Some totally random stuff:

-Did you know that there is something called Seasonal Affective Disorder (or Winter depression) in the medical vocabulary? Apparently, you may feel more depressed in winter than in summer and there is a 'bright light treatment' to cure it (same link). Now I know why I have been so depressed! Its the cold. All I need to do is find myself a bright light source and sit in front of it.

-While driving back the night before, I caught the end of a fabulous program on 88.5 FM on coffee cultures. Among other things, it mentioned that Turks believe that you can read your fortune from the leftovers in your coffee cup. They infer your fortune from the patterns formed inside the cup by the coffee grinds. Culturally, it is similar to reading fortune from tea-leaf (Tesseography) that has been prevalant in China. 'Coffee-fortunes' has the detailed scoop online. I read elsewhere that the practice survives in other parts of the former Ottoman empire including Bulgaria, Greece, Egypt, Macedonia and Bosnia.

-Average Incomes in USA:

White male: $31, 213
Black male : $21, 662
Hispanic male: $19,833

White female: $16, 805
Black Female: $16, 801
Hispanic female: $12,255

'11.3 percent of the nation's population lives in poverty. 9.4 percent of that number are white, 22.1 percent are black, 21.2 are hispanic. (ref US Census, Via Mefi)