gender and power in long-form improvisational comedy in Chicago." It's the bomb. Click here to download the Word document.

According to a new neuroscience study at the University College London, laughter is literally contagious: "the brain responds to the sound of laughter and preps the muscles in the face to join in the mirth." This is why laughing at your own jokes is such a great idea. Try it and let us know how it goes.

Schadenfreude just got back from LA, where they had lots of meetings and made lots of air kisses with smoochy showbiz people. We remember them when they served us sweet potatoes with marshmallows at the Gallery Cabaret back in the day. Oh wait, that was a few weeks ago. Schadenfreude's Kate James also made this recent short with Steve Delahoyde, who can be seen below in the most recent episode of Talkin' Funny, with Sasha and the Noob.

- Elizabeth McQuern