messymimi's meanderings

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

Kida the Mosquito, who is always buzzing around, is the Cat Emeritus here, and she would like your attention, please.

Attention, right here!

As you can clearly see, her favorite bowl is empty of the delectable canned morsels she has come to deserve because of her age and health status. This cannot and must not be allowed to continue, and is to be dealt with immediately by the human servants, who are to fill this bowl NOW!

And she means it!

Today is:

Apple Butter Stirrin' -- Coshocton, OH, US (bluegrass music, crafts, family fun, and best of all, apple butter; through Sunday)

Black Poetry Day -- birth anniversary of the USA's first published black poet, Jupiter Hammon (some sites say this is on the 3rd Friday of October each year)

Dessalines Day -- Haiti

Doburoku Matsuri -- Oita Prefecture, Japan (one of the few sake festivals at a shrine; through tomorrow)

Fall Festival of Leaves -- Ross County, OH, US (celebrate the beauty of nature and of the arts of the region; through Sunday)

Fantasy Fest -- Key West, FL, US (a ten day costume party for grown-ups)

Festival of Hengest -- Asatru (approximate date of the Norse celebration of Hengest and Horsa, who fought to establish Norse settlements in Eastern Britain)

Four Prunes Day (only if you dare!)

Gaudy Day a/k/a Wear Something Gaudy Day

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- UN

Large Fairies Come First Day -- Fairy Calendar (because the rest of the year they let the little ones go first)

Loyalty Day -- Argentina

Mammography Day -- the third Friday of Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Missouri Day Festival -- Trenton, MO, US (parade, baby show, flea market, entertainment, and fun; through Sunday)

Mulligan Day -- C. Daniel Rhodes wants you to give yourself or someone else a free do-over today

National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day -- because we really do need to make cleaner choices

National Pasta Day

Paint a Mural on a Sidewalk Day -- let your inner child go a bit wild

Stephen Foster Quilt Show and Sale -- Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, FL, US (fun for quilters, and quilt lovers; through Sunday)

St. Ignatius of Antioch's Day (Patron of the Church in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa; against throat diseases)

St. Richard Gwin's Day (Patron of large families, parents of large families, torture victims)

Wisconsin Dells Autumn Harvest Fest -- Wisconsin Dells, WI, US (includes a scarecrow stuffing contest, pumpkin decorating, microbrew tasting, and more; through Sunday)

Work on Your Charisma Day -- because what else are you going to do today?

World Student Day -- International Fellowship of Evangelical Students

Anniversaries Today:

Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is founded, 1919
Composer Johann S. Bach marries his niece Maria Bach, 1707
Crown Prince Fernando of Aragon marries Princess Isabella of Castile, 1469

Birthdays Today:

Eminem, 1972
Ermie Els, 1969
Norm MacDonald, 1963
Richard Roeper, 1959
Alan Jackson, 1958
Mae Jemison, 1956
Howard Rollins, 1950
Margot Kidder, 1948
George Wendt, 1948
Michael McKean, 1947
Ronn Owens, 1945
Evel Knievel, 1938
Beverly Garland, 1926
Jimmy Breslin, 1930
Tom Poston, 1921
Montgomery Clift, 1920
Rita Hayworth, 1918
Arthur Miller, 1915
Albino Luciani, Pope John Paul I, 1912
Jean Arthur, 1905
Spring Byington, 1893
Buck Ewing, 1859
Jupiter Hammon, 1711

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical"(Musical), 1967
"The Hollywood Squares"(TV), 1966
"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"(Musical), 1965
"Chayka/The Seagull"(Chekhov play), 1896
"Don Sanche"(Liszt opera), 1825

Today in History:

King Cyrus the Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon and releases the Jews from their 70 years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration, BC539
Battle of Neville's Cross, the defeat of King David II of Scotland by Edward III of England, 1346
German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus, 1604
Boston blacks petition the legislature for equal school facilities, 1787
The political rights of Jews are suspended in the Duchy of Warsaw, 1808
Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie), 1888
Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Clifden, Ireland, 1907
Albert Einstein arrives in the US as a refugee from Nazi Germany, 1933
The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria, England, 1956
Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra, 1964
Botswana and Lesotho join the United Nations, 1966
Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group, 1970
OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria, 1973
Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1979
The pinnacle is fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, making it the World's tallest highrise, 2003
Australia's first Saint, Mary MacKillop, is canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, 2010
Astronomers confirm the identification of the nearest planet outside of our solar system, orbiting Alpha Centauri B, 2012

While i was grateful that my girls took care of the Friday night shelter duties the last two weeks, it was good to get back to the madhouse.

Yes, sometimes the place is a madhouse.

There's one room that has seven half-grown kittens isolated for sneezing. They all sound like Kida when she has a stuffy nose, and those kittens have a bad tendency to climb on your back if you bend over. In order to medicate them, you have to put your back to the wall and slide down, grab a kitten, come up and stand with your back against the wall and the kitten at your side on the shelf, and get the pill down its throat that way. Or you can just take your chances, and get claws in your back just when you are getting another kittens mouth open.

One precious little darling is showing symptoms of feline leukemia virus. She craves affection and attention, and we can't hold her for fear of passing that horrible virus on to other cats, and if her test comes back positive, she will have to be euthanized. It's sad, and it's especially sad to have to tell teen workers who want to play with her that they can't.

There are two people who frequently come over with the special needs teens they care for during the week. The teens like to help by washing out carriers and sweeping floors, and after each bit of work, they get to go into a room and pet all the cats in there. It's a great deal for us, as work gets done and cats get socialized, and a great deal for the guardians of these teens, who see it as an easy and low cost way to keep them entertained. Also the promise of getting to go "play with the cats" will often get these teens to cooperate more when they don't want to do their other therapies. Yes, our cats are used as bribes!

Ringworm problems continue, but not at quite so great a scale as before. There are fewer active cases, and only one of the large kitten cages has kittens who may have been exposed to ringworm. Meanwhile, i think all of ours are over it, except for #1 Son's Enigma SissyCat. She overgrooms anyway, and has a spot that i'm now treating for ringworm that she won't leave alone. If she isn't better by Monday, she will get a vet appointment and, most likely, oral antifungal medication and a cone of shame.

The shelter has had and continues to have its share of spoiled cats, too. Right now, Glenda is high on that list. She was adopted from our shelter as a kitten back in 2006, and her owner is recently deceased.

(We have a policy that asks that if you ever can't care for your cat you adopted from us, return it. Also we ask that you have in your final instructions that the cat is to come back to us in case of your demise. Your next-of-kin may ask to keep the cat, but we want to make sure they will provide as good a home as you did. We've never denied anyone yet. Many next-of-kin don't want or can't take on another animal, as with Glenda, so they go back up for adoption.)

Glenda is very shy right now. She went nuts when put in a colony room, so she is allowed to be out with the other three cats that roam most areas of the shelter. She will only eat a specific brand and flavor of canned cat food, and it has to be the shredded kind. She must be fed in one specific spot, and she hides under the isolation cages and darts out to snatch a bite from her bowl, then ducks back under. Shy and spoiled rotten! But she's also beautiful, so i hope she calms down and gets another good home.

Anyway, it was nice to be back in kitty central, with adoptions going on and volunteers in and out and even with the ringworm and sneezes and cats that hide, it's a good kind of busy.

Today is:

A Community Affair -- Menomonee Falls, WI, US (country lunch, arts, crafts, and collectibles, quilt raffle, and more)

Adai Caddo Indian Nation Pow Wow -- Robeline, LA, US (a fabulous way to learn about Native American culture in north Louisiana)

Alaska Day -- Alaska, US

Anti-Slavery Day -- yes, there are still slaves in this world, find out how to help them herewww.antislavery.org/english/

Autumn Historic Folklife Festival -- Hannibal, MO, US (Tom Sawyer's hometown celebrates the heritage and traditions of the 1800s; through tomorrow)

Bridge Day -- New River Gorge Bridge, Fayetteville, WV, US (world's biggest extreme sports event)

Clean Water Act Day -- US (considered by many a day to give thanks for water and open any who are grateful for clean water)

Deutsch Country Days -- Marthasville, MO, US (authentic recreation of early German life in Missouri; through tomorrow)

Hard Boiled Guy/B-Girl Day -- on the anniversary of the general release of The Maltese Falcon (initial release was in NYC on Oct. 3)http://hardnosedsleuth.blogspot.com/2010/10/hard-boiled-guyb-girl-day.html

Independence Day -- Azerbaijan(1991)

King Look Under Your Mattress's Unique Hiding Display -- Fairy Calendar (Finally! Proof, on the internet, that you do, indeed, need to look under the mattress!)

Monster Mash Day -- Bogue Falaya Park, Covington, LA, US (annual fundraiser for the St. Tammany Parish Hospital Parenting Center, with a day of fun for everyone)

Nagoya Festival -- Nagoya, Japan (biggest festival in the city; through tomorrow)

National Chocolate Cupcake Day

National Statistics Day -- Japan

No Beard Day -- internet generated, a day to shave, which is illogical in the northern hemisphere, with winter coming

Old Farmers Day -- Loranger, LA, US (through tomorrow; learn how farmers used to live)

Pandrosus Festival -- Ancient Greek Calendar (all-refreshing goddess, or all-dewy one; date approximate)

Persons Day -- Canada (Marking the ruling that women are persons in 1929.)

Procession of the Lord of Miracles (Senor de los Milagros) -- Lima, Peru (Christian celebration of the Lord's miracles, with song, dance, prayers, and parades; through tomorrow and again on the 28th)

Quincy Preserves Fall Architectural Tour -- Quincy, IL, US

Rattlesnake Festival and Gopher Races -- San Antonio, TX, US (wild animal fun, Texas style; through tomorrow)

Roseland Cottage Fine Arts & Crafts Festival -- Woodstock, CT, US (one of the leading juried shows in New England; through tomorrow)

Saint Mary's County Oyster Festival -- Leonardtown, MD, US (oysters served every style; through tomorrow)

St. Luke's Day (The Evangelist; Patron of artists, bachelors/unmarried men, bookbinders, brewers, butchers, doctors/physicians/surgeons, glass makers/glasswrkers, gold workers/goldsmiths, lacemakers/lace workers, notaries, painters, sculptors, stained glass workers, Worshipful Company of Painters; Capena, Italy; Hermersdorf, Germany)

Sweetest Day -- begun by Herbert Birch Kingston, a candy company employee who decided it would be wonderful to distribute candy to the sick, shut-ins and orphans in Cleveland, OH; today is the day to do something for someone that makes him/her say, "Oh, that is so sweet!"

Watch a Squirrel Day -- internet generated, and different from squirrel appreciation day in January

Woolly Worm Festival -- Banner Elk, NC, US (woolly bear caterpillars race up 3-ft pieces of string, winner gets to predict the severity of the upcoming winter; through tomorrow)

World Menopause Day -- sponsored by the International Menopause Society

World Toy Camera Day -- originally sponsored here, but they seem to not have updated in 2014www.wtcd.org

Yorktown Victory Day -- VA, US

Anniversaries Today:

Women in Military Service for America Memorial is dedicated, 1997
University of Heidelberg opens, 1386

Birthdays Today:

Zac Efron, 1988
Freida Pintoo, 1984
Lindsey Vonn, 1984
Vincent Spano, 1962
Wynton Marsalis, 1961
Erin Moran, 1960
Jean-Claude Van Damme, 1960
Martina Navratilova, 1956
Pam Dawber, 1951
Terry McMillan, 1951
Ntozake Shange, 1948
Joe Morton, 1947
Laura Nyro, 1947
Mike Ditka, 1939
Dawn Wells, 1938
Peter Boyle, 1935
George C. Scott, 1927
Chuck Berry, 1926
Melina Mercouri, 1923
Jesse Helms, 1921
Melina Mercouri, 1920
Anita O'Day, 1919
Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1919
James David Brooks, 1906
A.J. Liebling, 1904
Lotte Lenya, 1900
Henri Bergson, 1859
Salomon Auguste Andree, 1854
Giovanni Antonio Canaletto, 1697

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Once on This Island"(Play), 1990
"Roseanne"(TV), 1988
"Raisin"(Musical), 1973
The Jungle Book(Disney animated film), 1967
"The Apple Tree"(Musical), 1966
“The Yellow Kid Takes a Hand at Golf”(the first actual newspaper comic strip telling a continuing story, as opposed to a single cartoon panel, in American Humorist), 1897
"De Unges Forbund/The League of Youth"(Ibsen play), 1869
"Prometheus"(Liszt S.99), 1855

Today in History:

Pappus of Alexandria, Greek philosopher, observes an eclipse of the sun and writes a commentary on The Great Astronomer (Almagest), 320
Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, 1009
Battle of Assadun (Ashingdon), Danes defeat Saxons, 1016
Basel, Switzerland is destroyed by the Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, 1356
Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts in feudal Japan, 1561
The shoemakers of Boston form the first labor organization in the Colonies/US, 1648
The Mason/Dixon line is agreed upon, 1767
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London, 1851
The US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, for $7.2 million, 1867
Edison makes electricity available for household use, 1878
John Owen becomes the first formally timed person to run 100 yd dash in under 10 seconds, 1890
United States takes possession of Puerto Rico, 1898
The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded, 1922
The Grand Ole Opry opens in Nashville, Tennessee, 1925
Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio, 1954
The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet, 1967
Azerbaijan becomes independent from the USSR, 1991
After 8 years in exile, Benazir Bhutto returns to her homeland Pakistan, 2007

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's the place to come for weekly laughs, and it's easy to do. Laugh and Link Up! and join the fun.

Last night was to be spent babysitting.

Then the whole day was shanghaied. The lady whose house i clean needed someone to take the two youngest kids, so i went over.

The two youngest boys are 7 and 9. When i ran errands with them, they got a huge kick out of Jalopy, my old van. They had to shut the doors hard, which they aren't allowed to do with their own vehicles. When they didn't shut the door hard enough, i would go to that side of the car and kick it to get it to close, which had them thrilled to see me kicking the van. They'd never had an experience like that riding in the nicer vehicles their parents always have.

During dinner, they kept leaning toward each other and giggling and laughing. When i asked what was going on, the younger said, "He's farting!" and they both laughed like they'd never heard anything funnier in their lives.

In fact the older was passing gas, "So hard it's lifting me out of the chair!" he said, bringing on more laughter.

Their youthful enjoyment of bodily functions and giggling like mad ended up in a joke telling session, kid style.

What do you call a dinosaur that doesn't take baths?
Stink-o-saurus!

Why do fish live in salt water?
Because pepper makes them sneeze!

What do cows read with their breakfast?
The Mooospaper!

What did the toast wear to bed?
His pa-JAM-as!

What did one eye say to the other?
Don't look now, but something between us smells!

Why won't cannibals eat clowns?
Because they taste funny!

These kids know a lot of silly jokes, which reminds me of young Tee Boudreaux and his youthful exuberance.

Tee was just at the age where boys become interested in girls, a little older than these two. He got a crush on his teacher, Ms. Melancon.

One day, after school, he got up the courage to go and tell Ms. Melancon how he felt, and he asked her to marry him.

"Oh, Tee," Ms. Melancon said, "that is so sweet of you! But you are so young and you are my student, so I couldn't think of marrying you. After all, at your young age you wouldn't want to be having children of your own!"

