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Not that i'm superstitious...

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...or anything.  Yet, most of the time, these things do seem to come in threes.

Last week, we heard about the loss of both Shirley Temple Black and Sid Caesar.  Fleetingly, i thought, i wonder if i will hear of a third famous person i admire dying soon.  Then i dismissed the thought as silly.

Yet.  On the way to take Little Girl to school, i briefly heard the name Henson, the word "puppeteer" and the word "died." Oh, no way! was my first thought.

Then i came home and googled news for John Henson, Jim's son.  Sure enough.  That family seems to be plagued with losing their geniuses early.  John, who often played "Sweetums" and who was on the board of the Henson empire, died of a heart attack.

He was only 48, and it occurred after he had spent time with his 10-year-old daughter, building a snowman.

My heart broke when Jim Henson died.  We had a high school teacher we loved that we nicknamed "Miss Piggy" at her request  The Muppets are my long time sentimental favorite actors.  My Sweetie loves The Muppet Christmas Carol so much he watches it every year.  It's the only version of that story that he will watch.

It hurts again to know that this talented puppeteer is gone.  My condolences go out to his widow and two daughters.




Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Mexico

Birthday of Minerva -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Birth Anniversary of Shivaji -- Maharashtra, India

Chaoflux -- Discordianism

Chief Leschi Day -- US, especially Washington State (Native American chief wrongly executed for murder on this date in 1958; fully exonerated 2004)

Cracker Jacks Prize Day -- the first prizes were added to the boxes of caramel popcorn this date in 1913

Flag Day -- Turkmenistan

Fly-By for Goblins and others -- Fairy Calendar

Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival -- University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, US (students from elementary to college from all over the US participate in student performances and attend concerts and clinics in vocal and instrumental jazz performance; through Saturday)

National Chocolate Mint Day (because every day needs chocolate in some form)

Solar System Day -- birth anniversary of Copernicus

St. Conrad of Piacenza's Day -- (Patron against hernias)

Straw Wrapper Appreciation Day -- an internet spread holiday to remind you of how much fun it was as a kid to blow the wrappers off the straws

Temporary Insanity Day -- anniversary of the first time someone successfully pleaded temporary insanity in a court of law; Daniel Stickles, in 1859

University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day -- UK (to focus on ensuring the positive wellbeing of people with mental health difficultieshttp://www.umhan.com/uni-mental-health-day.html)

Vassil Levski Day -- Bulgaria (Bulgaria's "Apostle of Freedome")


Anniversary Today:

Knights of Pythias founded, 1864


Birthdays Today:

Haylie Duff, 1985
Andrew Shue, 1967
Benicio Del Toro, 1967
Justine Bateman, 1966
Jonathan Lethem, 1964
Seal, 1963
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, 1960
Ray Winstone, 1957
Jeff Daniels, 1955
Margaux Hemingway, 1955
Amy Tan, 1952
Stephen Nichols, 1951
Lou Christie, 1943
Smokey Robinson, 1940
Lee Marvin, 1924
Merle Oberon, 1911 (some sources say Feb. 18)
Willam III, 1817 (last king of the Netherlands -- there have only been queens since)
David Garrick, 1717
Nicolas Copernicus, 1473


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Woman of Independent Means"(TV Miniseries), 1995
"Crazy For You"(Musical), 1992
"Eastenders"(TV), 1985
"Rumours"(Album release), 1977
"The Feminine Mystique"(Publication date), 1963
"Picnic"(Inge Play), 1953
"Alexander's Feast"(HWV 75), 1736


Today in History:

Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus' defeats beats Clodius Albinus at Lyon, 197
Emperor Constantius II shuts down all pagan temples, 356
The second Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ends as a council in Constantinople formally reinstates veneration of icons in the churches, 842
Jews of Tyrnau, Hungary (then Trnava, Czech) are expelled, 1539
The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America, 1600
Britain and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, and New Amsterdam formally becomes New York, 1674
British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III, 1819
The first practical coal burning locomotive in the US makes a trial run, in Pennsylvania, 1831
Tin-type camera is patented by Hamilton Smith of Gambier, Ohio, 1856
Daniel E. Sickles is acquitted of the murder of his wife's lover, Phillip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key), on the grounds of temporary insanity, the first time this defense is successfully used, 1859
Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom in Russia, 1861
Thomas Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph), 1878
Kansas becomes the first US state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages, 1881
WK Kellog and Charles Bolin found the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co., 1906
The first prize is inserted into a Cracker Jack box, 1913
Ed Wynn becomes the first talent to sign as a regular radio entertainer, 1922
Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize for poetry, 1949
Bill Keane's "Family Circus" comic strip makes its debut, 1960
Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital, 1985
The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft, 1986
NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system, 2002
NASA loses communication with the International Space Station's for three hours as a result of updating the station's command and control software, 2013

Rescue

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It was as i was cleaning the kitten's bottle that i noticed it.  Tiny, perched on the edge of the kitchen cabinet, it was crawling along in obvious oblivion to the bustle around it.

Putting the bottle down, i crossed the room to grab my camera.  As i did, Little Girl came in, opened the fridge, grabbed something, and headed for the counter.

Stop! Careful! i said, and she jumped.  Then she saw it, too.  Lucky thing, or it would have been flattened by an errant plastic container.

"Oh, look!" Little Girl said.  "Let me get it outside."

Hold up, i said, and snapped a couple of pictures.

"Okay, little thing.  Wow, you are a stubborn one.  Look!  It doesn't want to get onto my hand!" she said, but she finally scooped it up and took it to the door.

Little thing just doesn't know how close it was to more trouble that i think it would have cared for.  Instead, it got rescued, that cute little Ladybug.


You just don't belong on the kitchen counter, darlin'.



Today is:

Adopt a Goblin Orphan Day -- Fairy Calendar

Blessed Wulfric's Day

Cherry Pie Day

Clean Out Your Bookcase Day -- supposedly begun in 1985, but i can't find information on who started it; donate books you don't need any more to a local friends of the library group

Flying Car Day -- the Arrowmobile, the first flying car, patented this day in 1937 (and can you imagine, as bad as driving is, how many accidents we would have if these people were flying around instead?)

Georgia National Rodeo -- Perry, GA (winners here qualify for the National Finals in December; through Saturday)

Hoodie Hoo Day (Northern Hemisphere) -- at noon local time, citizens are requested to go outside and yell "Hoodie-Hoo" to chase away winter and call in spring; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day -- some student programs at universities are set for this weekend, as encouraged during National Engineers Week


Khajuraho Dance Festival -- Khajuraho, India (annual gathering of Indian classical dancers from across the country and abroad; through the 26th)

Lost Dutchman Days -- Apache Junction, AZ, US (through Sunday; celebration of the legend of the Superstition Mountains and the Lost Dutchman Mine)

Love Your Pet Day -- a day to pamper pets, like they don't get pampered enough

Montreal Hunting, Fishing, & Camping Show -- Montreal, Canada (weekend long celebration of the outdoors)

Newport Seafood and Wine Festival -- Newport, OR, US (featuring seafood and wine from Oregon, Washington, California, and Idaho; through Sunday)

Ottawa Boat and Sportsmen Show -- Ottawa, ON, Canada (weekend long celebration of all things outdoors)

St Leo of Catania's Day (a/k/a Leo the Wonderworker, Patron of Rometta, Longi, and Sinagra, Sicily)

Toothpick Day -- first machine used to make them patented this day in 1872

World Day for Social Justice -- UN

Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous -- Whitehorse, YT, Canada (mad trapper competition, flour packing, beard growing contest, old-time fiddle show, and more, with this year's theme being "The Magic and the Mystery"; through Sunday)


Anniversary Today:

John Cleese marries Connie Booth, 1968
US Post Office, 1792 (George Washington signed the act which created it)


Birthdays Today:

Rihanna, 1988
Andrew Shue, 1967
Lili Taylor, 1967
Cindy Crawford, 1966
French Stewart, 1964
Charles Barkley, 1963
Ron Eldard, 1963
James Wilby, 1958
Patty Hearst, 1954
Gordon Brown, 1951
Ivana Trump, 1949
Jennifer O'Neill, 1948
Peter Strauss, 1947
Brenda Blethyn, 1946
Sandy Duncan, 1946
Phil Esposito, 1942
Buffy Sainte-Marie, 1941
Nancy wilson, 1937
Bobby Unser, 1934
Sidney Poitier, 1927
Robert Altman, 1925
Gloria Vanderbilt, 1924
Carl E. Stotz, 1920
Gale Gordon, 1906
Ansel Adams, 1902
Joseph Jefferson, 1829
William Prescott, 1726


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Der Stellvertreter. Ein christliches Trauerspiel"(Play), 1963
"Barber of Seville"(Rossini Opera), 1816
"Giulio Cesare in Egitto"(Opera, HWV 17), 1724


Today in History:

Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland so King Christian I can pay his daughter's dowry, 1472
An unnamed comet approaches withing 860,000 miles of Earth, the closest a comet has ever come to our planet, 1491
The first recorded wine auction is held, in London, 1673
The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington, 1792
Austria declares bankruptcy, 1811
Concepcion, Chile, is destroyed by an earthquake, 1835
The US Congress prohibits dueling in the District of Columbia, 1839
Luther Crowell patents a machine to manufacture paper bags, 1872
In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens, 1872
The first minor league baseball association is organised, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1887
King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra, 1913
A new volcano, Paricutin, erupts in a farmer's cornfield in Mexico, 1943
The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate, 1959
While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes, 1962
Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts, 1965
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands, 1976
Texas industrialist Ross Perot's U.S. presidential campaign begins, 1992
Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout, 2005
Estonia becomes the first country in the world to establish a national electric car charging network , with cars charging in less than 30 minutes, 2013

Feline Friday: What of it?

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

KidaMosquito is a Siamese.  She is called KidaMosquito because her name was originally just Kida but she is always buzzing around.  If you've ever had or known a Siamese, you know that they are cats with attitude.  The attitude is, "I Am Cat.  There is no other."


Her favorite place is on top of the microwave, in the window.  And her attitude says, "Of course I'm on top of the microwave when you want to use it.  What of it?"



What do you mean, you need to use this!



Today is:

Anniversary of His Majesty the King -- Bhutan

Anthesteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day Festival of Flowers, feast of the dead, and drinking festival; date approximate)

Card Reading Day -- because greeting cards can be fun to just stop and read, can't they?

Day in Honor of Dr. W. H. Lini, Father of Independence -- Vanuatu

Feast of the Feralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (final day of the Parentalia, with picnics in the graveyard that included libations to the departed)

FESPACO Film Festival -- Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Panafrica's Film and TV Festival; through the 28th)

Heritage Day -- Yukon Territory, Canada

International Mother Language Day -- UNESCOhttp://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/

National Sticky Bun Day

Remember the Funniest Thing Your Kid Ever Did Day -- in honor of Erma Bombeck's birth anniversary

Sandino Day -- Nicaragua (assassination anniversary of Augusto César Sandino)

Shaheed Dibosh -- Bangladesh (International Mother Language Day/Language Martyr's Day, for those who died in the Bengali Language Movement in 1952)

St. Peter Damian's Day (Doctor of the Church)

Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering -- Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX, US (annual gathering of cowboys for poetry readings and music; through tomorrow)


Anniversaries Today:

Dudley Moore marries Brogan Lane, 1988
Liz Taylor marries Michael Wilding, 1952
The Washington Monument is dedicated, 1885


Birthdays Today:

Corbin Bleu, 1989
Ashley Greene, 1987
Ellen Page, 1987
Charlotte Church, 1986
Jennifer Love Hewitt, 1979
William Baldwin, 1963
Christopher Atkins, 1961
Alan Trammell, 1958
Jack Coleman, 1958
Mary Chapin Carpenter, 1958
Kelsey Grammer, 1955
Christine Ebersole, 1953
William Petersen, 1953
Olympia J. Snowe, 1947
Tyne Daly, 1946
Alan Rickman, 1946
David Geffen, 1943
John Lewis, 1940
Gary Lockwood, 1937
Barbara Jordan, 1936
Rue McClanahan, 1935
Nina Simone, 1933
Roberto Gomez Bolanos, 1929
Erma Bombeck, 1927
Hubert de Givenchy, 1927
Sam Peckinpah, 1925
Ann Sheridan, 1915
W.H. Auden, 1907
Anais Nin, 1903
Andres Segovia, 1893
Alice Freeman Palmer, 1855
Charles Scribner, 1821
John Henry Cardinal Newman, 1801
Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana, 1794


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Die Physiker"(Play), 1962
"A Woman to Remember"(TV; first soap opera), 1949
"War as it Happens"(TV), 1944
"Green Pastures"(Play), 1930
"The New Yorker"(Magazine), 1925
"The Communist Manifesto"(Publication date), 1848
"Cherokee Phoenix"(Newspaper, first US Native American paper), 1828


Today in History:

England begins the trial against Joan of Arc, 1431
John Wilkes is thrown out of the English House of Commons for his pornographic poem "An Essay on Woman," a satire of Pope's "An Essay on Man," 1764
Freedom of worship is established in France under its Constitution, 1795
The first locomotive, Richard Trevithick's, runs for the first time, in Wales, 1804
The first Native American Indian newspaper, the "Cherokee Phoenix", begins publication, 1828
The first known sewing machine in the US is patented by John Greenough of Washington, D.C., 1842
Sarah G Bagley of Lowell, Massachusetts becomes the first US woman telegrapher, 1846
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish the Communist Manifesto, 1848
The US Congress outlaws foreign currency as legal tender in the US, 1857
Edwin T. Holmes installs the first electric burglar alarm, in Boston, Massachusetts, 1858
The first Roman Catholic parish church for blacks in the US is dedicated, in Baltimore, Maryland, 1864
Lucy B. Hobbs becomes the first US woman to earn a DDS degree, 1866
Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Gladstone as English premier, 1874
The first telephone book is issued, to 50 subscribers in New Harbor, Connecticut, 1878
Oregon becomes the first US state to declare Labor Day a holiday, 1887
The North Carolina legislature adjourns for the day to mark the death of Frederick Douglass, 1895
Dr. Harvey Cushing, the first US neurosurgeon, performs his first operation, 1902
Gustav Mahler conducts his last concerto, 1911
The Battle of Verdun (WWI) begins, will last until Dec. 18; over a quarter of a million casualties, half a million injuries, 1916
The last Carolina parakeet, Incas, dies in the Cincinati Zoo, in the same cage that had held Martha, the last passenger pigeon, 4 years earlier, 1918
The Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country's first constitution, 1921
Great Britain grants Egypt independence, 1922
The first issue of "New Yorker" magazine is published, 1925
The first instant developing camera is demonstrated in NYC, by E H Land, 1947
The British government, under Winston Churchill, abolishes identity cards in the UK to "set the people free", 1952
Watson and Crick discover the structure of the DNA molecule; according to legend, they walk into the Eagle Pub in Cambridge and Crick announces "We have found the secret of Life," 1953
The Peace symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 1958
Malcolm X is assassinated, 1965
The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna, 1971
The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon, 1972
Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison, 1975
Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon, 1995
Euro zone finance ministers agree on a second bailout for Greece, 2012
Scientists discover that bumblebees have the ability to sense electric fields around flowers, enabling them to identify specific flowers for pollination , 2013

Inside and Out

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One line of dialog that stuck in my brain from the hit TV series M*A*S*H was from the episode where Col. Potter was away and his horse, Sophie, got colic.  When the Colonel called to ask how the horse was doing, Radar, not wanting to worry the man and tell him they'd had to treat her, simply said she was "Clean as a whistle, inside and out!"

