Trivia

Q. Can one recite poems in sign language?

A. Indeed. And puns, jokes and spoonerisms, even with regional accents.

If a man’s mother worked on a payroll job, he’ll expect his wife to do so. If his mother stayed home, he’ll probably hope his wife will, too. That’s the claim of a collegiate counselor. She believes a single woman ought to think about that pattern before picking out a household partner.

When artist James McNeill Whistler was a cadet at West Point, one instructor assigned him and others to draw a diagram of a water crossing. Whistler sketched a bridge with two children on it. The children aren’t needed, said the instructor. Whistler drew the bridge again with the two children on the river bank. Get rid of those children, ordered the instructor. Whistler redrew the bridge with two small tombstones on a background hill. Did I tell you Whistler was kicked out of West Point?

A sled dog reacts to a loose moose the way a quick cat reacts to a routed house mouse, I’m told. Maybe the best-trained dog doesn’t break harness, but it surely tenses up.

Cats, too, get acne.