"Oh, dat won't be no problem, Ms. Melancon!" Tee said, "I'd be careful!"

Today is:

Armilustrium -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival of Mars)

Bettara-Ichi -- Ebisu Shrine, Tokyo, Japan (Pickle Market Fair, enjoy the pickled radishes, a specialty; through tomorrow)

Constitution Day -- Niue

Dita e Lumturimit te Nene Terezes -- Albania (Mother Teresa Day)

Evaluate Your Life Day -- a day to make sure your life is heading where you want, and course correct if it isn't; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Greasy Spoon Day -- internet generated, a day to go revel in the love of your favorite greasy spoon diner

International Human Rights Day -- Turks and Caicos Islands

National Seafood Bisque Day

Pastoral Care Week begins -- honoring all clergy who provide spiritual help and care, they need recognition and care themselves; this year's theme is "Spiritual Well-Being"

Respiratory Care Week begins -- recognizing the respiratory care profession and promoting awareness of lung health issues

Samora Machel Day -- Mozambique

Seeking of King Look Under Your Mattress -- Fairy Calendar

St. Frideswide's Day (Patron of Oxford and the University of Oxford)

St. Rene Goupil's Day (Patron of anesthetists, anesthesiologists)

Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day

Yabusame Festival -- Koyama, Japan (horseback archery, samurai costumes and dragons, oh, my!)

Birthdays Today:

Jason Reitman, 1977
Ty Pennington, 1965
Evander Holyfield, 1962
Jeannie C. Riley, 1945
John Lithgow, 1945
Patricia Ireland, 1945
Simon Ward, 1941
Michael Gambon, 1940
Peter Max, 1937
Robert Reed, 1932
John Le Carre, 1931
Jack Anderson, 1922
Auguste Lumiere, 1862
Annie S. Peck, 1850
Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, 1748
Thomas Browne, 1605 (O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Rothschilds"(Musical), 1970
"The Miracle Worker"(Play), 1959
"I Remember Mama"(Play), 1944
"Pomp and Circumstance Marches"(Elgar Op. 39), 1901
"Tannhauser und der Sangerkrieg auf Wartburg/Tannhauser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg"(Wagner opera), 1845

Today in History:

Battle of Zama, Scipio Africanus and his Roman legions defeat Hannibal Barca and the invading Carthagian army, BC202
King Gauseric and his Vandals take the city of Carthage, 439
The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Treaty of Thorn, 1466
Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology, 1512
The first general court is held in Boston, 1630
Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2PM, end of the US Revolutionary War, 1781
Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow, 1812
Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to receive a medical degree, 1849
The first 4 blacks are elected to the US House of Representatives, 1870
The USPS first used an automobile to collect and deliver mail, 1914
Streptomycin, the first antibiotic which could treat tuberculosis, is isolated at Rutgers University, 1943
Black Monday - the Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points, 1987
Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II, 2003
Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity, 2005
Hurricane Wilma becomes the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb, 2005
Naheed Nenshi becomes the first Muslim in Canada to be elected mayor, in Calgary, 2010

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. Since we could all stand to start our week with a smile, this is the place to post those cute pictures that make you say, "Awww!"

#2 Son isn't the only one of my kids who knows his way around the kitchen, although he's the only one planning a career in cooking.

Little Girl loves to bake and decorate cookies, as well as make pies and other sweet treats. Her Halloween cookies taste good and make you smile before you ever take a bite!

While decorating, and someone couldn't resist eating half a ghost!

Smile big1

Happy bat!

Don't you want one now?

Today is:

Birth of the Bab -- Baha'i

Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day -- actually a good idea

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (second day of the festival0
Kukur Tihar/Kukur Puja -- Day of Dogs

Feast of Agios Gerasimos -- Kefalonia, Greece (celebration of the patron saint of this Ionian island, with religious services followed by dancing and feasting)

Feast of No Excuse For A Feast Day -- internet generated, if you have no other excuse to celebrate something today, use this one

Festival of Ebisu -- Japan (the laughing god, who is the only one available this month, as the 8 million other gods of the pantheon gather at the Grand Shrine of Izumo; traditionally on 20th day of 10th month of the lunisolar calendar)

Hurricane Thanksgiving Day -- US Virgin Islands (only celebrated if no major storms have come through that year)

Installation of Scriptures as Guru Granth -- Sikh

International Adjust Your Chair Day -- because you need to check at least once a year to make sure your chair has you in an ergonomically correct position

International Juan Valdez Appreciation Day -- internet generated, yet as we sip our morning wake up brew, let's remember the hardy souls who pick the beans for us!

Mashujaa Day -- Kenya (National Day/Kenyatta Day)

Miss American Rose Day -- with online only pageants devoted to high achievement and community service for girls and women of all ages, Miss American Rose suggests treating all women in your life like beautiful roses and performing community service with them

National Brandied Fruit Day

National Day on Writing -- US (sponsored by National Council of Teachers of English)

National Heroes Day -- Jamaica

Revolution Day -- Guatemala

Seeking of King Look Under Your Mattress -- Fairy Calendar

St. Acca's Day (Patron of learning)

Suspenders Day -- probably begun by the same people who wanted to see if you would observe Wear Something Gaudy Day and Dress Like A Dork Day

World Osteoporosis Day -- International Osteoporosis Foundation

Anniversaries Today:

Clint Black marries Lisa Hartman, 1991
William Shatner marries Marcy Lafferty, 1973
The Sydney Opera House opens, 1973
Aristotle Onassis marries Jacqueline Kennedy, 1968

Birthdays Today:

John Krasinski, 1979
Dann Gillen, 1967
Viggo Mortensen, 1958
Danny Boyle, 1956
Keith Hernandez, 1953
Tom Petty, 1953
Melanie Mayron, 1952
Tom Petty, 1950
Jerry Orbach, 1935
William Christopher, 1932
Mickey Mantle, 1931
Joyce Brothers
Art Buchwald, 1925
Fayard Nicholas, 1914
Bela Lugosi, 1882
Charles Ives, 1874
Charles Dewey, 1859
James Robert Mann, 1856
Arthur Rimbaud, 1854
Christopher Wren, 1632

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Six Million Dollar Man"(TV), 1973
"No Time for Sergeants"(Play), 1955
"Vor Sonnenaufgang/Before Sunrise"(Hauptmann play), 1889

Today in History:

The first Crusaders arrive at Antioch, 1097
The city of Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace), Bolivia, is founded, 1548
Battle of sekigahara sets Tokugawa clan as Japan's Shoguns, 1600
Maria Theresa of Habsburg becomes ruler of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia, 1740
Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy, 1781
US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase, 1803
The U.S. and U.K. sign the Convention of 1818, which, among other things settles the U.S. - Canada border at the 49th parallel for most of its length, 1818
First Edition of London Sunday Times, 1822
Lincoln formally establishes Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the US, on the 4th Thursday of November each year, 1864
P.T. Barnum's Hippodrome featuring "The Greatest Show on Earth" opens in NYC, 1873
The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched, 1910
The first Negro League World Series is held, the KC Monarchs shut out the Hilldales, 5-0, 1924
United States of America and Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time, 1947
The Nepal Stock Exchange collapses, 1971
The Sydney Opera House opens, 1973
BM-PC DOS Version 2.1 released, 1983
US accuses Microsoft of violating law by forcing IE browser on computers, 1997
European astronomers announce the discovery of 32 extrasolar planets, 2009
Atronomers announce that galaxy UDFy-38135539 is the most distant object observed from Earth, around 30 billion light-years, 2010
Muammar Gaddafi, and his son Mutassim Gaddafi are killed shortly after the Battle of Sirte, 2011

Some days are like that, good and crazy. Like yesterday.

It started crazy, with Cicero not wanting to go into gear for Bigger Girl, who needed to go get a replacement Social Security Card. Yes, she lost her second one. Anyway, it took both of us to get Cicero to cooperate, but we finally managed.

It got good, or maybe even great, with news from The Big Boss. Even though he's not at that job any more, i still call him that because i work for him and Sweetie helps run errands for him.

Anyway, yesterday was The Big Boss' day in court with the lady who sued him and forced him to resign from his job. He won! She was found to have absolutely no case, and unless she can come up with more evidence in the next 30 days, which she can't, it's over.

He can decide to counter sue her for defamation of character, and he would win, although it would be a moral victory only. Either way, he has been vindicated, and i hope the newspapers that were so quick to take her suit and slam him with it will now report that she lost because she really had no case. We will see, somehow i doubt they will bother. It's not sensational enough.

Then the day got crazy with another call from The Big Boss. He and Ms. P have been invited out of town, and her soon-to-be-ex was supposed to care for the kids while they were gone. He has, as usual, flaked.

So i was called and asked if i would babysit from Wednesday morning through Friday morning, taking them to school, picking them up, feeding them, getting homework and baths and etc. done, and doing my usual weekly cleaning on those days.

Of course, i said yes, and i hope they have their internet fixed by then, or those kids are going to find themselves at the library or Starbucks for a time each day as i post.

Also, Thursday is Sweetie's birthday, so he will be taking his brother out to dinner that night (it's a twin thing). He will also come visit me at Ms. P's house each day, and i'm going to get Little Girl and him to come watch the kids for two hours Wednesday evening while i go to prayer service. Friday morning i will just have to miss Bible study, i'm sorry to say, but it's the nature of the job.

The Big Boss, bless him, is talking about me coming so he can show me how to get the kids and where to go and what to do. It's so funny! As i told him, i remember the drill, and i still take my own youngest to school most days (although Bigger Girl will do it on Thursday and Friday this week).

It's going to be interesting, that's for sure.

Today is:

Apple Day -- U.K. (to inspire local orchard revival and celebrate local varieties)

Antillean Day -- Bonaire; Curacao; Saba; St. Eustatius

Armed Forces Day -- Honduras (Dia de las Fuerzas Armadas)

Babbling Day -- an internet generated day for Blatherskites

Caramel Apple Day -- US (leave it to the US to add sugar!)

Count Your Buttons Day -- whoever came up with this one needs to count his marbles maybe?

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (3rd day of the festival)
Gai Tihar and Laxmi Puja -- Day of Cows and Laxmi (goddess of wealth; day three of the festival)

Egyptian Naval Day -- Egypt

Garbanzo Bean Day

Global Iodine Deficiency Disorder Prevention Day

Humble Yourself By Having Your Picture Made Wearing A Bicycle Helmet Day -- no comment

Hurricane Bebe Day -- Funafuti, Tuvalu (commemoration of the destruction by this hurricane in 1972)

Independence Day -- Marshall Islands(1986)

International Day of the Nacho -- Mexico; U.S.

Jailhouse Rock Day -- Elvis' song hit #1 today in 1957

National Nurses Day -- Thailand

National Nut Day -- UK(urging everyone to swap a burger for delicious and nutritious nuts, at least on this one day)

National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day

Overseas Chinese Day -- Taiwan (Republic of China)

President Ndadaye Day -- Burundi

Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity -- www.silentday.org

Reptile Awareness Day -- hooray for snakes and turtles! and lizards, don't forget lizards, and gators, and...

Seeking of King Look Under Your Mattress -- Fairy Calendar

St. John of Bridlington's Day (Patron against complications in childbirth)

St. Ursula's Day (Patron of educators/teachers, holy death, schoolchildren, students; British Virgin Islands; Catholic education, especially of girls; Cologne, Germany; University of Paris)

Trafalgar Day -- British Empire (noted, but no longer an officially holiday)

Anniversaries Today:

Juan Peron marries actress Evita (María Eva Duarte), 1945

Birthdays Today:

Jeremy Miller, 1976
Ken Watanabe, 1959
Carrie Fisher, 1956
Benjamin Netanyahu, 1949
Elvin Bishop, 1942
Judge Judy Sheindlin, 1942
Frances Fitzgerald, 1940
Ursula K. LeGuin, 1929
Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford, 1928
Celia Cruz, 1925
Joyce Randolph, 1925
Dizzy Gillespie, 1917
Georg Solti, 1912
Edwin Myers "Ted" Shawn, 1891
Will Carleton, 1845
Alfred Nobel, 1833
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Butterflies are Free"(Play), 1969
"Orphee aux enfer/Orpheus in the Underworld"(Offenbach operetta), 1858

Today in History:

Sultan Kilidj Arslan of Nicea defeats 1st Crusaders, 1096
Martin Luther joins the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg., 1512
Ferdinand Magellen arrives at Tierra Del Fuego (Pacific Ocean), 1520
Sea battle at Dunes, Lt Admiral Maarten Tromp defeats Spanish Armada under De Oquendo, 1639
First display of the word "Liberty" on a flag, raised by colonists in Taunton, Massachusetts and which was in defiance of British rule in Colonial America, 1774
US Navy frigate Constitution, Old Ironsides, launched in Boston, 1797
Battle of Trafalgar, Adm Nelson defeats French & Spanish fleet & dies, 1805
The Penang Free School is founded in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, by the Rev Hutchings. It is the oldest English-language school in Southeast Asia, 1816
Joseph Aspdin patents Portland cement (Yorkshire England), 1824
Thomas Edison perfects carbonized cotton filament light bulb, 1879
First transatlantic radiotelephone message, Arlington, Va to Paris, 1915
Women are allowed to vote in France for the first time, 1945
Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers from the sun, 1965
The European Patent Institute is founded, 1977
The metre is defined at the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second, 1983
Images of the dwarf planet Eris are taken and subsequently used in its discovery by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz, 2003
The European Parliament awards Cuban Dissident Guillermo Farinas the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, 2010

Today i get to start playing Mary Poppins, so not much time to think of something new to say. Or even of something old to say. A bad joke and a great observation will have to suffice.

A man loved his dog, and his dog loved sugary cereal. So every day he would give the dog a few pieces of its favorite treat, which he kept on hand. Eventually the dog died, and a few months after, he got a new puppy.

One day he decided to see if his puppy would perhaps like the sugary cereal his previous canine had enjoyed, so he got the box out from the back of the cabinet. Opening it, he took out a few pieces of the cereal and gave them to his pup, which turned up its nose at the stuff. The man tried a piece for himself, and found that it was stale.

This goes to show you that you can't feed a new dog old Trix.

As for the observation, a young mother was sipping her morning coffee as her one-year-old daughter tried to grab at the cup. The five-year-old big brother grabbed his sister's hands and said, "Don't do that! You don't want to find out what she's like on a day when she doesn't get her coffee!"

Yes, i have my coffee, and i'm going in!

Today is:

Abu Simbel Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (along with Feb. 22, the day when the sunlight fell perfectly on the statues of Ramses, Ra, and Amun at the temple complex)

Caps Lock Day -- celebrating life in screaming CAPITALS (i'd include a link to the promo site, but it's rather annoying and uses foul language)

Children's Day -- Australia

Clean Up the Earth Day -- begun because having only one Earth Day a year doesn't give enough emphasis to the amount of work that needs to be done

Color Day -- a day to consider how color affects your life, health, and world

Day of National Concern About Young People and Gun Violence -- US (students around the nation are asked to sign the Pledge Against Gun Violence)

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (fourth day of the festival)
     Goru Tihar/Goru Puja -- Day of Oxen (among most people)
     Gobardhan Puja -- Day of Cowdung (among followers of Krishna)
     Mha Puja -- Day of Self (among the Newar community)

Eat a Pretzel Day -- unclaimed sponsorship; does anyone else suspect that pretzel makers know how to spread stuff around the internet, too?

