What's in Your UBK?

As if I didn't have enough to do. You know, Blog (which in all honesty I haven't been doing much of lately), email, close up my business, look for a new job, try to catch everyone up on these major life changes (my friends all want to know everything that is new with me. ie:friend)try to keep some semblance of a neat home (Not happening right now), empty the contents of my studio, find someone to rent the space so I don't get sued by the owner, list crap on eBay, attend Tri's still try to have a normal life AND Bigun wants me to list myself on Facebook. I told him I didn't want to. I am honestly too busy for it. I check in on his occasionally to catch up on everyone. So, I told him "No Thanks". He said, "Okay, I'll put you on there." So, I figured I better jump on it before he could. Bastard. So, I'm on Facebook now. No promises on constant communication. No promises on all of the good Karma stuff, or sending mixed cocktails. But, I am there. So there you have it Bigun. Now, go send out your good karma stuff.

On another front,

There I was, standing in line at the the local Chinese Restaurant. My friend, lets call her DAWN, is busy chatting about things. Life, the weather, what she's going to eat...I'm drifting. Listening to all of the other conversations going on around me and yet still being attentive and fully aware of Dawn. She was telling me about her son, her future trip to Egypt this summer, life in general. Finally, it's my turn to order lunch. I finish ordering and walk over to the chairs at the front of the restaurant and wait for my "to go" order. As I am walking to the chairs by the door i overhear a fellow talking with two others. he says..."No, really, it's totally an American dish. If you go to China and order it, they won't know what you are talking about." I laugh to myself and i think, he is talking about Egg Foo Young. Dawn joins me a moment later. I turn to her and say "Guess what?" you know what her reply is..."What?"

So, I point at the fellow I overheard talking and said "He has a UBK too!!" Dawn starts laughing and asks me how is it that I know he too has a UBK. Before I continue on let me explain what a UBK is for those of you who haven't heard me use this term before. The UBK stands for a Useless Bank of Knowledge. Mine, it's full of all sorts of things. For example, the Egg Foo Young thing. BTW, DAWN is the same girl who barely escaped death at the hands of a serial killer rapist. Actually, she barely escaped death by TriSherpa Di to be more accurate. That is another story though. Getting back to the UBK...

DAWN and I have been friends for about 6 years. She always laughs at me and my little bits of trivia. I am a trivia junkie. It comes naturally. I don't work at remembering little tidbits of information. I read it somewhere, or I hear it and it just sticks. You know how some people remember Historical Dates or every one's birthdays or sports stats. I remember minutia. Stuff that the average person doesn't really care about knowing but find it somewhat interesting none the less.

Allow me to give you an example.... not only is EggFooYung an American dish, so is General Tso's chicken and Chop Suey. True. Sorry. They came about when the Chinese who immigrated to the US started creating dishes using the local fare. Hence, if you go to China, don't expect to see these dishes offered on the menu.

What is a Bobeche? It's that curved round glass(or metal) disc with a hole in the center that fits over a candle to catch the wax drippings.

Did you know that baby venomous snakes are far more deadly than adults? It is true. Want to know why? Because an adult strikes and removes it's fangs after one injection of venom. It may strike again, but that's something different. Baby snakes strike and their fangs are so small often times they cannot remove them from the victim. This means they continuously inject venom, over and over again. When that happens, it usually means, D.E.D. Dead.

The Osprey is a bird of prey that plunges into the water to capture fish. Ospreys are large birds, black-brown on top and white below. Sometimes people confuse them with Bald Eagles. Ospreys feed primarily on fresh panfish. They search for fish while flying 30-100 feet above the water. If they spot prey, they hover, then plummet down, plunging into the water feet first. Strong, curved talons and specialized spines on the bottoms of their feet help them hold onto the slippery fish. If they catch the fish, they quickly take off, juggling it in their feet until its head is facing forward into the wind. Then they fly to a perch to eat it. Ospreys can’t swim and have been known to drown, especially if they get their talons stuck in too large a fish and can’t take off. They can't take off because their talons "lock" into the fish and they cannot remove the locking talons to free themselves. The spiked talons either get ripped out or the bird drowns.

Hey Jude -When John Lennon left his wife, Cynthia, for Yoko in 1968 Paul McCartney didn't let that stop him from visiting Cynthia and Lennon's son Julian. Paul has maintained a great friendship throughout his life with Cynthia and her son Julian. One morning as he was driving out to see Cynthia and Julian, Paul began humming a tune and singing "Hey Julian..." Later the song became Hey Jules and eventually turned into Hey Jude. The song has always been about and for Julian Lennon.

Trivia aside, I also know the lyrics to more songs than I can remember. I know, sounds like an oxymoron. Truth is, I hear songs that I haven't heard in years. In fact I have forgotten the songs even existed. They come on the radio and I can remember the lyrics, from 10, 15, sometimes 20 years ago. That show with Wayne Brady -Don't Forget The Lyrics, well, I could rock it.
I remember stuff. I can't remember what I ate for breakfast, or what might have been said to me 5 minutes ago, but I remember Stuff. Hence, my brain being coined the UBK.
What's in your UBK?