I like facts.  Cold hard facts.

Don’t get me wrong here.  I like to dream too.  And to conjure and to feign.  And there is always room for a good game of speculation.  One of my favorite things to see, is a little kid, “playing pretend.”  I wonder what age most of us quit playing pretend.

But back to the subject at hand.  “Nothing but the facts ma’am.  Nothing but the facts.”

I especially enjoy learning obscure and interesting facts.  I seek them out.  But sometimes… they make you wonder just who in the world discovered such a thing.  Or why they might even bother gathering this information.

Which I will gladly share with you this evening.

Here are some.

• The estimated percentage of American adults who go on a diet each year is 44%.  The other 56% are either fit, or they don’t give a damn.

• The  average number of days a West German goes without washing his underwear is seven days.  That is one week in the U.S.  That is too long…. anywhere on earth.   I am not sure who conducted this study.  But I bet something they smelled prompted the investigation.

• The percentage of Americans who say that God has spoken to them is 36%.  The other 64% either don’t believe in God….. or if they do believe in God… he must not feel like talking to them in particular.

• Irving Berlin wrote every one of his compositions in F-sharp.  Most American car horns honk in the key of F.   Honk if you love Irv.

• Twenty-three percent of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their butts.  (Is there evidence to prove this?  Cracks on  the glass of the photocopier?)  🙂

• Deer can’t eat hay.  I just read about this one tonight.  Why do I find this interesting?  We have a hay feeder out by our salt lick…. for the deer.  We put fresh bales of hay in it…. but the hay always rots.  No one eats it.  The deer probably think we are thick as bricks in the head.  Now we know.

•  The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.   Someone had to spend valuable time figuring this out.  I spent valuable time telling you about it.

• Every year about 98% of atoms in your body are replaced.  And that means…. you are no longer the person you thought you were.  At least… not a year ago.

Times are a-changing.  One atom at a time.  And that is a fact.

Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.  —  Ivan Pavlov