messymimi's meanderings

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Just because Sandee, of Comedy Plus, is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, don't expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes.

Grandma and i talked a bit of politics yesterday. Not much, we were just discussing a headline or two that i noticed in the newspaper on her table.

It remind me o’ de time Boudreaux decide he want go into politic.

He fin’ hisse’f runnin’ ‘gainst Bourgeois, an’ de reporter ax him what he t’ink o’ his opponent.

Boudreaux say, “Bourgeois be a mighty fine man, an’ a good Cat’lic, an’ a true Cajun, but mais! He be de kind of man dat goin’ cut a hole in de bottom o’ de boat to let de water out!”

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files. It is now hosted by River at Drifting Through Life.

More of Grandma's art, although i may have shown at least one of these before.

Bigger Girl and #1 Son

Grandma’s Mom

Grandma’s Dad

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Today is:

Be a Dork Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which encourages you to wear goofy clothes and fall off a swingset today and be proud of Dorkiness

Cigarette Warning Day -- anniversary of the 1968 law passed in the US that requires health warnings on cigarette packaging

Codman Estate Antique Auto Show -- Codman Estate, Lincoln, MA, US (a day to appreciate antique and classic cars, trucks, motorcycles, and fire engines)

Disability Awareness Day -- Walton Hall Gardens, Warrington, UK (the world's largest "not for profit" volunteer-led disability exhibition)

Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival -- University of Fairbanks, AK (a unique study and performance festival; through the 30th)

Feast of Rowana/Rauni -- Druid/Cornish/Flemish (rowan tree goddess; date approximate)

Festival of Castor and Pullox -- Ancient Roman Calendar every five years (celebrated with a cavalry and chariot procession)

Festival of Santa Rosalia -- Palermo; Sicily (remembrance of the Patron saint of the city on the date, in 1624, when she stopped the plague)

Galla Bayramy -- Turkmenistan (celebration of the wheat harvest)

Gorestnici -- Bulgaria (fire festival of 3 days duration, honoring the ancient belief that these are the 3 hottest days of the year)

Gummi Worm Day

Hakata Gion Yamagasa -- Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan (festival of floats, dates back to the 13th century, includes dousing teams carrying one ton floats with water as they race!)

Hundadagar -- Icelandic tradition, the "dog days" of summer begin, through Aug. 23

Ides of July -- Ancient Roman Calendar

I Love Horses Day -- all over the web with no specific reason given, but do you need a reason to celebrate horses?

Lake Superior Day -- info at the Lake Superior Forum

Luxembourg Beer Festival -- Diekirch, Luxembourg

National Ice Cream Day -- by US Presidential proclamation on the 3rd Sunday of July each year; at this time of year, the trick is to eat it fast enough that it doesn't melt, but not so fast that you get a brain freeze!

National Tapioca Pudding Day

No-Hitter Day -- George Bradley of the St. Louis Brown Stockings pitched the first officially recognized no-hitter in MLB against the Hartford Dark Blues on this date in 1876

Petal-Hopping for Beginners Day -- Fairy Calendar

Pet Fire Safety Day -- make a plan to get yourself and your pets safely out of your home in case of a fire!

Respect Canada Day -- because Canada deserves it!

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival -- Santa Fe, NM, US (highly acclaimed chamber music festival that draws international talent; through Aug. 21)

St. Bonaventure's Day (Patron against intestinal problems; of Bagnoregio, Italy; Cochiti Indian Pueblo; St. Bonaventure University, New York)

St. Swithun's Day -- Saint Swithun's Society Annual Celebration in Toronto, ON, Canada; the weather prognostication associated with this saint says if it rains today, it will rain for the next 40 days (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)

St. Swithun's Festival -- St Swithun's Church, Church Street, Worcester, England (from today, which is St. Swithun's Day, through the 18th)

St. Vladimir of Kiev's Day (Patron of converts, parents of large families, reformed and penitant murderers; Russia; Ukranian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, Connecticut; Winnipeg, Manitoba)

Sultan's Birthday -- Brunei Darussalam

Birthdays Today

Tanner Maguire, 1998

Emily Roeske, 1991

Brian Austin Green, 1973

Beth Stern, 1972

Adam Savage, 1967

Irene Jacob, 1966

Forest Whitaker, 1961

Lolita Davidovich, 1961

Kim Alexis, 1960

William Aames, 1960

Terry O’Quinn, 1952

Jesse Ventura, 1951

Arianna Huffington, 1950

Richard Russo, 1949

Linda Ronstadt, 1946

Jan-Michael Vincent, 1944

Alex George Karras, 1935

Ken Kercheval, 1935

Julian Bream, 1933

Clive Cussler, 1931

Jacques Derrida, 1930

Mother Fraqnces Xavier Cabrini, 1850

Thomas Bulfinch, 1796

Clement Clarke Moore, 1779

Rembrandt Van Rijn, 1606

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince(Film), 2009

MSNBC(Network), 1996

"One Life to Live"(TV), 1968

Today in History

Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege, 1099

John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, 1381

Alexei Chirikov sights land and sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska, 1741

The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, 1799

Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine to explore the west, 1806

Napoléon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon, 1815

A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823

Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union, 1870

The stratovolcano Mount Bandai, Japan, erupts killing approximately 500 people, 1888

In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing), 1916

Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others, 1955

AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications Corporation; the Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day, 2003

Entire villages are burned to the ground and 40,000 people flee their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010

A Russian Soyuz rocket with an international team launches for a mission to the International Space Station, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Bigger Girl is keeping very busy with work, school, and being creative. She snuck out to the university at night and did this:

Lots of people stop and take photos of it, she says.

She then noted that "It's now an open secret that there is fairy activity on campus!"

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Sparks! from McGuffy's Reader is on hiatus, so here's an Inspiring Quote of the Week:

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Wishing many happy returns of the day to #1 Son, who is now 27!

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Today is:

Atomic Bomb Day -- the first experimental bomb was set off today in 1945

Birthday of Don Luis Muñoz Rivera / Muñoz-Rivera Day -- Puerto Rico (obs.)

Closet Space Appreciation Day -- if you have some, enjoy (we have tiny closets!)

Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; related observances (many noting her relationship to Carmen, ancient goddess of healing and midwifery)

Fiesta of the Virgin of Carmen -- Santurtzi, Basque Region, Spain

Lady of Carmen Day -- Chile

La Madonna della Carmine -- Naples, Italy (all of Italy, actually, but especially here)

Virgen Del Carmen -- Cetano, Puerto Rico

First Sermon of Lord Buddha -- Bhutan

Fresh Spinach Day -- yippee!

Global Hug Your Kids Day -- the person who started this no longer has a website or Facebook page, but the date is still noted on many holiday listing websites

Ice Cream Cone Day -- this is one of the many days people say the confection was invented, so why not?

LaPaz Day -- Bolivia

Manu'a Cession Day -- American Samoa

National Corn Fritters Day

National Get Out of the Doghouse Day -- the day to work out any troubles with people you care about, so that you "get out of the doghouse"

National Personal Chef Day -- some websites say Feb. 24, but since i'm not going to have one, you may celebrate it whichever you choose

Parking Meter Day -- the first parking meter was installed on this day in 1935 in Okalahoma City, OK

Petal-Hopping for Non-Starters Day -- Fairy Calendar

President's Day -- Botswana

Snake River Stampede -- Nampa, ID (the 103rd year of one of the top 15 professional rodeo events in the nation; through Saturday)

St. Eustathius' Day

Talk to a Telemarketer Day -- only if i can mess with his/her mind in some way!

Umi No Hi -- Japan (Ocean Day / Marine Day)

Anniversary Today:

Michael J. Fox marries Tracy Pollan, 1988

Birthdays Today

Mark Indelicato, 1994

Jayma Mays, 1979

Corey Feldman, 1971

Larry Sanger, 1968

Barry Sanders, 1968

Will Ferrell, 1967

Phoebe Cates, 1963

Michael Flatley, 1958

Stewart Copeland, 1952

Ruben Blades, 1948

Pinchas Zukerman, 1948

Bess Myerson, 1924

Ginger Rogers, 1911

"Miss Frances" Horwich, 1907

Barbara Stanwyck, 1907

Orville Reddenbacker, 1907

Roald Amundsen, 1872

Ida B. Wells, 1862

Mary Baker Eddy, 1821

Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723

Andrea del Sarto, 1486

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Golden Horseshoe Revue"(Disneyland show), 1955

The Catcher in the Rye(Publication date), 1951

"Das Entfuhrung aus dem Serail"(Opera, Mozart K. 384), 1782

Today in History

The Islamic Calendar begins, 622

East-West Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches begin, 1054

The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco, 1661

Manchu Qing Dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands, 1683

Father Junipero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, 1769

First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1782

The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown, 1809

Emily Stowe becomes the first female physician licensed to practice medicine in Canada, 1880

The world's first parking meter is installed in the Oklahoma capital, Oklahoma City, 1935

The world's first nuclear weapon, the "atom bomb," is detonated in New Mexico, 1945

The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane, 1948

J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye published by Little, Brown and Company, 1951

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas, 1956

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully test fires the first Ballistic missile while submerged, 1960

The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens, 1965

Apollo 11, the first manned space mission to land on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1969

Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister; he will be in office 22 years, Asia's longest-serving political leader, 1981

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collides with Jupiter (impacts continue until July 22), 1994

John F. Kennedy, Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies in a plane mishap over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, 1999

Chicago's Millenium Park is opened to the public, 2004

The funeral for the final heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, occurs in Vienna, attended by monarchs and members of the political elite, 2011

The BBC announces the first woman who will be playing Dr. Who, Jodie Whittaker, 2017

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Tuesday is the day for Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Tuesday Fun with Sandee of Comedy Plus.

Let me begin with a shout-out to Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. No matter what, i cannot comment on your blog! The fact is, Wordpress hates me even though i have an account. Just know that i am reading, and if you want to contact me at my email, messymimi at live dot com, i will try to send you my comments via email.

On Saturday, i posted about #1 Son needing to pay a bill. It was a rather complicated situation.

This month, he and his roommate recommended a third person to live in their apartment. Most apartments at his complex have three rooms, which are rented out separately, each person has his/her own lease, bedroom, bathroom, and they share the kitchen and living area. #1 Son and roommate had an empty room, which means the complex is not making money on that room.

According to the way that apartment complex is run, if you recommend a person to move in and s/he is accepted, you get $200 off on your rent. #1 Son had paid his rent on June 30, minus the $200, and the manager who took the money order from him said that was right.

Last Tuesday, the 10th, #1 Son got a call asking why he was late on $200 of his rent. He told the female manager what had happened, and she told him that the discount applies the second month after the person has moved in, so he was technically late and would have to pay a $50 late fee.

He responded that not only was it not noted in the lease or any of the promotional materials that the discount was the second month, he was told by the manager on duty that he'd paid the correct amount. He insisted that the fee be waived.

She said she didn't have the authority to do that, and he told her to find out who did and take care of it, because he was not paying the late fee. The money order he bought that day was for the $200, the male manager who had originally taken his rent back on June 30 admitted he was at fault, and they have not yet asked for the late fee. So far, he seems to have won this, we are hoping.

For a few funnies, this is how i feel right now about the management of that apartment complex:

This is how i feel when i think about our cars:

Finally, this is how i feel some days when i'm having trouble remembering stuff:

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

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Today is:

Air Conditioner Day -- the first modern electrical air conditioning unit, invented by William Carrier, began working on this day in 1902

Constitution Day -- South Korea

Feast of St. Kenelm -- saint mentioned in "The Nun's Priest's Tale" of The Canterbury Takes

Feast of the Clockless NowEver -- can't find any confirmation on what this one is, but it sounds like fun if i don't have to bother with a clock or schedule

Festival for Victoria and Virtus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of victory and god of bravery in warfare)

Gion Matsuri -- Yakasa Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (one of the largest and best Gion festivals)

King Letsie III's Birthday -- Lesotho

National Peach Ice Cream Day

Petal-Hopping for Hopeless Cases -- Fairy Calendar

St. Alexius Day (Patron of Alexians, beggars, belt makers, nurses, pilgrims, travellers)

