Louise Carroll: Some random, maybe odd, thoughts
By definition random thoughts are chosen without method or conscious decision so random may not be the proper name for these columns.
I don't have a method, but I do make a conscious decision to add thoughts to the column. Random has other meanings that I might sneak by under like haphazard and serendipitous. And it can also mean odd or unusual. Odd Column might describe it but I don't like the sound of that, so for now, I'll stick with random.
* Alleys, parallel and between the streets, have names, the same as streets. For instance between Summit Avenue and Hillside Avenue is Victor Way: between First Avenue and Line Avenue is Fillmore Way. I have a partial list so if you wonder what your alley's name is I might be able to tell you.
* Idioms in other languages are interesting. In Russian what we call Indian Summer they call Grandma's Summer. In Spanish "for no good reason" translates to "because his grandmother smokes."
* Martin Van Buren grew up in a tavern. Is the moral of the story ― If you want your child to grow up to be president raise him in a tavern? Or a log cabin? To protect his wife's privacy, Van Buren did not mention his wife, Hannah, a single time in his autobiography. I learned these not-so-earth-shaking facts in "Hottest Heads of State" by J.D. and Kate Dobson, which is just fun to read.
* There are over 60,000 acres of shopping malls in the U.S.
* March 1 was National Dadgum That's Good Day. I can't remember the last time I heard anyone say "Dadgum, that's good" so I didn't celebrate it.
* "Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-82.
* Plastic cutlery was first manufactured in the 1940s. Because plastic cannot fully decompose, every plastic fork, spoon and knife ever produced still exists today. Scary, isn't it?
* "Ioffer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them," Adlai Stevenson, 1900-65.
* The biggest, worst traffic jam happened in Beijing, China, in August 2010. It lasted 12 days and was 62 miles long. I can't even imagine.
* Scientists estimate there are thousands of tons of gold in the ocean estimated to be in the billions of dollars between the deposits of gold that exist naturally in the ocean, shipwrecks through the centuries and lost cargo.
* "Everybody knows if you are too careful you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over something," Gertrude Stein, novelist, poet and playwright, 1874-1946.
* Cleopatra made her lipstick from crushed beetles, which gave it a red pigment, and ants, which she used for the base. And don't forget Mark Antony kissed those lips.
* "When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people," Abraham Joshua Heschel, rabbi and professor, 1907-72.
* 50% of all Americans live within 50 miles of where they grew up. I'm one of them.
* I’m responsible for what I say, not what you understand.
* "Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action," James Russell Lowell, poet, editor and diplomat, 1819-91.
* When wearing a bikini, women reveal 90% of their bodies. Men are so polite they only look at the covered parts.
* "If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old," Will Rogers.
* It takes 75,000 crocus flowers to produce one pound of saffron, which is why it is the most expensive spice in the world.
* "Don't get so tolerant that you tolerate intolerance," Bill Maher, comedian, actor and writer.
* People who fidget burn an extra 350 calories a day. This could work off 10 to 30 pounds a year. Fidgeting could become the next weight loss craze.
* "Kindness in ourselves is the honey that blunts the sting of unkindness in another," Walter Savage Landor, 1775-1864.
* I'll end with the words of Lester Holt on NBC News, "Take care of yourself and each other."
This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: Carroll: Some random, maybe odd, thoughts
