O. Henry

In September, we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of O. Henry, born as William Sidney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina. At age three, his mother died of consumption, now called tuberculosis, and he was raised by his physician father and maternal grandmother.

Porter spent his first twenty years in Greensboro with a love of reading and a talent for sketching. After high school, he became a licensed pharmacist and worked briefly in his uncle's drug store. At age 20, worried about a chronic cough that might develop into tuberculosis so he moved to Texas.

Porter traveled with Dr. James K. Hall to Texas in 1882, hoping that a change of air would help alleviate a persistent cough he had developed. He took up residence on the sheep ranch of Richard Hall, James' son and helped out as a shepherd, ranch hand, cook and baby-sitter.

Porter's health did improve and he traveled with Richard to Austin in 1884, where he decided to remain and was welcomed into the home of the Harrells, who were friends of Richard's. Porter took a number of different jobs over the next several years, first as pharmacist then as a draftsman, bank teller, and journalist. He also began writing as a sideline.

During the next several years, he became a well-known member of the social scene as a result of his involvement in musical and theater groups. He played guitar and mandolin and had a great singing voice. It was around this time that he also began to dream up plots for short stories and imagine an assortment of characters, often brought to life in his drawings.

By 1891, while devoting all his spare time to a self-published magazine 'The Rolling Stone', he took a job as a teller and bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Austin. In 1894, be was abruptly fired for embezzling funds, although no charges were filed. He moved to Houston, where his pieces in The Rolling Stone helped land him a job as a writer for The Houston Post.

Two years later, after a federal audit of the Austin bank, formal embezzlement charges were brought against him. The day before his trial, he fled to New Orleans and then to Honduras. A year later, after learning that his wife Athol was dying, he returned to Austin and surrendered to authorities.

In 1898, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. While serving his sentence at Ohio Penitentiary, Porter worked as a night druggist in the prison hospital, given a room in the hospital wing, and even provided with access to a typewriter to continue his writing efforts.

He had fourteen stories published in national magazines under various pseudonyms while he was in prison, but became best known as "O. Henry." When asked what the O stood for, he said, "O stands for Olivier, the French for Oliver."

He was released from prison after serving three years and moved to Manhattan, where he lived until his premature death at age 47 in 1910. He died of cirrhosis of the liver, complications of diabetes, and an enlarged heart. During the last decade of his life, he wrote nearly 400 short stories.

In an interesting twist, like many of his stories, O. Henry Hall in Austin, Texas is named for him and it previously served as the federal courthouse in which he was convicted of embezzlement.

Free Google Calculator

When you type in any formula into the Google search box, like 1+1 or 20/40 (/ is for divide) or 2*2 (* is multiply), Google shows a calculator as the response and it includes the answer.

Happy Friday

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.

I have the perfect design for a Happy Friday!

Oktoberfest

September 22 is considered the beginning of Oktoberfest for 2012. The multi-week festival of beer, oompa music, and wurst always starts in late September. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture and has been held since 1810. Now Oktoberfests are celebrated in cities around the world.

The holiday started as a royal wedding celebration for Crown Prince Ludwig, Beer must adhere to strict German Beer Purity laws (Reinheitsgebot) to be considered official Oktoberfest Beer.

Vanilla Truth

Vanilla comes from a special species of orchid. Consuming natural vanilla causes the body to release catecholamines, including adrenalin and for this reason it is considered to be mildly addictive.


When vanilla plants were first exported from Mexico to other tropical climes, they flowered, but wouldn’t produce vanilla pods. It was discovered that a bee native to Mexico was the only creature that could pollinate vanilla flowers.


Attempts to move the bee to other countries failed and it was not until a slave boy discovered a method of artificial pollination that Mexico lost its monopoly on vanilla. As well as being mildly addictive, vanilla has also been found to block bacterial infections. Ice cream with real flecks of vanilla beans (and maybe some bacon bits) is probably doubly addictive.

USA Today

The Gannett media empire published USA Today for the first time on September 15, 1982. The paper was called 'The Nation’s Newspaper'. Critics called the satellite-transmitted, colorful, splashy publication, 'News McNugggets', and 'The Nation’s Comic Book', but it has withstood the test of time while many others have failed.

