messymimi's meanderings

Over the past few days, if you had been at our house, you would have heard things like the following:

Me, to Little Girl: why are you breaking the icicles off the house and putting them in the dishwater in the sink?

Little Girl's answer: first, they are not off the house, they are off the palm tree, and second, it is fun!

Sweetie, to me and anyone else who would listen: I've hurt my back again!

Yes, he did. He went outside, just to go outside, and slipped, hitting the deck. It's now iffy that he'll even be able to get to work at all this week.

All the kids, continually: do we have school tomorrow?

Me, most of the day: there's not been an announcement yet, calm down!

Me, by the end of the day: no school for #2 Son and Little Girl, but all of the colleges and universities are opening at 10am, so Bigger Girl has class, #1 Son has work, and Sweetie has work -- if his back is better.

Bigger Girl, every couple of hours: I'll pay someone to go to the can for me! It's too cold to go!

All of the kids, off and on all day: what's to eat?

Bigger Girl: Link didn't lay on my socks and warm them up like he was supposed to! Doesn't he know that cats are just heating pads that eat, poop, and purr?

Those are the things i've been hearing, along with more stories about exploring the frozen creek -- "I almost fell down the embankment, and Young Jacob had to grab me!" bragged #2 Son -- more screams from outdoors that mean ice is being applied liberally to someone, more eating, eating, eating.

The reason we go to the story to buy milk and bread before a storm is simple -- you can't get out in the storm to get more, and you can't have enough of the stuff around to feed the horde. We are out of mustard, so many sandwiches of all sorts have been made, and there's looking to be a shortage of peanut butter if i don't get out today.

Today, though, i will get out. Yesterday, i decided to send Sweetie, when he was still not hurt, because he was hovering over me begging for something to do.

Today, i'm getting mustard. And who knows? Maybe i'll run away for an hour.

Today is:

Arizona Musicfest -- North Scottsdale, AZ, US (a winter classical music festival; through Mar. 1)

Cash Register Day -- James Ritty and John Birch were granted a patent on this day in 1883 for an early mechanical cash register

Congressional Brawl Day -- marking the first ever all out brawl in the US Congress in 1798

Draw A Dinosaur Day -- and post it to the web sitehttp://drawadinosaurday.tumblr.com/

Feast of King Charles the Martyr -- Anglican

Inane Answering Message Day -- the day to change those annoying messages, sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

King's Birthday -- Jordan

Lunar New Year's Eve
     Seol-nal -- South Korea (Lunar New Year Holiday begins)
     Spring Festival -- China; Taiwan (Chinese New Year's Eve, start of the festival)
     Tet Eve -- Vietnam

Martyrs' Day -- India (assassination anniversary of Gandhi)

National Croissant Day

Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Festival of Peace)

Puce and Ochre Day -- Fairy Calendar

School Day of Nonviolence and Peace -- sponsored by DENIP

St. Aldegund's Day (Patron of cancer patients; against cancer, childhood diseases, sudden death, wounds)

St. Bathilde's Day (Patron of children, sick people, widows; against bodily ills and sickness)

St. Martina of Rome's Day (Patron of nursing mothers; Rome, Italy)

St. Moritz Polo world Cup on Snow -- St. Moritz, Switzerland (winter polo on the frozen lake of St. Moritz; through Sunday)

Three Archbishops' Day -- Eastern Orthodox (a/k/a Holy Hierarchs' Day)

Yodel For Your Neighbors Day -- Why? Do you hate your neighbors?

Birthdays Today:

Johnathan Lee Iverson, 1976
Christian Bale, 1974
Brett Butler, 1958
Phil Collins, 1951
Charles Dutton, 1951
Steve Marriott, 1947
Marty Balin, 1942
Dick Cheney, 1941
Vanessa Redgrave, 1937
Boris spassky, 1937
Tammy Grimes, 1934
Louis Ruckeyser, 1933
Gene Hackman, 1930
Dorothy Malone, 1925
Dick Martin, 1922
Barbara W. Tuchman, 1912
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882
Isaiah Thomas, 1749
Thomas Rolfe, 1615 (Only child of John Rolfe and Pocahontas.)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Yogi Bear Show"(TV), 1958
"Robert Montgomery Presents"(TV), 1950
"City Lights"(Chaplin Movie), 1931

Today in History:

The Jews of Freilsburg, Germany, are massacred, 1349
King Charles I of England is beheaded, 1649
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed after having been dead for two years, 1661
The Forty-seven Ronin, under the command of Oishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, 1703
Henry Greathead tests the first boat intended to be specialized as a lifeboat for rescue purposes, which he invented, on the River Tyne in England, 1790
The burned Library of Congress is reestablished, with Thomas Jefferson contributing, 1815
Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica, 1820
The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened, 1826
A fire destroys two-thirds of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, 1841
The city of Yerba Buena is renamed San Francisco, for the nearby mission of the same name, 1847
William Wells Brown publishes the first Black drama, "Leap to Freedom," 1858
The US Navy's first ironclad warship, the Monitor, is launched, 1862
The pneumatic hammer is patented by Charles King of Detroit, 1894
The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy, 1911
The House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill, 1913
"The Lone Ranger" begins a 21 year run on ABC radio, 1933
Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by Pandit Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist, 1948
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1956
The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police, 1969
Carole King's Tapestry album is released, it would become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide, 1971
Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations, 1972
The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary, 1975
Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner", 1982
Peter Leko of Hungary becomes the world's youngest chess grand master at age 14, 1994
Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease, 1995
Over half a million people participate in the world's largest wildlife survey after extreme cold drives exotic birds into Britain's back gardens, 2011

Up until recently, these were rare sights in the swamps.

Ice on a roof.

Icicle hanging from the bottom of the Jalopy.

So far, these have been rare sights in these parts. With the way things are going, i'm afraid they may become much more common. That's not good news, the flora and fauna down here aren't used to this.

Photo-Finish Friday is the brain child of Leah at The Goat's Lunch Pail.

Today is:

Backward Day -- no info on the origin, but if you want to do something backward, go ahead

Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo -- Rapid City, SD, US (everything you could want in such an event, including the stockman banquet and ball; through Feb. 9)

Carnaval de Quebec -- Quebec City, Canada (a vigorous winter celebration, where they have the cold around long enough to need it; through Feb. 16)

Eat Brussels Sprouts Day -- saute in olive oil with some garlic, they are worth it!

Eve of Brigantia -- Ireland (St. Bridget's Eve, the night when she crosses the countryside and bestows blessings)

Feast of Great Typos -- another that no one will claim inventing, but since we've all made them, we may as well celebrate them

Feast of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

H&ll is Freezing Over Day -- internet generated day to review the list of things you said you would do when h*ll freezes over

Independence Day -- Nauru(1968)

Inspire Your Heart With the Arts Day -- begun by Rev Jayne Howard Feldman as a day to use art to feed your soul

Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year/Lhosar/Seol-Nal/Tet -- celebrations throughout Asia before and after, some for up to a month; Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist celebrations
Sonam Lhosar -- Nepal (Tamang New Year)

Mother's Day -- Israel (Shevat 30)

National Brandy Alexander Day

National Bug Busting Day -- UK (this is one idea that needs export to the whole world! the aim is to have every child checked for head lice on the same day, and thus get rid of them in one feel swoop, so they don't circulate endlessly)

National Gorilla Suit Day -- Mad Magazine's Maddest Artist, Don Martin, says this is the day to pull that gorilla suit out of the closet and step out in style.

National Preschool Fitness Day -- get them loving moving early in life

Phlegm-Green, Moldy-Grey, and Gazzard Day -- Fairy Calendar (don't ask what color Gazzard is, it doesn't exist in the human world, and you don't want it to)

Play An Old Game You Haven’t Played in Years Night -- internet generated, and a great idea

Providence Boat Show -- Providence, RI, US (start of the boating season; through Sunday)

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival -- Saranac Lake, NY, US (oldest winter festival in the eastern US, a ten day celebration with this year's theme as "Celtic Carnival")

Scotch Tape Day -- it hit the market this day in 1928

St. John Bosco's Day (Patron of apprentices, boys, editors, laborers, schoolchildren, students, young people-especially youth of Mexican descent)

Traditional Day of Offering -- Bhutan (first day of 12th month of Tibetan calendar)

Winterlude Festival -- Ottawa, ON, Canada (enjoy parades, dances, snow races, and more; through the 17th, with most of the festivities on weekends)

Birthdays Today:

Justin Timberlake, 1981
Kerry Washington, 1977
Portia de Rossi, 1973
Minnie Driver, 1971
Kelly Lynch, 1959
Jhn Lydon, 1956
Nolan Ryan, 1947
Charlie Musselwhite, 1944
Richard Gephardt, 1941
Jessica Walter, 1941
Stuart Margolin, 1940
Queen Beatrix, 1938
suzanne Pleshette, 1937
Philip Glass, 1937
James Franciscus, 1934
Ernie Banks, 1931
Jean Simmons, 1929
Carol Channing, 1923
Norman Mailer, 1923
Mario Lanza, 1921
Jackie Robinson, 1919
Thomas Merton, 1915
Garry Moore, 1915
Tallulah Bankhead, 1903
Eddie Cantor, 1892
Zane Grey, 1872
Franz Schubert, 1797
Robert Morris, 1734
Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan, 1543

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"These Are My Children"(TV), 1949 (first daytime TV Soap Opera)
"The Green Hornet"(Radio), 1936
"The Lone Ranger"(Radio), 1933
"Three Sisters"(Chekhov Play), 1901
"Hedda Gabler"(Ibsen Play), 1891

Today in History:

Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England, 1606
The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, 1747
The Corn Laws (tariffs on imported grains) are abolished in Britain, paving the way for more free trade, 1849
The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations, 1876
The Bulletin of Sydney is founded, publishes for 128 years, 1880
An automobile exceeds 100 mph (161 kph) for the first time, at Daytona Beach, driven by A. G. MacDonald, 1905
The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky, 1929
Scotch tape is first marketed by the 3M Company, 1930
Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, US receives the first US Social Security monthly payment check, for $22.54, 1940
President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb, 1950
A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands, 1953
Explorer 1 – The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit, 1958
James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt, 1958
Mercury-Redstone 2 – Ham the Chimp travels into outer space, 1961
The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program, 1966
Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon, 1971
The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, 1990
Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake, 1996
NASA reveals the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR), a lunar mining robot which could be used to produce fuel and water directly on the Moon, 2013

My friend Script lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They have had the worst winter anyone can remember -- our little ice storms are flyweights compared to the real winters they have normally, much less what's going on up there this year.

Script and a couple of other ladies from Toronto booked a cruise almost a year ago, and it leaves out of NOLA. So she came to town, and i got to take a day off and go to spend some time with her.

Bigger Girl doesn't have classes on Fridays, so she took care of the laundry and the kitten, and she and Little Girl fed the cats at the shelter, so i was able to have a whole day to drive down and spend time without concern about how things around here would get done.

The drive in wasn't too bad. Traffic did back up into the CBD -- Central Business District -- but it's not like we are talking hours and hours on the freeway. We met up at her hotel near the Convention Center.

When she was down here in September of 2012, along with the other friends who got to come, we spent a whole day exploring the French Quarter and some of the surrounding area. Script loved the Garden District, and since we didn't get to actually walk through any of the cemeteries, she wanted to do that.

She also wanted to eat at a place that would be out of the ordinary for her. Looking places up online, i found a nice Ethiopian restaurant for us to try. Toronto is a very metropolitan city, with lots of people from around the world, and there are African restaurants there, but she said she's never had the chance to try one.

So we got the nice concierge to show me how to get there on the map, which was pretty easy, and we were blessed to find a parking space right next to the St. Louis Cemetery #1. It was a balmy day, lots of sun, so she and i walked through the cemetery and around the Garden District. She was impressed with the camellias, and all of the green growing everywhere. The cemetery was like a treasury to her, such interesting designs, and bits of plants growing in every place where they could get a crack or crevice to grow from.

She loved the Mardi Gras decorations, both on private homes and in stores, and was surprised to find that we celebrate the whole season, from Epiphany through Fat Tuesday, with balls and parades and goings on the whole time.

When we got hungry, we went to the restaurant, Cafe Abyssinia, and if you are ever in NOLA, i can highly recommend the place. Script had a fish dish, and we had a mixed vegetable plate, and there was more than both of us could eat. When i brought the leftovers home, my girls liked it all, too.

After lunch, we walked a bit more, and Script did a bit of shopping on Magazine Street. Nothing big, just some sweets to take back to family members, including some pralines and locally made truffles. The whole time, of course, we talked a blue streak, all about anything and everything and nothing, the way you do when you are just enjoying spending time with a good friend.

Since she was supposed to have dinner with her friends who accompanied her, we finally had to get back to the hotel, which proved a bit tricky. Some streets were blocked off -- and i remembered, it's Carnival season, i'm sure they were getting ready for a parade that night. We did get her back there, though, in plenty of time so she could rest and change for dinner.

It was one of the loveliest days, and i'm so glad i was able to go. It's going to be hard to wait until October to see her again. This year, we will all meet up in Kentucky, but until then, we'll always have NOLA.

Today is:

Air Force Day -- Nicaragua

Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery -- Mauritius

Be An Encourager Day/Inspire Your Employees to Excellence Day -- begun by ecard companies; send someone an encouraging word today

Candlemas Eve

Cross-Quarter Day of Imbolc/Sughnassad -- various celebrations through the 2nd

Dignity Action Day -- UK (aiming to ensure people who use care services are treated as individuals and are given choice, control, and a sense of purpose in their daily lives/)

Federal Territory Day -- Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya, Malaysia

Festival of the North -- Ketchikan, AK (month long celebration of the arts in Alaska, including a wearable art show, ballet performances, and more)

Freedom Day -- US (anniversary of the approval of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery)

G.I. Joe Day -- the action hero first went on sale this day in 1964

Heroes' Day -- Rwanda

Homstrom -- Scuol, Switzerland (burning of the straw man effigy of Old Man Winter, signaling the coming spring and winter's demise)

Hula in The Coola Day -- sponsored by iparty.com; a day to laugh at winter doldrums and escape the cold for a bit -- warm up the house, put on your shorts and have a luau!