Right now, that's how i feel.

February is the month in which i always have my annual physical.  Mine is a head to toe exam, blood work, EKG, eye check, hearing check, ankle-brachial index, pulmonary function, pelvic exam, questions to make sure i'm not suffering from depression or anxiety or at risk of being abused, you name it, just about, they check for it.

The whole thing takes two appointments, and it's worth it.  It shows how i'm doing from year to year.

My numbers are still excellent -- i have almost no likelihood of having any kind of heart trouble, diabetes, or anything else.  My thyroid, as usual, needs adjusting.  That happens every few months, i have to adjust up and down but it's not totally out of line and in 3 months it will probably adjust again.  It's close enough that there's no danger of my thyroid enlarging or needing more treatment.

My only concern is to get more consistent with my exercise, and get my body fat percent down just a bit.  My height and weight haven't changed, but the fact that i can't afford the gym any more is showing, so i need to step up what i do at home even more than i already have.

There's nothing in my exam that raises any red flags, so i really do feel clean as a whistle, inside and out.  It's a pretty good feeling, and i need to keep it this way, as i still have kids around.


Today is:

Abu Simbel Festival -- Egypt (one of the two days a year when the light illuminates the statutes of Rameses, Ra and Amun in the temple complex)
     Festival of the Perpendicular Sun/Illumination of the Inner Sanctum of Ramses II's Abu Simbel Temple -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

American Birkebeiner Race -- Cable to Hayward, WI, US (largest and most prestigious cross-country ski marathon)

Be Humble Day -- can't find the origin of this one, s/he wants to humbly remain anonymous

Call Somebody "Boo Boo" Day -- apparently just to see what s/he will call you back; be careful, this one started before anyone heard of Honey Boo Boo and doesn't take that into account

Clam Chowder Cook-Off -- Santa Cruz, CA, US (if you love clam chowder of any variety, this is the place for you)

Concordia/Caristia  -- Ancient Roman Calendar, Festival of Goodwill

Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Antioch -- Roman Catholic Church

Handing Back of Goblin Orphans Day -- Fairy Calendar (You know, the goblin orphans they adopted 2 days ago!  No fairy can tolerate a goblin longer than that.)

Independence Day -- Santa Lucia(1979)

International Sword Swallowers Day -- an amazing, and a bit weird, group

International Tongue Twister Contest -- Logic Puzzle Museum, Burlington, WI, US (an afternoon of fun, come to watch or try your hand at the tongue twisters, with a gift for everyone, and the prize of a portion of a peck of pickled peppers for the winner!)

International World Thinking Day -- a/k/a "B.-P. day" or "Founder's Day" -- World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
     Girl Guides Day -- UK

Katsuyama Sagicho -- Katsuyama, Japan (Chinese influenced fire festival held the last weekend of every February; large stages are built and decorated, then burned the next day)

National Margarita Day (How is that going to help with the thinking?)

Open That Bottle Night -- time to finally drink that bottle of wine you've been saving for a special occasion; after all, the final Saturday in February only comes once a year (sponsored by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher of The Wall Street Journal)

Parke County Maple Fair -- Rockville, IN, US (pancake meals, a Covered Bridge Art Assn. show, and more; this weekend and next)

Showa-Shinzan International Yukigassen Tournament -- Japan; snowball fighting (yukigassen) at its best, through tomorrow

St. Margaret of Cortona's Day (Patron of falsely accused people, hobos, homeless people, mentally ill people, midwives, penitent women, people ridiculed for their piety, reformed prostitutes, single laywomen, teriaries, and tramps; against insanity, loss of parents, mental illness, sexual temptation, and temptation)

Swamp Cabbage Festival -- LaBelle, FL, US (also called Hearts of Palm, gear up for two days of food, entertainment, and family fun)

Walking the Dog Day -- Can't find the originator of this one, but walk your dog, or do your yoyo tricks, whichever works for you

Washington's Birthday -- US


Anniversaries Today:

Ed McMahon marries Pamela Hurn, 1992
Kurt Corbin marries Courtney Love, 1992
Bill Bixby marries Laura Michael, 1991
Pennsylvania State University is founded in State College, Pennsylvania, 1855
Washington University in St. Louis is founded, 1853


Birthdays Today:

James Blunt, 1977
Drew Barrymore, 1975
Michael Chang, 1972
Lea Salonga, 1971
Clinton Kelly, 1969
Jeri Ryan, 1968
Vijay Singh, 1963
Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin, 1962
Kyle MacLachlan, 1959
Julie Walters, 1950
Julius "Dr. J" Erving, 1950
Miou-Miou, 1950
Dan Millman, 1946
Jonathan Demme, 1944
Sparky Anderson, 1934
Edward M. Kennedy, 1932
Paul Dooley, 1928
Robert Wadlow, 1918
John Mills, 1908
Sheldon Leonard, 1907
Robert Young, 1907
Luis Bunuel, 1900
Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1892
"Chico" Marx, 1891
Lady Olave Baden-Powell, 1889
Lord Robert Baden-Powell, 1857
James Russel Lowell, 1819
Frederic Chopin, 1810
Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788
George Washington, 1732


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"It Happened One Night"(Film), 1934
"Lady Windermere's Fan"(Play), 1892
"Symphony No. 4 in F minor"(Tchaikovsky Op. 36), 1878


Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Zurich, Switzerland, 1349
Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published, 1632
The English House of Lords rules that authors do not have perpetual copyright of their material, 1774
Jews are expelled from the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, 1775
The first US ship to trade with China, the "Empress of China," sails from New York, 1784
The Last Invasion of Britain by the French begins near Fishguard, Wales, 1797
Spain signs the Adams-Onis Treaty, renouncing its claim to the Oregon territory and west Florida, 1819
Spain sells east Florida to the US, 1821
Edward Payson Weston, "The Father of Modern Pedestrianism," who gave lectures on the health benefits of walking, first comes into the public eye by leaving on this date to walk to Lincoln's inauguration, a distance of 478 miles, 1861*
Frank W. Woolworth opens the first US chain store, his  "Woolworth's" 5 and 10 cent store, in Utica, NY, 1879
John Reid of Scotland establishes a 3 hole golf course near Yonkers, New York, thus introducing the game to the US, 1888
Hawaii becomes a US territory, 1900
Due to drought, the US side of Niagara Falls runs short of water, 1903
The Great White Fleet, the first US fleet to circumnavigate the globe, returns to Virginia, 1909
Calvin Coolidge gives the first US presidential radio address, 1924
Bert Hinkler successfully completes the first solo flight from England to Australia, 1928
Australian swimmer John Konrads sets 6 world records in two days, 1958
Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500, 1959
Following United States President Richard Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China, the two countries agree to establish liaison offices, 1973
In Lake Placid, New York, the United States hockey team defeats the Soviet Union hockey team 4-3, in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in sports history, 1980
In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned, 1997
An earthquake measuring 6.3 in magnitude strikes Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 181 people, 2011

*Yes, he got there in 10 days, in time for the inaugural ball!

Silly Sunday: Pool

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"Question.  Do you have something large and heavy that I can throw at someone?" Little Girl asked.

Um, besides books, no, not really, i answered.  Besides, why are you wanting to throw something heavy at someone?  Think of the ER bill i'll have to pay if you do!

"But what about the trauma I've suffered from what te did to me?  I need revenge to soothe my soul!" she laughed.

Revenge won't make you feel better, i said.

"Well, I want to try," she said, as her brother walked in.

"Want to try what?" #1 Son asked.

"To get revenge for a trauma caused to me.  Do you have anything heavy I can throw at someone?"

"Well, Young Jacob left his pool table here, and we have the balls.  You could probably throw those," he answered.

"That would work," she said, as they headed for the pool table.  "It was Young Jacob who caused me trauma by farting next to me on purpose!"

This reminds me of a joke.

Boudreaux was heading into the pool hall when a homeless man asked him for a couple of dollars so he could buy something to eat.

"Mais, I don' know if I should give you no money!" Boudreaux said.  "You prob'ly gonna go get booze, or drugs, or gamble on a pool game wit' dat money!"

"Oh, no," the homeless man said.  "I gave up booze and drugs many years ago, and I don't bet on pool or play now.  I have to use everything i get just for food and to survive!"

"Oh, den in dat, case, you gonna come home wit' me, and my Clothile gonna feed you a great big home cooked meal!" Boudreaux said.

"Sir, you don't want to take me to your house!" the homeless man responded.  "After all, I haven't showered or shaved in a while, and I know I look awful and don't smell very nice."

"Oui, you goin' come back wit' me. Clothile been arguin' wit' me about all de time I spen' out wit' de guys, an' I want her to see what a man look like when he give up drinkin', gamblin', an' playin' pool!"


Note:  Little Girl got her revenge on Young Jacob -- she tickled him into an apology before she would let him make his next shot at the table!



Today is:

Charro Days Fiesta -- Brownsville, TX, US (international cooperation, Brownsville and its sister city Matamoros, Mexico, put on a beautiful celebration of the charro horsemen of Mexico, as well as dances, parades, and a carnival; through Mar. 2)

Curling Is Cool Day -- embrace the Olympic sport the whole family can play; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Daytona 500 Race -- Daytona International Speed-way, Daytona Beach, FL, US

Defenders of the Motherland Day (formerly Red Army Day) -- Russia and some former Soviet Republics
     Homeland Defenders' Day -- Kyrguzstan
     Motherland Defenders' Day -- Transdniestria

Diesel Engine Day -- Rudolph Diesel received his patent in Germany on this day in 1893

Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day -- while i can't figure out who started this one, even Mr. Google says it's celebrated today

Easy Divorce Day -- marking the passage, in 1915, of the Nevada law granting easy divorces after only a 6 month residency, the first such in the US

Goa Month begins -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (month of the goddess Goa, personified as the daughter of Old Man Winter; as last month greeted her father well, greet her kindly, too, for an easy weather month)
     Konudagur -- Housewife's Day (just as the first day last month honored husbands, this month the wife is greeted with either coffee or flowers)

International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day -- internet generated

Iwo Jima Day -- commemoration of the US flag raising

Meatfare Sunday -- Orthodox Christian (final day on which meat may be consumed before the Lenten fast)

Mystic Krewe of Barkus Parade -- NOLA, US (The French Quarter goes to the dogs, and some cats as well, all to benefit animal nonprofits)

National Banana Bread Day

National Day -- Brunei

Pebbles Day -- Pebbles Flintstone was born this day around 10,000BC

Republic Day (Mashramani) -- Guyana

St. Milburga of Shropshire's Day (Patron of birds)

St. Polycarp of Smyrna's Day (Patron against dysentery and earache)

St. Serenus the Gardener's Day (Patron of bachelors, falsely accused people)

Terminalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival for Terminus, god of land boundary markers)

Tokyo Marathon 2014 -- Tokyo, Japan



Birthdays Today:

Emily Blunt, 1983
Niecy Nash, 1970
Michael Dell, 1965
"Bobby" Bonilla, 1963
Howard Jones, 1955
Patricia Richardson, 1951
"Too Tall" Jones, 1951
John Sanford, 1944
Johnny Winter, 1944
Peter Fonda, 1939
Sylvia Chase, 1938
Donna J. Stone, 1933
Paul Tibbets, 1915
William L. Shirer, 1904
Victor Fleming, 1889
W.E.B. DuBois, 1868
Emma Hart Willard, 1787
George Frederic Handel, 1685
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, 1646
Samuel Pepys, 1633


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Fortune and Men's Eyes"(Play), 1967
"Pinocchio"(Disney Cartoon), 1940


Today in History:

Emperor Diocletian orders the general persecution of Christians, 303
Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type, 1455
France begins its fifth "holy war" against the Huguenots, 1574
Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army, 1778
The first US raw-cotton-to-cloth mill is founded, in Waltham, Massachusetts, 1813
The first US pharmaceutical college is organized, the College of Apothecaries in Philidelphia, 1821
Santa Anna begins his siege of the Alamo, 1836
John Newman leaves the Anglican Church and is welcomed into the Roman Catholic Church, 1846
In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna, 1847
Great Britain formally recognises the independence of the Boers in the area between the Orange and Vaal rivers, signing the Bloemfontein Convention with the Orange Free State, 1854
The London Times publishes the world's first classified ad, 1886
Charles Martin Hall, assisted by his sister Julia Brainerd Hall, produced the first samples of man-made aluminum, 1886
The French/Italian Riviera is struck by an earthquake that leaves 2,000 dead, 1887
The Tootsie Roll is introduced by Leo Hirshfield, 1896
In France, Emile Zola is imprisoned for writing his "J'accuse" letter accusing the government of anti-Semitism and wrongly jailing Alfred Dreyfus, 1898
The Cuban state of Guantanamo is leased to the US, 1903
The US acquires control of the Panama Canal Zone for $10 million, 1904
The Rotary Club International is founded in Chicago, 1905
Russian Tsar Nicholas II dissolves the Diet of Finland, 1909
The US state of Nevada enacts a convenient divorce law, 1915
The February Revolution begins in Russia, 1917
Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, 1941
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded, 1847
The first mass inoculation with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh, 1954
First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), 1955
The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri, 1983
Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud, 1987
A small fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir, 1997
An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31, 1999
Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in Northern Italy, causing an environmental disaster, 2010

Aww Monday: Mama, I'm still hungry.

