Since you all seem to be motivated by quizzes and competition - and since I have no inspiration nor inclination to construct a proper entry today -- please enjoy the following quiz and post your results in a comment.

What's your High School Stereotype?

What's Your High School Stereotype?

You scored as a Drama nerd

Drama nerd 63% Geek 50% Punk/Rebel 31% Goth 31% Prep/Jock/Cheerleader 31% Ghetto gangsta 25% Loner 25% Stoner 13%

2 things. First, below are answers to the Friday the 13th (which seems like an eternity ago now) quiz questions.

1. Who is more likely to die in a car crash?
   The Correct Answer: Farmers.

   Country living may be associated with a slower, safer way of life, but the stats don’t bear that cliché out. In 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the results of a study that compared fatal car accidents in rural and urban areas between the years 1999 and 2003. The study found that there were roughly 42 percent more fatal crashes in rural areas than in urban ones—and this despite the fact that rural residents were actually spending less time on the road than their urban counterparts.

    

   The data collected by the NHTSA matched up with an earlier study published in 2003 by University of Virginia architecture professor William H. Lucy. According to Lucy, three factors account for the rural areas and exurbs being more deadly: Dangerous roads, faster speeds and remote hospitals. Rural drivers are more likely to be traveling faster than 50 mph on curvy, two-lane roads, where the driving environment can quickly turn any small mistake into a big problem. Add to that the fact that hospitals are farther away and ambulances can’t arrive immediately on the scene and you’ve got a common-sense recipe for trouble.
   

2. Which of the following may influence your chances of being killed by a tornado?
   The Correct Answer: Being divorced.

   On March 1, 1997, tornadoes swept through several counties in Arkansas, killing 27 people and injuring many others. Two weeks later, a team of researchers arrived to follow the tornadoes’ path and try to figure out why some people survived and others had died. Led by Kent State University geology professor Thomas W. Schmidlin, the team surveyed survivors to collect what data they could about the victims—everything from age, race and sex to where the people were and what they were doing when they first realized that the twister was headed for their home.

    

   Most of their results weren’t too surprising—basement-less homes are dangerous, the sick and elderly are at risk—but one factor stood out. While 1 percent of survivors were divorced, a whopping 22 percent of fatalities shared the same ex-marital status. The “whys” of this statistic aren’t entirely clear, but Schmidlin thinks it might have to do with the financial strain caused by divorce. “With divorce you have to split the two households and that sometimes ends with one person living in a mobile home,” he says. “And we know that those are very bad places to be during a tornado.”
   

3. What makes a woman more likely to be murdered?
   The Correct Answer: Being pregnant.

   This is definitely one of the most disturbing death statistics out there, but, sadly, it’s very true. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the fact-finding arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide doesn’t rank high as a cause of death in women in general. In fact, it’s only 15th on the list of leading causes of death for all Americans.

    

   But a study published in 2005 by NCHS researchers found that homicide ranked as the second-leading cause of death for pregnant and post-partum women. The study looked at deaths between 1991 and 1999 and excluded those caused by complications of pregnancy. Thirty-one percent were attributable to homicide, most often by partners and other killers known to the victims. Worse, because the pregnancy status of murder victims isn’t always recorded, that number might actually be low. Renee Brown-Bryant, associate director of health communications at the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health, says it’s currently unclear why pregnancy increases the risk of homicide. However, one factor being investigated is whether the pregnancy was intended and how that stress might affect a relationship already prone to abuse.
   

4. Which job increases your risk of dying from heart disease?
   The Correct Answer: Firefighter.

   Fighting fires is dangerous, but not just how you expect. According to a study published in the March 2007 New England Journal of Medicine, heart disease accounts for 45 percent of deaths among firefighters and the act of firefighting itself increases a firefighter’s risk of heart-related death by as much as 100 times.

    

   And heart disease isn’t just a fatal problem for the men and women in red, it pushes the majority of them into early retirement, as a previous study conducted by the same group showed. Led by Harvard researcher Dr. Stefanos Kales, the new study showed that smoke, carbon monoxide and physical stress experienced during firefighting all contribute to bad heart health—only made worse by the fact that many firefighters aren’t in top shape. According to the new study, 70 percent of fire departments don’t have physical fitness programs and new recruits often enter the service already overweight.
   

5. Which of the following have been linked to an increased risk of suicide?
   The Correct Answer: Being born in spring.

   Why someone chooses to commit suicide is a very complicated matter, so it’s important to note that there’s no need to stage an intervention for all your May-born friends. However, statistical links have been drawn. In May 2006, the British Journal of Psychiatry published the surprising results of research conducted by scientists at Liverpool University and the Institute of Child Health at University College London.

