messymimi's meanderings

"Hi, mom!" #1 Son was chipper for having just come in from work, so i thought something might be up.

How's everything? i asked, trying not to seem to excited.

"Oh, it's great! Guess what! I don't work for the caterers any more, I work for the Association!"

There it was, news i'd been praying for.

That's wonderful! i said with genuine delight.

He's been working long hours for low pay, and i knew, from behind the scenes, that a job had come open at the Association that he could handle with ease. It had been in my prayers that The Big Boss would think to hire him.

"Yeah, you know how I really take special care of The Big Boss and he's always so impressed with how I never stop moving and I really work hard?"

Yes, i know, i said. Inside, i'm thinking, yes, you work like your dad, he never stops moving at work, is always busy and finds stuff to do if he's done with what he's been given.

"And, I don't know if you heard, but Randy got fired last week because he offended a big client, and they've been thinking about who to hire to do his job."

Yes, i thought to myself, i knew, and i wanted that job for you, it's a huge step up, but i didn't say anything, i just kept grinning.

"Well, today, The Big Boss walked past me as I was serving lunch buffet and he said, 'Hey, how would you like to have a real job?' and I said, 'Yes, I would love to have a real job!' and he told me to go see Mr. Vice-President and tell him I was hired and I start on Monday!"

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! i almost yelled.

"And right now I need to go get measured for a jacket, because Mr. Vice-President told me to go get measured and they will buy me the jacket I need, and Mr. Tim told me to go get two pair of black work pants and they will pay me back for them, and they will give me the logo pullovers, so they are going to provide my work wardrobe!

"I'll be working all the events, so for this week, I get to train my replacement for the caterer for the lunch buffet, and next Monday I'll go in and they will show me where all the stuff is that I need to know. I mean, I worked with the caterer at events with Randy running the building, so I know what he did, but I just don't know the location of everything he had to control.

"And you know what? I'll not only be working better hours for triple the pay, I can have a schedule where I can go back to school now!"

It's all i hoped for, and i know he can do the work and do it well. It's an answered prayer.

Today is

Asatru Alliance Founding Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan

Birthday of José Gervasio Artigas / "Never Again" Day -- Uruguay (Dia del Nunca Mas)

Butterfly Day -- an ecard holiday; if you know someone who loves butterflies, send an ecard, let them know you are thinking of them

Corpus Christi -- Catholic Christian

Czech Days -- Tabor, SD, US (celebrating foods and traditions of the Czech people who settled this area; through Saturday)

Day of the Independent Hungary -- Hungary (a memorial day for those martyred in 1958, and for the end of Soviet occupation)

Festival for Minerva -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of arts, crafts, skill, war, and intelligence)

Festival of the Coming Ice Age -- can't find out anything about this one, but it sounds hilarious

Fort Union Trading Post Rendezvous -- Williston, ND, US (re-creation of the fur trade era; through Sunday)

Garfield the Cat Day (his birthday/comic strip premiere)

Juneteenth -- US, celebrates the news of freedom on the day it came to slaves on Galveston Island, Texas

Kiamichi Owa-Chito Festival of the Forest -- Beaver's Bend State Park, Broken Bow, OK, US (celebration of Native American culture; through Saturday)

Labour Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

National Dump the Pump Day -- The American Public Transportation Association encourages you to consider public transportation as a way to cut down on high gasoline prices

National Martini Day -- some sites specify a dry martini

New Church Day -- Swedenborgian Christian

Recess at Work Day -- engage in productive play!

Rusalka's Week begins -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (week long festival to honor the divinity of rivers)

Sam Steele Days -- Cranbrook, BC, Canada (fun for all, celebrating the life and legend of Sam Steele of the North-West Mounted Police in the 1880's; through Sunday)

Shakespeare on the Green -- University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, US (nonprofit professional productions of the Bard's works, including preshow seminars, workshops, period music and entertainment; this year's performances will be Titus Andronicus and Twelfth Night, recurring daily through July 6)

Show-Me State Games -- Colombia, MO, US (Olympic-style sports festival for all ages and skill levels, to encourage people to develop their physical and competitive abilities to the height of their potential through participation in fitness activities; through Sunday, and again July 18-20 and 25-27)

Spooky Stories Appreciation Night -- because someone thought it would be a good night to tell a few scary tales

St. Boniface of Querfurt's Day (Patron of Prussia)

St. Jude's Day (Patron of desperate situations, forgotten/impossible/lost causes, hospitals, hospital workers; Saint Petersburg, FL, US)

Tiger-Get-By's Second Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

World Sauntering Day -- origin unknown, but perhaps begun at Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island) in Michigan during the 1970s as a response by W.T.Rabe to a growing movement toward the recreation of jogging and the idea was to encourage people to slow down and appreciate the world around them; the rules are to observe the lost art of Victorian sauntering, discouraging jogging, lollygagging, sashaying, fast walking, and trotting, but no word on meandering that i can find!

World Sickle Cell Day

Anniversaries Today:

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, marries Sophie Rhys-Jones, 1999

Birthdays Today:

Zoe Saldana, 1978
Poppy Montgomery, 1972
Mia Sara, 1967
Andy Lauer, 1965
Aung San Suu Kyi, 1965
Paula Abdul, 1962
Kathleen Turner, 1954
Ann Wilson, 1951
Phylicia Rashad, 1948
Salman Rushdie, 1947
Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, 1942
Gena Rowlands, 1930
Louis Jourdan, 1919
Pauline Kael, 1919
Pat Buttram, 1915
Abe Fortas, 1910
Earl W. Bascom, 1906
Lou Gehrig, 1903
Guy Lombardo, 1902
Moe Howard, 1897
Wallis Simpson, 1896
Elbert Green Hubbard, 1856
Charles H. Spurgeon, 1834
Blaise Paschal, 1623
King James I of England and VI of Scotland, 1566

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Batman Returns(Film), 1992
"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"(Musical), 1978
"The Rocky Horror Show"(Musical), 1973
"Devil May Hare"(Cartoon short, Tazmanian Devil's premier), 1954
"I've Got a Secret"(TV), 1952
"Moon Mullins"(Comic strip), 1923

Today in History:

King Louis IX of France orders all Jews found in public without an identifying yellow badge to be fined ten livres of silver, 1269
The Earl of Pembroke's army defeats Bruce's Scottish army at the Battle of Methven, 1306
English colonists leave Roanoke Island, N.C., after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America, 1586
Emanuel Swedenborg reports the completion of the Second Coming of Christ in his work True Christian Religion, 1770
Battle of Seven Oaks between North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1816
The first officially recorded, organized baseball match was played under Alexander Joy Cartwright's rules on Hoboken's Elysian Fields (Hoboken, New Jersey)with the New York Base Ball Club defeating the Knickerbockers 23-1; Cartwright umpired, 1846
Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slaves in Galveston, Texas, United States, are finally informed of their freedom; the anniversary is still officially celebrated in Texas and 35 other states as Juneteenth, 1865
Maximilian I of the Mexican Empire is executed by a firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro, 1867
After all of the Southern States are formally readmitted to the United States, the Confederate States of America ceases to exist, 1870
The Herzegovinian rebellion against the Ottoman Empire begins, 1875
The first Father's Day is celebrated in Spokane, Washington, 1910
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing, in New York, 1953
Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom, 1961
In one of the first militant attacks by Hezbollah, David S. Dodge, president of the American University in Beirut, is kidnapped, 1982
Norway ratifies the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1989, 1990
Prime ministers of several northern European nations participate in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Spitsbergen, Norway, 2006

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

It's easy to participate in Feline Friday, just post a cat picture and link up!

This picture is a blast from the past. It's of some kittens we bottle raised a couple of years ago. There are three separate litters represented here.

It's also a puzzle: how many kittens, or parts of kittens, can you see?

Yet another Pile o' Kittens, but how many?

?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?

There are nine of them!

Today is:

American Eagle Day -- http://www.eagles.org/programs/american-eagle-day.php

Antiques on the Bay -- St. Ignace, MI, US (annual show for antique and classic cars at least 25 years old or older; through tomorrow)

Cuckoo Warning Day -- if you hear the cuckoo today, it will be a wet summer, according to old European traditions

Day of the National Flag -- Argentina (Anniversary of General D. Manuel Belgrano's Death)

Day of the Purification of All Things -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Feast of the Great Spirit / Great Mystery -- various Native Americans (celebrations are around the time of the solstice)
     Cherokee call the spirit Asgaya Galun Lati
     Iroquois call the spirit Orenda
     Lakota call the spirit Wakan Tanka
     Zuni call the spirit Awonawilona

Festival for Summanus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (the god who threw thunderbolts at night)

Festival of the New Knee -- Fairy Calendar

Fulton County Historical Power Show -- Rochester, IN (featuring tractors, engines, antique power equipment, and food, music, and fun; through Sunday)

Hogueras de San Juan -- Alicante, Spain ("Bonfires of St. John," through the 29th, with the night of the 24th being the most magical as the festival is for St. John, whose day that is)

Ice Cream Soda Day -- i guess because it's hot enough now for one

International Surfing Day -- The Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Magazine suggest contests, barbecues, film screenings, and organizing beach clean ups to celebratehttp://isd.surfrider.org/

Iron Skegge's Day -- Vikings (martyrdom of Iron Skegge, who died defending the temples of Maeri against Christians)

Martyr's Day -- Eritrea

Midnight Sun Festival -- Nome, AK, US (celebration of the solstice, when there is almost continual daylight, with a parade, raft race, folk fest, and more; through tomorrow)
     Polar Bear Swim -- Nome, AK, US (since 1975, as soon as they can break through the ice! the intrepid swimmers gather on the shore of the frigid Bering Sea to swim; if they can't break through the ice yet, it may be rescheduled; part of the midnight sun festival)

Midsummer's Eve -- many and varying traditions, with some celebrating the day before the solstice, and some always tying it to June 23, St. John's Eve
     Night of the Fairy Goddesses Aine and Finnen -- Ireland (watch out for the antics of the little people on Midsummer's Eve, whichever day you celebrate it!)

Midsummer's Eve Holiday -- Aland; Finland; Sweden

National Flip Flop Day -- sponsored by Tropical Cafe Smoothie to raise funds for its national charity partner, Camp Sunshine

National Vanilla Milkshake Day

New Identity Day -- an internet generated holiday, just have fun thinking about who you might want to be for a day

Old Time Music Ozark Heritage Festival -- West Plains, MO, US (celebrating the unique culture and old time music of the Ozark Highlands; through tomorrow)

Rainforest World Music Festival -- Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (music in the jungle, featuring local and international artists performing wild music and dance in the mud and tropical rain; through Sunday)

Rochesterfest -- Rochester, MN, US (street dances, parade, exotic foods, children's and senior events, and more; through the 29th)

Scira/Skirophoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival for Demeter, organized by the women of Athens; date approximate)

St. Michelina of Pesaro's Day (Patron of mentally ill people, people with in-law problems, widows; against death of children, insanity and mental illness)

Takekiri Eshiki Matsuri -- Kuramadera, Kyoto, Japan (bamboo cutting festival; the bamboo represents snakes, so cutting it symbolizes victory over evil)

Take Your Dog to Work Day -- www.takeyourdog.com (depending on where you work, what did your dog do to deserve this?)

Ugliest Dog Day -- actual day, during the Sonoma-Marin Fair that began two days ago, of the 2014 World's Ugliest Dog® Contest

Vikingespil Frederikssund (Viking Festival) -- Frederikssund, Denmark (the most famous Viking cultural event in Denmark, with two weeks of plays based on Danish Viking legends and a three day festival this weekend, as well as two markets and a Viking camp recreation)
     runs from the second-to-last Friday of June to the first Sunday in July)

World Productivity Day -- no central focus, just a day for suppliers of productivity tools and training to celebrate what they contribute to society

World Refugee Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

West Virginia becomes the 35th US state, 1863
The University of Oxford receives its charter, 1214

Birthdays Today:

Robert Rodriguez, 1968
Nicole Kidman, 1967
Michael Landon, Jr, 1964
Cyndi Lauper, 1953
John Goodman, 1952
Lionel Richie, 1949
Andre Watts, 1946
Bob Vila, 1946
Anne Murray, 1945
Brian Wilson, 1942
John Mahoney, 1940
Danny Aiello, 1933
James Tolkan, 1931
Martin Landau, 1931
Olympia Dukakis, 1931
Chet Atkins, 1924
Audie Murphy, 1924
Jean-Jacques Bertrand, 1916
Errol Flynn, 1909
Lillian Hellman, 1905
Charles W. Chesnutt, 1858
Scipio Africanus, BC236

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Jaws(Film), 1975
"The Ray Stevens Show"(TV), 1970
"The Ed Sullivan Show"(TV), 1948

Today in History:

Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun; the battle was inconclusive, and Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory, 451
Jews are expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique, 1567
The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates, 1631
A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta, 1756
King Louis XVI of France and his immediate family begin the Flight to Varennes during The French Revolution, 1791
The U.S. vessel SS Savannah, the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, arrives at Liverpool, 1819
Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne, 1837
Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph, 1840
Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1877
Caroline Willard Baldwin becomes the first woman to earn a doctor of science degree, at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1895
A rare June hurricane struck Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35, 1959
The so-called "red telephone" is established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1963
The German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin, 1991
The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida, 2003
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers grants private companies the right to create new website domain suffixes, 2011
Instagram offers users the ability to upload videos to their service, 2013
Dunedin and Christchurch, New Zealand, have roads cut off and flights cancelled due to adverse weather conditions, 2013

"Mom, is it okay if I bake something?" Little Girl asked.

All day and half the night, i answered. You know you are welcome to bake whenever you want.

"Yeah, but I just wanted to make sure you weren't about to use the toaster oven."

Nope, it's all yours.

"And do you still have those pans that fit in it?"

Sure, they're right here.

"Cool." She spent a few minutes gathering ingredients and then said, "This recipe is really originally an experiment someone did, and I just want to try it."

As she puttered and mixed, she noted that we are almost out of vanilla.

Time to buy some vodka, then, i said.

"What!" #1 Son almost yelled as he came in. "Did I hear you talk about buying vodka?"

To put in with the vanilla beans, i explained. You leave it for about six months, and you have vanilla extract. That's what extract is, mostly, alcohol.

"Oh, I didn't know that," he said.

