Sunday, April 22, 2007
Caffeinated Soap?
Ok, this might be a good idea for some people who have a hard time waking up in the morning and are especially lazy. Caffeine in your soap. It is a regular bar of soap with peppermint oil and caffeine that is absorbed through the skin to get you going in the morning. Personally I prefer to drink coffee in the morning, the warmth of it coursing through my bloodstream. What if you used caffeinated soap and drank coffee... wouldn't that be the equivalent of smoking with a nicotine patch? I think this soap would be PERFECT for 13-year-olds who don't yet drink coffee... Get to school, kid!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Croc Bites off Hand of Zoo Worker
TAIPEI, Taiwan (April 13) - A zoo worker had his forearm reattached Thursday after his colleagues recovered the severed limb from the mouth of a 440-pound Nile crocodile, an official said. [From AOL News]
Friday, April 13, 2007
Friday the 13th
The origins of "Friday the 13th" and its superstitions.
Some people expect bad luck on Friday the 13th, so if you get fired from your job today, or smash up your car, you can blame it on Friday the 13th. Superstition provides us with an excuse for explaining away our mistakes. It's an easy way to rationalize the screw-ups for which we are responsible.
So where does it come from -- the fear of 13? Its origins can be traced to Norse mythology and a dinner party at Valhalla, home of the god Odin, where Odin and 11 of his closest god-friends were gathered one night to party. Everyone was having fun, but then Loki, the dastardly god of evil and turmoil, showed up uninvited, making it a crowd of 13. The beloved god Balder tried to boot Loki out of the house, the legend goes, and in the scuffle that followed he suffered a deathblow from a spear of mistletoe.
From that mythological start, the number 13 has been bad luck through history. There were 13 people at Christ's Last Supper, including the double-crossing Judas Iscariot. Apollo 13 lunar mission left the launching pad at 13:13 hours and was aborted on April 13. Fridays haven't been any better. Friday was execution day in ancient Rome -- Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Put it all together, and Friday the 13th spells trouble for some phopics.
Skyscrapers and hotels have no 13th floor; airplanes have no 13th aisle. But the joke is on triskaidekaphobics, fear of the number 13, since the 13th aisle is sitting right there behind the 12th, obviously -- it's just labeled as 14 to trick you into relaxing.
But triskaidekaphobia isn't an exclusively American affliction. Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery. There is an organization in France whose exclusive purpose is to provide last-minute guests for dinner parties, so that no party host ever has to suffer the curse of entertaining 13 guests.
So how bad can the phobia get? Donald Dossey, director of the Phobia Center in Asheville, N.C., says that the various effects of triskaidekaphobia can range from a mild, nagging sense of doom to full-blown obsessive behavior. Some people refuse to get out of bed on Friday the 13th, Dossey says.
Some people expect bad luck on Friday the 13th, so if you get fired from your job today, or smash up your car, you can blame it on Friday the 13th. Superstition provides us with an excuse for explaining away our mistakes. It's an easy way to rationalize the screw-ups for which we are responsible.
So where does it come from -- the fear of 13? Its origins can be traced to Norse mythology and a dinner party at Valhalla, home of the god Odin, where Odin and 11 of his closest god-friends were gathered one night to party. Everyone was having fun, but then Loki, the dastardly god of evil and turmoil, showed up uninvited, making it a crowd of 13. The beloved god Balder tried to boot Loki out of the house, the legend goes, and in the scuffle that followed he suffered a deathblow from a spear of mistletoe.
From that mythological start, the number 13 has been bad luck through history. There were 13 people at Christ's Last Supper, including the double-crossing Judas Iscariot. Apollo 13 lunar mission left the launching pad at 13:13 hours and was aborted on April 13. Fridays haven't been any better. Friday was execution day in ancient Rome -- Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Put it all together, and Friday the 13th spells trouble for some phopics.
Skyscrapers and hotels have no 13th floor; airplanes have no 13th aisle. But the joke is on triskaidekaphobics, fear of the number 13, since the 13th aisle is sitting right there behind the 12th, obviously -- it's just labeled as 14 to trick you into relaxing.
But triskaidekaphobia isn't an exclusively American affliction. Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery. There is an organization in France whose exclusive purpose is to provide last-minute guests for dinner parties, so that no party host ever has to suffer the curse of entertaining 13 guests.
So how bad can the phobia get? Donald Dossey, director of the Phobia Center in Asheville, N.C., says that the various effects of triskaidekaphobia can range from a mild, nagging sense of doom to full-blown obsessive behavior. Some people refuse to get out of bed on Friday the 13th, Dossey says.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Friday, April 06, 2007
Are You as Smart as a Fifth-Grader?
There have been a lot of articles, posts, T.V. shows and interest in testing adults' knowledge of fifth-grade education lately. I dismissed them as silly, and didn't read any until today. My curiosity got the better of me, so I took the 5th grade science test. To my horror, I failed miserably! But to redeem myself, I took the 9th grade vocabulary test and passed with flying colors! See how you do, it's quick and easy. Fifth Grade Science Test
High School Freshman Vocabulary Test
High School Freshman Vocabulary Test
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