A.J. Jacobs Omnibus: The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, My Life as an Experiment

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A.J. Jacobs Omnibus: The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, My Life as an Experiment Page 46

by A. J. Jacobs

rebel spy–Union officer love story in

  Taiping Rebellion compared with

  classification of body types

  colonialism, percentage of evil in

  communism, foxhunter’s cofounding of

  Complete Family News (newsletter)

  compulsions, unkickable

  conversational gambits:

  “a-ak” not helpful in

  of AJ Sr.

  internal “ding” heard at onset of

  knowledge in

  at Mensa events

  in ninety minutes with Senator Kennedy

  “Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?”

  see also evasion strategies; knowledge displays

  cooking, coriander in

  coral snakes, identification of

  coriander

  crab soup topped with

  corpses, sale of

  courtship, see romance and courtship

  Crapper, Thomas, myth of

  Crossfire, AJ as reticent debater on

  cross-referencing, meaningful

  crossword puzzles, another debacle

  cruelty, in boy’s camps

  Cruise, Tom, EB silent on

  cucumbers, “vampirelike lecherous creature” from Japan obsessed with

  curiosity, about everything

  curses, usefull

  Dalton School:

  AJ’s revisit to

  ethical relativism discovered at

  dances:

  Saint Vitus

  tarantella

  Dante Alighieri, video dating prescribed for

  death:

  of family member

  metaphors for

  obituary read before

  passions moderated by contemplation of

  preservation of body after

  after reading EB

  unusualforms of

  see also burial; corpses

  death penalty, AJ in Columbia debate on

  DeBakey, Michael

  as EB reader

  definitions:

  of “ambergris”

  of “anti-neutrino particle”

  of “axillism”

  of “berry”

  of “book”

  of “erythrocyte”

  of “fruit”

  of “haboob”

  of “inch”

  of “infix”

  of “intelligence”

  of “jacks and jills”

  of “kilogram”

  memorizing of

  of “meter”

  of “mushrooming”

  of “mutualism”

  of “ooze”

  of “pachycephalosaurus”

  of “peninsula”

  of “peon”

  of “reading”

  of “riot”

  of “suicide”

  of “tarantella”

  of various rhetorical devices

  of “wergild”

  déjà vu, jamais vu vs.

  Delfin, John, crossword philosophy of

  depression, evolutionary role of

  Descartes, René:

  cross-eyed–women fetish of

  joke about bartender and

  as proto-Freudian

  Disclosures and Remedies Under the Security Law (Jacobs Sr.)

  divorce, Pueblo-style

  dodo bird, scattered remnants of

  Doherty, Shannen, marriage spans of

  Doone, Lorna, cookies confused with

  Douglas, Cousin, language corrected by

  dreams:

  creative

  self-fulfilling

  duplicity:

  of biblical Jacob

  of males in courtship strategies

  earth:

  locating AJ on

  search for intelligent life on

  time taken by rotation of

  unrestrained outlay of facts about

  Earth Mother, as fertility goddess

  Easter Bunny, background and character of

  Ebbinghaus, Herman, “forgetting curve” of

  Ebert jokes

  Ecclesiastes

  E! channel

  $8000 question, audience thanked for answer to

  Einstein, Albert

  see also relativity

  embalming:

  Egyptian recipe for

  as loophole in wife’s will

  Eminems, miniversions of

  Encyclopaedia Britannica:

  admirable anality of

  alphabetical sequence of

  bloopers in

  brilliant quotations helpful in getting into

  as bug killer

  card games clarified by

  career ideas in

  cat issues of

  chamber music as an unseemly soft spot of

  cross-referencing in

  dedication of

  dispassionate approach of

  diversityof everything in

  electronic applications of

  Eleventh Edition of

  “erythrocyte” found in, too late for Millionaire

  even-handedness of

  excitement about diacritics at

  facts, not that many, missing from

  Fifteenth Edition of

  First Edition and founders of (Macfarquhar, Smellie, and Bell)

  flexibilitya lesson of

  glories of

  gravitas added to room by

  great books coverage in

  Greek history favored by

  handy-phrase translations in

  hard-to-forget book titles in

  indexing department of

  instant wisdom in

  on itself

  legal knowledge in

  main sections of

  marginal utility theory in

  material aspects of

  medical afflictions found in

  as noble pursuit

  nothing evidently left out of

  other readers of

  phonetic guides not found in

  physicality of

  purchase and arrival of

  racism in

  randiness of

  randomness of

  reading of, see Operation Britannica

  repetition in

  romance in

  scatology in

  self-help guidance in

  stereotypes broken by

  superior putz’s insult of

  ten best ways to get into

  Thirteenth Edition of

  unauthorized tweaking of

  uneven alphabetical coverage in

  unorthodox uses of

  unusual grounds for entry into

  vintage and classic editions of

  visit to HQ of

  weird and crude facts in

  worldview of

  “encyclopedia”:

  derivation of

  ligature sometimes seen in

  encyclopedias, earliest, longest, strangest, etc.

