I was searching around the news sites today, looking for interesting things to write about. I came across three stories that caught my eye. As a society, it’s just possible that we have too much time on our hands.

Exhibit One

Pollsters at Marist College in Poughkeepsie NY interviewed 938 people, by phone, to determine the most annoying phrase in the English language. I’m not sure why they did this but it is an interesting sociological experiment. The choices offered were, ‘whatever’, ‘you know’, ‘it is what it is’, ‘anyway’, and ‘at the end of the day’. The winner is … whatever, it’s an appropriate choice.

Exhibit Two

This story is not amusing, in fact, it’s a little sad. It should be filed under the category … just when you think you’ve got it bad. The city of Detroit tried to do a good thing. As part of the President’s economic stimulus plan, they were prepared to hand out money as financial aide for people who are homeless or about to be.

They had to call the police department’s gang squad and tactical units to the site for crowd control. Several thousand people lined up to apply. Individuals were passing out and getting into scuffles. Of the estimated 50,000 applications distributed, only 3,500 applications will be approved. It’s scary sign of the times.

I live in Florida, for those of you who don’t know that already. We’re feeling the effects of the depressed economy but apparently, not to the extent they are in Detroit. It makes sense if you think about it. I associate Detroit with automotive production. As I was researching the article, I discovered, one in every four people in Detroit, who are of working age, is currently unemployed. That’s a shocking figure.

Exhibit Three

This story is a crazy type of creepy. If you’re an Elvis fan, get ready. A man said to be a friend of the king himself, claims to have swept up Elvis’s hair after his army service haircut. Now he has taken it and made a weave …that’s right, a weave. What could be creepier than that?

It’s expected to sell for $12k. If you’re interested in wearing Elvis’s hair for your next karaoke show, better break open the piggy bank. I’m trying to figure out what type of proof this man offered to verify the source of the hair. Well, whatever.