The Know-It-All - H, I

H

Hawthorne, Nathaniel - I remember reading The Scarlet Letter my freshman year of High School. I thought it was brilliant even though it made me mad. I realized I was alone in my thinking as every one of my classmates complained about the assignment. I love to read and looked forward to being assigned great works to devour. I also liked to be liked, so I kept my mouth shut about my admiration for great writing and acted like these assignments were a pain. I aced the tests though.

Here's what I didn't know about Hawthorne: In his later years, he took to writing the number 64 compulsively on scraps of paper. No wonder I liked him. I share some OCD characteristics with the man. Perhaps I'll write about those someday.

Heisman, John - The former Georgia Tech football coach who gave his name to the Heisman trophy supported himself in the off season by working as a Shakespearean actor. Ah, a man after my own heart! A lover of sports and theater. A rare find.

Hollywood - The town was founded by a man named Horace Wilcox who was "a prohibitionist who envisioned it a community based on his sober religious principles." Insert your own joke here.

I

Illusion - Another case of learning something under a title heading that seemingly has nothing to do with the title heading. In traditional Balinese society, boy-girl twins were forced to marry because it was assumed they had sex in the womb. This reminded me of people who thought boys and girls should not swim together at camp when I was growing up. Their assumption that something might result from that activity only served to put ideas into my head. Of course it was okay to swim with ones sister, twin or not. We weren't as sick as the Balinese.

Intercourse - The encyclopedia needs to get its mind out of the gutter. There is an awful lot of sexual content. Damselflies mate in the air; amphibians have sperm packets; female button quails sleep around. I learned about "bundling", a Scottish tradition in which engaged couples were allowed to sleep in the same bed, but were sewn up in separate sleeping bags (there's an idea for mixed swimming at camp!). Here's my favorite new piece of information: Male and female bony fish have sex organs oriented either to the right or the left. Therefore, only opposite oriented individuals can mate. The ultimate example of how opposites attract. Also a wonderful plot for the sequel to Finding Nemo. Male bony fish with left oriented penis falls in love with female bony fish with left oriented vagina. Their love can only be consummated in their hearts! I'm calling Disney right now!