Wear Crazy Socks to Work Day -- at your own risk

World Day for International Justice

Wrong Way Corrigan Day -- anniversary of the flight of Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, who was supposedly heading for California from New York and ended up in Ireland instead

Yellow Pig Day -- mathmatics festivals at various universities, celebrating the number 17 and the yellow pig with 17 eyelashes, created by mathematicians Michael Spivak and David C. Kelly

Birthdays Today

Tash Hamilton, 1982

Alex Winter, 1965

Dawn Upshaw, 1960

Mark Burnett, 1960

Aaron Lansky, 1955

J. Michael Straczynski, 1954

David Hasselhoff, 1952

Phoebe Snow, 1952

Lucie Arnaz, 1951

Camilla Parker Bowles, 1947

Diahann Carroll, 1935

Donald Sutherland, 1934

Phyllis Diller, 1917

Art Linkletter, 1912

James Cagney, 1899

Berenice Abbott, 1898

Erle Stanley Gardner, 1889

John Jacob Astor, 1763

Elbridge Thomas Gerry, 1744

Isaac Watts, 1674

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Yellow Submarine(Animated film), 1968

Punch(Magazine, first publication), 1841

Today in History

Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians, the earliest record of Christianity in that part of the world, 180

Zhu Di, better known by his era name as the Yongle Emperor, assumes the throne over the Ming Dynasty of China, 1402

Catherine II (the Great) becomes tsar of Russia upon the murder of Peter III of Russia, 1762

Londoner Thomas Saint patented the first sewing machine, 1790

The first issue of Punch magazine was published, England, 1841

The Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established in Boston as the first dental school in the U.S, 1867

On the orders of the Bolshevik Party carried out by Cheka, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family and retainers are murdered at the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, Russia, 1918

The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, is sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55; 5 lives are lost, 1918

An Armed Forces rebellion against the recently-elected leftist Popular Front government of Spain begins the Spanish Civil War, 1936

After being denied permission to make a transatlantic crossing, Douglas Corrigan takes off from Brooklyn to fly the "wrong way" to Ireland and becomes known as "Wrong Way" Corrigan, 1928

Disneyland televises its grand opening in Anaheim, California, 1955

An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock with each other in orbit marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations, 1975

The opening of the Summer Olympics in Montreal is marred by 25 African teams boycotting the New Zealand team, 1976

The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business, 1997

A tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake destroys 10 villages in Papua New Guinea killing an estimated 3,183, leaving 2,000 more unaccounted for and thousands more homeless, 1998

A diplomatic conference adopts the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, establishing a permanent international court to prosecute individuals for genocide, crime against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression, 1998

South Korea develops a long range cruise missile, 2010

Astronauts, Sunita Williams of the United States, Yuri Malenchenko of Russia and Aki Hoshide of Japan, arrive at the International Space Station for a three-month long mission, 2012

In an effort to curb obesity rates, the United Arab Emirates offers its citizens one gram of gold for every kilogram of weight they lose, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.

This month, the prompts are being provided by Vest at The Daily Gaggle.

Words for Wednesday, July 18. 2018:

Cheerful

River

Children

Sunday

House

Age

Or and

Demise

Noise

Point

Idea

Above

Year

"Yippee! Yippee! Yippee! It's finally here! We get to spend a week at the RIVER!"

Charlene, age seven-and-three-fourths (as she was quick to tell anyone who asked) was dancing and skipping and just so doggone CHEERFUL that even her I'm-busy-packing-don't-interrupt-or-I'll-forget-something mother stopped to smile at her.

"Whatcha making so much NOISE about, Charlatan?" her older brother Ryan asked as only a sneering older brother can do. He'd given her that nickname from the moment they found out what the word meant because he knew she hated it.

"Even you calling me that isn't going to make me sad or mad today," she taunted back. "We are going to the HOUSE on the river we've been wanting to go to for a whole week of vacation! And I'm not going to let you mess it up because you're a meany-pants!"

"That's the IDEA, darling daughter of mine," her father said as he came down stairs with yet another suitcase.

"I've been trying to get that POINT across to her for ABOVE a YEAR," her mother spoke to her father in a low voice, "and now she gets it?" She was laughing as she said it, although a bit ruefully.

"You know how long it takes children this AGE to learn to let things go," he whispered back, then with a wink added, "at least she learned before your DEMISE!"

Both parents tried to choke back laughter, but could not. It became one of those moments when the initial occurrence isn't so funny, but the laughter becomes contagious and feeds on itself, and soon they were both sitting on the stairs laughing until they were almost gasping.

The CHILDREN had left off taunting each other and were staring at their parents, wondering what on earth could be so funny, when their father reached out and started tickling both of them. They screamed and started to run, bringing on a game of tickle monster that left the whole family breathless with the fun.

"All right, me mateys, it's off for bath and bed with ye," their father finally said in Charlene's favorite of his funny voices, the pirate. "We're shippin' out early tomorrow for SUNDAY service and then we'll let the wild vacationing begin!"

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Today is:

Anti-Bigot Day -- doesn't seem to be sponsored by any particular group, which is good on a day to practice consideration and respect toward all

Bregenzer Festspiele (Bregenz Festival) -- Bregenz, Austria (an amazing performing arts festival, through August 19)

Constitution Day -- Uruguay

Lunch of the Forward Goblins -- Fairy Calendar (not surprisingly, attended by Fairies only)

Mandela Day -- UN

National Baby Food Festival -- Fremont, MI, US (in the hometown of Gerber Products, adults have a baby food eating contest and tots have crawling races, among other fun things; through Saturday)

National Caviar Day -- no one knows how it started, but even The Russian Tea Room in New York has celebrated it for years and caviar importers know all about it; pair it with ice cold vodka or a Burgundian pinot or unoaked chardonnay, but never with champagne!