Several books have been written about the newspaper that is read by millions each day. USA Today has editions throughout the world and has changed the game for newspapers everywhere. Many have imitated the fast-reading format pioneered by USA Today.

Top Ten Toys of All Time

There is minimal agreement on the top toys of all time among many adults. Some are obviously biased, such as the first poll which includes Star Wars Figures. They have not been in existence long enough to even be considered by others.

Poll 1	Poll 2	Poll 3
1. Hula Hoop	1. Bike	1. G.I. Joe
2. Barbie	2. LEGO	2. Transformers
3. LEGO	3. Teddy Bear	3. LEGO
4. G.I. Joe	4. Crayons	4. Barbie
5. Mr. Potato Head	5. Slinky	5. View-Master
6. Monopoly	6. Ball	6. Bike
7. Star Wars figures	7. Etch A Sketch	7. Cabbage Patch Kids
8. Yo-Yo	8. Yo-Yo	8. Crayons
9. Slinky	9. Barbie	9. Play-doh
10. Wiffle ball, bat	10. Hula Hoop	10. Monopoly

The only 2 toys included on all three lists, in order are LEGO (introduced in 1947) and Barbie (introduced 1959).

I tend to agree with the following list according to another source, which lists the best 5 toys of all time. They are: Stick, Cardboard Box, String, Cardboard Tube, and Dirt. I would add rocks, water, and snow. All have withstood the real test of time, are played with around the world, provide for endless enjoyment and evoke magnificent flights of imagination.

Print a Book While You Wait

Here is a concept that has been bubbling for a while and might be soon at a store near you. On Demand company has signed an agreement with Kodak that could make CVS, and other retailers into instant bookstore as well.

On Demand Books said it hopes to begin wrapping its Espresso Book Machine into Kodak's retailer-based photo kiosks. The unit can print, bind, and trim a softbound book within a couple of minutes. By adding in Kodak picture kiosks, the Espresso would also be able to turn out other photo-related merchandise like photo books. No word on pricing, but this is great technology.

False Folding Paper Fact Debunked

The statement that "you can’t fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 times has been around for a long time." Many still believe it.

However, in 2002 a US high school student Britney Gallivan bought a large roll of toilet paper on the internet and along with her family took it to the local mall, where they toiled for seven hours and folded it into 12 folds. She also folded a piece of thin gold leaf more than 7 times with the use of tweezers.

Download vs. Upload

These words seems to confuse many people when discussing computer usage.

Download is taking something on the Web/Internet or a main company computer and putting it on your personal computer, such as programs or updates. Think of the Web/Internet as the big computer in the sky that drops stuff down to your device.

Upload is taking something on your computer and putting it on the Web/Internet or company computer, such as photos or files.

Donut Bacon Burger Breakfast

This is a great twist on an old idea. Southern Californian burger chain Slater’s 50/50 now offers a Donut Burger on its weekend breakfast menu during regular season football.

It consists of two glazed donuts which sandwich their 50/50 half bacon, half beef burger with a sunny side up egg and cheese. It comes with a side of strawberry jelly. Mmmm.

Welcome

Greetings to all my new best friends from Poland. I have seen many new people sign up recently.

Am interested in how you found my blog. Please comment below to tell me the source that sent you.

Thank you and welcome. I hope you continue to enjoy my posts.

The Butler Did It

The phrase "the butler did it" is commonly attributed to Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958). Mary was a very popular writer who authored over 50 books, many of which became best-sellers. Mary (also a playwright) at one point had three plays running simultaneously on Broadway.

She also created a super-criminal called The Bat in 1920, who was cited by Bob Kane as one of his inspirations for Batman. Mary's first book The Circular Stairs was published in 1908.

In 1930, her book The Door was published and in the story the butler really did it. Although Mary Roberts Rinehart is generally credited with the origin of the expression, the words "the butler did it" do not actually appear in the book. Mary used the "butler as criminal" device in other novels as well. After that, the bit became so popular it was considered a cliche and spawned many satirical jabs.

Happy Friday

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

You cannot fail when you have the courage to have another successful Happy Friday!