Kissing

When you get up in the morning, you really have no idea what that day will bring. A lot can happen to you though out the day or maybe in a two hour span. You just don’t know.

So imagine my surprise that at 8:34am, 14 minutes after I logged onto my work computer, I check to see if there are any new stories on MSN.com and what headline do I see: Kissing in 16th Century Naples: Punishable by Death: Wacky 'pucker-up' facts: How much longer do men live if they kiss their wives before going to work?

I’m intrigued.

So here it is my first blog entry of “What I’ve Learned Today” is about kissing. But you know what, after reading the article, I learned something new today. And that’s the whole point of this project. (I just wanted to see how much longer I was going to live.)

There were two quick facts that I learned so this first entry will be a double decker.

The first decker I learned was that kissing generally uses one muscle, called the orbicularis oris, which is responsible for puckering your lips when you kiss. The science of kissing itself is called philematology.

Per Wikipedia, (where I go for most of my sources) Orbicularis Oris is the sphincter muscle around the mouth. It is also one of the muscles used in the playing of all brass instruments and some woodwind instruments. This muscle closes the mouth and puckers the lips when it contracts.

The second decker I learned is that a study shows that men live up to five years longer if they kiss their wives before going to work. I don’t know who did this study or where I could find it to back this up, but I’ll be happy with living 5 years longer. Pucker up sweetie!!!

http://glo.msn.com/relationships/lip-service-2640.gallery?GT1=49000