International Stuttering Awareness Day -- information here

Jidai Matsuri -- Kyoto, Japan (Festival of the Eras or Festival of the Ages)

4#Lung Health Day -- US (on the Wednesday of Respiratory Health Week; some sites to explore about lung health are www.lungusa.org/ and www.aarc.org/)

Medical Assistants Recognition Day -- US (American Association of Medical Assistants)

National Knee Day -- take care of your knees, and they will take care of you!

National Nut Day -- grab a handful of nutritious almonds or walnuts or your own favorite mix; if you don't like nuts, you can just choose to go be one, instead

Seeking of King Look Under Your Mattress -- Fairy Calendar

Smart is Cool Day -- and i don't know who started this one, but i'd say someone tired of being made fun of for being a bookworm

St. Mary Salome's Day (Patron of Veroli, Italy)

Tacoma Holiday Food and Gift Festival -- Tacoma, WA, US (for those who want to get the shopping done early, you show offs; through Sunday)

Anniversaries Today:

Toastmasters International founded, 1924
The first Metropolitan Opera House in NYC opens, with Faust as the first performance, 1883

Birthdays Today:

Carlos Mencia, 1967
Valeria Golino, 1966
Brian Boitano, 1963
Jeff Goldblum, 1952
Deepak Chopra, 1946
Catherine Deveuve, 1943
Jan De Bont, 1943
Annette Funicello, 1942
Tony Roberts, 1939
Derek Jacobi, 1938
Christopher Lloyd, 1938
Timothy Leary, 1920
Joan Fontaine, 1917
Robert Capa, 1913
Curly Howard, 1903
George Beadle, 1903
N. C. Wyeth, 1882
Sarah Bernhardt, 1844
Franz Liszt, 1811

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Me and Bessie"(Musical), 1975
"Take Me Along"(Musical), 1959
"The Far Off Hills"(Play), 1928

Today in History:

The temple of Apollo at Daphne, outside of Antioch, is destroyed in a mysterious fire, 362
Emperor Kanmu relocates Japanese capital to Heiankyo (now Kyoto), 794
Battle of the Southern Fujian Sea, Ming Dynasty wins a victory against the Dutch East India Company, 1633
Princeton University is chartered, 1746
Andre-Jacques Trim becomes the first sky diver, parachuting over Paris from a balloon, 1797
Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Texas, 1836
First telegraph line linking US east and west coasts of the US is completed, 1861
First concert performance of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1881
World's first automobile dealer opens in London, 1897
President Hoover gives the "American system of rugged individualism" speech, 1928
The FBI ambushes Pretty Boy Floyd, 1934
First commercial flight from the mainland to Hawai'i, 1936
Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but turns down the honor, 1964
A Multi-Party Parliamentary Committee selects the design which becomes the new official Flag of Canada, 1964
The Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus, 1975Red Dye No. 4 is banned by the US Food and Drug Administration after it
is discovered that it causes tumors in the bladders of dogs, although the dye is still used in Canada, 1976
Tropical Storm Alpha forms in the Atlantic Basin, making the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 22 named storms, 2005
A Panama Canal expansion proposal is approved by 77.8% of voters in a National referendum held in Panama, 2006
India launches its first unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, 2008
North Korea gives the US permission to search for the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War, 2011

No matter the job, you will run into surprises.

When i arrived to play Mary Poppins, there were a couple of surprises waiting for me. First, none of the children were there! The two youngest boys were supposed to be, but the soon-to-be-ex had decided, even though he wouldn't keep them for overnights, he would handle them during the day.

The second surprise was that the homeowner association, knowing that Ms. P's STBX had left her with a house that was behind and tried to saddle her with a huge IRS debt, had decided to do something nice for her. They hired a cleaning service!

Yes, i've been doing her housework for a couple of months now, but this was a good thing, even if it means i didn't have as much to get paid for this week. When i come, i do laundry, remake beds, and fight to keep things at status quo. In fact, i often wish i had more time to tackle special projects, but the once a week for 8 hours is barely enough to get the place cleaned and the laundry done.

Because the service had skipped laundry and didn't worry about changing beds, but just did the actual cleaning, it meant i could spend the two days watching kids, doing laundry, and helping the younger boys organize their room and clean their closet, plus tackle the linen closet, and maybe other things. It would remain to be seen how much i could get done, but at least i would only have a couple of things to actually clean, so i could try for things like wiping out the kitchen drawers where crumbs accumulate and making some sense out of the pantry.

A word about that cleaning service. They do good work, but they missed a few things. My first lesson was to never move things, or at least not to move them far. Especially papers on a desk, that attorney or doctor or pastor really does know exactly where every paper is, and each one better be in the same place when you are done cleaning. You don't presume to put away small appliances, even if you think they are superfluous. You don't clean the boys room by stuffing everything into the closet, and leave crumbs all over the closet floor. And you do not empty the bathroom trash bins and not put a new bag in there. The daughter was throwing her unflushables in a can with no liner! Not Cool, and Not Acceptable.

Oh, and you do have to scrub harder than that to get the hair spray residue off the bathroom surfaces.

Anyway, i got there to no kids and supposedly the daughter wasn't going to be home at all (or would only stop by to pick up clothes and leave) and The Big Boss with his credit card, the gate key (it's a gated community), and the news that i wouldn't have the kids until after 2:30pm so i could go to the store and get some storage bins. First i started the laundry, of course.

All was going swimmingly as the boys got home and helped with organizing their clothes, and the daughter did come in for a couple of hours and then went back to the friend's house and then came back to spend the night, but there was a complication.

Dinner was supposed to be pizza, and Sweetie and Little Girl were supposed to watch the boys for a couple of hours so i could go to prayer service at church. The snags in that were that no pizza place delivers to this neighborhood, and the traffic was such that by the time i had pizza delivered to our house and Sweetie got it to us, it was too late to try to make it to church. At least the kids had dinner.

We've had a few interesting discussions so far -- what are Cajuns? What is the loupe garou? Where is the Middle East? What do you mean you go to church just to pray for an hour? Why is caution tape yellow and black? What is marketing, and why is everything on that cereal box exactly the way it is? Is wanting to sell stuff to people a good or a bad thing, and does it depend on what you are selling? Somehow i don't think these are the kinds of discussions Ms. P thought about her kids getting into with me, but i'm nothing if not weird.

And there are no more crumbs in the silverware drawer, and the laundry is going, and i think we will have a good time, even if the kids think i'm crazy for making myself a veggie burger instead of sharing the pizza.

Oh, and the last time i was here, there was no internet, no TV, and no phone. It seems the geniuses who sold Ms. P a different package, with the same company, managed to not transition her to the new package, but just turn it all off while still charging her for it. It took a tech 12 hours to correct the mess, but it's corrected. No need to drag them all to Starbucks so i can post this!

Also, many happy returns of the day to my Sweetie! He and his twin were born on this day mumblety-mumble years ago (he would kill me if i said how many, so that should give you an idea!).

Today is:

Canning Day -- get that harvest preserved! on the birth anniversary of Nicholas Appert, the French chemist who devised modern canning

Chulalongokorn Day -- Thailand (Rama V Day)

Commemoration of the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 -- Cambodia

Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle -- Republic of Macedonia

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (fifth day of the festival)
     Bhai Tika -- ritual where sisters honor brothers for the protection they give
     Gyan Panchami -- Jain (celebration of knowledge and education)

Dia Nacional de la Aviacion -- Mexico (National Aviation Day)

Festival of Forgotten Gods -- so we don't offend anybody, i guess?

Festival of Selket and Ceremony of Thoth -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Finding of King Look Under Your Mattress Jubilee -- Fairy Calendar

French Food Festival -- LaRose, LA, US (local specialties, dancing, music, and fun; through Sunday)

Great Pumpkin Carve -- Chadds Ford Historical Society, Chadds Ford, PA, US (carving pumpkins that weigh about 150lbs or more each; through Saturday)

Liberation Day -- Libya

National Boston Cream Pie Day

National Day / Republic Day -- Hungary

National Mole Day -- US Chemists; from 6:02AM to 6:02PM, in honor of Avogadro's Number; this year's theme, "Mole-O'Ween"

National Pharmacy Technician Day -- because pharmacy technicians "Help America Feel Better"

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan -- Beginning of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, Hebrew Year 5775, at sundown today

Solar Eclipse -- a partial solar eclipse will be visible in East Asia and over the Pacific, and in most of North America

St. John of Capistrano's Day (Patron of judges, jurists, military chaplains)
     Swallows Depart San Juan Capistrano Day -- after today, in spite of what you think, the natives will tell you that bird is not a swallow

TV Talk Show Host Day -- the way some of them behave, do they deserve a day? Well, I guess everyone is good for something, even if only for being a bad example! This one is for the birth anniversary of Johnny Carson, who certainly deserves recognition

Ueno Tenjin Matsuri -- Mie, Japan (festival and parade of oni gyoretsu -- demons or ogres -- dating back to the 16th century and said to halt plague, dispel illness, and ward off bad luck; through the 25th)

Birthdays Today:

Keith Van Horn, 1975
Al Leiter, 1965
Dug Flutie, 1962
Randy Pausch, 1960
Nancy Grace, 1959
"Weird" Al Yankovic, 1959
Martin Luther King III, 1957
Dwight Yoakam, 1956
Ang Lee, 1954
Michael Crichton, 1942
Pele' 1940
Chi-Chi Rodriguez, 1934
Johnny Carson, 1925
Frank Rizzo, 1920
Gertrude Ederle, 1906
Gummo Marx, 1893
Adlai Stevenson, 1835
Nicholas Appert, 1752

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The iPod, 2001
"Shadowlands"(Play), 1989
"Pippin"(Musical), 1972
"Barefoot in the Park"(Play), 1963
Dumbo(Disney animated film), 1941
"The Fred Allen Show"(Radio), 1932
"The Squaw Man"(Play), 1914
"In Old Kentucky"(Play), 1893 (ran for 27 seasons)
"Prince Igor"(Opera), 1890

Today in History:

According to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher and based on the Bible, Creation begins, BC4004
Second Battle of Philippi, Brutus defeated by Octavian and Marc Antony, Brutus commits suicide, BC42
The Jews of Barbados are forbidden from engaging in retail trade, 1668
A revolt is held in Haarlem after a public ban on smoking, 1690
First Jewish prayer books printed in the US, 1760
The Continental Congress approves a resolution barring blacks from the army, 1775
Failed coup against the Emperor Napoleon, 1812
The first plastic surgery is performed, in England, 1814
72 Senators are summoned by Royal Proclamation to serve as the first members of the Canadian Senate, 1867
The New Orleans Mint reopens as an assay office, 1876
The First National Horseshoe Throwing Championship is held in Kellerton, Iowa, 1915
The first North American transcontinental air service begins between New York City and Los Angeles, California, 1929
Husband and wife Dr. Carl Cori & Dr. Gerty Cori are awarded joint Nobel Prizes, 1947
An underground earthquake traps 174 miners in the No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, the deepest coal mine in North America at the time; only 100 were rescued, 1958
A United Nations sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria, 1973
Emperor Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil, 1992
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land for peace" agreement, 1998
Apple unveils the iPod, 2001
The US CDC announces that, if current trends in diet and exercise continue, by 2050 1 of 3 American adults will have diabetes, 2010
To bolster their relationship, China and India sign a new border defense agreement, 2013

Ms. P's daughter did come home that first night, to sleep and ask me to wash some of her clothes. Since i had washed a lot already, i asked her to bring her stuff to her room. In typical teen fashion, all she did was grab what she wanted and leave the rest on the couch where i put the laundry when i fold it!

When i woke them Thursday morning, Youngest Boy really didn't want to get up. He shouted and kicked and pitched a fit, and i thought i was going to have to take all the bedclothes off the bed to keep him from getting back in. By the time he came downstairs for breakfast, he was much calmer, but he explained that no one is allowed to wake him up, it makes him mad. In return, i explained that he was going to get waked up, because he was going to school, Boss' orders.

They had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, as they had asked for that the night before, and daughter caught her ride when i piled the boys in the car to get them to their schools.

We talked a bit about Jalopy, and her funny noises, and Eldest Boy decided he likes her, she is cool and sounds like she's going to fall apart. How much you want to bed he grows up to fix old cars?

After dropping them off at their respective schools i went to the store for apple juice, as they had finished off a whole gallon the day before. While there The Big Boss called and told me to get back to the house because someone was coming over to pick something up.

When i got there, a strange car was in the drive, and a man at the door. It wasn't the person picking up whatever it was. Instead, this was someone in a uniform, but an unmarked car, and he was looking for Ms. P to serve her some papers. It made me very nervous that he wanted to know where the kids were, and when she would be back, and whose cars were in the drive, and etc. It made me wonder if the STBX was up to something, especially as he was going to be getting the kids from school that day.

The rest of the day i spent puttering around the house, getting crumbs out of the toaster (and a quarter of a waffle! it was a wonder the thing hadn't caught fire!), remaking beds, doing the hand laundry, and tidying the places you forget you have when you don't get into them very often.

After Middle Boy's football practice, STBX dropped them off, and i asked what they wanted for dinner. They couldn't agree, but wanted to go out, so i piled them back in the car and we drove up the road to where there are enough food places to please even the pickiest eaters.

Eldest Boy and Middle Boy wanted to go to the Greek place, and Youngest Boy announced, as i pulled in, "I'm about to get mad! I don't want to eat here, I don't like anything here!" As i explained that he didn't have to get angry, i'd get the older boys a meal here and him something somewhere else, he calmed right down and asked for Popeye's. That's exactly what we did. First we went in the Greek place, got the bigger boys what they wanted and they sat to eat, and i walked Youngest Boy to the chicken place next door, where he told them he wanted a large beans and rice! He got chicken and a biscuit and the very smart worker at Popeye's gave him 3 small beans and rice containers. We went back to where the bigger boys were.

Youngest Boy wouldn't eat his meal at the Greek restaurant with the rest of us, so we didn't linger. They were fascinated by the vegan stuffed grape leaves i was having. They thought i was nuts enough eating seaweed, but now grape leaves? They only became more convinced when i told them about picking the grape leaves with my grandmother as a child, and watching her stuff them with meat and rice and cook them.

My Jalopy is an endless source of entertainment, too. They love having to shut the doors hard or kick them to get them to close properly, as they aren't allowed to do such things to the other cars they ride around in. Again, a beater car does have its advantages, at least in the eyes of a young boy.

At home for baths they pulled the usual boy shenanigans, with Middle Boy insisting on running around the house in his birthday suit, Youngest Boy eating two of those three containers of beans and rice, plus his chicken, and Eldest Boy goading them in any way he could. It was such a fun and exhausting reminder of my own when they were all below the teen years.

By the time all of us went to bed, i think we were all more than ready. Eldest Boy didn't want to sleep in his room, i believe they all miss their mom, so they snuggled together in the large bottom bunk, like three peas in a pod.

Today is:

Chicago International Children's Film Festival -- Chicago, IL, US (the largest annual festival of films for children ages 2-18 in the world; through Nov. 2)

Election Day -- Botswana

Feast of Good & Plenty (the candies)

Food Day -- US (inspiring people to change their diets and our food policies)

Hijra -- Islam (Islamic New Year Begins at the viewing of the new moon crescent, so exact time/date varies by location)

Independence Day -- Zambia(1964)

Jain New Year

Lilith's Day -- Ancient Mesopotamian Calendar (Lilith, legendary first wife of Adam, mother of the giants; date approximate)

Maladay -- Discordianism

National Bologna Day

Peniamina Gospel Day -- Niue (celebration of the conversion of the islanders to Christianity)

Provincial Anniversary Day -- Hawke's Bay, NZ

Sea Witch Halloween & Fiddler's Festival -- Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach, DE, US (parade, costume contest, Sea Witch Hunt, horse show on the beach, and more; through Sunday)

Share a Pop Tart With Someone You Love Day -- internet generated, and how much do you want to bet the Kellog company may have had a hand in it (or at least they highly approve)?

St. Anthony Claret's Day (Patron of weavers; Catholic press; Claretians; Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)

St. Crispin's Eve Celebration -- Tenby, Wales

St. Raphael the Archangel's Day (traditional date; Patron of health inspectors, druggists, happy meetings, leaving home, travelers; against blindness)

Suez Victory Day -- Egypt

Take Back Your Time Day -- Canada; U.S. (anniversary of the day in the US that the Fair Labor Standards Act went into effect, specifying a 40-hour work week as the standard, in 1938)

United Nations Day
Disarmament Week begins
World Development Information Day

World Origami Days -- held each year from today, the birth anniversary of Lillian Oppenheimer, founder of the first origami societies in Britain and the US, until Nov. 11, which is Origami Day in Japan; a couple of good sites are http://origamiusa.org/wod and http://www.japanese-city.com/calendar/event/index.php?eID=31502

Birthdays Today:

Monica, 1980
Kevin Kline, 1947
F. Murray Abraham, 1939
Bill Wyman, 1936
David Nelson, 1936
J. P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, 1930
Y. A. Tittle, 1926
Moss Hart, 1904
Melvin Purvis, 1903
Alexandra David-Neel, 1868 (first female foreigner to explore Tibet)
Belva A. Bennett Lockwood, 1838
Sarah Joseph Hale, 1788 (author of "Mary had a little lamb")
Antony van Leeuwenhoek, 1632
Domitian, Roman Emperor, 51

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Dancing at Lughnasa"(Play), 1991
"Voices for Today"(Britten Op. 75), 1965
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"(Single release), 1908
"Zibeunerbaron/The Gypsy Baron"(Strauss Opera), 1885
The first Transcontinental Telegram is sent, 1861

Today in History:

Cathedral of Chartres is dedicated, 1260
The Treaty of Westphalia ends the 30 Years War, recognized the independence of Switzerland, and marks the end of the Holy Roman Empire, 1648
Felix Mendelssohn, age 9, performs his first public concert in Berlin, 1818
The match is patented, by A. Phillips, 1836
The first US transcontinental telegram is sent, from San Francisco to Washington, DC, ending the need for the Pony Express after only 2 years, 1861
Levi P. Morton, US ambassador to France, drives the first rivet for the Statue of Liberty, 1881
Dr. Robert Koch discovers the germ that causes tuberculosis, 1882
Anna Taylor becomes the first woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, 1901
The first NYC subway opens, 1904
Harry Houdini's last performance, 1926
The Hershey Company is incorporated, 1927
"Black Thursday", the start of the stock market crash, Dow Jones down 12.8%, 1929
Al Capone is sentenced for tax evasion, 1931
The George Washington Bridge, connecting NY to NJ, opens, 1931
US forbids child labor in factories, 1938
The United Nations Charter is signed by the first member nations, 1945
Eisenhower pledges US support to South Vietnam, 1954
Government of Poland legalizes Solidarity trade union, 1980
Launch of Deep Space 1 comet/asteroid mission, 1998
The Concorde makes its last commercial flight, 2003
Justice Rutherford of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down the "motive clause", an important part of the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act, 2006
"Bloody Friday" saw many of the world's stock exchanges experience the worst declines in their history, with drops of around 10% in most indices, 2008
The Northern Lights become visible over much of North America due to a coronal mass ejection, 2011

Friday morning i figured out how to get Youngest Boy out of bed without a meltdown. There are two steps.

Step one, don't wake him directly. Wake the others, with him in earshot.

Step two, make a deal with him. When i asked him, after waking the others and noticing his eyes were open, if he would please get up, he said he didn't want to get out of bed until his pancakes were ready. So we made a deal: when i tell him the food is ready, he will pop right up and come down to eat. We did a pinky swear on it, and sure enough, when i called up that his plate was ready, he came down without a fuss.

If i end up staying here again to babysit overnight, he and i are going to agree the night before on what will be for breakfast, and that he will pop up and come eat when it is ready, and that i won't call him until it is.

They got to school without a hitch, and i came back to the house and finished cleaning and tidying and the last bits of laundry, dishes, etc. Then it was a waiting game to see when Ms. P would be home, as i needed to get home to tidy up and repack because it's homecoming weekend at the uni. That means a stay on campus for all of the festivities.

As i figured, Ms. P ended up being later than she thought. Much later. As i told her son, as much as i love her, she's the kind of person who will be late for her own funeral -- he had never heard that one before, but agreed when he finished laughing. At noon i went to pick up Eldest Boy from his school, get him a lunch, and get him home. At 2pm i headed out to get the two younger boys. Then i crawled through "rush hour" traffic to get them back home. We pulled in just as Ms. P was emptying her vehicle.

Because i was so much later than i expected, Bigger Girl picked up Little Girl from school and the two of them did the shelter -- i hated that they were stuck doing it, but sometimes it is what it is.

By the time i got home and we got packed, Grandpa was already up on the campus waiting for us. It was a circus getting out of the house, but we finally made it, and checked in to the hotel, and got the stuff from Grandpa that he had brought us, and unloaded and ordered pizza for delivery.

It's been a crazy couple of days, but at least i don't need to get up early tomorrow and cook -- i get to go down to the dining room and eat what someone else has prepared. No, i won't let it spoil me.

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Romania

Blue Ridge Folklife Festival -- Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, Ferrum, VA, US (a large celebration of authentic folkways)

Constitution Day -- Lithuania

Day of the Basque Country -- Basque Country
Dia del Pais Vasco -- PV, Spain

Emma Crawford Festival and Memorial Coffin Race -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (spooky fun for the whole family)

Feast of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales -- Roman Catholic

Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love

Gormanudr -- Old Icelandic Calendar (beginning of "Innards Month," after all the animals have been butchered and fresh innards figure predominantly in the menu, as the rest of the meat has been preserved for winter)

Hijra -- Islam (New Year, began last night at the first viewing of the new moon crescent)

Hogeye Festival -- Elgin, TX, US (Road Hog Car Show, crowning of King Hog and Queen Sowpreme, Cow Patty Bingo, and more!)

International Artist Day -- with a festival this weekend in White Rock, BC, Canada

London Bridge Days -- Lake Havasu City, AZ, US (come celebrate London Bridge, which was disassembled and moved here and put back together, with a parade and festivities; through tomorrow)

Make A Difference Day -- US (Whoopie Goldberg once said that if every American would donate 5 volunteer hours a week, it would be the equivalent of several million full time jobs; whether or not it's strictly accurate, volunteering is a great thing to do no matter where you live)

Munzipan Feast -- Fairy Calendar (a fairy delicacy, and you don't want to know how it's made)

National Greasy Foods Day

Pit Bull Awareness Day -- it's not the breed, it's the owner

Punk-for-a-Day Day -- internet generated; if you've always wanted to be a punk, try it out for a day

Republic Day -- Kazakhstan

Retrocession Day -- Taiwan

Romp in the Swamp Fun Walk -- Appleton, WI, US (plus hayrides, face painting, an outdoor movie, animal shows, a campfire with s'mores, and more)

Scared Silly: Halloween in Prospect Park -- Brooklyn, NY, US (hauntingly good fun all weekend)

Sourest Day -- as a balance, because we have so many days that emphasize sweet

Sts. Crispin and Crispian's Day (Patrons of cobblers/shoemakers, glovemakers, lace makers/lace workers, leather workers, saddle makers, tanners, weavers)

Texas Book Festival -- Austin, TX, US (one of the nation's most prestigious literary festivals, especially celebrating renowned Texas authors; through tomorrow)

Thanksgiving Day -- Grenada

World Beard and Moustache Championships -- Portland, OR, US (check out some of the former competitors here)

World Pasta Day -- as established by the first World Pasta Congress in 1995; a related website is here

Xterra Kapalua Trail Run -- Kapalua, Maui, HI, US (extreme trail runs of 5k and 10k; through tomorrow)

Birthdays Today:

Katy Perry, 1984
Midori, 1971
Tracy Nelson, 1963
Brian Kerwim, 1949
Jon Anderson, 1944
Anne Tyler, 1941
Helen Reddy, 1941
Bobby Knight, 1940
Marion Ross, 1936
Billy Barty, 1924
Minnie Pearl, 1912
Leo G. Carroll, 1892
Pablo Picasso, 1881
Georges Bizet, 1838
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1800

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Victor/Victoria"(Musical), 1995
"Newhart"(TV), 1982
"Le Repetition"(Anouilh play), 1950
"The Time of Your Life"(Play), 1939

Today in History:

Seljuk Turks defeat the German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum, 1147
Battle of Agincourt, in which the Welsh longbow defeats armored knights, 1415
Christopher Columbus, aboard the Santa Maria, lands at the Dominican Republic, 1492
Dutch sea-captain Dirk Hartog makes second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at the later-named Dirk Hartog Island off the Western Australian coast, 1616
Governor Bradford of the US colony Plymouth disallows sport on Christmas Day, 1621
Wedding of future US President John Adams and Abigail Smith (the marriage lasted 54 years), 1764
Canadians and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of Chateauguay, 1813
Opening of the Erie Canal, 1825
Battle of Balaclava, memorialized as the "Charge of the Light Brigade", results in the deaths of 409 troops, 1854
The Toronto Stock Exchange is created, 1861
Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution in Russia, which corresponds to November 7 on the Gregorian Calendar, 1917
The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces swing music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell", 1938
Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba, 1962
Uganda joins the United Nations, 1962
Nelson Mandela is sentenced to five years in prison, 1962
The United Nations seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China, 1971
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague, 1980
Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, 1991
Fidel Castro announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned in Cuba, 2004
Sony removed the original cassette Walkman from the market, 2010
Scientists announce that the completion of the nuclear genome study of a 24,000 year old Siberian boy's remains shows 2/3 of today's Native Americans are of Eastern Asia origin, and the others from Western Eurasia, 2013

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's the place to come to have a laugh for the week. It's easy to do, just Laugh and Link Up!

How in the world do you described Homecoming?

It was a nice, peaceful morning, with coffee and fruit and a walk by the lake. The parade was just what a Homecoming Parade should be, little kids catching beads and candy, having a blast.

Then a bit of rest, and a walk around the campus. Finally, to the stadium for one of the toughest fought, most ground out games i have ever seen in my entire life.

Every minute was like pulling teeth. The first quarter lasted an hour, and the game that started at just after 6pm didn't end until almost ten.

It came down to the last play, too. There wasn't an easy moment, there wasn't an easy score on either side, and there were several calls by the referees that will be argued until doomsday.

Somehow, some way, the home team pulled it off. By that time, i'd had an SVT (heart palpitations) from nerves, and one friend said, "I was on blood pressure medicine for three years, and I eat right and exercise and I don't take medicine any more, but this game is going to put me back on it!"

But in the end, the home team won, and so Homecoming was a success.

All this, of course, reminds me of a football joke.

When Boudreaux was a young man, and very strong, he decided to try out for the college football team. He went out to the practice field and talked to the coach.

The coach asked him, "Can you tackle?" Boudreaux say, "Watch dis," and proceeded to run at a telephone pole, knocking it over!

"Wow!" the coach said. "Now, can you run?" Again, Boudreaux say, "Watch dis" and proceeded to run 100 yards in under 9 seconds.

"Glory!" the coach exclaimed. "And, can you pass a football?"

This time, Boudreaux stop to think about it. Finally, he say, "Mais, coach, I guess if I can swallow it, I can pass it!"

Today is:

A Family Halloween -- Billings Farm and Museum, Woodstock, VT, US (a great time for all)

Angam Day -- Nauru ("Day of Fulfillment"; a celebration of overcoming hardships)

Armed Forces Day -- Benin

Daylight Saving Time ends -- Albania; Andorra; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovena; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Egypt; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland (some areas); Holy See; Hungary; Ireland; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Kosovo; Latvia; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Malta; Mexico (most areas); Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Western Sahara

Day of the Ancients -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar

Day of Mourning -- Libya

Exaltation of the Shellfish -- Pontevedra, Spain (while i can confirm they celebrate this each year, i cannot find confirmation on this specific date this year)

Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade -- Long Beach, CA, US (dress up your dog and have a howling good time)

Ludi Victoriae Sullanae -- Roman Empire (celebration of the victories of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, through Nov. 1)

Mother-in-Law Day -- a day to honor good Mothers-in-Law for their contributions to their families and for enduring all the bad jokes; if you have a lousy one, go listen to Ernie K-Doe's song

Mule Day -- anniversary of the first importation of donkeys to the US, which George Washington used to breed the first mules in the Americas

National Day -- Austria

National Gospel Day -- Cook Islands

National Mincemeat Pie Day

Pretzel Day

Pumpkin Day -- time to get one for the 31st, if you haven't already

Reformation Day/Reformation Sunday -- Protestant Christian (obs.)

St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki's Day (Patron of soldiers; Thessaloniki, Greece)
Greek day to broach the wine barrels and taste the new season's wine in honor of this saint

Sts. Lucian and Marcian's Day (Patrons of converts, possessed people)

Toping Wagglegammon -- Fairy Calendar (no human knows what this means, but it sounds intriguing)

Visit a Cemetery Day

Workaholic Stop and Smell Something Day -- internet generated day to encourage workaholics to stop and consider what they might be missing

Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night -- some organizers even have howling parties

Anniversary Today:

Grand opening of the Erie Canal, 1825

Birthdays Today:

Sasha Cohen, 1984
Keith Urban, 1969
Tom Cavanagh, 1968
Natalie Merchant, 1963
Cary Elwes, 1962
Dylon McDermott, 1962
Jeff Probst, 1962
James Pickens, Jr., 1954
Lauren Tewes, 1954
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1947
Pat Sajak, 1947
Jaclyn Smith, 1947
Ivan Reitman, 1946
Pat Conroy, 1945
Bob Hoskins, 1942
Jackie Coogan, 1914
Mahalia Jackson, 1911
Abby Greene Aldrich Rockefeller, 1874
Joseph Hansom, 1803
Georges Danton, 1759
Domenico Scarlatti, 1685

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"St. Elsewhere"(TV), 1982
Doonesbury(Comic strip), 1970
The Village Voice(newspaper, first issue), 1955
"Mourning Becomes Electra"(Play), 1931

Today in History:

Comet 55P/1366 U1 (Tempel-Tuttle) approaches 0.0229 AUs of Earth (2.1 million miles and 3.4 million kilometers)--marking the third closest approach of any comet to our planet in recorded history, 1366
First use of lead pencils, 1492
William Penn accepts the area around the the Delaware River from the Duke of York, 1682
The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, and the Minute Men begin to organize in the colonies, 1774
King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution, 1775
Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution, 1776
The first of the "Federalist Papers" are published, calling for ratification of the US Constitution, 1787
The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created, 1795
Hamilton Smith patents a rotary washing machine, 1858
Soccer football rules are standardized and rugby starts as a separate game, 1863
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona, 1881
First use of a "getaway car" after a robbery in Paris, 1901
The first Soviet (worker's council) formed, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1905
Margaret Sanger arrested for the obscenity of advocating birth control, 1916
The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India, 1947
Mother Teresa founds her Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, 1950
Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France, 1958
The world sees the far side of the Moon for the first time, in pictures taken earlier in the month by the Soviet Luna 3, 1959
The last natural case of smallpox is discovered in Merca district, Somalia, 1977
"Baby Fae," born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, receives a controversial heart transplant from a baboon, dies of kidney infection 21 days later, 1984
The Charlottetown Accord fails to win majority support in a Canada wide referendum, 1992
Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty, 1994
Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament, 1999
The water level at Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest water control and utilization project, reaches full capacity, 2010

Today, if all goes well, we get the A/C repaired! It looks like it may come under the warranty, so it won't cost much.

And, if we can pry the back door downstairs open -- the house has been leveled more than once, but we still don't know if it will open and then close again -- a family that is remodeling may give us a five year old washer and dryer! We've had old models, and bought well used ones, for so long now, having an almost new set would be delightful. It's just a matter of that door, and i have a week or so to work on it.

We've had a couple of offers from people who can come look at the roof trouble, and maybe get into the attic to make sure all is well up there. Not the regular part where we store stuff, but the other part that we don't get into. The roof probably just needs caps and new flashing around the bathroom vent pipes.

Bigger Girl has started her job as a pizza delivery driver part time. She wants to earn some of her own way as much as possible, and she's been turned down so often as "overqualified" because of her training at the research lab. She's glad someone finally took a chance on her.

This week i'm working 3 days, two babysitting Gracie and one cleaning Ms. P's house, as so i'm going to get us a GPS that she can use at work and i can use when i go on my trip next year, or when i deliver flowers.

Then it's just a matter of hoping the cars last a while longer, as i've been saying for a few years now.

Today is:

American Beer Day

Big Bang Day -- London, England

Boxer Shorts Day -- ???????

Cernova Tragedy Day -- Slovakia

Cranky Co-Worker's Day -- because we all have occasional bad days; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Feast of Osiris in Abydos -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Good Bear Day -- on Theodore Roosevelt's birthday, celebrating the stuffed toy created in his honor

Independence Day -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines(1979); Turkmenistan(1991)

International School Library Day

Labour Day -- New Zealand

National Potato Day

National Tell A Story Day -- Scotland (preserving the heritage of traditional stories)

Navy Day -- US (on T.R.'s birth anniversary)

October Bank Holiday -- Ireland

Peniamina Gospel Day -- Niue

Radio Day -- US (US Commerce Dept. issued the first broadcasting license this date in 1920)

St. Frumentius' Day (Patron of Abyssinia; Ethiopia)

Sylvia Plath Day

Tunch Puddling -- Fairy Calendar (a contest of throwing twigs in a pond -- awards are for artistically thrown twigs and throwing style, among other things)

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage -- International

World Occupational Therapy Day -- International

Anniversary Today:

The NYC Subway begins operation, 1904

Birthdays Today:

Zadie Smith, 1975
Marla Maples, 1963
Simon LeBon, 1958
Roberto Benigni,1952
Jayne Kennedy, 1951
Fran Lebowitz, 1950
Carrie Snodgrass, 1946
John Cleese, 1939
Ruby Dee, 1924
Roy Lichtenstein, 1923
Bette Babray, 1920
Nanette Fabray, 1920
Dylan Thomas, 1914
Emily Post, 1872
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858
Niccolo Paganini, 1782
Captain James Cook, 1728

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Lettice and Lovage"(Play), 1987
"Beyond the Fringe"(Revue), 1962
"Walt Disney/Wonderful World of Color/Wonderful World of Disney"(TV), 1954 (the show had several different names over the years, but even when it switched stations, it was still the same show)
"You Bet Your Life"(Radio), 1947
"Nocturnes"(Debussy orchestral compsition), 1901(first performance of all three parts together)

Today in History:

Constantine the Great is said to have received his Vision of the Cross, 312
Founding of the city of Amsterdam, 1275
Founding of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1682
US Navy forms, 1775
Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated, 1838
R.H. Macy & Co. opens its first store, on 6th Ave. in NYC, 1858
Boss Tweed is arrested, 1871
The first underground New York City Subway line opens, 1904
The first published reference to "jazz" appears, in Variety, 1916
Chuhei Numbu of Japan sets the long jump record at 26' 2 1/2", 1931
"You Bet Your Life," with Groucho Marx, premiers on ABC radio, 1947*
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force, 1954
Mauritania and Mongolia join the United Nations, 1961
The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang, 1986
The U.S. prison population tops 1 million for the first time in American history, 1994
Gliese 229B is the first Substellar Mass Object to be unquestionably identified, 1994
Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown, 1997
The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 86 years, 2004
The SSETI Express micro-satellite is successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 2005

*(Ultimate result of this a few years later is, of course, the funniest line ever on tv, when a man with 8 kids admitted to Mr. Marx that he did indeed love his wife, and Groucho countered with, "I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth sometimes!")

"Mom, could you take me to the mall?" Little Girl asked while i was preparing supper.

Sure, i said.

"Thanks. My favorite teacher's birthday is next week and we both love the show Game of Thrones, so I want to get her something."

That's why i found myself, at 6pm, heading to the Jalopy to go to that shopping mecca called a mall.

It's not something i find myself doing often. In fact, i hadn't been to the mall since my last flower delivery stint -- i almost always have at least one delivery in the mall.

The mall is just up the highway, and for once in my life i actually found a close place to park in the area Little Girl pointed to when i asked where she wanted to go in.

Is it okay if i come in with you, or do you not want to be seen with the mothership? i asked, laughing.

"You can come in -- I wouldn't expect you to wait outside. And I don't mind being seen with you," she answered.

She knew just what she wanted and where it was, and headed in the door and straight to the escalator, then into the Hot Topic. Right before she went in she said, "I know you don't like this store, so you don't have to come in with me."

She's right, i really don't like a lot that's in that store. This gave me the chance to walk through the mall for a short time. In the immediate vicinity there were 4 jewelry stores, a couple of places selling lotions and potions and bath paraphernalia, shoe stores galore, and even a Game Stop and Best Buy Mobile.

As i walked up and down, watching people and gazing in windows, i wondered what the fascination was. The only time i really go to a mall is for our once a year trip in Florida when i get any new clothes i might need at an outlet place. Spending hours and hours wandering a place like this isn't my idea of a good time, but i didn't mind getting a bit of exercise and people watching in.

One family that struck me was a mom and dad who had their two youngest kids wearing surgical masks. They were decorated with a kid theme, too. It makes me wonder if the children have some kind of immune problem and they have to be protected from the rest of us, not that we have to be protected from them.

The place wasn't too crowded as it was a Monday night, and a few teens were there in spite of the threat of having to go to school the next day. One mom pushed a stroller that had a toddler obviously past his limit because he was crying as loudly as he could with the pacifier held tightly in place by his clamped teeth. Another young dad walked his toddler son, blond curls bouncing on both of their heads, they were obviously the best of comrades and having a good time.

She thought she took a long time, but really it wasn't more than a quarter hour before Little Girl came out with her purchase clutched tight in her hand. We went past the food court and i saw that they have choices i'd have never thought to see years ago -- some of them healthy. Hummus, wraps with lots of veggies, and even smoothies. It balances out the pretzels and cookies and junk that is still there, and i was glad to see that.

We were back home just before 7pm, as she really didn't take anywhere near as long as she thought she did. It was a nice outing.

And yes, the A/C is fixed. Not that we need it much these days, the evenings are so cool that even the warm days don't heat the house up enough to make it uncomfortable.

Today is:

Bring Your Jack-O-Lantern to Work Day -- just check the fire code before you light that candle

Celtic Tree Month Negetal (Reed) begins

Dia do Servidor Publico -- Brazil (Civil Servants' Day)

Flying Baby Day -- celebrating the first baby born on an airplane on this day in 1929

Fyribod (or Forebode) -- Ancient Norse Calendar (announces the beginning of winter; date approximate)

Hari Sumpah Pemuda -- Indonesia (Youth Pledge Day)

Independence Day -- Czechoslovakia (from Austria-Hungary in 1918; still celebrated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

International Animation Day -- ASIFA (to honor the day Emile Reynaud presented the first animation to the public)

Isia -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (dates approximate; first day of the 6 day Isis festival)

Milvian Bridge Day -- Christain (day to reflect on the interrelationship of religion and government)

National Chocolate Day

Okunchi Matsuri -- Karatsu, Japan (with floats that date back to the 1800s; through the 30th)

Oxi Day -- Greece (Sometimes "Ochi" or "Ohi", literally "No Day", celebrating resistance to Mussolini.)

Part Your Hair Crooked Just To See If Anyone Will Say Anything About It Day -- internet generated, celebrate at your own risk

Plush Animal Lovers' Day -- internet generated; celebrate your love of stuffed animals today

Runic Half-month Hagal (hailstone) begin

St. Jude Thaddeus' Day (Patron of desperate or hopeless cases -- the reason Danny Thomas chose this saint to invoke as patron of the hospital he helped found.)

St. Paraskevi of Iconium's Day (Patron of fairs and traders; in Russia, patron of marriage; associated in Ukrain with Mokosh, the ancient women's divinity, and celebrated on the final Friday of the month)

*St. Simon the Zealot's Day (Patron of curriers, sawmen, tanners)

Wild Foods Day -- as in, grown or caught in the wild (please be careful if you like mushrooms and want to gather your own!)

Anniversaries Today:

Statue of Liberty dedicated, 1886
Maimonides College is founded, 1867 (first Jewish college in the US)
R.H. Macy & Co. in NYC opens, 1858
Founding of Harvard University, 1636
Universidad Santo Tomas Aquino is established, 1538 (first university in the New World)

Birthdays Today:

Matt Smith, 1982
Joaquin Phoenix, 1974
Brad Paisley, 1972
Jeremy Davies, 1969
Julia Roberts, 1967
Andy Richter, 1966
Jami Gertz, 1965
Daphne Zuniga, 1962
Lauren Holly, 1963
Bill Gates, 1955
Annie Potts, 1952
Bruce Jenner, 1949
Telma Hopkins, 1948
Dennis Franz, 1944
Jane Alexander, 1939
Charlie Daniels, 1936
Cleo Laine, 1927
Jonas Salk, 1914
Francis Bacon, 1909
Edith Head, 1907
Howard Hanson, 1896
Georges Auguste Escoffier, 1846
Desiderius Erasmus, 1467

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Jack Benny Program"(TV), 1950
"Dead End"(Play), 1935
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathetique(Tchaikovsky Op. 74), 1893

Today in History:

Constantine the Great defeats Maxentius, 312
Battle of Yaunis Khan in which Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza, 1516
Battle of Amba Sel, in which Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia; the southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control, 1531
Peruvian cities of Lima & Callao are demolished by an earthquake, 18,000 die, 1746
Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin, 1793
The first railroad in Spain, between Barcelona and Mataro, is opened, 1848
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland, and celebrated by the first ticker tape/confetti parade in NYC, 1886
An earthquake strikes Mino-Owari, Japan, kills 7,300, 1891
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its première performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer's death, 1893
The St. Louis police try a new investigation method -- fingerprints, 1904
Czechoslovakia gains its independence in the break up of Austria-Hungary, 1918
The Volstead Act, passed by Congress over Wilson's veto, starts Prohibition, 1919
The first coast to coast radio broadcast of a football game, 1922
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary, 1936
The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, 1942
Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT, 1948
The modern Kingdom of the Netherlands is re-founded as a federal monarchy, 1954
Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba, 1962
Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus, 1965*
Britain launches its first satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket, 1971
The centenary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty is celebrated in New York Harbor, 1986
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina, 2007
The US celebrates the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, 2011

Red-Headed Alec doesn't, that is.

Yes, we now not only have all four of our kids living here, but Festus was told to move out by his parents, so he and #2 Son share a room, and Red-Headed Alec's mom and stepdad have been full of promises that never materialized, so he's here. It's that, or the homeless shelter, and he actually asks to help around the house. No use putting a young man who does that in a homeless shelter.

And giving him driving lessons doesn't drive me crazy.

Red-Headed Alec is 23, and between his biological dad who tried to kill him, his biological mom who abandoned him and then took him back in a year ago and has, as noted, promised but not delivered, and his Grandmother who legally adopted him and wouldn't teach him to drive and now won't let him live with her, he's really not had much of a chance to do something with his life.

There were promises, but no one taught him to drive until recently, when his girlfriend took him to lessons. So now he has a permit and needs practice. The Jalopy is a great practice vehicle. It's big enough that you will be comfortable driving a smaller vehicle later, but not so big as to be scary. The anti-lock brake system might or might not work at any given time, but we aren't doing any driving that will make it a problem.

Every evening, for about a half an hour, we get out in the Jalopy and he drives around the neighborhood. He knows what he's doing, he is a very careful, defensive driver, and all he needs is practice for confidence so when his girlfriend has her day off in a couple of weeks and takes him in for the test he won't be so nervous.

This what what i did with the other kids, but except for Little Girl, they made me a bit nervous. #1 Son has had several tickets and an accident since he got his license, and most of his friends are afraid to get into the vehicle with him. As much as i tried, i just couldn't get him to see that the way he takes chances could get him hurt. He mostly behaved behind the wheel with me, but i could see those tendencies.

Poor Bigger Girl took a while to learn because of the unique way her brain works. She's fine now, but it took a long time.

#2 Son was okay except for his propensity to want to just get on with it and gogogogogo.

Red-Headed Alec, though, won't go above 20mph if he even thinks children or pets might be around, and he counts the number of seconds he is stopped at a stop sign, counts out loud. This one i'm not going to have to worry about much.

Especially if he gets that job with #2 Son's store, and his mom actually does give him the car she promised, he will drive with extreme caution to keep his insurance rates down.

That is a good thing in a 23-year-old unmarried male.

Today is:

Candies Day -- they have to be kidding -- this close to Halloween we need another candy day?!

Chhat Parwa/Chhath Puja -- Nepal (Hindu/Vedic Festival of the sun god Surya)

Coronation Day -- Cambodia (anniversary of King Norodom Sihamony, in 2004)

Cumhuriyet Bayrami -- North Cyprus; Turkey (Republic Day)(1923)

Fiestas Patrias -- Honduras (through Friday)

Hermit Day / Hide From Everyone Day -- internet generated, for those who would rather have a peaceful day today than celebrate the other holidays listed; look up how to be a hermit on wikihow

Internet Day -- it's predecessor went live today, see Today in History for detail

Laugh Suddenly For No Reason A Lot Today Day (And end up either getting yourself and everyone around you in a good mood, or yourself being observed at the hospital in a padded room.)