Independence Day -- Nauru

Kalends of February -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
Festival of Helernus (god of vegetables and the underworld)

National Baked Alaska Day

National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytelling encourages you to celebrate one of the most ancient art forms)

Orchid Festival -- Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, US (through Mar. 23)

Robinson Crusoe Day -- anniversary of the 1709 rescue of Alexander Selkirk, whose story inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe; a day to be adventurous and self-reliant

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day -- the Dominion Police and the North-West Mounted Police officially merged on this day in 1920 to form the "Mounties"

Six Nations Championship (Rbs 6 Nations) -- annual rugby tournament between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales (into March)

Solo Diners' Eat Out Week -- sooner or later, everyone faces the challenge of eating out alone, so go enjoy doing so, celebrating this lifestyle skill; sponsored by SoloDining.comhttp://www.solodining.com/

Spunky Old Broads' Day (also the start of Spunky Old Broads' Month) -- a day for women over 50 to resolve to live a regret free life

St. Brigid's Day (aka St. Bridget or Saint Brighid of Kildare; Patron of babies, blacksmiths, boatmen/mariners/sailors, cattle, chicken farmers, children of unwed parents, dairy workers, fugitives, midwives, nuns, poets, printing presses, scholars, travellers; Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland; Ivrea, Turin, Italy; Kildare, Ireland; Leinster, Ireland)
formerly celebrated on Feb. 2 as the Imbolc quarter day of the Irish pagan calendar

Tapati Festival -- Rapa Nui (Easter Island; a unique and exotic Polynesian festival, showcasing the island's culture and traditions; through the 15th)

Tuppence's Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Tupperware Sculpting Day -- internet generated; take an old, worn piece of Tupperware, melt it, and sculpt something

Winterfest Flagstaff -- Flagstaff, AZ, US (a month of wintertime family fun)

Working Naked Day -- dedicated to those who work from home without the support system an outside work environment provides

Ya-Ya Matsuri -- Owase, Mie Prefecture, Japan (parades, street festivals, and boys diving into the sea for purification; through the 5th)

Yukon Quest International 1,000 Mile Sled Dog Race -- Whitehorse, YT, Canada to Fairbanks, AK, US (two week international competition for the best mushers and dogs from around the world)

Birthdays Today:

Lauren Conrad, 1986
Michael C. Hall, 1971
Pauly Shore, 1970
Lisa Marie Presley, 1968
Pauly Shore, 1968
Sherilyn Fenn, 1965
Brandon Lee, 1965
Princess Stephanie of Monaco, 1965
Bill Mumy, 1954
Rick James, 1948
Bob Jamieson, 1943
Terry Jones, 1942
Sherman Helmsley, 1938
Don Everly, 1937
Garrett Morris, 1937
Boris Yeltsin, 1931
Stuart Whitman, 1929
S.J. Perelman, 1904
Langston Hughes, 1902
Clark Gable, 1901
John Ford, 1894
Louis Stephen St. Laurent, 1882
Hatty Wyatt Caraway, 1878
Victor Herbert, 1859

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Late Night with David Letterman"(TV), 1982
"Rich Man, Poor Man"(TV Miniseries), 1976
"The Secret Storm" (TV), 1954 (first TV soap opera)
"General Electric Theater"(TV), 1953
"You Are There"(TV), 1953
"La Boheme"(Puccini Opera), 1896
"The Corsair"(publication date), 1814

Today in History:

Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1327
The Colony of Roanoke Island is established by the landing of Sir Walter Raleigh, 1587
Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, is rescued from the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernandez, 1709
The Ottoman sultan orders the capture of his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII, resulting in the Kalabalik i Bender (Tumult in Bender), 1713
The first US steamboat patent is issued, by Georgia, to Briggs & Longstreet, 1788
The capital of Upper Canada is moved from Newark to York, 1796
The American Insurance Company of Philadelphia opens, the first such company managed by blacks, 1810
Volcano Mayon on Luzon, Philippines erupts killing 1,200, 1814
Slavery is abolished in Mauritius, 1835
The first US dental school, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, is incorporated, 1840
Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College, 1856
Morris Raphall of NYC becomes the first rabbi to open the House of Representatives, 1860
Julia Howe publishes the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," 1862
Jefferson Long of Georgia is the first black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates), 1871
The first volume of A New English Dictionary, A to Ant,later called the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published, 1888
Thomas Edison completes the world's first movie studio, in West Orange, N.J., 1893
The first auto insurance policy is issued, by The Travelers Insurace Co., 1898
China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet, 1902
The first US federal penitentiary is completed, at Leavenworth, Kansas, 1906
Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar, 1918
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police, 1920
The United States Army launches Explorer 1, 1958
Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, 1960
The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill, 1965
Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces, 1968
Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl, 1978
The Ayatollah Khomeini is welcomed back to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile, 1979
Lillian E. Fishburne becomes the first female African American to be promoted to rear admiral, 1998
Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard, 2003
Johanna Siguroardottir is elected as the first female Prime Minister of Iceland, 2009

Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, doesn't do his own taxes. Like Sweetie, dealings with numbers in that way makes his head spin.

So i do his taxes. It's not difficult. When we used to paper file, we used the EZ form. He's single, takes the standard deduction, and gets a refund from both Fed and state each year.

Turbo-Tax has gotten better since we started e-filing for him a few years back, and it now only takes me about 15-20 minutes of telling them nothing has changed and refusing the paid version, and he's finished.

Yesterday he came over for dinner, and as he always does as soon as he gets his W-2, he brought his information, and it was done in a shake of a lamb's tail.

Doing taxes reminds me of a joke, of course.

Boudreaux had been unable to sleep for a few weeks, ever since a sermon by Father Pierre. So he wrote a letter to the IRS.

Dear IRS,

Father Pierre done tol' me about how de Lawd knows secret sins in Psalm 51:2-4, an' about how He don't like deceit in Psalm 52:3-4.

Since den, I can't sleep 'cause I know I done cheated on my taxes.

So I'm sendin' $150 to cover what I shoulda done sent before, an' if I still can't sleep, I'll send de rest.

Boudreaux

Today is:

Anniversary of Treaty of Tartu -- Estonia

Bonza Bottler Day™

Bramley Apple Week begins -- UK (celebrating these wonderfully delicious fruits)

British Yorkshire Pudding Day -- UK (celebrating this delicious traditional dish, and here's how to make it right)

Candlemas -- Christian -- or Presentation of Our Lord (f/k/a the Purification of the Virgin Mary) - commemorates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and purification of Mary on the 40th day after the birth of Jesus. Candles have been blessed on this day since the 11th century, and this was the original forecaster, “If Candlemas is fair and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.”
     Bank Holiday -- Liechtenstein
     Candelaria Festival -- Puno, Peru (Virgen de la Candelaria, through the 16th)
     Dia de la Candelaria/Virgin of Candelaria -- Mexico; Spain
     La Fete de la Chandeleur -- Canada; France
     Matka Boska Gromniczna (Mother of God of the Blessed Thunder Candle) -- Poland

Dump Your Significant Jerk Day -- beginning of Dump Your Significant Jerk Week; make a resolve and do it now, before Valentine's Day

Festival of Juno Februa -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno as goddess of motherly and matrimonial love)

Four Chaplains Sunday -- Interfaith

Groundhog Day/Hedgehog Day/Badger Day -- what animal you looked to in order to predict the weather depended on where you lived
     Hromnice -- Czech Republic (hrom = thunder, a weather forecasting day)

Igbi -- Shaitli and Kituri among the Avar ethnic group, Dagestan, Russia (midwinter celebration, through the 5th, which is the first day the sun is expected to return to shine on the towns here)

Imbolc/Sughnassad -- Pagan/Wiccan (Northern Hemisphere/Southern Hemisphere)
     Brigmid -- Druid Calendar, also called Feast of Imbolc, celebrated later as St. Bridget's Day, but originally a festival for Brigid, (also known as Brighid, Bríde, Brigit, Brìd) goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft. It is always halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, so some years it is on Feb. 1 with St. Brigid's Day
     Disting/Charming of the Plough -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (a feast of new beginnings and spring)
     Serpent Day -- Celtic (The tradition was that on this day, the Brigmid, snakes or badgers would come out of their winter dens and predict the weather; perhaps a precursor to North America's Groundhog Day.)
     Wives' Feast Day -- Northern England (ancient celebration in association with Imbolc)

Inventors' Day -- Thailand

Laura Ingalls Wilder Gingerbread Sociable -- Pomona, CA, US (Pomona Public Library has on permanent display many of her original manuscripts)

Le Jour des Crepes -- France (Crepes Day, as crepes are traditionally served on Candlemas; if you can flip the crepe pan and catch the crepe in it with your right hand, while holding a gold coin in your left, you will become rich this year!)

National Heavenly Hash Day

Presentation of Christ in the Temple -- Anglican Catholic Christian

Scout Sunday -- BSA (Boy Scouts are encouraged to wear their uniforms to church and represent scouting to their congregation)

Sled Dog Day -- anniversary of the arrival, in 1925, of diphtheria antitoxin in Nome, Alaska; in memory of the sled dogs, especially lead dogs Togo and Balto, who made it possible

St. Cornelius the Centurion's Day (the Cornelius converted by St. Paul in the Book of Acts)

Super Bowl Sunday; related observance
     National Popcorn Day

Veja Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (day of wind, with rituals performed to assure no wind damage next summer)

Wand Dedication Day -- Fairy Calendar

World Wetlands Day -- UN (this year's theme is "Wetlands and Agriculture: Partners for Growthhttp://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=environment:water:world%20wetlands%20day

Zaccheus Sunday -- Orthodox Churches

Anniversaries Today:

Marina Ogilvy (daughter of Princess Alexandra) weds Paull Mowatt, 1990
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) marries Olivia Langdon in Elmira, NY, 1870

Birthdays Today:

Shakira, 1977
Michael T. Weiss, 1962
Christie Brinkley, 1954
Ina Garten, 1948
Farah Fawcett, 1947
Graham Nash, 1942
David Jason, 1940
Tom Smothers, 1937
Les Dawson, 1934
Stan Getz, 1927
Elaine Stritch, 1925
James Dickey, 1923
Liz Smith, 1923
Ayn Rand, 1905
George “Papa Bear” Halas, 1895
William Rose Benét, 1886
James Joyce, 1882
Solomom R. Guggenheim,1861
Toyotomi Hideyoshi,1536 (Japan's second "great unifier")

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Rich Little Show"(TV), 1975
"The Midnight Special"(TV), 1973
"And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little"(Play), 1971
"What's My Line?"(TV), 1950
"Le Dame aux Camelias"(Play, Dumas, fils), 1848
"Artaxerxes"(Opera, Thomas Arnes), 1762

Today in History:

Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths promulgates The Breviary of Alaric (Breviarium Alaricianum or Lex Romana Visigothorum) a collection of Roman law, 506
Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1536
New Amsterdam (later New York) is incorporated as a city, 1653
The first leopard is exhibited in the US, in Boston (admission 25 cents), 1802
Russian settlers establish the Ft. Ross trading post north of San Francisco, 1811
Jonathan Martin sets York Cathedral afire, does £60,000 damage, 1829
The first Chinese workers arrive in San Francisco, 1848
The first public men's toilet in Britain opens, on Fleet Street in London, 1852
Samuel Clemens uses the pen name Mark Twain for the first time, 1863
James Oliver invents the removable tempered steel plow blade, 1869
The SS Strathleven arrives in London with the first frozen mutton imported from Australia, 1880
The Knights of Columbus forms in New Haven, Connecticut, 1882
The first official Groundhog Day is observed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, 1887
The bottle cap with cork seal is patented by William Painter of Baltimore, 1892
The longest boxing match under modern rules takes place in Nameoki, Illinois; 77 rounds between Harry Sharpe and Frank Crosby, 1892
The first movie close-up, of a man sneezing, is made at the Edison Studio in West Orange, NJ, 1893
The Australian Premiers' Conference held in Melbourne decides to locate Australia's capital, Canberra, between Sydney and Melbourne, 1899
Queen Victoria's funeral takes place, 1901
Musher Gunner Kaasan and his sled team, led by Balto, finish the serum run from Nenana to Nome, Alaska, delivering the much needed diphtheria medication (inspiration for the Iditarod), 1925
Leonarde Keeler tests the first polygraph machine, 1935
The Groundhog Day gale hits the north-eastern United States and south-eastern Canada, 1976
F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to function legally and promises to release Nelson Mandela, 1990
Iran launches its first domestically made satellite, Omid, into orbit, 2009

Look at me! My eyes are open now, and I can look back at you!

And I have a milk mustache!

Actually, he can't see that well, yet, but his eyes are open and he's getting bigger.

Today is:

Constitution Day -- Mexico

Day of Remembrance for Oleg the Prophet -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan

Fukuju no mai (Jimai) -- Sensouji Temple, Japan (dance of the seven gods of fortune)

Halfway Point of Winter/Summer -- which it is depends, of course, on your hemisphere; enjoy that cold weather will warm soon, or that cooler temps will relieve your hot spells

Heroes' Day -- Mozambique

Just Say No to Powerpoint® Week begins -- please, use something else, like communicating with your audience! begun by Nancy Stern

Magnolia and Fish Jubilee -- Fairy Calendar

Martyr's Day -- Sao Tome and Principe

National Carrot Cake Day

Nelson Provincial Anniversary Day -- Nelson, New Zealand

Nuestra Señora de Suyapa -- Honduras (Festival of the Virgin of Suyapa, Patroness of Honduras)

Setsubun-sai (Bean-Throwing Festival) -- Japan/Shinto (many fests throughout Japan)

St. Anskar's Day (patron of Denmark, Scandinavia, Sweden; Bremen, Germany; Hamburg, Germany)

St. Blaise's Day/Blessing of Throats Day (Patron of animals, builders, carvers, healthy throats, stonecutters, veterinarians, wool-combers, wool weavers; Dalmatia; Anguillara Sabazia, Italy; Bovolone, Italy; Camastra, Sicily, Italy; Cassano allo Ionio, Italy; Castellania, Italy; Doues, Italy; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Militello, Sicily, Italy; Montecatini Val di Cecina, Italy; Palombara Sabina, Italy; Pietrasanta, Italy; Revello, Italy; Sacrofano, Italy; against coughs, goiters, throat diseases, whooping cough, wild beasts)

Takisanji Oni Matsuri -- Takisan-ji Temple, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

The Day the Music Died -- anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson)

Veterans' Day -- Thailand

Anniversaries Today:

Jean-Claude van Damme weds Darcy Lapier, 1994
Wake Forest University is established, 1834

Birthdays Today:

Isla Fisher, 1976
Maura Tierney, 1965
Keith Gordon, 1961
Thmas Calabro, 1959
Nathan Lane, 1956
Morgan Fairchild, 1950
Dave Davies, 1947
Blythe Danner, 1943
Fran Tarkenton, 1940
Shelley Berman, 1926
Joey Bishop, 1918
Simone Weil, 1909
James Michener, 1907
Norman Rockwell, 1894
Gertrude Stein, 1874
Elizabeth Blackwell, 1821
Horace Greeley, 1811

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Victor Borge Show"(TV), 1951
"The Three Caballeros"(Cartoon Film; US debut), 1945
"Face the Music"(Musical), 1932
"Le carnaval romain"(Berlioz, Op. 9), 1844
"Semiramide"(Opera, Rossini), 1823

Today in History

Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal lands in Mossel Bay after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, becoming the first known European to travel so far south, 1488
The first paper money in America is issued by the colony of Massachusetts, 1690
Philadelphia establishes a "pesthouse" to quarantine immigrants, 1743
The Dutch States-General forbid the export of windmills, 1752
Spain recognizes US independence, 1783
The world's first commercial cheese factory is established in Switzerland, 1815
The sovereignty of Greece is confirmed in a London Protocol, 1830
The Wisconsin Supreme Court declares the US Fugitive Slave Law unconstitutional,1855
Emperor Meiji becomes the 122nd emperor of Japan, 1867
The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, guaranteeing Black suffrage, is passed, 1870
Albert Spalding, with only $800, starts a sporting goods company, which eventually manufactured the first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football (American style football), 1876
Circus owner P.T. Barnum buys Jumbo the elephant, 1882
The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, the income tax, is ratified, 1913
Canada's original Parliament building, in Ottowa, burns down, 1916
Percival Prattis becomes the first African-American news correspondent allowed in the United States House of Representatives and Senate press galleries, 1947
A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson and the incident becomes known as The Day the Music Died, 1959
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of the "a wind of change" of increasing national consciousness blowing through colonial Africa, signalling that his Government was likely to support decolonisation, 1960
The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon, 1966
In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress, 1969
New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption, 1971
John Buster and the research team at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer, from one woman to another resulting in a live birth, 1984
Astronaut Eileen Collins becomes the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 gets underway from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 1995
The New York Giants defeated the heavily favored and previously undefeated 18-0 New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, 17-14, in what is known to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history, 2008

Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, posted this on Monday.

