Election Trivia Time!

Who was the only presidential candidate to receive electoral college votes even though he was dead?

Horace Greeley, in 1872. Ulysses S. Grant was easily re-elected that year, but because Greeley died before the electoral ballot was cast, there was a lot of confusion. No 24-hour cable news networks or Internet to help clarify things, either. In all the hoo-ha, Greeley ended up receiving 3 electoral votes, which Congress eventually disallowed.

More Greeley Trivia:

A lot of people, myself included, know Greeley mostly for saying “Go west, young man.” Turns out he borrowed the phrase from someone else: John Babsone Lane Soule wrote it in a Terre Haute newspaper, where Greeley read it and tweaked it for an editorial in the New York Tribune.

When TV Stevie and I first started dating neither of us owned cars with remote door locks. If such a thing were even around, they were reserved only for the high-end vehicles. We are not luxury vehicle kind of people. We’re more like, “does it get us where we need to go in a safe manner?” folks.

TV would unlock the passenger door and open it for me, then close it. I would slide over and unlock the driver’s door.  This became our ritual. Even after we were married and had babies, then small children, if it was just the two of us, we observed our habit.

Until he bought a car with remote door locks. Yes, he still held the door open for me, but there was no longer a need for me to unlock his side.  And eventually, even the opening of my door went away. It was unlocked.

Sometimes I miss those little gestures of courtship.

I am an introvert. What that means is that being around a lot of people in the midst of a lot of noise with a lot of things happening complete depletes me. Even after my local RWA Chapter meeting–when I’m with my tribe–I usually spend the next day trying to recover.

Here are some facts about introverts:

• We’re not shy. We just don’t like hanging out for the sake of hanging out.
• While we may not have a lot of friends, we have a few close friends, and that’s enough.
• We need quiet/down time in order to be healthy.
• We’re individuals, not part of a group. Some employers think we’re not team players. Maybe society puts too much emphasis on teams and not enough about nurturing the individual.
• We’re observers. We notice the little things.
• Many of us thrive online. It’s not intrusive, like the telephone or unexpected company. We get to think about what we want to say.

Here are five of my favorite aromas:

• Earthworms after a spring rain: You can smell the soil and in my part of the world that usually means winter is finally over.
• Lilacs: The fragrance of lilacs means spring. Sometimes it can be a touch overwhelming, but I love walking outside on a late May morning and having the scent greet my nose.
• Thanksgiving Dinner (including dessert) being cooked: What’s to explain?
• A bonfire on a chilly autumn evening: Reminds me of sweatshirts, jeans, and friendship.
• Sausage, pepper, and onion sandwiches (without green peppers): nothing says summer like the smell of sausage, peppers & onions on the grill. Except green peppers. They smell (and taste) nasty.