  “Encyclopedia Twit-annica”

  Encyclopédie (Diderot et al.)

  Engels, Friedrich, ideological dualism of

  Enlightenment, Eleventh Edition as culmination of

  entertainment:

  bearbaiting as

  musicals about trains as

  nonstop

  Entertainment Weekly

  article on box office prices in

  catching colds at

  Cats given send-off at

  confession of crush at

  Oscars covered in

  Senator Kennedy not a longtime subscriber to

  trend seeking at

  eponymy:

  avoidance of

  Chauvin’s contribution to

  engineering achievements and

  legends of

  misspellings and

  “sandwich” or “Morris,” if you prefer

  erythrocyte, defined on Millionaire

  Esquire:

  AJ’s job at

  article ideas at

  article on
uncommon fetishes in

  baseball talk sidestepped at

  Christmas party at

  Cosmo vs.

  fashion consciousness at

  “The Fire Next Time” and

  humor ventured at

  lichen saluted in

  new perspective gained at

  screwups at

  speech making at

  sports conversations at

  ethics:

  “is” vs. “ought” in

  Tolstoyan

  utilitarian vs. deontology in

  ethnic groups:

  baldness compared in

  Ostrogoth-American

  etymological underground

  eunuchs, operatic

  evasion strategies:

  create a distraction

  I’ll-get-back-to-you trick

  evolution, of typewriter

  extinction, of passenger pigeons

  facts:

  battle of

  fudging of

  movie-interrupting

  swimming vs. drowning in

  Trebek’s favorites

  as trophies of the hunt

  weird and crude

  world packed with

  failures:

  in astronomy

  of cosmos

  in crossword puzzles

  in Hitler assassination attempt

  in Millionaire

  at Waterloo

  fame:

  names forgotten by

  screwups recorded by

  see also celebrities; greats

  families:

  buttercup

  eminence in

  hippy

  Family Feud, crossword puzzle–themed version of

  Farrow, Dave, memory course of

  fashion, brief history of

  fertility

  collectibles and

  of efficiency guru

  experimenting with rituals of

  of rabbits

  fetishes:

  breast

  for cross-eyed women

  gum

  for organization

  in speed reading

  Fibonacci series, Boggle scored with

  1582, ten days skipped in

  flagellation, fertility promoted by

  flirty fishing, gospel and herpes spread by

  folklore, elves in

  food:

  in buffalo merchandise wars

  catered

  in eating contest

  ecstasy and

  foreign, Carry Nation’s assault on

  greasy Italian finger

  Italian wedding

  ordering of, in Italy

  restaurant

  restrictions on

  war over

  washed by raccoons

  football, how to talk about

  form, good or bad, in chess

  44, number of insanity attacks suffered by Charles VI of France

  42,649, number of red deer killed by ruler of Saxony

  Franklin, Benjamin, reasons to name yourself after

  freezing point, misguided determination of

  Freud, Sigmund, Marx preferred to

  Frost, Robert, Harvard connection of

  “fucking,” infixing of

  gagaku, Korean name for

  Galton, Francis

  games:

  cards

  charades

  humiliation

  invented

  number

  Simon Says

  six-degrees-of-separation

  see also crossword puzzles; word games

  Garbo, Greta, little-known resume item of

  gasoline, best time for purchase of

  Genevieve:

  Alaskan crab legs sent as gift from

  dustup delegated to

  genius(es):

  animosity between

  capacity for bad behavior among

  counterintuitive facts about

  of Einstein

  fresh air required for

  linguistic

  in Mensa

  psychological problems ascribed to

  temperamental

  thoroughly balanced

  see also Mensa(ns)

  germaphobia

  g-forces, protection from

  gnomons

  God:

  fertility, of the Week

  in Taiping Rebellion

  waiting for stars to spell out

  golf balls, dimples on

  Google(ing):

  addiction to

  EB vs.

  for “erythrocyte”

