You\u2019ve seen photo books and calendars depicting swaddled infants surrounded with flowers. In Irmo, S.C., photographer Stephanie Smith re-created the look using her high school friend Nicole Ham. Ham, who is \u201c336 months old,\u201d was swaddled in a pink blanket and wore a giant gold bow on her head as she lay in a circle of flowers. A sign next to her read: \u201cLoves \u2014 champagne. Hates \u2014 dating in 2018. Go Tigers!\u201d \u201cWe couldn\u2019t keep a straight face,\u201d said Smith, adding that she and Ham are already brainstorming ideas for future funny photo shoots.<\/p>\n
People Different From Us<\/strong><\/p>\n Asparagus is healthy and delicious. But for 63-year-old Jemima Packington of Bath, England, the columnar vegetable is much more. Packington is an \u201casparamancer\u201d: a person who can foretell the future by tossing the spears into the air and seeing how they land. \u201cWhen I cast the asparagus, it creates patterns and it is the patterns I interpret,\u201d she said. \u201cI am usually about 75 to 90 percent accurate.\u201d In fact, out of 13 predictions she made for 2018, 10 came true. What\u2019s in store for 2019? Packington says England\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team will win the World Cup; A Star Is Born will win an Oscar; and fears over Brexit will be largely unfounded. Oh, and asparagus will see an all-time high in sales.<\/p>\n Armed and Clumsy<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite a flood of warnings from law enforcement about the dangers of shooting celebratory gunfire into the air on New Year\u2019s Eve, a Kansas City, Kansas, man couldn\u2019t resist. As he prepared to head outside at midnight with his .22-caliber handgun, he \u201csat the gun down in the couch (and) accidentally shot himself in the stomach,\u201d tweeted police chief Terry Ziegler. Ziegler\u2019s department conducted a \u201cTweet-along\u201d during the evening, with multiple reports of shots fired \u2014 so many that, at 11:50 p.m., officers headed to a parking garage to take cover from the bullets that were expected to rain down at midnight. At 12:01 a.m., the department tweeted, \u201cGunfire EVERYWHERE.\u201d No injuries were reported in the city.<\/p>\n Overreactions<\/strong><\/p>\n Alarmed neighbors in Perth, Australia, called police after hearing a child screaming and a man repeatedly shouting, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you die?!\u201d Many units of officers arrived at the property, only to learn that the man who\u2019d been shouting had been trying to kill a spider. His wife confirmed to police that her child had been screaming, and her husband apologized to police for the confusion. The spider didn\u2019t survive.<\/p>\n Weapon of Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n Rogelio Tapia, 26, was arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, on Dec. 31 after a dispute at a QuikTrip around 3 am. The store clerk and witnesses told police Tapia chased the clerk around the store and assaulted him with a banana after the clerk tried to intervene in a domestic situation. Tapia caused $1,000 in damage; he was charged with assault and third-degree criminal mischief.<\/p>\n Bright Ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n In Madrid, Spain, salon owner Alberto Olmedo uses ninja swords and blowtorches to cut hair. Claiming his approach is inspired by Renaissance tradition, Olmedo said that swords allow a hairdresser to cut hair from both sides of the head at once, resulting in a more even finish. He started perfecting the skill when he became \u201cdisillusioned with scissors.\u201d Olmedo also offers a cut with claws worn on the ends of his fingers, and plans are in the works to bring in lasers.<\/p>\n Fashion Foibles<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Nike will be mowing over the competition with its new Air Max 1 golf shoes, which feature uppers covered with a green material that resembles grass. Matching green laces will further disguise your dogs as you play a round. But lest you think you\u2019ll disappear altogether, the trademark Nike swoosh on the sides is bright white. The sneakers, yet to be released, are expected to retail for $140.<\/p>\n \u2014 Just when you thought there was nothing new under the blue jeans sun: a Ukrainian designer is asking $377 for a pair of jeans that have one fitted leg and one flared leg. Ksenia Schnaider, who calls her design the Asymmetric Jean, said, \u201cIt\u2019s good to get people talking, and they\u2019re definitely going to make people turn their heads as you walk by!\u201d<\/p>\n Precocious<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Employees of John J. Murphy Elementary School in Round Lake Park, Ill., were surprised when a car drove into the drop-off lane and an 11-year-old student got out of the driver\u2019s side. Witnesses alerted police, who issued an arrest warrant for the front-seat passenger, 31-year-old Khafilu M. Oshodi of Round Lake, for two counts of child endangerment. (A 9-year-old was riding in the back seat.) Police chief George Filenko told the Lake County News-Sun the situation could have \u201cresulted in any number of tragic scenarios.\u201d The children have been placed with other relatives, and police are still looking for Oshodi.<\/p>\n \u2014 Alijah Hernandez of Houston is a skilled barber in her father\u2019s shop. What is newsworthy is that Alijah is only 7. Her dad, Franky, says she\u2019s been watching him since she was a toddler and started perfecting her skills three years ago. For her part, Alijah says cutting hair comes naturally to her. She practices on friends and family (with her dad supervising) and has already faced off in barber competitions across Texas.<\/p>\n Terrifying Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n Laura Lyons of Orinda, Calif., was in her kitchen on the afternoon of Jan. 20 when a loud alert noise blared in the living room, followed by a detailed warning from \u201cCivil Defense\u201d that intercontinental ballistic missiles were on their way from North Korea to Los Angeles, Chicago and Ohio. Lyons said the message warned residents they had three hours to evacuate. As she and her husband absorbed the news, they realized it had come from their Nest security camera \u2014 not from the TV, where the Rams-Saints game was playing. And news channels were not reporting anything unusual. \u201cIt was five minutes of sheer terror,\u201d she said. The Lyonses called 911 and then Nest, where a supervisor told them they had been victims of a \u201cthird-party hack\u201d on their camera and speakers.<\/p>\n Latest Religious Messages<\/strong><\/p>\n British retailer Marks & Spencer is in hot water with Muslims who claim the store\u2019s brand of toilet paper is embossed with the Arabic symbol God. A man posted a video to social media displaying a roll of M&S Aloe Vera 3-ply tissue and urging his Muslim brothers and sisters to avoid buying it or to boycott the store altogether. In response, Marks & Spencer says the symbol is of an aloe vera leaf: \u201cThe motif on the aloe vera toilet tissue, which we have been selling for over five years, is categorically of an aloe vera leaf, and we have investigated and confirmed this with our suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You\u2019ve seen photo books and calendars depicting swaddled infants surrounded with flowers. In Irmo, S.C., photographer Stephanie Smith re-created the look using her high school friend Nicole Ham. Ham, who is \u201c336 months old,\u201d was swaddled in a pink blanket and wore a giant gold bow on her head as she lay in a circle [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"yoast_head":"\n