January 29, 2013

Today I learned that Graham Crackers are made from graham flour. I always figured they were just named after a person.

January 23, 2013

Today is National Pie Day, not to be confused with Pi Day, March 14th.

January 19, 2013

After realizing that I had yet to learn something today, I started a Google search 'fun facts about...' and Google suggested 'fun facts about pizza.' On average, Americans eat about 100 acres of pizza a day, which is about 350 slices per second. The top pizza consuming days in the US are, Super Bowl Sunday, New Year's Eve, Halloween, the night before Thanksgiving, and New Year's Day, and 94% of Americans eat pizza regularly. For more great facts, visit: http://pizza.com/fun-facts.

January 18, 2013

Today I learned a new acronym for remembering modes. I Don't Punch Like Muhammad ALi: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Locrian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Aeolian, Locrian.

January 16, 2013

Today would have been Frank Zamboni's 112th birthday. He invented the Zamboni ice-resurfacing machine to more efficiently smooth-en his rink, 'Iceland,' in Paramount, CA. The Zamboni machine has become integral to the NHL, who just purchased the 10,000th Zamboni last year.

“There are three things in life that people like to stare at: a flowing stream, a crackling fire and a Zamboni clearing the ice.”

-- “Peanuts’ “ Charlie Brown

January 15, 2013

The capital of Sri Lanka is Kotte, which means fortress in Sinhalese.

January 14, 2013

Zagreb is the capital of Croatia. It is also the largest city, with a population of 792,875.

January 12, 2013

Hood River is the 64th largest city/town in Oregon out of 242. And it's growing!

January 10, 2013

Today I learned that 95.5 Portland is clear the entire drive to Hood River.

January 9, 2013

Today I attempted to purchase SmartWool socks at a downtown shop, but was frustrated to find that the store carried very few women large socks. I ended up deciding to try ordering online, in hopes that I would be able to find a better selection. This lead me to wonder what the average female shoe size is in the US; I guessed it to be around 9. According to Time NewsFeed, American feet are growing. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the average female shoe size was 3.5 or 4, it increased to 5.5 by the forties and remained consistant until the sixties, the average increased to about 7.5 by the seventies, and now, the average is between 8.5 and 9. Maybe by the end of my lifetime my feet will be average.

January 8, 2013

In my spare time I often explore Google Maps. It is getting so cool! There is a new function that allows you to follow a route in 3D as if you were driving! I love it.

January 7, 2013

Today I learned that a pair of tights that I have, that I thought were black, and have had for over a year, are actually brown.

January 6, 2013

Perspicacious means having keen mental perception and understanding. One could, for example, exhibit perspicacious judgement. 

January 5, 2013

Johnny Cash and I share a birthday. He was born a couple years before me though.

January 3, 2013

I sometimes like to pass my time perusing the Merriam Webster Dictionary website. It can be very fascinating! Today I found a few games that tested my knowledge of word meanings and spellings. I also learned that basketball is the only major sport entirely invented in the United States. It was created in 1891 by James Naismith at the YMCA training school in Springfield, MA to keep his students fit during winter. I highly recommend spending some time at m-w.com!

January 2, 2013

I have been eating a lot of chocolate recently; I'm a big fan. So this inspired my curiosity about America's favorite chocolate. According to a study by 24/7 Wall St., the most popular chocolate bar in the United States is the Snickers bar by Mars. There are 407,409,600 sales a year, accumulating to a profit of $424,112,200. I personally don't like Snickers bars.

January 1, 2013

Happy New Year! I found some great facts about New Years. For example: in Italy, people wear red underwear on New Years Day for good luck for the coming year, while about 40% of American adults make resolutions for the new year, but 25% of those hopefuls will give up by the second week.