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WITandWISDOM(tm) - March 9, 2000 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: NOTE: The irony of yesterday's quote from Alex Lowe is that within a few weeks of the time it appeared in Reader's Digest he was killed in an avalanche. I assume he was still having fun! - Ken Wade ~~~ There is always hope for an individual who stops to do some serious thinking about life. - Katherine Logan - Bits & Pieces, December 9, 1993 (Magazine: BITS & PIECES http://www.epinc.com/ ) ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: I can't count how many times people have uttered, while shaking their heads in obvious disappointment, " just don't know what is with teenagers today." The other day I was in my car on my way to the farmers market with my friend Jan when we passed two teens standing by the side of the road with a car wash sign. My car was filthy and my heart was full, so I pulled over. There were teenagers everywhere. There was a group directing the cars and another group spraying them down. As sponges were wiped over every square inch of my dirty car, I sat enjoying the little water battles and the many silent scenarios that were so obviously taking place. I couldn't help but wonder how many crushes, how many new friendships and how many little insecurities were in the air on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. I was amazed at how forty to fifty teenagers had devoted their Saturday to washing cars, and I was curious what their motivation might be. At the end of the assembly line I handed them a twenty-dollar bill and asked what they were raising money for. They explained to me that a friend of their, C. T. Schmitz, had recently died of cancer. He was only fifteen years old and six-feet-two. He had gone to school with a lot of the teenagers who were there that day and each of them had memories of a boy sweeter than any they had known. His friend Kevin had decided to put this car wash together because he wanted to honor his friend and also bring together his classmates with his boy scout troop. He told me that they wanted to plant a tree in front of their school and if they raised enough money they would put a plaque there also. Both would be in memory of their friend C. T. They handed me a bag of homemade cookies with my receipt and we drove away. I asked Jan to read to me what the tag that was tied to the bag said. It said simply, "Thanks for helping us plant a tree for C. T." Yeah! I don't know what is with teenagers today! (Ginnie Ellis via E-zine: HeartWarming Mailto:heartwarming-subscribe@onelist.com) ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: SEINFELDISMS I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain. I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific. The reason most people play golf is to wear clothes they would not be caught dead in otherwise. I had a linguistics professor who said that it's man's ability to use language that makes him the dominant species on the planet. That may be, but I think there's one other thing that separates us from animals. We aren't afraid of vacuum cleaners. The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, then it's you. I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. They always say "because it's such a beautiful animal." There you go, I think. My mother is attractive, but I only have photographs of her. Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fish-burger and I realize, "Oh man!.... I could be eating a slow learner." (Gary Wimer) ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Oliver Wendell Holmes once attended a meeting in which he was the shortest man present. "Dr. Holmes," quipped a friend, "I should think you'd feel rather small among us big fellows." "I do," retorted Holmes. "I feel like a dime among a lot of pennies." (E-zine: QUOTE A DAY Mailto:quoteaday- subscribe@listbot.com) ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: NOTE: Regarding the article 'A Spider's Web', from 6th March, it may interest you to know that the spider protected Robert the Bruce, who went on to win Scottish independence from the English in the 1300s ish. - James Mansell ~~~ I don know about this . . . but for your dining pleasure . . . "Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with." - (E-zine: GAGLER'S TRIVIA OF THE DAY Mailto:signuptrivia@gagler.com) . . . and how about that fiber? :o) I wondered about the accuracy of the above trivia. I found that one medium stalk of celery has 10 calories. http://www.dole5aday.com/nut_center/veg/labels/celery.html It appears that chewing (gum) burns about 11 calories an hour. http://personalmd.com/news/n1229061636.shtml So if you chewed a looong time . . . Of course there must be some calorie burning in the digestive process. I have discovered that I burn about 5 calories a minute by moderate walking. My conclusion is that if you chew your celery well while you are walking you might use more calories that you gain. - Richard :o) |