Sinclair Lewis Days -- Sauk Centre, MN, US (a grand celebration in Lewis's hometown; through Sunday)

St. Theneva's Day (Patron of Glasgow, Scotland)

Sumarauki -- Iceland (their calendar's extra days added to take into account the "drift" of the calendar from the moon phases)

Vitulatio -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Vitula, goddess of exultation, joy, and life, is given the first fruits of the earth)

Wienermobile Day -- celebrating the creation, in 1936, of the now iconic vehicle by Oscar Mayer's nephew Carl

World Listening Day -- World Listening Project (this year's theme is "Future Listening")

Anniversary Today:

Timothy Verner Taylor marries The Lady Helen Windsor, 1992

Bobby Brown marries Whitney Houston, 1992

Birthdays Today

Chace Crawford, 1985

Priyanka Chopra, 1982

Kristin Bell, 1980

Vin Diesel, 1967

Elizabeth McGovern, 1961

Ricky Skaggs, 1954

Richard Branson, 1950

Steve Forbes, 1947

James Brolin, 1941

Martha Reeves, 1941

Joe Torre, 1940

Dion DiMucci, 1939

Paul Verhoeven, 1938

Hunter S. Thompson, 1937

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, 1932

Dick Button, 1929

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, 1929

John Glenn, 1921

Nelson Mandela, 1918

Harriet Nelson, 1914

Richard "Red" Skelton, 1913

Hume Cronyn, 1911

Clifford Odets, 1906

Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa, 1906

George "Machine Gun" Kelly, 1895

Charles E. "Chick" Evans, Jr., 1890

Vidkun Quisling, 1887

Margaret "Unsinkable Molly" Brown, 1867

William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811

Gilbert White, 1720

Robert Hooke, 1635

Today in History

A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome, BC390

The Great Fire of Rome begins in the merchant area of the city, 64

King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B'Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities, 1290

Matthew Flinders leaves England to circumnavigate and map Australia; it was he who gave the continent its name, 1801

The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility, 1870

Britain introduced voting by secret ballot, 1872

Marie and Pierre Curie announce the discovery of a new element and propose to call it polonium, 1898

Adoph Hitler publishes Mein Kampf, 1925

The Intel Corporation is founded in Santa Clara, California, 1968

Nadia Comaneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976

Beverly Lynn Burns becomes first female Boeing 747 airline captain, 1984

On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufriere Hills volcano erupts; over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital and forcing most of the population to flee, 1995

Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever, 1996

Phoenix, AZ, US, is hit by a dust storm of the kind known as a "haboob", 2011

King Jong-un, son of King Jong-il, is announced the official Supreme Leader of North Korea, 2012

The 'immediate and severe' fiscal emergency declared by the U.S. city San Bernardino, California, allows it to declare bankruptcy without negotiating with creditors, 2012

Investigators on the case of the October 2012 Kunsthal gallery theft of paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Monet, discover paint, canvas and nails in the oven of a woman whose son has been charged with the crime, 2013

Detroit, Michigan files the largest municipal bankruptcy in history, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Very bemusedly, he looked at the array of devices on the table where she sat and asked, "Do you always make it a habit to have four screens in front of you?"

"Five," she noted without looking up, pointing to the phone that he hadn't seen nestled between two larger devices.

"Well, then, do you always make it a habit to have five screens in front of you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I do not own six!"

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Habit.

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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World. Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others blog to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.

Even a back alley fence around here can be guarding a nice garden patch or some greenery.

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Today is:

Back-to-Front Yad -- Fairy Calendar

Bloomer Day -- anniversary of the opening day of the first US women's rights convention in 1848*

Comic-Con International -- San Diego, CA, US (through Sunday)

Festival of Honos -- Ancient Roman Calendar (personification of morality and honor)

Folkmoot USA -- Waynesville, NC, US (festival of international folk dance; through the 29th)

Get To Know Your Customers Day -- third Thursday of each quarter

Kokura Gion Taiko -- Yasaka Shrine, Fukuoka City, Japan (shrine festival that incorporates a taiko drumming competition with up to 100 teams; through the 21st)

Liberation Day -- Nicaragua

Lumberjack World Championships -- Hayward, WI, US (the world's greatest lumberjacks face off in the "Olympics of the Forest"; through Saturday)

Martyr's Day -- Myanmar

National Daiquiri Day

Quilt Odyssey 2018 -- Hershey, PA, US (national quilt competition, through Sunday)

Stick Out Your Tongue Day -- internet generated, do it just because it's fun

Stirling Settler Days -- Stirling, Alberta, Canada (parade, pancake breakfast, firefighter games, a movie in the park, dancing, rodeo, and more; through Saturday)

St. Justa's Day (Patron of potters; Seville, Spain)

Triple Play Day -- the first Major League unassisted triple play was made by Neal Ball on this day in 1909

*Amelia Bloomer's birth anniversary on May 27 is also called "Bloomer Day"

Anniversaries Today:

Frank Sinatra marries Mia Farrow, 1966

Isis marries Osiris (year unknown, ask the ancient Egyptians!)

Adonis marries Aphrodite (year unknown, ask the ancient Greeks!)

Birthdays Today:

Stephen Anthony Lawrence, 1990

Jared Padalecki, 1982

Topher Grace, 1978

Angela Griffin, 1976

Clea Lewis, 1965

Anthony Edwards, 1962

Campbell Scott, 1962

Brian May, 1947

Ilie Nastase, 1946

Vikki Carr, 1941

Arthur Rankin, Jr., 1924

George McGovern, 1922

Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, 1921

Eve Merriam, 1916

Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, 1904 (last direct descendent of Abraham Lincoln)

Max Fleischer, 1883

Charles Horace Mayo, 1865

Lizzie Borden, 1860

Edgar Degas, 1834

Samuel Colt, 1814

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"That's All Right"(Elvis' first single release), 1954

Today in History

A dragon more than 100 metres long was found dead on Yehwang Mountain in Henan province and was seen as a bad omen for Emperor Huan, who ignored it and died at age 35 (three years later); Xiang Kai, who had warned him of the omen, was released from the prison the emperor had placed him in, and lionised as a hero, BCE164

Moslem forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeated the Visigoths led by their king Roderic, 711

A hailstorm brings down the ceilings of the Papal Palace, Rome, 1500

Lady Jane Grey is replaced by Mary I of England as Queen of England after having that title for just nine days, 1553

Five women are hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692

Representatives of the Iroquois Confederacy sign the Nanfan Treaty, ceding a large territory north of the Ohio River to England, 1701

Australia's first recorded use of gaslight was commenced in a Sydney shop, 1826

The British Medical Association was founded as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association by Sir Charles Hastings at a meeting in the Board Room of the Worcester Infirmary, 1832

