Twelve Days Of Christmas

A few years ago, I came across a religious interpretation of the popular Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas".

Here are the lyrics:

On the first day of Christmas

My true love gave to me:

A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas

My true love gave to me:

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas

My true love gave to me:

Three french hens

Two turtle doves and

A partridge in a pear tree.

On the forth day of Christmas

My true love gave to me:

Four calling birds

Three french hens...

On the fifth day of Christmas

My true love gave to me

Five golden rings

Four calling birds...

On the sixth day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Six geese a-laying

Five golden rings...

On the seventh day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Seven swans a-swimming

Six geese a-laying...

On the eight day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Eight maids a-milking

Seven swans a-swimming...

On the ninth day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Nine ladies dancing

Eight maids a-milking...

On the tenth day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Ten lords a-leaping

Nine ladies dancing...

On the eleventh day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Eleven pipers piping

Ten lords a-leaping...

On the Twelfth day of Christmas,

My true love gave to me

Twelve drummers drumming

Eleven pipers piping...

And here is a religious interpretation:

1 True Love refers to God

2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments

3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues

4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists

5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation

7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments

8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes

9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit

10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments

11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles

12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

I am too busy wrapping and shopping to look up what the writer's intention was but I found this interesting. :)

Merry Christmas Eve eve!

[image courtesy of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" by Ilonka Karasz]

Bad Rap vs. Bad Rep

Is there a difference? Apparently slightly so!

According to Merriam-Webster, in this context:

A rap is "a negative and often undeserved reputation or charge —often used with bum or bad"

A rep is slang for "reputation; especially : status in a group (as a gang)"

So, from these definitions and other things I've read:

- If someone has a "bad rap", it's typically because that person is getting blamed for or associated with negativity for something that person may not have done.

- If someone has a "bad rep", others also think poorly of that person, but likely for something that person did, or for a track record of sketchy behavior.

Of course, in this day and age, the meaning of phrases can change with how the populace uses them - so don't be surprised if some find these interchangeable!

Lifeguard Dog

Here are some fun facts that I learned about the Newfoundland dog, from the Animal Planet show "Dogs 101":

- Newfoundlands are excellent swimmers, with large bones to keep them afloat, strong legs to battle ocean currents, a waterproof double coat to protect them from the cold, webbed paws, and extremely large lung capacities. Their droopy jowls allow them to breathe while swimming, even when carrying something in their mouths.

- Newfoundlands love retrieving things from the water, so much so, in fact, that they are often trained to be lifeguards. Also, a Newfoundland saved Napoleon Bonaparte when he fell overboard from his ship on the way back to France from exile in Elba.

- Newfoundlands love being with children, and are extremely gentle and patient with them. They are very smart, loyal, and aim to please. "Nana" from Peter Pan was a Newfoundland.

- The largest Newfoundland was 6'-long and weighed 260 pounds (the size of a baby elephant)! They typically weigh in at about 150 pounds.

It's like having your very own huge cuddly teddy bear - that can save your life!

If I thought I could handle that much dog, I would be very tempted to get one!

How To De-Pill Your Clothes

Oftentimes, after you wear a shirt or sweater a couple of times, it begins to "pill" or get annoying fuzzies on it.

Lifehacker offers this trick that just uses a disposable razor:

To clean pilling off your clothes just spread the fabric across a flat surface (something firm like a table is best) pull the fabric taut and carefully shave the pilling away from the fabric. Be careful with the razor, especially around seams, buttons and stitching because you can easily cut the fabric.

This simple solution works - I tried it out personally! It made some of my t-shirts look like new, in seconds.

How A Candle Burns

People have been burning candles for thousands of years... and I know I, at least, have been taking the science for granted.  It wasn't until I listened to last week's "Science Friday" on NPR that I finally "got" why the candle works.

Host Ira Flatow and staffer Flora Lichtman talked about how Brigham Young engineers have been taking high-speed videos of flames in order to figure out how to reproduce one in digital 3-D. Lichtman spent some time with these engineers as they accomplished this task, and shared what she had learned with Flatow:

LICHTMAN: But - here's one that I thought was pretty amazing. A flame, a candle flame, for example, is just an envelope of fire around this sort of center area. So the wax, which is the fuel, goes up through the wick. It melts, goes up through the wick, and then evaporates into a gas. And that is - the part around the wick is actually not on fire. So the wick is actually not on fire. 

FLATOW: That's why it doesn't burn away, I guess. 

LICHTMAN: That's why. 

FLATOW: Yeah. Hey, you're right. You know, the wick is not on fire - so there's an envelope of gas around the wick, and it's the gas that's burning. 

LICHTMAN: And it's the gas that's burning, and it only burns when it hits oxygen. So the gas on the inside that doesn't have access to oxygen isn't burning, and it's actually cool inside the flame.

You can listen to the whole interview here. It's full of good stuff!