I Can Name My State Capitals

Most of us in our 50's, whether or not we've done it up to now, start to become more health-conscious. We watch our diets, try to exercise, and probably have to take some kind of meds to keep everything running smoothly. I have to.

A big part of this, as well as physical health and firmity, is intellectual health. Keeping the mind alive. As I go through this sixth decade of life, I try more and more to use my noodle on a daily basis. Hopefully complete at least one 'evil' Sudoku puzzle every day, and learn at least one new thing. I did meet my quota today, completing one 'evil' Sudoku puzzle(and screwing up another one, but oh well..), and re-learned some basic grammar:

Learned about a split infinitive, which is when an adverb is placed between to(the infinitive itself) and the verb. Star Trek's opening monologue is a good example: to boldly go where no man has gone before. To boldly go. Also about a dangling participle. The participle is usually an ing or ed word- swimming, reading, learning; and a dangling participle is one in a compound sentence that creates ambiguity. The example I found which best illustrates: flitting gaily from flower to flower, the football player watches the bee. Whom here is doing the flitting, the bee or the football player?

Also about a gerund, which is a verb that becomes a noun. Isn't learning fun?

And I re-learned my State Capitals. I remember learning that stuff in 5th Grade, and many of them got lost in the shuffle over the years. For what it's worth, here they are. I don't know the order of the states, as far as being established as such--except for Delaware being first, Pennsylvania being second and New Jersey third(all in 1787); and Alaska and Hawaii the last two, both in 1959.

Alabama- Montgomery
Alaska- Juneau
Arizona- Phoenix
Arkansas- Little Rock
California- Sacramento
Colorado- Denver
Connecticut- Hartford
Delaware- Dover
Florida- Tallahassee
Georgia- Atlanta
Hawaii- Oahu
Idaho- Boise
Illinois- Springfield
Indiana- Indianapolis
Iowa- Des Moines
Kansas- Topeka
Kentucky- Frankfort
Louisiana- Baton Rouge
Maine- Augusta
Maryland- Annapolis
Massachusetts- Boston
Michigan- Lansing
Minnesota- St Paul
Mississippi- Jackson
Missouri- Jefferson City
Montana- Helena
Nebraska- Lincoln
Nevada- Carson City
New Hampshire- Concord
New Jersey- Trenton
New Mexico- Santa Fe
New York- Albany
North Carolina- Raleigh
North Dakota- Bismarck
Ohio- Columbus
Oklahoma- Oklahoma City
Oregon- Salem
Pennsylvania- Harrisburg
Rhode Island- Providence
South Carolina- Columbia
South Dakota- Pierre
Tennessee- Nashville
Texas- Austin
Vermont- Montpelier
Virginia- Richmond
Washington- Olympia
West Virginia- Charleston
Wisconsin- Madison
Wyoming- Cheyenne


Well there they are. No doubt a long boring list. I think I got 'em all right though. Maybe I'll do State Flowers next. Naah. But learning is still fun, whether you're 7 or 57.