"Yeah, so mom buys vodka once in a while to make more vanilla," Little Girl said.

"And since you just use it to make vanilla, i guess it doesn't matter what kind you get, you just buy cheap stuff?" he asked.

Actually, i noted, the better the brand of vodka, the better quality the extract, so i don't just buy rot gut brands.

"Rot gut is right!" he said. "I can't stand the taste of vodka, that stuff is nasty. I don't know how anyone can drink it!"

A little while later, Little Girl pulled her finished creation out of the toaster oven, topped it with one mixture, and made the icing that went on top of that. She had plenty of icing left, so when she cut a pice, she put it on her plate and drizzled more icing on.

"Oooh, this is good!" she said.

"What's good?" #2 Son asked.

"This cinnamon cakey-type dessert I just made. Have some!"

He helped himself, took a bite, and exclaimed, "Cinnamon Melts! This tastes exactly like the Cinnamon Melts we serve at McDonalds!"

"Really?" she asked. "I've never had those!"

"This tastes exactly like them! The cake part is a bit different texture, but the taste is exactly like it! Festus! Come taste this!"

Festus came and tasted. "Yummm!" was his pronouncement. "It tastes just like Cinnamon Melts!"

"See, I told you!" #2 Son said. "You came up with a recipe for Cinnamon Melts, but better! Kid, you did good!"

#1 Son, Bigger Girl, and Sweetie also had their share, and all agreed. It was good.

They attacked so fast, i only got a picture of half of it. This part didn't last long, either.

Today is

Baby Boomer Recognition Day

Baymen's Seafood and Music Festival -- Tuckerton, NJ, US (this year including a micro-brewers tent with the seafood and music; through tomorrow)

Eastern Music Festival -- Guilford College, Greensboro, NC, US (an acclaimed festival and school, with world-class guest artists; through July 26)

Father's Day -- Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; Palestine; Syria; Uganda

Go Skateboarding Day -- and break something? leaving this to the young; sponsored by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC)http://www.goskateboardingday.org/

GRABAAWR / GReat Annual Bicycle Adventure Along the Wisconsin River -- WI, US (fun bicycle adventures for all ages, levels, and abilities; through next Saturday)

KCQ Country Music Fest -- Saginaw, MI, US (country music's hottest stars, classic car show, art fair, and great food)

Long Beach Bayou and Blues Festival -- Rainbow Lagoon, Long Beach, CA, US (celebrating Cajun/Creole culture, food, music, arts and crafts, and even a Mardi Gras parade; through tomorrow)

Longest Dam Race -- Fort Peck, MT, US (a run that crosses 1.8 miles of the Fort Peck Dam, as well as a fun run, a bike race, and more)

Madame Lou Bunch Day -- Central City, CO, US (Old Flop House Celebration of the Madam who ran the city's most famous house of ill repute during the gold rush, complete with period costumes and a brass bed race!)

Martyr's Day -- Togo

Mermaid Parade -- Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY, US (wacky and wonderful and worth every wild moment)

Midsummer's Day -- Aland; Finland; Sweden

Napoleon Bivouacs -- Waterloo, Belgium (reenactment of Napoleon's military camp at the sight of his battle battle against Allied forces led by the Duke of Wellington; through tomorrow)

National Aboriginal Day / First Nations Day -- NT, Canada

National ASK Day -- prevent gun violence and accidental deaths, ASK if there is an unlocked gun anywhere that your child plays

National Peaches & Cream Day

Norskedalen's Midsummer Fest -- Coon Valley, WI, US (celebrate summer solstice and Sankt Hans Dag[St. John's Day] the way pioneer Scandinavians did; through tomorrow)

Pixie Day -- Ottery St. Mary, Devon, England (reenacting of the"Revenge" of the Pixies who bothered the town until midsummer in 1454; now fun, games, music, pageant, and more)

Reaping Machine Day -- Cyrus McCormick was granted a patent for his mechanical reaper this day in 1834

Solennität -- Morat, Switzerland (on Morat Commemoration Day, a Youth festival remembering the pivotal role this tiny town played in winning a battle in 1476)

Solstice -- 10:51GMT/6:51 am EDT; related observances:
     Aimless Wandering Day -- use the extra daylight to wander someplace with nothing particular to do
     Anne and Samantha Day -- remembrance for Anne Frank and Samantha Smith, and their contributions to our worldhttp://www.anneandsamantha.com/
     Daylight Appreciation Day -- celebrating the benefits of sunshinehttp://nationaldaylightday.com/2013/05/05/national-daylight-appreciation-day-celebrates-benefits-of-sunlight-on-longest-day-of-the-year-june-21/
     Finally Summer Day/Finally Winter Day
     Hump Day -- Tasmania (because it is the shortest in the year, Taswegians today feel they are over the "hump" of winter.)
     Inti Raymi -- Inca (festival of the sun god Inti, ongoing);Sacsayhuamán Andes Mountain Natives (winter solstice and New Year festival)
     Litha / Yule -- Wicca/Pagan (northern hemisphere / southern hemisphere)
     Midnight Sun Baseball Game -- Fairbanks, AK, US (begins promptly at 10:35pm local time, and played without any artificial lights allowed)
     Midsomarsblog -- Norse Viking celebrations (time of fishing, trading, and raiding)
     Midsummer -- Midsummer Festivals begin -- Juhannus Day in Finland and Midsommar in Denmark and Norway, celebrated over the next several days in many Scandinavian traditions; often this time is also associated with betrayal, as the sunlight begins to decrease, this is when Baldur was betrayed, as well as Sigurd.
     Midsummer -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan
     Midsummer Baal -- Ancient Celtic Calendar
     Polar Bear Swim -- Nome, AK, US (if they can break through the ice!)
     Solsticio de Invierno / Ano Nuevo Aymara -- Bolivia (Winter Solstice / Aymara Indiginous People's New Year)
     We Tripantu -- Chile (Mapuche natives winter solstice festival)
     Wadjet Summer Solstice Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate, it may have been a multi-day ceremony that began on Midsummer's Eve)

Spirit of the Woods Folk Festival -- Brethren, MI, US (a family friendly good time in the park)

St. Alban's Day (Patron of epileptics, people with hernias; against epilepsy, hernias, kidney stones)

St. Aloysius Gonzanga's Day (Protector of young students, young men; Patron of AIDS care-givers and patients; for relief from pestilence; Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy; Valmonte, Italy; against sore eyes)

Tiger-Get-By's Third Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Ulloortuneq -- Greenland (National Day)

Virginia State Championship Chili Cook-Off -- Roanoke, VA, US (the best chili from around the country, and much more)

World Handshake Day -- no one likes them fishy, and it's not a contest; practice a firm grip and a smile! not to be confused with National Handshake Day, today's sponsor is here

World Music Day -- begun in the UK, now celebrated everywhere

Anniversaries Today:

New Hampshire becomes the 9th US State, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Kris Allen, 1985
Prince William (William Arthur Philip Louis), 1982
Juliette Lewis, 1973
Larry Wachowski, 1965
Sammi Davis-Voss, 1964
Doug Savant, 1964
Berkeley Breathed, 1957
Rick Sutcliffe, 1956
Benazir Bhutto, 1953
Nils Lofgren, 1951
Meredith Baxter, 1947
Michael Gross, 1947
Ray Davies, 1944
Mariette Hartley, 1940
Joe Flaherty, 1940
Bernie Kopell, 1933
Maureen Stapleton, 1925
Jane Russell, 1921
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905
Al Hirschfeld, 1903
Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892
Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859
Daniel Carter Beard, 1850
Daniel D. Tompkins, 1774
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, 1731
Increase Mather, 1639

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Evita"(Musical), 1978
"Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg"(Wagner opera), 1868

Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Nurenberg Bavaria by Emperor Maximillian, 1498
The Incident at Honno-ji takes place in Kyoto, Japan, 1582
In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, 1734
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded, 1749
The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands, 1854
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg General Strike, 1919
The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940
Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, 1948
Ellen Louks Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister, 1957
In handing down the decision in Miller v. California 413 US 15, the Supreme Court of the United States establishes the Miller Test for obscenity in U.S. law, 1973
SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight, 2004
Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra, 2006
Greenland assumes self-rule, 2009
The U.S. officially charges Edward Snowden with espionage, 2013

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's easy to do, Laugh and Link Up!

#2 Son was tired after work and decided to take a nap in the big chair in the library. He asked me not to let him sleep too long, so as not to disturb his sleep schedule. At the time he had indicated, i tried to wake him.

Son, it's 4pm, you need to wake up, i told him.

"But, mom, I can only work on one map at a time!" he responded, eyes still closed.

What? i asked. Son, it's time for you to get up.

"Mom, I already told you, I can only work on one map at a time!"

Son, i think you are still asleep! You need to wake up.

"Mom, I'm not asleep!" he exclaimed, his eyes still firmly shut. "It's just that I have the computer set up and I can only work on one map at a time!"

At that point, Little Girl walked in, and i asked her if she knew what was going on.

"Wake up!" she yelled at him.

He responded to her the same way. "Leave me alone! I've told you I can only work on one map at a time!"

"He's talking about their computer game!" she laughed. "He thinks he's still playing!"

Eventually, we did wake him, but for several minutes he insisted one map at a time was all he could do!

This reminds me of a joke.

Boudreaux's wife Clothile was talking to Thibodeaux's wife Marie.

Clothile was saying, "Oh, dat Boudreaux! He like to make me crazy someday! He don't never listen to nuttin' I say! Mais, he gone be de death of me! Marie, do you got dat same problem wit' Thibodeaux?"

Marie say, "Mais, no, cher. When we got married, my MawMaw tole me de secret to always get de man to listen to ever' word I say!"

"Oh, tell me! Tell me, what's de secret!" Clothile begged.

Marie answer, "It be real simple. You want a man to listen to ever' work you say, jes' pretend you be talkin' in you sleep!"

Today is

America's Kids Day -- founded to encourage parents to teach their children the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Anti-Fascist Resistance Day -- Croatia

Bouphoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (sacrifice of an ox to symbolize social order dissolving and being restored; date approximate)

Dairy Queen Day -- the first Dairy Queen® opened this day in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois

Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Great Patriotic War -- Belarus

Elfin Music Festival -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of 1 Lithe -- Hobbit Calendar

La Festa Dei Gigli -- Nola, Campagna, Italy (Festival of the Lilies, in honor of St. Paulinus)

Levitt Pavilion Performing Arts/Music Festival -- Levitt Pavilion, Westport, CT (50 nights of free or low-cost high quality music and performing arts)

National Chocolate Eclair Day

National Onion Rings Day

Singing on the Mountain -- Grandfather Mountain, Linville, NC, US (traditional and modern gospel music, with local and nationally known artists and speakers)

Soap Microphone Day -- grab your soap in the shower and pretend you are on stage! (promise i won't tell)

St. Nicetas' Day (Patron of Romania)

St. Thomas More's Day (Patron of adopted children, civil servants, difficult marriages, large families, lawyers, politicians/politicos/statesmen, step-parents, widowers; Arlington, VA; Ateneo de Manila Law School; Pensacola-Tallahassee, FL; University of Malta; University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters)

Stupid Guy Thing Day -- included under protest; "guy things" aren't necessarily stupid, it should just be Guy Thing Day; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, who want all women to just not count anything against guys today, but chalk it up to being a Stupid Guy Thing

Teacher's Day -- El Salvador

Anniversary Today:

Harry Houdini marries Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner, 1894

Birthdays Today:

Eric Stretch, 1980
Donald Faison, 1974
Carson Daly, 1973
Mary Lynn Rajskub, 1971
Kurt Warner, 1971
Amy Brennenman, 1964
Dan Brown, 1964
Randy Couture, 1963
Tracy Pollan, 1960
Freddie Prinze, 1954
Cyndi Lauper, 1953
Todd Rundgren, 1948
Meryl Streep, 1949
Lindsay Wagner, 1949
Pete Maravich, 1947
Klaus Maria Brandauer, 1944
Ed Bradley, 1941
Michael Lerner, 1941
Kris Kristofferson, 1936
William Ralph "Bill" Blass, 1922
Joseph Papp, 1921
Billy Wilder, 1906
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1906
John Dillinger, 1903
Captain George Vancouver, 1757

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Rescuers(Animated film), 1977
Lady and the Tramp(Animated film), 1955

Today in History:

Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom, BC217
Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, (Shire Reckoning), 1342
The Jewish quarter of Prague is burned and looted, 1559
Galileo Galilei is forced by Inquisition to "abjure, curse, & detest" his Copernican heliocentric views, 1633
A poisonous cloud from Laki volcanic eruption in Iceland reaches Le Havre in France, 1783
The British Parliament abolishes feudalism and the seigneurial system in British North America, 1825
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee procession in London, 1897
The Flag of Sweden is adopted, 1906
The Flag of the Faroe Islands is raised for the first time, 1919
Erwin Rommel is promoted to Field Marshal after the capture of Tobruk, 1942
The Cuyahoga River catches fire, which triggers a crack-down on pollution in the river, 1969
The Canadian House of Commons abolishes capital punishment, 1976
Charon, a satellite of the dwarf planet Pluto, is discovered, 1978
The largest hailstone ever recorded falls in Aurora, Nebraska (7inch diameter, 18.75 inch circumference), 2003
Eastman Kodak Company announces that it will discontinue sales of the Kodachrome Color Film, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon, 2009
UNESCO officially names Mount Fuji a World Heritage Site, 2013

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's easy to play along, just post a picture that makes people say, "Awww!" We can all use that at the beginning of the week.

Our adult cats like to pretend they have no interest in the foster kittens. They, after all, are too cool to bother with the babies. Until they get caught.

Mikey, caught guarding the kittens in the big cage.

Yes, sometimes we catch them grooming the kittens or, like Mikey here, sitting nearby watching over them.

Today is

Anubis Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Dandruff Dance -- Fairy Calendar (Goblins and Gnomes)

Discovery Day -- NL, Canada

Father's Day -- Nicaragua; Poland

Festival of the Purple Void -- only one internet reference, and not explained there, either, but since purple is my favorite color, and a Purple Void sound like something fun to celebrate, i'm including it!

