Trends for April 2, 2001

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, April 2, 2001 | 10:04 a.m.

Stick it to ya

When was the last time you read a really good poem one of the classics? We're going to take a guess and say probably in your high school literature class.

So chances are pretty good that you may not be aware that April is National Poetry Month.

Consider yourself enlightened. And now that thou art, what art thou going to do about it?

The folks at the Academy of American Poets hope you'll put your brain to good use no, you needn't pen some prose yourself. All they're asking is that you visit the academy's website, poets.org, and nominate your favorite poet to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp.

It doesn't even have to be a famous poet the only guidelines are that the nominee be an American citizen, and must be deceased for at least 10 years.

The list on the site of those in the running will be updated daily. The contest ends April 30.

Bellying up

Think about this the next time you're loading change into the office vending machine: In 1998 almost $35 billion worth of products were purchased from the machines.

This bit of info comes courtesy of the National Automatic Merchandising Association, which recently held a convention in Las Vegas.

Who isn't guilty of buying items or their entire lunch out of a vending machine at one time or another?

But maybe people are visiting the machines a little too often, especially when you consider that in 1999, more than 21 billion cans of soda were sold from vending machines. Stacked top to bottom, the NAMA says, the cans would circle the world 70 times.

Also, 10 billion there's that "b" word again candy bars and other "packaged confections and snacks" were sold, along with 4 billion hot drinks (coffee, hot cocoa and the like), enough for every person living in North America to drink 13 of the beverages each year.

On the hunt

Don't you hate it when you can't remember where you put something? Professor Solomon understands.

The "amateur professor" calls himself a "findologist," and has displayed his talents on ABC's "Good Morning America." He's also the author of several books, including one aptly titled "How to Find Lost Objects."

On his website, professorsolomon.com, the Cleveland native does what he does best offers tips for finding lost items. Among them: