For those of you keeping track....this is my third post today. It really does come in waves.

At any rate, I thought I should update you on the job situation. I did not get the job with ECRL, which is the interview I was late for. That'll teach me.

They give me a nice rejection letter letting me know that I came in second for the job. But as they said in Top Gun "there are no points for second place."

Ah well, guess it wasn't meant to be.

You know, you'd think that I wouldn't report something when it turns out I am wrong. But, my friends, it isn't so. I am not a huge fan of being wrong, no one is, but in most cases I am okay with, when I learn something.

This specific incident refers to a conversation I had with my parents. We were talking about how when you cut a plant back, it regrows thicker. "Oh" I said, "like hair when you shave it." My dad said that isn't true. I thought that it was. I was wrong.

According to many sources, but we'll use the Mayo Clinic, hair does not grow back thicker or coarser, it just appears to when it is in the early stages of regrowth.  If you want to know about other famous hair myths, check out this link from our friends as Snopes. In the article, they debunk several old wives' tales surrounding hair. It is pretty interesting.

Well, I suppose that's about it. Dad wins this round. I don't mind losing to him, because I still assume that he's smarter than me. A couple more years of librarianship and blogging and I just might overtake him, but for now, he still edges me out--I'm pretty sure.

So, good news. My friend Jason (that would be Jason M, not Jason F) and his wife Sarah are expecting a baby this coming November.

This is their second child, the first being son Joshua, rapidly approaching the age of 3.

I am hoping they have a little girl (for balance and all) and then they could name her Olivia. Isn't that a pretty name?

More on the babe when they find out its gender at the end of June.

In the meantime...Congratulations to all three of them on their upcoming addition!

I win.

Did you hear that?  I win. Yes, Zack, I am talking to you. I can't believe you would go up against me when you know I am always right.

Wondering what I'm talking about? Well, yesterday, my brother Zack was over visiting for Mother's Day. We got on the subject of mountains, I think because of a charades clue or something. Anyway, my dad brought up K2, and I said, "that's in Pakistan." Zack piped up and said, "no, that's in Nepal." I wasn't sure enough to argue, so I let it go, until Zack followed it up with, "it's the tallest mountain in the world." NO--it isn't.

I told him Everest was the tallest mountain in the world, but being Zack, he argued with me. Eventually, (to save the game) we let it go and moved on with our lives. But, it kept floating around in the back of my brain, so I looked it up.

Here it is: Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. (That's the "I win" part). It stands 29,029 feet tall. K2 is the second tallest mountain in the world at 28, 251 feet. Ha-Ha!

But then, there's this. K2 is located in...wait for it....Pakistan! Okay, it is actually on the border of Pakistan and China, but that's close enough for me. I win again. And Everest, well, turns out Everest is in Nepal. Which is fine, maybe Zack mixed the two up or something, but still, I feel that this was an all-around win for Team Olivia.

This one goes out to Justin, because he was telling me how much he enjoys the knowledge that I share on my blog...and he likes to see his name in lights.

Okay, so the other night I was watching "Sex and the City" on TBS and a commercial comes on for orange juice. A thought pops into my head...are oranges called that because of the color, or is the color named so because of the fruit? So I turn to my mom and ask her that very question. She said: "you mean like a chicken or the egg thing?" Yep, that's exactly what I want to know. Mom didn't have the answer, so I looked it up. Shocking, I know.

Here's your next installment: I did some research in the Oxford English Dictionary. Which is the definitive dictionary  and is chock full of all sorts of useful information. I also googled it and came up with an etymology, which is really close, from Wikipedia. But we'll go with the most authoritative source. The OED gives this definition--

1. a. Any of various kinds of citrus fruit with a usually reddish-yellow rind when mature and an acid many-celled juicy pulp; spec. (a) (more fully Seville orange, bitter orange) the fruit of Citrus aurantium, whose pulp is bitter and which is now used chiefly for making marmalade; (b) (more fully sweet orange, China orange) the fruit of C. sinensis and its varieties, which has a pleasantly acid pulp and is used for eating and making juice.

It then goes on to tell of the earliest documented uses of the name, the earliest being 1400 AD.

Then, if you scroll to a later entry you see this definition--

4. A bright reddish-yellow colour like that of the skin of a ripe orange; any one of a number of shades occupying the region between red and yellow in the spectrum. Also: a pigment or dye of this colour.

-AND-

a. Of the colour of an orange (see A. 4).

And the earliest documented usage of this definition...wait for it...here it comes....1532! Which is a full 132 years after they named the fruit. So, the answer is the chicken! Or is it the egg?

Okay, so I didn't solve that one, but now we know that the color orange is derived from the color of the skin of the fruit. I would have thought it were the other way around. Glad I checked.  Well, Justin, did you learn something? 

