seventy six

in honor of the hallmark holiday, here's a few facts about kissing:

• the science of kissing is called philematology.
• the average person will spend roughly 20,160 minutes kissing in their lifetime, which is about 2 solid weeks.
• 50% of all people have their first kiss by the time they're 14.
• kissing's good for you: it reduces tooth decay since the extra saliva helps clean out your mouth; generally you can burn 2-3 calories/min in a passionate kiss; it releases the same neurotransmitters as in intense exercise, which increase heart rate and depth of breath; it's also been shown to lower stress & cholesterol levels and increase relationship satisfaction.
• our brains have special neurons that help us find each others lips in the dark.
• you use two muscles in your face when you give a peck kiss, but you use all of your facial muscles (34!) as well as postural musculature (112!!) during a passionate kiss.
• two-thirds of people turn their heads to the right when kissing.
• according to a dentyne commercial, the average person has 28 first kisses.

happy effin' v-day ;o)