"Let no one ever come
to you without leaving happier." ~Mother Teresa
Always try to make
people happier, especially on a Happy Friday!
Jul 11, 2020
National French Fry Day, July 13, 2020
During 1802 Thomas Jefferson served
"potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner.
Jefferson originally knew them as pommes de terre frites à cru
en petites tranches (potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small
cuttings). Incidentally, the average American eats 29 pounds of
French fries a year
Chewing the Fat
Before ships were equipped with refrigerators, salted beef,
which was cheap, would keep well, and was standard fare for men
at sea. One piece of the jerky could often be chewed for hours.
Now, the phrase means to have an informal chat with someone,
something the sailors likely did while “chewing the fat.”
Laughter
Laughter does have positive psychological, physiological, and
immunological impacts on our health. The term for the study of
laughter and laughing and the examination of its effects on the
human body is “gelotology” — from the Greek gelos, meaning
“laughter.”
In their study “Humor and Laughter May Influence Health” in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Mary Payne Bennett and Cecile A. Lengacher report that a sense of humor influences psychological and physiological well-being. Among their findings:
Laughter leads to increased heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen consumption, similar to aerobic exercise. After intense laughter, body muscles relax.
Like other strong emotions, humor seems to activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which shows an increase in such hormones as urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine, but blood pressure remains stable. (Sad emotional stimulus results in higher blood pressure.)
Exposure to a humorous stimulus decreased self-reported anxiety.
Laughter in response to humorous stimuli correlates with improvement of natural killer (NK) cell activity — the immune cells that kill cancerous cells and prevent some types of viral illnesses.
Laughing has social benefits. Since much laughter is a social response rather than a reaction to jokes, laughing facilitates social reaction.
Laughter is also contagious. If you see someone laughing, you will probably laugh, too. One reason is because the sound of laughter is contagious: Researchers recently found that we often mimic one another’s behavior, copying words or gestures due to the mirroring system in the brain.
Here are some laughing exercises for you to try.
Smile with stretching: First breathe in and out through your mouth. When you exhale, smile. Repeat few times, and then do it while stretching. Breathe in and stretch your body, and breathe out, smile, and relax.
Facial release: Move your facial muscles. Stretch and squeeze or make a dance with your face. You will find your face becomes much more relaxed and ready for laughing.
Create laughing sounds: Make laughing sounds like ha-ha-ha while shaking your body a little bit or gently tapping your body parts or clapping hands. Imagine all the stress is released.
Laugh out loud: Start with small laughing sounds and a little motion, and then create bigger motions and louder laughter.
In their study “Humor and Laughter May Influence Health” in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Mary Payne Bennett and Cecile A. Lengacher report that a sense of humor influences psychological and physiological well-being. Among their findings:
Laughter leads to increased heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen consumption, similar to aerobic exercise. After intense laughter, body muscles relax.
Like other strong emotions, humor seems to activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which shows an increase in such hormones as urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine, but blood pressure remains stable. (Sad emotional stimulus results in higher blood pressure.)
Exposure to a humorous stimulus decreased self-reported anxiety.
Laughter in response to humorous stimuli correlates with improvement of natural killer (NK) cell activity — the immune cells that kill cancerous cells and prevent some types of viral illnesses.
Laughing has social benefits. Since much laughter is a social response rather than a reaction to jokes, laughing facilitates social reaction.
Laughter is also contagious. If you see someone laughing, you will probably laugh, too. One reason is because the sound of laughter is contagious: Researchers recently found that we often mimic one another’s behavior, copying words or gestures due to the mirroring system in the brain.
Here are some laughing exercises for you to try.
Smile with stretching: First breathe in and out through your mouth. When you exhale, smile. Repeat few times, and then do it while stretching. Breathe in and stretch your body, and breathe out, smile, and relax.
Facial release: Move your facial muscles. Stretch and squeeze or make a dance with your face. You will find your face becomes much more relaxed and ready for laughing.
Create laughing sounds: Make laughing sounds like ha-ha-ha while shaking your body a little bit or gently tapping your body parts or clapping hands. Imagine all the stress is released.
Laugh out loud: Start with small laughing sounds and a little motion, and then create bigger motions and louder laughter.
Wordology, Draw a Blank
According to 'English Language Centres', “draw a
blank” originated in Tudor England when Queen Elizabeth I set up
the first national lottery in 1567.
For this lottery, there were two pots. One pot contained slips of paper with the names of all of the participants. The other pot contained the same number of slips, only some bits of paper had prizes written on them while others were blank. One slip of paper was pulled from each pot at the exact same time and if the person matched with a prize, then they would win the prize. However, if the person’s name was drawn with a piece of paper with no writing, then they would not win anything. They were unsuccessful and “drew a blank.”
For this lottery, there were two pots. One pot contained slips of paper with the names of all of the participants. The other pot contained the same number of slips, only some bits of paper had prizes written on them while others were blank. One slip of paper was pulled from each pot at the exact same time and if the person matched with a prize, then they would win the prize. However, if the person’s name was drawn with a piece of paper with no writing, then they would not win anything. They were unsuccessful and “drew a blank.”
Ten Interesting Internet Facts
37% of the internet is porn.
Porn websites attract more visitors each month than Amazon, Netflix, and Twitter combined.
15% of American adults do not use the internet.