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As with all kittens at 4 weeks of age, you cannot keep them full.


Feed me again, mama!
Lorax is really getting big.  Ladybug, the adult foster cat, likes to play with him, although she has to be supervised, she is rough and doesn't realize it.

Today, he is big enough to get his first 4in1 shot, and he's starting to use the litter box.  They do grow fast!



Today is:

Amun in the Festival of Raising Heaven -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Dragobete -- Romania (lover's day, and the day birds choose a mate, also considered by locals as the first day of spring)

Fairtrade Fortnight begins -- UK (a chance to get involved in making sure farmers in developing countries have fair wages and good working conditionshttp://step.fairtrade.org.uk/)

FESTIMA -- Mouhoun, Burkina Faso (Festival International des Masques et des Arts de Dedougou/International Mask Festival, a multi-day African heritage and cultural display; through Mar. 2)

Flag Day -- Mexico

Giving of Shoes -- Fairy Calendar

Gregorian Calendar Day -- Gregory XIII issued the Papal Bull requiring Roman Catholics to adopt his calendar reform on this day; the effective date of adoption was to be Oct. 4, 1582

Iseseisvuspaev/Independence Day -- Estonia(1918)

Maslenitsa -- Russia (between Meatfare Sunday and Cheesefare Sunday is Butter Week or Pancake Week, when you stuff yourself before the Orthodox Church Great Lent)

National Artist Day -- Thailand

National Tortilla Chip Day

N'cwala -- Zambia (Thanksgiving festival, celebrated with traditional dance, music, and specially brewed beer)

Nylon Toothbrush Day -- the first ones went on sale this date in 1938

Obnoxious Day -- probably started as a joke, the only ones who benefit from this day are the ecard companies

Regifugium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (flight of the king)

St. Æthelberht of Kent's Day (first Christian King of the Anglo-Saxons; some have his day listed tomorrow instead)



Anniversaries Today:

Hadassah is founded, 1912
Western Washington University is established, 1899
The American University is chartered by an act of the Congress of the United States of America, 1893


Birthdays Today:

Billy Zane, 1966
Kristin Davis, 1965
Eddie Murray, 1956
Paula Zahn, 1956
Steven Jobs, 1955
Alain Prost, 1955
Helen Shaver, 1951
George Thorogood, 1950
Edward James Olmos, 1947
Rupert Holmes, 1947
Barry Bostwick, 1945
Joe Lieberman, 1942
James Farentino, 1938
Renata Scotto, 1937
Michel Legrand, 1932
Mark Lane, 1927
Stephen Hill, 1922
Abe Vigoda, 1921
Chester W. Nimitz, 1885
Honus Wagner, 1874
Winslow Homer, 1836
Wilhelm Karl Grimm, 1786
Ibn Battutah, 1304
Emperor Toba of Japan, 1103


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Peer Gynt"(Play), 1876
"Rinaldo"(HWV 7), 1711
"L'Orfeo"(SV318), 1607


Today in History:

St. Francis of Assisi, age 26, receives his vocation in Portiuncula, Italy, 1208
In the first imperial coronation by a pope,Charles V is crowned by Clement V, 1530
Pope Gregory XIII, by decree, institutes what is now known as the Gregorian Calendar, correcting the older Julian Calendar, 1582
L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi, one of the first works recognized as an opera, receives its première performance, 1607
The London première of Rinaldo by George Frideric Handel, the first Italian opera written for the London stage, 1711
The US Supreme Court first declares a law unconstitutional (Marbury v Madison), 1803
London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground, leaving owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan destitute, 1804
The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty in accordance with the Indian Removal Act, is proclaimed. The Choctaws in Mississippi cede land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West, 1831
William Otis of Pennsylvania patents the steam shovel, 1839
The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1868
Andrew Johnson becomes the first President of the United States to be impeached, 1868
The SS Gothenburg hits the Great Barrier Reef and sinks off the Australian east coast, killing approximately 100, including a number of high profile civil servants and dignitaries, 1875
China and Russia sign the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty, 1881
Chicago is selected to host the Columbian Exposition, 1890
Rudolf Diesel receives a patent for the diesel engine, 1893
Hudson Motor Car Company is founded, 1909
National Public Radio is founded in the United States, 1970
The United States Olympic Hockey team completes their Miracle on Ice by defeating Finland 4-2 to win the gold medal, 1980
Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, 1981
A special commission of the U.S. Congress releases a report that condemns the practice of Japanese internment during World War II, 1983
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, 1989
The last occurrence of February 24 as a leap day in the European Union and for the Roman Catholic Church, 1996*
Japan launches its fourth spy satellite, stepping up its ability to monitor potential threats such as North Korea, 2007
Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years, 2008
Final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, 2011

*The Romans counted Feb. 24 twice in leap years, instead of adding Feb. 29; that continued in many places until 1996

Can you believe it?

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"Can you believe it?" #1 Son was in a talkative mood.

"They've come out with the lists of Oscar nominees, and neither Joaquin Phoenix nor Tom Hanks are nominated this year!"

"Oscars, isn't that the other name for the Academy Awards?" #2 Son came in and asked.

Yes, same thing, i said.

"Yeah, but think about it!  Especially Tom Hanks.  He turned in his best performance ever in his career as Captain Phillips.  I couldn't believe how well he acted that, especially at the end, where they've just been rescued, and not even a nomination!  Then again, Harrison Ford has never won one, either, in over 40 years of great performances.  So I guess that tells you something."

"Well, I've given up on the Oscars totally.  They've nominated The Croods, for heaven's sake!  Can you believe that!  The Croods!  Yes, it's in the animated category, but still.  I give up on them!" Bigger Girl said.

"I can make a better movie than that!" #2 Son said with a grin.  "It would be called Chasing Young Jacob, and it would be me chasing him, and it would be great!"

"Well, Frozen should win everything for animated.  That's the best Disney film they've had out in a long time.  I'm still singing the songs from that one in my head!" #1 Son said.  Then he added, "I still can't believe some of the people they overlook, like Ford and DiCaprio, and then this year.  They're nuts!"

"Oh, by the way," #2 Son said.  "Can you believe this t-shirt Young Jacob gave me?  It's awesome!"



Coming from Young Jacob, yes, i can believe that.

(For those of you who may not have kids who grew up on Pokemon, the above is the most famous of the Pocket Monsters, called Pikachu, pronounced peek-achoo.)


Today is:

Dairokuten-no-Hadaka Matsuri -- Chiba, Japan (around this date; one of Japan's "naked" festivals, as participants wear only a loincloth as they wrestle in the cold, wet mud, bringing luck to the community as they run through the crowds smearing the lucky mud on the onlookers)

Dance of the Secret Places -- Fairy Calendar

Dag van de Revolutie -- Suriname (Day of Liberation and Innovation)

Februaristaking -- Netherlands (commemoration of a strike against the Nazis)

Festival of Ptah -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Kitano Baika-sai (Plum Blossom Festival) -- Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine, Kyoto, Japan

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Let's All Eat Right Day -- in honor of the birth of Adelle Davis in 1904, an early pioneer in good nutrition

National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day -- some sites say any nuts will do, some specify peanuts; take your pick

National Clam Chowder Day -- not to be confused with New England Clam Chowder Day, back in January

National Day -- Kuwait

People's Revolution Day/People Power Day -- Philippines

Pistol Patent Day -- Samuel Colt received US Patent #138 for the first pistol on this day in 1836

Quiet Day -- can't find the history behind this one, but mommy wants one!

Spay Day USA -- sponsored by the HSUS; Sit! Stay! Spay!  Good Owner!

St. Walburga's Day (Patron of boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, harvests; Antwerp, Belgium; Eichstätt, Germany; Gronigen, Netherlands; Oudenarde, Belgium; Plymouth, England; Zutphen, Netherlands; against coughs, dog bites, famine, hydrophobia/rabies, mad dogs, plague, storms)

Soviet Occupation Day -- Georgia

World Spay Day -- don't let your pets litter!


Birthdays Today:

Josh Wolff, 1977
Chelsea Handler,1975
Sean Astin, 1971
Tea Leoni, 1966
Carrot Top, 1965
Lee Evans, 1964
Neil Jordan, 1950
Ric Flair, 1949
Karen Grassle, 1944
George Harrison, 1943
Diane Baker, 1938
Tom Courtenay, 1937
Bob Schieffer, 1937
Sally Jessy Raphael, 1935
"Texas Rose" Bascom, 1922
Bobby Riggs, 1918
Anthony Burgess, 1917
Jim Backus, 1913
Millicent Hammond Fenwick, 1910
Adelle Davis, 1904
Zeppo Marx, 1901
Meher Baba, 1894
Enrico Caruso, 1873
Charles Lang Freer, 1856
Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1841
Xuande, Emperor of China, 1398


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Little Night Music"(Musical), 1973
"Toys in the Attic"(Play), 1960
"Wonderful Town"(Musical), 1953
"Your Show of Shows"(TV), 1950
"Natoma"(Herbert Opera), 1911
"Riders to the Sea"(Play), 1904
"Hernani"(Victor Hugo Play), 1830


Today in History:

The First Bank of the United States is chartered, 1791
The German Midiatisation is enacted, taking over 1,000 German sovereign states into about 40 larger entities, 1803
Samuel Colt patents the first revolving barrel multi-shot firearm, 1836
The first US electric printing press is patented by Thomas Davenport, 1837
Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress, 1870
The US Steel Corp. is organized under J P Morgan, 1901
The Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Toronto Marlboroughs in 2 games, 1904
Marie-Adélaïde, the eldest of six daughters of Guillaume IV, becomes the first reigning Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, 1912
Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax, 1919
Diplomatic relations between Japan and the Soviet Union are established, 1925
Glacier Bay National Monument (now Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve) is established in Alaska, 1925
Francisco Franco becomes General of Spain, 1926
Charles Jenkins Laboratories of Washington, D.C. becomes the first holder of a television license from the Federal Radio Commission, 1928
The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier, 1933
In occupied Amsterdam, a general strike is declared in response to increasing anti-Jewish measures instituted by the Nazis, 1941
The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1951
Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston, 1964
The first unit of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, the first commercial nuclear power station in Canada, goes online, 1971
President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, 1986
In the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron, Baruch Goldstein opens fire with an automatic rifle, killing 29 Palestinian worshipers and injuring 125 more, 1994
In the Irish general election, the Fianna Fáil-led government suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state, 2011

Flowers in Their Hair

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"Mom, I've been thinking about society, and socially acceptable attitudes about having children." When Bigger Girl has been thinking, i can usually guarantee it ain't about tiddlywinks.

What's up? i asked.

"Well, what is it about thinking women have to have children?  I mean, if a person decides that she doesn't want to have kids, why the attitude?"

Some people seem to believe you will regret it if you don't, perhaps, i said.

"Yes, well, but what about this?  There are people out there who say that if you adopt, it doesn't count because you didn't suffer through a pregnancy.  They say that people who decide not to have their own and adopt aren't real parents!"

That's not a good attitude, i said.  And what do they say about people who adopt because they cannot have children?

"Well, I've read that some people say they should keep doing fertility treatments until they are successful!"

Some people are never successful at that, and parents are parents if they are raising kids, and why do you read about these things and get yourself all worked up?

"Mom, I'm worried about our society!  I'm especially worried for my sister's sake!  These kinds of societal ideas that put pressure on people affect us all!"

"Hey!" Little Girl came in from the back yard.  "Have you ever heard of a piggy bank being called an oiny-boink?"

Bigger Girl and i both snorted with laughter.

"One of my friends told me that at school today, and I laughed right out in class!  Oh, and here are your flowers for your hair.  You are officially a hippie!" Little Girl put a flower wreath on her sister's head.

"I'm a hippie?  Yippee!  Do I get to go run through the field naked?" Bigger Girl asked.

"Sure!" Little Girl answered.

"Better not," Bigger Girl noted.  "I don't want to scare the school children."

"Yeah, just enjoy that there are flowers again," Little Girl said.




Keep enjoying the flowers, Little Girl.


Today is:

Ayyám-i-Há -- Baha'i (intercalary days, devoted to service and gift giving; through Mar. 1)

Carnival de Ponce -- Ponce, Puerto Rico (through Mardi Gras)

Dance of the Known Places -- Fairy Calendar

For Pete's Sake Day -- Wellcat Holidays asks us, who is Pete, and why do things for his sake?  think about that as you celebrate this today

Inconvenience Yourself™ Day -- enrich your life by looking for ways to make a positive impact on the world, even if it inconveniences you

Intercalary Days -- Baha'i (through Mar. 1)

Levi Strauss Day -- his birth anniversary

Liberation Day -- Kuwait

National Personal Chef Day -- heaven knows we all have one of those; some websites list it today, some on July 16

National Pistachio Day

Rooks Nesting Day -- Olde England (12 days after Candlemas on the Julian Calendar)

St. Alexander's Day (Patriarch of Alexandria)

St. Isabella of France's Day (Patron of the sick)

Teal Ribbon Day -- Australia (wear a teal ribbon, raise awareness of ovarian cancer)http://www.ovariancancer.net.au/events/

Tell a Fairy Tale Day -- shouldn't this have been two days ago, on Wilhelm Grimm's birth anniversary?