The two day Women's Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York; "bloomers," named after developer Amelia Bloomer, are worn at this very early feminist convention, 1848

A meteorite with an estimated mass of 190 kg explodes over the town of Holbrook in Navajo County, Arizona causing approximately 16,000 pieces of debris to rain down on the town, 1912

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 metres (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention, 1963

The Sandinista rebels overthrow the government of the Somoza family in Nicaragua, 1979

The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published, 1983

President Clinton announces his idea for a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in regards to gays in the US military, 1993

A Tel Aviv judges orders safe deposit boxes that contain manuscripts of Franz Kafka to be opened, 2010

A Pontifical Commission is established by Pope Francise to investigate current accounting practices and implement new strategies for greater fiscal transparency and fiscal responsibility among all Vatican office, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Link is showing off how to stay cool on a hot day, in our bathtub:

Yes, the tub is old and badly needs refinishing, he doesn't care!

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by the new cohost of the Fill-Ins, Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. I tried __________________ and I liked it.

2. Am I the only one who ___________________?

3. _________ is my hero/heroine.

4. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be _________.

1. I tried Indian food (meaning from India) and i liked it. Lots of Indian dishes are vegan, so there is plenty to choose from.

2. Am i the only one who brushes her teeth with Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap, peppermint flavor? It seems to clean my teeth better than actual toothpaste.

3. Ruth, from the Book of Ruth in the Bible, is my heroine. Courage, loyalty, and no fear of hard work -- what's not to admire?

4. If i could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be any vegan diet that's got some spice to it.

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Today is:

Big Sky Games -- Billings, MT, US (an Olympic-style festival for citizens of the Big Sky State, to encourage all ages and abilities to be physically active and even compete sometimes; through Sunday)

Cheyenne Frontier Days -- Frontier Park, Cheyenne, WY, US (held annually since 1897, the world's largest outdoor rodeo; through the 29th)

Cleat Dancing Day -- don't ask me who started this, i don't want to know what kind of mind came up with trying to tap dance in cleats

Dia del Amigo -- Argentina; Uruguay

Fortune Cookie Day

Georgia Mountain Fair -- Hiawassee, GA, US (an authentic Pioneer Village with demonstrations, arts and crafts fairs, family fun; through the 28th)

Gold Discovery Days -- Custer, SD, US (bed races and pancake breakfast, children's fair and more; through Sunday)

Great Wellsville Balloon Rally -- Wellsville, NY, US (balloons galore, plus food, music, and fireworks; through Sunday)

Independence Day -- Colombia(1810)

International Chess Day -- "Of Chess it has been said that life is not long enough for it, but that is the fault of life, not Chess" ~ William Ewart Napier

8#Lieksa Brass Week -- Lieksa, Finland (the world's finest brass music in various styles by international class musicians; through the 28th)

Moon Day/Space Exploration Day -- one small step...was taken 48 years ago today

National Ice Cream Soda Day

National Lollipop Day

Northwestern State University Folk Festival and the Louisiana State Fiddle Championship -- Prather Coliseum, NSU, Natchitoches, LA, US (this year's theme is "Back Roads and Bayous: Celebrating Louisiana's Rural Folklife", and only traditional Louisiana folk art and music are featured; through tomorrow)

Peace and Freedom Day -- North Cyprus

Perun's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (celebration of Perun, great god of thunder)

Sherwood Robin Hood Festival -- Sherwood, OR, US (a free Renaissance festival, which includes an archery contest between archers both in Oregon and in Nottingham, England, with results tallied as each group sends in the information from their respective locations; through Sunday)

Special Oympics Day -- anniversary of the first Special Olympics in 1968

St. Elijah the Prophet's Day (Patron of Carmelites; Romanian Air Force; against drought, earthquakes) related observance;

Festival at the Monastery of Profitis Ilias -- Santorini, Greece (Prophet Elias' festival)

Saint Margaret of Antioch's Day (Patron of childbirth, dying peple, escape from devils, exiles, expectant mothers, falsely accused people, martyrs, nurses, peasants, people in exile, women, women in labor; for safe childbirth; against kidney disease, loss of mother's milk by nursing mothers, sterility; Lowestoft, Suffolk, England; Montefiascone, Italy; Queens College Cambridge; Rixtel, Netherlands; Sannat, Gozo, Malta)

St. Uncumber's Day (Patron of difficult marriages; against men's lust; Las Tablas, Panama)

Synoikia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; a celebration of the unification of all Attica, held in Athens)

Tabarka Jazz Festival -- Tabarka, Tunisia (perfect weather for music, workshops, seminars, and performances by local and international artists; through the 28th)

Thgir-yaw-Dnuor Day -- Fairy Calendar

Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival -- Dorset, England (celebrating freedom, especially the freedom of workers to form unions; through Sunday)

Ugly Truck Day -- must be a guy thing, they know where every scratch and dent came from, after all!

Vigil for Peace, Justice, and Respect for the Human Rights of all in Columbia -- a movement begun among Native Americans of many tribes, now open to all who seek peace

Yarmouth Clam Festival -- Yarmouth, ME, US (annual 3 day celebration of the gifts of the sea that are clams with 120,000 of your closest friends)

Birthdays Today

John Daley, 1985

Gisele Bundchen, 1980

Josh Holloway, 1969

Chris Cornell, 1964

Billy Mays, 1958

Donna Dixon, 1957

Carlos Santana, 1947

Kim Carnes, 1946

Judy Chicago, 1939

Diana Rigg, 1938

Natalie Wood, 1938

Chuck Daly, 1933

Cormac McCarthy, 1033

Sally Ann Howes, 1930

Michael Ilitch, 1929

Sir Edmund Hillary, 1919

Alberto Santos-Dumont, 1873

Gregor Mendel, 1822

Francesco Petrarch, 1304

Alexander the Great, BCE 356

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Like a Rolling Stone"(Single release), 1965

"Stop the World I Want to Get Off"(Musical), 1961

"The Arthur Murray Party"(TV), 1950

"Gang Busters"(Radio drama), 1935

Today in History

Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount; the Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots during the Siege of Jerusalem, 70

