031: 1,339 Quite Interesting Facts To Make Your Jaw Drop

1,339 Quite Interesting Facts To Make Your Jaw Drop

Did you know that a moment is officially defined as 90 seconds?

Did you know that the Russian Olympic team arrived 12 days late for the 1908 Olympics because they were still using the Julian calendar?

Did you know a spermologer is a collector of trivia?

It is entirely possibly that no one loves random fact books as much as I do!  I love any type of book or magazine that is just filled with the most random tidbits of information that will peak your interest.  I am known to carry around the bathroom readers just to read the little lines at the bottom to learn something that I can share with my friends.  As a result, I have developed a rather wide, yet shallow, knowledge base about almost every topic known to the world.  Perhaps this entire project is simply a random fact book...on a large scale???

As far as random fact books go, this one is unique in how it organizes the information.  Many fact books either have no organization or topics are organized into general chapters.  This one was fun to read because it operates on the rabbit hole theory.  The first fact on each page is a starting point.  Then each fact builds by going deeper into the rabbit hole of things vaguely related to the fact above it.  It's almost like a fact version of being 6 steps away from anyone. 

In honor of this book I loved so much I have decided to create my own mini version of the book filled with facts I have found through my own research.  I will use a random fact about me as the jump off point:

• Sam Gates is an excellent (or at least passable) juggler.
• The earliest depiction of juggling is painted on an Egyptian tomb dating from almost 2000 years BC.
• The king of Egypt could be a woman.  It happened on at least 3 occasions.
•  The octopus has three hearts. Camels have three eyelids. 
• Octopus sometimes eat their own arms when bored.
• There are no strong muscles in the hand. When you grip firmly, most of the power comes from muscles in the lower arm, linked to the bones of the hand by long tendons.
• The duck billed platypus hunts by digging to the bottom of streams with its bill, then its electroreceptors detect tiny electrical currents generated by muscular contractions of its prey.
• Electricity can be made from wind, water, the sun and even animal poop

As you can see, we could keep going forever.  Do you all like random fact books?  I would love to see your own mini versions of the book in the comments.  I challenge you to go down the rabbit hole.

Happy Reading and Researching :)

Sam

Justice

Justice: A story about my first born self

If you read my post yesterday you know that I recently read a book that contained some information about how my birth order has affected my personality.  One thing mentioned in the book was the first born children have a strong sense of justice and law and order.  I'm also taking part in a writing class as part of the National Writing Project.  One of the assignments of the class is to produce personal writings.  The story you are about to read was my first personal interest writing.  I think it is an entertaining of example of how my beliefs of law and order have affected my life experiences.  

Enjoy :)

I'm Sorry Mrs. Hallam:

One of my worst elementary school memories is the time I forgot my homework.  As a child, I was very anxious and, as a result, very forgetful.  I struggled a great deal with anxiety and depression.  The smallest mistakes would set the perfectionist that lived in my brain into a tail spin.  It started with crying when I missed a question on a test, or hating myself when I didn’t know the answer.  This progressed to full on, body collapsing, meltdowns over a pencil that had dropped to the floor.  I remember getting physically sick at the thought of the stress that came with another school day.  My mind was constantly reeling about what things that I had or hadn’t done and this led to more mistakes as I had difficulty remembering everything I needed to do to have a “perfect” day.  

One night my teacher assigned typical homework; write one sentence for each spelling word.  As a people pleasing, brown nosed student I spent the evening writing and rewriting the perfect sentences.  The next morning when it came time to turn in my homework, I realized that my worst fear had come true.  I had left my work on my desk in my bedroom!  What would I do?  What should I say?  Instant nausea!  I told the teacher what had happened and received my dreaded consequence.  I would miss recess to complete the homework and, worse still, have my name on the board as a constant reminder of my failure.

I did my time without fanfare and completed the work.  I was able to remember pieces of the sentences I had done the night before and used some of that to finish just as recess ended.  Of course I wanted to turn my work in RIGHT THEN.  I didn’t want to take the chance that I could misplace it again.  Plus I had to get my name off the board.  Unfortunately, my teacher was busy and asked me to turn it into the homework bin the next morning.

The next morning came around and I bet you will never guess what happened…I LOST IT AGAIN!  Sick to my stomach, I rushed to the bathroom in tears.  What could I do?  I didn’t want to miss another day of recess.  I had done the work...TWICE!  I couldn’t leave my name up there on the board.  I was a good student, never in trouble.  When I got back to the classroom I noticed my teacher was distracted with a group of students so I did the unthinkable.  I walked past the white board, back to the slick white surface, and daringly erased my name.  No one saw me or noticed the red in my cheeks as my heart raced over what I had just done.  When my teacher went through the morning routine, she checked the board for names and mine was not there.  She never even noticed.

I never brought this moment up again with the teacher, but the guilt ate away at my soul.  Years went by.  Am I a bad person?  I’m a liar!  Did she know?  Was she disappointed in my?  Finally, I am an adult.  A college graduate who can hold this dark secret no longer.  I sat my family down in our living room.  They look suspicious.  What could this possibly be about?  My parents know that I am about to share some dark piece of me.  Finally, I confess.  I tell the whole story of my horrible decision to tell a lie.  I felt the sweet freedom that comes when an enormous weight has been lifted off your shoulders.  Everyone else thinks how silly I am.  My sister and father, notorious troublemakers, finds the whole event hilarious.   They cannot fathom why this minor event should continue to affect my life in such a momentous way.  What matters is that I finally feel a bit of peace and to Mrs. Hallam, wherever you are, just know...I’m so sorry!