The Man In Black Day -- Johnny Cash's birth anniversary

Thriller Day -- Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" hit #1 today, and stayed there for 37 weeks


Anniversaries Today:

Grand Teton National Park is established, 1929
Grand Canyon National Park is established, 1919


Birthdays Today:

Marshall Faulk, 1973
Erykah Badu, 1972
Mark Dacascos, 1964
Michael Bolton, 1953
Johnny Cash, 1932
Fats Domino, 1928
Betty Hutton, 1921
Tony Randall, 1920
Jackie Gleason, 1916
Margaret Leighton, 1922
Tex Avery, 1908
Madeleine Carroll, 1906
Jean Vercors, 1902
William Frawley, 1887
Herbert Henry Dow, 1866
John Harvey Kellog, 1852
William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, 1846
Levi Strauss, 1829
Honore Daumier, 1808
Victor Hugo, 1802


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Jerome Robbins' Broadway"(Musical), 1989
"Deathtrap"(Play), 1978


Today in History:

Origin of the Epoch of Ptolemy's Nabonassar Era, BC747
An earthquake in Lisbon leaves 20,000-30,000 dead, 1531
Christiansborg Castle, Copenhagen burns down, 1794
The Bank of England issues its first banknotes, 1797
Vice-admiral William Bligh ends the siege of Fort Amsterdam, Willemstad, 1804
Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from Elba, 1815
In New York City a demonstration of the first pneumatic subway opens to the public, 1870
HMS Britannic, sister ship to the Titanic, is launched at Harland & Wolff, Belfast, 1914
The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first jazz record, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York, 1917
Robert Watson-Watt carries out a demonstration near Daventry which leads directly to the development of RADAR in the United Kingdom, 1935
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb, 1952
Vincent Massey is sworn in as the first Canadian-born Governor-General of Canada, 1952
National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, 1970
Egypt and Israel establish full diplomatic relations, 1980
The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections, 1990
On Baghdad Radio Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein announces the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, 1991
In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, 1993
The United Kingdom's oldest investment banking institute, Barings Bank, collapses, 1995
Mount Hekla in Iceland erupts, 2000
Republic of Macedonia President Boris Trajkovski is killed in a plane crash near Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2004
After winning a Liberal Party of British Columbia ballot, Canadian politician Christy Clark becomes the second woman to be Premier of British Columbia, 2011
Scientists in Illinois, announce they've developed stretchable batteries that can power a new generation of flexible electronics, 2013

And i thought i was busy.

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So, i thought i was busy.  Cooking, cleaning, part time work, volunteer work, feeding kittens, laundry, kids, paperwork, automobile maintenance, and more -- all the usual stuff.

Then i read this story, and i realize, i have it easy.

In a nutshell, a couple decide they can't afford fertility treatment that has a low chance of success and prefers to adopt.  They meet the mother who is willing to make an adoption plan for her child*, and when she finds out she is carrying triplets, their response is to say that makes it easier, they get the multi-child family they want without having to go through the adoption process again.

The triplets come along, spend months in NICU, and during that time, wife finds out she is pregnant.  With twins.

They now have one-year-old triplets, and two-month-old twins.  They are averaging 300 diapers a week.  Friends are pitching in, taking shifts.  The ladies in their church are making sure they have home cooked meals.

No matter how much help they have, though, they have a busy, busy life.  It reminds me that i have it easy.  And it reminds me, when baby nostalgia hits, to be grateful mine are all older and potty trained.

*One thing i never, ever say is that a woman "gave a baby up for adoption" or "gave a baby away for adoption." We give up or give away things we don't want, and the biological mother is making a great sacrifice, not just getting something out of her life the way someone else would donate clothes to the local charity thrift store.  She is making an adoption plan for her precious child, and she should be commended for  it.


Today is:

Aspirin Day -- Bayer received its US patent for the medicine on this day in 1900

Charro Days Fiesta -- Brownsville, TX, US and Matamoros, Mexico (Two Nations - Twin Cultures, a celebration of the charro horsemen of Mexico, with dances, parades, and a carnival; through Mar. 9)

Day of Selene -- Ancient Greek Calendar (goddess of the moon, date approximate)

Equirria -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Cavalry Horse Festival)

Feast of the Incappucciati -- Gradoli, Italy (members of the Confraternity of Purgatory makes the rounds of the town gathering food for the souls in Purgatory, which is served at a banquet next week on Ash Wednesday)

Feast of St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows/Gabriel Possenti (Patron of clerics, students, young people; Abruzzi, Italy; Catholic Action)

Fettiger Donnerstag  -- Swabia, Germany ("greasy Thursday", so called because of the greasy Kuchli cakes and pastries made today to use during carnival before the Lent fast)

Florida Strawberry Festival -- Plant City, FL, US (celebrating the winter strawberry harvest; through Mar. 9)

Independence Day -- Dominican Republic(1844)

Majuba Day -- South Africa (celebration of the Boers victory at Majuba Hill)

National Chili Day

National Kahlua Day

National Strawberry Day -- no, i don't know why this isn't in June, when the berries are best; maybe the person who put it here had too much Kahlua

No Brainer Day - this day is for me! created by Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith, "America's Premier Eventologist"

Polar Bear Day -- as declared by Polar Bears International

Read Five Pages in the Dictionary Day -- internet generated, and am i the only one who likes the idea?

Runic Half Month Tyr commences (cosmic pillar)

St. Galmier of Lyon's Day (Patron of locksmiths)

The Hop -- Fairy Calendar

Threepenny Day -- Eton College, England (By the last will of two Provosts in the 16th century, each boy receives a threepenny piece on this day -- enough to buy half a sheep back then.)

Weiberfastnach -- Cologne, Germany (Women's Carnival, the day the women run the pre-Lent celebration)


Anniversary Today:

African Burial Ground National Monument is established, 2006



Birthdays Today:

Josh Groban, 1981
Chelsea Clinton, 1980
Rozanda "Chilli" Thomas, 1971
Grant Show, 1963
Adam Baldwin, 1962
Michael Bolton, 1953
Alan Guth, 1947
Mary Fran, 1943
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, 1942
Howard Hesseman, 1940
Ralph Nadar, 1934
Elizabeth Taylor, 1932
Joanne Woodward, 1930
Ariel Sharon, 1928
John Connally, 1917
James Thomas Farrell, 1904
John Steinbeck, 1902
Gene Sarazen, 1902
Marian Anderson, 1897
David Sarnoff, 1891
Hugo La Fayette Black, 1886
Alice Hamilton, 1869
Ellen Terry, 1847
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807
Constantine I, 272


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"What Makes Sammy Run?"(Musical), 1964
"Road to Utopia"(Film), 1946


Today in History:

The first Russian Embassy arrives in London, 1557
The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland, 1560
Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after he led the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci, 1626
Jews are expelled from Austria by order of Leopold I, 1670
The Pacific island of New Britain is discovered, 1700
Poet Lord Byron gives his first address as a member of the House of Lords, in defense of Luddite violence against Industrialism in his home county of Nottinghamshire, 1812
The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti, 1844
Composer Robert Schumann is saved from a suicide attempt in Rhine, 1854
Russians shoot at Poles protesting Russian rule of Poland, 1861
The current flag of Japan is first adopted as the national flag for Japanese merchant ships, 1870
Charlotte E. Ray becomes the first African American woman to earn a law degree, from Howard University, 1872
Lord Kitchener opens Khartoum-El Obeid (Nyala) railway, 1912
Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben discover carbon-14, 1940
The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over, 1964
The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota, 1973
People magazine is published for the first time, 1974
U.S. President George H. W. Bush announces that "Kuwait is liberated", 1991
A Muslim mob kills 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya, 2002
The Shanghai Stock Exchange falls 9%, the largest drop in 10 years, 2007
Central Chile is hit with an 8.8 magnitude earthquake, 2010
Wikileaks begins releasing 5 million emails from Stratfor, a private intelligence company, 2012
At Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his farewell address, 2013

Photo-Finish Friday: Another Taxing Situation

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Several years ago, i found this:


The caption reads:  "I always wait until the last minute.  I do my best work under pressure." 

Unlike the guy on the front, i do not like waiting until the last minute when it comes to taxes.  Last year, Grandpa's good friend and CPA, who also does our taxes, got our tax packets to us so early that i had it back to him with all the pertinent information by Valentine's Day.


This year, the packets weren't sent out until late last week.  With my handy organizer/planner, though, i was ready.  As anything that might be tax related comes in all through the year, i tuck it into the appropriate pockets of the above organizer, and once i get the packet, i sit and put it all together.

Today, the packet is back on its way to the CPA, and except for answering any questions he may call me about, i am done with my taxes.  It always feels good to be done.

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




Today is:

Car Keys and Small Change Day -- ???

Dia de Andalucia -- Andalucia, Spain

DNA Day -- anniversary of the day in 1953 when Watson and Crick determined the double helix structure of DNA

Februalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification of Rome performed by citizens making sacrifices to the dead)

Floral Design Day -- a day to acknowledge this art form, sponsored by Rittners Floral School
Kalevala Day -- Finland (Finnish Culture Day)

Maha Shivaratri -- Hindu (festival of Shiva; local observances and government official days off will vary)

National Chocolate Souffle' Day

National Science Day -- India

National Tooth Fairy Day - and/or August 22, depending on whom you ask

Nylon Day -- the first aliphatic polyamides were produced on this day in 1935

Peace Memorial Day -- Taiwan

Public Sleeping Day -- this one even has a wikiHow page


Rare Disease Day -- International (information can be found here and here)

Read Me Day -- local and national celebrities, with community volunteers, are encouraged to visit classrooms and read to children

St. Hedwig of Poland's Day (Patron of queens)

St. Romanus' Day (Patron of the mentally ill; against drowning, insanity)

Teacher's Day -- Algeria; Bahrain; Egypt; Jordan; Libya; Morocco; Oman; Saudi Arabia; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; Yemen


Anniversaries Today:

University of Pittsburgh is chartered, 1787


Birthdays Today (Also includes Feb. 29 Birthdays)

Ali Larter, 1976
Robert Sean Leonard, 1969
John Tuturro, 1957
Gilbert Gottfried, 1955
Bernadette, Peters, 1948
Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith, 1945
Brian Jones, 1942
Mario Andretti, 1940
Tommy Tune, 1939
Gavin MacLeod, 1930
Frank Gehry, 1929
Svetiana Allilueva, 1926
Charles Durning, 1923
Zero Mostel, 1915
Earl Scheib, 1907
Milton Caniff, 1907
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, 1906
Vincente Minnelli, 1903
Linus Pauling, 1901
Ben Heckt, 1894
Charles Blondin, 1824
John Tenniel, 1820
Mary Lyon, 1797
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, 1533


Antonio Sabato, Jr., 1972
Tony Robbins, 1960
Gretchen Christopher, 1940
Jack Lousma, 1936
Dinah Shore, 1916
Jimmy Dorsey, 1904
William Wellman, 1896
Herman Hollerith, 1860


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"On Golden Pond"(Play), 1979
"La Reine de Saba"(Opera), 1862
"The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling"(Publication date), 1749


Today in History:

Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty's rule over China, BC202
The first edition of Henry Fieldings'"Tom Jones" is published, 1749
John Wesley charters the Methodist Church, 1784
The first commercial railroad in US, Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) is chartered, 1827
Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaims the independence of Lower Canada (today Québec), 1838
Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 22 days after leaving New York Harbor, 1849
The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire, 1870
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone, 1885
The USS Indiana, the lead ship of her class and the first battleship in the United States Navy comparable to foreign battleships of the time, is launched, 1893
Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch of Madagascar, is deposed by a French military force, 1897
Egypt regains independence from Britain, but British troops remain, 1922
DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents Nylon, 1935
Basketball is televised for the first time, 1940
In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down with the loss of 30,000 civilian lives, 1947
James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; the formal announcement takes place on April 25 following publication in April Nature (pub. April 2), 1953
The first-ever color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public, 1954
The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué, 1972
Andalusia approves its statute of autonomy through a referendum, 1980
GRB 970228, a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, strikes the Earth for 80 seconds, providing early evidence that gamma-ray bursts occur well beyond the Milky Way, 1997
First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace, 1998
Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947, 2004
Jupiter flyby of the New Horizons Pluto-observer spacecraft, 2007
Egypt annunces the discovery of a granite head from a statue of King Tut's grandfather, Amenhotep III, 2010

She calls it fun.

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So, how was your first time volunteering at the food bank? i asked Bigger Girl as she came through the door.

"It was fine, mom, but listen to this!  I was the only volunteer there who wasn't doing it as part of a community service sentence from the courts, or to get high school community service credits!  Can you believe it?  I almost was tempted to ask the others, 'So, what are you in for?'"

Yes, i can imagine a lot of people who get sentenced to community service by the courts would rather be at the food bank than shovel poop at the zoo or pick up trash by the road, i noted.

"True, true," she said.  "Oh, and by the way, I found a recipe online for fake blood.  Mind if I make some using the food coloring the pantry that we never use?"

Sure, but Halloween is over, what would you need fake blood for? i asked.

"Well, I've been watching Harold and Maude, you know, the movie, and my friend who takes filmmaking class has to make a short film as a project, so we want me to do like Harold does, and fake a suicide, for his film.  It will be fun, I got a white dress at the thrift store, and we have a place where we can film it that no one will see us and think it's real.  So, anyway, wow, the food coloring kit includes burgundy!  This will really work great!"

Go ahead, i said.  Just be careful, that stuff stains things easily.  You wouldn't want to ruin someone's furniture or something.

"No, we'll be careful about that," she said.  She then proceeded to mix several ingredients, and smile over the variety of colors in the food coloring kit i had purchased many years before but seldom used.

"It's perfect!" she gloated when she got it just as she wanted it.  "I'm going to go meet up with Aaron and the others.  We'll go bowling, and then we'll film me faking suicide for his project!"

Enjoy yourself, i called after her.

With her sense of humor, i know she did.


Today is:

Baba Marta Day -- Bulgaria (Grandmother Spring Day, martenitsa are worn until you see a stork or a tree blooming.)

Beer Day -- Iceland (marks the end of the prohibition of beer in 1989)

Be Positive, Do Something Positive Day -- the way to start Optimism Month

Bravo Day/Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day -- Marshall Islands

Camellia Festival 2014 -- Chiswick House and Gardens Trust, London, England (through Mar. 30)

Carnaval de Barranquilla -- Barranquilla, Spain (four days of pre-Lent celebration and street dances that mostly shut down the city)

Chalandra Marz -- Engandine, Switzerland (various cities of this province have the traditional spring event where costumed young people, ringing bells and cracking whips, drive out the demons of winter)

Day to Mourn Victims of Land Mines -- anniversary of the day they were outlawed worldwide in 1999

Dia de las Islas Baleares -- Iberia, Spain

Elves, Woodworkers, and Mechanics' Day -- Fairy Calendar

First Day of Autumn -- Australia (they go by months, not equinoxes, like the rest of the world used to)

Floral City Strawberry Festival -- Floral City, FL, US (fun for all, through tomorrow)

Goa Carnival -- Goa, India (Indo-Latin fusion of music, dance, parades, and revelry; through the 13th)

Humorists Are Artists Month begins -- any coincidence this spells HAAM?