The Riot Act takes effect in Great Britain, 1712

French explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan, 1738

Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain, 1810

British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada, 1871

Sioux Chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford, North Dakota, 1881

Ford Motor Company ships its first car, 1903

Congresswoman Alice Mary Robertson becomes the first woman to preside over the US House of Representatives, 1921

In London, 500,000 march against anti-Semitism, while in Nuremburg, Germany, 200 Jewish merchants are arrested and paraded through the streets, 1933

The Organization for European Economic Cooperation admits Spain, 1959

Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government, 1960

The Special Olympics is founded, 1968

Apollo 11 successfully lands on the Moon 3:39 a.m. GMT 21st July, 1969

India expels three reporters from The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and Newsweek because they refused to sign a pledge to abide by government censorship, 1975

The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars, 1976

Hank Aaron hits his 755th home run, the final home run of his career, 1976

In Zimbabwe, Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members for the first time in a decade, 2000

Canada becomes the 4th country to permit same-sex marriage, 2005

The Olympic Torch arrives in London, beginning the final countdown to the Summer Olympics, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Saturday = Thankful Day, because there is always something for which to be thankful.

This past week, it was at the cat shelter that i particularly noticed these things.

There's the fact that there is even a cat shelter around here. Several parishes only have their "pound" or "animal control center," and even though they do everything they can to save animals, those are just too crowded and underfunded and understaffed to make much headway.

The adoption board is full of names, always a sign that things are going well.

June on the left, July on the right.

Hibiscus hasn't bitten anyone lately. (She is a nipper, not a true biter, or she wouldn't even be there. Biscuits, as i call her because she is at least two biscuits shy of a Pillsbury tube, is perfect if you've always wanted to have an abusive relationship with your cat. After all, she never means to bite, and she always promises it will never happen again...)

Andie is healing up well. This is one of those stories to make you angry before you get thankful. She was found with a gaping wound which turned out to be from a .22 slug. Yes, she had been shot. We have good veterinarians, it doesn't look like she will lose that leg.

While we were cleaning yesterday, there were three families with childen there, each looking to find the perfect cat. Parents who teach children early to care for pets are being very good parents (at least most of them are).

Clean kitchen, courtesy of Sweetie:

Oh, and i'm thankful i was able to get the dusty carrot out from under the fridge with the tool we use to clean lint out of the dryer trap. No, i didn't take that picture, and you are thankful, i promise.

Our shelter staff is a family, and we rejoice with each other. All of us are thankful that Ms. S's granddaughter, born at only 24 weeks, is going home tomorrow.

Fresh Step company sent us a big donation of cat litter, hooray!

And of course, you have to be thankful for the cats.

Kristi of ThankfulMe is the hostess with the mostess at Ten Things of Thankful. Work up a list (of up to ten, we aren't picky), link it up, and let's all rejoice with each other over the good things in our lives.

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Today is:

Bannack Days-- Bannack, MT, US (through tomorrow; explore the territorial capital now turned ghost town and celebrate the pioneer spirit)

Carousel Day -- Johnson City, NY, US (Kids won't want to miss all the fun at this family event, and grown-ups, come be a kid again for a day!)

Chincoteague Pony Round Up / Pony Swim -- Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, VA, US (lots going on here through the 27th, the actual swim day is the 25th)

Coldest Day Ever -- the lowest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2 *C (-128.6 *F; 184.0 *K) at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on this day in 1983

Feast of Damo -- Ancient Greek Calendar (keeper of secrets of philosophy; daughter of Greek sages, Pythagoras and Theano, date approximate)

Hemingway Birthday Celebration -- Hemingway Museum, Oak Park, IL, US

Independence Day / National Day -- Belgium(1830)

Kazanskaya -- Russia (Feast of Our Lady of Kazan)

La Festa del Redentore / Feast of the Redeemer -- Venice, Italy (procession of gondolas and other craft to commemorate the end of the epidemic of 1575; through tomorrow)

Lakota Sun Dance -- Lakota Native Americans (festival of the sun god Wi, with offerings to Maka (mother earth) and Haokah (father sky), both aspects of Creator Tukaskanskan; dating approximate, as outsiders are usually no longer allowed at these multi-day ceremonies)

Liberation Day -- Guam (1944; from Japan)

Long Beach Island Foundation Fine Art Festival -- Loveladies, NJ, US (juried arts and crafts show, entertainment, food and more; through tomorrow)

Lucaria -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Feast of Clearings", with prayers said as land was cleared for planting)

National Junk Food Day

No Pet Store Puppies Day -- ASPCA sponsored this day in previous years, and while i can't find a confirmation of another campaign, you can still Take The Pledge to not shop at any pet store that sells puppies, because they are almost certainly from puppy mills

Prince Lot Hula Festival -- Moanalua Gardens, Hawai'i (through Monday)

Racial Harmony Day -- Singapore

Route 66 Summerfest -- Albuquerque, NM, US (a free celebration)

Sandcastle and Sculpture Day -- Jetties Beach, Nantucket, MA, US

Sapporo Summer Festival -- Odori Park, Sapporo, Japan (through Aug. 20, the park becomes a beer garden)

Schoelcher Day -- French West Indies; Martinique (Schoelcher worked for abolition)

Sourdough River Festival -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (Float Fest and a big water fight! with the famous Sourdough Raft Race tomorrow)

St. Lawrence of Brindisi's Day (Patron of Brindisi, Italy)

St. Praxedes' Day (Patron of single laywomen)

Tisha B'Av -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through tomorrow; fast in remembrance of the destruction of the First Temple in 586BCE and the Second Temple in 79AD)

Touch Hammer's Birthday Bargain Day -- Fairy Calendar

Tug-Of-War Tournament Day -- if you have a problem with someone today, solve it with an old fashioned tug-of-war!