Naming Day -- Tanzania

National Cat Day -- US (with the goal of getting 10,000 cats adopted from shelters today)

National Disgusting Little Pumpkin-Shaped Candies Day

National Oatmeal Day

Second Fiddle of the Month -- Fairy Calendar (a very poorly attended event -- who wants to play second fiddle?)

St. Mary of Edessa's Day (Patron against sexual temptation)

World Psoriasis Day -- www.worldpsoriasisday.com

Birthdays Today:

Gabrielle Union, 1972
Winona Ryder, 1971
Joely Fisher, 1965
Randy Jackson, 1961
Finona Hughes, 1960
Kate Jackson, 1948
Richard Dreyfuss, 1947
Melba Moore, 1945
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 1938
Dominick Dunne, 1925
Bill Mauldin, 1921
Fanny Brice, 1891
Charles Hercules Ebbets, 1858
Daniel Decatur Emmet, 1815
James Boswell, 1740 (wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson)
Edmund Halley, 1656 (O.S. Date) (yes, that Halley, found the comet)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Internet, 1969 (the first connection between computers that would become the Internet someday was made on this date when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute; this grew into ARPANET, and is now the Internet we know and yell at.)
"Let's Face It"(Musical), 1941
"Don Giovanni"(Mozart K. 527), 1787

Today in History:

Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon, BC539
First trial for witchcraft in Paris, 1390
Sir Walter Raleigh, adventurer, writer, and courtier, is beheaded, 1618
A severe earthquake shakes New England, 1727
Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague, 1787
The first Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans, 1811
Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia, 1889
The first intercity trucking service, from Colorado City to Snyder, Texas, begins running, 1904
Turkey declares its independence as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, 1923
Israeli forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal, 1956
Cassius Clay wins his first professional fight, 1960
Syria exits from the United Arab Republic, 1961
Montreal's World Fair, Expo 67, closes with over 50 million visitors, 1967
The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid, 1991
In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities, 1998
Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space, 1998
In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution, 2004
The 3G wireless transmitters at Mt. Everest make coverage available to the summit, 2010
Random House and Penguin merge to become Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the world, 2012
Turkey opens the first underwater rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia, 2013

...just in time to not need it. The temperatures are down, and have been moderate for a while, and are expected to continue that way.

Winter is on its way, whether we want it or not.

Part of me does, because the heat can be oppressive. Part of me doesn't, because cold causes pain. Yesterday and the day before i went to babysit Gracie so her mom could attend to some things. So i spent part of two days in their house, and both of them get hot very easily. They keep their A/C on arctic blast. It was so cold i had a coat, and used one of their blankets, and heated up water on the stove to have a glass of hot water to warm up, and i even had to step outdoors for a couple of minutes to thaw out.

It was a preview of what is to come, especially if this winter is as difficult as last winter.

In other fun happenings around here, i overheard part of a conversation between #1 Son and his friend Steve.

Steve: Yes, I think iron is usually Fe3+, so putting tomato products in it will leach iron into the food.

#1 Son: Steve, are you sciencing again?

Steve: Yes, and I'm going to keep sciencing, especially since I want to build a solar powered water filtration system. I've got to do more research on that, though.

After that, Steve turned to me as i was putting a cup of water into the microwave to get the inside all steamy so i could clean it out.

"You aren't using distilled water, are you?" he asked.

No, i assured him, i know better than that.

"Good," he said. "They showed what happens on Mythbusters. You should have seen the water explode out of the cup when they dropped a fork in it!"

Actually, i noted, i'm rather glad i didn't see it, and hope i won't see such a thing.

Sometimes these kids are so smart it's scary, and sometimes they do such dumb things it's scarier. All i can do i pray and hope they live past the dumb stuff.

Today is:

Anniversary of the Declaration of the Slovak Nation -- Slovakia

Buy A Doughnut Day -- any wonder who started this one? (insert eye-roll here)

Checklists Day -- prevent tragedy, create great checklists; in honor of the development of the first well known checklist following a B-17 prototype's crash due to pilot error

Create a Great Funeral Day -- don't make your family choose the plans in the midst of grief, plan your sending away party now, it's more fun when it's done -- in advance!

Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions -- most former Soviet Republics

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL, US (hosted at the "Yachting Capital of the World"; through Monday)

Look in the Back of Your Refrigerator Day / Haunted Refrigerator Night (And hope the old hamburger isn't grazing on the moldy salad.)

Mischief Night, a/k/a Goosey Night, Devil's Night, Cabbage Night -- US

National Candy Corn Day

Practice Winter Snuggling Night -- when it gets really cold, you'll be glad you practiced

Punky Night -- Hinton St George, Somerset, England (a celebration for children and adults who carry candle-lit punkies -- the best one wins a prize -- made out of mangel-wurzels, a type of beet, and sing old punky songs asking for money or treats)

Pushkar Camel Fair -- Pushkar, India (for the camels, racing, fancy dress, changing owners, taking tourists on rides, and the chance to liven up this usually quiet town, and for the people, singing, dancing, exotic food, and watching the camels, as well as religious rituals at the time of the full moon; through Nov. 6)

St. Dorothy of Montau's Day (Patron of brides, difficult marriages, dying children, parents of large families, widows; Pomerania; Prussia)

St. Marcellus' Day (as a Roman centurion who threw down his armor and refused to take part in pagan worship, he is Patron of conscientious objectors)

The Rhyne Toll -- Chetwode Manor, UK (through Nov 7) -- the Lord of the Manor may tax any cattle he finds on his Liberty (free pasture) on these days

Try on Your Halloween Costume Early Day -- to see how goofy you look, and make sure you have everything you need

Birthdays Today:

Nastia Liukin, 1989
Matthew Morrison, 1978
Gavin Rossdale, 1967
Diego Armando Maradona, 1960
Kevin Pollack, 1958
Charles Martin Smith, 1953
Harry Hamlin, 1951
Andrea Mitchell, 1946
Henry Winkler, 1945
Ed Lauter, 1940
Grace Slick, 1939
Claude Lelouch, 1937
Dick Gautier, 1937
Dick Vermeil, 1936
Robert Caro, 1935
Louis Malle, 1932
Ruth Gordon, 1896
Charles Atlas, 1893
Ezra Pound, 1885
William "Bull" Halsey, 1882
Emily Post, 1872
Alfred Sisley, 1839
Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1821
Richard Sheridan, 1751
John Adams, 1735

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Symphony No. 11 in G minor(Shostakovich Op. 103), 1957
"Panama Hattie"(Musical), 1940
"War of the Worlds"(Radio), 1938

Today in History:

Antioch surrenders to Rashidun Caliphate and his Muslim forces after the Battle of the Iron Bridge, 637
End of the 8th Crusade, 1270
King Henry VII, Tudor, crowned, 1485
Queen Isabella bans violence against Indians, 1503
The first Methodist church in the US is initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC), 1768
Dr. Richard Gatling patents the machine gun, 1862
Founding of Helena, Montana (capital city), 1864
John Willis Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first black elected to the US Congress (by special election, he was challenged by the loser, but was allowed to address Congress from the lectern), 1868
Daniel Cooper patents the time clock, 1894
Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes the first woman US Senator, 1896
The first US Automobile Show opens in Madison Square Garden, NYC, 1900
Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly, 1905
Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy, 1922
John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter, 1925
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States, 1938
Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 1944
Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier, 1945
Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, 1960
The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise, 1961
The Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time, 1973
The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire, 1974
Prince Juan Carlos becomes Spain's acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco, 1975
In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the TurboGrafx-16, known as PC Engine, 1987
Quebec sovereignists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote is 50.6% to 49.4%), 1995
The last Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) early time-sharing operating system is shut down at the Canadian Department of National Defense in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2000
George Lucas sells Lucasfilm, Ltd., to the Walt Disney Company, 2012

Time, once again, for The Great Neighborhood Candy Exchange!

The day of the year when we dress our children up in costumes and all the moms in the neighborhood trade candy through them.

Since i don't have little ones going door to door any more, may i turn in early?

Yesterday i put in a good, long day at work, with 6 loads of laundry and the whole place a wreck. Since i forgot my mop, i had to clean the floors by hand. Because i had so much to do, and i had to be out by a certain time, i didn't stop to eat, or take any breaks. In fact, i didn't get breakfast or lunch because i was so busy -- running on adrenaline and coffee, which is unusual for me.

As soon as i left, i rushed to church where Sweetie and i met up, as we were ushering for a special performance. The Senior Pastor co-wrote a musical play years ago, and in honor of his ten years as Senior Pastor, our musically talented people put on a show. Handing out programs and making sure guests know where the restrooms are is about the extent of my ability to help with these thing.

It was a really fun evening, the book of Genesis from creation to Abraham's offer to sacrifice Isaac, set to music, with dance, and Satan played by a red-headed soprano! We enjoyed it thoroughly, then had to go to find sustenance.

There was good news at home, as the children had rallied and done a lot of cleaning at the house!

Today, though, i'm a bit wiped out. After i pick up Little Girl at school, and we take care of our shift at the shelter, i think i'll let someone else do the honors of handing out candy to the little goblins. Red-Headed Alec is going to be a zombie and be in the kitten cage, and the pumpkins will have candles, and it's going to be a great time that i will enjoy watching but not so much doing.

Give them my regards, i'm off duty tonight.

Today is:

Admission Day -- Nevada, US

Allantide -- Cornwall, England

All Hallows Eve -- Christian

Apple and Candle Night -- Wales

Books for Treats Day -- San Jose, CA, US (give gently used books to kids, not candy -- feed their brains, not their cavities!)

Breeder's Cup World Championship -- Santa Anita Park, Los Angeles, CA, US (the world's best horses compete in 14 races; through Sunday)

Chiang Kai-Shek Day -- Taiwan

Day of the Seven Billion -- day in 2011 the UN declared the world population to have reached 7,000,000,000

Dias de los Muertos -- Mexico, esp. Michoacan and Oaxaca (through Nov. 2; ceremonies, sand sculptures, decorated altars, and parties through the nights in the cemetaries)

Dookie Apple Night -- Newcastle, England

Duck Apple Night -- Liverpool, England

Feast of Sekhmet Bast Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Fisher's Ghost -- Campbelltown City, Australia (ten days of celebrating the legends of Australia's most famous ghost, Frederick Fisher)

Festival of Inner Worlds -- Pagan (fight between the old and new year)

Founder's Day -- Girl Scouts of the USA (Juliette Gordon Low's birth anniversary)

Frankenstein Friday -- a day to celebrate the "mother" and "father" of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff

Ghostwriter's Day

Hallowe'en or Beggar's Night

Increase Your Psychic Powers Day -- originated in England in the 19th century, some celebrated on the 30th

Jounen Kweyol -- Dominica (Creole Day, one of the nation's biggest and most colorful celebrations)

King Father Nordom Sihanouk's Birthday -- Cambodia

'Makoshe's Holiday -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar (honoring Mother Earth)

Mokosh Day -- Ukraine (Slavic goddess of "women's work", a wanderer and spinner, still popular as a life giving force and protector of women, always associated with Friday; date approximate)

National Bandanna Day -- Australia (to raise funds for kids with cancer)

National Candy Apple Day

National Knock-Knock Joke Day
     Knock, Knock
     Who's There?
     Police.
     Police who?
     Police stop telling knock-knock jokes!

National Magic Day -- Society of American .Magicians(in honor of Harry Houdini, who died on this day in 1926, and who was president of the SoAM)

National UNICEF Day

Nut-Crack Night -- England; Scotland

Old Celtic New Year's Eve

Out of the Broom Closet Day -- Pagan, Heathen, and all earth-based and ethnic religions

Reformation Day -- Protestant Christian (trad.)
     Dia de las Iglesias Evangelicas y Protestantes -- Chile
     Official Holiday -- BB, MV, SN, ST, & TH, Germany; Slovenia

Samhain (northern hemisphere) / Beltane (southern hemisphere) -- Druids, Gaels, Welsh peoples, Neopagans, Wiccans (begins at sunset)

Scare a Friend Day -- just not so much that he/she isn't a friend any more

Senior Absurdity Day -- Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY, US (a day the kids look forward to each year)

Sneak Some of the Candy Yourself Before the Kids Start Knocking Day

St. Quentin's Day (Patron against coughs)

St. Wolfgang of Ratisbon's Day (Patron of apoplexics, carpenters, paralysed people, stroke victims; Regensburg, Germany; against apoplexy, paralysis, stomach diseases, strokes)

Thump-the-Door Night -- Isle of Mann

Trick or Treat Night

Vetmaetr -- Norse Calendar (Winter Nights; beginning of winter, the New Year, and the start of Odin leading the Wild Hunt)

Youth Honor Day -- Iowa, US

Anniversaries Today:

Mt. Rushmore is completed, 1941
Nevada becomes the 36th US State, 1864

Birthdays Today:

Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, 1967
Adam Horovitz, 1966
Dermot Mulroney, 1963
Rob Schneider, 1963
Peter Jackson, 1961
Larry Mullen, Jr., 1961
John Candy, 1950
Jane Pauley, 1950
Deidre Hall, 1947
Stephen Rea, 1943
David Ogden Stiers, 1942
Ron Rifkin, 1939
Michael Landon, 1936
Dan Rather, 1931
Michael Collins, 1930
Barbara Bel Geddes, 1922
Dale Evans, 1912
Ethel Waters, 1896
Chaing Kai-shek, 1887
Juliette Gordon Low, 1860
John Keats, 1795
William Paca, 1740
Jan Vermeer, 1632

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Car Talk"(Radio), 1987 (national debut, ten years after their start as a local show in Boston)
"Jamaica"(Musical), 1957
"Capricio Espagnol"(Rimsky-Korsakov Op. 34), 1887

Today in History:

Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites after their return to Jerusalem from exile, BC445
First All Hallows Eve observed to honor all the saints, 834
Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door, marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, 1517
Georg Ludwig van Hannover is crowned as the English King George I, 1714
Execution of Girondins at Paris during the Reign of Terror, 1793
Sir Humphrey Davy of London patents the miner's safety lamp, 1815
A standard uniform is approved for US Postal workers, 1868
A tropical cyclone hits Bengal, about 200,000 die, 1876
John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tire, 1888
Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", 1892
Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across United States, 1913
The Battle of Beersheba of WWI marks the last successful cavalry charge in history, 1917
The first of 160 consecutive days of 100°F + temps at Marble Bar, Australia, 1923
World Savings Day is announced in Milan, Italy by the Members of the Association at the 1st International Savings Bank Congress, 1924
Mt. Rushmore sculptures are completed, 1941
The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal, 1956
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two security guards, 1984
EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board, 1999
Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted, 1999
Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station, which has been continually crewed since, 2000
Surfer Bethany Hamilton loses her left arm and 3 liters of blood in a tiger shark attack; within a month she would be back on her board, and competing again within the year, 2003
The NYSE reopens after its first weather related shut down since the late 19th century; the two-day closure was due to Hurricane Sandy, 2012

Please don't get me wrong, i love bicycles. In fact, when the kids were younger and we all had them, we would ride together sometimes to get me to work when i was doing the lunch shift at the preschool.

