Wednesday, 12/14

I have what seems like a thousand little things lying around I’ve been meaning to mention, but haven’t yet, because in some cases, the thoughts are no more than a sentence, and don’t really constitute a blog. So with that in mind, how ‘bout if we call today’s edition...

“Jim’s Christmas Stocking Full of Useless Stuff”!

(One or two of these I may have mentioned before, but considering the season, they get mentioned again. Just consider it a cyber version of re-gifting!)

***

Stocking item number one--did you know that, according to an online poll, Rudolph is the favorite reindeer of Americans? Vixen is in second place, while Dancer brings up the rear.

My question is this--why?  Not the fact that Rudolph is the favorite reindeer, but the fact that Dancer is the least favorite.  What did Dancer ever do to the people answering the poll--leave too many droppings on their roof one Christmas Eve?  And why is Vixen so special that he (it?) gets three times as many votes as Dancer?  Did Vixen buy more campaign ads, or something?

You have to wonder about these things, you know\.

***

Stocking item number two--18 percent of my friends on Facebook have first names that start with the letter “J”.

That’s right--18 percent. Now, the letter “J’ itself makes up but 4 percent of the alphabet. Yet 18 percent--over 4 times that number--of my Facebook friends have first name starting with “J”, ranging from Jackie to Justine (including 11 “Johns” and 3 “Jons”). Now, having a first name that starts with “J” myself, I do feel a certain pride in that statistic, but still...18 percent?

I’m not a mathematician, nor do I play one on TV, but that seems strange even to me.

18 percent, huh?

***

Stocking item number three--did you know that, in Minnesota, it’s illegal for a woman to dress up as Santa Claus? In fact, the penalty for that is 90 days in jail.

I think the cold has permanently frozen a few of their 10,000 lakes, if you know what I mean.

****

And with that, I think I’ve pulled enough out of my stocking. Have a great Wednesday!!

(jim@wmqt.com)