  “Jacobs” in

  graduate thesis ideas:

  clothing colors and world history

  “The Scarlet Number”

  grahamcracker, curious inventor of

  Grandma, word police on trail of

  Grant’s Tomb, waiting to be asked about

  grease, types of

  Great EB, The (Kogan)

  greats:

  compulsions of

  cousins favored in marriage of

  interesting lives of

  Greeks, ancient

  hair:

  in Bible

  dreadlocks

  Jew-fro

  mohawks

  haircuts:

  army crewcut, origin of

  five-thousand-year-old

  happiness, reaching peak of

  Hare and Burke, corpse sales and service by

  Harington, John, flush toilet fathered by

  Harper’s Index

  Harvard University, notable graduates of

  head-bobbing

  head flattening

  head-snapping technique

  health concerns:

  cholesterol in

  disturbing facts in

  germaphobia in

  hypochondria and

  pickles in

  Helen of Troy, what she might launch today

  hemorrhoids, famous fatal case of

  heredity:

  in Jacobs family

  of worldview

  herpes, spiritual spread of

  HiQ societies

  history:

  cinnamon and chocolate in

  constants in

  contradictions in

  few black-or-white hats in

  figures lost to

  flexibility an advantage in

  Greek, favored by EB

  Greeks vs. Romans in

  interwovenness of

  luck’s huge part in

  pamphleteer’s place in

  Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon in

  terrorism in

  Hitler, Adolf, failed assassination attempt on

  Hoeflin, Ron:

  HiQ societies founded by

  as Millionaire lifeline

  philosophical pursuits of

  Hoiberg, Dale

  Hollywood:

  antigerbil gossip in

  Aztec idea stolen by

  founding of

  humility plan for

  see also movies

  Holmes, Sherlock, organized mind of

  Homo sapiens, faith in success of

  Houdini, Harry:

  Conan Doyle’s feud with

  fact checking on

  name chosen by

  How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare (Beuys)

  human beings, interaction with

  humiliation games

  humor:

  “being there” as aid to

  about Burbank

  see also jokes

  Hustler, EB compared with

  Huxley, Aldous, EB habit of

  hypochondria, denial of

  hypocrisy, uses of

  illnesses, breakthrough

  Impact of Rule 10b-5 (Jacobs Sr.)

  impatience, advantages of

  income, Mensan unsteadiness of

  “index,” indexing of

  indexes, wit in

  Indonesia, rare cone shell of

  infixes
, examples of

  information:

  appetites for

  counterintuitive

  haboob

  inaccurate

  memory limited for

  optimism-inspiring

  quest for meaning in

  risk in sharing of

  trees vs. forest of

  see also knowledge

  insults:

  EB-worthy

  finger

  underdog group co-opting of

  intellectual competition

  intelligence:

  crystallized vs. fluid

  defining of

  Francis Bacon’s pursuit of

  Hasidic competition and

  in HiQ societies

  wisdom vs.

  see also IQ

  international criminal law, editing article on

  interviews, for Millionaire

  inventors, close-but-no-cigar

  IQ:

  high, balancing on one foot associated with

  in marveling at keys

  see also genius(es); intelligence

  IQ tests

  Iraq:

  embedding in

  war with

  Italy, Rick and Ilene’s Jewish wedding in

  Jacob, of Bible fame

  Jacobs, A. J.:

  in the As

  Beavis moments overcome by

  brain atrophy of

  brain damage feared by

  confrontation avoided by

  conversation stopping ascribed to

  courtship strategy of

  crossword debacle of

  cultural prejudices of

  debating techniques of

  depression of

  epistemology bypassed by

  ethical relativism eschewed by

  evasion strategies of

  exposure courted by

  facial feedback tried by

  fashion issues of

  favorite compulsions of

  full name of

  Gandhi as heralding hope for

  hidden allusions missed by

  hypochondria denied by

  hypothetical Britannica entry for

  intellectual rise and decline of

  Jeopardy off-limits to

  journalistic start of

  as late sleeper

  Marxist school days of

  memorizing system of

  Mensa membership of

  Millionaire trials of

  motion efficiencies of

  at Ns in Venice

  nude posing of

  as one-time smartest boy in the world

  overstuffed mind of

  parts of speech apparently an issue for

  religious inclination of

  remembering name of

  rhetorical devices favored by

  sending wine to

  as seventy-five trillion cells, for a start

  two-thirds of historical event attended by

  unintended atonality of

  uniqueness as goal of

  Jacobs, Arnold. J., Sr.:

  achievement of

  AJ’s Britannica entry for

  AJ’s feat hailed by

  AJ’s interaction with

  as beach-chair scholar

  buffalo fabrications of

  Byzantine practical jokes of

  children’s FAQs known to

  ethical relativism as seen by

  Genghis fixation of

  high school education of

  interaction with

  on light speed

 

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