"The Mission of Break the Chain is to educate people about the e-mail chain letters circulating on the 'net, share the facts, give our interpretations, and provide the tools and information people will need to make their own decision about the validity of a message. "
The "Currently Circulating Chains" section looks to be pretty extensive - I'll have to check it out in more depth when I get a chance. And the awards section looks like it might be pretty entertaining, as well.
4.05.2001
As I was passing the kitchen door last night, I noticed that the motion-activated light was on out on the deck. That always spooks me. I walked over to door to look outside and there was half of my garbage, strewn across the deck. I looked around, figuring I'd scared off a raccoon, and then I saw her - the prettiest little black cat. I tapped on the window and she looked up at me and then ran away down the stairs. I should have put some food out on the porch for her, but all the usual excuses came into my head... once I start feeding her she'll be mine and I already have 2 old cats and who wants to be a single woman living in an apartment with her sister and 3 cats and besides Winnie would not abide another cat in the house, and... I never did put food out for her and now I feel like a complete sh*t. I'm pretty sure she belongs to the farm next door, but I'll keep my out for her in the future.
4.04.2001
Red has updated GeekSpeak with episode commentary on the latest X-Files episode, "DeadAlive". Thanks, Red!
Well, Whadya Know
Why do we say that someone who has withdrawn a statement has
"recanted?"
Those of us who admire the grape know the word "decant" as a
fancy-shmancy way to say, "pour the wine." And I must tell
you that I've said a lot of things after I've decanted that I
had to recant - put them back in the bottle, so to speak.
But the meaning under intense scrutiny today has to do not
with sipping but with singing. It's based on the Latin
cantare, "to sing." The sense conveyed by recant is that you
have sung out certain things you should not have, and now you
must take them back. I've tried to picture this and I always
come up with an image of someone literally eating his or her
words.
[source: Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and
Mary Morris]
The fastest wind speed ever recorded is 318 mph in one of the May 3,
1999 Oklahoma tornadoes?
[source: USA Today]
The shortage of affordable housing in New York City has often
forced people to accept living quarters far short of ideal.
But the house at 75 ½ Bedford Street in Greenwich Village,
really takes the cake: it's 9 ½ feet wide.
The dimensions may have created some problems, but at least
it hasn't induced narrow-mindedness. Residents have included
poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and actor John Barrymore.
[source: The Book of New York Firsts]
Why do we say that someone who has withdrawn a statement has
"recanted?"
Those of us who admire the grape know the word "decant" as a
fancy-shmancy way to say, "pour the wine." And I must tell
you that I've said a lot of things after I've decanted that I
had to recant - put them back in the bottle, so to speak.
But the meaning under intense scrutiny today has to do not
with sipping but with singing. It's based on the Latin
cantare, "to sing." The sense conveyed by recant is that you
have sung out certain things you should not have, and now you
must take them back. I've tried to picture this and I always
come up with an image of someone literally eating his or her
words.
[source: Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and
Mary Morris]
The fastest wind speed ever recorded is 318 mph in one of the May 3,
1999 Oklahoma tornadoes?
[source: USA Today]
The shortage of affordable housing in New York City has often
forced people to accept living quarters far short of ideal.
But the house at 75 ½ Bedford Street in Greenwich Village,
really takes the cake: it's 9 ½ feet wide.
The dimensions may have created some problems, but at least
it hasn't induced narrow-mindedness. Residents have included
poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and actor John Barrymore.
[source: The Book of New York Firsts]
4.03.2001
4.02.2001
Well, Whadya Know
(btw, the corny humor is not mine)
Who came up with the idea of "Seeing Eye dogs" for blind
people?
During World War I a doctor at a German hospital was called
away from the blind patient he was treating. The doctor left
his German shepherd with the patient and upon his return
noticed the positive way that man and dog were interacting.
The physician reasoned that such dogs could be trained to
assist blind people and set about to teach the animals to do
just that.
This might have remained a local phenomenon had not Dorothy
Eustis, a wealthy American dog trainer, heard of these guide
dogs (the proper term). She hired some of the German trainers
and set up an institute in New Jersey to make this use of the
dogs widespread.
Guide dogs undergo several months of training. Fortunately
they are not yet required to take the Scholastic Aptitude
Test to qualify for the course.
[source: Reader's Digest Book of Facts]
The names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru (See no evil); Mikazaru
(Hear no evil); Mazaru (Speak no evil).
[source: about.com]
If you stand at the equator you will spin at about 1,000
miles per hour because of the Earth's rotation. On the other
hand, even if you're just lying on a chaise lounge in your
own backyard, there are some stiff tropical drinks that will
do the same for you
[source: The Joy of Trivia by Bernie Smith]
(btw, the corny humor is not mine)
Who came up with the idea of "Seeing Eye dogs" for blind
people?
