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A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine:

• 'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'
• 'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer?'" Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether 'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

Labels: fun

What Does "Love" Mean?

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

• "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." -- Rebecca, age 8
• "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." -- Billy, age 4
• "Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." -- Karl, age 5
• "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." -- Chrissy, age 6
• "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." -- Terri, age 4
• "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." == Danny, age 7>
• "Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss." -- Emily, age 8
• "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." -- Bobby, age 7
• "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." -- Nikka, age 6
• "Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." -- Noelle, age 7
• "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." -- Tommy, age 6
• "During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." -- Cindy, age 8
• "My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." -- Clare, age 6
• "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." -- Elaine, age 5
• "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." -- Chris, age 7
• "Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." -- Mary Ann, age 4
• "I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." -- Lauren, age 4
• "When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." -- Karen, age 7<,/li>
• "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." -- Mark, age 6
• "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." -- Jessica, age 8
• Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

Labels: quotes

Jezebel posted a chart that was originally published in the October 1927 issue of Popular Science Monthly. Based on the analysis of over two thousand American marriages, the chart, devised by Hornell Hart, Associate Professor of Social Economy, Bryn Mawr College, is supposed to tell you the odds of a marriage being successful with the ages of the bride and groom being the predictors.

"Those conclusions, reached after four authoritative investigations, show that marital happiness depends to a large extent on the ages at which couples marry; that from the age of the bride and bridegroom at marriage it is possible to forecast the future fortunes of the union with surprising accuracy. Age at marriage, of course, is only one of the factors affecting marital success. The physical, mental and emotional characteristics of the man and woman, not to mention financial and social conditions, play a part. But the investigations show age is a big factor."

In case you're curious about the likely success (or failure) of your own nuptials, I've included the chart below, along with the legend that goes with it.

Your chances for happiness. The letter in the area where the age lines of a bridegroom and bride intersect indicates their chances of happiness. Here is the key: A—Ideal. B—Not so ideal; if in doubt wait year or two. C—Risky; wait a few years. D—Very dangerous; both far too young. E—Exceedingly dangerous; wait. F—Divorce probable. G—A little less hazardous than F. H—Girl far too young; foolhardy unless otherwise excellently suited. I—Good chance if otherwise well mated. J—Suffering and divorce likely. K—May succeed if otherwise unusually well matched. L—Good prospect, although they waited too long. M—Fair chance. N—Hardly a chance. O—Both far too young; wait at least four years. P—Man too young; wait year or two. Q—Good chance. R—Very slim chance. S—Slim chance. T—May succeed if otherwise adapted. U—Age difference too great; almost hopeless. V—A little less hopeless than U. In every case, white area is safest; dark, most hazardous

Labels: fun, Jezebel

Life is short,

Break the rules,

Forgive quickly,

Kiss slowly,

Love truly,

Laugh uncontrollably,

And never regret anything that made you smile.

I can't remember how I stumbled upon this site, but I'm quite addicted to the site Jezebel.com. Their latest article about condoms being recycled into hair elastics. Aside from being completely disgusting, using these products can be a health hazard. Quoted from the original article from InventorSpot:

"Even though the condoms are fully recycled, it has been shown there is still a marked amount of risk for bacteria to be transmitted as girls are known for holding rubber bands in their mouth as they use both hands to gather their hair into their ponytail. Even if they set the band on a bathroom counter while putting hair into place, nail biting or any other oral contact to the skin touching the bands can cause infection ranging from genital warts to the HIV virus."

I can read this, but apparently not everybody can!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!