If you leave the refrigerator open long enough because you’ve gone into another room to do something that takes longer than expected and you’ve forgotten that you left the refrigerator open, the heat will come on even though it’s 75 degrees outside.
Riding a shaggy fawn-colored pony through the woods on a warm spring afternoon is peaceful, simple, and something to do as often as possible.
Spanish moss is neither Spanish nor moss. I’ll be damned—it is an epiphyte, meaning that it grows on other plants, usually trees, but does not harm them, and it belongs to the bromeliad family, which also includes pineapples. It’s thought to have been named by French explorers, maybe because it reminded them of the beards of Spanish conquistadors. I’m not sure I buy that.
“Iconization” is a word. Of course it is. But this should not surprise me, since everyone and everything these days is an “icon” or “iconic.”
The stock photo gallery Unsplash includes only 26 images for “absurd.” That's all?
Dairy Queen employs individuals whose sole responsibility is to maintain its soft-serve ice cream machines. I visit my favorite Dairy Queen where I live almost every afternoon. It heartens me to know that there is someone dedicated to making sure that its machine never fails to flash-freeze the ice cream from its initial liquid state into its solid form and then dispense it properly.
My new electric toothbrush has a two-minute timer. Using it the first time, I realized that this is as long as it takes to run the Kentucky Derby. I don’t get paid to finish but I am also not out of breath. Win-win.
AI is no genius. When I type Getting My Real I.D.—a New Way to Exercise into an AI title analyzer, the program gives it a score of 97 out of 100 and describes it as “Excellent!” Getting my real I.D. did not involve exercise in any shape or form, not even the bureaucratic, paper-pushing kind because I had an appointment and I really bonded with the personable, capable clerk who helped me.
When I type beginning into Unsplash, the results include many images of babies or pregnant women. This really touches me.
This afternoon at my favorite Dairy Queen a staff member named Laneisha tells me that she has written a story and asks to share it with me. I am honored.
If you enjoyed this piece, you might also like Some New Things I Learned Today.
If you would like to read about my favorite Dairy Queen and the people there, please see The Dairy Queen Dream Team, For the Dairy Queen Team, and Free Cones and New Friends at Dairy Queen.
If you are also tired of the words “icon” and “iconic,” please see Taking a Look at an Icon—the Word Itself and Do We Have a New "Icon" Coming Our Way?
You may also support my work at Buy Me a Coffee.