During World War I a doctor at a German hospital was called
away from the blind patient he was treating. The doctor left
his German shepherd with the patient and upon his return
noticed the positive way that man and dog were interacting.
The physician reasoned that such dogs could be trained to
assist blind people and set about to teach the animals to do
just that.
This might have remained a local phenomenon had not Dorothy
Eustis, a wealthy American dog trainer, heard of these guide
dogs (the proper term). She hired some of the German trainers
and set up an institute in New Jersey to make this use of the
dogs widespread.
Guide dogs undergo several months of training. Fortunately
they are not yet required to take the Scholastic Aptitude
Test to qualify for the course.
[source: Reader's Digest Book of Facts]
The names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru (See no evil); Mikazaru
(Hear no evil); Mazaru (Speak no evil).
[source: about.com]
If you stand at the equator you will spin at about 1,000
miles per hour because of the Earth's rotation. On the other
hand, even if you're just lying on a chaise lounge in your
own backyard, there are some stiff tropical drinks that will
do the same for you
[source: The Joy of Trivia by Bernie Smith]
HBO's Autopsy page has a link up for April's FAQ, and there are some pretty good questions and answers. Just in case you needed some background info for that crime novel you're writing.
Oh, and there's also a link to an Interactive Casebook. I first read that as "interactive cookbook". Ew.
Oh, and there's also a link to an Interactive Casebook. I first read that as "interactive cookbook". Ew.
"Look through 20 winning images from the prestigious Pictures of the Year competition and pick your favorite."
My favorites: 1, 9, 13 and 17.
My favorites: 1, 9, 13 and 17.
My sister Sheila and her friend Adrienne went to .Opening Day at Yankee Stadium today, via tickets won at a happy hour. I hope they wore their woolies - it never got above 45 degrees today.
After reading this article about the effect of Mozart's music on people who suffer from epilepsy, I was prompted to go to the Epilepsy Foundation website to learn more.
I was epileptic as a child. I had what I now know are called "simple partial seizures" and took 4 phenobarbitol a day. Reading about my particular form of epilepsy, I realized that I was probably still experiencing seizures well into my teenage years, even though I had a clean EEG and was taken off the phenobarb when I was 13. (I was weaned off the pills until I was 16). They weren't as debilitating, but I would have these weird sensory experiences at times, mostly when I was trying to fall asleep, that would scare the crap out of me. Now I know what they were. And to contact a doctor if I ever do experience them again.
It's not east growing up with epilepsy - you are limited in so many ways, unable to participate in sports and other physical activity, the interruptions to take your medication, the need to inform everyone every time you go somewhere without your parents that you are epileptic - but the most difficult part of having epilepsy is confronting and dealing with the ignorance that surrounds it and how that ignorance affects how people treat you. If you get a chance, please take the time to go to the Epilepsy Foundation site and read a bit about it. Thanks.
I was epileptic as a child. I had what I now know are called "simple partial seizures" and took 4 phenobarbitol a day. Reading about my particular form of epilepsy, I realized that I was probably still experiencing seizures well into my teenage years, even though I had a clean EEG and was taken off the phenobarb when I was 13. (I was weaned off the pills until I was 16). They weren't as debilitating, but I would have these weird sensory experiences at times, mostly when I was trying to fall asleep, that would scare the crap out of me. Now I know what they were. And to contact a doctor if I ever do experience them again.
It's not east growing up with epilepsy - you are limited in so many ways, unable to participate in sports and other physical activity, the interruptions to take your medication, the need to inform everyone every time you go somewhere without your parents that you are epileptic - but the most difficult part of having epilepsy is confronting and dealing with the ignorance that surrounds it and how that ignorance affects how people treat you. If you get a chance, please take the time to go to the Epilepsy Foundation site and read a bit about it. Thanks.
4.01.2001
That plane's dustin' crops where there ain't no crops.
I had the best of intentions last night - I was going to get to bed at a reasonable time so that the loss of that hour wouldn't be felt so keenly. Once again I was thwarted in another of my attempts at self-discipline, this time by the television. I was channel-surfing, making one last round before shutting it off (just in case, you know), when I was stopped dead in my tracks by one of the most indelible movie images of our time: the crop-duster attack scene from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, probably one of the best movies Hitchcock made. How could I go to bed now?
I had the best of intentions last night - I was going to get to bed at a reasonable time so that the loss of that hour wouldn't be felt so keenly. Once again I was thwarted in another of my attempts at self-discipline, this time by the television. I was channel-surfing, making one last round before shutting it off (just in case, you know), when I was stopped dead in my tracks by one of the most indelible movie images of our time: the crop-duster attack scene from Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, probably one of the best movies Hitchcock made. How could I go to bed now?
Colombian advertisers sink even lower than I thought possible. Or maybe they just haven't got the subtlety part down yet.
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