After all, bicycles are great fun. You can go really, really fast, much faster than you could ever run.

They are economical, once you've bought one. No fuel needed except what you feed your own self, and as long as you don't run through tires so fast you need to invest in a rubber company, like #2 Son used to, it's pretty cheap transportation.

Bicycles also have the advantage of not adding pollution to our air.

If i could, i'd have one now, and use it to ride on close errands.

Here's the thing, though. When you are on a bicycle, and especially once you are over the age of 12 and thus able to understand it, you need to be obeying the rules of the road.

If you want the privileges of riding on the streets with the cars, you need to obey the same rules.

Yes, i will gladly give you 3 feet or more of clearance when passing you.

Yes, i will gladly wait for other cars coming toward me to get past me, and drive behind you at a respectful distance, until it's safe for me and for you for me to pass you.

Yes, i will let you go first if you get to the four-way stop first.

What i ask is that you please stop at that four-way stop, instead of pretending that stop signs don't apply to you. What i ask is that you please don't pass between the lanes of traffic, it's not safe for you to be between two cars, and those lines in the road are there for a reason. What i ask is that you please don't try to go straight from a right turn lane, get into the correct lane to go straight.

And for heaven's sake, don't give me a dirty look when you are going the wrong way on a one way street and i almost don't see you because you are approaching from the wrong direction. It is a one way street and you are the one going the wrong way, not me.

You will get the same respect out of me as all vehicles get, those of you on bicycles. Now do me the courtesy of obeying the same rules i have to.

After all, that's the law.

Today is:

All Hallow's Day a/k/a All Saint's Day -- Christian, and a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church; a recognized holiday (although not necessarily a day off work) in Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovena, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, East Timor, Ecuador, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Holy See, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Monaco, New Caledonia, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Wallis and Fortuna)

Apaturia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day Phratriai brotherhood festival; dates approximate)

Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival -- Banff, AB, Canada (38th annual; through next Sunday)

Bulgarian National Revival Leaders' Day -- Bulgaria

Cake Appreciation Day -- while i can't find a reason or sponsor for this, i'm sure the Cake Appreciation Society would approve

Children's Day -- Malaysia

Cook for Your Pets Day -- did the dogs lobby for this?

Coronation Day of Fourth Druk Gyalpo -- Bhutan

CrossQuarter Day

Day of the Innocents -- Mexico (first Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead)

Digital Scrapbooking Day -- it certainly takes up less room than the other kinds!

Fall Back Night -- all areas that end Daylight Saving Time tomorrow; set your clock back one hour before you go to bed and change the batteries in your smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors

Fall Country Jamboree -- Barberville, FL, US (celebration of pioneer life, with music, crafts, historic displays, Native and Cracker camps, and more; through tomorrow)

Gooseberry Humble's Tummy-Rumbling Contest -- Fairy Calendar

Graveyards Day -- a traditional day to tend the graves of ancestors

Guy Fawkes Carnival -- Bridgwater, Somerset, UK (a festival that traces its origins to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605)

I Am So Thankful Month begins -- before the "holiday" frenzy, spend not just a day, but a month, practicing gratitude

Haryana Day -- Haryaha, India

Independence Day -- Antigua & Barbuda(1981); North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic, from the Ottoman Empire)

International Coaches Day -- no one claims to have started this; if you have, or had, a great coach in your life, let him/her know

Kalends of November -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
Pomonia -- Festival to Pomona

Kanhada Rajyothsaya -- Kamataka, India (Kamataka Formation Day)

Kite Festival of Santiago Sacatepequez -- Santiago Sacatepequez, Guatemala (kite flying in the graveyard to scare away evil spirits)

Liberty Day / D. Hamilton Jackson Day -- US Virgin Islands

Lovington Fall Arts and Crafts Festival -- Lovington, NM, US (over 100 local and regional crafters; through tomorrow)

NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writer's Month, write one if you have it in you!

National Author's Day -- US

National Family Literacy Day® -- US (but no matter where you live, turn off the tv, pick up a good book! National Center for Family Literacy)

National French Fried Clam / Deep Fried Clam Day

National Vinegar Day

No Driving with Cell Phones Day -- the first US law against talking on a hand-held device while driving went into effect in NY, US, on this day in 2001

Plate Tectonics Day -- birth anniversary of Alfred Wegener, who came up with the theory of continental drift

Old Celtic New Year

Olive Festival -- Galilee, Israel (through the month, especially centered around Kawkab and Hurfeish, with open houses, oil production tours, feasts, lectures, concerts, dance performances, and olives galore)

Ozark Mountain Christmas/Branson Festival of Lights -- Branson, MO, US

Peddler's Village Apple Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (fun for all, through tomorrow)

Remembrance Day -- Slovenia

Revival Leaders' Day -- Bulgaria

Revolution Day/National Day -- Algeria

Samhain -- Celtic, 3rd Station, and Wicca, Northern Hemisphere (Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere)

State Foundation Day -- Andhra Pradesh, India; Karnataka, India; Kerala, India

Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens -- Pine Mountain, GA, US (a six-race steeplechase)

Verboort Sausage and Kraut Dinner -- Forest Grove, OR, US (beer and their famous sausage, as well as home-baked goods and fun)

Will Rogers' Days -- Claremore and Oologah, OK, US (through the 4th; celebrating the man's wit and humor at his birthplace and the museum dedicated to him)

World Vegan Day -- International

Anniversaries Today:

The Prime Meridian is set at Greenwich, England, 1884
Boston Female Medical School opens, 1848

Birthdays Today:

Penn Bagdley, 1986
Toni Collette, 1972
Jenny McCarthy, 1972
Fernando Valenzuela, 1960
Rachel Ticotin, 1958
Lyle Lovett, 1957
Dan Peek, 1951
Larry Flynt, 1942
Gary Player, 1935
Betsy Palmer, 1926
James Jackson Kilpatrick, 1920
Alfred Wegener, 1880
Stephen Crane, 1871

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Foreigner"(Larry Shue comedy), 1984
Hello Kitty, 1974 (condsidered her "birth date")
"Top Banana"(Mercer musical), 1951
Ebony Magazine(First edition), 1945
"Harvey"(Mary Chase comedy), 1944
"Emperor Jones"(O'Neill play), 1920
The Crisis: A Record of The Darker Races(Magazine of the NAACP, first edition edited by W.E.B. DuBois), 1910
"John Bull's Other Island"(Shaw comedy), 1904
Harper's Bazaar(Magazine, first edition), 1867

Today in History:

The name "Austria" is first used for Ostarrichin, 996
King John of England begins imprisoning Jews, 1210
The Duke of Brabant orders the execution of all Jews in Brussels, claiming they were poisoning wells, 1349
First exhibit of the works of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1512
The Netherlands is hit by a flood disaster, resulting in the deaths of thousands, 1570
Shakespeare's "Othello" first presented, 1604
Shakespeare's "The Tempest" first presented, 1611
An earthquake in Lisbon leaves over 50,000 dead, 1755
The Stamp Act goes into effect in the British colonies, 1765
George Washington gives his "Farewell Address" and the Continental Army is dissolved, 1783
John Adams becomes the first Us president to move into the (still not quite finished) White House, 1800*
*Note: It was still called the Executive Mansion at this time
The first published reference to poker, as a Mississippi riverboat game, 1834
The Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse, which is still in use, is lit for the first time; its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles in good conditions, 1859
Passage of the first US Civil Rights Bill, 1866
First publication of "Harpers Bazaar", 1867
The US Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) begins operations, with 24 locations, 1870
Edward Scripps and John Sweeney found Penny Press (now the Cleveland Press), 1878
The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded at the Hayes' Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary, 1884
Dr. Roux of Paris introduces a vaccine for diphtheria, 1894
Nicholas II becomes the new Tsar of Russia, 1894
The National Geographic Magazine publishes its first picture of bare breasted women (from a Zulu tribe), 1896
The first Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public, 1897
Sigma Phi Epsilon, the largest national male college fraternity in the US, is established at Richmond College, 1901
Parris Island becomes the officially designated Marine Corps Recruit Depot, 1915
The Ottoman Empire is officially abolished, 1922
Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing, 1938
The first animal conceived by artificial insemination, a rabbit, is displayed, 1939
American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography, 1941
The first issue of Ebony Magazine is published, by John H. Johnson, 1945
Charles Cooper of the Celtics becomes the first black NBA player, 1950
The first hydrogen nuclear device is exploded, by the US, at Eniwetok Atoll, 1952
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game, 1959
The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opens, 1963
The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X, 1968
Honda becomes the first Asian automaker to build cars in the US, 1982
Serbia joins the United Nations, 2000
First part of the Gomery Report, which discusses allegations of political money manipulation by members of the Liberal Party of Canada, is released in Canada. 2005
Astronomers claim to have detected light from the first stars in the universe by studying high-energy radiation data, 2012
Australian scientists announce the discovery of three new marsupials in Queensland, all shrew-like antechinus species, 2013

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs. It's easy to join in the fun because the rules are simple: Laugh and Link Up!

There was a newspaper story recently about a couple who had been married over 50 years. They were asked, of course, for tips on a happy marriage.

The husband and wife explained that when they first got married, each found out the other had a particular much hated food. She despised liver in any way, shape, or form, and he couldn't stand spinach, no matter how it was cooked.

After their first argument, he threatened to go buy liver and cook it just to make her mad, and she threatened to do the same with some spinach. Then they laughed, and calmed down, and decided that as long as they never really got mad enough at each other to do that, things were going to be just fine.

They never did go buy each other's despised food out of spite, and so they stayed together!

This reminds me of a joke.

When Boudreaux and Clothile firs' get married, Clothile she don' know how to cook. She be terrible! But Boudreaux he love her anyway, and he tell her, "Mais, don' worry, you gone get better!"

So Clothile, she practice, an' she try. She buy one o' dem fancy cookery books, and she look in dere. An' one day, lookin' for summat new, she see "Liver and Onions."

Okay, she t'ink, I's goin' try dat! So she cook de liver an' onions.

When Boudreaux come in, he don' say much, but he tell her, "T'anks so much fo' workin' so hard on dinner!"

"Do you like it?" she ax.

"Oh, I love dem onions!" Boudreaux say, tryin' to be diplomat like.

So Clothile t'ink, he like dat! I'll cook dat more.

After dat, about once a month, Clothile, she cook de liver an' onions. An Boudreaux, he don' like it much, but he smile an' eat it, an' say he like de onions.

One day, when he come in again an' dere be de liver an' onions, he say, "Clothile, you jes' love liver an' onions, don' you?"

"Mais," she answer, "no, I don' like dem much. I be cookin' dem because you like it!"

"No," Boudreaux say, "I hate liver! I be t'inkin' you like it!"

"But you say you like it de firs' time!" Clothile exclaim.

"No, cher, I done say I like de onions! I never say nuttin' about de liver!"

Well, dey both laugh, and laugh, and now dat dey be older, wit' enough money to go out to eat sometime, it's de joke dey tell each other.

"Let's go out! Maybe we find someplace dats got liver an' onions!"

Today is:

All Souls' Day -- Christian (celebrations in Ecuador are among the most colorful; 2nd of the Dias de los Muertos in Mexico) related observances:
Dead Relatives' Day -- Sicily
Dia de Finados -- Brazil; Portugal

Aztec Day of the Dead -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (date approximate)

Balfour Declaration Day -- Israel

Cookie Monster's Birthday -- go have a cookie to celebrate! (but only after your dinner, as Cookie Monster now points out; boy, things have changed)

Coronation of Haile Selassie -- Rastafarian

Daylight Saving Time ends -- Bermuda; Canada (most areas); Cuba; Greenland (some areas); Haiti; Mexico (Baja area); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; The Bahamas; Turks and Caicos Islands; US (most areas)

Dveselu Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (day for families to gather with the spirits of their ancestors at the graveyard to celebrate the continuity of life)

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

Indian Arrival Day / Arrival of Indentured Laborers' Day -- Mauritius

International Day to End Impunity -- International (calling for the ending impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers)

Karatsu Kunchi -- Karatsu and Saga, Japan

Look for Circles Day -- internet generated, and we run in circles looking for who created it and why!

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run -- England (a race composed of only pre-1905 vehicles)

National Deviled Egg Day

National Sleep-In Day -- begun by those who want you to spend the extra hour gained catching up on your ZZZZ's

National Traffic Directors Day -- meaning radio and TV traffic directors, who always schedule your favorite shows when you just can't watch, and put more and more commercials in when they can; on the anniversary of the first commercial radio broadcast in Pittsburgh in 1922, sponsored by the Traffic Directors Guild of America

New York City Marathon -- NY, NY, US

Ohara Festival -- Kagoshima, Japan (one of Japan's largest autumn festivals, with 22,000+ dancers in the parade; through tomorrow)

Potting-Shed Investitures -- Fairy Calendar (Garden Fairies)

Plan Your Epitaph Day -- sponsored by Dead or Alive of Arcata, CA, because a forgettable epitaph is almost a fate worse than death, so make plans to do yours right!

Practice Being Psychic Day -- but you already knew that, didn't you?

Refuse to Capitalize the First Letters in Your Name Day -- k.d.lang's birth anniversary

Soulcaker's Play -- Cheshire, UK

St Eustachius' Day (Patron of difficult situations, fire prevention, firefighters, hunters and hunting, torture victims, trappers; Madrid, Spain; Poli, Italy; against fire and torture)

Unique 14th Annual 150 Hands-On Mystery Object Event -- Logic Puzzle Museum, Burlington, WI, US (come join the fun and use your brain puzzling out what these mystery objects, many of them antique, are or used to do; through Nov. 22)

Zero Tasking Day -- spend the extra hour gained when turning the clocks back doing nothing, just practice being

Anniversaries Today:

North Dakota becomes the 39th US State, 1889
South Dakota becomes the 40th US State, 1889

Birthdays Today:

k.d. lang, 1961
Shere Hite, 1942
Stephanie Powers, 1942
Pat Buchanan, 1938
Ray Walston, 1914
Burt Lancaster, 1913
Paul Ford, 1901
Warren G. Harding, 1865
James K. Polk, 1795
Marie Antionette, 1755
Daniel Boone, 1734

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Spruce Goose makes its first (only) flight, 1947
KDKA Radio Pittsburgh, PA, US makes the first scheduled radio broadcast, of election results, 1920

Today in History:

The Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut colonies combine forces and attach the Great Swamp Fort of the Narragansetts during King Philip's War, 1675
The African Free School, the first free school in NYC, opens, 1787
The popular vote for US president is first recorded and Andrew "By God" Jackson (a/k/a Old Hickory) defeats John Quincy Adams, 1824
New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally, 1868
Johnny Campbell officially leads the crowd in cheering at a University of Minnesota football game, the official birth of cheerleading, 1898
The British newspaper the "Daily Mirror" begins publication, 1903
The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities", 1917
Charlotte Woodward, who attended the historic Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention of 1848, becomes the only one of the women who attended to live long enough to cast a vote in a national election, 1920
Australia's Qantas Airways begins service, 1922
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established, 1936
In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built, 1947
Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case, 1960
The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT, 1988
The International Space Station becomes permanently staffed, 2000
China makes its first orbital docking as its unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft successfully docks with the orbiting Tiangong 1 space station module, 2011
The New York Marathon is cancelled due to the damage from Hurricane Sandy, 2012

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus. It's easy to do, just post a picture that makes everyone say, "Awww!"

