Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for August 16, 2004

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Aug. 16, 2004 | 8:12 a.m.

Laughing matters

Celebrating a birthday this month? That's terrific though not entirely surprising, since 21 million Americans have August birthdays. That little tidbit comes courtesy of greeting-card conglomerate Hallmark.

Speaking of which, the company's "tiny little division" called Shoebox composed of cards that largely sport funny as opposed to sappy sentiments recently commissioned its Humor Score Survey, to determine which 40 U.S. cities boast the best sense of humor. The results are based on answers to queries given by the more than 27,000 people the company polled, as well as Shoebox sales info; that data was used to assign scores on the "Humor Index."

Interestingly enough, several of the towns near the top of the list often experience extremely cold temperatures. Case in point: In first place is Mankato, Minn., which scored 76 out of 100 on the index. It was followed by Helena, Mont. (score: 75), and Cheyenne-Scottsbluff, Wyo. (74), which ranked second and third respectively. Coincidence? Probably.

Continuing on, in fourth place is Providence-New Bedford, R.I. (with a score of 74); followed by Milwaukee (73); Minneapolis-St. Paul (73); Colorado Springs-Pueblo, Colo. (72); Boston (71); and Madison, Wis. (71). Peoria-Bloomington, Ill. (69), rounds out the top 10. Hartford and New Haven, Conn., finished dead last with a score of 59. Before you ask, Las Vegas didn't even make the cut, which is sort of funny but not in a good way.

Whatcha want?

Getting back to birthdays, do ignore pleas from boys and girls (particularly the grown-up ones) who each year say they're rather keep celebrations low key. Yet another recent survey this one sponsored by online florist and gift retailer Proflowers.com says more than 72 percent of the 500 people it polled in July actually prefer "some element of surprise" on their birthdays.

That said, it shouldn't surprise anyone that, despite insistences to the contrary, precisely 43.5 percent of respondents said they actually do want a surprise party thrown in their honor. Of course, another 40.2 percent said they'd be plenty shocked by a birthday gift of cash, or a "dream vacation" (33.8 percent).

Other random responses: More than 20 percent reported having a spouse or significant other forgot their birthday "at least once"; and nearly 56 percent of people said they spend between $20 and $49 on birthday gifts for friends and family members.

Wrapper's delight

The Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper is celebrating its eighth birthday. Each year the contest (which was previously mentioned in this space in 2000) bestows said title on the person 3M company execs deem the craftiest amateur or professional gift wrapper in the land.

Can you or someone you know curl ribbons like nobody's business? Write an essay (100 words or less) describing the paper folder's penchant for present perfection and send it by Oct. 1 along with your and the nominee's name, address, phone/fax numbers and e-mail address to the contest in care of Hunter Public Relations, 41 Madison Ave., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10010.

Eight finalists will be selected to participate in the contest, to be staged Dec. 3 at New York's Rockefeller Center, where they'll compete for $10,000 in cash, KitchenAid-brand appliances and other prizes which, hopefully, will arrive bundled in one of those giant red bows.