Festivals of Het-Hert and Bast, and Great Feast of the Southern Heavens -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Grand Duke's Birthday & National Day -- Luxembourg

Kupala -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (Summer Solstice celebration, always on St. John's Eve, as the pagans hid their celebration by naming it "Ivan Kupala", their name for John the Baptist)

Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon -- Wimbledon, England (through July 6)

Let It Go Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; whatever you are holding on to, just let it go and the day will get better

National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism -- Canada

National Pecan Sandy Day

National Pink Day -- the color or the flower, your choice, because the creator didn't leave a trail explaining it

Pink Flamingo Day -- honoring Don Featherstone, creator of the original pink plastic flamingo lawn ornament; decorate your lawn with at least four pink flamingos, the minimum number needed for a flock

Please Take My Children To Work Day -- sponsored by mamasaid.net; a tongue-in-cheek way to request that you give a full- or part-time stay-at-home mom a break today!

Poop Out Early Day -- act pooped out, see if you can cut out early; your success at pooping out early may vary

Public Service Day -- UN

SAT Math Day -- birth anniversary of Alan Turing

Solmanudor -- Icelandic calendar, Sun Month, with the midnight sun dominating the time of year

St. Agrippina (Patron against bacterial diseases and infections, evil spirits, leprosy, storms and thunder; of Mineo, Italy)

St. Ethelreda's Day (Patron of those with neck and throat ailments, widows; University of Cambridge)

St. John's Eve -- start or culmination of many midsummer festivals, including:
     Dragaica Fair -- Buzau, Romania
     Golowan Festival -- Cornwall
     Jaaniohtu -- Estonia
     Kupala Days begin -- Belarus; Poland; Russia; Ukraine
     Ligo / Lani -- Latvia (pagan midsummer celebration originally dedicated to the god Janis
     Midsummer Eve -- Denmark; Sweden
     Midsummer Festival -- Portugal

St. Joseph Cafasso's Day (Patron of captives, prisoners, prisons, and prison chaplains)

Typewriter Day -- patented this day in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes

Victory Day -- Estonia

Birthdays Today:

Bridget Sloan, 1992
Chellsie Memmel, 1988
Jason Mraz, 1977
Selma Blair, 1972
Louis Van Amstel,1972
Frances McDormand, 1957
Clarence Thomas, 1948
Bryan Brown, 1947
Ted Shackelford, 1946
James Levine, , 1943
Wilma Glodean Rudolph, 1940
June Carter Cash, 1929
Bob Fosse, 1927
Alan Turing, 1912
Edward VIII, King of England, 1894
Alfred Kinsey, 1894
Johannes Gutenberg, 1400 (estimated)
Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, BC47 (Son of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Batman(Film), 1989
"The Breakfast Club"(Radio), 1933

Today in History:

The world's oldest parliament, the Icelandic Althing, is established, 930
First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan, 1180
First War of Scottish Independence: The Battle of Bannockburn, south of Stirling, begins, 1314
The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson's fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again, 1611
The French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada, 1713
Empress Catherine II of Russia grants Jews permission to settle in Kiev, 1794
Christopher Latham Sholes receives a patent for Type-Writer, 1868
The Rocky Mountains Park Act becomes law in Canada, creating the nation's first national park, Banff National Park, 1887
The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, 1894
The College Board administers the first SAT exam, 1926
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine plane, 1931
The 1946 Vancouver Island earthquake strikes Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, 1946
The Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent, comes into force, 1961
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds, 1972
Himmy, of Australia, weighs in at domestic cat record 20.7 kg (45 lb) , 1982
Nintendo 64 goes on sale in Japan, 1996
Japan's Iwate prefecture experiences a 6.7 magnitude earthquake, 2011
Nik Wallenda completes a high wire walk across a Little Colorado River Gorge near the Grand Canyon, 2013

Because i am a tightwad, i don't use the clothes dryer unless i am desperate. Instead, i use the back fence, and let the stuff air dry. If i can't hang things outdoors, i either skip doing a load that day, or i do a smaller load of things i can hang indoors to dry.

So when i woke up yesterday morning to a radar picture of rain moving our way and a prediction of intermittent showers, i skipped laundry. After all, i thought, i can do it tomorrow before work, and today i have plenty of ironing and a freezer cleaning to keep me busy, as well as the kittens and cooking meals and everything else.

Also, i had to take Kida to the vet to get more advice about her chronic sinusitis. We are just going to keep her on prednisone and antihistamines for it, as she needs prednisone for her asthma and arthritis anyway. Unless she has side effects, it should keep her comfortable.

After i got back with her, i did chores and fed kittens, and then decided to tackle the freezer. As i was getting into the rhythm of it, Little Girl came to me and asked if we could go return her goggles. We had just bought her new swim goggles the day before her last meet. Sure enough, even though we got the nice, expensive ones, they leaked, badly. Knowing she had swim practice later that evening, i dropped what i was doing.

At that moment, i had a feeling of foreboding. When it came down to it, i didn't want to stop what i was doing, because when i get into a project, and get interrupted and leave the house, it usually doesn't turn out well.

Sure enough, we got to the place where we'd bought the goggles and as i got out and grabbed my sweater (yes, really, even in summer, i get cold everywhere), i felt it snag, snatched it and pushed the door to close. As i did both of those at the same time, i heard the sickening sound of the doors of Sweetie's vehicle lock, and the click as the door closed. Drat!

We only have one set of keys to his car. The door lock is broken and cannot be opened with the keys, they don't turn the lock any more. The remote lock button doesn't work. So we just never lock his car. This means a call to a service that unlocks cars.

Going into the store, which is locally owned and which i had never entered before we bought the goggles the week before, i asked for the number of the door unlocking service. Then i explained why we had come in, showing them the defect in the goggles and the receipt.

The clerk informed me that they do not do returns or exchanges on defective merchandise. If you buy it, and it doesn't work or is defective, tough. Nice policy, right? Oh, and the owner can't be reached right now, sorry. The clerk did then call the car unlocking service for me and give them the address, as well as my phone number. Little Girl and i went outside to wait.

About ten minutes later the phone rang, and i answered. A voice on the other end said something i couldn't understand, and then the person hung up. Figuring it was the lock person, i called back right away. No answer. A few minutes later, i tried again. No answer. A third and fourth attempt also yielded no results.

So i went into another business in the same small shopping center to ask for the number of the lock company. The nice clerk there gave it to me, and i called. Explaining what happened, the lady at dispatch said the driver notes were that i didn't answer when he tried to call to say he would be delayed. At that, i almost lost it, telling her i did answer, he hung up on me, and he now wouldn't answer. She said she would make a note of it.

Eventually as we waited i got desperate enough to use the restroom that i wandered back into the second shop and asked if they had one i could use. "Through the double doors in the back and to the right," the nice clerk said, and i went back there to discover the back of the shop was being reconstructed. The restroom consisted of a door that didn't lock a toilet, places from which a sink and another toilet had been ripped out, and no toilet paper or paper towels or anything. Being desperate, i used it anyway.

Back outside, we waited and waited, much longer than the time they had originally said it would be. As i told Little Girl, that's pretty common. They have to take emergency calls first, such as children locked in cars. That has happened to me twice, having kids locked in cars with the keys inside, and both times i was blessed, but those are stories for another day. Eventually the lock guy pulled into the lot and i waved him over.

They are very thorough. They take down everything except your blood type, so that if the car later proves to have been stolen it's on you, not them. Ten minutes and $45 later, we were able to get into the car and finally head home.

Home again! It's all going to get better now, right? Well, i walk in to screaming kittens and the recycle bin chose that moment to let me know, in no uncertain terms, that the final piece of recyclable straw had been added and it needed to be emptied into the bigger outdoor bin. As i was emptying it, Sweetie got home, didn't see that i was outside, and locked me out of the house.

So here it is late, i've not gotten the freezer done, not gotten to the ironing, had to have the car unlocked for me, found out a local business doesn't stand behind its merchandise, the kittens are crying, dinner isn't even started, and it never even rained, so i could have done laundry that day. When Sweetie finally realized it was me out there beating on the door, he let me in and handed me the mail -- bills.

Upon realizing this, i finally had to burst out laughing. We had leftovers and i made a salad, fed the kittens, and laughed my way through the rest of the evening.

Sometimes so much stuff goes wrong that it's a comedy routine.

Today is

Araw ng Maynila -- Philippines (Manila Day)

Bannockburn Day -- Scotland (decisive battle of the first Scottish War of Independence, led by Robert Bruce)

Burning of the Lamps in Egypt at Sais -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar, a celebration of Isis and Neith (date approximate)

Calcio Fiorentino -- Florence, Italy (reviving 16th century style football in period costumes, through the 28th)

Carabobo Day -- Venezuela (battle commemoration)

Celebration of the Senses -- Wellcat Holidays urges you to enjoy all five (six?) of your senses today

Countryman's Day -- Peru (one of Peru's three Fiestas Patrias Peruanas)

Day of the Caboclo -- Amazonas State, Brazil

Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) -- Baha'i

Flying Saucer Day -- anniversary of Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting, while flying near Mt. Rainier, of 9 metallic, circular objects he could not identify

Fors Fortuna -- Ancient Roman Calendar (rites and festival for the goddess of good luck and fortune)

International Fairy Day/Faerie Day -- day for collectors, believers, and artists to share their love for the little folk

Lost Handkerchief Day -- Fairy Calendar

Museum Comes to Life Day -- another fun and funny day someone came up with

National Columnists' Day -- on the fourth Tuesday of June each year, set aside some time to thank your favorite newspaper columnists, whether local or syndicated

National Creamy Pralines Day

St. John the Baptist's Nativity Day and related Midsummer celebrations (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, children with convulsions, epileptics, farriers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, and spasms; Patron of over 60 cities and countries around the globe)
    Inti Raymi -- Peru (Incan Sun Festival)
    Jaanipaev -- Estonia
    Jani -- Latvia
    Jónsmessa -- Iceland (feast of St. John the Baptist, considered a magical night when cows can speak, seals take on human form, finding magical stones and herbs is propitious, and rolling naked in the dew is healing.)
    Macau Day -- China (celebrating the defeat of Dutch invasion forces in 1622 and paying homage to St. John as the port's Patron Saint)
    Midsummer Day -- England
    National Holiday -- Quebec, Canada (Sant Jean-Baptiste)
    Saint John the Baptist Day -- Andorra
    Saint Jonas Festival or Jonines -- Lithuania
    San Juan -- CT and GA, Spain
    Surinal -- North Korea
    Zuni Buffalo, Corn, and Comanche Dances -- Zuni Native Americans (for fertility of land and people; Vespers is also observed, as San Juan is their Patron Saint)

Swim a Lap Day -- just for fun!

Swing a Kid Day -- if swimming isn't right for you

Western Days -- Elgin, TX, US (music, carnival, parade, live music and more; through Saturday)

Windjammer Days -- Boothbay Harbor, ME, US (the premier maritime event on the coast of Maine, with something for everyone; through tomorrow)

Anniversary Today:

Eton College is founded by Henry VI, 1441

Birthdays Today:

Sherry Stringfield, 1967
Joe Penny, 1956
Nancy Allen, 1950
Phyllis George, , 1949
Peter Weller, 1947
Mick Fleetwood, 1947
Ellison Shoji Onizuka, 1946
Jeff Beck, 1944
Michele Lee, 1942
Claude Chabrol, 1930
John Anthony Ciardi. 1916
Phil Harris, 1904
Jack Dempsey, 1895
Roy O. Disney, 1893
Ambrose Bierce, 1842
Henry Ward Beecher, 1813

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Catch-22(Film), 1970
"Hopalong Cassidy"(TV), 1949

Today in History:

Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place, 972
A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion, 1374
John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland; the first European
exploration of the region since the Vikings, 1497
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines, 1571
Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1604
The colony of New Jersey is founded, 1664
Kingston, Jamaica is founded, 1692
The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England, 1717
The first republican constitution in France is adopted, 1793
The decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain, the Battle of Carabobo takes place, 1821
First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français, 1880
The first exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens, 1901
Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract, 1916
The first airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto begins, 1918
Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the third prime minister, 1939
The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible, 1948
The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government, 1963
Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud completes his first mission, becoming the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist, 1985
John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history, 2010
The last known Pinta Island Tortoise, Lonesome George, is found dead in the Galapagos Islands, 2012

"Where in the world are all of my socks! I don't have any socks!" Sweetie turned in frustration from his sock drawer to look at me. "Do you know where any of my socks are? Are there any in the laundry?"

On;y these two pair, i said, taking them out of the basket of clean clothes i had brought up a bit earlier in the day.

"Then where are they all if they aren't in my drawer and they aren't in the laundry?"

No clue, i said. You should certainly have more than the two here, the one you wore today, and the one pair i washed this morning that's still hanging to dry.

At that moment, we both noticed his suitcase from vacation, pushed partially under his dresser.

Did you ever finish emptying that? i asked as he said at the same time, "You know, some of them might be in there!"

We went on vacation over two weeks ago. We were gone for seven days. He pulled eight pairs of socks out of the suitcase.

He loses things. A lot. He sets things down without being mindful of what he's doing, then can't find whatever it is. And in the end, i'm always left shaking my head and thinking the same thing. They are right where you left them. Always, whatever item or items he's lost, it's right where he left it.

Today is

Arbor Day -- Philippines

Color TV Day -- CBS broadcast the first program in color on this day in 1951

Day of the Seafarer -- The International Maritime Organization (this year’s campaign is to have you complete the sentence “Seafarers brought me………..”)

Election Day -- Libya

Elf Thumping Day -- Fairy Calendar (no details on what the Elves thump, and no, no one is allowed to thump an Elf!)

Feast of the Optional Holiday -- pick one, and celebrate it or don't, your option!