At the bottom of his post, he said, "I’d be honored if you’d copy and paste this in your blog. Even if it was just for 1 hour."

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was “How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns?” All three contestants missed it!
This is really an awesome sight to watch if you’ve never had the chance. Fascinating.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Q & A

Q. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why?
A. 21 steps: It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

Q. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?
A. 21 seconds for the same reason as answer as the first question.

Q. Why are his gloves wet?
A. His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

Q. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and, if not, why not?
A. He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path,he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

Q. How often are the guards changed?
A. Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

Q. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?
A. For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5′ 10′ and 6′ 2′ tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30.

They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest oftheir lives and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way.

After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National cemetery. A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe Lewis {the boxer}, Medal of Honor winner Audie L. Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII and of Hollywood fame. Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty..

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, “No way, Sir!” Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can beafforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and keep them.

We can be very proud of our young men and women in the service no matter where they serve.

**********************

The above is what Steve posted. Now, for a story about one of these soldiers that was hard to believe at the time. A search for the original article has me coming up on a page that will not load over and over, so i'm piecing it together from what i remember and what i can still find online.

Back in 2008, when LSU was scheduled to play Ohio State for the football national championship, Army Specialist Benton Thames was in training to be one of the soldiers who guards the Tomb. Training is very rigorous, and the die-hard LSU grad and fan wasn't going to be able to see the game, because he was within his first 6 months of duty, when TV is still off limits.

One of his commanders, however, claims he overheard Thames shout with glee when LSU won the coin toss. When in that first six months of training, they not only aren't supposed to watch TV, they aren't allowed to even acknowledge its existence, ignoring completely anything they hear. He claims he didn't yell, the commander said he did, and it ended with Thames being offered the opportunity to watch the game under one condition.

Part of their training is that soldiers have to hold their M-14 rifles, which weigh 9.5 pounds, in the "Ready One" position. It is grueling to do that. You put the butt end of the rifle in the palm of the hand, grip it with your fingers so the rifle, complete with bayonet, sticks up at a perfect 90-degree angle. Then you hold it, and hold it, and hold it some more.

At the start of this LSU vs. Ohio State game, Thames personal best time for holding "Ready One" was about 20 minutes, and the most time anyone could remember was 30 minutes.

He was told he could watch the game, and even show emotion, if he held a perfect "Ready One" through it all. He decided it was worth trying.

He held it through the entire almost two hours that it took to play the first half of the game. The relief commander let him put the rifle down during halftime. Then it was back to it.

He was in full dress uniform at the time, which is uncomfortable at best and agonizing enough after a shift that no one keeps it on once their shift is over. He held "Ready One" until just before the end of the third quarter, for a total of almost 3 hours.

The relief commander was so impressed with his determination to do whatever he had to do to watch his beloved Tigers that they let him sit and watch the fourth quarter. He got to see them win the game.

An addendum -- a few weeks later, the LSU team was invited to the White House to meet with the President. Thames wasn't going to be able to go over there, and he was disappointed. Until the team came for a tour of Arlington and the Tomb, and he was given the shift as their tour guide.

Today is:

Biezputras Diena (Porridge Day) -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (date unconfirmed, some sites suggest it's always on a Sunday before Feb. 23 instead)

Create-A-Vacuum Day -- an internet generated celebration of the nothingness of vacuums

Festival sur le Niger -- Segou, Mali (Festival on the Niger, an annual heritage celebration, with a special combination festival with the Festival au Desert on the 6th; through the 9th)

General Thaddeus Kosciuszko Day -- Poland (birth anniversary)

Homemade Soup Day

Independence Day -- Sri Lanka

King Frost Day -- London (Celebrated yearly until WWI, in remembrance of the frozen River Thames on this day in 1814.)

Liberation Day -- Angola

National Stuffed Mushroom Day

Quacker Day -- for those who love Quacker Factory clothes

Spoiled Cats' Day -- internet generated, and isn't this every day?

St. Andrew Corsini's Day (Patron of Carmelites; against civil disorder and riots)

St. John de Brito's Day (Patron of Portugal; Sivagangai, India)

Thank A Mailperson/Postal Worker Day -- because someone decided it would be a good day to do that, and put it on the internet

USO Day -- US (founded this date in 1941)

Vasant Panchami / Saraswati Puja -- Hindu (celebrating Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge)

World Cancer Day -- Internationalworldcancerday.org

Anniversaries Today:

United Service Organizations (USO) founded, 1941
The University of Wisconsin is established, with one classroom and 20 students, 1849

Birthdays Today:

Natalie Imbruglia, 1975
Oscar De La Hoya, 1973
Gabrielle Anwar, 1971
Michael Goorjian, 1971
Rod corddry, 1971
Clint Black, 1962
Lawrence Taylor, 1959
Lisa Eichhorn, 1952
Alice Cooper, 1948
Dan Quayle, 1947
George A. Romero, 1940
Jhn Schuck, 1940
David Brenner, 1936
Gary Conway, 1936
Betty Friedan, 1921
Ida Lupino, 1918
Rosa Parks, 1913
Clyde W. Tombaugh, 1906
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906
Charles Lindbergh, 1902
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, 1746

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours"(Album), 1977

Today in History:

The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus dies, leaving the Roman Empire in the hands of his two quarrelsome sons, Caracalla and Geta, 211
The coronation of Zhao Kuangyin as Emperor Taizu of Song, initiating the Song Dynasty period of China that would last more than three centuries, 960
Maximilian I assumes the title Holy Roman Emperor without being crowned, 1508
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler meet for the first time near Prague 1600
In Edo (now Tokyo), The 47 Ronin commit seppuku (ritual suicide) after avenging the death of their master, 1703
The worst earthquake in 8 years in Calabria, Italy, leaves 50,000 dead, 1783
The first Anglican bishops of New York and Pennsylvania are consecrated in London, 1787
George Washington is unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College, 1789
The French National Convention proclaims the abolishment of slavery, 1794
An earthquake in Quito, Ecuador, kills 41,000, 1797
J.W. Goodrich introduces his rubber galoshes to the public, 1824
The Mormons of Nauvoo, Missouri, leave to go west, eventually settling in Utah, 1846
The Codex Sinaiticus is found at the Greek Monastery of Mount Sinai, 1859
The first rolling lift bridge opens, in Chicago, 1895
The first Winter Olympics games close at Chamonix, France, 1924
The first tieless, soundless, shockless streetcar tracks open, in New Orleans, 1930
Radium E is the first radioactive substance to be produced synthetically, 1936
The United Service Organization (USO) is created to entertain American troops, 1941
Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft, 1967
After at first contesting the results, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic recognizes opposition victories in the November 1996 elections, 1997
Facebook, a mainstream online social network is founded by Mark Zuckerberg, 2004
The Federal Court of Australia's ruling in Roadshow Films v iiNet sets a precedent that Internet service providers (ISPs) are not responsible for what their users do with the services the ISPs provide them, 2010
The remains found the previous year in a dig at Leicester are confirmed to be those of King Richard III of England, 2013

It's easy: go to the new library!

Yes, the long awaited new Main library is now open.

To give you an idea, here are a couple of pictures of the outside of the old library:

The old Main library.

Another view.

To give you even more of an idea, as they tear the old one down, they are having to do asbestos remediation. You know, as long as that stuff stays solid, it's fine, and the old place wasn't dangerous from it, but now that they are tearing it down, they have to get the stuff out safely.

For a long time, there were fights over where to put a new Main library. Everyone except the politicians wanted it to stay in the same location, as they have plenty of room there. The politicians wanted it moved, for their own nefarious purposes, but they were yelled down in the debate and lost. Score one for library patrons!

The new place is much brighter and more modern.


Still constructing, but even so it looks a lot better.

The new building has 3 floors, the top one is dedicated to offices and places the public won't usually see. There are meeting rooms, and they are building an internet cafe and theater!

Inside, it's bright and airy and cheery.

Looking from the periodicals area into the children's section.

Yes, the children's area has those squares that light and change color, and so do the stars in the ceiling.

They change colors!

Since the children's area of a library is usually my favorite part, for sentimental reasons, i took the most pictures there.

Colorful reading area!

Fun computer stations!

One of the new children's story time rooms.

The area for teens is separate, too. There's even a small area where they can buy a snack and go sit to eat it.

Study area for teens.

Computer and study area for teens.

Have a snack, then get back to studying.

The second floor is the adult stacks, genealogy area, and more meeting rooms.

The old building wasn't nearly this bright and cheerful and open.

So, that's how i spent a fun Saturday -- i went to the new library, found some more Spanish lesson CDs, read a book in the children's area, explored, and took photos.

If you haven't been to a library in a while i hope you get to go to a good one soon. There's nothing quite like it.

Today is:

Constitution Day -- Mexico (trad.)

Feast Day of Jacob, Patriarch -- Catholic Christian

Kashmir Day -- Pakistan

Liberation from the Alberoni Occupation -- San Marino (also St. Agatha's Day)

Longest War in History Ends -- The Third Punic War, between Rome and Carthage, was officially ended on this date with a peace treaty signed in 1985, which is 2,131 years after the war began

Move Hollywood & Broadway to Lebanon, PA Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, and Why would they want it?

National Chocolate Fondue Day

National Girls and Women in Sports Day -- US (information here)

National Weatherperson's Day -- US (mostly, though some other countries now observe it as well; in honor of the first US meteorologist, John Jeffries)

Nones of February -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
Fornacalia -- celebration in honor of bread and the ovens used to dry grain; held any day between now and the 17th, one of Rome's few movable feasts)

Runeberg's Birthday -- Finland (National Poet)

Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) -- Sapporo City, Japan (fun in the cold, ice sculpting competitons, and hot springs with hot sake to take the edge off; through the 11th)

4#Shiretoko Fantasia -- Shiretoko, Hokaido, Japan (laser lights and music illuminate the drift ice and waves of the Okhotsk Sea each night; through March 12)

St. Agatha's Day (Patron of bell-founders, fire prevention, jewelers, martyrs, nurses, rape victims, single laywomen, torture victims, wet-nurses; Malta; San Marino; as well as over 50 cities around the world; against breast cancer, breast disease, earthquakes, eruptions of Mt. Etna, fire, natural disasters, sterility, volcanic eruptions)

Unity Day -- Burundi

World Nutella Day

Birthdays Today:

Jeremy Sumpter, 1989
Sara Evans, 1971
Bobby Brown, 1969
Michael Sheen, 1969
Laura Linney, 1964
Jennifer Jason Leigh, 1962
Christopher Guest, 1948
Barbara Hershey, 1948
David Alan Ladd, 1947
Charlotte Rampling, 1946
Roger Stauback, 1942
Jane Bryant Quinn, 1941
David Selby, 1941
H.R. Giger, 1940
Alex Harvey, 1935
Henry "Hank" Aaron, 1934
Andrew Greeley, 1928
Red Buttons, 1919
William Burroughs, 1914
John Carradine, 1906
Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr., 1900
Andre' Citroen, 1878
Belle Starr(Myra Maybelle Shirley), 1848
Dwight Lyman Moody, 1837
Ole Bull, 1810
Robert Peel, 1788
John Witherspoon, 1723
Sanjo, Emperor of Japan, 976

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Where On Earth Is Carmen San Diego"(TV), 1994
"Hagar The Horrible"(Comic strip), 1973
"Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour"(TV), 1967
"Peter Pan"(Disney cartoon film), 1953
"Otello"(Verdi Opera), 1887

Today in History:

Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy, 62
King Alfonso V orders Sicily's Jews to attend conversion sermons, 1428
A group of early Japanese Christians are killed by the new government of Japan for being seen as a threat to Japanese society, 1597
The first US livestock branding law is passed, in Connecticut, 1644
Georgia becomes the first state to abolish both entail and primogenature, 1777
Sweden recognizes US independence, 1783
Hannah Lord Montague of New York creates the first detachable shirt collar, 1825
The "Oregon Spectator" is the first newspaper published on the American West Coast, 1846
An adding machine employing depressible keys is patented in New Paltz, NY, 1850
Two innovations which helped pave the way for motion pictures are pateneted, a hand turned stereoscope by Samuel Goodale of Cincinnati, and the Kinematoscope by Coleman Sellers of Philadelphia, 1861
Four inches of snow falls in San Francisco, 1887
The loop-the-loop centrifugal railroad (a/k/a the roller coaster) is patented by Ed Prescot, 1901
Greek military aviators, Michael Moutoussis and Aristeidis Moraitinis performed the first naval air mission in history, with a Farman MF.7 hydroplane, 1913
Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists, 1919
Reader's Digest magazine is first published, 1922
The Royal Greenwich Observatory begins broadcasting the hourly time signals known as the Greenwich Time Signal, 1924
A hydrogen bomb known as the Tybee Bomb is lost by the US Air Force off the coast of Savannah, Georgia, never to be recovered, 1958
The so-called Big Three banks in Switzerland announce the creation of a $71 million fund to aid Holocaust survivors and their families, 1997
Danish special forces storm a ship captured by Somali pirates, freeing 25 crewmembers on board, 2010

"Mom, mom, mom!" #2 Son ran into the kitchen. "Guess what! I have a job interview! Finally!"