    

   According to a BBC story about the report, the researchers found that British people born in April, May or June between 1979 and 2001 had a 17 percent greater chance of dying from suicide than those born in the fall months. Why? Nobody knows, but the researchers speculated that babies born during these months might be exposed in utero to diseases or other factors that made their brains more prone to depression later in life.
   

6. Who is more likely to catch the deadly bacteria meningitis?
   The Correct Answer: College freshman.

   Causing fever, hallucinations, seizures and brain damage, meningitis strikes about 3,000 people in the United States each year, with roughly 10 percent of those dying. The most common victims are very young children, under the age of 3 or 4. But since the 1990s, the rates of infection in people ages 19-24 have been on the rise. Today, toddlers and post-teens are almost equally affected. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, college freshmen and sophomores are most at risk in the 19-24 age group.

    

   
   According to a 2004 study published by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and another paper published in 2000 by the CDC, the problem seems to be a combination of group living and hobbies that weaken the immune system and spread disease. The typical college hobbies include smoking and binge drinking, often with drinks and smokes shared by multiple people, and not getting enough sleep. While these factors are common to many young people, they appear to be more prevalent among those in their first two years of college.

Secondly, I have just returned home from my summer vacation to NYC! 

Angela (who has appeared in previous posts) and I decided a few weeks ago that we needed a getaway to the city so we headed up to New York to stay with a friend and see a show and eat some good food and not think about work for 4 whole days! It was awesome. I was able to break out of my usual Chick-fil-A routine as we ate French, Indian, Italian, Mediterranean, Ukranian... Friday we went and checked out Saatchi's NY offices and toured the MoMA. Saturday we saw a matinee of  Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice at the Second Stage Theatre -- which was amazing, and then hung out in Central Park for the afternoon. Sunday we went shopping on 5th Avenue and I bought my first Harry Potter book. Monday was the longest traveling day of my life as our car picked us up at Kelly's apartment at 5am and we had a 3-hour layover in St. Louis (where I bought my 2nd Harry Potter book) and we flew back in to Little Rock and DROVE back home to Fayetteville. I thought we would never get here.

It was such a good time and the city is a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures.

Bar Felix in SoHo -- we landed here for a bite to eat on Thursday night. We planned to share an appetizer and a bottle of wine, as it was a little pricey.

A few minutes into the evening, a random (and rather intoxicated) man sat down at our table and offered to buy us a drink. A few minutes later, he reached over and took a swig out of the bottle of still water on our table - which was disgusting. So he starts apologizing over and over and takes out his wallet to pay us for the water. As we're trying to stop him, he just keeps piling money on the table... He finally gets up to walk away and runs into a table nearly falling in the floor. His friends help him stumble out of the bar. We are all just sitting there trying to figure out what just happened - and realize that this freakshow has left us $97! We proceeded to order dinner - to supplement our appetizer and wine - and it was amazing! We had risotto with calamari, mussels, and a cheese plate for dessert. Yum!

Saatchi & Saatchi building in NY.

 Friday nights are free at the MoMA, compliments of Target. What they don't tell you is that there are thousands of people who have this same "get into the Museum for free" plan. We waited in this line (which honestly moved quickly) as if we were about to ride a rollercoaster. It wound around and around the lot beside the museum and then more line inside -- but well worth it!

A few of the more famous pieces inside the Museum of Modern Art: Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, Claude Monet's Reflections of Clouds on the Water-Lily Pond, Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, and Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans and Double Elvis.

Angela playing with an iPhone at the Apple store on 5th Avenue.

Really blurry (sorry!) picture of Sardi's off Times Square.

A few photos of an Indian restaurant that we found that was OUT OF CONTROL. It was like Indian Mardi Gras in there! You truly can't get the full effect from the pictures - I took some video that I'll try to post. Every inch of the walls and ceiling was covered in flashing lights - of every shape and size. And there was some kind of thumping Indian disco music playing. The food was good, not great, but the atmosphere was truly one-of-a-kind!

McSorley's! The oldest bar in Manhattan. It opened in 1854 and has retained the priceless Irish atmosphere. They only first allowed women through the doors in 1970! If you want a drink they have two options -- light or dark. And they serve you beer 2 at a time!

Tom: I thought of you the whole time we were there. I am sure that you've been there - and if you haven't, we should go when you get home. (Our waiter's name was Tom, too!)

In Central Park. We stopped to enjoy a few street performers and have a pretzel -- and walked through the park for several hours. LOVE the park.

It was such a good time and I think I've scoped out a couple of things we HAVE to do when we go back in October 2008. I didn't take too many pictures - which is kinda odd for me - but it was a blast.