Iditarod Sled Dog Race - Last Great Race on Earth® begins -- Anchorage to Nome, AK, US (1,000 miles along the historic Iditarod Trail)

Independence Day -- Bosnia and Herzegovina(1992)

International Association for Women of Color Day -- www.womenofcolorday.com

International Wheelchair Day -- a day when wheelchair users celebrate the positive impact a wheelchair has had in their lives

Klondike Days -- Eagle River, WI, US (recreation of primitive camps used by early pioneers, a Native American cultural presentation, and more; through tomorrow)

Martisor -- Romanians and Aromanians, especially in Romania and Moldova (similar tradition to Baba Marta; first days of March are Zilele Babei, Days of the Old Woman, when Old Woman Winter, Baba Dokia, who lives in the mountains, might come back with ferocity.)

National Fruit Compote Day

National Heroes' Day -- Paraguay

National Horse Protection Day -- US; sponsored by the Animal Miracle Foundation

National Pig Day -- sponsored by Ellen Stanley and Mary Lynne Rave, who want you to know that pigs are amazing animals that place fourth on the animal intelligence list!

Natural Bridge Battle Reenactment -- Tallahassee, FL, US (Civil War reenactment; through tomorrow)

Navii's Day / Vjunitci -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (a Day of the Dead, bringing sacrifices and inviting the ancestors to attend the feast)

New Year's Day -- Ancient Roman Pre-Julian Calendar; related observances
     Birthday of Mars Pater (Feriae Marti)
     Chalanda Marz -- Kalends of March (now a festival in Egandine, Grisons Canton, Switzerland, in which the children ring bells to ring out the winter)
     Matronalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Women's Festival to Juno)
     Renewal of the Vestal Fire

Nineteen Day Fast -- Baha'i (begins at sundown)

Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day -- in remembrance of the destruction of Bikini Atoll

Omizutori Matsuri -- Todai-ji Temple, Nara, Japan (Water-Drawing Festival of 1,200 year old Buddhist ceremonies, through the 14th)

Peace Corps Birthday / National Day of Action -- US

Peanut Butter Lovers' Day -- according to some foodie sites

Philadelphia Flower Show -- Philadelphia, PA, US (largest flower show in the US; through the 9th)

Plan a Solo Vacation Day -- Solo Travel Portal wants you to dream big and plan what you would do if you could get away, solo.

ReFIRED, Not Retired Day -- the day to get Fired Up about Life, Part II; you aren't retired, you are reFIRED!

Republic Day -- NE, Switzerland

Samiljeol (March 1st Movement Remembrance Day) -- South Korea

Self-Injury Awareness Day -- International (for information about self-injury, or to get started getting help, go here)

St. David of Wales' Day (Patron of doves; Patron of Wales, where it is called Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant)

Saint Piran's Day Celebration -- Kansas City, KA, US (celebration of the patron saint of Cornwall and Cornish peoples, as well as the patrn of tin miners, sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Cornish Society, on the Saturday nearest Mar. 5)

Time for a Cuppa? -- UK (raising awareness of dementia and raising funds for research)

Whuppity Scoorie Day -- Lanark, Scotland (Spring festival, children run around the church and pick up coins thrown for them.)

World Civil Defense Day -- International Civil Defense Organisation

Yap Day -- Micronesia (festival celebrating the heritage of the Yap peoples)


Anniversaries Today:

Johnny Cash marries June Carter, 1968
Yellowstone National Park established, 1872
Nebraska becomes the 37th US State, 1867
Howard University in Washington, D.C., is chartered, 1867
Ohio becomes the 17th US State, 1803


Birthdays Today:

Justin Bieber, 1994
Mark-Paul Gosselaar, 1974
Javier Bardem, 1969
George Eads, 1967
Russell Wong, 1963
Nik Kershaw, 1958
Timothy Daly, 1956
Ron Howard, 1954
Catherine Bach, 1954
Alan Thicke, 1947
Dirk Benedict, 1945
Roger Daltry, 1944
Robert Conrad, 1935
Harry Belafonte, 1927
Pete Rozelle, 1926
Donald "Deke" K. Slayton, 1924
William M. Gaines, 1922
Richard (Purdy) Wilbur, 1921
Ralph Ellison, 1914
Harry Caray, 1914
David Niven, 1910
Glenn Miller, 1904
Watsuji Tetsuro, 1889
Oskar Kokoschka, 1886
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 1848
Frederic Chopin, 1810


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Sophisticated Ladies"(Musical), 1981
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"(Musical), 1979
"Believe It or Not"(TV), 1949
"Captain America Comics #1"(Comic book), 1941
"Native Son"(Publication date), 1940


Today in History:

Romulus, first king of Rome, celebrates the first Roman triumph after his victory over the Caeninenses, following the Rape of the Sabine Women, BC752
Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army, enters Athens, BC86
Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus, 1260
The Unitas Fratrum is established in the village of Kunvald, on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland. It is to date the second oldest Protestant denomination, 1457
23 Huguenots are massacred by Catholics in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion, 1562
The Uppsala Synod is summoned to confirm the exact forms of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, 1593
Samuel de Champlain reclaims his role as commander of New France on behalf of Cardinal Richelieu, 1633
Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba are arrested for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
"The Spectator" begins publishing, in London, 1711
The first US census is authorized, 1790
Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba, 1815
Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first African-American female to earn a medical degree, 1864
Yellowstone becomes the world's first national park, 1872
E. Remington and Sons in Ilion, New York begins production of the first practical typewriter, 1873
Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri, 1893
Henri Becquerel discovers radioactivity, 1896
Battle of Adwa, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) defeats invading Italians, the first defeat of a colonizing European nation by an African colony, 1896
Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump from an airplane, 1912
The Republic of China joins the Universal Postal Union, 1914
The March 1st Movement, demonstrations for independence from Japan, begins in Korea, 1919
Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped, 1932
The Hoover Dam is completed, 1936
US Steel raises workers wages to US$5/day, 1937
Trans-Canada Air Lines (forerunner of Air Canada) begins transcontinental operations (between Vancouver and Montreal), 1939
The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations, 1947
Chiang Kai-shek resumed the presidency of National China on Formosa, 1950
The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States, 1954
The Peace Corps is established, 1961
Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe, Chile, 1964
Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface, 1966
Bosnia and Herzegovina declares its independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 1992
Yahoo! was incorporated, 1995
The Envisat environmental satellite successfully reaches an orbit 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth on its 11th launch, carrying the heaviest payload to date at 8500 kilograms (9.5 tons), 2002
The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague, 2003
English-language Wikipedia reaches its one millionth article, Jordanhill railway station, 2006

Silly Sunday: Pancakes are coming.

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"Mom, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be making lots of pancakes for Mardi Gras," #2 Son announced.

That's fine, i noted.  We have plenty of Nutella and everything else.

When Mardi Gras comes around, in our house it always means the hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and baked, and pancakes.  The tradition of Mardi Gras being Pancake Day stems from pancakes being the easiest way to use up the last of the sugar and egg and butter and milk before the Lent fast begins on Ash Wednesday.

Of course, #2 Son's pancakes aren't just any.  He doesn't use premade mix of any sort, and his are always chocolatey and good.

Talking about pancakes reminds me of a joke.

Clothile was busy on Fat Tuesday morning making the pancakes, the last the family would have until Easter.  Tee Boudreaux and Placide Boudreaux, her two boys, were sitting at the table arguing over who was going to get the first pancake out of the pan.

"Mais, boys, you ought to be both ashamed of yourselves, sure.  Here we are, about to start observing de time dat Our Lord was in the desert fasting, so we can learn about self-discipline and obedience, and you two be arguin' over who get de firs' pancake!  If Jesus was here, He'd say, 'Let my brother have de firs' pancake!'"

Tee and Placide look at her, and den at each other, and den Tee, he say, "Placide, today, you play Jesus!"



Today is:

Adwa Victory Day -- Ethiopia

Argungu Fishing and Cultural Festival -- Argungu, Nigeria (a wild fishing contest, plus singing, dancing canoe racing, and more; through the 5th)

Carnival of Binche -- Binche, Belgium (famous carnival dating back to the 16th century, which includes a giants parade, children's parade, fireworks, orange tossing, and more; through Shrove Tuesday)

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Sunday:  Namesake Day, a day to think about how you got your name

Cheesefare Sunday -- Orthodox Christian (final day upon which dairy products and eggs may be consumed before the Lenten fast; sometimes also called Forgiveness Sunday)

Fasching Sunday -- Germany and Austria, and among German speaking peoples; the Party before Lent kicks up now

Feast of 'Ala (Loftiness) -- Baha'i (first full day of the 19 day fast)

Feast of Tou Tei -- Macau (earth god; celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month, so if i've mixed up the date in Gregorian, i'm sorry, i tried)

Going Forth of Set, Son of Nut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Hall Sunday -- meaning Hallowed Sunday, the Sunday before Lent, which has many traditions associated with it

Highway Numbers Day -- US (a joint board of state and federal highway officials created the first uniform system for numbering interstate highways, as well as standardizing design of road signs, in 1925)

James Ronald Webster's Birthday -- Anguilla

Losar/Loshar (Lunar New Year) -- Bhutan; Nepal; Tibet (this is Tibetan Year 2141, and it's dominant gender is male, dominant element is wood, and dominant animal is the horse)

March Nymph's Parade -- Fairy Calendar

National Banana Cream Pie Day

National Words Matter Week -- US (focusing on the importance of words, particularly the written word; week sponsored by The National Association of Independent Writers and Editors)

NEA's Read Across America Day -- on or near Dr. Seuss' birth anniversary; this year's theme is "Grab Your Hat and Read with the Cat"

Old Stuff Day -- if you are doing the same old stuff, think about how you can change that

Peasants' Day -- Myanmar

St. Chad of Mead's Day (Patron of St. Chad's College of the University of Durham in England; Birmingham, England; Lichfield, England)

Texas Independence Day -- Texas, US (anniversary of declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836)

Transfiguration Sunday -- Christian


Anniversary Today:

Mt. Rainier National Park is established, 1899


Birthdays Today:

Henrik Lundquist, 1982
Bryce Dallas Howard, 1981
Chris Martin, 1977
Daniel Craig, 1968
Jon Bon Jovi, 1962
Ken Salazar, 1955
Laraine Newman, 1952
Karen Carpenter, 1950
Eddie Money, 1949
Lou Reed, 1944
John Irving, 1942
Mikhail Gorbachev, 1931
Tom Wolfe, 1931
John Cullum, 1930
Doc Watson, 1923
Jennifer Jones, 1919
Desi Arnaz, 1917
Martin Ritt, 1914
Mel Ott, 1909
Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), 1904
Bedrich Smetana, 1864
Carl Schurz, 1829
Melissa Burton Coray, 1828
Sam Houston, 1793
Juvenal, 54


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Bubbling Brown Sugar"(Musical), 1976
"The Sound of Music"(Film), 1965
"Bus Stop"(Play), 1955
"King Kong"(Film), 1933
"Morning Chronicle"(London daily newspaper), 1769


Today in History:

The Loves of Mars and Venus becomes the first ballet performed in England, 1717
A semaphore machine that will speed communication is introduced in Paris, 1791
The US Congress outlaws the import of slaves, 1897
The Republic of Texas declares its independence from Mexico, 1836
Aleksandr Romanov becomes the tsar of Russia, 1855
Tsar Aleksandr outlaws serfdom in Russia, 1861
The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace, 1888
In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women, 1903
The original film version of King Kong premiers, 1933
Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute, 1949
The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Connecticut, 1949
In Toulouse, France the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted, 1969
Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown, 1970
The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets, 1972
Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28, 1978
CD players and discs are released for sale for the first time outside of Japan, 1983
Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century, 1989
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations, 1992
Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice, 1998
In his book 'Jesus of Nazareth Part II', Pope Benedict XVI exonerates the Jewish people for the responsibility of the death of Jesus, 2011
New findings from the University of Leicester indicate decreasing sitting time by 90 minutes each day can result in major heath advantages, including reducing the risk of Type II Diabetes, 2013

Aww Monday: Five and Six

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Five-week-old Lorax looks at the new litter of six one-week-old babies we got on Friday.


Three orange tabby boys, three brown tabbies that we think are all girls.



Somehow, i think he's not impressed.




Hard to believe, isn't it, that just a couple of short weeks ago he was that small.