Good for you, i said, knowing he's been applying at a lot of different places.

"Yeah! The fast food place on the corner called. It's not the best work in the world, but no one wants to hire you if you haven't had a job before. I just need a break, so if I get this, in a few months I might be able to get something better! Now, where is my good suit?"

Hanging up where it belongs, of course, i noted. What time is the interview?

"This afternoon at 3."

Good, you will still have time to go to school after that.

"Yeah, I know."

"Where is he going?" Bigger Girl asked, coming down from her room.

"Job interview," he answered.

"What if they want you to cut your hair?" she asked.

"I'll tell them I'll shave my head for a job!" he answered.

As he left to find his good suit and put it on, Bigger Girl began to talk about a school assignment.

"Mom, I have an assignment for Music Appreciation class. I'm supposed to ask three questions about music that I'd like to explore further. What do you think of these?

"First, Where does noise end and music begin?

"Second, is there any modern music, such as pop or rock or anything, that will have the same kind of lasting effect on culture and music that classical music has had?

"And third, is does it's music say more about what a culture is, or what a culture isn't?"

Those are certainly good questions, i noted. Your teacher may have gotten more than she bargained for!

"She's up to it," Bigger Girl said. "After all, any teacher who would come into class, take her shoes off, sit down and start playing her sitar for us, then let the one blind student in the class come up to touch the instrument because he'd never 'seen' one with his hands before, is a good teacher."

Yes, she sounds like it, i said.

"Mom, can you help me get the lint off my collar?" #2 Son came in, wearing his suit and tie, and handed me the tape that we keep around for just such a purpose. When you have a lot of cats in the house, you have lint and bits of fur that stick to everything.

After looking him over, his sister asked, "Why the baseball cap?"

"Well, I was going to wear the Fedora, but I have to represent my team, and this has the team logo. They need to know who I'm pulling for!" he said, then headed out.

Good luck! i called.

Later, as is common around here, a good bit happened at once. Little Girl had come home from school by then, and Sweetie was just arriving.

"I got it!" #2 Son called out as he came in. "I go to training on Saturday, and start next week, the morning shift!"

So you can still go to school at night! i said with a smile.

"Yes, that, too!" he said, as Little Girl ran in yelling, "I liberated it! I liberated it! Here!"

What did you liberate? i asked, but that was answered as she tossed the mail to me.

"Dad almost had it, but I liberated the mail!" she laughed, and so did Sweetie, who came in after her and heard her saying it. It's a running gag about who gets the mail.

"And I have a job!' #2 Son was still gloating, as he went to take off his good suit and head to school.

Today is:

Aldus Day -- death anniversary of Aldus Manutius, inventor of italics

Asahikawa Winter Festival -- Asahikawa, Japan (through the 11th)

Bob Marley Day -- Jamaica (birth anniversary)

Berlin International Film Festival -- Berlin, Germany (a premier international film festivall; through the 16th)

Calgary Boat and Sportsmen's Show -- Calgary, AB, Canada (through Sunday)

Festival au Desert -- Segou, Mali (final night of the most remote music festival in the world, the Great Night For Peace, cohosted by the Festival Sur le Niger)

Gamelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (anniversary celebration of the marriage of Zeus and Hera; date approximate)

International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation -- United Nations

Lame Duck Day -- US, on the anniversary of the passage of the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution; a day to recognize those whose tenure is running out

National Chopsticks Day

Oto Matsuri -- Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan (fire festival)

Pay-A-Compliment Day

Reggae Day -- Bob Marley birth anniversary

Rubik-Cube Muddling Championships -- Fairy Calendar

Sami National Day -- Finland, Norway, Russian, and Sweden

St. Dorothy of Caesarea's Day (Patron of brewers, brides, florists, gardeners, midwives, newlyweds; Pescia, Italy)

St. Peter Baptist's Day (Patron of Caceres, Philippines; Japan)

Waitangi Day -- Maori, New Zealand and Niue (treaty with Britain, 1840; also considered National Day)

Anniversaries Today:

Accession of Queen Elizabeth II, 1952 (upon the death of her father, George VI)
Massachusetts becomes the 6th US State, 1788
The College of William and Mary in Virginia is founded by royal charter, 1693

Birthdays Today:

Axl Rose, 1962
Barry Miller, 1958
Kathy Najimy, 1957
Robert Townsend, 1957
Natalie Cole, 1950
Bob Marley, 1945
Michael Tucker, 1944
Fabian, 1943
Gayle Hunnicutt, 1943
Gigi Perreau, 1941
Tom Brokaw, 1940
Mike Farrell, 1939
Francois Truffant, 1932
Rip Torn, 1931
Mamie Van Doren, 1931
Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1919
Mary Leakey, 1913
Ronald Reagan, 1911
Babe Ruth, 1895
Aaron Burr, 1756
Nicolaus II Bernoulli, 1695
Chongzhen, Emperor of China, 1611
Christopher Marlowe, 1564

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Masque of Kings"(Play), 1936
"Rhenisch"(Schumann's 3rd Symphony), 1851

Today in History:

The United States signs its first treaty, in which France recognizes the US and promises aid, 1778
New Jersey issues the first US railroad charter to John Stevens, 1815
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore, 1819
The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia, 1820
Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony, 1840
Harper's Weekly publishes the first picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers, 1869
The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree, 1900
The Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC, 1902
The "Monopoly" board game goes on sale for the first time, 1935
Turkey holds its first election in which women can vote, 1935
K Elizabeth Ohi becomes the first Japanese-US female lawyer, 1937
Elizabeth II becomes the first Queen regnant of the United Kingdom and several other realms since Queen Victoria, upon the death of her father, George VI, 1952
Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit, 1959
Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed, 1987
The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe, 1989
Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile, 2000
A magnitude 8.0 earthquake causes significant damage to villages along the coast of the Solomon Islands, 2013

Feline Friday was begun by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

SissyCat, also known as Tripod, was in indoor-outdoor kitty until she decided she could take the German Shepherd and lost a front leg. She still looks longingly at the outdoors (and escapes once in a while, making it necessary for someone to chase her and bring her back).

I want to go out there!

Today is:

Bon Soo, Ontario's Winter Carnival -- Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada (ten days of winter fun)

Bubble Gum Day -- US Schools (with the principal's permission, pay a $.50 fine and get to chew gum at school today; money is to be donated to a charity the school chooses)

Charles Dickens Day -- read a chapter or two of his work, in honor of his birth

Chiang Mai Flower Festival -- Chiang Mai, Thailand (if you love flowers, go to this one year, the whole city is bedecked and species shown include 1,000 varieties of orchids; through Sunday)

Cordova Ice Worm Festival -- Cordova, AK, US (one of Alaska's zaniest winter festivals; through Sunday)

Daniel Boone Escape Day -- he escaped from the Shawnee tribe which had captured him

Doodle Day -- UK (fundraiser for Epilepsy Action)

Downers Grove Ice Sculpting Festival -- Downers Grove, IL, US (through Sunday)

Feast of Mulk (Dominion) -- Baha'i

Give Kids A Smile Day -- US (ADA sponsors dentists giving free care to children from low-income families)

Independence Day -- Grenada(1974)

Marriage Week -- UK (part of the Futureway Trust, and now observed around the world, celebrating the diversity and vibrancy of marriage as the heart of family life)

National Fettucini Alfredo Day

National Hangover Awareness Day -- internet generated and shouldn't it be on Jan.1?

National Wear Red Day -- US (wear red for women's heart health awareness)

Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi -- Otaru, Japan (Snow Light Path Festival; through the 16th)

Rock Up in Red Day -- UK (raising awareness of heart health and educating people about heart disease)

Send a Card to a Friend Day -- wonder which card company created this one

Saint Theodore Stratelates' Day (Patron of soldiers; Brindisi, Italy; for finding lost objects)

UNICEF Day for Change -- International (encouraging school children everywhere to learn about how children around the world live, and to raise money to help children who have no educational opportunitieshttp://www.unicef.org.uk/Fundraise/groups-schools-organisations/fundraise-at-school/day-for-change-2013/)

Wave All you Fingers at Your Neighbor Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; wave to your neighbors, let them know you like them

Yuma Square and Round Dance Festival -- Yuma, AZ, US (for square and round dance enthusiasts; through Sunday)

Birthdays Today:

Tina Majorino, 1985
Ashton Kutcher, 1978
Chris Rock, 1965
Garth Brooks, 1962
Eddie Izzard, 1962
James Spader, 1960
Miguel Ferrer, 1954
Hector Babenco, 1946
Pete Postlethwaite, 1945
Gay Talese, 1932
Keefe Brasselle, 1923
Eddie Bracken, 1920
Oscar Brand, 1920
Larry "Buster" Crabbe, 1908
Sinclair Lewis, 1885
James Hubert “Eubie” Blake, 1883
Alfred Adler, 1870
Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev, 1834
Charles Dickens, 1812
John Deere, 1804
Sir Thomas More, 1478

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"America's Most Wanted"(TV), 1988
"Blazing Saddles"(Film), 1974
"Pinocchio"(Disney animated Film), 1940
"The Cat and the Canary"(Play), 1922
"Kid Auto Races at Venice"(first Charlie Chaplin "Little Tramp" Film), 1914
"Chantecler"(Rostand Play), 1910
"The Deserter"(first ballet performed in US), 1827
"Il Matrimonio Segreto" (Comarosa Opera), 1792

Today in History:

The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir, 1238
Edward of Carnarvon,later Edward II, becomes the first English prince to hold the title Prince of Wales, 1301
The bonfire of the vanities occurs in which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy, 1497
King Philip II forms an inquistion in South America, 1569
Academie Francaise begins a Dictionary of the French Language, 1639
An 8.2 magnitude earthquake shakes New Madrid, Missouri, 1812
The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the Electoral Act of 1856, the first piece of legislation anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of a secret ballot, 1856
The Battle at Ingogo, Transvaal: the Boers defeat superior British forces, 1881
The Great Blizzard of 1891 begins, 1891
Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse, 1898
Baltimore catches fire; 1500 buildings are destroyed in 80 blocks, 1904
The Mud March, the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), 1907
Charlie Chaplin debuts "The Tramp" in "Kid Auto Races at Venice," 1914
The first wireless message sent from a moving train to a station is received, 1915
Bert Hinkler begins the first solo flight from England to Australia, 1928
Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered, 1979
Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), 1984
The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power, 1990
Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in, 1991
The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union, 1992
Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein, 1999
Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history, 2009
In Europe, ready-meal manufacturer, Findus, withdrew its beef lasagne meals from supermarkets after confirming beef supplied by French manufacturer, Comigel contained horsemeat, 2013

Those were Little Girl's words when she realized that, after Grandma and Grandpa left, she and i would have rEcess that evening.

We had five special needs kids this time, and 9 siblings, plus two new volunteers. It was a very active group, with lots and lots of running and playing.

Even Jack and Lynn got in on the action. It was a huge surprise to all of us that both Jack, whose spinal and leg trouble make his limbs almost totally stiff, and Lynn, with her severe metabolic disease, can now walk with assistance!

Then, there was Gracie.

Gracie has a new lovey.

She is beginning to learn to play more with others, including the children her own age.

Gracie and Ella play drums together.

She ran around much of the evening with balloons, and got in on the balloon "fights".

Balloon fights are fun!

One of the best things about the evening, though, was when we were drawing on the board. Gracie drew a picture of which she was very proud. "Look at that!" she said, and then added, "yellow, orange, green!"

Her picture, with yellow, orange and green.

That's the most i've ever heard her say at once. She is also talking a lot of nonsense words, as children do when they are babbling and really learning the rhythms of speech patterns.

The improvement in these kids is amazing to see, and i can't wait for next time, either.

Today is:

Arizona Renaissance Festival -- Apache Junction, AZ, US (the official sister event to the Robin Hood Festival in Sherwood Forest, England; Saturdays, Sundays, and President's Day through Mar. 30)

Boy Scout Day -- celebrates the birthday of Scouting in the US

Cowtown's Last Old West Gunfight -- White Elephant Saloon, Fort Worth, TX, US (annual reenactment of the last gunfight in what was then Cowtown, between White Elephant Saloon owner Luke Short and former marshal T.I. “Longhaired Jim” Courtright on this date in 1887)

Death of Kelp-Koli -- Fairy Calendar

Farm Toy Show and Auction -- Sauk Center, MN, US (come watch the kids have fun with farm toys, and be one yourself again!)

Hari Kuyo -- Sensouji Temple, Japan (Festival of Broken Needles, in which all of the worn or broken sewing needles from the previous year are put in a sacred resting place.)

Hold Onto Your Head Day -- invented by someone for people like me, because heaven knows i'm losing mine!

Laugh and Get Rich Day -- a day to recognize the power of laughter

Love May Make the World Go 'round, But Laughter Keeps US from Getting Dizzy Week -- annually, the week before and including Valentine's Day; dedicated to Victor Borge’s notion that “Laughter is the shortest distance between two people” and Joel Goodman’s notion that “Seven days without laughter makes one weak.”

