10-Spot Ramble: Twit

Did you know it’s impossible to breathe fast and stick your tongue out at the same time?

 

{I know you’re sitting there with your tongue out right now, wondering how long and how fast you’re supposed to breathe to see if this is a true statement.}

 

{I don’t know if it’s true or not because my mouth is full of apple slices so I couldn’t try. But I saw it on Pinterest and wanted to tease you.}

 

This is as good a place as any to start a 10-Spot Ramble, so buckle your seatbelts, adjust your life vest and come along with me as we discover the top ten random facts of the evening.

 

1. 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan (Wendy) are the only two Disney cartoon features with both parents that are present and don’t die throughout the movie. Considering the impact Disney movies had on my upbringing, this explains why I spent the first year of Uno’s life terrified one of us was going to die. I distinctly remember the day I sat in the car and sobbed, picturing the scene where I told my grown child how very much her daddy had loved her before he died. (I could blame post-pregnancy hormones but I’d rather pin it on Disney.)

 

2. A baby octopus is about the size of a flea at birth. They must have an amazing growth spurt or live for ages. Or eat Wheaties, because we all know that’s the breakfast of champions. And every octopus dreams of being an eight-limbed champion when they grow up. With a beak. And the ability to squirt ink out of their ahem.

 

3. A car operates at maximum economy, gas-wise, at speeds between 25 and 35 miles per hour. I grew up in a tourist town, where  travelers with out-of-state license plates or rental company bumper stickers creep along the streets or stop suddenly on a 45 mph street. All this time I thought this phenomenon was because people are incredibly stupid when they travel. But now, I know it’s actually because they want to maximize their gas dollars. Those smart shoppers!

 

4. Coca-Cola was the first soft drink to be consumed in outer space. Now, this may simply be an amazing bit of product placement by the Coca-Cola executives, but I’m going to believe this little bit of history is proof that Coca-Cola is the best beverage in the world. Just sayin’.

 

5. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. All those times of extreme stress in your work environment? Just served to make you thinner!

 

6. The glue on Israeli stamps is certified kosher. I have no response to this. But it’s cool. Kind of strange, but certainly cool.

 

7. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit. This is not to be taken as an excuse for all pregnant mammals to be called twits. I personally would not prefer the term “twit” as an endearment if pregnant. In fact, if pregnant and called a twit there’s a decent chance someone would gain a wound with long-term scarring.

 

8. Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants. I’ve always thought Donald Duck was a strange dude, with his lispy voice and sailor’s suit. I didn’t realize he was pantsless until I reached the age of accountability. And then I decided I’d rather eat a duck than watch it run around with a talking mouse and an ugly cow. But that’s just me.

 

9. Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning “containing arsenic.” Surely this can be used in Words with Friends? Scrabble? Trivial Pursuit? This is a fact simply too good to be useless!

 

10. In space, astronauts cannot cry, because there is no gravity, so the tears can’t flow. I would like to check this against the movie Armageddon. If my memory is correct, Ben Affleck and the rest of the crew were definitely crying when they said ta-ta to Bruce Willis. They should have done their research before filming that scene!

 

Hope you enjoyed our 10-Spot Ramble for the evening. If you have your own facts, please share them in the comments!