tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83175112414809717102012-01-14T07:39:22.555-08:00A collection of articles and observations about the many curiosities in our world.Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-57770873149947167462011-06-27T08:11:00.000-07:002011-06-27T10:46:20.051-07:00

A special friend, Rob Yost, sent me the following message, and I wanted to share it with you. It's something to ponder and marvel about. ~~~~~~~~~ First of all, just go to google, search for mandelbrot set images, and scroll through the myriad of incredible pictures that will result. Do it. Really. Amazing, huh. But where do they come from? Imagine a photo of the Earth taken from space. You

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-14605460789183000682009-07-03T07:28:00.000-07:002009-07-03T07:45:44.703-07:00

The disposal of human waste has been a messy problem throughout history. Food being the joy that it is also causes a heap of trouble after the human body transforms it from a savory, delicious commodity into stinky, bacteria-laden goo. As a result, a great deal of ingenuity has been devoted to finding ways to make the emergence of it more pleasant, as well as to its collection and disposal.Of

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-32348945949970066242008-04-15T12:57:00.000-07:002008-04-15T13:14:13.105-07:00

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2004 as the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition. The purpose of the commemoration was to emphasize the consequences of slavery, to recognize the struggle for liberation from slavery, and to prevent new forms of slavery around the world. I presented this article back then in honor of those people, past and

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-45625576811818939492008-04-04T05:57:00.000-07:002008-04-04T06:11:02.983-07:00

Right away, I'm in trouble using this title for the post. Of course, angels are not subject to time such as day or night. They are immortal beings. But these ones figure into our mortal days and nights throughout history.Thousands of angels are named in folklore and literature. They are included in the beliefs of every religion on earth and are primarily categorized as either holy or evil. Even

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-91177607449655957992008-04-03T11:34:00.000-07:002009-07-02T12:04:47.913-07:00

I watched a documentary on television on the subject of kissing which pointed out that this physical act reduces stress, produces a peaceful feeling of being loved, and even boosts our immune systems. With all the benefits and pleasures of the act of kissing, does history reveal when humanity's first kiss took place?Years ago, scientists thought that when two lips met during kissing an electric

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-17188521025954735532008-03-28T13:27:00.000-07:002008-11-20T19:33:54.327-08:00

Even though the majority of mankind is happily entrenched in the electronic age and mostly prefers to live in a concrete jungle, the mysterious link between humans and animals continues to hold true. Most of our contact with animals these days is limited to the fleeting glimpse of a bird overhead, the scurry of a squirrel or chipmunk across our paths, or the companionship of a pet. Yet the role

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-78356516008791837732008-03-27T11:27:00.000-07:002008-04-03T11:50:46.888-07:00

Trees, tall and short, grow silently in backyards, parks and hills. These beautiful, towering organisms have been around since the beginning of time. People love trees, sometimes worship them, and other times obliterate all the trees they can. What is it with trees?As I contemplated that question, my thoughts turned to why we have such a regard for trees. I believe one reason we are fascinated

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-21582952618262363582008-03-26T11:41:00.000-07:002008-04-03T11:51:19.981-07:00

The image of the Mad Hatter has been indelibly imprinted upon our minds ever since childhood when we sat cross-legged in front of our television sets. Walt Disney gave us the hatter's classic face and large felt hat. The Mad Hatter will live on not only in memory but also by his name on the signs in front of countless hat and novelty shops.Just how did a hatter come to be known as mad? Lewis

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-58710564728858443312008-03-26T06:33:00.000-07:002008-03-26T06:45:49.231-07:00

The egg is the star of many legends and old wives' tales. Eggs have been revered, exchanged, and used in rituals since ancient times and continue to this day as metaphors of possibility whether of ideas or the start of new things.Just where did our love affair with the egg begin?May we first answer the age-old question, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Actually, the answer to that is the

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-51720628236551600952008-03-25T11:53:00.000-07:002008-11-20T19:43:00.049-08:00

A pirate is one of the original terrorists of the world. In fact, terror was just as much a weapon in a pirate's armory as his sword. So just when did the pirate pass from a seafaring, Osama Bin Laden-type of scumbag to the romantic, handsome, swashbuckling hero? More importantly, did they really go "arrrgh?" Let us examine the mystique of the pirate.The definition of a pirate is one who robs or

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-58333806693398524182008-03-20T10:50:00.000-07:002008-03-20T10:56:01.285-07:00

Featured website for this article is the Museum of Menstruation. Special thanks goes to Harry Finley for allowing me to glean information from his site for use throughout my article. Every woman should make a pilgrimage to the Museum of Menstruation.What could be more curious than a person who bleeds on average every 28 days and does not die? That one ability put women in a whole different

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-66986954713750831572008-03-19T12:54:00.000-07:002008-03-20T11:03:03.688-07:00

I have a mysterious desire to tour The Outback of Australia on a camel. That intrigues me. I suppose I am imagining the adventure of being in a pristine wilderness astride an animal who is completely at home there, and I desire to feel the temperature of the desert, to smell the wind, to hear the silence. But until I can actually get my hands on a camel, I am writing this article as the next best

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-58433946181369721012008-03-19T12:46:00.000-07:002008-03-20T11:03:28.501-07:00

Sand crept into my underwear as I crawled on all fours through the narrow, tube-like passageway underground. The water level reached my mid-forearm and mid-thigh. Standing up was an impossibility, while the stream running through it left no space along the sides for a dry path. Somehow the person with the light had gotten way behind me, and I was first in the line of people crawling into the

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8317511241480971710.post-39788222650189079362008-03-19T12:34:00.000-07:002008-03-20T09:37:18.672-07:00

I certainly am making myself work having four blogs, but I recently discovered that some of my writings which appeared on another site have completely disappeared. Since these writings represented a lot of work for me, I have been rescuing them, and others that still appear on the web in archives, and spreading them all over four blogs, according to subject. That way, I will have gathered all my

Sharon K. Grossmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10399121995579807648noreply@blogger.com0