National Molasses Bar Day

Orchid Festival/Tropical Extravaganza -- Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London (through March 0)

Preseren's Day -- Slovenia (Honors their national poet, France Preseren, often called Day of Slovenian Culture)

Rebel Day -- birth anniversary of James Dean

Royal Hobart Regatta -- Queens Domain Hobart and Derwent River, Tasmania, Australia (Australia's largest aquatic event, includes an Australian Wooden Boat Festival; through Monday)

Scout Sabbath -- BSA (Boy Scouts are encouraged to wear their uniforms to synagogue and represent scouting to their congregations)

St. Jerome Emilani's Day (Patron of orphans; Taos Indian Pueblo)

Tako-ichi -- Kita-ku, Tokyo, Japan (kite fair dating back to the Edo period)

Anniversary Today:

Founding of Universiteit Leiden, with the motto Praesidium Libertatis, 1575

Birthdays Today:

Josh Keaton, 1979
David "Phoenix" Farrell, 1977
Seth Green, 1974
Alonzo Mourning, 1970
Gary Coleman, 1968
Claudette Pace, 1968
Vince Neil, 1961
John Grisham, 1955
Mary Steenburgen, 1953
Brooke Adams, 1949
Robert Klein, 1942
Nick Nolte, 1941
Ted Koppel, 1940
John Williams, 1932
James Dean, 1931
Jack Lemmon, 1925
Audrey Meadows, 1924
Freddie Blassie, 1921
Lana Turner, 1921
Elizabeth Bishop, 1911
Lyle Talbot, 1902
William Tecumseh Sherman, 1820
Jules Verne, 1828
Samuel Butler, 1612

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Good Times"(TV), 1974
"RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day"(TV), 1952
"Danses Concertantes"(Stravinsky Ballet), 1942
"Two for the Show"(Musical), 1940
"The Plough and the Stars"(Play), 1926
"The Stars and Stripes"(US Armed Forces Newspaper), 1918
"The Birth of a Nation"(Film), 1915
"Boris Godunov"(Mussorgsky Opera), 1874
"Flora; or the Hob in the Well"(Cibber's Opera, first opera performed in the Colonies), 1735

Today in History:

Mary, Queen of Scots, is executed on suspicion of having been involved in the Babington Plot to murder her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, 1587
Isaac Newton reads his first optics paper before the Royal Society in London, 1672
French and Indian troops set Schenectady, NY, afire, 1690
A doctor in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony suggests that two girls in the family of the village minister may be suffering from bewitchment, leading to the Salem witch trials, 1692
The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia, 1726
The first opera in the US, "Flora," opens in South Carolina, 1735
A minor earthquake shakes London, 1750
The strange phenomenon called the "Devil's Footprints" mysteriously appear in Devon, England, 1855
Martin Robinson Delany becomes the first black major in the US Army, 1865
The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce, 1910
D.W. Griffith's controversial film The Birth of a Nation premieres in Los Angeles, 1915
The Stars and Stripes newspaper is published for the first time, 1918
Swiss men vote against women's suffrage, 1920
Radio arrives at the White House, 1922
Allende meteorite falls near Pueblito de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico, 1969
The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time, 1971
After 84 days in space, the crew of the first American space station Skylab returns to Earth, 1974
The Melbourne dust storm hits Australia's second largest city. The result of the worst drought on record and a day of severe weather conditions, a 320 metres (1,050 ft) deep dust cloud envelops the city, turning day to night, 1983
The massive Internet collaboration "24 Hours in Cyberspace" takes place, 1996
A freak storm in the Hindukush mountains of Afghanistan triggers a series of at least 36 avalanches, 2010

"Hey, everybody, come see this! It's the biggest snake I ever caught!" #2 Son was so excited that i couldn't refuse him, and we all ran out to see him coming from the side of the house with his "snake bucket." (Sweetie wasn't home -- good thing. He's terrified of snakes.)

"Look at this!" he said with obvious glee. "Boy, is he mad!"

Peering in, we all saw why.

"Is that a water moccasin?" #1 Son asked.

"Yeah, and it's a big one!" #2 Son said.

"Is that the one I almost stepped on yesterday when we were walking down in the creek?" Little Girl asked.

"Yep, it's the same one. It's a good thing we all have steel toe boots when we go down there. Here, let me put the bricks back on top of the cover."

"You are going to let him go back at the creek, right?" Bigger Girl asked.

"Of course!" he answered. "I'm going to carry him back down there soon, he's mad. But not right this minute, I need to rest up from catching him and carrying him here. Oh, and mom, can you wash my jacket? That's what I tied him up in so I could carry him home.

Lovely, i thought, but all i said was, make sure the jacket gets into the laundry room.

He may be close to 18 and have his first real job, and be almost done with high school, but some things just never change.

All of this reminds me of a joke.

Boudreaux had him a pet snake that he used to take with him drinkin' on Friday nights. They would go in and have a few beers, maybe a mixed drink or two, or a couple of shots.

One night, when it be gettin' close to 2am the bartender yell, "Las' call!" Boudreaux ordered him one more shot for himself, and one more for his snake. The bartender set them up, and Boudreaux knocked his back. The snake also drank his, but then fell over dead!

Boudreaux den gots up, put on his coat, threw some money on the bar to pay for the night's tab, and headed for the door.

"Hey!" the bartender yelled. "Mais, you can't leave dat lyin' dere!"

Boudreaux look back at him like he crazy, and say, "Dat ain't no lion! Dat's a snake!" and walk out!

Today is:

Feast of Apollo -- Ancient Roman Calendar

International Flirting Week -- always the Sun-Sat that encompases Valentine's Day; if you are married, flirt with your mate, it's fun!

Man Day -- always the Sunday before Valentine's Day, sponsored by C. Daniel Rhodes

Narvik Sun Pageant (Vinterfestuka) -- Norway (annual festival held since ancient times to honor the sun goddess)

National Bagels and Lox Day

National DAV (Develop Alternative Vices) Day -- internet generated, in hopes that bad habits will be altered to positive coping mechanisms

Ocean County Bluegrass Festival -- Albert Music Hall, Waretown, NJ, US (a family-oriented bluegrass festival, at the best venue for bluegrass and old time country music anywhere)

Pizza Pie Day

Random Acts of Kindness Week -- always Valentine's Week

Read in the Bathtub Day -- another one that no one will claim to have invented, and please don't try it with a digital book

Remembrance for Eyvind Kinnrifi -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (martyr)

St. Apollonia's Day (Patron of dentists; Achterbos, Belgium; Ariccia, Italy; Cuccaro Monferrato, Italy; against toothaches, tooth disease)

St. Maroun's Day -- Lebanon (Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch, an Eastern Catholic Church)

Tales of Kelp-Koli begin -- Fairy Calendar (through the 16th)

Toothache Day -- and someone thought this needed a day because...? Okay, I guess because there is a patron saint for it. Or against it. However that works.

Weather Day -- US (Weather Service Founding)

World Marriage Day -- sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter

Birthdays Today:

David Gallagher, 1985
Ziyi Zhang, 1979
Mena Suvari, 1979
Shakira, 1977
Travis Tritt, 1963
Charles Shaughnessy, 1955
Judith Light, 1949
Mia Farrow, 1945
Alice Walker, 1944
Joe Pesci, 1943
Carole King, 1942
Janet Suzman, 1939
Roger Mudd, 1928
Brendan Behan, 1923
Kathryn Grayson, 1922
Bill Veeck, 1914
Gypsy Rose Lee, 1914
Ernest Tubb, 1914
Carmen Miranda, 1909
David Dean Rusk, 1909
Ronald Colman, 1891
Amy Lowell, 1874
William Henry Harrison, 1773

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Falstaff"(Verdi Opera), 1893
"Venice Preserv'd"(Otway Play), 1682

Today in History:

The Synod of Breslau orders Jews of Silesia to wear special caps, 1267
The first recorded race meet in England in Roodee Fields, Chester, 1540
The British ex-premier Walpole becomes the Earl of Oxford, 1742
After no presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States, 1825
– The U.S. Weather Bureau is established, 1870
The first Japanese immigrants arrive in Hawaii, 1885
The Davis Cup competition is established, 1900
The first forestry school is incorporated at Kent, Ohio, 1909
Snow falls on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, 1922
Brazil becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty, 1922
Year-round Daylight saving time is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources, 1942
Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1960
Jamaica becomes an independent nation within the Commonwealth of Nations, 1962
The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers, 1964
First test flight of the Boeing 747, 1969
Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971
Space Shuttle astronauts Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale become the first African American and first Briton, respectively, to perform spacewalks, 1995
A storehouse of thirty Egyptian mummies is unearthed inside a 2,600-year-old tomb, 2009

The foster kitten, Lorax, is trying to walk a bit more. He is still wobbly.

Its a big world, but I'm taking steps!

Today is:

Deep Blue Day -- the IBM computer defeats chess champion Gary Kasparov, the first such victory for a computer, in 1996

Clean out Your Computer Day

Family Day -- BC, Canada

Feast of Saint Paul's Shipwreck -- Malta

Go Green Week begins -- UK (helping people find greener alternatives)

Gold Record Day -- Glenn Miller is awarded the first ever Gold Record, for "Chattanoga Choo Choo", 1942

Hurling the Silver Ball -- St. Ives, Cornwall, England (keeping up the over 1,000 year old tradition of an early form of rugby, the person who returns the silver ball to the Mayor on the steps of St. Ives Guildhall at midday gets a silver coin; pennies are thrown to the children in the afternoon)

National Cream Cheese Brownie Day

National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe -- Italy, especially in Trieste

Oatmeal Monday -- Scotland (traditionally, at universities in Scotland, the day the students were allowed to go home and get more "meal", or oatmeal, and other supplies, as they had to provide their own food and fuel for the fires while in school)

Plimsoll Day -- honoring Samuel Plimsoll, the "Sailor’s Friend," who persuaded Parliament to have a maximum load limit on ships.

Royal Hobart Regatta Day -- Tasmania, Australia

St. Scholastica's Day (Patron of children in convulsions, nuns; LeMans, France; against rain, storms)

Try to Invent a New Jell-O Flavor Day -- it can't hurt to try

Umbrella Day

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show (through the tomorrow)

Anniversaries Today:

Poland is symbolically married to the Baltic Sea by Jozef Haller de Hallenburg, celebrating the restitution of Polish access to the water, 1920
Tom Thumb marries Mercy Lavinia Warren, 1863
Queen Victoria marries her cousin Albert von Saxe-Coburg, 1840
Treaty of Paris ends the Seven Years' War (a/k/a French and Indian War), 1763
Academie Francaise forms in Paris (by Cardinal Richelieu), 1635

Birthdays Today:

Lance Berkman, 1976
Laura Dern, 1967
Glen Beck, 1964
Lenny Dykstra, 1963
Cliff Burton, 1962
George Stephanopoulos, 1961
Greg Norman, 1955
Jim Cramer, 1955
Mark Spitz, 1950
Donovan, 1946
Frances Moore Lappe, 1944
Roberta Flack, 1939
Robert Wagner, 1930
Leontyne Price, 1927
Lon Chaney, Jr., 1906
Bertolt Brecht, 1898
Frances Margaret "Dame Judith" Anderson, 1898
Jimmy Durante, 1893
William "Bill" Tilden, 1893
Boris Pasternak, 1890
Samuel Plimsoll, 1824
Charles Lamb, 1775

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"My Friend Flicka"(TV), 1956
"Death of a Salesman"(Play), 1949
"Puss Gets the Boot"(Cartoon, first Tom and Jerry short), 1940
"Icebound"(Pulitzer-winning Davis' Play), 1923
"All the News That's Fit to Print"(Slogan of the New York Times), 1897
"Les Contes d'Hoffman"(Offenbach Opera), 1881
"The Lily of Killarney"(Opera), 1862

Today in History:

St. Paul is shipwrecked on the island of Malta, 60
Crusaders defeat Prince Redwan of Aleppo at Antioch, 1098
The St. Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days, 1355
Wampanoag Indians under King Philip kill all the men in Lancaster, Massachusetts, 1676
Edmund Halley is appointed the second Astronomer Royal of England, 1720
The Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War, surrendering Canada to England, 1763
Simon Bolivar is named dictator by the Congress of Peru, 1824
The first US fire extinguisher patent granted to Alanson Crane of Virginia, 1863
The YWCA is founded in NYC, 1870
Nathaniel Carr Goodwin becomes the first actor to perform in two different cities on the same day, in Boston for a matinee, and then in NYC for and evening performance, 1887
Nearly 11,000,000 acres of land, ceded to the US government by the Sioux Indians, is opened for settlement, 1890
The New York Times begins using the slogan, "All the news that's fit to print," 1897
Japan and Russia declare war after Japan's surprise attack on Russian fleet at Port Arthur disabled 7 Russian warships, 1904
Britain's first modern and largest battleship "HMS Dreadnought" is launched, 1906
Baseball outlaws all pitches that involve tampering with the ball, 1920
New Delhi becomes the capital of India, 1931
The first singing telegram is delivered, by the Postal Telegram Company of NYC, 1933
Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, 1962
Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party, 1989
The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time, 1996
The communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit, destroying both, 2009

The days are coming, and are almost here: Valentine's Day deliveries are this week.

So, once again, from the point of view of the person who just might be delivering your flowers, comes a few hints for how to make my job easier and assure that you will get those flowers there.

1. Order early. Earlier than that. Yes, that early.

   Here's the thing. The florists order lots and lots of flowers, and some are going to be in better shape than others. The nicest ones get used first. By 3pm on Valentine's Day, they are using the ones they would have passed over earlier. Ordering ahead, and ordering for early delivery, gets you the nicest selection.

   Get them delivered the day before, to get extra points with your sweetheart. It means you didn't dawdle, you have flowers today, dinner out and a gift tomorrow, you made a big thing of it. It also means you get the nicest flowers, as noted above. And, if we can't find your location or have trouble, we have time for a redelivery.

     Think about it. You have flowers or candy or cupcakes or whatever delivered a day before. You come home with a card. Then, on the big day, you still go out for dinner and all the trimmings. You have just let this person know you are not simply waiting for someone to slap you upside the head and tell you to get with it, the big day is tomorrow. You are plotting and planning and putting thought into a buildup. It goes a long way, baby.

2. Mark your home well! This is for your benefit as well as ours. After all, if we can't find you, what makes you think the EMTs can find you in the middle of the night?
3. Delivery drivers know the town in general, but not every single side street, business, nook and cranny. Give us your whole, complete address. This means include:

     Avenue, Street, Boulevard, Drive, Circle, Lane, or whatever is in the actual title of your street.

     Your apartment complex name and apartment number
     or the nursing home name and room number
     or the business name and office number/division of the business where your sweetheart works.

   You know where it is, but we don't, and it's no fun having to guess.

4. If you live in a gated community, please tell us, and give us a way to get in. It's frustrating not to be able to get to your home because we need a code. Give us a phone number, and i'll talk more about that later.

5. The same goes for if you are having flowers delivered to a limited access work place. Make sure we can get in there to it. More than once i've had to wait until someone was leaving the building to beg to be brought in, and had to register, and all of that. Again, a phone number helps.

6. If you and your sweetheart are both at work all day, give us permission, when you place the order, to leave the flowers in a safe place by your back door, under a patio, or with a neighbor.

7. Tell us what time your sweetheart gets off work, if you really want us to go there. It's frustrating to get there a half hour after s/he got off for the day.

8. About phone numbers: tell your sweetheart to answer the phone! Yes, you usually don't answer if you don't recognize the number. Tell him/her to answer anyway, on this day, because there is a surprise coming. Give us your number as well, and answer it. If we can get in touch with you, or your sweetheart, we can work out most delivery complications easily.

9. High school students, please do not ask us to deliver to the school. The people in the carpool lane get very upset with us, as they think we are cutting in line, and your sweetheart doesn't need the aggravation of trying to bring a bouquet home on the bus.

10. Remember your driver is paid only for completed deliveries. Time is of the essence for us, we want to successfully deliver as many items as we can, for the joy it brings you and the money it brings us. There's no shame in earning some extra cash by doing this service, so help us serve you better by following the tips above!