1. Who is more likely to die in a car crash?
   Yuppies.
   Salesmen.
   Dog owners.
   Farmers.
2. Which of the following may influence your chances of being killed by a tornado?
   Owning an HDTV.
   Being divorced.
   Wearing shiny, red slippers.
   Driving a pickup truck.
3. What makes a woman more likely to be murdered?
   Wearing heavy makeup.
   Owning her own house.
   Being pregnant.
   Eating out more than twice a week.
4. Which job increases your risk of dying from heart disease?
   Postal carrier.
   Teacher.
   Firefighter.
   Trial lawyer.
5. Which of the following have been linked to an increased risk of suicide?
   Being born in spring.
   Listening to classical music.
   Playing tennis.
   Drinking coffee.
6. Who is more likely to catch the deadly bacteria meningitis?
   College seniors.
   Outdoorsmen.
   Waitresses.
   College freshman.

At what point in life do you realize what you are "good at" -- and whether it is different than what you thought you were "good at" or what you want to be "good at?"

I am happy to pass along to you this news: Chick-fil-A is celebrating Cow Appreciation Day Friday, 13 July.

Help Us Celebrate Cow Appreciation Day. Wear A Cow Costume, Get A Free Combo.

The handout I have even has the following fine print: "Cow costume" requires effort to be fully dressed like a cow from head to toe. Customers who arrive in partial attire will receive one free entree.

I had Chick-fil-A for lunch today, and it has quickly become my most frequent stop -- I typically eat there at least once during the week and we have been eating Saturday lunch there a lot. It's somewhat unbelievable that I do not own a cow costume (if you are confused -- take note of the address for this site). If anyone has a cow costume you're not planning on using on Friday - please let me know.

As it seems the less personal my posts the better...

Try this quiz out for size. Post your score in the comments. Compliments of Mom.

Photos from the 2007 Martin Family Reunion -- and a few from the day at the lake with the Cains. More on flickr.

The answers to yesterday's quiz are as follows:

1. Correct Answer - A - teachers'

"The school principal tended to spend more of her free time in the hallways with students than in the teachers' lounge with faculty members." If there were only one teacher in the school, then teacher's would be correct. Since the sentence mentions "faculty members," we can assume that the school has more than one teacher.  This makes it plural possessive: The apostrophe is at the end of the plural form of the word, making teachers'  the correct usage.  Teachers has no possessive, and would be incorrect in either case.

2. Correct Answer - B - e.g.

"He often incorporated several kinds of media into his art, e.g., clay, glass, and wood." When you are explaining something, i.e. (short for the Latin id est, or "that is") is the one to use. When listing examples, e.g. (short for the Latin expression exempli gratia, or "for the sake of example") is correct. The expression et al. comes from another Latin expression, et alii, meaning "and others," so it would be inappropriate here.

3. Correct Answer - A - too

"You are taking my comments too personally." Too is an adverb that means "excessively" or "also," as in "She spent too much," or "He plays chess,too." To is a preposition that begins a prepositional phrase (e.g., I drove to the store) or an infinitive (e.g., She likes to knit). Two is a number and would not be correct in this sentence.

4. Correct Answer - C - is

"Neither Derek nor Denny is in the building." When two singular subjects are connected by neither/nor or either/or, a singular verb is required. The answer options are and were are both plural verbs, so they're inappropriate for this sentence. The singular verb is (or was, if in the past tense) is correct.

5. Correct Answer - A - do

"Christina is one of the doctors who do rounds at 10 a.m." When the pronoun who is the subject of the verb in the middle of the sentence, it becomes singular or plural depending on the noun in front of it. In this instance, doctors is plural, so the plural verb do is correct. Done is one way of expressing do in the past tense, but it needs another verb, as in the phrase "the doctors have done their rounds."

6. Correct Answer - B - that

"Finn is on the team that rode the bus to the stadium." That refers to things or groups. Who and whom refer to people. In this sentence, that  refers to the noun team.

7. Correct Answer - C - off

"Please move your dirty feet off the table." It's usually unnecessary to combine more than one preposition (e.g., of, on, at, and with), especially if the meaning is already clear--hence, the preposition off alone is sufficient in this sentence. Off of is incorrect (and kind of awkward to say, besides). Of, a word with many usages and meanings, would also be incorrect in this case.

8. Correct Answer - B - among

"George divided the bananas among the three monkeys." Among is always used in connection to more than two persons or things, whereas between is used for just two.

9. Correct Answer - A - a lot

"Addison had a lot of friends at her new school." There is no such word as alot (written as one word). An adjectival phrase, a lot is always two words. Allot is a verb meaning "to distribute or apportion."

10. Correct Answer - B - because of

"Burke missed his flight because of the heavy rush-hour traffic." Due to means "caused by," and should only be used if you can substitute caused by. It is not interchangeable with because of, the most appropriate phrase for this sentence. Due to the fact of is a wordy and unnecessary expression that is best replaced by because of.

That's probably more than you ever needed (or wanted) to know, but I gathered from the number of comments that there was at least some interest there. These answers above are courtesy of MSN Encarta. More quizzes here.