Festival of Ranting and Vaporing -- sponsored by The Daily Bleed

Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts -- Pilton, Glastonbury, England (the world's largest green field music and performing arts festival, including theatre, circus, cabaret, children's activities and more; through Sunday)

Global Beatles Day -- read about the meaning of this day, and why this date was picked, here

Gotanshin Sai -- Kitano Tenmangu, Kyoto, Japan (festival to commemorate the birth of Lord Sugawara, with ceremonies to ward off summer infections)

Helen Keller Festival -- Tuscumbia, AL, US (performances of The Miracle Worker, historic tours, other entertainment, a fair, and more; through Sunday)

Independence Day -- Mozambique(1975)

Leon Day -- Noel spelled backward, the turning point on the calendar when Christmas starts getting closer; those who make Christmas/Noel gifts need to start thinking about their projects

Little Bighorn Days -- Hardin, MT, US (celebrating the life and legends of the American West; through Sunday)

Ludi Taurii -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Games of the Bull, a two day festival held once every five years)

National Catfish Day

National Fried Okra Day

National Strawberry Parfait Day

Sense of Humor in Bed Appreciation Day -- i'm not touching this one

Slovenian Sovereignty Day / National Day -- Slovenia

Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., US (through Sunday, then again July 2-6; a model of research-based presentations of contemporary living cultural traditions of people around the world)

Statehood Day -- Croatia

St. Eurosia's Day (a/k/a Orosia; Patron of Jaca, Spain; against bad weather)
Fiesta de Santa Orosia -- Jaca, Spain

St. Molaug's Day (Patron of Argyll, Scotland; against mental illness)

Anniversaries Today:

Virginia becomes the 10th US State, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Scott Terra, 1987
Linda Cardellini, 1975
Dikembe Mutombo, 1966
George Michael, 1963
Ricky Gervais, 1961
Sonia Sotomayor, 1954
Jimmie Walker, 1949
Phyllis George, 1949
Carly Simon, 1945
Willis Reed, Jr., 1942
June Lockhart, 1925
Sidney Lumet, 1924
Anne Revere, 1903
George Orwell, 1903
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold, 1886
Rose Cecil O'Neill, 1874

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Het Achterhuis. Dagbrieven van 14 juni 1942 tot 1 augustus 1944(First publication of excerpts from Anne Frank's diaries), 1947
"It Pays To Be Ignorant"(Radio), 1942

Today in History:

The Book of Concord or Concordia, the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, is published, 1580
Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy, from the University of Padua, 1678
Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary, 1741
Lucien B. Smith of Ohio patents the first version of barbed wire, 1867
Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 1876
Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated the first President of Ireland, 1938
The Diary of Anne Frank is published, 1947
The Berlin airlift begins, 1948
The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, 1950
CBS broadcasts the first color television signal, 1951
First live global satellite television programme – Our World, 1967
Mozambique achieves independence, 1975
Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington, 1981
Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia, 1991
Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada, 1993
An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir, 1997
The Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat erupts resulting in the death of 19 people, 1997
The Harvard School of Health Study concludes that since 1980 the number of adults with diabetes has doubled, 2011
A portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protects minority voting rights, is struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that Congress has not taken into account the nation's racial progress when singling out certain states for federal oversight, 2013

For the past two days i've been cleaning a house besides my own, for pay. That's what i do, i'm a janitor/housekeeper/babysitter/diaper changer/nose wiper/kitten feeder.

The wonderful family is in a bind. They are losing the house, and i am trying to help get it cleaned up and work with the mother to pack things away, give things away, and sell stuff so it can be put on the market before it gets taken by the bank. (Note: a friend of the family introduced me to them, and is the one offering to pay me for the work. There's no way i'd take a penny from this family, and if i'd known them before and knew they were in this bind, i'd be doing it without pay.)

Anyway, at the end of the second long day, i got two reminders that kids still say the craziest things. Both came at a perfect time, when a good laugh helped.

The first was from the youngest son of the family i'm working for, Marty. Their mother had run in to grab them and take them to swim with a friend so i could finish sorting clothes and making the last bed with fresh linens. They went rushing around grabbing towels and bags and water bottles and swim suits and i kept closing the door behind them as they ran in and out, telling them what my father used to say. "Don't forget to close the door, we aren't trying to air condition the whole neighborhood!" he would call out, all summer long.

As they finally headed out the door, Marty ran up to me and said, "Um, cleaning lady, you need to go shut the window in my room because my brother left it open and I don't have time to go close it and I know you don't like open doors and windows 'cause the conditioned air gets out and my mom wants me in the car right now!" With that he dashed out, leaving me to laugh and head up to close the wide open window, out of which "conditioned air" was indeed escaping at a rapid velocity.

The second occurrence was in a text message from Little Girl that evening. As i was pulling into the driveway after prayer meeting, i heard the familiar chirp of the phone, put the car in park and checked to see what was up. Little Girl's message read, "How do you cook fried okra?"

Laughing so hard i could barely stagger into the house, i threw my arms around her and said, You fry it in oil!

Today is

Alexandra Rose Day -- anniversary of the tradition started by Queen Alexandra on this day in 1912, in which roses and rose emblems were sold in London and the UK, with the money going to smaller charities that are not usually in the national spotlight; also by tradition, the Lord Mayor of London bought the first rose
Alexandra Rose Charities still exists, but uses other forms of fundraising and now supports healthy eating initiatives among lower income mothers and children

Armed Forces Day -- Azerbaijan

Barcode/UPC Day -- the first scanner, at Marsh's Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, scanned its first item, a pack of Wrigley's gum at 8:01am this day in 1974

Beautician's Day -- on a couple of websites, while other list other days; if yours puts the "beauty" in beautician, remember her next time you go have your do tended to

Festival of the Tarasque -- Tarascon, France (celebration of the legend of the dragon tamed by St. Martha; through June 30)

Handing Back of Tiger-Get-By's Presents -- Fairy Calendar

Holiday for the Shemsu of Heru -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Madagascar[Fetin'ny Fahaleovantena]; Somalia

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking -- UN

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture -- UN

National Bomb Pop Day -- on the Thursday in June right before US Independence Day, to kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops

National Canoe Day -- Canada

National Chocolate Pudding Day

National Handshake Day -- sponsored by professional development companies on the last Thursday in June

Oregon Bach Festival -- University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, US (international gathering of musicians, master classes and performances, and family events so even the youngest music fans can fall in love with the works of J.S. Bach; through July 13)

Saint Ignace Auto Show -- St. Ignace, MI, US (parade, cruise night, and swap meet; through Saturday)

St. Pelayo's Day (Patron of abandoned people, torture victims; Castro Urdiales, Spain; Torreira, Portugal)

Sunthorn Phu Day -- Thailand (celebration of the country's best-known Royal Poet)

Telluride Wine Festival -- Telluride, CO, US (meet winemakers, celebrity chefs, experts and authors for an unparalleled educational and epicurean experience; through Sunday)

Watermelon Thump with World Champion Seed Spitting Contest -- Luling, TX, US (fun for all, and lots of juicy watermelon, bring lots of wet wipes, enjoy the music and food and crafts, too; through Sunday)

Ziua Tricolorului -- Romania (Flag Day)

Birthdays Today:

Jennette McCurdy, 1992
Jason Schwartzman, 1980
Derek Jeter, 1974
Gretchen Wilson, 1973
Chris O'Donnell, 1970
Paul Thomas Anderson, 1970
Sean P. Hayes, 1970
Harriet Wheeler, 1963
Greg LeMond, 1961
Chris Isaak, 1956
Claudio Abbado, 1933
Eleanor Parker, 1922
Charlotte Zolotow, 1915
"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, 1914
Colonel Tom Parker, 1909
Peter Lorre, 1904
Pearl S. Buck, 1892
Sir Robert Laird Borden, 1854
Lord Kelvin, 1824
Abner Doubleday, 1819
Arthur Middleton, 1742

Debuting/Premiering Today:

For Your Eyes Only(Film), 1981
"A Hard Day's Night"(Album, US version, release), 1964
"The Valkyrie"(Opera, WWV 86B), 1870

Today in History:

Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire; General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield, 363
The legendary Pied Piper leads 130 children out of Hamelin, German, 1284
Richard III is crowned king of England, 1483
Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima, 1541
W. K. Clarkson patents the first bicycle, 1819
The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States, 1870
The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity, 1909
The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco, 1945
William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor, 1948
The Berlin Airlift begins, 1948
The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships, 1959
The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, 1974
Indira Gandhi establishes emergency rule in India, 1975
The CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, is opened to general public, 1976*
Biologists J. Craig Venter and Francis S. Collins announced that their research groups had mapped the human genome, 2000
Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, the four thousand year-old ridge-top monastery in Bhutan catches fire and is destroyed; no relics were lost in the fire because the monastery was under renovation, 2012

*It is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats. It's easy to participate in Feline Friday, just post a cat picture and link up!

The first rule of bottle feed kittens is, they are hungry. (The second rule is, they are still hungry, but i digress.)

Once they are weaned, however, sometimes they are hungry, and sometimes they are more in the mood to play.

Feeding time!

The three standing more or less in the bowl of food and attacking with gusto are obviously poor, starving things who haven't seen a bite in days. (At least, that's how they act.)

The one on the side of the bowl has hooked a piece of kibble out of the bowl with his paw, and is batting it around, playing pounce with it. They all take turns being the kitten who plays with the food, and it's fun to watch. (It's not fun to sweep up the bits of kibble they leave lying around, but that's another story.)

Today is:

Blues on the Fox -- Aurora, IL, US (celebration of the historical blues recordings made in Aurora, with blues musicians from around the country performing; through tomorrow)

Canadian Multiculturalism Day -- Canada

Colorado Brewers' Festival -- Fort Collings, CO, US (celebrate Colorado's rich brewing history with over 30 breweries; through Sunday)

Day of National Unity -- Tajikistan

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art -- Turkmenistan

Day Sacred to the Lares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (personal household gods); also
Festival of Jupiter Stator -- Jupiter, Stayer of the Rout, god who helped soldiers especially to stand their ground
Initium Aestatis -- three day festival for the goddess of summer, which season they saw as beginning on this day

Decide to Be Married Day -- sponsored by Barbara Gaughen-Muller; to focus n the joy of couples deciding to be married

Findle-Fritter's Stoat Wheedling Event -- Fairy Calendar

Grantsville Days -- Grantsville, MD, US (annual homecoming weekend, with fun for all; through Sunday)

"Happy Birthday to You" Day -- tune composed this day in 1859

Heidi Festival -- New Glarus, Wisconsin (celebrations of the town's Swiss heritage; through Sunday)

Hjemkomst and Annual Viking Festival -- Moor-head, MN, US (celebrating all things Nordic, with exhibitions from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Saami Land; through tomorrow)

Independence Day / National Day -- Djibouti

Industrial Workers of The World Day -- founded this day in 1905

Kaposia Days -- South St. Paul, MN, US (Kaposia, or "Little Crows Village," was a seasonal American Indian settlement within the city limits of what is now St. Paul, MN, and a family oriented city festival is now held paying tribute to the original name; through Sunday)

Martyrdom of Joseph & Hyrum Smith -- Mormon

Mixed Races Day -- Brazil

National HIV Testing Day -- US

National Indian Pudding Day

National Orange Blosssom Day

National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day -- US (by Senate resolution)

Newport Flower Show -- Newport, RI, US (New England's premier summer flower show; through Sunday)

Louisiana Peach Festival -- Ruston, LA, US (Ruston grows some peaches worth celebrating! through tomorrow)

Ramadan begins -- Islam (at sunset, through July 29)

Sacred Heart of Jesus -- Catholic Christian

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag) -- Germany (according to legend, today's weather determines the pattern for the next seven weeks)

Sternwheeler Days -- Port Marine Park, Cascade Locks, OR, US (reliving the days of the mountain men; through Sunday)

St. Ladislaus' Day (Patron of Szekszard, Hungary)

Sunglasses Day -- a reminder to wear those shades, protect your eyes from UV damage!

Birthdays Today:

Gabi Wilson, 1997
Madylin Sweeten, 1991
Ed Westwick, 1987
Drake Bell, 1986
Tobey Maguire, 1975
J.J. Abrams, 1976
Jason Patric, 1966
Isabelle Adjani, 1955
Julia Duffy, 1951
James Daughton, 1950
Norma Kamali, 1945
Shirley-Anne Field, 1938
H. Ross Perot, 1930
Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan, 1927
Helen Keller, 1880
Patrick Lafcadio "Koizumi Yakumo" Hearn, 1850
Charles Stewart Parnell, 1846

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Live and Let Die(Film), 1973
"Dark Shadows"(TV), 1966
"Captain Video and His Video Rangers"(TV), 1949

Today in History:

General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec, 1759
Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail, 1844
George Dixon becomes the first black world boxing champion in any weight class, while also being the first ever Canadian-born boxing champion, 1890
The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, 1898
Sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian Battleship Potemkin, denouncing the crimes of autocracy, demanding liberty and an end to war, 1905
Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane, 1923
The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War, 1950
The world's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow, 1954
The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London, 1967
The President of Uruguay dissolves Parliament and heads a coup d'état, 1973
U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R., 1974
France grants independence to Djibouti, 1977
The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, ILO 169 convention, is adopted, 1989
Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War, 1991
Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft to focus on his charity work, 2008
The first democratic election in the history of Guinea is held, 2010
Tests show radioactive cesium is present in small quantities in residents of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, towns located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 2011
NASA launches IRIS, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun, 2013

This coming Monday is Sweetie's final day at work. As of Tuesday, he is retired.

Knowing this was coming, he has been keeping on the look out for another job. Two other possibilities fell through, but in my prayers about the situation, i kept feeling nothing but peace, and the idea that i just needed to be patient.

There's been no stress associated with it, just the knowledge that there would be something, and it would show up just in time.

Sweetie has felt the same way.

The Big Boss, however, has been getting more and more panicked over the thought of him leaving. A couple of months ago, he talked about rehiring him. Then he tried to make an offer. He asked Sweetie to come back to his exact same job, just with a different title and for the private portion of the company instead of the state, and for half the salary.

Let's see. Same work. Same office, that he desperately wants to get out of. Same group of people, the "band of eight balls," all trying to dump extra work on him. Same extra work on weekends and same extra events for the person there that no one wants to deal with because of his nasty tempter.

All for half the salary. Um, no. Just, no.

Patience, i kept telling myself. This is all going to work out.

Indeed. Desperation makes people give in to terms, and The Big Boss finally got to where he would hear terms. There are things Sweetie does there that no one else knows how to do, knowledge of people and places and sources and resources that go away when he does, and The Big Boss doesn't want to lose all of that.

The retirement goes as planned. Sweetie works on Monday, and the rest of the week, he gets to kick back and relax. He's retired.

Then, the following Monday, he goes back in, on his terms.

He won't have to be tied to an office. He will be a consultant, part time. He will answer to no one but The Big Boss himself. His work will be limited to certain specific responsibilities that help The Big Boss. He will not have to work any weekends or events. The pay will be adequate, when added to his retirement benefit and my work.

