“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

This is one of my favorite quotes from Mark Twain. I’m not a sailor…but, I love to travel and explore. While Mr. Twain uses sailing terms to describe his exuberance for exploration the larger picture drawn here is simply the encouragement to GO. Get out, explore…do something fun. There’s a great big world out there waiting for you to explore it. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?

Recently, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested that five hundred million people in the United States are losing their jobs every month in order to emotionally pitch the stimulus bill. Those are some astounding numbers, considering that there are only three hundred three million Americans.

Of course, she meant to say five hundred thousand per month. But still…one can’t help but wonder (once again) about the credibility of our “leaders.”

In light of the wonderful happenings in our nation’s Capitol these days, I thought I’d find some fitting quotes to highlight my personal opinion on the matter:

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
Mark Twain

I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress.
Ronald Reagan

It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native criminal class except Congress.
Mark Twain

Quotes courtesy of BrainyQuote.com

Since recently joining a gym and jumping back into the healthy routine of working out, I thought looking up and sharing the etymology of the phrase “Charlie Horse” would be interesting.

A charlie horse is usually a reference for a cramp or pulled muscle. Its origins have been traced to being a baseball term, or at least it seems to have gained widespread use in baseball initially. The reference is really a mystery.

The earliest documented use in print for the term is found in the Boston Globe on July 17th 1886:

Several years ago, says the Chicago Tribune, Joe Quest, now of the Athletics, gave the name of “Charlie horse” to a peculiar contraction and hardening of the muscles and tendons of the thigh, to which base ball players are especially liable from the sudden starting and stopping in chasing balls, as well as the frequent slides in base running. Pfetlor, Anson and Kelly are so badly troubled with “Charley horse” there are times they can scarcely walk. Gore had it so bad he had to lay off a few days, and is not entirely free from it now. Williamson, too, has had a touch of it.

So, it’s completely unknown as to who “Charlie” may have been and why his “horse” may have been involved in creating cramped muscles. I suppose you should let your imagination run wild as to how Charlie’s horse came to be the instigator of this fine and interesting phrase.

As for me, I’m hoping that my cramped muscles will shape up soon…it’s been a long time since I went to the gym regularly!