155: Pleasers

Pleasers: why women don't have to make everyone happy to be happy

As I mentioned in a previous post, last year was not the greatest year so when I walked up to begin my journey into nonfiction on the very first aisle, this book practically jumped off the shelf and into my arms.  The book then sucks you in from the back page with three simple questions:

1. Do you have a hard time saying no to people?

2. Do you feel guilty taking time out for yourself?

3. Do you feel overwhelmed by responsibilities?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might be a pleaser.  How ridiculous!  Doesn't everyone feel this way sometimes.  I only have to feel one of these things and all of a sudden something is wrong with me.  Well, congratulation to the author, you have me hooked.  Now I have to figure out how to fix this...

Turns out...I am a pleaser.  The book was right.  But there are many different types of pleasers and not all of them are bad news.  I found that I connected most to the stories of the played out pleaser.  This was someone who is highly motivated and a perfectionist (which it turns out causes all kinds of problems).  Played out pleasers are willing to do everything they can, but rarely say they can't take care of something.  They hold it all inside as an angry and uptight person that erupts in private, but maintain a happy face for the world.  Boy if my husband could read that!  He often complains that I seem angry or unhappy when the slightest things set me off schedule.  I'm not actually angry...just tired.

How did I get this way?  Well, it wasn't because of a bad relationship with my Dad like the book tries to point out.  In fact, my dad is AWESOME!!!!! I believe it is a result of the second idea in the book...birth order to blame.  Here are some traits that I have as a first born:

• Perfectionist
• The author dedicates an entire chapter on how my perfectionism will eventually destroy me into a never ending pit of despair until I learn to let go of my crazy goals and go for mediocre...never happening.  I guess I will wallow in excellence forever :)
• Reliable
• Conscientious (try to be)
• List Makers
• I think the author visited my office
• Well Organized
• This led to a huge debate at my house.  Mostly because my sister...a raucous last-born took offense to the idea that I would be considered more organized than her.  She would be right.  She is often more neat and clean than I am.  I tend to twirl around in a mess that somehow manages to pull it all together when I get to work.  At work, I take all the organized energy I haven't been using and apply it at a frantic rate that leaves others stressed out by spending time around me.  Way to go!
• Critical
• Serious
• Scholarly
• I just started a blog that is about reading nonfiction so I guess I can't argue with this one
• Goal Oriented
• High Achieving (if you set goals...this is the result, come on)
• Self-Sacrificing (oh boy, I am a pleaser)
• Supporter of law and order (I'll share a story about this one)
• Loyal

Luckily for me, most of my traits are pretty good.  They just mean I have a tendency to want to follow the rules and not complain.  It also means I rarely say "too much" or ask for help from anyone outside my parents.  So the key to not being so much a pleaser...or to become a happier pleaser is to speak up.  It is ok for me to say "I can't do that" or to expect to be treated fairly.  I am allowed to have high expectations for other people (as long as they are reasonably)

Overall, I definitely recommend this book.  It is a fun read and it does make you think about yourself in a new way.  Let me know if you think you are a pleaser and how you are fixing that :)

Happy Reading!

Leman, Kevin. The Pleasers: Women Who Can't Say No and the Men Who Control Them. F.H. Revell Co., 1995.

Nonfiction Adventures

Nonfiction Adventures:

Google Dictionary defines a reader as "someone who reads or who is fond of reading."  Ever since I can remember I have been a reader.  In elementary school at would read and write at a voracious rate.  I would read books about gymnastics, fairy tales, books of lists, anything I could get my hands on.  As I grew older, I began reading many more books, but often about the same topics.  I focused all my gymnastics reading on blogs and articles.  I had refined my love of fairy tales to only reading books within an extremely large series (5 books or more).  And I would read all sorts of lists.  I loved nonfiction books because they offered an opportunity to learn about something totally new.  I would spend hours pouring over books of random facts, anxious to learn something, anything!

2017 was a terrible year for me.  I had drama in nearly ever aspect of my life.  My personal life and relationship was struggling and I had to put many pieces back together.  My work life was a mess.  I hated my job due to a variety of changes that had been made and didn't know what to do to fix things.  By the second half of the year, many of these issues were beginning to resolve.  My relationship with my family was improving.  This helped me to feel more valued and become a better mom.  I had changed jobs and was thriving in my new role as an instructional coach for a new school.  Despite these improvements, I still didn't feel like I was fully me.  That is when I came to the decision that I needed to make a change for 2018.

Many people make resolutions for the new year.  I don't have a resolution in the traditional sense.  I don't want to lose weight or start working out every day.  I just want to explore and discover who I am.  I want to peel back the tired and angry mask I have been wearing and find the explorer that once existed.  That is how the idea for Nonfiction Adventures began.

How it works: 

I am committed to finding the real me by going back to doing something that I once loved....reading.  I thought and thought of how to begin and decided to begin with EVERYTHING.  I am going to read a little bit of everything.

Step 1: I will head to the library to check out the book selection.  The picture above is of the library I like best in the neighborhood.  They have tons of books in the nonfiction section.

Step 2:  I will start at the first aisle of nonfiction and make at least 3 book selections from 3 different topics.  Each time I will start at a new aisle.

Step 3: I will read each of the books and take notes

Step 4:  I will post my thoughts and learning from the text.  Hopefully it will be interesting to you too.

*I may end up LOVING a section and want to know more.  If so, I may end up reading multiple texts from that section.  I'm open to learning about anything

How does this affect you?

Just as I am taking this reading challenge, I have a challenge for you.  If you are interested in learning more, I invite you to share in my nonfiction adventures and to share your stories with me.  Also, if a topic peaks your interest or you have a great story to share about that topic.  I would love to hear about it.  My goal is to connect to others through this journey.

HAPPY READING!