That's what he was hoping for, and holding out for, and it worked. Let the other person get to where he really wants it badly enough, and he'll give you what you want on your terms.

This will leave Sweetie with plenty of time to start forming a band and getting to "gig" in local restaurants, which is what he really wants to do with his life.

Patience, Grasshopper. Play the cards right, and you can get it the way you want it.

Today is

Armed Forces Day -- Great Britain

ARRL Field Day -- American Radio Relay League'swww.aarl.org/fieldday most popular on-air operating event, in which amateur/ham radio operators practice and drill for communications during emergencies; through tomorrow

Constitution day -- Ukraine

Festival of Terrible Poetry -- according to The Daily Bleed, and since there is some hilarious, if terrible, poetry out there, go find some, and bust a gut

Galesburg Railroad Days -- Galesburg, IL, US (celebrating the city's railroad heritage with carnival, exhibits, and more; through tomorrow)

Gettysburg Civil War Relic and Collectors Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US (featuring leading collectors and dealers; through tomorrow)

Great American Backyard Campout -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation

Great American Picnic Day -- various dates given, with the most common being the final Saturday of June

Insurance Awareness Day -- now who do you think invented that!?!

International Body Piercing Day -- on the birthday of James Mark "Jim" Ward, "the granddaddy of the modern body piercing movement"

International CAPS LOCK DAY -- a parody holiday created by Derek Arnold, a user on Metafilter, in 2000

Ladies of Country and Bluegrass Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US (at the historic Albert Music Hall)

Mnarja / L-Imnarja Festival begins -- Buskett Gardens, Malta (folk festival for Sts. Peter and Paul, begins this evening and continues through the 29th)

National Ceviche Day

National Tapioca Day

Paul Bunyan Day -- the tall tale hero of the lumberjacks; celebrated at different times in some parts of the country, but most sites cite this date

Purple Hull Pea Festival and World Champion Rotary Tiller Contest -- Emerson, AR, US (the tiny town of Emerson, population 368, puts on a big show that also includes a World Cup Purplehull Pea-Shelling competiton)

Ra goes forth to propitiate the Nun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Ramadan -- Islam (began sunset yesterday, through July 29)

Stonewall Rebellion Day -- now seen as the start of the gay liberation movement in 1969

St. Irenaeus' Day (Patron of Mobile, Alabama)

St. Paul's Feast -- Kato Paphos, Cyprus (religious festivities with the archbishop officiating and a procession of the icon of St. Paul through the streets, through tomorrow)

St. Peter's Eve -- English Christian tradition, night of bonfires and continuation of midsummer celebrations

Thanksgiving for Useful Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

(FinalSat)Veteranendag -- Netherlands (Veterans Day)

Vidovdan (Festival for St. Vitus) -- Eastern Orthodox Christian, based on the traditional Julian Calendar date
a recognized holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Anniversaries Today:

Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace, 1919

Birthdays Today:

Kellie Pickler, 1986
Steve Burton, 1970
Danielle Brisebois, 1969
John Cusack, 1966
Mary Stuart Masterson, 1966
Mark Grace, 1964
John Elway, 1960
Thomas Hampson, 1955
Alice Krige, 1954
Kathy Bates, 1948
Gilda Radner, 1946
Bruce Davison, 1946
Turkan Soray, 1945
Pat Morita, 1932
Mel Brooks, 1926
Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1906
Richard Rodgers, 1902
Clara Louise Maass, 1876
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712
John Wesley, 1703
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577
Henry VIII, King of England, 1491

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Nutty Professor(Film), 1996
"Amos 'n' Andy"(TV), 1951
"Quiz Kids"(Radio), 1940

Today in History:

Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul, 1098
Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe, 1389
Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, 1635
The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1838
The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle, 1841
The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1859
Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I, 1914
The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending World War I, 1919
The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces, 1922
Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967
COMECON, as part of the last vestige of the Soviet Bloc, is formally disbanded, followed by the Warsaw pact 3 days later, 1991
Slobodan Milosevic is deported to ICTY to stand trial, 2001
The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations, 2006
The U.N. reports 10 million people are effected by the worst drought in 60 years, 2011

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's easy to participate, just laugh and link up!

Yesterday, i was listening to my favorite Saturday afternoon radio show. It features oldies that date from the roots of the rock 'n' roll era, among other classics, and often the DJ will introduce a piece i've never heard before.

That happened yesterday, when he began playing "Kissing in the Back Row of the Movies," by The Drifters. About halfway through the song, i noted to #2 Son, who was getting himself a snack while i cooked dinner, that i had never done that.

"There's only one advantage to it," he noted. "No one can put their feet on the back of your chair!"

Giving him my best "mommy stare," complete with arched eyebrows, he added, "What? That really is the only reason to sit in the back row of the theater. It has the advantage that no one can put their feet on the back of your chair."

Although i'm still wondering if he meant more than that, talking of the back row reminded me of a joke.

Boudreaux an' his wife Clothile, when dey have dere li'l boy, Tee Boudreaux, dey decide dey goin' to raise him right, an' dey get him proper baptized an' take him to church each an' ever' Sunday. Ever' Sunday, dere dey are, right up in de front of de church, sittin' in de firs' pew.

When Tee Boudreaux get to be aroun' t'ree years ol', one Sunday dere was a accident on de freeway, and de family was late for Mass. Not wantin' to disturb anyone too much, dey end up sittin' in de back row for de firs' time. An' Tee, he don' seem to like dat, no. He keep wigglin', and tryin' to stan' up on de pew, an' gettin' more an' more restless ever' minute.

Fin'lly Boudreaux he done had enough. "Mais, wha's a matta wit' you, boy?" he ax. An' Tee say, "Papa, I don' like sittin' here in de back! I wanna sit up in de front where I can see de priest!"

An Boudreaux be real proud of dat, and t'ink, We done raised dat boy right! But he want to know why Tee want to be in front, so he ax, "Fils*, what for you want to sit in de front?"

"Papa, I like to see de priest because when he be washin' de dishes, I know it's 'most time for Mass to be over!"

*Cajun French for "son"

Today is

Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia

Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate

Descendent's Day -- on the final Sunday of June each year, an encouragement for all the world's citizens to take an accounting of their activities during the prior year and how those will affect those who come after us

Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian
     St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers
     St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves
     a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna
     Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)
     Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul

Gioco Del Ponte -- Pisa, Italy (the Battle of the Bridge or Game of the Bridge, a medieval parade and contest for possession of the bridge)

Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!

Independence Day -- Seychelles

Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Kirkpinar, Edirne, Turkey (since 1362, the oldest wrestling festival in the world as well as the oldest continually running, sanctioned sporting event in the world, in which men clad in leather britches and covered in olive oil wrestle; through July 5)

Log Cabin Day -- The Log Cabin Society, dedicated to preserving log cabins and the old fashioned ways of life; many places that have historic log cabins plan big events the last Sunday in June to celebrate

Mother's Day -- Kenya

National Almond Butter Crunch Day

Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto

Punxsutawney Ground Hog Festival -- Punxsutawney, PA, US (through Saturday; because the groundhog is worth more than just one cold day in February!)

Rath Yatra -- Puri, India (Chariot Festival, pilgrims pull huge chariots across the city)

Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences

Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today

Wicked Fairies Summer Debate -- Fairy Calendar (i'd love to hear this!)

Birthdays Today:

Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008
Amanda Donohoe, 1962
Sharon Lawrence, 1962
Fred Grandy, 1948
Richard Lewis, 1947
Gary Busey, 1944
Robert Evans, 1930
Ray Harryhausen, 1920
Slim Pickens, 1919
Bernard Herrmann, 1911
Nelson Eddy, 1901
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900
James Van Der Zee, 1886
William James Mayo, 1863
George Washington Goethals, 1858
Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Moonraker(Film), 1979

Today in History:

An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512
Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534
The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613
Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786
Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850
Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864
France annexes Tahiti, 1880
The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888
Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891
Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895
France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922
Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937
Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974
The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976
The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995
Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007
News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. All of us could use a little Awww to start the work week, so find a cute picture and link up!

Applebloom loves her big brother, The Lorax.

Snuggle kitten love.

The Lorax has his surgery scheduled for July 9. They've decided he's old enough, even if it turns out he doesn't weigh quite the four pounds yet. He probably does, but if he's an ounce shy, so what.

Today is

Aizen Matsuri -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods, and is also called the Yakuta Festival; through July 2)

Armed Forces Day -- Guatemala

Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies, Elves, and some Fairies)

Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (culmination of the festival that begins the summer)

Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome -- remembrance of the first Christians killed in Rome by order of Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome

General Prayer Day -- Central African Republic

Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)(1960)

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

National Corvette Day -- US (vehicle introduced this day in 1953)

National Ice Cream Soda Day

Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)

Revolution Day -- Sudan(1989)

St. Theobald of Provins' day (Patron of bachelors)

Tech Support Appreciation Day -- if you can get a hold of them, they can be great to have around

Anniversary Today:

Greg Allman marries Cher, 1975

Birthdays Today:

Michael Phelps, 1985
Fantasia Barrino, 1984
Ralf Schumacher, 1975
Michael Gerard (Mike) Tyson, 1966
Rupert Graves, 1963
Vincent D’Onofrio, 1959
David Alan Grier, 56, 1955
Leonard Whiting, 1950
Patricia Schroeder, 1940
Nancy Dussault, 1936
Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934
Susan Hayward, 1919
Lena Horne, 1917
Czeslaw Milosz, 1911
William Almon Wheeler, 1819

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Johnny Carson Show"(TV), 1955
"Guiding Light"(TV), 1947
"Brenda Starr, Reporter"(Comic strip), 1940

Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294
The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520
Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794
French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860
The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886
Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905
The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908
The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912
Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960
The first leap second is added to the UTC time system, 1972
The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987
East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990
The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997
After nearly 7 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft becomes the first to orbit the planet Saturn, 2004
The Molecule of the Year 2011 is announced, BMP7 (Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7), a potential therapeutic utility for recurrent metastatic disease, 2012

Sweetie and i have a favorite restaurant that we go to once in a great while as a treat. We always go during the "Happy Hour" when certain menu items we like are half price, and we sit at the bar so as not to bother waiting for a table.

Sweetie always orders a glass of wine, and since i don't imbibe (nothing against it, but i know more than a couple of sips puts me to sleep so i don't bother) i order a glass of hot tea.

The first time i did that, i was taken with the pot they brought me that had the hot water in it. It was small but held enough water for two good sized mugs of tea. It was made of solid cast iron, very heavy, and instead of being the typical, round pot, it was square.

When i commented on how nice i thought it looked, Sweetie asked the bartender if he could find out where we could get one like it. A talk with his manager elicited the information that they order them from a special distributor, the one that also supplies most of their other implements and cutlery and plates and such. He took my name and phone number to give the manager, with the promise that, the next time they placed an order, they would get an extra and let my buy it from them.

A couple of months later we went back for our usual treat, and asked the bartender if he had heard anything about the tea pots. He asked again, took my name and number again, and i simply waited.

Each time we would go back, he would talk to a manager, get my name and number, and they would promise to call when they had one to sell me.

Yesterday, we went back again. Upon receiving the tea pot, Sweetie again asked about whether or not we could purchase one. The bartender, the same one who is there every time we go, hardly let him get the words out before he was heading to go talk to the manager about it.

He came back a few minutes later and said, "I and the manager really want to apologize. The fact is, we haven't called you because we haven't had to order any more of these pots in so long. We have about 15 of them in store, and even on our busiest nights we never use more than three of them at any given time. We just don't ever really have to order more. So the manager says, since you've been so patient and have offered several times to buy one, you may have this one, no charge!"

Sweetie and i both protested and offered to buy it, but they insisted i simply take it. It seems they felt badly that they had been telling me they would somehow get one for me to purchase for well over a year and hadn't been able to do it.

Now i have a very nice, and rather unique, tea pot.

It has a strainer inside, too, so you can use loose or bag tea!

Today is

10,000 Crestonians 4th of July Celebration -- Creston, IA, US (fun before, during, and after Independence Day; through the 6th)

Canada Day -- Canada

Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day -- a great way to start off Ice Cream Month; try a new one and you just might find a new favorite.

Day to Celebrate All the World's Creatures -- commemorates the day in 1975 that endangered species became internationally protected.

Distressed Elves Day -- Fairy Calendar

Doctors' Day -- India

Eastport Fourth of July and "Old Home Week" -- Eastport, ME, US (bounded on all sides by the Bay of Fundy and Canadian islands, the celebration includes Canada Day and runs through Friday)

Emancipation Day -- Sint Maarten

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day -- Hong Kong

Hug a Cowboy Day -- always on Canada Day

Independence Day -- Burundi(1962); Rwanda(1962)

Intact Day -- celebrating genital integrity, as far as possible from the Feast of the Circumcision on Jan. 1

International Chicken Wing Day -- some sites say the 2nd, celebrate today or tomorrow, your choice

International Joke Day -- as declared by many internet sites, but i can't find out why today; then again, why not?

International Tartan Day -- anniversary of the repeal, in 1782, of the Act of Proscription which banned the wearing of Tartans; celebrated especially by Scottish diaspora in Australia; New Zealand

July Morning -- Bulgaria (dates back to the '70s, young and old people hitchhike to the Black Sea in late June to greet the dawn of July 1 with Uriah Heep's hit song July Morning; began as a subtle anti-communist protest, now in memory of the fall of communism and to celebrate the start of summer vacation)

Keti Koti -- Suriname (Emancipation Day)

Madeira Day -- Madeira

Memorial Day -- Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Mineral Collecting Field Trips -- Bancroft, ON, CA (every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this month and next, geologists lead mineral collecting field trips, educating participants about mineral identification, collecting techniques, and earth sciences)

Mount Fuji Official Climbing Season begins -- Japan (through Aug. 31)

Moving Day -- Quebec, Canada

National Boating Day -- US

National Ducks and Wetlands Day -- US (presidential designation in 1990)

National Financial Freedom Day -- can't find how this one started, but it's as good a day as any to take a good look at your finances, and start learning how to better manage them.