Today is:

Birthday of Wenchang Wang, the God of Literature -- China

Bonza Bottler Day™

Casimir Pulaski Day -- Illinois, US (celebration of the Polish-American Revolutionary War Hero)

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Monday:  Fun Facts About Names Day, enjoy looking up things like, what is the name of the Monopoly dog, or do Ken and Barbie have last names

Day of Remembrance for Prince Igor -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar

Discovery Day -- Guam (a/k/a Magellan Day)

Edo Nagashi Bina -- Sumidagawa River, Japan (ritual to wish for children's good health by washing the sins of the body away)

First Sitting of the People's Majlis/Public Holiday -- Maldives

Great Lent begins, a/k/a Clean Monday, Ash Monday, Pure Monday, Monday of Lent, Shrove Monday, Collop Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday, and (in Cypress) Green Monday -- Orthodox Christian

Hamilton Lavity Stoutt Holiday -- British Virgin Islands (in lieu of Mar. 7)

Heart-Accelerating Sodium-Enriched Cold Cuts Day -- internet generated by someone who has no intention of letting anything healthy past his/her lips

Hina Matsuri -- Japan (Doll Festivals throughout the country, where women and girls dedicate dolls to shrines which are then floated out to sea to take away evil and sicknesses that afflict women)

I Want You to be Happy Day -- a day to devote some time to making someone else truly happy about something

If Pets Had Thumbs Day -- because if you are going to imagine something silly today, it might as well be this; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

International Omega-3 Awareness Day

Joshi-no-Sekku -- Shinto (festival to honor girls)

Labour Day -- WA, Australia (a/k/a Eight Hour Day)

Liberation Day/National Day -- Bulgaria

Lundi Gras -- Fat Monday, Carnival, one of the last to days to feast before the Lenten fast begins Wednesday
     Bolludagur -- Iceland (Bun Day, the children wake the parents with a "spanking" while calling for cream buns that will be eaten that day)
     Old Mask Parade -- Oranjestad, Aruba (with the Burning of the Momo tomorrow, marking the end of Carnival)
     Rosenmontag -- German-speaking Countries (Rose Monday, highlight of Karneval)

Marriage of the March Nymphs -- Fairy Calendar

Martyr's Day -- Malawi

Mother's Day -- Georgia

National Anthem Day -- US (current US anthem adopted this date in 1931)

National Cold Cuts Day

National Mulled Wine Day

Peach Blossom Day - coincides with the start of the Peach Blossom Festival around this time of year in Hunan, China, where you celebrate the beauty of peach blossoms, and girls celebrate being girls

Sportsmen's Day -- Egypt

Stop Bad Service Day -- spread around the internet by someone who got lousy service

St Casimir' Eve / Kaziukas Fair -- Vilnius, Lithuania (traditional craft fair dates back to the 17th century, celebrating Lithuania's patron saint; through tomorrow)

St. Cunegunda's Day (Patron of Bamberg, Germany; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Poland)

St. Winnal's Day (First comes David, Next comes Chad, Then comes Winnal, roaring mad! -- Traditional English saying about the storminess of March 3; St. Winwaloe or Winnal was the Christianized version of the Teutonic Aegir, god of the sea and controler of weather)

Thanks to the Maple Festival -- Iroquois (date approximate, held when sap began flowing, usually early March)


Anniversaries Today:

Florida becomes the 27th US state, 1845
Colegio Militar of Portugal is founded, 1803


Birthdays Today:

Jessica Biel, 1982
David Faustino, 1974
Julie Bowen, 1970
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1962
Herschel Walker, 1962
Ira Glass, 1959
Miranda Richardson, 1958
Tim Kazurinsky, 1950
Caroline Lee Bouvier Radziwill, 1933
Doc Watson, 1923
Diana Barrymore, 1921
James Doohan, 1920
Jean Harlow, 1911
Matthew Bunker Ridgway, 1895
Norman Bethune, 1890
Alexander Graham Bell, 1847
George Pullman, 1831


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moonlighting"(TV), 1985
"Goodtime Charley"(Musical), 1975
"The Lion in Winter"(Play), 1966
"Mr Wizard"(TV), 1951
"Juno and the Paycock"(Play), 1924
"Time Magazine", 1923
"Carmen"(Opera), 1875
"Symphony No. 3 in A minor(Scottish)"(Mendelssohn Op.56), 1842
"Symphony No. 101 in D major(The Clock)"(Haydn), 1794


Today in History:

The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the Principality of Wales into England, 1284
The Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, is inaugurated in Vicenza, 1585
The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps begins the Battle of Nassau, 1776
The first US Jewish governor, David Emanuel, takes office in Georgia, 1801
The US declares war on Algeria for taking US prisoners and demanding tribute, 1815
The Missouri Compromise, an attempt to keep the US half Slave and half free, is passed by the US Congress, 1820
The Battle of Pelee Island takes place, Ontario, Canada, 1838
Tsar Alexander II emancipates the serfs of Russia, 1861
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the founding member of the HSBC Group, opens, 1865
The first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey is played in Montreal, Canada as recorded in The Montreal Gazette, 1875
Georges Bizet's opera Carmen receives its première at the Opéra Comique in Paris, 1875
Bulgaria regains its independence from Ottoman Empire, 1878
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood becomes the first female attorney to argue before the US Supreme Court, 1879
The US Geological Survey is created, 1879
Anne Sullivan arrives to begin teaching Helen Keller, 1887
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agrees to create an elected assembly, the Duma, 1905
Toronto's Dr Banting & Dr Best announce discovery of insulin, 1921
Time Magazine begins publication, 1923
The United States officially adopts The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem, 1931
Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia, 1938
In Mumbai, Mohandas Gandhi begins to fast in protest of the autocratic rule in India, 1939
Jackie Brenston, with Ike Turner and his band, records "Rocket 88", often cited as "the first rock and roll record", at Sam Phillips' recording studios in Memphis, Tennessee, 1951
An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers, 1991
The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opens after two-and-a-half years of construction, 1997
Citizens of Switzerland narrowly vote in favor of their country becoming a member of the United Nation, 2002
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling, 2005
A 2-year old Mississippi girl born with HIV/AIDS is pronounced HIV negative after receiving treatment for the virus within 30 hours after her birth, 2013

Not much traffic in traffic court.

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A few weeks back, Bigger Girl, who tries very hard to do everything right and by the book, got distracted and went over the speed limit on the uni campus, and was stopped for her first ever traffic ticket.

It was traumatic for her in some ways, as she is generally so careful to observe every rule.  She found out that, because it's a first offense ever, she can get it erased from her record by taking a class and paying the fine.

So she took the two hour defensive driving course, and they told us to come in the day before her actual court date to pay the fine and turn in the paper, so that she wouldn't ever have to appear before the judge.  Because her court date is tomorrow, and today all the offices are closed for the Mardi Gras holiday (yes, south Louisiana shuts down for the party), we went yesterday.

In the years since i've been down to that particular area of the downtown, the old courthouse has been refurbished, the "new" courthouse has been turned into city hall instead, and an even newer new courthouse has been built.  The parking area is the same, and i must say the fees at the parking garage are extremely reasonable for the center of a city.

We went to the old courthouse first.  The very nice security guard told us that no cell phones are allowed at all in the building.  We were going to walk back to the car and put them in it, but it turned out there are free storage lockers in which you can put your phones, pocket knives, or anything else you aren't allowed to bring with you.  There were none available when we first walked up, but within one minute three people came and retrieved their items, leaving us our choice!  We put our phones in locker number 24, i put the key loop around my wrist, and we went back in.

Bigger Girl was wearing her steel toe boots, so she had to take off her boots and have them x-ayed, along with the contents of our pockets.  Other than that, the guard was very nice, smiling and happy, and we passed in without incident.  We found the room and stood in line, only to get to the front and find out that we had come to the wrong traffic court.  The one that takes cases for tickets issued by campus police is at the new courthouse.

Marching next door to the new courthouse, we left the cell phones.  Better safe than sorry, i thought, although it turned out that cell phones are allowed there.  It figures. 

This time, the security guard was not so jolly.  In fact, you could tell he really didn't like the job much.  Really i felt sorry for him.  For the second time Bigger Girl had to take her boots off and show that she loves to wear mismatched socks.  The way the guard looked at us, i wondered if he was going to insist on more than just walking through the metal detector and x-raying our stuff.  He didn't, though.  Poor guy, he looked miserable.

"I know this building," Bigger Girl said when we went in.  "This is where I took Miss Lizzie when she had to get a restraining order against her boyfriend who used to beat her up!"

Nice to know you are familiar with the legal system here, i noted drily.

The whole thing was done in just a few minutes.  She gave them her ticket, license, and certificate from the class.  They gave her the papers to take to the fine desk.  We went and paid the fine, and brought the papers back.  They gave her a receipt, and it was done.

We retrieved the cell phones, went back to the vehicle, and pulled up to pay to leave the lot.  The whole thing, even with going to the wrong place first, had only taken us less than an hour.  The parking fee was $1.

As easy as it all was, though, i hope i don't ever have to do that again.  


Today is:

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Tuesday:  Unique Names Day, a day to appreciate friends, acquaintances, and loved ones with unique names

Charter Day -- St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada (1881)

Courageous Follower Day -- because leaders have to have someone to lead, and it can take as much courage to follow a great leader as to be the leader

Feast of Ra in His Barge at Heliopolis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Holy Experiment Day -- try something religious today

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo -- Houston, TX, US (since 1932, great rodeo action and top-name entertainment; through Mar. 23)

Hug a GI Day -- just don't get in trouble sneaking on base to do it

International Pancake Day

International Scrapbooking Industry Day -- can't find proof the industry actually set this day, but if you love scrapbooking, celebrate

March Dryads' Festival -- Fairy Calendar

March Forth - Do Something Day

Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday, Carnival, the last day to feast before the Lenten fast begins tomorrow, greeted with revelry in many parts of the world; related observances and names:
     Scotland, Fasten's E'en or Bannocky Day
     Portuguese, Terça-feira Gorda
     Italian, Martedì Grasso
     Swedish, Fettisdagen
     Danish, Fastelavn
     Norwegian, Fastelavens
     Estonian, Vastlapäev
     Spanish, Martes de Carnaval
     German, Faschingsdienstag
     Hawaiian, Malasada Day
     Lithuanian, Uzgavenes
     Icelandic, Sprengidagur (literally, Bursting Day)
     also Pancake Day or Bursting Day, the day to eat the last of the eggs and butter in the form of some kind of fried cakes, and to eat until bursting

National Grammar Day -- sponsored by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar on March 4th, which is both a date and an imperative

National Poundcake Day

North Dakota Winter Show -- Valley City, ND, US (world's largest crop show, eight-breed cattle show, rodeos, tractor pulls, entertainment, and more for tons of family fun; through Sunday)

Shrove Tuesday -- Christian

St. Casimir's Day (Patron of bachelors, kings, princes, single layment; Lithuania; Poland; against plague)

Tavern Day -- US (the first tavern in the US, a Puritan public house in Boston, MA, opened this date in 1634)

Town Meeting Day -- Vermont, US (giving all citizens the right to speak out about local government, an official state holiday the first Tuesday of March allows towns to have a daylong public meeting of voters to elect town officers, approve budgets, and deal with town business)

Toy Soldier Day -- Dr. Steel's Army, building a utopian playland and embarking on a worldwide mission of fun

Waltz Day -- some say National Waltz Day, and some Dance the Waltz Day, but no one says why this day; i say, waltz if you want to


Anniversaries Today:

Hot Springs National Park is established, 1921
Vermont becomes the 14th US state, 1791


Birthdays Today:

Patsy Kensit, 1968
Jason Curtis Newsted, 1963
Stephen Weber, 1961
Patricia Heaton, 1958
Catherine O'Hara, 1954
Emilio Estefan, 1953
Kay Lenz, 1953
Chris Squire, 1948
Mary Wilson, 1944
Paula Prentiss, 1938
Miriam Makeba, 1932
Joan Greenwood, 1921
Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Jr., 1906
Knute Rockne, 1888
Garrett Morgan, 1877
Casimir Pulaski, 1747
Antonio Vivaldi, 1678
Prince Henry the Navigator, 1394


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"People Magazine"(Publication), 1974
"The Dick Cavett Show"(TV), 1968
"Nosferatu"(Horror Film), 1922
"Pénélope"(Fauré Opera), 1913
"Swan Lake"(Tchaikovsky Op. 20), 1876


Today in History:

Croatian Duke Trpimir I issued a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources, 852
Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam, 1351
Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, from his first voyage, 1493
Hernan Cortez arrives in Mexico in search of Aztec gold, 1519
The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a royal charter, 1629
John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England, 1675
France is divided into 83 départements, which cut across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land, 1790
The first Jewish member of the US Congress, Israel Jacobs of Pennsylvania, takes office, 1791
A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario), 1791
In the first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times, John Adams is sworn in as President of the United States, succeeding George Washington, 1797
In the Castle Hills Rebellion, in New South Wales, Australia, Irish convicts (some of whom had been involved in Ireland’s Battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798) lead the colony’s only significant convict uprising, 1804
Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia, 1848
The day without a US president -- Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in on the Sabbath (Sunday), so there is, technically, no president on this day, 1849
The longest bridge in the Great Britain, the Forth Bridge (railway) (1,710 ft) in Scotland is opened, 1890
The great fire of Shanghai damages over 1,000 buildings, 1894
Victor Berger of Wisconsin becomes the first socialist congressman in the U.S., 1911
Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives, 1917
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia's renunciation of the throne is made public, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia publicly issues his abdication manifesto, 1917
Frances Perkins becomes the United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet, 1933
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant, 1954
The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90, 1957
The United States Atomic Energy Commission announces that the first atomic power plant at McMurdo Station in Antarctica is in operation, 1962
The first Cray-1 supercomputer is shipped to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, 1976
Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister, 1980
Bertha Wilson is appointed the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, 1983
The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Comet Halley and the first images ever of its nucleus, 1986
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex, 1998
No response is received in the final attempt to contact Pioneer 10 by the Deep Space Network, 2006
Approximately 30,000 voters take advantage of electronic voting in Estonia, the world's first nationwide voting where part of the votecasting is allowed in the form of remote electronic voting via the Internet, 2007

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Privacy, Please!

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Actually, i wasn't sure whether to call this the above title, or "I'm a big boy now."


Mom, do you mind!
Seriously, though, since i seldom get any privacy, even in the loo, why should they?  Yes, Lorax is potty trained.

A special note for Mizfit (and anyone else who was wondering), Miss Lizzie is doing quite well.  The guy she was with is now out of her life, and she is more committed than ever to sober living.  She is even looking into vocational training through state rehab.