Thank you, and have a lovely Valentine's Day.

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Liberia

Be Electrific Day -- Edison's birth anniversary

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day -- no history on the origin, but remember we all mess up once in a while, don't take small mess ups too seriously

Evelio Javier Memorial Day -- Panay Island, Philippines

Extraterrestrial Culture Day -- New Mexico, US ("to celebrate and honor all past, present, and future extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationships among all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.")

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick -- Roman Catholic Church (anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Lourdes to Bernadette)

Grandmother Achievement Day -- internet generated; call your grandmother, or someone's grandmother you admire, and tell her what she is doing right

Independence Day -- Vatican City (Holy See) (a/k/a Lateranensi Pact Day, for the pact that established it as an independent state)

Kenkoku Kenen-no-hi -- Japan (also called National Foundation Day or Empire Day)

Meringue Memorial Day -- don't know who came up with it, but it's the day to see if you remember how to make meringue

National Inventors' Day -- US (Edison's birth anniversary)

National Peppermint Patty Day

National Shut-In Visitation Day -- some sites have it here, some in October; either way, go visit someone who can't get out of the house today, or make plans to see them this weekend

National Sports Day -- Qatar

Nelson Mandela Day -- South Africa (celebrates his release from prison)

Pro Sports Wives Day -- the annual recognition of those who truly are sports widows, wives of professional athletes, coaches, and support personnel; prosportswives.com

Safer Internet Day -- UK (promotes safe and responsible use of the internet by teaching children how to keep themselves safe online)

Satisfied Staying Single Day -- for those who aren't desperate to have someone by the 14th; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

St. Caedmon's Day (Oldest English poet known by name.)

White Shirt Day -- a recognition of the dignity of the working class

World Ag Expo -- Tulare, CA, US (largest farm and equipment show in North America; through Thursday)

Youth Day -- Cameroon

Anniversaries Today:

Napoleon weds Marie-Louise of Austria, 1810
The founding of London University, 1826

Birthdays Today:

Taylor Lautner, 1992
Natalie Dormer, 1982
Kelly Rowland, 1981
Matt Lawrence, 1980
Brandy, 1979
Mike Shinoda, 1977
Jennifer Aniston, 1969
Sarah Palin, 1964
Sheryl Crow, 1963
Carey Lowell, 1961
Sergio Mendes, 1941
Bobby "Boris" Pickett, 1938
Burt Reynolds, 1936
Tina Louise, 1934
Leslie Nielsen, 1926
Paul Bocuse, 1926
Eva Gabor, 1921
Sidney Sheldon, 1917
Max Baer, 1909
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1909
Philip Dunne, 1908
Thomas Alva Edison, 1847
Lydia Marie Child, 1802

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The French Chef"(TV, with Julia Child), 1963
"Dynamo"(O'Neill play), 1929
"Salome"(Wilde Play), 1896
"La Fille du Regiment"(Donizetti Opera Comique), 1840

Today in History:

Traditional date for the founding of the Japanese empire under Emperor Jimmu, BC660
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman Emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome, which clears the way for Nero to become Emperor, 55
Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England, 1531
The Pennsylvania Hospital opens, the first in the US, 1752
Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery, 1790
Anthracite coal is burned experimentally as fuel for heating a home for the first time, by Jesse Fell in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1808
Robert Fulton files a patent for improvements to steamboat navigation, 1809
Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signs a redistricting bill that leads to the first use of the term "gerrymander," 1812
The first public toilet facilities for women opens in London, on Bedford Street, 1852
The Meiji constitution of Japan is adopted, 1889
Emma Goldman is arrested for lecturing on birth control, 1916
BBC Television produces the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play R.U.R., which coined the term "robot", 1938
Glenn Miller is awarded the first ever gold disc for selling one million copies of "Chattanooga Choo Choo," 1941
Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters, 1971
The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare and Dickens, 1978
Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa, 1990
The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, 2011

But, of course, a few words must sneak in to explain. My night owl children leaves notes on my computer, knowing i will get them very early in the morning.

The following is the note i found on my computer on Sunday morning:

Yes, he means the poisonous snake he'd caught the day before!

Today is:

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday -- US (with a wreath laying ceremony at the rebuilt cabin near where he was born)

Borrowed Days (through the 14th) -- Scottish Highlands (Gaelic Faoilteach, days supposedly borrowed from January, and if the weather is bad, the rest of the year will be good.)

Darwin Day -- International (birth anniversary)

Day Holy to Diana -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Lost Penny Day -- in honor of pennies, the first US coin to commemorate a person; collect all those pennies you have hanging around and donate them to a good cause

Oglethorpe Day/Georgia Day -- Georgia, US (landing of General Oglethorpe at what is now Savannah in 1733)

Pick A New Love Song Day -- internet generated, and why? Only bother if your old one has worn thin.

Plum Pudding Day -- shouldn't this be at Christmas? Ah, well, i don't set them, i just report them.

Powamu Festival -- Pueblo/Hopi Native Americans (8 day sacred Bean Dance and purification ceremonies; date approximate)

Red Hand Day -- UN (Drawing attention to the plight of child soldiers.)

Runic Half Month of Sigel (Sun) begins

Sacrifice to Dionysos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Julian the Hospitaler (Patron of boatmen, carnival/circus workers, childless people, clowns, ferrymen, fiddlers, hospitality, hotel keepers/innkeepers, jugglers, knights, pilgrims, repentant murderers, shepherds, travelers, wandering musicians; to obtain lodging while traveling; San Giljan, Malta)

Union Day -- Myanmar

Youth Day -- Venezuela

Anniversaries Today:

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded, 1909
Michigan State University is founded, 1855
Maria Therese Habsburg marries Emperor Francios I, 1736

Birthdays Today:

Jennifer Stone, 1993
Christina Ricci, 1980
Jesse Spencer, 1979
Naseem Hamed, 1974
Josh Brolin, 1968
Chyna Phillips, 1968
Arsenio Hall, 1955
Joanna Kerns, 1953
Michael McDonald, 1952
Simon MacCorkindale, 1952
Steve Hackett, 1950
Cliff De Young, 1947
Maud Adams, 1945
Ray Manzarek, 1939
Judy Blume, 1938
Joe Don Baker, 1936
Bill Russell, 1934
Arlen Specter, 1930
Joe Garagiola, 1926
Franco Zeffirelli, 1923
Dom DiMaggio, 1917
Lorne Greene, 1915
Ted Mack, 1904
Roy Harris, 1898
Omar Bradley, 1893
Anna Pavlova, 1881
John Llewellyn Lewis, 1880
John Graham Chambers, 1843
Charles Darwin, 1809
Abraham Lincoln, 1809
Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 1775
Cotton Mather, 1663
John Winthrop the Younger, 1606
John Winthrop the Elder, 1588
Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun, 1218

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Child's Play"(Play), 1970
"Dracula"(Film), 1931
"Rhapsody In Blue", 1924
"Beggar on Horseback"(Play), 1924
"Fruen Fra Havet(The Lady from the Sea)"(Ibsen Play), 1889

Today in History:

Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India, 1502
Santiago, Chile, is founded by Pedro de Valdivia, 1541
A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason, 1554
The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a., the oldest existing life insurance company in the Netherlands is founded, 1719
Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah, 1733
The first US fugitive slave law, requiring the return of runaway slaves, is passed, 1793
The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire, 1816
The Creek Indian treaty is signed, requiring the tribes to turn over all of their land in Georgia to the government and migrate west by Sept. 1 the following year, 1825
Ecuador annexes the Galapagos Islands, 1832
Official proclamation sets April 15 as last day of grace for US silver coins to circulate in Canada, 1870
The US Congress abolishes bimetallism and authorizes $1 and $3 gold coins, 1873
King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands/Hawaii becomes the first king to visit the US, 1874
The first news dispatch by telephone takes place, between Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, 1877
News of the Battle of Isandlwana, the single greatest defeat for the British Army at the hands of a native army, reaches London, 1879
The New York to Paris auto race, via Alaska and Siberia, begins; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel, 1908
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms, 1909
The last Ch'ing (Manchu) emperor of China, Hsuan T'ung, abdicates, 1912
A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union, 1947
U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus, 1961
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union, 1974
Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia, 1990
NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, 2001
The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom, 2004

There have been two sad events in the past few days. First came word that Shirley Temple had died, then news of Sid Caesar's death.

Because both of these people made careers out of making people smile, instead of dwelling on the loss, i'm going to recount a favorite story about each.

There was an interview i'm not sure how many years ago in which Shirley Temple Black talked about her movie making years. The comment that struck me as funny was when she was talking about memorizing lines. She said her mother would read the line to her, and she would repeat it back, and that was it, she would know it. She said something to the effect that she figured kids heads were empty anyway, so she didn't have any trouble putting stuff in there! That still has me laughing, years after hearing it.

Then there was Sid Caesar, and i think it was when he was on Oprah. He was telling a story about his years doing "Your Show of Shows", when his daughter was about age 3. They would do the show live on Saturday night, then all go out and eat, and he and his wife would get home early in the morning, and go to bed and try to sleep late on Sunday morning.

Having a 3-year-old, he remembered one morning the child rising long before he and his wife were ready to get up. He got her a bowl of cereal and sat her in front of the cartoons and other stuff on the TV, and went back to bed. A few minutes later, he heard a tap at the door.

Upon opening the door, the tyke said, "Daddy, is your first name Sid?"

"Yes, Sweetie," he answered, "my name is Sid." He went on to explain that mommy and daddy were tired and wanted to sleep, and told her to go back to her cartoons.

A bit later, he hears another tap, opens the door, and there she is again.

This time, she asks, "Is our last name Caesar?"

"Yes, Sweetie," he answered again. He explained that yes, that was their last name, and would she please go watch the TV and let him sleep.

A little bit after that, a third tap on the door. He opened it to see his child very wide-eyes indeed as she said, with a gasp, "You're Sid Caesar!"

Two wonderful talents, remembered with smiles.

Today is:

American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting -- Chicago, IL, US (a five day meeting of top scientist; who knows what these people will come up with next, because science is amazing!)

Break-Up Day -- if you are over him/her, don't go through tomorrow pledging love falsely, get out today

Dream of Your Sweetheart Day -- a reminder that if you aren't ready for Valentine's Day tomorrow, you'd better get cracking

Employee Legal Awareness Day -- Australia

Get a Different Name Day -- for those who hate their name; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Gold Rush Days -- Wickenburg, AZ, US (celebrating the Old West; through Sunday)

Ides of February -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
     Parentalia begins -- through the 21st (honoring divi parentes -- the deified ancestors)
     Lupercalia begins -- through the 15th (to rid the city of evil spirits)
     Orgiastic festival of Juno Februa begins -- through tomorrow

I Value Your Friendship Day -- because you don't want to neglect your friends while we are remembering love this week

Madly in Love With Me Day -- because you have to love "me" before you can love "we"

Miami International Boat Show -- Miami, FL, US (biggest boat show in the US, and the main event for product introductions; through Monday)

National Conference on Education -- Nashville, TN, US (three day conference sponsored by the American Assn. of School Administrators)

National Tortellini Day

Simplot Games -- Holt Arena, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, US (Indoor track and field for the top high school athletes from the US and Canada; through Saturday)

St. Catherine dei Ricci's Day (Patron of the ill)

Ta-asobi -- Akatsuka Suwa Shrine, Itabashi-ku, Japan (ceremony to pray for a good harvest)

Trndez or Tearnandarach -- Armenian Christian Church (fire celebration, begins in the evening and goes through tomorrow; originally a pagan sun worship celebration, it is now a Candlemas celebration by the OS Calendar)

Birthdays Today:

Mena Suvari, 1979
Robbie Williams, 1974
Kelly Hu, 1968
David Naughton, 1951
Peter Gabriel, 1950
Stockard Channing, 1944
Jerry Springer, 1944
Carol Lynley, 1942
Peter Tork, 1942
Bo Svenson, 1941
George Segal, 1934
Kim Novak, 1933
Chuck Yeager, 1923
Eileen Farrell, 1920
Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1919
Eddie Robinson, 1919
Grant Wood, 1892
Alvin York, 1887
Elizabeth "Bess" Virginia Wallace Truman, 1885
Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill, 1849
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, 1754
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, 1682

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Merlin"(Musical), 1983
"Prince Valiant"(Comic strip), 1937

Today in History:

Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, 1258
Jews are expelled from Burgsordf, Switzerland, 1349
The Disfida di Barletta (Challenge of Barletta); Frenchman Charles de la Motte accused Italians of cowardice, and thirteen Italians proceeded to rout 13 Frenchmen in a chivalrous horseback tourney, 1503
St. Augustine, Florida, is founded, becoming the oldest continuously occupied European established city, and the oldest port, in the continental United States, 1566
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome for trial before the Inquisition for professing belief that the Earth revolves around the sun, 1633
Treaty of Lisbon: Spain recognizes Portugal, 1668
The Massacre of Glencoe: 78 members of the clan Macdonald are murdered for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange (William III), 1692
Cholera appears in London, 1832
Work begins on the covering of the Zenne, burying Brussels's primary river and creating the modern central boulevards, 1867
The feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is first published in Paris by the activist Hubertine Auclert, 1881
Painter Thomas Eakins resigns from Philadelphia Academy of Art after controversial over use of male nudes in a coed art class, 1886
Auguste and Louis Lumière patent the Cinematographe, a combination movie camera and projector, 1894
English suffragettes storm British Parliament and 60 women are arrested, 1907
The Negro National League is formed, 1920
A jury in Flemington, New Jersey finds Bruno Hauptmann guilty of the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby, 1935
France tests its first atomic bomb, 1960
Black Sabbath, arguably the very first heavy metal album, is released, 1970
A series of sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky, 1981
An agreement is reached on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany, 1990
The last original "Peanuts" comic strip appears in newspapers one day after Charles M. Schulz dies, 2000
The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announces the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, white dwarf star BPM 37093. Astronomers named this star "Lucy" after The Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", 2004
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a historic apology to the Indigenous Australians and the Stolen Generations, 2008
At 23:31:30 UTC the Unix system time (time_t) number reaches 1234567890 seconds, 2009
For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, were able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855, 2011

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

So, what's with Moe?

Eenie.

Meenie.

Miney.

Moe.

That Moe. Always has to do it different! (Actually, that's KidaMosquita, Horizon, HopeCat, and Link, but Link is very different, indeed.)