Virginia Lake Festival -- Clarksville, VA, US (fun for the family, including tethered hot air balloon rides; through Saturday)

Whitstable Oyster Festival and Blessing of the Waters -- Whitstable, Kent, England (celebrating the areas famed and protected oysers, Ostrea edulis, with the blessing ceremony at Reeves Beach, a ceremony held each year since 1657, to appease the cruel seas and give thanks for its bounty; the Oyster Festival istelf is today and Monday)

Wrong Days in Wright, Minnesota -- in honor of "Wrong Way" Corrigan (through tomorrow)

Birthdays Today

Hatty Jones, 1988

Josh Hartnett, 1978

Justin Bartha, 1978

Lance Guest, 1960

Matt Mulhern, 1960

Jon Lovitz, 1957

Michael Connelly, 1956

Robin Williams, 1951

Garry Trudeau, 1949

Cat Stevens, 1948

Kenneth Starr, 1946

Tony Scott, 1944

Edward Herrmann, 1943

Janet Reno, 1938

Norman Jewison, 1926

Don Knotts, 1924

Kay Starr, 1922

Isaac Stern, 1920

Marshall McLuhan, 1911

Ernest Hemingway, 1899

John Joseph "Johnny" Evers, 1881

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Guardians of the Galaxy(Film), 2014

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(Publication date), 2007

Today in History

Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, BCE 356

A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt, 365

The first landing of French troops on the coast during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight, 1545

Twenty-four-year-old Scottish physician and explorer Mungo Park became the first European to see the Niger River, the third longest river in Africa, 1796

In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown, 1865

At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West, 1873

Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land, driving a 15-liter Gobron-Brille in Ostend, Belgium, 1904

In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100, 1925

Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission, 1969

After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed, 1970

The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at -82.9*C (-129*F), 1983

The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years, 1997

NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135, 2011

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus has stopped hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, don't expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes.

Once again, i am ashamed to say, i was caught singing. Yes, i try to make sure i am alone, but i messed up. The person in question found out why i say that Sweetie helps the choir by singing and i help them by not singing.

Boudreaux, on de contrary, he sing out in church all he want. He know he don' got a good voice, so when Thibodeaux ax him why he sing out so loud in church ennyway, he say, "Mais, de Good Lord done bless me wit' dis much talent, an' now He gots to suffer through it, too!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files. It is now hosted by River at Drifting Through Life.

It takes a lot of tries to get a non-blurry picture of a busy Jezzie the Chihuahua pup.

Finally! But only because her mama and daddy had food!

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Today is:

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

Auntie's Day® -- as begun by The Savvy Auntie, celebrating those who chose to take on the active role of being an Auntie

Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim -- Istanbul, Turkey (over 1,000 swimmers take the opportunity to swim from one continent to the other, crossing the Bosphorus Strait from Asia to Europe)

Casual Pi Day / Pi Approximation Day (22nd day of month 7; 22/7 is the approximation of Pi)

Dornach Commemoration Day -- Dornach Battlefield and nearby city of Solothurn, Switzerland (victory in 1499 which ended the Swabian War)

Festival of Boredom and Reverie -- Fairy Calendar

Hammock Day -- don't know who came up with this one, but at the height of the dog days, it seems appropriate; on some sites listed as Summer Leisure Day

International Bog Day

International Childbirth Education Awareness Day -- can't find confirmation on this, but if you're going to have a kid, it's not a bad idea to get educated about what to expect!

King Father's Birthday -- Swaziland

National Penuche Fudge Day

Parent's Day -- US http://www.parentsday.com/

Ragbrai / Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa(TM) -- Iowa, US (the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world; through the 29th)

Ranggeln -- Mt. Hundstein, Germany (traditional form of wresting, called ranggeln, in honor of St. Jacob's Day [which most celebrate on July 25]; this particular festival harks back to the pre-Christian Lughnasadh celebrations, which went through Aug. 1 and contained athletic events)

Ratcatcher's Day -- celebrated by the British dating of the Pied Piper story; celebrated June 26 in Hamelin, Germany

Revolution Day -- The Gambia

Soma-Nomaoi Festival -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (Wild-Horse Chasing, a four day festival in which a thousand horsemen, clad in ancient armor, compete for possession of three shrine flags, and along the Hibarigahara Plain, men clad in white costumes attempt to catch wild horses)

Spooners Day (Spoonerism -- Named for William Archibald Spooner, English cleric and scholar who once fussed at a student because "You hissed my mystery lesson," told a groom it was "kisstomery to cuss the bride," and once accidentally referred to Queen Victoria as "the queer old Dean.")

St. Mary Magdalene's Day (Patron of apothecaries, contemplative life and contemplatives, converts, druggists, glove makers, hairdressers and hair stylists, penitent sinners, penitent women, people ridiculed for their piety, perfumeries and perfumers, pharmacists, reformed prostitutes, tanners, women; Anguiano, Spain; Atrani, Salerno, Italy; Casamicciola, Italy; Elantxobe, Spain; Foglizzo, Italy; La Magdaleine, Italy; against sexual temptation)

Stilt Dance Day -- Anguiano, Spain (a special stilt dance performed on the Feast of the city's patron, St. Mary Magdalen)

Tisha B'Av -- Judaism (began sunset yesterday, through sunset today)

Birthdays Today:

George Alexander Louis Windsor, His Royal Highness Prince of Cambridge, 2013

Madison Pettis, 1998

Selena Gomez, 1992

Scott Dixon, 1980

Daniel Jones, 1973

Rufus Wainwright, 1973

Irene Bedard, 1967

Rhys Ifans, 1967

Shawn Michaels, 1965

David Spade, 1964

John Leguizamo, 1964

Rob Estes, 1963

Keith Sweat, 1961

Willem Dafoe, 1955

Alan Menken, 1949

Albert Brooks, 1947

Don Henley, 1947

Danny Glover, 1946

Estelle Bennett, 1944

Bobby Sherman, 1943

Kay Bailey Hutchison, 1943

Alex Trebek, 1940

Terrence Stamp, 1939

Louise Fletcher, 1934

Oscar De la Renta, 1932

Orson Bean, 1928

Bob Dole, 1923

Amy Vanderbilt, 1908

Alexander Calder, 1898

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1890

William Archibald Spooner, 1844

Gregor Johann Mendel, 1822 (Note: some sources say July 20)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Plan 9 From Outer Space(Film), 1959

Today in History

King Edward I of England and his longbowmen defeat William Wallace and his Scottish schiltrons outside the town of Falkirk, 1298

The Swiss decisively defeat the Imperial army of Emperor Maximilian I in the Battle of Dornach, 1499