National Gingersnap Day

Ommegang Pageant -- Grand-Palace, Brussels, Belgium (three days of recreating of the medieval entertainment at the court of Charles V)

Presidential Inauguration Day -- Panama

Republic Day -- Ghana; Somalia

Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo -- Halifax, NS, Canada (through the 8th)

Sata-Hame Accordion Festival -- Ikaalinen, Finland (one of the worlds biggest and best accordion festivals; through Sunday)

Skiraphoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of cutting and threshing the grain)

Sir Seretse Khama Day -- Botswana

St. Serf of Culross' Day (patron of the Orkney Islands)

Sts. Cosmas and Damian's Day -- Eastern Catholic Churches
Holy Healers' Day -- Bulgaria (a special festival for the two saints/brothers who were healers; celebrated especially by all healers, fortune-tellers, witches, sorceresses and herbalists)

Territory Day -- British Virgin Islands

U.S. Postage Stamp Day -- first US postage stamp issued this day in 1847

Yukon Gold Panning Championships -- Dawson City, YT, Canada

Zip Code Day -- US (inaugural anniversary in 1963; when you mail that letter, zip it up! no zip, slow trip; wrong zip, long trip)

Anniversaries Today:

Prince Albert II of Monaco marries Charlene Whittstock, 2011
Haleakala National Park established, HI, US, 1961
Mammoth Cave National Park established, KY, US, 1941
Dwight D. Eisenhower marries Mamie Geneva Dowd, 1916

Birthdays Today:

Hilary Burton, 1982
Liv Tyler, 1977
Ruud Van Nistelrooy, 1976
Missy Elliott, 1971
Pamela Anderson, 1967
Andre Braugher, 1962
Princess Diana, 1961
Carl Lewis, 1961
Michelle Wright, 1961
Alan Ruck, 1956
Dan Aykroyd, 1952
Deborah Harry, 1945
Karen Black, 1942
Genevieve Bujold, 1942
Twyla Tharp, 1941
Jamie Farr, 1934
Jean Marsh, 1934
Leslie Caron, 1931
Farley Granger, 1925
Olivia DeHavilland, 1916
William James "Willie" Dixon, 1915
Estee Lauder, 1906
Charles Laughton, 1899
Thomas Andrew Dorsey, 1899
Louis Charles Joseph Blériot, 1872
Ignaz Semmelweis, 1818
George Sand, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

CourtTV(Network, now TruTV), 1991
"Nick at Nite"(TV), 1985
"The Liberace Show"(TV), 1952
"Mama"(TV), 1949
NBC(Network, first scheduled TV broadcast ever), 1941

Today in History

Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor, 69
La Noche Triste: a joint Mexican Indian force led by the Aztec ruler Cuitláhuac defeat Spanish Conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés, 1520
Lexell's Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 a.u., 1770
American privateers attack Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, 1782
A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales, 1837
U.S. Postage stamps went on sale for the first time, 1847
In the first instance of photojournalism, a French photographer's daguerrotypes of Paris riots were turned into woodcuts so as to be published in the weekly newspaper L'Illustration Journal Universel on this date in 1848
Keti Koti (Emancipation Day) in Suriname, marking the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands, 1863
The British North America Act of 1867 takes effect as the Constitution of Canada, creating the Canadian Confederation and the federal dominion of Canada; Sir John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada, 1867
The Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first US zoo, opens; admission twenty-five cents for adults and ten cents for children, 1874
The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States, 1881
SOS is adopted as the international distress signal, 1908
Grant Park Music Festival begins its tradition of free summer symphonic music concert series in Chicago's Grant Park, which continues as the United States' only annual free outdoor classical music concert series, 1935
NBC makes the first scheduled television broadcast, 1941
Tokyo City merges with Tokyo Prefecture and is dissolved; since then, no city in Japan has had the name "Tokyo" (present-day Tokyo is not officially a city), 1943
The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family, 1949
Zip Codes are introduced for the U.S.mail, 1963
The first color television transmission in Canada takes place from Toronto, 1966
The European Community is formally created out of a merger with the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission, 1967
Sony introduces the Walkman, 1979
O Canada officially becomes the national anthem of Canada, 1980
German re-unification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany, 1990
The People's Republic of China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule, 1997
Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini-Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC, 2004
Smoking is banned in all indoor public spaces in England, 2007
The oldest European remains of a white man are discovered in Australia; the Manning River Skull may belong to a man born in 1650, predating the country's history that Captain James Cook was the first to land on Australia's east coast in 1770, 2013

"Mom, we had an exciting day today!" Bigger Girl came in from work and school ready to share the fun.

"First, last year they inseminated one of the mares, and they forgot! They were supposed to remove the embryo and freeze it, but didn't, and so we now have a foal they weren't expecting. The named her 'Oops'!"

Yes, i can understand that, i noted.

"Also, today, one of the stable hands noticed a skunk was hanging around. He said he didn't want it to scare Ms. Sonya, but you know her! She's fearless, except when it comes to spiders. So, anyway, he tried to chase the skunk, and he got skunked!"

He found out the hard way that skunks don't hurry, they just spray you, i said.

"Yes, but it was so funny watching him try to chase a skunk!"

The smell wasn't funny, i'm sure, i said drily.

"No, but something Vera said to me at school was. We were talking about a couple of mutual acquaintances who are afraid to come out to their families and so are in the closet. Vera's comment was, 'They are so far in the closet, they're in Narnia!"

That's pretty far in, i said, shaking my head.

Today is

Adonia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (date approximate, but always in July, a ritual to honor Adonis)

Distressed Elves' Creditors' Day -- Fairy Calendar

Dixon Petunia Festival: The Pink. The Proud. The Petunias. -- Dixon, IL, US (food, entertainment, fun, and petunias! through Sunday)

Flag & Anthem Day -- Curacao

Freedom From Fear of Public Speaking Day -- as proposed by Beverly Beuermann-King, because you don't want to blow it when your big opportunity comes because you are afraid to speak out!

I Forgot Day (the day to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or other special days that you forgot during the first half of the year)

National Anisette Day

Palio di Provenzano -- Siena, Italy (horse race and pageant, named after the Madonna di Provenzano, whose church is in Siena)

Rebild Festival/American Independence Day Celebration -- Aalborg, Denmark (the town dresses in red, white and blue, celebrating with BBQ, American beer, and more; through the 4th, with an After Party through the weekend)

Remember to Feed the Hummingbirds Day -- internet reminder to be nice to these beautiful creatures

St. Swithin's Day (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)

The North American Tournament -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (show jumping tournament, through Sunday)

Try to Find Your Slinky Day -- the weird holiday of the day!

Violin Lovers' Day

World UFO Day -- unfortunately, a real day observed by many around the world (on the "anniversary" of the UFO crash in Roswell, if such a thing even happened, which i doubt*)

*i believe that if there's life elsewhere, it shows its intelligence by staying away from us!

Anniversary Today:

Prince Albert of Belgium marries Paola Ruffo di Calabria, 1959

Birthdays Today:

Lindsay Lohan, 1986
Ashley Tisdale, 1985
Johnny Weir, 1984
Jose, Jr., and Ozzie Canseco, 1964
Jimmy McNichol, 1961
Ron Silver, 1946
Vicente Fox Quesada, 1942
Richard Petty, 1937
Polly Holiday, 1937
Dave Thomas, 1932
Medgar Evers, 1925
Dan Rowan, 1922
Ken Curtis, 1916
Thurgood Marshall, 1908
Jean René Lacoste, 1904
Hermann Hesse, 1877
Thomas Cranmer, 1489

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Andy Williams Show"(TV), 1957
"The Lawrence Welk Show"(TV), 1955
"Finlandia"(Sibelius' Op. 26), 1900

Today in History:

Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine, 1698
Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery, 1777
Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19, 1881
Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad, 1893
Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains patent for radio in London, 1897
The first zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1900
Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight 1937
The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas, 1962
North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1976
The AbioCor self contained artificial heart is first implanted, 2001
Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon, 2002
Planetoid Pluto's fourth and fifth moons officially receive the names Kerberos and Styx from the International Astronomical Union, 2013

So i was asking Grandpa, the retired Ob/Gyn, about the recently published study that says healthy women don't need routine pelvic exams.

His take on it was the same as probably most physicians who've found something at a very early stage and prevented problems because of a finding in a routine exam -- unless a woman objects, keep doing them.

This reminded me of a story he still tells, something that happened to him very early in his practice.

Back in the day, the elderly were not considered candidates for surgery most of the time. The idea was that the anesthesia or the strain or whatever would kill them. So when a nurse friend of his asked him to look at her mother, who was having severe abdominal pain, and he found a large mass on her ovary in the pelvic exam, he didn't want to do surgery.

"She's 81, she's lived a good life, it's most likely malignant but there's no use treating it at her age, take her home to say her good-byes," is what he told his friend.

The friend came back a week later and asked him to perform surgery to remove the mass. "My mother is in horrible pain, I can't just watch her suffer. Please, even if she dies in surgery it would be better than this," she told him.

Reluctantly, he did the surgery. Back then, after any surgery, you stayed in the hospital about a week. The mass was encapsulated, it was cancerous, they got all of it, she survived, they kept her in the hospital for a week, and then he sent her home with "I'll see you in 6 months for a check-up." He fully expected her to be gone by then, if not from cancer, then just from age.

Ten years later, she had been coming to him every 6 months for a check-up. This time, though, she told him, "Doc, I love you, you are the best doctor ever, but I won't be seeing you any more. No woman who is 91 years old should have to undergo the indignity of a pelvic exam!"

He told her he disagreed but respected her decision, and she lived five more years. Years in which she got to see her grandchildren grow and have kids of their own. She never became an invalid and was sharp mentally until the end.

From her he learned that, if the person is all there mentally, and is mostly in good health, you can do surgery on the elderly and expect a good outcome. Now, of course, people of all ages have good outcomes from surgery, and the thinking has changed everywhere.

From this recent study, and from what that woman said to him all those years ago, i think you should talk to your own doctor about whether or not to continue with a routine pelvic exam, until you are in your 90s. Then you may pass at your own discretion.

Today is

Air Conditioning Appreciation Days begin -- Northern Hemisphere (around here, they last until Thanksgiving!)

Cherokee Green Corn Ceremony -- honoring maize goddess Selu with thanksgiving for the maize harvest; date approximate, as many towns set their own times to celebrate

Compliment Your Mirror Day -- remind your mirror how great it is to have an owner like you, and look at other mirrors to meet to see if they greet you with a smile

Dipolieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Zeus as god of the city)

Disobedience Day -- internet generated, but if you have a bone to pick, use your civil disobedience today to let it be known!

Distressed Elves' Creditors' Pets' Day -- Fairy Calendar

Dog Days of Summer begin (according to the almanac, but not in all cultures)

Eat Beans Day -- bring the humble legume up to main dish status!

Fiesta del Fuego -- Santiago, Cuba (festival of fire, through the 9th)

Freedom Days -- Farmington, NM, US (the Four Corners region celebrates freedom and The 4th in a big way; through the 6th)

Grand Teton Music Festival -- Teton Village, WY, US (a summer celebration of classical music with the world's finest artists and in the spectacular setting of Jackson Hole, Wyoming; through Aug. 16)

Independence Day -- Belarus(1944)

International Bag Free Day -- working toward a plastic bag free world

Mescalero Apache Ceremonials and Rodeo -- Mescalero Apache Reservation, NM, US (a great way to learn about Native American culture, and including Apache Maidens' Puberty Rites; through the 6th)

National Chocolate Wafer Day

Ottawa Bluesfest -- Ottawa, Canada (12 days of fabulous music)

Red White and Boom -- Columbus, OH, US (the Midwest's largest fireworks display)

Roswell UFO Days -- Roswell, NM, US (tons of stuff for the serious and those who just want to have fun with the whole concept; through Sunday)

Stay Out of the Sun Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; for health's sake, give your skin a break!

St. Thomas the Apostle's Day (Patron of architects, blind people, builders, carpenters, construction workers, geometricians, masons, people in doubt, stonecutters, surveyors, theologians; against blindness, doubt; Certaldo, Italy; Ceylon/Sri Lanka; East Indies; India; Pakistan)

Tom Sawyer Days -- Hannibal, MO, US (frog jumping, mud volleyball, Tom and Becky Contest; parade, Tomboy Sawyer Contest, fireworks, and more, with the highlight being the National Fence Painting Contest; through Sunday)

Virgin Islands Emancipation Day -- US Virgin Islands

Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival -- Greensburg, PA, US (multicultural celebration of food, fine arts, handicrafts, and music from many nations; through Sunday)

Anniversaries Today:

Prince Alois of Liechtenstein marries Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, 1993
Ted Kennedy marries Victoria Anne Reggie, 1992
Idaho becomes the 43rd US State, 1890

Birthdays Today:

Moises Alou, 1966
Thomas Gibson, 1962
Tom Cruise, 1962
Montel Williams, 1956
Alan Autry, 1952
Betty Buckley, 1947
Dave Barry, 1947
Kurtwood Smith, 1942
Tom Stoppard, 1937
Pete Fountain, 1930
Ken Russell, 1927
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, 1908
Franz Kafka, 1883
George M. Cohan, 1878
Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, 1870
Samuel Huntington, 1731(O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"ITV News at Ten"(TV), 1967
"Mister Peepers"(TV), 1952

Today in History

Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792, 987
Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain, 1608
Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret, 1767
Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published, 1767
George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1775
The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens, 1819
The last pair of Great Auks is killed, 1844
Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans, 1848
Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average, 1884
Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile, 1886
The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand, 1886
World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h), 1938
The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad, 1969
First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS, 1981
The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland, 1996
Asteroid 2004 XP14 flies within 432,308 kilometres (268,624 mi) of Earth, 2006
New Zealand sustains a major earthquake, with minor damage reported, 2012
In El Paraiso, Peru, property developers destroy a 4,000-year old pyramid, 2013
In Belgium, King Albert II abdicates his throne to son, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, due to health reasons, 2013

Introducing: SuperLorax!

SuperLorax!

His special super power? Making sure all naps get taken, mostly by him!

To those in the USA, Happy Independence Day! After you eat your BBQ, go take a nap! By order of SuperLorax.

