What Your Ice Cream Says About You

July is National Ice Cream Month.  And, in addition to that, there are several individual days devoted to ice cream:  July 1 is Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day, July 7 is National Strawberry Sundae Day, July 13 is National Nitrogen Ice Cream Day, July 17 is Peach Ice Cream Day, the third Sunday in July is National Ice Cream Day, July 20 is National Ice Cream Soda Day, and July 23 is Vanilla Ice Cream Day. So, as you can see, the month of July devotes lots of time to ice cream.

For millions and millions of people around the world, ice cream is THE favorite treat.  What used to be the three basics of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry have become what seems like millions of flavors.

And guess what (surprise surprise)—someone did a study of what your favorite flavor says about you.  And also guess what (again, surprise surprise)—I'm going to share that information with you along with some miscellaneous tidbits about ice cream trivia.

If your favorite is chocolate you're more likely to be dramatic, lively, charming, flirtatious, seductive and gullible.

If your favorite is vanilla you're more likely to be impulsive, easily suggestible and an idealist.

If your favorite is strawberry you're more likely to be tolerant, devoted and introverted.

If your favorite is chocolate chip you're more likely to be generous, competent and a go-getter.

If your favorite is chocolate chip cookie dough you're more likely to be ambitious, competitive and a visionary.

If your favorite is rocky road you're more likely to be aggressive, engaging and a good listener.

If your favorite is mint chocolate chip you're more likely to be argumentative, frugal and cautious.

If your favorite is pralines 'n cream you're more likely to be loving, supportive and prefer to avoid the spotlight.

If your favorite is jamoca you're more likely to be scrupulous, conscientious and a moral perfectionist.

If your favorite is rainbow sherbet you're more likely to be analytic, decisive and pessimistic.

Where did ice cream come from?

The true origins of ice cream are unknown, but early versions of iced treats date back to the second century B.C. to Alexander The Great who liked to top snow and ice with honey and nectar.

Ice cream used to be for the rich only.

In the early 1800s, before refrigeration became widely available, ice cream was very expensive.  Only the elite could afford such a luxury.  Today, the average American consumes 48 pints of ice cream a year. [hmmm…a pint is only 16 oz. and there's 52 weeks in a year, so that averages out at a little over 14 oz. a week which is only 2 oz. more than one can of your favorite soft drink per week.  Doesn't seem like so much when you break it down that way. :) ]

Which city and state eats the most ice cream?

According to a survey, Washington D.C. is the most ice cream crazy place in America with its residents eating 85% more than the national average per person.  Rhode Island was in second place and Wisconsin was third.

What is the most popular ice cream flavor?

According to the International Ice Cream Association, vanilla is the most popular flavor at 29% with chocolate second with 9%.

Needless to say, there are lots of flavors not represented on this list of favorites.  I'm a long time chocolate fan, but I came across an ice cream a while back that just blew my mind…Godiva white chocolate raspberry swirl which is something like a million calories per pint  :).

So, there you have it.  My tribute to National Ice Cream Month.

What Your Favorite Sandwich Says About You

Whether it's lunch or a midnight snack. At home or in a restaurant. Now and then or daily. We all have our favorite sandwich. It might be something simple from childhood that we turned into a more adult offering, or maybe something exotic.

But do you know what your choice of sandwich…your favorite…says about you and your character? Put your horoscope and astrological signs aside and pay attention to your sandwich. :)

I recently came across a list of 10 popular sandwiches and what they say about those who consider that specific sandwich their favorite. Now, this list only mentions the main ingredient and does not take into consideration how you dress up and customize that sandwich—specialty bread or roll, exotic cheeses, various spreads, other touches such as lettuce and/or tomato, etc.

TURKEY SANDWICH

If this is your first choice on the menu, you like to play it safe in life. You like to know what to expect. You're not interested in the latest fad. All things classic make you smile.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH

You're predictable, but in a good way. You're very loyal and your friends feel they can trust you with their lives.

BLT SANDWICH

If the bacon-lettuce-tomato is your favorite, you know how to spot a good thing. You like to keep life simple, fill it with good times, and avoid drama.

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

You're carefree, the life of the party, and specialize in having a good time. Everyone loves you.

DONUT BREAKFAST SANDWICH

This might not be what you want to hear, but you are crazy intense. That can have its down side, but it also means you're very passionate and a serious risk taker. Nothing scares you.

MUFFULETTA SANDWICH

I have to admit that I don't know what this is and have never noticed it on a menu. You're a mover and a shaker. People come to you when they need a problem solved or just a good dose of inspiration.

PULLED PORK SANDWICH

You like to walk, not run. You're a lover, not a fighter. You always stop to smell the roses.

REUBEN SANDWICH

If this is your first choice, you have a bold voice and you're not afraid to make it heard. Loud And Proud is your life motto. You're the natural leader of any gathering.

TUNA MELT SANDWICH

You're an old soul. Words flow from you like beautiful poetry. You don't bother with appearances and you don't need to because you're so beautiful on the inside.

BOLOGNA SANDWICH

You're a hopeless romantic, swept up with feelings of nostalgia. But you are going to have to grow up some time.