Over 100,000 .com domains are registered each day.
Internet users send 204 million emails per minute.
China has more internet users on mobile devices than on PCs.
"LOL" used to mean "lots of love" before the internet.
The first thing ever bought and sold across the internet was a bag of marijuana around 1971. (Back when it was an academic network Arpnet.)
In 1973, the entire internet consisted of only 42 computers.
India has more people using the internet than the entire population of the U.S.
Porn websites attract more visitors each month than Amazon, Netflix, and Twitter combined.
15% of American adults do not use the internet.
Over 100,000 .com domains are registered each day.
Internet users send 204 million emails per minute.
China has more internet users on mobile devices than on PCs.
"LOL" used to mean "lots of love" before the internet.
The first thing ever bought and sold across the internet was a bag of marijuana around 1971. (Back when it was an academic network Arpnet.)
In 1973, the entire internet consisted of only 42 computers.
India has more people using the internet than the entire population of the U.S.
Online Fax
Many of us have long since abandoned our home fax machines, due
to lack of use. For that rare occasion we need to send a fax,
because email attachment will not do, there is a free internet
service called Faxzero. You can go to the site add your document
and send a fax for free. Some limitations, but quick and easy
when you need it. LINK
Pronounce This
Route, The pronunciation of the word "route" is a little bit
complicated. Though Northeasterners tend to pronounce it so it
rhymes with "hoot" and Midwesterners tend to pronounce it so it
rhymes with "out," just over 30 percent of respondents in the
Harvard Dialect survey noted that they can (and do) pronounce it
both ways.
Get, "The word get does not rhyme with yet here in the South," writes Sarah Johnson, a South Carolina native and Southern accent specialist. "We say it like 'git.' There is a common rhyme teachers use at school when students complain about not getting their first choice. In the North, you might say: 'You get what you get, so don't be upset.' We say, 'You git what you git, so don't throw a fit.'"
Can't, according to Johnson, "the word can't in many small towns in the South rhymes with paint."
Get, "The word get does not rhyme with yet here in the South," writes Sarah Johnson, a South Carolina native and Southern accent specialist. "We say it like 'git.' There is a common rhyme teachers use at school when students complain about not getting their first choice. In the North, you might say: 'You get what you get, so don't be upset.' We say, 'You git what you git, so don't throw a fit.'"
Can't, according to Johnson, "the word can't in many small towns in the South rhymes with paint."
What's in a Name, Donald Weder
If you have ever enjoyed an Easter basket
with plastic eggs and grass, then you can thank Donald Weder,
the man who invented both. Weder not only holds the patents on
these holiday staples, he also holds a total of 1,413 U.S.
patents, including ones for water-based inks, flower-pot covers,
and decorative wrappers. That is more than Thomas Edison, who
held just 1,093 U.S. patents.
Jul 4, 2020
Happy Friday
"Do not run after
happiness, but seek to do good, and you will find that happiness
will run after you." ~ James Freeman Clarke
If you are chased by happiness, turn around and embrace it, especially on a Happy Friday!
If you are chased by happiness, turn around and embrace it, especially on a Happy Friday!
July 4
After
the members of the Second Continental Congress approved and
signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, John Adams wrote
about the occasion in a letter to his wife Abigail: "I am apt to
believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding Generations as
the great anniversary Festival." Adams went on to suggest that
it should "be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn
Acts of Devotion to God Almighty." He then added: "It ought to
be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports,
Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this
Continent to the other from this time forward forever more."
Reading these words, you might describe Adams as prescient, except he was talking about July 2, 1776, when the document was approved and signed, and not July 4th, when it was formally adopted by the Continental Congress. For the remainder of his life, Adams considered the Second of July to be America's true Independence Day, and he was so miffed when the Fourth became the accepted holiday that he refused to participate in any celebrations on that date.
Reading these words, you might describe Adams as prescient, except he was talking about July 2, 1776, when the document was approved and signed, and not July 4th, when it was formally adopted by the Continental Congress. For the remainder of his life, Adams considered the Second of July to be America's true Independence Day, and he was so miffed when the Fourth became the accepted holiday that he refused to participate in any celebrations on that date.
Wordology, Under the Weather
Originally, sailors used the phrase “under the
weather bow,” referring to the side of the ship that would get
the brunt of the wind during storms. To avoid getting seasick
when the waves got rough, they would bunker down in their
cabins, literally under that bad weather, to let the storm pass.
Georgia Peaches
Georgia may be known as the Peach State, but according to the
Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, California grew 541,000
tons of peaches in 2017. Meanwhile, Georgia was not even in the
top three, even though peaches are its official state fruit. New
Jersey was second and Pennsylvania was third.
Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda
Difference between baking powder and baking
soda.
Baking soda and baking powder both leaven baked goods. Baking expert Zach Young explains the difference during his Cranberry Scones class. Baking soda is activated by the acid in the recipe (like yogurt or buttermilk). Baking powder, on the other hand, is typically activated twice: first when it is added to a wet batter and second when you put it in the oven.
Baking soda and baking powder both leaven baked goods. Baking expert Zach Young explains the difference during his Cranberry Scones class. Baking soda is activated by the acid in the recipe (like yogurt or buttermilk). Baking powder, on the other hand, is typically activated twice: first when it is added to a wet batter and second when you put it in the oven.
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