After all, what better way to start the week than with a smile?

Link likes to hide, and he likes to think that you can't see him.

No one can see me under here!

Try again, buddy!

Today is:

Apaturia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a three day meeting of the clans and welcoming newcomers and children into the community; date approximate)

Betcha Festival -- Onomichi, Japan (men in costume "beat" children with bamboo whisks to prevent them getting ill in the coming year)

Bunka no hi -- Japan (Culture Day)

Cliche Day -- get them all out of your system today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Cuenca Day -- Cuenca, Ecuador

Housewives' Day -- birth anniversary of Roseanne Barr

Independence Day -- Dominica(1978); Federated States of Micronesia(1986); Panama (also called Separation Day, separating from Colombia in 1903)

Job Action Day -- a day for workers and job seekers to put job or career in the forefront, make plans, and take action

Let Someone Have the Last Word Day -- internet generated, probably so you will quit with the cliches

Marlborough Provincial Anniversary Day -- Marlborough, New Zealand

National Day -- Tonga

Parsley Scattering Season ends -- Fairy Calendar

Recreation Day -- Tasmania, Australia

Sandwich Day -- birth anniversary of John Montague, Fourth Earl of Sandwich and reputed inventor of the food item which bears his name; make yourself a really good one in his memory

SOS Day -- on this date in 1906 the Second International Radio Telegraphic Conference at Berlin, Germany, proposed it as the new wireless distress signal to replace CQD (Come Quick, Danger)

St. Hubert's Day (Patron of archers, dogs, forest workers, furriers, hunters and hunting, machinists, mathematicians, metal workers, opticians, precision instrument makers, smelters, trappers; Liege, Belgium; Saint-Hubert, Belgium; against dog bites, hydrophobia/rabies)

St. Martin de Porres' Day (Patron of African-Americans, bargers/hair stylists, inter-racial justice, hotel-keepers/innkeepers, paupers, persons of mixed race, poor people, public education, public health, public schools, race relations/racial harmony, social justice, state schools, television; Biloxi, MI, US; Peru)

St. Pirminius' Day (Patron of Monsheim, Germany; against poisoning, snake bite)

St. Winifred's Day (Patron of incest victims, martyrs; Gwytherin, Wales; Holywell, Wales; Shrewsbury, England)

Traffic Director's Day -- Traffic Directors Guild of America (those who are Traffic Managers, Inventory Control Specialists, Revenue Managers, or many other terms in the broadcasting and mobile industries)

Tunnel Day -- NY, NY, US (anniversary of the start of the first subway tunnel in 1900)

Victory Day -- Maldives

Birthdays Today:

Gemma Ward, 1987
Evgeny Plushenko, 1982
Dolph Lundgren, 1959
Phil Simms, 1956
Adam Ant, 1954
Kathy Kinney, 1954
Kate Capshaw, 1953
Dennis Miller, 1953
Roseanne, 1952
Steve Landesberg, 1945
Ken Berry, 1933
Michael Dukakis, 1933
Monica Vitti, 1933
Charles Bronson, 1921
Bob Feller, 1918
Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, 1908
Edward Douglass White, 1845
William Cullen Bryant, 1794
Stephen Fuller Austin, 1793
Thomas Kyd, 1558

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Diff'rent Strokes"(TV), 1978
"Good Morning America"(TV), 1973
Play Misty for Me(Film, NYC release date), 1971
"The Unsinkable Molly Brown"(Musical), 1960
"A Connecticut Yankee"(Musical), 1927

Today in History:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina, 644
Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, 1493
The English parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII to be the leader of the Church of England, 1534
Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony, 1620
A great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet, 1679
Spain acquires Louisiana, 1762
The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec, 1817
The Times of India, the world's most widely circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, 1838
John W. Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first African-American elected to Congress, 1868
"Black Bart the Poet", stagecoach robber, commits his last robbery, leaving behind a clue that leads to his capture, 1883
J.H. Hunter patents a portable weighing scale, 1896
Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market, 1911
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika, 1957
NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury; it would later become the first probe to reach that planet, 1973
Dutch and British astronomers find spiral nebula Dwingeloo 1, 1994
Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule across Pakistan, suspending the Constitution, 2007
US Border Patrol discovers a sophisticated tunnel used by drug smugglers from Tijuana, Mexico to Otay Mesa, California, 2010

Finally! It's here!

Election Day! Am i looking forward to voting? Oh, yes, absolutely. Unless you are conscientiously
objecting, i believe everyone eligible should vote. Too many people on this planet would love to be able to do so for us to waste the opportunity. Also, it is a hard won privilege for us, as you know if you've studied your history.

But that's not the main reason i'm looking forward to it. After all, this is Louisiana where our wimpy legislature won't take a stand on anything and so puts any item that might be controversial on the ballot as a constitutional amendment instead of just voting on it themselves. That way, they get to weasel out of the blame if things go wrong. Also they make us spend a lot of time trying to figure out just what they are trying to pull in each of those amendments, and it can take a while to make sure you got it all right once you are in that booth. Because of this, the actual moments you spend in that booth can be a bit of a pill, but one i'm willing to swallow.

No, the main reason i'm looking forward to it is that i am so tired of the ads and name calling and the constant calls on our home phone, at least 3-5 per night. "Don't vote for the convict who is running for Congress!" "I am not a liar!" "Yes, you are!" "No, I'm not!" The misinformation and lies and foolishness has gotten on my last nerve.

It will be a blessing to have it all over and done with. At least until the run-offs, of which we are sure to have at least one. Gads.

Okay, i'm diving in early today, and then i don't want to hear any more until i read my paper tomorrow morning. If the run-off comes up the way i think it will, the break will be short, but i need every minute.

Today is:

Ashura -- Islam (optional day of fasting that begins at sundown, local observances and national holidays may vary)

Chicken Lady Day -- Miami, FL, US (in honor of The Chicken Lady, whose nonprofit organization helps people get over being "chicken" about public speaking)

Citizenship Day -- Northern Mariana Islands

Community Service Day -- Dominica

Constitution Day/National Day -- Tonga

Election Day -- US (finally! No more ads for a while!)

Feast of Qudrat (Power) -- Baha'i

Flag Day -- Panama

Giorno dell'Unita Nazionale e Festa delle Forze Armate and Victory Day -- Italy (National Unity and Armed Forces Day; celebration of the 1918 Treaty with Austria)

Guy Fawkes Eve -- sometimes called Mischief Night in some parts of Australia, UK, and New Zealand, although that is more appropriate to April 30/October 30

Honeymoon Day -- reminisce about your own special trip, on the birth anniversary of Art Carney

King Tut Day -- his tomb was opened this day in 1922

Ludi Plebeii -- Ancient Roman Calendar (public games, through the 17th)

Melbourne Cup Day -- Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia (153rd running)

National Candy Day -- guess they're thinking you still have some left over from Hallowe'en

St. Charles Borromeo's Day (Patron of apple orchards, bishops, catechists, seminarians, spiritual directors/leaders, starch makers; Joliette, Quebec; Lombardy, Italy; Monterey, CA; Rocca di Papa, Italy; against abdominal pain, colic, intestinal disorders, stomach diseases, ulcers)
a Bank Holiday in Andorra

Unity Day -- Russia

Will Roger's Day -- especially in OK, US; related observance
Use Your Common Sense Day -- because "Common sense ain't all that common."

Waiting for the Barbarians Day -- internet generated, and i thought they came and took over a long time ago!

Anniversaries Today:

Taking of the US Embassy in Teheran, Iran -- 1979
Discovery of King Tut's Tomb -- 1922
Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd, 1842
Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange, 1677 (ruled jointly as William and Mary)

Birthdays Today:

Sean "Diddy" Combs, 1970
Matthew McConaughey, 1969
Andrea McArdle, 1963
Ralph Macchio, 1962
Jeff Probst, 1962
Kathy Griffin, 1960
Markie Post, 1950
Laura W. Bush, 1946
Robert Mapplethorpe, 1946
Loretta Swit, 1937
Doris Roberts, 1930
Martin Balsam, 1919
Art Carney, 1918
Walter Cronkite, 1916
Will Rogers, 1879
Augustus Montague Toplady, 1740 (wrote the hymn "Rock of Ages")

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Crimes of the Heart"(Henley play), 1981
"One Man's Family"(TV), 1949
"Prince Igor"(Borodin opera), 1890
Symphony No. 1 in C minor(Brahms Op. 68), 1876

Today in History:

The Flood of the Arno River causes massive damage in Florence, Italy, 1333
Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier, 1429
Thomas Wolsey, English cardinal, arrested, 1529
Mozart's Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria, 1783
The Erie Canal is completed with Governor DeWitt Clinton performing the Wedding of The Waters ceremony in New York Harbour, 1825
Benjamin Palmer patents an artificial leg, 1846
Dentist John Beers of San Francisco patents the gold crown, 1873
Tonga adopts a constitution, 1875
James Ritty patents the cash register, to combat the pilfering of the till by the bartenders in his Ohio saloon, 1879
London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell, 1890
The Italian unknown soldier is buried in the Altare della Patria (Fatherland Altar) in Rome, 1921
Nellie Tayloe Ross is elected the first female US State governor, in Wyoming, 1924
The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio, 1955
Two-thirds of Florence, Italy is submerged as the River Arno floods; together with the contemporaneous flood of the Po River in northern Italy, this leads to 113 deaths, 30,000 made homeless, and the destruction of numerous Renaissance artworks and books, 1966
Genie, a 13-year-old feral child is found in Los Angeles, California having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life, 1970
The Netherlands experiences the first Car Free Sunday caused by the oil crisis, as the highways are deserted and are used only by cyclists and roller skaters, 1973
First conference that focuses exclusively on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web, in San Francisco, 1994
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extremist Orthodox Israeli, 1995
Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing a pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress, 2002
Barak Obama is elected President of the United States, 2008
In Australia's Northern Territory in the lands of the Jawoyn people, archaeologists discover what is believed to be the world's oldest example of a stone ax, estimated at 35,500 years old, 2010

This year's pumpkins, courtesy Little Girl's carving skills.

Spooky, isn't it?

Today is:

Ashura -- Islam (optional day of fasting that ends at sundown, local observances and national holidays may vary)

Bonn Om Touk -- Cambodia (a/k/a The Water Festival, it is Cambodia's largest party, always held for two days around the time of the full moon in November)

Conmemoracion Patriotica en la Ciudad de Colon -- Panama

Day of the First Shout for Independence -- El Salvador

Edgar Allan Poe Evermore -- Mount Hope Estate, Manheim, PA, US (nights of suspense with the stories from the master, acted by professionals; through Nov. 16)

Egyptian Day -- Medieval Europe day of bad fortune (common saying on this day was, "Notwithstanding, I will trust the Lord.")

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

Guy Fawkes' Day -- Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador; New Zealand; UK; a/k/a Gunpowder Day, bonfires celebrate that Guy Fawkes plot did not succeed; related famous celebrations
     Burning of the Tar Barrels -- Ottery St. Mary, Devon, UK (17 barrels soaked in tar are lit outside 17 taverns and carried through the town)
     Lewes Bonfire Night -- Lewes, East Sussex, UK
     Turning the Devil's Stone -- Shebbear, Devon, UK (erratic stone, possibly from an Ice Age deposit, turned every year on this day to assure good fortune)

Hawaiki Nui Va'a Race -- French Polynesia (spectacular three-day open water outrigger canoe race from Huahine to Raiatea to Tahaa to Bora Bora; through Friday)

Mariachi Night -- Brawley, CA, US (sponsored by the Imperial Valley Joint Chambers of Commerce, a free night of celebrating the heritage of Mariachi music)

National Doughnut Day -- well, it's better than buy a donut day, that one's too obvious

National Stress Awareness Day -- UK (International Stress Management Association)

Nones of November -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Popes Day -- US name for the remembrance of Guy Fawkes' Day

St. Elizabeth's Day and St. Zechariah's Day -- parents of John the Baptist (Elizabeth is Patron of pregnant women)

Wet Wellington Day -- Fairy Calendar (Imps and Gremlins; they really love it when this falls on a Wednesday)

Wuwuchim Fire Ceremonies begin -- Hopi Native American (dating approximate, as these ceremonies are now mostly closed to outsiders, a celebration of Masaw, god of death, and Spider Woman, the earth mother; a 16 day festival and manhood ceremony for adolescent boys)

Anniversary Today:

George W. Bush marries Laura Welch, 1977

Birthdays Today:

Kevin Jonas, 1987
Corin Nemec, 1971
Judy Reyes, 1967
Tatum O'Neal, 1963
Tilda Swinton, 1960
Bryan Adams, 1959
Bill Walton, 1952
Peter Noone, 1947
Sam Shepard, 1943
Art Garfunkel, 1941
Elke Sommer, 1940
Geoffrey Wolff, 1937
Ike Turner, 1931
Vivien Leigh, 1913
Roy Rogers, 1911
Joel McCrea, 1905
Strom Thurmond, 1902
Raymond Loewy, 1893
Will Durant, 1885
Ida M. Tarbell, 1857
Eugene Debs, 1855

Debuting/Premiering Today

"Into the Woods"(Sondheim musical), 1987
"Fifth of July"(Wilson play), 1980
"The Nat King Cole Show, 1956
The New York Weekly Journal(first edition), 1733

Today in History:

Wu MeKuan, a collection of 48 Zen koans, compiled in China, 1228
Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier (Brittany); it is the first Breton dictionary as well as the first French dictionary, 1499
St. Felix's Flood ravages the Dutch coast and destroys the city of Reimerswaal in the Netherlands, 1530
The Gunpowder Plot, in which Catholics were trying to blow up the English Parliament, is foiled, 1605
The first post office in the Colonies is opened in the home of Richard Fairbanks, 1639
Susan B. Anthony is arrested for trying to vote in Rochester, NY, 1871
The first US patent for a gasoline driven motor car is granted to George B. Selden, 1895
Calbraith Rodgers arrives in Pasadena from Sheepshead Bay, NY, completing the first transcontinental plane flight, in 49 days, 1911
Colombia joins the United Nations, 1945
USS Rentz, USS Reeves and USS Oldendorf visit Qingdao (Tsing Tao) China — the first US Naval visit to China since 1949, 1986
André Dallaire attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada, but is thwarted when the Prime Minister's wife locks the door, 1995
Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial, 2006
China's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1 goes into orbit around the Moon, 2007

Feline Friday: Your Attention Please

Plenty of cat matters.

Silly Sunday: Youthful Exuberance

Awww Monday: Cute and Yummy!

Good and Crazy

A Bad Joke and a Great Observation

Surprises

On My Toes

Late For Their Own Funeral

Silly Sunday: Come On Home

Big Day

Shopping Mecca

Doesn't drive me crazy.

Well, we got the A/C repaired...

It's The Great Neighborhood Candy Exchange!

Bicyclists, Please

Silly Sunday: Liver to Tell the Tale

Awww Monday: You Can't See Me!

Blessed Relief

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Howl