The world is full. Of information. Mysteries. Surprises. There isn’t a day that passes in which I don’t ponder at least a few of these amazing things.
• Let’s start with today’s date in history — August 16, 1977. Elvis died. Maybe. More than 80 percent of Americans believe he passed away, down there in Memphis TN. But the other 20 percent, thinks he just pulled off a great disappearing act. The Elvis sightings have been numerous over the years. Including the day of his death — he was spotted at the airport ticket desk. They spanned most every year. Like the one in the late 80’s in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Elvis had played there for four months before his death. So. In 1988, he was seen standing in line at the local supermarket. And then later, scarfing Whoppers at Burger King. Which, by the way, was his favorite fast-food chain. Many still see him today.
• I was thinking about Pocahontas. As I considered her birth and death dates 1596–1617, I realized that she and Shakespeare were alive at the same time and died only a year apart. 1564 – 1616! I just never thought about them knocking around the planet during the same years.
• Almost every day, I have to tell the internet that I’m not a robot. When I log into a website, or make a purchase, or look the wrong way at the screen…. I am asked… “Are you a robot?” Dag nab. I am not a robot.
• Facebook puts a lot of ads in my face. Lately, they have been insistent that I “LIKE” Camilla Parker Bowles. I don’t want to like her. I don’t even know the woman. I’m sure she and Charles are finally happy together. But I don’t want to see their family photos. That’s for darn sure. I’m not liking her. No way. My Mom told me never to talk to strangers.
• Oh, my Mom. She was always fretting about her weight when she was alive. There was always a diet, or a scheme, or a supplement. For a long time, she bought a product called Ayds — an appetite-suppressant candy. I loved those things. They came in a box that looked like candies from Esther Price, or Russell Stovers. I used to climb up on the kitchen counter and eat about 3 or 4 of those things, hoping she would never notice the missing candies. There were so many of us in the house, it was probably hard to know the culprit. At any rate in the 1970s, they lost 50 percent of their sales when AIDS hit the scene. And into the 80s. My Mom was heavy up to the day she died.
• And speaking of heavy. I finally figured out why the Fat Lady Sings… and not the Gaunt Woman. Here is the deal. If a person sings habitually, it causes the lungs to release leptin. Leptin is a protein manufactured by the body’s fat cells and it is very involved in the regulation of appetite. The more leptin, the bigger the appetite. And…. the bigger the waist line. And that is why it is over when the Fat Lady Sings.
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“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson
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“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
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