Today is:

Act Goofy Day -- started by someone who wanted to see how far the internet could spread goofiness

Arivee de l'Evangile -- French Polynesia (Gospel Day)

Ash Wednesday -- Christian (beginning of the Lenten Fast)
     Oskudagur -- Iceland (with the special tradition of hanging oskupokar [ash bags] on people, as girls try to hang bags of ash on men's clothing, and boys try to hang bags of stones on women's clothing; begins Langafasta, and during the fast, you may not even mention meat at all)

Babysitter Safety Day -- learn what it takes to be a safe baby sitter

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Wednesday:  Learn What Your Name Means Day, go look it up, it's probably very interesting

Crispus Attucks Day*

Custom Chief's Day -- Vanuatu

Diasia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Zeus Meilikhios; date approximate)

Global Marathon For, By, and About Women in Engineering and Technology -- two days of Global "Town Meetings" to connect girls and women and support them in the fields of engineering and technology

National Absinthe Day

National Cheese Doodle Day

Navigium Isis/Ploiaphaesia: The Festival of Navigation -- Ancient Roman Calendar/Ancient Egyptian Calendar (Sailing Festival, honoring Isis as sea goddess and goddess of sailing, on the traditional start of the sailing season)

Scouts' Day -- Taiwan (celebration of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Taiwan)

St. Piran's Day (Patron of miners, tin miners, tinners; Cornwall, England; Piran, Slovenia)
     St. Piran's Day Celebrations -- Cornwall, England

Stop the Clocks Day -- another of those with-no-explanation web holidays that sounds like a good idea

Temperance Day -- North America's first Temperance Law was passed in Virginia this day in 1623

Wedding of the March Dryads -- Fairy Calendar


Anniversary Today:

Channel Islands National Park is established, 1980



Birthdays Today:

Jake Lloyd, 1989
Niki Taylor, 1975
Kevin Connolly, 1974
Eva Mendes, 1974
Andy Gibb, 1958
Penn Jillette, 1955
Marsha Warfield, 1954
Michael Warren, 1946
Paul Sand, 1944
Samantha Eggar, 1939
Fred Williamson, 1938
Dean Stockwell, 1936
James Noble, 1922
Rex Harrison, 1908
Zhou Enlai, 1898
Emmett J. Culligan, 1893
Heitor Villa-Lobos, 1887
Howard Pyle, 1853
James Merrit Ives, 1824
William Blackstone, 1595
Gerhardus Mercator, 1512


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"What the Butler Saw"(Play)1969
"Leningrad"/Symphony No. 7 in C major(Shostakovich Op. 60), 1942
"Mefistofele"(Opera), 1868


Today in History:


Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death, 363
Naser Khosrow begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama, 1046
English king Henry VII hires John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) and his sons to explore unknown lands for England, 1496
Smoking tobacco is introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes, 1558
Copernicus'"de Revolutionibus" is placed on Catholic Forbidden index, 1616
Antonio de Ulloa, the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, arrives in New Orleans to take possession of the Louisiana territory from the French, 1766
*Boston Massacre: British troops kill 5 in a crowd, including a young boy and Crispus Attackus, the first black to die for American freedom, in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War five years later, 1770
The Dutch city of Leeuwarden forbids Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays, 1820
Samuel Colt makes the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber, 1836
George Westinghouse Jr patents the triple air brake for trains, 1872
Nikola Tesla, in Electrical World and Engineer, describes the process of the ball lightning formation, 1904
Winston Churchill uses the phrase "Iron Curtain" in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri, 1946
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations, 1970
Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters, 1979
America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles, 1979
The Soviet probe Venera 14 arrives at the planet Venus, 1982
The graves of Czar Nicholas II and his family are found near St. Petersburg, 1995
President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, dies in office in the nation's capital, Caracas, at age 58, 2013

They Lent It To Us

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Sweetie was raised by a Southern Baptist preacher, and trained to have a holy horror of Roman Catholics.  It scared him to death when we once went to a Lutheran church and they made the Sign of the Cross.  While he has mellowed on the Catholic issue somewhat, he is still a big bit suspicious of "holy rollers" of any stripe or type.

As for me, i grew up Catholic, in the midst of the Catholic Charismatic movement.  It doesn't bother me a bit to attend a great many eclectic types of services.  Traditional hymns and pipe organ, modern praise and worship music, people praying in tongues, people sitting quietly and praying aloud as the Spirit moves them, i have no trouble attending any of that.

While my beliefs align most closely with those of the conservative Quakers, at this time we attend a Presbyterian church.  This particular church likes modern worship, and also has a pastor and older members of the congregation who love the traditional times and seasons and accompanying rites and ceremonies.

In the past several years, i have always had someplace to take at least one child during the middle of each weekday, so i haven't been able to go to our church's traditional Ash Wednesday service.  Until yesterday, that is.

It was a beautiful, and short, service that was as well attended as any Sunday early morning service in the small chapel, and followed by a nice luncheon in the parlor.  There will also be a service every Wednesday of Lent, and i hope to be able to go each week.

When Sweetie came home and saw the ashes on my forehead yesterday, he said, "You were playing Catholic today!" with a big grin.

No, i played Presbyterian, i grinned back.  Reverend G. put these on me.

"I guess the Catholics lent him their ashes!"

Smarty-pants.



Today is:

Alamo Day -- Texas, US

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Thursday:  Name Tag Day, celebrating those silly tags that say, "Hello, My Name is Illegible"!

Crufts Dog Show -- Birmingham, England (the World's Greatest Dog Show; Best in Show here is the most prestigious award in the world of dogs; through Sunday)

Feast of Excited Insects -- China; Korea (sometimes called Chinese Groundhog Day, the day insects are supposed to awaken for spring; date approximate)

Foundation Day -- Norfolk Island, Commonwealth of Australia

Headache Relief Day -- aspirin was patented today in 1899

Independence Day -- Ghana(1957)

Kirishima Jingu Otaue-sai -- Kirishima Jingu Shrine, Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan (rice planting festival)

March Goblins' Galumphing Gala and Display -- Fairy Calendar

National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day

National Frozen Food Day

Oreo Cookie Day -- no history found on why this day, but if you like Oreos, do you need a reason?

Rockhound Round Up Gem and Mineral Show -- Deming, NM, US (through Sunday)

Stoneware Pottery Appreciation Day -- internet generated by those who love stoneware

St. Colette's Day (Patron of Corbie, France; against the death of parents)

St. Rose of Viterbo's Day (Patron of exiles, people rejected by religious orders, tertiaries; Viterbo, Italy)

World Book Day -- UK and Ireland (most other countries celebrate this on April 23, check here for more information)



Birthdays Today:

Ryan Nyquist, 1979
Shaquille O'Neal, 1972
Amy Pietz, 1969
Connie Britton, 1968
D.L. Hughley, 1963
Tom Arnold, 1959
David Gilmour, 1946
Rob Reiner, 1945
Kiri Te Kanawa, 1944
Dave Gilmour, 1944
Ben Murphy, 1942
Willie Stargell, 1941
Valentina Tereshkova-Nikolaeva, 1937
Lorin Maazel, 1930
Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1928
Alan Greenspan, 1926
Ed McMahon, 1923
Will Eisner, 1917
Lou Costello, 1906
Bob Wills, 1905
Ring Lardner, 1885
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806
Anna Claypoole Peale, 1791
Cyrano de Bergerac, 1619
Michelangelo Bounarroti, 1475


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Lend me a Tenor"(Play), 1986
"Deep Blue Sea"(Play), 1952
"Both Your Houses"(Play; Pulitzer Prize for Drama), 1933
"La Traviata"(Opera), 1853
"La Sonnambula"(Opera), 1831


Today in History:

Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam, 1521
The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island (an external territory of Australia) in order to found a convict settlement, 1788
York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto, 1834
After a thirteen day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort is captured, 1836
Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata receives its premiere performance in Venice, 1853
Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society, 1869
Bayer registers "aspirin" as a trademark, 1899
The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins, 1951
United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana, 1957
After 19 years of presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time, 1981
Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers, 1992
A referendum in Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with Romania, 1994
Picasso's painting Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later, 1997
Microsoft is fined €561 million for not providing E.U. residents with an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer, 2013

Feline Friday: Let me show you how it's done.

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

When kittens first arrive, most of the older cats pay no attention to them.  As they get used to the babies, though, some of the older ones don't mind taking the younger ones under their tutelage and helping them learn to be good cats.

Here Dansig shows Lorax how resting in everyone's favorite chair is done.

Just snuggle down, boy!  Don't let the humans intimidate you into giving up the chair!




Today is:

Aldo Leopold Weekend -- Wisconsin, US (celebrating Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic; through Sunday)

American Crossword Puzzle Tournament -- Brooklyn, NY, US (puzzle lovers, unite!  through Sunday)

Bird Day and Arbor Day -- California, US (on Luther Burbank's birth anniversary)

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Friday:  Middle Name Pride Day, established by Jerry Hall as a day in which to tell at least 3 people who don't know it what your middle name is, and be proud of it

Dress in Blue Day -- US, for colorectal cancer awareness

Employee Appreciation Day

Get Grandma to Write Down Her Meatloaf Recipe -- or spaghetti, or pound cake, or whatever she specialized in, because if you don't, you will someday regret it

Impeachment of March Goblins -- Fairy Calendar

International Festival of Owls -- Houston, MN, US (a great way to celebrate and learn about the wonderful creatures that are owls; through Sunday)

Kaziukas Fair -- Vilnius, Lithuania (traditional craft fair dates back to the 17th century; through Sunday)

Masaryk Day -- Czech Republic; Slovakia (birth anniversary of Tomas Masaryk, politician, sociologist, philosopher, and advocate of Czechoslovakian independence)

Midnight at the Oasis -- Yuma, AZ, US (nostalgic festival featuring cars and music of the 50s and 60s; through Sunday)

National Be Heard Day -- originally a day for small businesses to speak up, but the website promoting the materials is no longer working

National Cereal Day

National Crown Roast of Pork Day

National Day of Unplugging -- sponsored by Reboot, encouraging recharging your spiritual life by unplugging your technology from sunset today to sunset tomorrow 


National Doodle Day -- UK (fundraiser for Epilepsy Action)


National Salesperson Day

Nones of March -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances
     Festival of Junonalia -- for Juno
     Festival for Vedovus -- god of the dead, swamps, and volcanic movements

Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo -- Mercedes, TX, US (through the 16th)

Say Hello Day -- Bell received a patent for the telephone this day in 1876 (although he always believed it should be answered by saying, "Ahoy!"  Yes, really.)

Shabbat Across America/Canada -- sponsored by the National Jewish Out-reach Program, encouraging Conservative, Orthodox, Reform, and Reconstructionist Jews to observe the Sabbath from sundown tonight until sundown tomorrow

South by Southwest/SXSW -- Austin, TX, US (internationally recognized music, new media, and film conference; through the 16th)

St. Felicity's and St. Perpetua's Day (Patrons of cattle, martyrs; Santa Perpetua de Mogoda, Spain)

Teacher's Day -- Albania

Words by the Water: a Cumbrian Literature Festival -- Lake District, The Theatre by the Lake at Keswick, Devon, England (a lively literary festival; through the 16th)

World Day of Prayer-- International and Ecumenical; a day for Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action

World's Largest Rattlesnake Roundup -- Sweetwater, TX, US (begins with a parade and "Miss Snake Charmer" pageant tonight, and continues with lots of fun through Sunday)



Birthdays Today:

Jenna Fischer, 1974
Denyce Graves, 1974
Rachel Weisz, 1971
Taylor Dayne, 1962
Ivan Lendl, 1960
Rik Mayall, 1958
Bryan Cranston, 1956
Franco Harris, 1950
John Heard, 1946
Peter Wolf, 1946
Michael Eisner, 1942
Tammy Faye Bakker, 1942
Daniel J. Travanti, 1940
Janet Guthrie, 1938
Willard Herman Scott, 1934
Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon, 1930
Maurice Ravel, 1875
Piet Mondriaan, 1875
Luther Burbank, 1849
John Herschel, 1792
Stephen Hopkins, 1707
Rob Roy MacGregor, 1671
Henry Purcell, 1659
Kano Tanju, 1602


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Nashville Network(TV network), 1983
"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"(Musical), 1967
"The Autumn Garden"(Play), 1951
"The Grand Duke; or, The Statutory Duel"(Operetta), 1896


Today in History:

Roman Emperor Constantine I decrees that the dies Solis Invicti (sun-day) is the day of rest in the Empire, 321
King Henry VIII's divorce request is denied by the Pope; Henry then declares that he, not the Pope, is supreme head of England's church, 1530
Massachusetts enacts the first bicameral legislature in the colonies, 1664
The French army enters Rome: the birth of the Roman Republic, 1798
Shrigley Abduction: Ellen Turner is abducted by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, a future politician in colonial New Zealand, 1827
Charles Miller patents the first US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes, 1854
The City of Lábrea in Amazonas, Brazil was founded, 1886
Roald Amundsen announces that, on Dec. 14, 1911, his expedition had reached the South Pole, 1912
An 8.0 earthquake strikes Tango, Japan, 1927
Bloody Sunday:  Alabama state troopers and 600 black protestors clash in Selma, 1965
Divers from the USS Preserver locate the crew cabin of Challenger on the ocean floor, 1986
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that parodies of an original work are generally covered by the doctrine of fair use, 1994
British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of Lords, 100% elected, 2007
The largest solar flare in five years, occurring March 6, 2012, nears the Earth, threatening to disrupt airline flights, GPS systems and power grids, 2012

Fun Night

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Last night was another fun night at rEcess.

It went very smoothly.  Lots of volunteers, and plenty of action with the kids.

Katie came, for the first time since her mom had another baby.  She now has two little brothers.  That's a handful, although Katie is doing better.  She is beginning to understand that she can't put her hands in her mouth all of the time, and she can feed herself small amounts of food now.  At age 4, she's still about the size of a 2-year-old and non-verbal.

Katie, quite a handful.
Gina came with her four siblings.  Her feeding tube is giving her trouble, but that doesn't get in the way of her enjoying herself.

Lynn, with a volunteer.  She was playing queen.

You can tell from the flowers in the volunteer's hair that Little Girl had brought flower wreaths again.
She loves making flower wreaths to wear.

The night wouldn't be complete if Jack didn't come along.


Jack is going to move along, with or without the chair.  He just doesn't stop.


It was wonderful watching Lynn crawling all around again.  She's only become able to do that in the past few months.

She was never expected to be able to do this at all!

Then, there was Gracie, who made a new friend.

Gracie and Gargantua, the stuffed elephant.
 Every time she comes back, we are all impressed with how much Gracie is improving.  Early on, she pointed to her feet and kicked and looked at me expectantly.  When i asked her if she wanted to take off her shoes, she practically yelled, "Shoes off!"  She then said, "Socks off!" in an equally imperious tone, so we did just that.

She's happiest without these.

Happy feet, with her new friend nearby.

Gracie's vocabulary is growing.  She draws on the board and calls out "Ta da!" when she is done with each picture.  She identifies colors, and when i mentioned that her lunch bag has a frog face on it, she hopped like a frog.  Also, while i've seen her smile a lot, i've never heard her giggling and laughing so much as she did while calling out "Pop, pop, pop!" as she and one of Gina's sisters played with bubbles.

