Most surveys produce interesting results. Depending on the size of the sample, those findings may be statistically valid. Even if that is not the case, they are often, well, as I said, interesting.

Marist College (upstate New York for those not familiar with the school probably most famous around here for producing former Pacer big man Rik Smits) polled about 1,000 people to test words or phrases that are most annoying in conversation. The responses for the five phrases under consideration:

• Whatever — 47% (55% among Midwest respondents)
• You know — 25%
• It is what is is — 11%
• Anyway — 7%
• At the end of the day — 2%

Why was this the subject of a Marist College poll? You know, it is what it is. Anyway, at the end of the day, it’s simply whatever. Wow, put those five together and we’re really talking annoying.

What words or phrases bug you the most? Let us know.

On this St. Patrick’s Day, the Indiana Business Research Center offers a few statistics on Irish roots in the Hoosier State:

• About 36.3 million U.S. residents claimed Irish ancestry in 2008. This number is more than eight times the population of Ireland (4.4 million). The Irish ancestry is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry behind German.
• Nearly 13 percent of all Hoosiers, 826,456 people, claimed an Irish ancestry in 2008. Massachusetts has the largest share of Irish ancestry (24 percent). The national average is 12 percent.
• There were 1,937 Irish-born Indiana residents in 2008, which is less than 1 percent of all the population who claimed an Irish ancestry. The majority of these residents entered the United States before 1990 (71.9 percent).

Be sure to celebrate thoroughly and safely.

As Census time approaches, let’s see how much you know about American demographics: Take this quiz featuring 10 questions.

I’m hoping you achieve more than 20%, because then you will have defeated me. (In my defense, I thought some of the answers seemed too obvious so I went with another answer.) The old reverse psychology let me down in this instance … as it does in most instances.

The publication International Living just released its 30th annual Quality of Life Index, which attempts to answer the question, "Where is the best place to live?" Huffington Post writes:

Using what seems to be a semi-statistical reasoning (data is used, but so is personal experience), the countries have been ranked in 10 categories – Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.

As usual, the rankings have provoked equal shock and happiness from different quarters – Brits seem exceptionally upset, although not surprised, that their ranking has dropped below that of the Czech Republic.

I’ll grant you, it does seem somewhat subjective based on the criteria. But the top 10 is as follows:

1. France
2. Australia
3. Switzerland
4. Germany
5. New Zealand
6. Luxembourg
7. United States
8. Belgium
9. Canada
10. Italy

So there you go. Opine away…

In the final years of the Bush administration, Washington was noted for its lack of substantive action on Capitol Hill. In 2009, many were wishing for a switch back to the previous inaction. In 2010, it’s "are we going to get anything done because we have to get re-elected and we don’t want to make anyone mad?"

Excerpts from a CongressDaily analysis of what’s to come:

House and Senate Democrats plan a 2010 agenda aimed at leaving the second half of the 111th Congress as firmly identified in the public’s mind with economic measures as 2009 was with healthcare reform. In 2010, virtually every bill will be sold as a jobs bill.

That agenda suggests 2010′s legislative output will be far leaner than last year’s, and could once again bode badly for key measures that were shoved aside in the push to pass healthcare legislation.

And if Massachusetts state GOP Sen. Scott Brown defeats Martha Coakley, the state’s Democratic attorney general, in a special election today to give Senate Republicans a 41st vote, virtually every key 2010 initiative, including health care, will be endangered in the Senate. Democrats last year regularly needed 60 votes to move legislation, and Republicans might be even less cooperative in an election year.

Despite a continued push by backers, climate change legislation, which the House has passed, and an overhaul of immigration law appear to face long odds of passage, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.

"It is going to be a very hard year to do what we have to do to meet the needs of the American people and to maintain the fiscal soundness. And that requires some very tough decisions," House Speaker Pelosi has warned.

Pelosi, echoed by other top House Democrats, said she is determined this year to reduce the deficit, which the CBO says hit $1.4 trillion at the end of FY09 and is projected to hit $1.5 trillion for FY10.

But how to pair these seemingly conflicting goals — passing multi-billion-dollar, job-creating packages with cutting spending and reducing the deficit — must await, in part, the president’s budget, set for release in early February.

Many observers speculate Senate Majority Leader Reid will push an energy bill aimed a creating green jobs and improving energy infrastructure without a cap-and-trade provision that Republicans argue amounts to a major energy tax. In a statement last week, a Reid spokeswoman mentioned "clean energy legislation," financial regulatory reform and immigration among priorities for the first half of the year.

Let’s be honest. This year, well, t’was a bit of a downer. But humorist Dave Barry has an amusing take on the last year of the aughts (or perhaps the aught-nots). You should read the entire column, but here’s the intro:

It was a year of Hope — at first in the sense of “I feel hopeful!” and later in the sense of “I hope this year ends soon!”

It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting “business as usual,” finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it.

As an artist myself, I find myself drawn (pun intended) to other artists around the world who are doing what they love. The invention of the Web and the prevalence of blogging have made my life easier. Now all I have to do to take in a good gallery exhibit is go to my preferred browser and search.

Over the past two years I’ve been doing just that. I’ve logged countless hours and have lost more sleep than I can imagine scrolling through some of my favorite art blogs. I’ve discovered everyone from a guy who created a skull out of a different material each day for a year to someone who routinely inks an old-fashioned comic strip. In between I stumbled upon someone who is eerily similar to me: he’s bald, sports a goatee and is an artist with a dream.

His name is Terry Border and he lives here in Indianapolis. For about three years he’s been bending the fabric (or wire) of reality. He takes wire and ordinary objects we see around our houses (corks, spice jars, fruit and cheesy snacks to name a few) and literally bends and shapes them into something else, injecting personality and life into them along the way. He then photographs them and posts them for all to see.

Within these photos we get a glimpse of what really goes on behind the cupboard. Why are carrots such great parents? What do people really think of Hamlet? How do you fight a cold? All these questions and more are answered on Terry’s blog.

His site boasts over 10,000 unique visitors per month. Now, he’s put some of his most creative creations into a book. “BENT OBJECTS: The Secret Life of Everyday Things,” was released on October 6.

I encourage those interested in good humor, great art and a desire to support local artists to check out his blog http://www.bentobjects.blogspot.com/ and pick up the book. Or drop him a comment at BentObjects@gmail.com.