Today is:

Bird Mating Season begins -- according to legend, in honor of St. Valentine

Blessing of the Salmon Nets -- Norham, Northumberland, England & North Shields, Northumbria, England (just before midnight, nets are blessed and right after midnight, the first nets of the season are thrown out; anything caught is presented to the officiating vicar)

Day Sacred to Juno Lupa -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno of the Wolf)

Desert Festival -- Jaisalmer, India (local culture, contests, and fun; through the 16th)

Feast of Vali -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan (archer god, an Asatru answer to the Valentine celebration, which is really a thinly disguised Lupercalia)

Ferris Wheel Day -- birth anniversary of G.W.G. Ferris, Jr.

Fjortende Februar -- Denmark (Danish lovers send each other snowdrop flowers.)

Full Snow Moon -- sometimes also called the Full Hunger Moon, as the most snow falls this month and finding food is hardest
     Meaka Bochea -- Buddhist (celebration of the final sermon of Buddha)
     Navam Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka
     Spring Lantern Festival -- China (final day of the Chinese New Year celebrations)
     Tabodwe Full Moon -- Myanmar (month of Hta-Ma-Ne Feast, the harvest festival of Thanksgiving)

Gold Heart Day -- UK (organized by The Variety Club Children's Charity to raise funds to help sick, disabled, and disadvantaged young people)

Great Back Yard Bird Count begins -- birdsource.org; a four day project for anyone from across North America; count birds for a few minutes a day today, or every day for the next four days, giving a real time idea of where the birds are now

Guru Ravidas Jayanti -- CH, HR, and PB, India

International Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

League of Women Voter's Day -- US

Library Lovers Day -- for those whose favorite companion is a great book

Love a Mensch Week begins -- because mensches are decent and responsible men and women, and we should appreciate how they enhance our lives; info from Robin Gorman Newman

National Call In Single Day -- what a lot of men who feel pressured to be romantic on this day wish they could do, i'm sure!

National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day

National Date Festival -- Indio, CA, US (a most exotic county fair, the date comes from the land of the Arabian Nights and this festival celebrates all aspects of the theme; through the 23rd)

National Have-a-Heart Day -- to create awareness of the impact of our food choices on the environment, world hunger, animal welfare and human health—especially heart health

National Nest Box Week -- UK; US (begun in the UK, this is a week to build or put up a nest box in your yard to encourage our avian friends and give them safe places to raise their young)

National Organ Donor Day -- US, but no matter where you live, consider leaving instructions about this to your loved ones

Nice Carnival -- Nice, France (dating back to the 14th century, this celebration is one of France's best; through Mar. 4)

Quirky Alone Day -- sometimes called International Quirky Alone Day, for those who prefer to be single and not dating just for the sake of dating, and a day to value your individuality, whether you are partnered or not

Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee -- Olustee, FL, US (largest Civil War battle in Florida; through Sunday)

Race Relations Day -- originally on Lincoln's birth anniversary, now on the day promoting love

Rafik Hairi Memorial Day -- Lebanon

Read to Your Child Day -- to start their love of learning early (and do it daily!)

Sts. Cyril & Methodius' Day (Patrons ecumenism, unity of Eastern and Western Churches; Bohemia; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Europe; Moravia; the Slavic peoples)

Tokamachi Yukimatsuri -- Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, Japan (snow fest and kimono festival; through Sunday)

Trifon Zarezan -- Bulgaria (Viticulturists' Day; since Thracian times, a day to celebrate Dionysus and wine)

Valentine's Day (St. Valentine of Rome, Patron of apiarists/beekeepers, betrothed couples, greeting card manufacturers, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, travelers, young people; Bussolengo, Italy; against epilepsy, fainting, plague)

Wings Over the Platte Spring Migration Celebration -- Grand Island, NE, US (the world's largest concentration of sandhill cranes is celebrated through mid-April)

Anniversaries Today:

Oregon becomes the 33rd US state, 1859
Arizona becomes the 48th US state, 1912
US League of Women Voters formed, 1920
Jerry Garcia weds Deborah Koons, 1994

Birthdays Today:

Drew Bledsoe, 1972
Jessica Yu, 1966
Zach Galligan, 1964
Enric Colantoni, 1963
Meg Tilly, 1960
Renee Fleming, 1959
Raymond Joseph Teller, 1948
Gregory Hines, 1946
Carl Bernstein, 1944
Michael Bloomberg, 1942
Andrew Prine, 1936
Florence Henderson, 1934
Vic Morrow, 1932
Hugh Downs, 1921
Mel Allen, 1913
Jimmy Hoffa, 1913
Jack Benny, 1894
George Washington Gale Ferris,Jr., 1859
Winfield Scott Hancock, 1824
Frederick Douglass, 1817
Mary Ann "Aunt Mary" Prout, 1801

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Importance of Being Earnest"(Play), 1895
"Sinbad"(Musical), 1918
"The Maltese Falcon"(Publication date), 1930

Today in History:

The annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg make the first known mention of Lithuania, 1009
Approximately 2,000 Jews are burned to death by mobs or forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg, 1349
Roman Catholic emperor Leopold I chases the Jews out of Vienna, 1670
The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte rendered a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones, 1778
James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii, 1779
John Jervis and Horatio Nelson lead the British Royal Navy to victory over a Spanish fleet in action near Gibraltar, 1797
The apple parer is patented by Moses Coats of Downington, Pennsylvania, 1803
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall declares that any act of the US Congress that conflicts with the Constitution is void, 1803
The original Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is formed in Kirtland, Ohio, 1835
In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken, 1849
Esther Hobart Morris is appointed the first female Justice of the Peace in the US, in South Pass City, Wyoming, 1870
A.G. Bell and Elisha Gray both apply for a patent for a telephone; Bell first by only 2 hours, and is ruled the rightful inventor, 1876
The first trainload of California grown fruit, oranges, leaves L.A. for the east,1889
Voting machines are approved by the U.S. Congress for use in federal elections, 1899
The Soviet Union adopts the Gregorian calendar, 1918
The League of Women Voters is founded in Chicago, Illinois, 1920
The Bank of England is nationalized, 1946
ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, is unveiled, 1946
The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time, 1949
Element 103, Lawrencium, is first synthesized at the University of California, 1961
The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit, 1989
Space probe Voyager 1 takes photograph of entire solar system , 1990
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft becomes first vehicle to land on an asteroid (433 Eros), 2001
Love letters written between poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning are published online by Wellesley College and Baylor University, 2012

Make no mistake about it, i work for one of the best florists anywhere! The camaraderie and fun the regular employees have in working with each other shows through.

When one of my pieces was incorrect, the head designer stopped and redid it as fast as he could so i could get on with the deliveries.

When one lady i had a bouquet for left work very early and her husband had asked for home delivery if we didn't get it to work on time (how could i, she left 5 hours early! ah, the joy of being the boss who can do that!). they were very careful to reroute it for me and let me complete my delivery.

Another set of delivery days has again shown me how insane the drivers are in this area. The number of near miss accidents i saw on the interstate tells me just why the interstate is shut down by accidents so often. It was a blessing that i got through on a few of those deliveries, and i finished the last one after dark. Several streets were simply stopped, and there was no major incident to explain why.

Today, if there are any leftover deliveries that didn't get made, i'll play clean up. And if you didn't get anything for Valentine's Day, check your messages. Those phone calls you ignored because you didn't recognize the number may have been your delivery driver trying to contact you.

Today is:

Candlemas -- on the Julian Calendar, and in the Orthodox Christian Churches

Chinese New Year Parade -- San Francisco, CA, US (North America's largest Chinese community celebrates the Lunar New Year in style)

Chocolate Festival -- Galesburg, IL, US (the historical society puts on a chocolate lover's dream of an event, with all the home made and commercially made chocolates, tortes, cakes, pies, and etc. that you can eat for one small admission price; through tomorrow)

Decimal Day -- UK (anniversary of the 1971 currency conversion to the decimal system)

Flag Day -- Canada (Maple Leaf adopted this date 1965)

Full Snow Moon -- sometimes also called the Full Hunger Moon, as the most snow falls this month and finding food is hardest
     Meaka Bochea -- Buddhist (celebration of the final sermon of Buddha)
     Navam Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka
     Spring Lantern Festival -- China (final day of the Chinese New Year celebrations)
     Tabodwe Full Moon -- Myanmar (month of Hta-Ma-Ne Feast, the harvest festival of Thanksgiving)

Galesburg Historical Society Chocolate Festival -- Galesburg, IL, US (home made and commercially made chocolates, all you can eat for the price of the low admission fee; through tomorrow)

Hadaka Matsuri -- Inazawacho, Japan (thousands of loincloth-wearing men try to touch the closely guarded Shin-otoko [a man chosen, stripped naked, and shaved totally] as he is on his way to the shrine)

Ice Fishing Derby -- Fort Peck, MT, US (subject to cancellation if there is no ice)

John Frum Day -- Tanna Island, Vanuatu

Kamakura Matsuri -- Yokote, Akita Prefecture, Japan (Snow Cave Festival; through tomorrow)

Kuromori Kabuki -- Kuromori, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan (traditional Kabuki, through the 17th)

La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros and Tucson Rodeo -- Tucson, AZ, US (celebrating the Old West heritage; through the 23rd)

Lemon Festival -- Menton, French Riviera (through Mar. 5)

Liberation Day -- Afghanistan

Lupercalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (remembrance of the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus)

National Gum Drop Day

Nirvana Day -- Buddhist; Jain

Remember the Maine Day -- US (remembrance of the Spanish War)

Saidai-ji Hadaka Matsuri -- Okayama Prefecture, Japan (Naked Festival, in which a Shinto man strips, is completely shaved, then runs through town while thousands of townsmen in loincloths try to touch him while guard's throw cold water on them)

Singles Awareness Day -- although some celebrate on the 14th as an anti-Valentine's Day

Sretenje -- Serbia (National Day)

Stop and Smell Your Compost Pile Day -- snort away the winter blues and think about spring (but i think this one is just plain weird)

St. Sigfrid's Day (Patron of Sweden)

Susan B. Anthony Day -- US (birth anniversary)

Total Defense Day -- Singapore

Twin Cities' Krewe of Janus Mardi Gras Parade -- Monroe and West Monroe, LA, US (If you are looking for more family friendly fun than downtown NOLA, stick to parades is the smaller cities, like here!)

Birthdays Today:

Amber Riley, 1986
Renee O'Connor, 1971
Jane Child, 1967
Chris Farley, 1964
Matt Groening, 1954
Melissa Manchester, 1951
Jane Seymour, 1951
Marisa Berenson, 1948
Susan Brownmiller, 1935
Adolfo, 1933
Claire Bloom, 1931
Harvey Korman, 1927
Kevin McCarthy, 1914
Irena Sendler,1910
Miep Gees, 1909
Cesar Romero, 1907
Harold Arlen, 1905
John Barrymore, 1882
Ernest Shackleton, 1874
Alfred North Whitehead, 1861
Elihu Root, 1824
Susan B. Anthony, 1820
Charles Lewis Tiffany, 1812
Cyrus McCormick, 1809
John Augustus Sutter, 1903
Henry Engelhard Steinway, 1797
Abraham Clark, 1726
Galileo Galilei, 1564
Pedro Mememdez de Aviles, 1519
Babur, 1483 (founder of Mughal dynasty in India)
Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar Nero, 37

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Come Back, Little Sheba"(Play), 1950
"Cinderella"(Disney cartoon), 1950
"The Little Foxes"(Play), 1939

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"An der schönen blauen Donau"(The Blue Danube)(Strauss Waltz), 1867

Today in History:

Philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death, BC399
Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia, 590
Ho-tse Shen-hui, Zen teacher, disputes the founder of Northern Ch'an line, 732
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, is founded by Pierre Laclade Ligue as a French trading post, 1764
The first US printed ballots are authorized, in Philadelphia, 1799
Sarah Roberts is barred from attending a white school in Boston, 1848
Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits its first patient, 1852
A fire in Rotterdam, Netherlands, damages the Museum Boymans, 1864
American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, 1879
Nine inches (23cm) of snow falls on New Orleans, Louisiana, 1898
The USS Maine sinks in Havana harbor, cause unknown-258 sailors die, 1898
The first Teddy Bear is introduced in America, made by Morris and Rose Michtom, 1903
Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls, 1949
The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China sign a mutual defense treaty, 1950
Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska, 1954
A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner, 1965
The decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day, 1971
The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by the national referendum, 1976
The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 rig workers, 1982
The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan, 1989
At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing an unannounced number of people, 1996
First draft of the complete Human Genome is published in Nature, 2001
YouTube, the Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States, 2005
A near-Earth asteroid, 2012 DA14, comes within 17,200 miles of the Earth's surface, a record-close approach for an object estimated at 50 meters, or 160 ft in in diameter, 2013

Yesterday, i stopped back at the flower shop to drop off my final manifest (the paper that says what deliveries i'd made on my last run). While there, i offered to help out. They took me up on it, big time.

They needed items taken for funerals, and Valentine's Day items that hadn't gotten through, and then regular deliveries, too. So i did four more runs, and Ryan told me to go home.

When i was almost home, he called back, very sheepish. Could i come back and do one more run? Sure i can.

It was an out of town run, on an order that had been messed up twice, and with a time limit on it to boot, two to the hospital, one to a restaurant so the flowers would be on the table when the lady got to the table, and one to the casino.

It was the second time i'd been to the casino that day, and it was my last delivery, and i was tired. Lots of running and stairs on this day. So as i approached the doors, and no one was near to open it for me, i didn't stop. Little five foot zero under a hundred pounds me, with this big vase of two dozen roses ran past a bunch of people and, without hesitation, i lifted my knee, hit the button to open the automatic door with said knee, and kept running. There was a burst of laughter behind me, and i smiled along, enjoying the joke. They can laugh at me doing that, i made the delivery, and got home at 5pm, just in time to cook dinner.

This reminds me of a joke (as you knew it would, right?)

Boudreaux was in the bar as usual on a Friday night, and also as usual, he was sitting at the corner and was very drunk.

At that moment, a very tall and rather burly woman walks into the bar, lifts her arm to show her hairy armpit, points at all the guys at the bar and says, "Which of you gentlemen is going to buy a lady a drink!"

The men looked at one another and Boudreaux yelled, "Give dat Ballerina a drink!" The bartender did, and Boudreaux paid.

After she finished, she again lifted her arm, showing that she eschewed shaving, and pointed to the men there. "Which of you gentlemen is going to buy a lady a drink?"

Again, Boudreaux called out, "Give dat Ballerina a drink!" The bartender fixed her up, and Boudreaux paid, and she drank.

When she was done, she decided she wanted one for the road. "Which of you gentlemen is going to buy a lady a drink?" she said, with her arm pointing at them again.

"Give dat Ballerina a drink!" Boudreaux called out.

