from Blue Ash

In December I read no less than seven books. I'm hoping 2014 will be trendsetting when it comes to reading. I've got quite the queue, but I've been chiseling through it book-by-book in a literary whirlwind. If I can read three books a month, that's 36 books in 2014. That's a fairly impressive number. I don't read every book fast; I've been reading Celebration of Discipline slowly, pondering each chapter, taking notes in the margins, praying over what Foster writes. I've been working on Foster's book for several weeks now; at the same time, I've spent the past week starting (and finishing) the 600-page Eagle Against the Sun: The American War Against Japan. Here's an interesting little "factoid" I found on the interwebs (or "meme-base", if you will); I'm not sure if it's true, but if it is, I'll be an international expert in no time!

Bored here in Blue Ash the other night, I did some research on "being short" and discovered some interesting little statistics:

(1) Short men are at a disadvantage when it comes to dating. Women--be they short, average, or tall--generally prefer taller men.

(2) Nevertheless, shorter men are better lovers and life-partners. Women who marry short guys tend to be happier and feel more secure than women who marry tall guys. There's lots of speculation why this is the trend, and one good theory is that because shorter men have been at a disadvantage in the "dating world," they've developed more compassion, kindness, and patience, and they tend to be more loyal and affectionate towards their spouses or partners. 

(3) The stereotype of short guys being "less manly" is downright wrong. In fact, shorter guys tend to be stronger pound-for-pound, have better endurance, better agility, and a quicker reaction speed than tall guys. We're less prone to broken bones and have stronger hearts. We also tend to live longer than taller guys, all things considered. Short guys excel in combat; the "underdogs" whom no one expects to be standout in combat turn out to be excellent fighters. This isn't too surprising: there are physiological perks to being short which can be helpful in combat. Let's not forget that one of the greatest war machines the world has ever seen belonged to the ancient Romans, and the average Roman soldier stood around 5 feet 4 inches! Thus I'm as tall as the average Roman soldier, and that's not a bad thing at all.

this would be me if I were a Roman soldier. Being short and kicking ass.