Bonus Poem: You Have to Think of Something While Stacking Wood (A Laugh for You)

July 1, 2014

Today is the birthday in 1804

Of the woman who thought that her God she adored,

But her parents objected to her as a nun,

So George Sand she became, and a wild life she'd run;

Then in 19 hundred and 79,

A man named Ibuka thought it would be fine

To listen to music while walking along,

Thus the Walkman combined exercise with a song!

51 years ago this July one,

Mr. ZIP was rolled out to make mailing more fun!

All the numbers you'd need to send bills or a letter,

Made it faster, they said - your new address is better!

Finally, way back in 1869,

William Strunk came to be, and he said, draw the line

On a surfeit of words; thus I'll here end this verse,

Brevity, meritorious; better is terse.

Scott L. Barton

(Thanks to The Writer's Almanac for information about this day!)