It’s Element-ary, Number Two!

This month we will start at the top of the chart with the element with the lowest atomic number, hydrogen,

• the simplest and lightest
• the most abundant
• the source of everything

Hydrogen – discovered in 1766

Symbol: H
Atomic number: 1
Atomic weight: 1.008
Density: 0.082 g/l
Melting point: -259.14°C (-434.45°F)
Boiling point: -252.87°C (-423.17°F)
Color: none
Standard state: gas at 25°C (77°F)
Classification: nonmetallic

Source: The Complete Periodic Table: Elements with Style, by Adrian Dingle and Dan Green.

Commonly Misspelled and Confused – Letter J!

Here is a list of some of the more commonly misspelled/misused words (courtesy of the Internet Accuracy Project) beginning with the letter “J.”  Enjoy!

Commonly misspelled words

J – jealousy, judgment, judicial, judiciary, judicious.

Commonly Confused Words

There are no words beginning with the letter “J” that are commonly confused.

Source: Internet Accuracy Project’s commonly misspelled, confused and misused words is a helpful collection of some of the most commonly misspelled, confused and misused words.

Fun Fact Friday, Number 133!

The category for today’s trivial imponderable is “literature.”  Do you know . . . what was the name of the monster in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus?

The monster was NOT named after his creator (Victor Frankenstein), but rather “Adam.”

Source: Sorry, Wrong Answer: Trivia Questions That Even Know-It-Alls Get Wrong, by Dr. Rod L. Evans.

The Connection Between Love and Hatred!

The stronger the love, the greater the potential for an intense hatred when that love eventually fades.  Here are some oxymoron statements that exemplify this dynamic.   Enjoy!

“The worst, the least curable hatred is that which has superseded deep love.”  (Euripides)

“Of all the objects of hatred, a woman once loved is the most hateful.”  (Max Beerbohm)

“Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.”  (William Congreve)

“The greatest hate springs from the greatest love.”  (Thomas Fuller)

“Hatreds are the cinders of affection.”  (Sir Walter Raleigh)

“If we judge love by the majority of its results, it rather resembles hatred than friendship.”  (La Rochefoucauld)

“I love her and she loves me, and we hate each other with a wild hatred born of love.”  (August Strindberg)

Source: oxymoronica by Dr. Mardy Grothe

Amazing Adjectives, Number Fifty-Three!

Here is a word from the English xero-, a combining form meaning as “dry,” and –thermic, a combining form meaning “heat or hot.”  In Greek xerós means “dry” and thermós means “hot.” As exemplified in The Highly Selective Dictionary of Golden Adjectives for the Extraordinarily Literate.

“Our air-conditioned Greyhound was so comfortable that we could scarcely appreciate what our guide was telling us about the xerothermic environment outside our bus.”

xerothermic

\ zeer-uh–thur-mik \, adjective;

1. of or relating to the condition of being dry and hot.
2. adapted to an environment that is dry and hot.

Source: The Highly Selective Dictionary of Golden Adjectives for the Extraordinarily Literate by Eugene Ehrlich and http://www.dictionary.com.

Gas Tax!

Summer is upon us and with this comes vacations a “road trips.”  As you travel from state to state, I’m sure you are aware of the fluctuating gas prices.  This is due in part to the varying rates at which gas is taxed from state to state.  Here are the ten highest and the ten lowest state gas taxes (courtesy of the AARP Bulletin).

Highest Gas Tax (cents per gallon)
1. Pennsylvania (58.7)
2. California (54.4)
3. Washington (49.4)
4. Hawaii (46.4)
5. New York (44.1)
6. Indiana (42.9)
7. Florida (42.0)
8. New Jersey (41.4)
9. Michigan (38.4)
10. Connecticut (36.9)

Lowest Gas Tax (cents per gallon)
1. Alaska (14.4)
2. Missouri (17.4)
3. Misissippi (18.8)
4. New Mexico (19.0)
5. Arizona (19.0)
6. Texas (20.0)
6. Oklahoma (20.0)
6. Louisiana (20.0)
9. Virginia (20.7)
10. South Caronlina (20.8)

Source: AARP Bulletin, June 2019, p. 40, and, the Tax Foundation (accurate as of January 1st and rounded to the nearest tenth of a cent).

Marriage Advice, Number Eleven!

Here is the eleventh installment of advice on How to be Happy Though Married.  Enjoy!

The Pleasures of Marriage
“Marriage resembles a pair of shears, so joined that they can not be separated; often moving in opposite directions, yet always punishing anyone who comes between them.”  (Sydney Smith, English Clergyman, 1771-1845)

The Pains of Marriage
“My wife and I tried to breakfast together, but we had to stop or our marriage would have been wrecked.”  (Winston Churchill, 1874-1965)

Hints for Husbands
“I have learned that only two things are necessary to keep one’s wife happy.  First, let her think she’s having her own way  And second, let her have it.”  (Lyndom B. Johnson, 1908-1973)

Hints for Wives
“Instead of running, night after night, to the haunts of fashionable folly and thus laying the foundation for consumption and a host of fatal diseases, she will retire early, rise with the lark, and find her pleasures in the face of day.”  (A Discourse of Marriage and Wiving, 1615)

The Marital Bed
“Legend speaks of the face that launched a thousand ships; maybe the one you select wouldn’t even launch a canoe, but don’t let that bother you.”  (Looking Toward Marriage, 1944)

Source: How to Be Happy Though Married: Matrimonial Strife Through the Ages, compiled by Emily Brand.

Long Shadow!

Here is a wonderful pastel that I acquired last spring at the Natureworks Art Show and Sale!  This is always a “must see” event in Tulsa and I am never disappointed. This piece is by an Oklahoma artist that I have been wanting to collect for several years and I finally accomplished my objective.  The title: Long Shadow, the artist: Dale Martin, the medium: pastel.  A phenomenal work of art with exceptional detail!  I once again had to do some creative “juggling” of my paintings in order to get this one up on the wall.

A Federal Official?!

Did you know that Hillary Rodham Clinton was the first First Lady who was also a federal official?  Apparently when she chaired a closed-door task force whose charge was to revise the national health care system, the U.S. Court of Appeals (in Washington, DC) ruled (on June 22, 1993) that she was a “de facto” federal official.

Source: Famous First Facts, by Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, and Janet Podell.

Fun Fact Friday, Number 132!

Today’s real facts (courtesy of http://www.snapple.com) are all about George Washington.  Did you know that . . .

• George Washington was the only unanimously elected President?  (Real Fact #926)
• George Washington had false teeth made of gold, ivory and lead, but never wood?  (Real Fact #943)
• George Washington was a successful liquor distributor, making rye whiskey, apple brandy, and peach brandy at his Mount Vernon distillery?  (Real Fact #1140)
• George Washington started losing his permanent teeth in his 20s and had only one natural tooth by the time he was President? (Real Fact #1142)
• George Washington had false teeth made from many different materials, including an elephant tusk and hippopotamus ivory? (Real Fact #1143)
• George Washington protected his beloved horses teeth by making sure they were brushed regularly?  (Real Fact #1144)

Source: http://www.snapple.com/real-facts