Sunday, August 7, 2011

August 7, 2011

"I don't really look at myself as the kind of person who craves attention, but I've never been to therapy so there's probably a lot of stuff about myself that I don't know. " Al Yankovic

Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic continued on with a concert in Minnesota in 2004 even after he was informed that both of his parents were found dead, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning.  

Saturday, August 6, 2011

August 6, 2011

"People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people - and that social norm is just something that has evolved over time. "
Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook,  could read and write French, Hebrew, Latin, and ancient Greek. He was known in college for occasionally reciting lines from Homer's "The Illiad" and other epic poems.

Friday, August 5, 2011

August 5, 2011

"Words impress me. If a man can speak eloquently and beautifully to me, I just melt on the floor."
Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones married Michael Douglas (25 years her senior to the day) only a few weeks after his divorce was finalized.  Eleven years later, they are still married.  In April 2011, Catherine Zeta-Jones sought treatment for bipolar II disorder.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

August 4, 2011

"To read too many books is harmful." Mao Zedong

Chairman Mao's personal physician published a book after the man's death that claimed that he was a chain smoker who rarely left his bed, never bathed or brushed his teeth, and had a large number of sexual partners from whom he contracted multiple venereal diseases.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

August 3, 2011

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it
would be a merrier world." J. R. R. Tolkien 

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned at the age of 12, his father
having died of rheumatic fever when Ronald, as his parents called him,
was only three and his mother having died of type 1 diabetes.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

August 2, 2011

"Existence really is an imperfect tense that never becomes a present."
Friedrich Nietzsche  Also, "'Evil men have no songs.' How is it that
the Russians have songs?"  Friedrich Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was originally Prussian, but applied for annulment
of his citizenship.  Once granted the annulment, he spent the rest of
his days stateless but claimed (falsely) to be a decedent of Polish
nobility.

Monday, August 1, 2011

August 1, 2011

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." Leo Tolstoy 
also, "Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal."  Leo Tolstoy 

Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, a Russian author (and son of a Count) best
known for his novels "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", was
described by his teachers as "unwilling and unable to learn". 
Eventually, he found himself in massive gambling debts, so he joined
the Russian army with his brother.