Do you remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy first stumbles upon the Scarecrow? She is standing at a crossroad asking Toto which way she should go when the Scarecrow says "you should go that way" and points to the right. Dorothy thinks she is seeing things and looks away when he says, "of course, I hear it's awfully nice that way as well" and points left. This goes on, comically, until the Scarecrow has his arms crossed pointing both directions and leaving poor Dorothy hopelessly lost. Welcome to my day.

I know it doesn't seem a big deal to many, I got lost. So what? Well, I don't get lost. I just don't. I have an impeccable sense of direction and a good understanding of maps, distance, directions, etc. Which is why my getting lost today annoys the bejeezus out of me. Well, that, and it happened as I was on my way to a job interview: and I was subsequently late.

I got the directions off of Google Maps. Truly, I am a huge fan of these new internet mapping services, they are wonderful, and so much easier than a bulky map. Problem is....I guess they're not always right. This one was so far off--I first noticed intersections cropping up that weren't mapped. Then, an unexpected T-Stop. I used my knowledge and reasoned it out and made a turn. The correct turn. Then, when I was back on track with the map and directions: that's when it all came a-tumbling down. Somehow I ended up about 10 miles from my destination in the middle of nowhere, clunking down a dirt road, after following the map precisely. ARGHARRUMPH!

So I called and let them know I would be late and begged for some assistance and presented a first impression of a)not punctual b)unprepared and c)an imbecile--sure, that's exactly what I was aiming for. Sigh. I recovered well, made it into a fun anecdote and charmed the heck out of them in the interview...I know the image I left them was more like what I was shooting for. Still, it put a crimp in my day and left me with the image of Google Maps as a gangly, slightly-charming, stuffing-for-brains scarecrow out to steer me down the wrong path. Hopefully, the interviewers aren't tinmen with no hearts. Which I guess makes me Dorothy...now I need red shoes.

Here's your learnin' for the day, courtesy of Lisa, my co-worker.

She was sorting through some new children's books and came across this one: 

The Mysterious Universe: supernovae, dark energy and black holes, by Ellen Jackson.

One of the facts was talking about a supernova and that its aftermath can create a tiny star; called a neutron star. "Normal stars are made of ordinary atoms composed of a nucleus with electrons zipping around at a distance. In a neutron star, those atoms have been squashed together by gravity so tightly that the whole star is like one big, heavy, and very dense atomic nucleus. A teaspoon of material from a neutron star would weigh more than a pile of a billion cars."(p. 22)

Read that last sentence again. A TEASPOON of material from a neutron star weighs MORE than a pile of a BILLION cars. That is hard to wrap your mind around.

Now, let me show you its size.

The White Dwarf (the arc shown above an approximation of its relative size) is roughly the size of the earth and is incredibly dense on its own. One White Dwarf star weighs (in total) approximately the same as 300,000 earths. The neutron star (blue dot above) weighs the same as 500,000 earths. (p.23).

Come on..tell me you aren't fascinated.

When I wrote my post yesterday, I was being a bit facetious by titling it "Can of Corn?". But as I moved on with my evening, I kept coming back to that phrase, wondering just where it came from.

Let's start at the very beginning. A can of corn, in baseball is a high fly ball, easily caught. The kind that any monkey off the street should be able to catch and therefore, a no-brainer for a professional ball player. But that isn't the question....I am wondering HOW did "can of corn" come to mean that? What is the correlation between baseball and canned vegetables?

So I did some research. Luckily, I was working at Hamline last night and was able to utilize their excellent reference collection, to little avail. In all of the sports dictionaries, histories, encyclopedias, and other reference guides, there was either no mention of the phrase or else just a basic definition. Google was no help. There were some answers thrown out there by yahoos who don't know what they are talking about, but nothing definitive.

In desperation, I turned to actual dictionaries. I started with the OED, but it doesn't have a listing or even a mention of the phrase. Then I came across the "Dictionary of American Slang," 1967. It gives the standard definition 1)In baseball, a high, slow fly ball. But then adds this interesting tidbit. 2) A man, a fellow, or a guy, especially one who has done something audacious. 1949: "Where would a hot can of corn like Dillinger hideout?" A. Hynd, "Public Enemies."

Hm, now I know the phrase isn't specific to baseball, which I didn't know before, but I am not really any closer to my answer. Finally, I stumbled across "The Dickson Baseball Dictionary," 1989. The book wasn't at Hamline, I had to run over to Macalester to look at it (yep, I worked really hard to spelunk this one). But I found a great entry.

It gives the same definition, but offers up this etymology: The phrase has long been assumed to have come from the old time grocery store where the grocer used a pole or a mechanical grabber to tip an item, such as a can of corn, off a high shelf and let it tumble into his hands or his apron, which was held out in front like a fire net. An alternate theory is suggested in Mike Whiteford's How to Talk Baseball, in which he quotes Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Bob Prince who said, "It's as easy as taking corn out of a can." Still another, suggested by Burt Dunne in the Folger's Dictionary of Baseball, is that the "can of corn" ball is hit with a "kerplunk" sound - presumably that of a can being hit with a stick. Peter Tamony developed a separate theory, which was published in the form of a letter appearing in Bucky Walter's "Mail Bag" of August 24, 1977, in the San Francisco Examiner. "'Can of corn' no doubt developed out of the complex usage surrounding 'cornball,' a confection made of pop corn and molasses, munched by the young for over a century. Popped corn flies wildly, of course, making a handy word association with a light popup to the outfield." Tamony, incidentally, determined that the term was in use in the early to mid-1920s, based on a series of interviews in 1953 with semi-professional players.