Today is

Action Mesothelioma Day -- UK (bringing "meso" cancer into the spotlight)

American Independence Day Celebration -- Rebild Park, Aalborg, Denmark (yes, really, every year except during the two World Wars, they have celebrated American Independence Day here; as a way of thanking the country that has accepted over 300,000 Danish immigrants, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the countries)

Baal Fire Day -- Whalton, Northumberland, UK (a bonfire, Anglo-Saxon "bael", with traditional morris dancing -- originally a Moorish dance)

Boom Box Parade -- Willimantic, CT, US (dating back to 1985, when no marching band could be found for the Memorial Day parade, five weeks later, the local radio station staged the first Boom Box Parade, in which they play the march music on their station, and marchers carry boom boxes tuned in on the station; it makes for one unique parade!)

Buffalo Bill Day -- he staged his first Wild West show on July 4, 1883

Bullion's Day -- Anglican tradition, the translation of the relics of St. Martin of Bullion; rain today means rain for the next 20 days, according to the legends

Calgary Stampede -- Calgary, AB, Canada (The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth; through the 13th)

Calithumpian Parade -- Biwabik, MN, US (clowns, hilarity and patriotism reign together as the 1,000 citizens of Biwabik put on a show for more than 15,000 guests)

Day of Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Earth at Aphelion -- @00:13 UT (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)

Edmonton International Street Performers Festival -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (the finest street performers anywhere; through the 13th)

Filipino-American Friendship Day -- Philippines; U.S.

Fishermen's Day -- Marshall Islands

Garibaldi Day -- Italy

Independence Day -- US and Territories(1776)

Independence from Meat Day -- don't be a slave to tradition! sponsored by Vegetarian Awareness Network

Jumping on the Mattress Night -- Fairy Calendar

King Tupou VI's Birthday -- Tonga

Montreux Jazz Festival -- Montreaux, Switzerland (a premier jazz event for music lovers from around the world and one of the world's greatest music festivals; through the 19th)

Liberation Day -- Rwanda

National Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day -- US

Old Midsummer Eve -- by the Julian Calendar

Old-Time Fiddlers' Jamboree and Crafts Festival -- Smithville, TN, US (through tomorrow; with 32 categories of old-time bluegrass music!)

Savonlinna Opera Festival -- Savonlinna, Finland (one of Finland's most illustrious and internationally significant cultural events; through Aug. 2)

Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Matsuri -- Shounan City, Kanagawa Prefecture (one of Japan's largest Tanabata festivals; through Sunday)

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day -- you can do this anywhere that it's hot enough, but for the real deal, plan to go to the Solar Egg Frying Contest, held annually on July 4 on old Route 66 in Oatman, Arizona, US, where the rule is you must use solar heat only

St. Elizabeth of Portugal's Day (Patron of brides, charitable societies, charity workers, charities, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, peace, queens, tertiaries, victims of adultery, victims of jealousy, victims of unfaithfulness, widows; invoked in time of war; Coimbra, Portugal)

St. Ulrich's Day (Patron of peaceful deaths, pregnant women, weavers; Augsburg, Germany; Creazzo, Italy; against birth complications, dizziness, faintness, fever, frenzy, mice, moles, vertigo)

Stone Skipping Tournament -- Windermere Pointe Beach, Mackinac Island, Michigan, US (open to all, come skip some stones and have a blast!)

Ways with Words -- Dartington, Devon, England (The UK's most stylish literature festival, through the 14th)

White Cloud's Birthday and Tatanka (Bison) Festival -- National Buffalo Museum, Jamestown, ND, US (annual 4 day celebration of bison and their role in American history, on the birthday of White Cloud, the true albino bison born this day in 1996)

World's Greatest Lizard Races -- Chaparral Park, Lovington, NM, US (cheer the lizards and iguanas as they race down a 16 foot ramp, and yes, trophies will be awarded!)

Anniversary Today

Tuskegee Institute opens, 1881

Birthdays Today

Becky Newton, 1978
Koko, 1971 (gorilla who speaks sign language, and has now taught it to her offspring)
Pamela Howard "Pam" Shriver, 1962
Signy Coleman, 1960
Geraldo Rivera, 1943
George Steinbrenner, 1930
Al Davis, 1929
Gina Lollobrigida, 1927
Neil Simon, 1927
Eva Marie Saint, 1924
Ann Landers, 1918
Abigail Van Buren, 1918
Mitch Miller, 1911
Gloria Stuart, 1910
George Murphy, 1902
Rube Goldberg, 1883
Louis B. Mayer, 1882
George M. Cohan, 1878
Calvin Coolidge, 1872
Stephen Foster, 1826
Hiram Walker, 1816
Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Top 40"(Radio), 1970
"America the Beautiful"(Publication date), 1895

Today in History

A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri; for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, and its remnants form the Crab Nebula, 1054
Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, 1534
The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada), 1634
City of Providence, Rhode Island forms, 1636
The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress, 1776
The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, opens, 1802
The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American public, 1803
Construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York, 1817
The world's first long-distance railway, the Grand Junction Railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, 1837
The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end, 1840
Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, 1845
The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published, 1855
Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, 1862*
The Anglo-Zulu war ends, 1879
The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, 1886
The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia, 1886
Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4, 1892
The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole, 1894
Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race', 1903
African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States, 1910
First flight of the Lockheed Vega, 1927
Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball, 1939
After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States, 1946
The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe, 1950
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, 1966
NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars, 1997
The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1, 2005
The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks, 2009
Discovery of a picture of the Biblical Samson and a Hebrew inscription in an ancient synagogue in the Galilee region of northern Israel is announced, 2012

At the cat shelter, of course.

Yesterday, being Independence Day and a holiday, was certain to be "different," and indeed, it didn't disappoint.

The morning caretakers, those in charge of changing and scooping litter boxes, giving morning medication, and checking up on the place first thing in the day decided not to come. It seems they didn't realize that cats don't take a holiday from doing their business. They are recent volunteers, and had no clue that if they were going to be out of town for a holiday, they needed to let someone know so a sub could be found.

They knew the shelter was closed for the day, so they assumed that meant they had the day off. Gads.

Mid-afternoon, i get a text asking if i can do boxes when i go in to feed and medicate. Everyone had plans for the day, since the place was closed, and someone had taken time to run in, give morning meds, and that was it. Sap that i am, i told Carol i'd take care of it.

Also mid-afternoon, i got a call from Ms. R, the lady who owns The Lorax's parents. She wanted to visit with him. So i agreed to take him up to the shelter and let her spend some quality time with him.

We arrived to find the place looked almost as bad as i had feared, and smelled worse. That's why the non-clumping litter gets dumped and replaced every single day, and the clumping litter gets scooped every day and more added twice a week with the whole box cleaned out after two weeks. The only way to have over 100 cats and kittens in one building without being knocked out with the smell is to stay rigorously on top of all that.

There was also a note stating that Harley was outside and to please try to get him in and to his cage before we left. A Harley who doesn't want to go in is a very snippy critter, so i wasn't looking forward to that. He's bitten me before, and i have no desire for a repeat.

Just as we were getting started, two cars pulled into the parking lot. Stopping to open the door, Ms. R came in, followed by another volunteer and her daughter. They had come to get cat food for their own fosters.

Explaining the mess and smell as best i could, the other volunteer said, "Oh, we're in no hurry. We will help!" Talk about the cavalry! She does Sunday mornings, so she knew the drill.

As Ms. R was oohing and aahing over Lorax, i apologized that i hadn't had time to give him his bath yet this week. She said, "Well, I have to bathe his parents once a week, so I know how. Let me give him a bath while I'm here!"

Just as i got her set up on that, another car pulled up. A nice lady and her daughter wanted to know if the shelter was open. They will be looking to adopt a cat when they get back from vacation, probably in about two weeks. Although i told them we weren't open, i could let them in to look, figuring it was enough of a circus in there that a couple of other people wouldn't hurt.

Showing them that there were two isolation rooms off limits, and apologizing that the bathroom also had a cat in isolation in it, we let them pet and play to their heart's content. They left with a promise to come back, they were very interested in a couple of promising looking younger adults that both are good with dogs, since they have a dog already.

Then Little Girl yelled that Chloe had escaped. That was a problem, as is medicating her. She will take your hand off if she's in a mood, and she was in a mood. Distracting her with a laser pointer, i dripped the medicine she needed on the top of her head straight from the bottle onto the area, hoping i got sufficient coverage, then let her howl and scream like a banshee as she ran and took refuge in one of those covered cave style cat beds. Once she was comfy, i picked up the whole bed from behind, hauled her back to her room, and unceremoniously dumped her in there. She promptly screamed at me, hissed at the other cats, and climbed the walls onto the top shelf. Chloe needs a barn home, poor thing. No people skills at all.

By now we were hitting our stride, scooping boxes, changing boxes, cleaning cages, feeding and watering, and stopping to admire the now clean Lorax, who kept getting away while he was damp and running all over, shaking to get more water off. The other volunteer even did a load of laundry, which is as perpetual there as it is in our house.

The other volunteer also let Harley in, trapped him behind the dryer, and she got him into his cage without getting bitten. More power to her.

By the end of it all, the place was clean and tidy and smelled a whole lot better. Everyone had a nice, clean place to go potty, and being cats, of course they christened each of their boxes as soon as we were done with it. All of them had food and fresh, clean water, and every cat was in the right room/cage, and garbage taken out.

Medications were given, isolated cats were treated last so as not to spread anything, and we went home with a clean and fluffy Lorax. We arrived in time to find a Red-headed Alec was there, along with #1 Son, #2 Son, Young Jacob, and fireworks to set off. The mayhem had just begun.

Clean and fluffy, although he won't stay still so i can get him in focus!

Today is

Alice in Wonderland Day -- on July 5, 1862, Dodgson began writing the adventure story he had told Alice Liddel and her sisters the day before

Bikini Day -- the skimpy suit made its debut on this day in Paris in 1946

Constitution Day -- Armenia

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

Graham Cracker Day -- birth anniversary of inventor of graham flour, the Reverend Sylvester Graham, in 1794

Hop A Park Day -- US (several years ago the Colleyville, Texas, Park and Recreation Commission started this celebration on the first Saturday of July, which is National Parks and Recreation Month; go visit a park today, or make plans to do it soon!)

Independence Day -- Algeria(1962); Cape Verde(1965); Venezuela(1811)

International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship -- Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, WI, US

International Day of Cooperatives -- U.N.

National Apple Turnover Day

National Work-a-holics Day -- we will know it's you if you are all "back to business" after a holiday

Poplifulgia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a ceremony to commemorate the "Flight of the People" when they had to flee enemies)

Rockport Art Festival -- Rockport, TX, US (top artists from around the country line the waterfront today and tomorrow, with good music and good food to add to the fun)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day -- Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Apostles to the Slavs, created the Glagolithic alphabet and translated the Bible into the Slavonic language)

Sts. Grace and Probus' Day (married co-Patrons of Probus, Cornwall, England)

St. Pauls Carnival -- Bristol, England (annual African Caribbean Carnival; a richly multicultural celebration)

The Dam Experience -- Warsaw, MO, US (fireworks viewed from land and boat at the Truman Dam)

Tour de France -- through Sunday, July 27

West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association Anniversary -- Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, ME, US (including US Coast Guard supervised lighthouse tower climbing, for the daring!)

Birthdays Today

Dolly the Sheep, 1996 (first cloned mammal)
Edie Falco, 1963
Huey Lewis, 1951
Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage, 1951
Jackie Robertson, 1944
Eliot Feld, 1942
Shirley Knight, 1936
Katherine Helmond, 1934
Warren Oates, 1928
Janos Starker, 1924
Georges Pompidou, 1911
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1902
Jean Cocteau, 1889
Clara Zetkin, 1857
Cecil Rhodes, 1853
P.T. Barnum, 1810
David Glasgow Farragut, 1801

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica(Publication date), 1687

Today in History

Scotland and France form the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England, 1295
John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland, 1610
Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687
The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England, 1865
Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco, on Bloody Thursday, 1934
Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation, 1937
Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F), 1937
Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League, 1947
National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom, 1948
The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, 1950
William Shockley invents the junction transistor, 1951
The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin, 1954
Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, 1975
Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation, 1998
The SARS virus is declared to be contained by the WHO, 2003
Indonesia holds its first presidential election, 2004
Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, 2009
The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England, 2009
Europe's tallest, habitable, free-standing structure, The Shard, which stands at 1,016 feet (309.6 metres) officially opens in London, England, 2012
In Rome, Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII are canonized by the Vatican, 2013

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs. It's hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's easy to laugh and link up!

Yesterday, Bigger Girl called me on the phone. "Mom, I'm sorry, I know I'm late, but I came here to the church to pick you up after Sunday school, but no one is here!"

Um, sweetheart, i said, today is Saturday.

"What!!!"

You lost a day because Friday was a holiday, i said.

"I'm coming home!" she said in exasperation.

This reminds me of a joke.

Boudreaux an' Clothile din't learn to read until later in life, but when dey did, dey pride demselves on gettin' de big Sunday paper from N'Awlins ever' Sunday. Trosclair, who ran de news stan' in town, would make sure dey got it deliver to dem ever' week, an dey read it all thru' even if it gen'ly took dem mos' of de week.

One Sunday, dey be waitin' for de paper, an de papers from N'Awlins usu'ly get to Trosclair by 9am on de truck, an' he get it out to Boudreaux's house by 10am. By 11, Boudreaux he get mad, an he call Trosclair.

"Trosclair! Mais, what you be up to! Why don' we got our paper!" Boudreaux say.

"Boudreaux, it only be Saturday! You paper will be here tomorrow!" Trosclair say.

"Oh," say Boudreaux. "Dat 'splains why Father Gautreaux din't wan' get up an' say Mass dis mornin'!"

Today is

Abbotsford Berry Beat Festival -- Abbotsford, BC, Canada (enjoy berries at the height of the season, as well as music, clowns, games, a "berried" treasure hunt, and more, through tomorrow)

Birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama / World Tibet Day -- Tibetan Diaspora, to bring awareness to the cause of restoring freedom to Tibet

Build a Scarecrow Day

Buxton Wells Dressing -- Buxton, Derbyshire, England (preserving the 650+ years of traditional "dressing" wells in foliage to thank the patron saint of that well for blessings, now with parades and carnivals; through the 14th)

Buy Yourself a Toy You Always Wanted As a Child Day -- internet sites that list this suggest you then donate it to a child in need

Day of the Capital -- Kazakhstan

Ducktona 500 Family Festival & Car Show-- Sheboygan Falls, WI, US (lots of fun for everyone, culminating in the annual plastic duck race)

Ettelbruck Rememberance Day -- Ettelbruck, Luxembourg (remebrance of Patton's 3rd Army liberating the area from the Nazis)

Feast of Isaiah the Prophet -- Roman Catholic

Fill an Aquarium Day -- they are fun and entertaining; probably spread around the internet by an aficionado who wants to share the love

Independence Day / National Day -- Comoros (1975)

Independence Day / Republic Day -- Malawi (1964)

International Kissing Day / World Kissing Day -- noted everywhere, but not sponsored; that doesn't matter, kiss someone you love today!