As the bartender came over the Boudreaux to get the money for the drink he had poured her, he leaned over and said, "Boudreaux, I know it's your money, and you can do what you want and buy the lady her drinks, but why do you keep calling her a ballerina?"

Boudreaux answered, "Mais! Any woman dat can kick her leg up dat high, she gots to be a Ballerina!"

Today is:

9-1-1 Day -- the first 911 call in North America was placed, demonstrating the new system, on this day in 1968

Bonten Matsuri -- Miyoshi-jinja Shrine, Akita, Japan (two day festival to ask for good crops this year)

Daytona 500 Pole Day -- Daytona International Speed-way, Daytona Beach, FL, US (qualifying, and earning the right to lead the pack)

Do a Grouch a Favor Day -- internet generated attempt to get us to either get the grouches on our side, or make us cynical

Independence Day -- Lithuania (National Day/Restoration of Statehood)(1918)

Kyoto Protocol Day -- International (treaty on climate change; today is proposed as "Wear purple for Kyoto Day")

National Almond Day

Respectable Tales of Kelp-Koli -- Fairy Calendar (5 minutes only)

Scout - Guide Week -- Canada (Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada plan and hold special activities; through the 23rd)

St. Juliana of Cumae's Day (Patron of the ill)

St. Onesimus' Day (runaway slave of Philemon, converted by Paul, of whom the Letter to Philemon was written)

Triodion begins -- Orthdox Christian

Birthdays Today:

Christopher Eccleston, 1964
John McEnroe, 1959
Ice T, 1959
LeVar Burton, 1957
James Ingram, 1956
William Katt, 1951
Richard Ford, 1944
Barry Primus, 1938
Sonny Bono, 1935
Vera-Ellen, 1921
Patty Andrews, 1920
Jimmy Wakely, 1914
Hugh Beaumont, 1909
Richard McDonald, 1909
George Kennan, 1904
Edgar Bergan, 1903
Robert Joseph Flaherty, 1884
Johann Strauss, 1866
Nichiren, 1222
Emperor Yingzong of China, 1032

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"What's My Line"(TV Game Show), 1950
"Le Voyageur Sans Baggage"(Anouilh Play), 1937
"The Marquise"(Coward Play), 1927
"Chung Sai Yat Po"(Publication; first Chinese daily newspaper in US), 1900
"Werther"(Massenet Opera), 1892
"Ladies' Home Journal"(Publication), 1883
"Orpheus"(Liszt Opera), 1854
"Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard"(First Publication), 1751

Today in History:

9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 374
Pope Gregory the Great issues a decree saying that "God bless you" is the correct response to a sneeze, 600
English king Charles I accepts Triennial Act, requiring the king to assemble Parliament at least once every 3 years, 1641
The first known check (cheque) is written, for 400 English Pounds Sterling (currently on display at Westminster Abbey), 1659
Kentucky passes a law permitting women to attend school under certain conditions, 1838*
Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus, 1838
American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica, 1840
The Battle of Sobraon ends the First Sikh War in India, 1846
Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established, 1852
The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch, 1859
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks forms, 1868
The "Ladies Home Journal" begins publishing, 1883
The first Chinese daily newspaper in the US, Chung Sai Yat Po, begins publication in San Francisco, 1900
The first US Esperanto Club organizes in Boston, 1905
The first synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid, Spain, 1917
Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, 1923
The first patent is issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree, 1932
Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon, 1937
Canadians are granted Canadian citizenship after 80 years of being British subjects. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen, 1947
Britain abolishes the death penalty, 1956
Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1, 1959
In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service, 1968
The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois), 1978
The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem, 1987
The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia, 2005
The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army, 2006

*This is the same US state that still has a law on its books requiring every resident to take a bath at least once a year, whether the person needs it or not!

Lorax is getting bigger. He's 4 weeks old. He wants to escape.

Oh! The door is open!

That's it! I'm outta here!

Today is:

Chip Week begins -- UK (a general celebration of chipshttp://www.chips.lovepotatoes.co.uk/)

Day of Cancelled Expectations -- according to William Least Heat-Moon in his autobiography, Blue Highways

Dita e Pavaresise -- Kosovo (Independence Day)(2008)

Family Day -- AB, ON, SK, Canada

Feast of Shezmu -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (god of the winepress; date approximate)

February 17 Revolution Day -- Libya

Hachinohe Enburi Matsuri -- Hachinohe, Japan (festival with prayers for a good harvest; through Wednesday)

Islander Holiday -- PEI, Canada

Last day of Celtic Tree Month Luis (Rowan)

Louis Riel Day -- MB, Canada

My Way Day -- today, determine your identity all by yourself, apart from what other people say you should be; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Cafe Au Lait Day

National Indian Pudding Day

National PTA Founders Day -- US

Practice Your Free Throws Day -- spread around the internet by someone who really loves basketball

Presidents' Day -- US and Territories

Quirinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a/k/a Feast of Fools)

Random Acts of Kindness Day -- US (unofficial, but a great idea)www.randomactsofkindness.org/

Snow Ice Cream Day -- internet generated; if you want to try it, and are sure your snow is reasonably clean, add sugar, milk, a touch of vanilla, and enjoy

St. Fortchern of Trim's Day (Patron of bell-founders)

Tanis Diena -- Ancient Latvain Calendar (To honor pigs)

Anniversaries Today:

League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac) Founded, 1929
Miami University is chartered by the State of Ohio, 1809

Birthdays Today:

Vanessa Atler, 1982
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 1981
Paris Hilton, 1981
Jerry O'Connell, 1974
Bryan White, 1974
Billie Joe Armstrong, 1972
Denise Richards, 1972
Michael Forbes, 1967
Ronald "Bell Biv" DeVoe, 1967
Michael Jordan, 1963
Lou Diamond Phillips, 1962
Richard Karn, 1959
Rene Russo, 1954
Brenda Fricker, 1945
Jim Brown, 1936
Alan Bates, 1934
Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage), 1934
Lee Holby, 1926
Hal Holbrook, 1925
Arthur Kennedy, 1914
Clarence Lindon “Buster” Crabbe, 1908
Red Barber, 1908
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, 1879
William Cadbury, 1867
Samuel Sidney Mcclure, 1857
Friedrich A Krupp, 1854
A. Montgomery Ward, 1844
Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, 1781
Thomas Malthus, 1766
Arcangelo Corelli, 1653

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Prairie Home Companion"(Radio), 1979
"BC"(Comic Strip), 1958
"Madame Butterfly"(Puccini Opera), 1904
"Un Ballo in maschera"(Verdi Opera), 1859
"Siroe, re di Persia"(Handel HWV 24), 1728

Today in History:

Miles Standish is appointed the first commander of the Plymouth colony, 1621
The first volume of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" is
published, 1776
The first ship passes through the Suez Canal, 1867
Women's suffragist Esther Morris is appointed the first female justice of the peace in the US, in South Pass City, Wyoming, 1870
Sardines are first canned, by Julius Wolff of Eastport, Maine, 1876
Madame Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan, 1904
The first minimum wage law in the US takes effect, in Oregon, 1913
Johnny Weissmuller sets the 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds), 1924
The first telecast of a sporting event in Japan, a baseball game, 1931
The first issue of "Newsweek" magazine is published, 1933
Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution, 1959
Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T, 1972
Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match, 1996
Kosovo declares independence, 2008
In racing, Danica Patrick becomes the first woman at the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to win pole position, 2013

#2 Son came into the kitchen, carrying the toaster oven.

Son, i asked, what are you doing?

"Nothing," he said. Of course, we all know better, right?

What did you do with the toaster oven? i asked. Did you take it with you over to Young Jacob's?

"Maybe," he tried to hedge.

Son, you know it's okay to take the stuff over there and use it, but please let me know, okay?

"Okay," he said.

"Let you know what?" Little Girl asked.

When you decide to take appliances to Young Jacob's place, i told her.

"Will do!" she said.

Oh, and while you are here, you kids need to be a bit more careful about leaving wet towels on the floor in the bathroom. You are going to have water seeping down and rot the subfloor if you aren't careful.

"Don't look at me," #2 Son said. "I shower downstairs."

"Well, the floor does get so wet when I take a shower," Little Girl said.

In spite of the shower curtain? i asked.

"Yes. I mean, the shower curtain helps some, but..."

You are keeping the shower curtain inside the tub, right? i asked.

"Oh, you mean you can do it that way?" she said with surprise.

Um, yes. Yes, it can work that way, too. Better, in fact.

"Right! Will do!"

Well, i'm so glad we got that cleared up!

Today is:

Akiyoshidai Yamayaki -- Akiyoshidai, Japan (dry grass on the mountain side is burned in this coming of spring ceremony; date subject to change)

Celtic Tree Month Nuin (Ash) begins

Clean Out Your Cubby Holes Day -- internet generated, but if you have any cubby holes, give them a look today, make sure nothing is in there you don't want to see

Cold Day in H*ll -- snow fell in the Sahara today in 1979

Day of Spenta Armaiti -- Zoroastrian (goddess of earth and fertility, especially celebrated by women; originally on Esfand 5th, which corresponds to 24 February, but is now celebrated on the 18th for reasons i can't figure out)

Festival of Women -- Persian (traditional, it has been kept even among those who are no longer Zoroastrian)

Fly-By for Fairies and Elves -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Gambia(1965)

Musikahan sa Tagum Festival -- Tagum City, Phillipines (the area's signature festival which celebrates the Filipino excellence in musical composition, performance, and production, and giving young people more opportunities to excel in learning the music industry and Filipino musical culture; through Sunday)

National Battery Day -- probably created by the battery manufacturers, but they won't claim it

National Crab Stuffed Flounder Day

Pluto Day/Solar System Day -- the planet/planetoid was discovered on this day in 1930, and then considered to "complete" the solar system

Rastraya Prajatantra Dibas -- Nepal (Democracy Day)

Rites of Tacita -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of silence, rites to keep people from speaking out in anger)

Saidai-ji Eyo -- Saidai-ji, Okayama Prefecture, Japan (Spectacular and atmospheric naked festival dating back to the 14th century, in which up to 10,000 loincloth-wearing [and sometimes drunk] men battle for sacred wooden sticks [shingi] tossed into the air by priests.)

Single-Tasking Day -- encouraging you to do one thing at a time, and not feel guilty; begun by Theresa Gabriel, who suggests it be on the 4th Tuesday of the month, although other sites list other dates; begun by Theresa Gabriel, who claims multitasking is inefficient and hurts your brain!

St. Bernadette of Lourdes' Day (in France; the remainder of the church celebrates her on 16 April)

St. Fra Angelico's Day (Patron of artists)

Tanigumi Odori -- Tanigumi-mura, Gifu Prefecture, Japan (dance festival)

Thumb Appreciation Day -- your first digit does more than just get mashed when you use a hammer and hit the space bar on your keyboard; take time to appreciate the complexity that is your thumb.

Anniversaries Today:

Tommy Lee marries Pamela Anderson, 1995
Ohio State University is chartered as the first US land-grant college, 1804

Birthdays Today:

Jillian Michaels, 1974
Molly Ringwald, 1968
Dr. Dre, 1965
Matt Dillon, 1964
Vanna White, 1957
John Travolta, 1954
Juice Newton, 1952
John Hughes, 1950
Cybill Shedherd, 1950
Andrea Dromm, 1941
Aldo Ceccato, 1934
Yoko Ono, 1933
Milos Forman, 1932
Toni Morrison, 1931
Gahan Wilson, 1930
George Kennedy, 1925
Helen Gurley Brown, 1922
Bill Cullen, 1920
Jack Palance, 1920
Hans Asperger, 1906
Enzo Ferrari, 1898
George "The Gipper" Gipp, 1895
Wendell Lewis Willkie, 1892
Boris Pasternak, 1890
Nikos Kazantzakis, 1883
Sholem Aleichem, 1859
Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1848
Ernst Mach, 1838
George Peabody, 1795
Count Alessandro Volta, 1745
Uesugi Kenshin, 1530 (Japanese samurai and warlord)
Mary I Tudor, 1516
Saint Jadwiga of Poland, 1374

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Roots: Next Generations"(TV Miniseries), 1979
"Any Wednesday"(Play), 1964
"The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois"(Comic Opera), 1947
"Trouw"(Publication, Dutch Resistance newspaper), 1943
"Simple Simon"(Musical), 1930
"Cities Service Concerts"(Radio), 1925
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"(Publication date), 1885
"The Pilgrim's Progress"(Publication date), 1678

Today in History:

Origin of the Kali Yuga Epoch ("age of vice" or Dark Age) of the Hindu/Buddhist calendars, BC3102
Jerusalem is taken by Emperor Frederik II, 1229
Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia, begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim regions, 1332
Henry Tudor (Henry VIII) created Prince of Wales, 1503
Zeeland falls to Dutch rebels, 1574
John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" is published, 1678
Fort Saint Lewis, Texas, is founded by Frenchmen under LaSalle at Matagorda Bay, the basis for France's claim to Texas, 1685
Quakers conduct their first formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1688
The premiere of George Frideric Handel's oratorio, "Samson" takes place in London, 1743
Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 1797
The Detroit Boat Club (still in existence) forms, 1839
The first continuous filibuster in the US Senate begins, lasts until March 11, 1841
The first regular steamboat service to California begins, 1849
A direct telegraph link between Britain and New Zealand is established, 1876
Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is published, 1885
The Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for the first time in 50 years, 1896
Winston Churchill makes his first speech in the British House of Commons, 1901
H. Cecil Booth patents a dust removing suction cleaner, 1901
The first official flight with air mail takes place in Allahabad, British India, when Henri Pequet delivers 6,500 letters to Naini (a distance of about 10K), 1911
The US and Canada begin formal diplomatic relations, with the appointment of Vincent Massey as the first Canadian ambassador to the US, 1927
The first Academy Awards are announced, 1929
While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto, 1930
The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California, 1954
The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747, 1977
Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history, 1979
Dan Jansen skates world record 1000m (1:12.43), 1994
Pope Benedict XVI announces seven new saints - including American saint Kateri Tekakwitha - and appoints 22 new cardinals, 2012

It's been interesting.

Photo-Finish Friday: Rare Sight

Day Trip

Silly Sunday: Taxing Situation

Aww Monday: Look Who's Looking!

Ready for Anything

How to Have a Fun Saturday

Of School and Work and Music

Feline Friday: Longing

I Can't Wait!

Silly Sunday: Boo and Hiss

Aww Monday: Wobbly

It's That Time Again

Wordless Wednesday: On My Computer

Two "Sads" in a Few Days

Feline Friday: What's With Moe?

No Mistakes

Silly Sunday: Ballerina

Aww Monday: Escape

Um, yes, it works that way, too.