Okay, so there you have four possible answers. 1)Grocers used to knock cans of corn into their aprons, simulating the easy fielding of the ball. 2) "It's as easy as taking corn out of a can" 3)The fly ball being hit makes the same sound as hitting a can of corn 4)It comes from the term cornball and the similarity of popped corn flying about.

So, what do you think? Is it 1? 2? 3? 4? or none of the above. Perhaps there is a different explanation that no one has tracked down before. Personally, I am going with #2. That just sounds like something an announcer would say (have you ever paid attention to the stupid things they say to fill time? Try listening to Dick and Bert.) that someone else might pick up on and use to poke some fun or repeat because it sounded catchy. I could see the phrase developing because of this.

I doubt we'll ever know the true answer, but I am satisfied with the information that I found. Do you feel smarter?

Thanks for tuning in to today's installment of "Things you never knew you never knew."

I told you it would happen. Yes, admittedly, I have been somewhat lax on my reporting of anything lately, and so you have yet to hear about my fantasy team. Well, it's time.

My team (co-owned with my sissy, ET) is called the Hustlin' LadyKillers. There's a whole story there, but frankly, I just don't want to get into it....just roll with it. So far, it has been an interesting season. We are in week 5 of a 22-week season and I must say, I am content. The LadyKillers' record is 2-2, which might not seem great to all of you, but I'm okay with it. Up until last week, we were leading in total points, so it isn't our numbers, we're just losing to key opponents. We lost the first week to the only undefeated team in the league, won the next two and then lost last week to the highest weekly point total, thus far. Our two losses weren't bruisers, and we've been fairly consistent in points.

Okay, so who do we have?

Well, we have a 22-man roster and I am not listing them all here. I'll give you a couple of faves, though...Nate McLouth, OF, Pirates. He was an acquisition during the second week that we grabbed because our drafted fielders were playing a game that more closely resembled senior citizens playing softball. In need, we looked for a guy with big numbers and found McLouth. After we picked him, everyone kept saying "who?"...well they're not saying that anymore. He is the 5th ranked player overall in fantasy points and is only 14 pts behind the leader, Chase Utley (aka, The Machine). 

Another fave? Tim Lincecum. Yep, he's another one...Timmy Lincecum was one of our "sleeper picks" in the draft. He is a second year starter, pitching for the Giants and doing a damn fine job of it. He is 4-0 in 5 starts and his no-decision was still a high-quality start. He's got a 1.23 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP and 36 K's. It is pretty safe to say that I heart him.

Then there is Jake Peavy (yeah, he's not bad at all), Zack Greinke (a semi-rook), Yunel Escobar (another sleeper), and D-Wright (aka The Hottest Man in Baseball-and, no, that picture doesn't do him justice) to round out my list of faves.

Guys who need to get it moving or risk being cut? Hunter Pence, Juan Pierre, Matt Kemp, and The Meltdown (aka Fausto Carmona). All quality players, just not having a great April. I am hanging on for their triumphant returns in May, but beware....no suckage allowed after the opening month.

Bottom line? Well, I love my team. I feel that we're very solid, a lot of talent across the spectrum and we'll have to just wait and see. My pitching staff makes me very happy (when they don't all decide to take a break the same week) and if my offense could just realize their true potential--then I'd say the LadyKillers will give the boys a serious run for their money.

Here's your (okay mine) daily dose of humor--

So one of my favorite customers stopped to visit me tonight. He is a high school boy. He was all dressed up in a black dress shirt and pants with shiny, patent-leather shoes and a black tie. He said, "don't I look fresh?" Evidently that is new slang for awesome or cool. Whatever. I assured him that he did, in fact, look fresh. I then asked him, "why the fancy duds?", which got me a strange look. Guess that isn't fresh slang.

He told me he was at a funeral. I, of course, was very sympathetic and asked who died. Willy Loman, he said. Willy Loman? WILLY LOMAN??? I couldn't help it...I started to laugh.

For those of you who would like to share in the joke. Willy Loman is the main character of Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman". This young man had just finished reading it in class and the class then held a funeral for Loman, who dies at the end of the play. So they all brought food, dressed up, and discussed Willy's life in context of the play as part of learning in their English class.

Wonderful idea. I doubt that the young man would have been so impressed by the play without the dramatic ending. For once, he couldn't stop telling me how much he enjoyed school.

Gotta love creativity. I'm still chuckling.