Now that I got you interested, I want you to know that I was just kidding. It really isn’t shocking … just plain interesting. Well, it was interesting for me and I hope it will be for you too.

Are you ready to understand the history behind some of the Nursery Rhymes recited by our young ones? If the answer to that is “Yes!” then hear goes, “I can’t hear you. Have you eaten? Are you ready to understand the history behind some of the nursery rhymes?” Do I hear a, “Yes”?

Don’t you just hate it when people address you that way? Well sometimes we address kids that way but it really perks them up, right? I’m hoping that since you’re reading this article, deep down there’s a kid in you. And that you wouldn’t want to behead me for the tone in which I’m writing this post (makulit!).

I spoke of beheading in the previous paragraph so that I could insert what I’m going to write now. Here goes… “I was appalled by the idea that I went to a pre-school named after the beheading of a king and a queen. To those of you who have an inkling of what nursery rhyme I’m referring to, you deserve a pat on the back. To those who have no idea, we’re birds of the same feather. Anyway, my pre-school was named Jack and Jill.

Jack, contrary to what others may think, is not Leonardo di Caprio of Titanic (sorry folks, I think Tipoy’s funny bone rubbed off on me a little bit). Seriously, Jack is said to be King Louis XVI who lost his crown (literally because he was beheaded). Any guesses as to Jill might be? Jill is Queen Marie Antoinette who came tumbling after. Now isn’t that a painful thought?

Since we’re talking about beheadings, there was this English queen who so loved to behead her people. I think it was because of this that a tomato juice was name after her. Yep, she’s no other than, Bloody Mary. And since we’re on the topic, not only was a drink named after her but nursery rhymes were also made in her “honor” (not that I think she would have appreciated it, had she known about them). Three Blind Mice sounds familiar? How about “Mary Mary Quite Contrary”? Well, these are allusions to the queen. To those of you who aren’t familiar with Mary Mary quite contrary, here’s an excerpt:

Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

She’s Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII. The garden in the rhyme represented graveyards (I guess she didn’t have a greenthumb. Just kidding). The silver bells and cockle shells were really instruments of torture. Silver bells were thumbscrews which crushed the thumb (now that really dims the Christmas song with the same name). Even more painful is the cockleshells which were attached to the genitals (I don’t want to know what it does!).”

Since I don’t want this post to be a rhyme interpretation, you may access the link below to view the site where I got all this info from. It has a listing of almost all famous nursery rhymes and even a quiz (though I never took it because … I just didn’t want to ).

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/index.htm

I have decided to read a book today. The first one I’ve read after a year. It was extremely hot at home and the television was tuned to the Pacquiao-Morales match (boxing is not really my favorite sport but I sure am rooting for Pacquiao. Congratz Pacquiao!), so I decided to spend some time in a cafe where I could enjoy the airconditioned atmosphere for the price of a frapuccino.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed reading the book a friend gave me for my birthday. It had an absurd title given that it’s a birthday present (thanks my friend! I am not complaining ). “Veronica Decides to Die” by Paulo Coelho. Weird right? But my friend had her reasons. The book was about a woman who thought she had achieved all that there was in life so it was time to end it (don’t know why my friend thinks I could relate to this book). Funny thing is that she wasn’t able to end her life. She was placed in a mental institution because someone rushed her to the hospital before the pills started their magic (forgive the sarcastic tone) .

The “suicide victim” was tired of living the same thing each day. I think everyone could relate to her concerns about life but what struck me most during my read was the part where a friend of hers relates what craziness means. Note: her friend is a fellow inmate in the mental institution. Additional note: I’m still at page 55. I haven’t read the whole thing yet since I made an earlier appointment with Mr. Bond (which by the way is an okay movie. Maybe it’s because I did not expect so much). So I postponed reading about Veronica’s death for a while.

Anyway, let me regale you with the inmate’s story. A story that hopes to explain what craziness means to someone who was crazy to begin with. Okay okay, here goes the story…

There was once a wizard who placed a spell on the well of a kingdom. This well was the source of the kingdom’s water supply. Everyone drank from this well except for the king’s family since they had a special well for themselves. All the people in the kingdom were under the wizard’s spell as soon as they drank from the well. The water made them act differently. What they started doing did not make sense to the king’s family. In the same way that what the king and his family did, did not make sense to the people. The people thought that the king was full of nonsense so they should usurp him. Before this could happen, the queen suggested to her husband that they should try drinking from the well too so that they could make sense of the “nonsense” people. So the king and his family had their sip from the well. From then on, they started thinking the same nonsense that made sense to the rest of the kingdom (tongue twister placed there on purpose ). The people decided not to overthrow the king since he now made “sane” decisions for them. And the kingdom lived happily ever. Note: The surrounding kingdoms thought that the bewitched kingdom was full of nonsense.

Moral of the story? Craziness is merely a perception of someone whose thoughts do not adhere to the norm. Do you remember someone who once said the world was round? Wasn’t he called crazy during his time? Crazy until proven sane. I could name a few crazy people (before they name me!)

Sometimes I think the world should be filled with a little bit of craziness to make life more interesting. To put a more low-key tone to it, I think it means thinking out-of-the-box. I love it when people think out-of-the-box but I hope they don’t talk to themselves while they’re at it.