Do you know this one?

Why does that splash of colour in the forest look so pretty when you think it’s a flower, but turn so ugly when you realise it’s a chocolate wrapper?

Life is replete with these mysteries. For example: Pizza is really just cheese and trimmings on toast. So why does it taste so much better than toasted sandwiches? Even if you use nice bread and toppings but just stick it under the grill? (On the topic of food, its worth throwing in the mysterious and ironic fact that all the best-tasting foods seem to be bad for us.)

Mysteries unravelled are also interesting. Why dropped toast is more likely to fall butter-side down was revealed by the BBC yesterday. It’s partly to do with the speed it falls at, and the distance to fall. It doesn’t have time to do a full revolution. Solution: carry your toast upside down on your plate. I wonder then: do tall people then have a better chance of the toast falling butter-side up?

One of the most interesting facts I ever came across reflects rather poorly on my intelligence. I was shocked to discover – in my early twenties – that when you turn the car’s steering wheel only two wheels changed direction. Ignorant? Yes, but why would I have thought about it?

Finally, since I have a serious article on art history to finish writing, why is that the shops shut just about exactly the same time that you realise you’ve run out of milk? This I’d like to know, because I’ve just run out.

One more: why is TV so much worse on the weekends, when it would be nice to chill out lazily, when during the week you can be spoilt for choice?