Category: Ruminations and Crackpot Theories

Observations on life in general.

National Trivia Day

It’s National Trivia Day. Here are ten bits of useless information.

  • One of Adolf Hitler’s nephews came to the US, joined the navy, and fought his uncle’s army in WWII. His descendants live on Long Island.
  • Former President Bill Clinton once correctly answered three questions about My Little Pony on the NPR radio show Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.
  • Taylor Swift won more awards at the 2010 Grammy’s than Elvis Presley did in his entire career.
  • The Germans have a word for emotionally based overeating: kummerspeck, which translates to “grief bacon.”
  • 666 isn’t only the Mark of the Beast–it’s also the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel.
  • Horses can’t vomit.
  • A pheromone in male mouse urine that stimulates sexual attraction in a female to that particular male was named Darcin—after Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy.
  • 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
  • Obsession for Men, by Calvin Klein, is used by photographers in the wild to attract big cats into camera range.
  • Forty is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order.

Happy New Year?

Ever wonder why we celebrate our New Year in the dead of winter (in the northern hemisphere)? It’s not based on any scientific event (solstice, equinox, etc.) or seasonal marker. It’s based on a civic practice of ancient Romans.

I think there are several other days that would be more suitable.

  • The Winter Solstice: the shortest length of daylight in the year. After this, the hours of daylight gradually increase, bringing us out of darkness.
  • The Vernal Equinox: Spring begins! Life reawakens from winter slumber. Leaves burst from tree branches. Flowers bloom.
  • The Autumnal Equinox: New school years begin in the autumn. The Jewish New Year is in the fall. We get ready for the long winter ahead.

Why not one of these dates instead of a day picked by a politician as the day newly elected politicians took office?

Deck of Cards

Today is National Card Playing Day.

I always used to travel with a deck of cards. It didn’t take up much space and the possibilities were endless. Now we play “card games” on our phones.

I grew up playing cards. Yes, we had board games. I recall many marathon Monopoly games with my siblings and cousins. And of course there was Barbie, Queen of the Prom.  But what I mostly remember are the card games. All kinds of card games.  Pitch, Spoons (Pig), Rummy, Gin Rummy, Crazy Eights, Crazy Canasta. We would sometimes laugh so hard we would fall out of our chairs–or worse.

We played cards in high school, too, even though we weren’t supposed to. Our favorite games was one we called Sit and Bull$#!+. When my mom taught it to us, she called it ‘I Doubt It.’ I’ve also heard it called ‘Liar’ or ‘Cheat.’ I had a deck of tiny cards we could hide in our hands. I still have most of the deck.

Oh, how we would laugh while we played. And I don’t thing we were ever caught. We weren’t gambling or playing strip poker: we were having fun.

I don’t see people laughing over their cell phones when they play games.

What are some of your favorite card games?

Peace on Earth

For Christians, today is Christmas, the day the birth of The Prince of Peace is commemorated. Peace on earth, goodwill toward man is the holiday mantra.

This year, December 25 is also the first night of Chanukkah. In the US, this holiday has gotten a reputation for being the Jewish Christmas. Not so. It’s not even a religious-based holiday.  It is a commemoration of the first war ever fought in the name of religious freedom. After the war was won, and religious freedom was a right, the Israelites rededicated their temple. The word “chanukkah” means dedication.

Apparently religious freedom was a daring new concept back in the days of the Maccabees. Sometimes, it seems like it still is.

Regardless, if you celebrate Christmas, observe Chanukkah or any of the other approximately 27 other holidays observed by seven major religions on this planet, may your day be filled with peace and a dedication to it.

Turning Point

3 Comments

I’ve been awfully tired lately. I can’t seem to get enough sleep. It’s probably due to lack of daylight. It’s dark when I go to work in the morning, and it’s dark nine hours later when I come home at night. I do get to see daylight on my lunch hour, but that’s it.

But today is Turn-Around Day: The Winter Solstice.

After today, the day when we have the least amount of hours of daylight, things will get better. The minutes of daylight will increase. Dusk will creep in later and later until I actually get more hours of sunlight for my very needy soul.

I don’t blame the ancients for worshipping on this date.