We played air hockey, and when some of the older siblings and adults were shooting pool, she sneaked up and stole a couple of the balls, which she then rolled across the floor and chased with glee.  She and all of the kids were very active, with loud games and making shamrock crafts and chasing each other all over the church basement.

She also conned any man she could into getting a ride.

She loves rides, a perch from which to watch all of the action.


We all had fun, and as it was time to go, Gracie's mom told her, "Tell them good-bye!"  Gracie then waved and called, "Good-bye, Ms. Mimi!" as she got in the elevator.

It's a wonderful night when we can see obvious improvement in so many ways.




Today is:

Bear Tie Ball -- Chicago, IL, US (the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation's black tie fundraiser; this year's theme is "Into the Wild: A Road to the Cure")

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Saturday:  Geneology Day, begin or continue the journey to learn about your family

Daylight Saving Time begins tonight -- Bermuda; Canada (most regions); Cuba; Haiti; Mexico (some areas); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; The Bahamas; Turks and Caicos Islands; US (most areas)(begins 2am tomorrow morning, so "spring forward" one hour before you go to bed tonight)

Day of No Interest to Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Finnmarkslopet -- Alta, Finland (the world's northernmost dog sled races, since 1981)

Girls Write Now Day -- on International Women's Day, encouraging girls as the makers of future history to put pen to paper and make their voices heard

Highland County Maple Festival -- Highland County, VA, US (this weekend and next)

International Fanny Pack Day -- started by someone who really likes the things (although i do admit they come in handy for keeping your money with you at all times when you have a garage sale)

International Women's Day -- also celebrated as:
     Day for Women's Rights and International Peace -- UN
     Mother's Day -- Afghanistan; Albania; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Laos; Macedonia; Montenegro; Republic of Moldova; Russia; Serbia; Slovenia; Tajikistan; Vietnam

Natchez Spring Pilgrimage -- Natchez, MS, US (tour of 25 antebellum mansions, some of which are private homes; through Apr. 8)

National Peanut Cluster Day

National Proofreading Day -- to promote accuracy in written messages

Revolution Day -- Syria

St. John of God's Day (Patron of alcoholics, bookbinders, booksellers, dying people, firefighters, heart patients, hospitals, hospital workers, nurses, publishers, printers, sick people; Tultepec, Mexico; against alcoholism, bodily ills and sickness)

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign -- Canisteo, NY (San Juan Capistrano has swallows, and Canisteo has living trees planted to spell out the name of the valley where the turkey vultures/buzzards return each year, traditionally on St. Patrick's Day; this weekend and next enjoy living history events, dealers, and demonstrations on Amish farms -- but only on Saturdays on the farms)


Anniversary Today:

Harry Hamlin marries Nicollette Sheridan, 1991


Birthdays Today:

Marcia Newby, 23, 1988
Bob, Clint, and Dave Moffatt, 1984
Kat Von D, 1982
James Van der Beek, 1977
Freddie Prinze, Jr., 1976
Kathy Ireland, 1963
Camryn Manheim, 1961
Aidan Quinn, 1959
James Edward "Jim" Rice, 1953
Carole Bayer Sager, 1947
Micky Dolenz, 1945
Lynn Redgrave, 1943
Susan Clark, 1940
Raynoma Gordy Singleton, 1937
Cyd Charisse, 1923
Alan Hale, Jr., 1921
Claire Trevor, 1909
Louise Beavers, 1902
Kenneth Grahame, 1859
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., 1841
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, 1714


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Mary, Mary"(Play), 1961
Symphony No. 2 in D major(Sibelius Op. 43), 1901
"Don Quixote"(Straus Op. 35), 1898
"Emilia Galotti"(Play), 1772


Today in History:

William Claxton completes his translation from French into English of Mirror of the World; as England's first printer, he will soon turn this into England's first illustrated print book, 1481
John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in what will be the United States, 1655
Anne Stuart, sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1702
Thomas Paine's "African Slavery in America," the first article in the U.S. calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery is published, 1775
Gnadenhütten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians, 1782
The New York Stock Exchange is founded, 1817
The first train crosses the first US railway suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, 1855
Everett Horton of Connecticut patents a fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes, 1887
International Women's Day is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, 1911
Mahatma Gandhi starts civil disobedience in India, 1930
Daytona Beach Road Course holds their first oval stock car race, 1936
Phyllis M Daley is the first black nurse sworn-in as US Navy ensign, 1945
Ghana joins the United Nations, 1957
The first radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is transmitted on BBC Radio 4, 1978
Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc publicly for the first time, 1979
Martina Navratilova becomes the 1st tennis player to earn $10 million, 1986
The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing, 1999
The first comprehensive map of the debris field of the RMS Titanic is revealed, 2012

Silly Sunday: Birthday Fun

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#2 Son turned 18 yesterday!  He was offered the opportunity to take yesterday off from his job, or today.  He chose today, because he wants to go to a baseball game with Grandpa.

We had chocolate cake, as we usually do.  It had to be baked as a layer cake instead of my usual sheet cake, as we have only the toaster oven.  Anyone who knows my skill with cake will know that i gave up and cut the layers to put into the sheet cake pan after they were cool and frosted them so you couldn't tell.  It was much better than a layer cake attempted by me would have been.

As is typical on such occasions, all of the jokes were hauled out about how he's in a unique position.  He's legally an adult, but still a teen for two years, so he gets the best of both worlds.  It's no longer his parent's responsibility to see to it that he stays alive.  And, of course, he can vote or join the military or get called up for jury duty.

That last one reminds me of a joke.

"Tee" Boudreaux had turned 18 and been summoned for jury duty for the first time.

The judge asked the potential jurors if there was any reason they couldn't serve, and "Tee" raised his hand.

When the judge acknowledged him, "Tee" said, "Mais oui, Judge, I cain't be away from de job dat long!"

"Do you mean to tell me the people at your job couldn't get along without you while you serve on a jury?" the judge asked.

"Well, Judge, I rightly don' know if dey can or not, but if dey can, I don' wan' dem to know it!"


Today is:

Armored Warships Day -- the first battle between armored warships, the Monitor and the Merrimac, was this day in 1862

Baron Bliss Day -- Belize

Buergbrennen -- Luxembourg (traditional burning of special bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent)

Day to Mourn Slavery -- commemorates the day it was outlawed worldwide in 1927, and to mourn that it still exists

Daylight Saving Time -- if your area is observing this, it switched over at two o'clock this morning; if you are just finding this out, you are already late!
     Check Your Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monixide Detectors Day -- make sure the batteries are fresh and that they are in good working order

Eid Al Moalim -- Lebanon (Teacher's Day)

Get Over It Day™ -- halfway between Valentines and April Fools, a day to just get over something or someone that is bugging you

Girl Scout Sunday -- US (encouraging Girl Scouts to wear their uniforms to church services and represent their troop to their congregations; the first day of Girl Scout Week in the US)

National Crabmeat Day

National Meatball Day

Orthodox Sunday -- Orthodox Christian

Panic Day -- a day in which to run around in a panic and tell everyone you can't take it any more, to get it all out of your system, i guess; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Saitousai -- Kashima-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan (festival to pray for good harvest that dates back to the Nara period of 710-794, and still includes traditional dress)

Second Day of No Interest to Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

St. Catherine of Bologna's Day (Patron of art, artists, Bologna Academy of Art, liberal arts, painters; against temptation)

St. Dominic Savio's Day (Patron of boys, children's choirs, choir boys, choirs, falsely accused people, juvenile delinquents, and Pueri Cantores)

St. Frances of Rome's Day (Patron of automobile drivers/motorists, cabbies/taxi drivers, lay people, people ridiculed for their piety, Roman housewives, widows)

Strinennia -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (festival to call birds and spring to come back)

Takaosan Hiwatari Matsuri -- Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan  (fire walking festival, usually on this date but can vary)

World Glaucoma Week begins -- to expand global awareness of the Silent Thief of Sight


Anniversaries Today:

Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1796
Gustav Mahler marries Alma Schindler, 1902


Birthdays Today:

Emmanuel Lewis, 1971
Juliette Binoche, 1964
Terence John "Terry" Mulholland, 1963
Linda Fiorentino, 1960
Jeffrey Osborne, 1948
David Hume Kennerly, 1947
Bobby Fischer, 1943
Trish Van Devere, 1943
Raul Julia, 1940
Marty Ingels, 1936
Mickey Gilley, 1936
Joyce Van Patten, 1934
Yuri Gagarin, 1934
Keely Smith, 1932
Ornette Coleman, 1930
Wally Bronner, 1927
Irene Papas, 1926
Mickey Spillane, 1918
Samuel Barber, 1910
Will Greer, 1902
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, 1890
Amerigo Vespucci, 1454


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Family"(TV), 1976
"Rising of the Moon"(Play), 1907
"Hamlet"(Opera), 1868
"Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor/The Merry Wives of Windsor"(Opera), 1849
"Ernani"(Opera), 1844
"Nabucco"(Opera), 1842
"Horace"(Play), 1640


Today in History:

Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China, BC141
First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg, 1009
Jews are expelled from Carintha Austria, 1496
Nicolaus Copernicus makes his first recorded astronomical observation, 1497
Marten Luther preaches his first Invocavit sermon, 1522
Kissing in public is banned in Naples, punishable by death, 1562
Publication of the economics book The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, 1776
Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours, 1839
The Amistad Ruling:  The US Supreme Court rules that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally, and were to be set free, 1841
The first documented discovery of gold in California occurred at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush, 1842
Albert Potts of Philadelphia patents the street mailbox, 1858
The Westmoreland County Coal Strike, involving 15,000 coal miners
represented by the United Mine Workers, begins, 1910
Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, 1916
Pink's War: The first Royal Air Force operation conducted independently of the British Army or Royal Navy begins, 1925
President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to the Congress, the first of his New Deal policies, 1932
CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly, in which Edward R. Murrow criticizes the senator, 1954
The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York, 1959
Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic American to serve in that position, 1990
Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Comet Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day, 1997
Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights, 2011
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft transmits images that for the very first time, allow scientists to create a 3D reconstruction of ancient water channels below the surface of Mars, 2013

Aww Monday:Why?

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Aww Monday is brought to us by Sandy at Comedy Plus.  It's easy, just post a picture that will make us all say, "Aww, how cute!"

The six tiny kittens now have their eyes open and are moving around more.  They still aren't big enough, though to be allowed to run loose.


It's roomier in here!


Lorax doesn't quite understand.  He sits with them some, and tries to play with them.  He seems to wonder why they are in the kitten cage.


Why they in there, mama?
As they get bigger, they will get the hang of playing with big brother more.


Today is:

Australia Celebrations:
     Adelaide Cup Day -- SA
     Labour Day -- VIC
     Canberra Day -- ACT
     Eight Hours Day -- Tas (a/k/a Labour Day)

Brain Awareness Week begins-- the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research

Commonwealth Day -- Commonwealth of Nations (the 54 Countries which today celebrate their ties to one another; Her Majesty the Queen will issue a special message to all Commonwealth Nations citizens through their respective Presidents and Prime Ministers)

Doctor's Day -- Venezuela

Dream Day -- supposedly begun by an instructor at Columbia University as a day to concentrate on how to make your dreams come true

Farvardigan -- Ancient Persia, Zoroastrians (10 day festival for the dead before Nowruz, the New Year)

Festival of Life in the Cracks Day -- internet holiday declared because this is where most of us are, and we deserve to be celebrated!

Harriet Tubman Day -- anniversary of her death in 1913

International Day of Awesomeness -- Celebrate what is awesome about you - always on Chuck Norris' birth anniversary, because no one is more awesome than Chuck

Mario Day -- for gamers, based on the date Mar 10

National Blueberry Popover Day

National Heroes and Benefactors Day -- Belize

National Pack Your Lunch Day -- because it's cheaper and healthier

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day -- US

Shiogama Jinja Hote Festival -- Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (mikoshi parades and Shinto music)

Sport Your Trainers Day -- Scotland (get in the mood for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, instead of your regular shoes, sport your trainers today!)

St. Kessog's Day (Patron of Lennox, Scotland; Scotland)

Taranaki Provincial Anniversary Day -- Taranaki, New Zealand

Telephone Day -- Bell sent the first message by phone, to Watson in the next room, this day in 1876

Tibetan Uprising Day -- Tibetan Independence Supporters commemoration of the 1959 uprising

Whoopsical Day -- Fairy Calendar

Workplace Napping Day -- on this, the Monday after DST begins, show your boss the studies that highlight the benefit of power naps
    some sites call it National Napping Day; either way, lie down and be counted!


Birthdays Today:

Emily Osment, 1992
Carrie Underwood, 1983
Shannon Miller, 1977
John Hamm, 1971
Edie Brickell, 1966
Prince Edward, 1964
Jasmine Guy, 1964
Rick Rubin, 1963
Pam Oliver, 1961
Sharon Stone, 1958
Shannon Tweed, 1957
Kim Campbell, 1947
Bob Greene, 1947
Tom Scholz, 1947
Chuck Norris, 1940
Dave Rabe, 1940
James Earl Ray, 1928
Pamela Mason, 1918
Bix Beiderbecke, 1903
Clare Boothe Luce, 1903


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"(TV), 1997
"The Incredible Hulk"(TV), 1978
"Sweet Bird of Youth"(Play), 1959


Today in History:

The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end, BC241
Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire, 418
King Charles I dissolves Parliament; he calls it back 11 years later, 1629
English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania, 1681
French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform, 1762
John Stone, of Concord, Massachusetts, patents a pile driver, 1791
England begins its first modern census, 1801
In St. Louis, Missouri, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States, 1804
The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria, 1831
Abraham Lincoln patents a device to help free ships in rivers from shallow water; he built a small scale model, but no full-size device was ever built, and makes him the only US president to hold a patent, 1849
Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you," 1876
Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers landed at New York to officially begin the work of the Salvation Army in the US, 1880
Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching, 1891
The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in Northern France, 1906
After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," 1896
China ends slavery, 1910
Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation, 1922
In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.; he later retracts his guilty plea, 1969
Astronomers discover rings around Uranus, 1977
In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup, 1990
The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom, 2000
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars, 2006
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