I don't know how they arrived at the 10 specific sandwiches listed in the article. There are several popular ones not on this list.  The first thing that came to my mind was whether chicken and turkey were considered to be the same.  Then I thought about the Club sandwich—a combination of the BLT, turkey with some ham thrown in. And speaking of ham, there's also the Ham sandwich and its close relative the Ham and Cheese sandwich.

And, of course, there are also those two all-American creations that are extremely popular—the Hamburger and the favorite at baseball games, the Hot Dog.

The History Of Father's Day

Father's Day this year falls on Sunday, June 18, 2023.  Mother's Day was, indeed, the inspiration for Father's Day, but it was a long time before it became an official reality.  The governor of the state of Washington proclaimed the nation's first Father's Day on July 19, 1910.  It was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day an official holiday in 1914, that President Richard Nixon gave Father's Day its official federal holiday status.

The campaign to celebrate Father's Day did not meet with the same type of enthusiasm as Mother's Day.  One florist explained it as fathers not having the same sentimental appeal as mothers.  In 1909, a Spokane, Washington, woman who was one of six children raised by a widower was successful in establishing a day for male parents the same as the one Mothers enjoyed.  The state of Washington celebrated the nation's first statewide Father's Day on July 19, 1910.

The idea slowly spread.  In 1916 Woodrow Wilson honored the day.  President Calvin Coolidge urged state governments to observe Father's Day, however many men continued to scoff at the idea claiming it was a sentimental attempt to domesticate manliness with flowers and gift-giving and also claiming it was only a commercial gimmick to sell more products often paid for by the father himself.

In the 1920s and 1930s there was a movement to do away with both Mother's Day and Father's Day and create a Parent's Day instead, the idea being that both parents should be loved and respected together.  The gathering enthusiasm for this idea was basically stamped out during the depression.  Struggling retailers and advertisers redoubled their efforts to make Father's Day a gift giving holiday for men.  With the onset of World War II, advertisers set forth the argument that celebrating Father's Day was a way to honor American troops.  By the end of the war, Father's Day was a national institution but not yet an official holiday.

In 1972 Richard Nixon signed a proclamation making Father's Day a federal holiday.  It's estimated that there are more than 70 million fathers in the United States and that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father's Day gifts. 

10 Unbreakable Guinness Records

The Guinness Book Of World Records was first published August 27, 1955, and has compiled an incredible list of achievements in almost every category imaginable.

Over the years, the editors of the book have removed some categories because they chose not to encourage or promote certain activities such as bullfighting and excessive drinking.  They once published records for the world's heaviest dog but discontinued that because they didn't want to see a pet owner abusing an animal just so they could be listed in the book.

Some records remain on top even sixty-eight years after the first edition was published.  Guinness has declared them to be 'unbreakable' but admits they might be broken some day.

Here's Guinness' list of ten unbreakable records.

1)  TALLEST MAN:  At 8' 11", Robert Wadlow holds the record for the tallest man.  When he died in 1940 at the age of twenty-two, he was still growing.

2)  LIGHTEST WOMAN:  Lucia Zarate was 21.5" tall and at the time of her death at age twenty-six in 1889, she weighed a mere 4.7 pounds.

3)  LOUDEST SOUND:  The volcanic eruption of the island of Krakatoa on August 26, 1883, sent shock waves reverberating seven times around the globe and were heard 2,200 miles away in Perth, Australia.

4)  MOST PROLIFIC MURDERESS:  Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory allegedly killed more than six hundred people, mostly young woman, in the late 1500s/early 1600s.  She was finally convicted of 80 counts of murder and locked away until her death in 1614.

5)  LARGEST DIAMOND:  Found in South Africa in 1905, the Cullinan diamond was 3,106 carats.  It was eventually cut into 105 pieces including the 530.2 carat Great Star of Africa and the 317.4 carat Lesser Star of Africa.  Both are now part of the British crown jewels.

6)  GREATEST WINGSPAN:  Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose weighs more than 40,000 pounds with a wingspan of 319 feet which is longer than a football field.  It flew only once, in 1947, for about one mile at just seventy feet in the air.

7)  BIGGEST PANDEMIC:  From 1347 to 1351, bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, killed seventy-five million people.

8)  BIGGEST BLOCKBUSTER:  When adjusted for inflation and converted into today's dollars, Gone With The Wind is by far the champ with an estimated take of $5.4 Billion since it's 1939 release.  In comparison, Titanic's worldwide blockbuster box office Gross is $1.84 Billion.

9)  LONGEST POLE-SITTING:  Guinness' oldest record is held by St. Simeon the Stylite who spent thirty-seven years atop a pillar at Syria's Hill of Wonders.  He died in 459 and for the last 1,550 years his record remains unchallenged.

10)  YOUNGEST DOCTORATE:  In 1814, 12 year old Karl Witte of Austria became a doctor of philosophy at the University of Giessen in Germany.  He spoke five languages.

And as a grand finale … Ashrita Furman holds the world's record for holding the most records – he has 245 world's records.