What I learned this week

• "Oysters wrapped in bacon are easier to prepare in your conventional oven." - Owner's Manual MW1337SB

• According to Freakonomics radio, there are only two ways that parents can affect the long-term happiness or success of their children: being nice and not smoking. Everything else, like private lessons, organized sports, or tutoring are unimportant. 

• The richest man in the world says, "When you live for others' opinions, you are dead. I don't want to live thinking about how I'll be remembered."

• The man who developed human-powered flight did so to collect prize-money so that he could repay a loan. 

• The all-time record high of Alert, Canada, the world's northernmost permanently occupied settlement, is 68 degrees fahrenheit. 

Alphabetical Concept

After the rain, there was a mist, billowing through the trees.
"Better than the rain," thought Charles, walking out of the building, into the mist.
"Charles!", someone shouted after him, though he didn't hear.
Didn't hear and didn't care, leaving the voice behind him.
Entering the woods was like a dream, branches floating out of a soupy fog.
Faster he walked, the path somewhere beneath his dripping shoes.
Gave his all to the effort of walking.
His mind wandered, reviewing the past.
"I am Charles", he thought, "and I know where I am going."
"Just out for a walk in the woods," he reassured himself.
"Kill for a drink of water though," cursing himself for not bringing anything.
Left his water bottle behind.
Marks decorated the trees, red boxes, and blue circles.
"No," he thought, "no, no no."
On a rock, a frog's chin filled, and then deflated.
Perhaps... he should turn around, the fog swirling in a sudden sea-breeze.
Quivering, a pine needle fell, brushing his left hand.
"Read about this in a book," he thought, looking into his memory.
Save the best for last.
"Ta-da!", he shouted suddenly, jumping onto a stump and balancing on his leg.
Unworldly flamingo.
Vanquishing his fear, he jumped off of the stump.
"We only live once," he thought.
X-rays of his imagination produced a troll's home in the stump.
"Yes!" he thought, "yes there is a troll's home in this stump!"
"Zero chance of that"; reconsidered, but still apologized for stepping on the troll's home.