Iriya no Asagao-ichi -- Kishibo-Jin Shrine, Taito Ward, Tokyo (morning glory flower festival, buy one for good luck, through the 8th)

Ivan Kupala Day -- Belarus; Poland; Russia; Ukraine (through tomorrow; Feast of St. John the Baptist in Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar)

Jan Hus Day -- Czech Republic

King Mindaugas Day / Statehood Day -- Lithuania

Los Sanfermines -- Pamplona, Spain (bull running, through the 14th; don't be bored, be gored! a part of the San Fermin Festival)

Ludi Apollinares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (first day of games in honor of Apollo; through the 13th)

Millenial Fairy Olympics -- Fairy Calendar (through the 14th)

National Fried Chicken Day

Old Albums are Frisbees Day -- if you have nothing to play them on, and they are scratched anyway, why not?

Ra o te Ui Ariki -- Cook Islands (House of Ariki[Tribal Chief])

St Godelieve of Ghistelles's Day (Patron of difficult marriages, healthy throats, in-law problems, throat diseases, victims of abuse, victims of verbal spouse abuse)

St. Maria Goretti's Day (Patron of children, teen girls, martyrs, poor people, rape victims, young people; Albano, Italy; against poverty, the death of parents)

Tabarka Jazz Festival -- Tabarka, Tunisia (perfect weather for music, workshops, seminars, and performances by local and international artists; through the 14th)

Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day -- because your online business depends on keeping him/her happy and well fed; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Anniversary Today:

Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert (King George V) marries Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary), 1893

Birthdays Today

Matthew O'Leary, 1987
Gregory Smith, 1983
Tia and Tamera Mowry, 1978
Jennifer Saunders, 1958
Kenny G, 1956
Allyce Beasley, 1954
Grant Goodeve, 1952
Hilary Mantel, 1952
Geoffrey Rush, 1951
George W. Bush, 1946
Sylvester Stallone, 1946
Burt Ward, 1945
Ned Beatty, 1937
Dalai Lama, 1935
Della Reese, 1932
Janet Leigh, 1927
Pat Paulsen, 1927
Merv Griffin, 1927
Bill Haley, 1925
William Schallert, 1922
Nancy Reagan, 1921
Sebastian Cabot, 1918
Laverne Andrews, 1915
Frida Kahlo, 1907
Beatrix Potter, 1866
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, 1781
John Paul Jones, 1747

Debuting/Premiering Today:

A Hard Day's Night(Film), 1964
"Name That Tune"(TV), 1953
"Judith"(Play), 1840

Today in History

Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) is crowned King of England, 1189
Papal bull of Pope Clement VI protecting Jews during the Black Death, 1348
Jan Hus is burned at the stake, 1415
Richard III is crowned King of England, 1483
Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River, 1484
Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII, 1535
Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, 1573
The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States, 1785
In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held, 1854
Lyman Reed Blake receives the first patent for a machine to sew the sole of a shoe on to the upper, 1958
Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies; the patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog, 1885
David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of the Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights, 1887
Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain, 1892
The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship, 1919
The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park; the American League defeats the National League, 4–2, 1933
The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed, 1939
Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse, 1942
The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut, 1944
Davis Phinney became the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France, 1986
The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years, 2006
Exiled Tibetans are banned from celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday as Nepalese authorities fear they will turn into anti-Chinese demonstrations, 2011

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's easy to do, just post a picture that makes you say, "Awww!" After all, everyone can use some cute on Monday morning.

It's a hard life being a cat, but these two have found the secret to a good life -- find a place to get comfy!

They is comfy.

Of course, they are also next to the fan and the garbage can on the kitchen floor, right where they are in the perfect position to get tripped over on the way from the pantry to the sink. After all, if you are a cat, you can't get comfy without getting into someone's way!

We are counting down the days, The Lorax has surgery on Wednesday. Also, this week is Vacation Bible School. It's going to be hoppingly busy around here. Sunday evening was spent getting some meals ready to cook later in the week, so i wouldn't be scrambling at dinner time. These two "helped" by standing at my feet and begging. Link helped by getting into the garbage can and devouring raw chicken skin before i could stop him. Crazy thing, i just hope he doesn't get sick from it.

Today is

Aphrodisia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (bathing festival of Aphrodite and Peitho [Persuasion]; date approximate)

Birth Anniversary of Guru Rinpoche -- Bhutan

Bonza Bottler Day

Caricom Day -- Guyana; Saint Vincent and Grenadines

Carnival Monday -- Saint Vincent and Grenadines

Chocolate Day -- no one knows why today, so why not? Enjoy chocolate cereal with chocolate milk for breakfast, some chocolate covered raisins and nuts as a midmorning snack, chocolate milk with lunch, chocolate truffles as a midafternoon snack, chocolate liquer before dinner, chocolate cake for dessert, and sip chocolate coffee any time through the day!

Constitution Day -- Cayman Islands

Global Forgiveness Day -- encouraging "citizens of this global village" to forgive and be forgiven; sponsored by the CECA

Family Day -- Lesotho

Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day -- encouraging fathers to take some special time out with their girls today

Gospel Day -- Kiribati

Heroes Day -- Zambia

Independence Day / National Day -- Solomon Islands(1978)

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival -- Kaustined, Finland (the largest international music festival in the Nordic countries; through Sunday)

Macaroni Day -- it goes with more than just cheese!

National Strawberry Sundae Day

National Transplant Week -- UK (join the organ donor registry, when you don't need your parts any more, someone else will!)

Nones of July -- Ancient Roman Calendar; celebrations on this day included:
     Festival of Feriae Ancillarum -- "Feast of the Serving Women", when female servants dressed up and "attacked" men of free birth with fig boughs; in honor of the serving women who helped free the city of Rome from the Gauls
     Nonae Caprotinae -- "Nones of the Wild Fig", honoring Juno Caprotina with a sacrifice under a wild fig tree
     Parilia -- festival for Pales, god of the herds

Saba Saba Day -- Tanzania (literally "Seven Seven" Day, a/k/a Peasants' Day or Workers' Day, and the biggest day of the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair)
     Maonyesho ya Saba Saba -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam Trade Fair, through July 8)

Sempach Battle Commemoration -- Lucerne, Switzerland (remembrance of the battle in 1386 includes a solemn procession to the battlefield and services in the chapel)

St. Willibald's Day (Patron of Eichstatt, Germany)

Tanabata -- Japan (star festival, 7th day of 7th month; some areas go by lunar calendar, but most larger cities celebrate by the Gregorian Calendar now)

Tell The Truth Day -- a yearly challenge frm Kepa Freeman of Teens Express to go the whole day without telling a lie or saying or doing anything misleading or dishonest

Tynwald Day -- Isle of Man (Manx National Day; assembling of the year's session of the High Court of Tynwald, as their Parliament is called, to read the laws to the citizens; oldest continual parliament in existence)

Unity Factory Day -- Yemen (all workers are encouraged to play at work today, to build team and national unity)

Anniversary Today

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., marries Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, 1946

Birthdays Today

Michelle Kwan, 1980
Cree Summer, 1969
Jorga Fox, 1968
Billy Campbell, 1959
Shelley Duvall, 1949
Ringo Starr, 1940
Doc Severinsen, 1927
Pierre Cardin, 1922
Gian Carlo Menotti, 1911
Robert Heinlein, 1907
Satchel Paige, 1906
Marc Chagall, 1887

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Ryan's Hope"(TV), 1975
"All You Need is Love"(Single release), 1967
Waverly(Novel, publication date), 1814
"Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate"(Canticles, HWV 278 & 279), 1713

Today in History

A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death, 1456
Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland, 1575
United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $300, 1863
An International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashes near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15, 1915
Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri; it is described as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped", 1928
Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident, 1947
Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere, 1959
In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English language throughout the Federal government, 1969
Sharia is instituted in Iran, 1980
Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov, 1983
The Western Black Rhinoceros is declared extinct due to poaching, 2006
In efforts to avoid food shortages and political oppression, South Korea begins work on a new facility to house North Korean refugees, 2011

When Bigger Girl finally realized it was Saturday, not Sunday, and came home, i asked her about her Independence Day with her friends.

"It was great! We all went down to the levee for the fireworks, even Vera!"

Wait a minute, i asked. Vera, the veteran of the Afghan War?

"Yep! My favorite shell-shocked, Kentucky Fried Soldier, who watches "My Little Pony" episodes to de-stress. She has PTSD, but she loved the fireworks. When she knows to expect explosions like that, they don't upset her at all. We all sat out there and watched and had a great time. It was on the way home that we had trouble."

What happened?

"Well, the people down there had their own fireworks, too, which is illegal. But anyway, they were setting them off all over the place as we were driving home, even shooting them across the roads at each other! Mom, they were having fireworks wars! And get this, there were police all over, but they didn't even try to stop them. Too many of them, I guess.

"Vera really did start to freak out a bit then, and I don't blame her, so we got out of the area as fast as we could once the show was over. But I wish Sammy had been there. She can calm down anyone, she's amazing!"

That's a shame that she got scared like that at the end. But other than that, it was a good night? And where was Sammy?

"It sure was, and she calmed down pretty quickly once we got away from the crazies. Sammy had to work, her boss needed her.

"It does make me wonder sometimes how bad things were over there for Vera. She says she had roadside bombs go off near her several times."

Trust me, you don't want to experience any of it first hand, i noted soberly. And considering that these people are going to set off fireworks they buy in the next parish, legal or not, you need to be prepared if you go to the show on the levee.

"We will be. Next time, we'll take Sammy."

Today is

Carnival Tuesday -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Celtic Tree Month Tinne begins (Holly)

Feast of St. Sunniva (Ancient Norse solar maiden Sunna's worship around this time of year was merged with the story of this medieval saint; Patron of Bergen, Norway and the Norwegian west coast)

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show -- Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, England (the world's largest flower show; through Sunday)

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod -- Eisteddfod Field, Llangollen, Benbigshire, North Wales, UK (Six days of the best music and folk dance, and all the world in one place; through Sunday)

Math 2.0 Day -- celebrating the intermingling of math with technologyhttp://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/events

Nagoya Sumo Tournament -- Nagoya, Japan (one of the 6 major tournaments; through the 22nd)

National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

Old Crafts Day -- it's listed in a few places, but i can't find the history; Old time crafts, or old crafts you've had sitting around the house and never gotten done? If you have the latter, do them or toss them!

Olive Branch Petition Day -- the final attempt, by the 13 Colonies, to avoid a complete break with England in 1775

SCUD Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama) -- a good habit, on every day

Senior Citizens' Day -- Kiribati

Soapy Smith Wake -- held simultaneously in 4 locations: Skagway, AK, US; Hollywood, CA, US; Denver, CO, US; Chicago, IL, US (held by Soapy Smith Preservation Trust and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith, preserving the memory of one of the Wild West and Alaskan Gold Rush's most notorious con men, killed in a gunfight this day in 1898)

Sts. Aquila and Prisca's Day

St. Kilian's Day (Patron of people with gout or rheumatism, whitewashers; Bavaria, Germany; Paderborn, Germany; Tuosist, Ireland; Wurzburg,Germany)

Unity Day -- Zambia

Uniwaine / Unaine Day -- Kiribati (Senior Citizens' Day, specifically Elderly Men's Day / Elderly Women's Day)

Video Games Day -- do they really need a day?

Vitulatio -- Ancient Roman Calendar (when Vitula was given the first fruits of the earth)

Ziegfeld Follies Day -- his first "Follies of 1907" opened on this day

Anniversary Today:

Prince Richard of Gloucester marries Birgitte Eva van Deurs, 1972

Birthdays Today

Jaden Smith, 1998
Sophia Bush, 1982
Milo Ventimiglia, 1977
Kathleen Robertson, 1973
Beck Hansen, 1970
Billy Crudup, 1968
Toby Keith, 1961
Kevin Bacon, 1958
Christopher G. Moore, 1952
Marianne Williamson, 1952
Anjelica Huston, 1951
Wolfgang Puck, 1949
Kim Darby, 1948
Raffi, 1948
Cynthia Gregory, 1946
Jeffrey Tambor, 1944
Steve Lawrence, 1935
Marty Feldman, 1933
Roone Arledge, 1931
Billy Eckstine, 1914
Nelson Rockefeller, 1908
Louis Thomas Jordan, 1908
Philip Cortelyou Johnson, 1906
Alfred Binet, 1857
John D. Rockefeller, 1839
Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 1838
Etienne De Silhouette, 1709

Today in History

Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India, 1497
Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island, 1663
Battle of Restigouche – British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France, 1760
The Olive Branch Petition is drafted by the Second Continental Congress as the Congress' last attempt to get King George III of Great Britain to reason with them, 1775
The Declaration of Independence has its first public reading, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell is rung, 1776
Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom, 1822
Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay, 1853
The initial force of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin their March West, 1874
The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published, 1889
St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22, 1932
The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF), 1948
Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act, 1970
The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities, 1992
NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance, membership to become effective in two years, 1997
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, 2011
Pope Francis condemns the 'global indifference' to the plight of immigrants who have drowned trying to reach Europe, 2013
The mission of the NASA Curiosity Mars rover begins, 2013

An Answered Prayer

Feline Friday: Puzzle

McYummy

Silly Sunday: Shut Eye / Shut Mouth?

Awww Monday: Caught!

And it never did rain.

Where You Left Them, Of Course.

Calling Art Linkletter

Feline Friday: Playing With Your Food

Patience, Grasshopper.

Silly Sunday: Kids in Church

Awww Monday: Brother From Another Mother

Squared.

How far in?

Indignity.

Our Own Independence Day Superhero!

Typical Holiday Madness

Silly Sunday: When?!!!

Awww Monday: We has a comfy.

A "Mostly" Good Time