A second group of English settlers arrive on Roanoke Island off North Carolina to re-establish the deserted colony, 1587

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean becoming the first Euro-American to complete a transcontinental crossing of Canada, 1793

In the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Rear Admiral Nelson is wounded in the arm, and part of it is amputated, 1797

Death of Josef Strauss, Austrian composer, 1870

First ever motorized racing event is held in France between the cities of Paris and Rouen. The race is won by comte Jules-Albert de Dion, 1894

Wiley Post becomes the first person to fly solo around the world traveling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes, 1933

Dezik and Tzygan become the first of Russia's Space Dogs, making a sub-orbital flight, which they both survived, 1951

Japan completes its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed during WWII, 1976

Martial law in Poland is officially revoked, 1983

The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario, 1997

The Stonehenge World Heritage Site announces the discovery of a possible new henge, the biggest discovery at a major monument in over 50 years, 2010

Norway is the victim of twin terror attacks, on government buildings in Oslo and a youth camp at Utoya, 2011

Scientific studies reveal that dolphins have unique names for one another, much like humans do, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!

The cat shelter has a few outdoor feral cats, Buddy and his two girlfriends being the main ones. (We say "girlfriends" in very loose terms, they are all fixed, of course.)

Because they are fed outdoors, a mama duck has figured out that it's much easier to walk her babies over from the pond around the block and give them cat food, and we are spending a lot of time chasing the poor ducks away. They are cute, but we can't let them get dependent on us for food, and one of Buddy's girls has already tried to catch a duckling supper (mama duck nipped her on the bottom!)

Here mama has shooed all of her babies under the hedges to hide until the coast is clear, but one just won't shoo:

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Sparks! is on hiatus for a while (please keep Annie of McGuffy's Reader in your thoughts and prayers), so here is an Inspiring Quote of the Week:

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Today is:

Birthday of Emperor Haili Selassi I -- Rastafari

Experimental Aircraft Association Airventure -- Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, WI, US (world's largest sport aviation event, through Sunday)

Flag Day -- Abkhazia

Gorgeous Grandma Day -- a day to celebrate those who age, date, and mate in style!

Hot Enough For Ya Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays as the only day on which you may utter these words; any other day, and you will get high fived on the back of the head! ;)

Hurricane Supplication Day -- US Virgin Islands (churches hold special services to pray against hurricanes hitting the islands this season)

La Guelaguetza a/k/a Los Lunes del Cerro -- Oaxaca, Mexico (folk dance, music and costumes, an extension of the celebrations of the Lady of Carmel, which used to be the feast of Xilonen, goddess of tender corn; now celebrated on two consecutive Mondays)

Mayan Sun Festival -- honoring Ahau Kin, the sun god, date approximate

National Vanilla Ice Cream Day

Neptunalia and Salcia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god and goddess of the ocean and wide seas, celebrates Neptune in his role as god of irrigation)

Private Eye Day -- internet generated

Remembrance Day -- Papua New Guinea

Renaissance Day -- Oman (celebrates the accession of Qaboos bin Said Al Said, 14th Sultan of Oman)

Revolution Day -- Egypt

St. Apollinaris' Day (Patron against epilepsy, gout; of Aachen, Germany; Burtscheid, Germany; Düsseldorf, Germany; Ravenna, Italy; Remagen, Germany)

St. Bridget of Sweden's Day (Patron of widows; Europe; Sweden)

St. Phocas the Gardener's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, boatmen, farm workers, farmers, field hands, gardeners, husbandmen, mariners, market-gardeners,sailors, watermen)

Warei Shrine Summer Festival -- Warei Shrine, Uwajima City, Japan (through tomorrow, includes "bull-sumo", a non fatal type of bull fighting, where the bulls try to push each other out of the ring)

Anniversaries Today

Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson, 1986

Coronation of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, 1999

Birthdays Today

Daniel Radcliffe, 1989

Michelle Williams, 1980

Omar Epps, 1975

Nomar Garciapara, 1973

Marlon Wayans, 1972

Charisma Carpenter, 1970

Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967

Eriq La Salle, 1962

Woody Harrelson, 1961

Lamont "ShowBoat" Robinson, 1961

Edie McClurg, 1951

Belinda Montgomery, 1950

Don Imus, 1940

Nicholas Gage, 1939

Ronny Cox, 1938

Anthony M. Kennedy, 1936

Don Drysdale, 1936

Bert Convy, 1933

Arata Isozaki, 1931

Gloria DeHaven, 1925

Amalia Rodrigues, 1920

Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, 1918

Arthur Treacher, 1894

Haile Selassie I, 1892

Raymond Chandler, 1888

Samuel Augustus Maverick, 1803

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha! Ha!"(Single release), 1966

"The Gene Autry Show"(TV), 1950

Today in History

William Austin Burt patents the Typographer, a precursor to the typewriter, 1829

The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union, 1840

The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, the world's oldest international sport federation, is founded, 1881

The Ford Motor Company sells its first car, 1903

Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film, 1926

Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite, 1962

The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling within 4 years, 1982 *

Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba, 1983

Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered, 1995

Cape Verde becomes the 153rd member of the World Trade Organization, 2008

Patent law disputes between Samsung and Apple deadlock as the dispute addresses valuation of each other's patents, 2012

*Don't I wish that had worked!

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Random Tuesday is brought to us by the wonderful Stacy at Stacy Uncorked, and Happy Tuesday by Sandee of Comedy Plus.

How’s this for random, i walked in to Dr. D’s house yesterday and she said, “Help me get online and find the form to fill out saying I had an affair with Trump and I want my $3M to stay quiet!” We both laughed, of course. Then i helped her set up her new phone.

Trust me when i say she can do most of this stuff herself, she just likes having company and help.

Bigger Girl is leaving for Amsterdam this Friday. It started as a simple visit to a friend who invited her and is paying her way over, then her head professor at the lab heard about it.

He has colleagues in Amsterdam, and he needed to get over there but cannot because his wife is near delivering the baby and they are packing to move. So Bigger Girl is now also going to schmooze and give and get info everyone needs and just reassure the people over there that the projects are going well (which they are). The trip has been extended at the boss’s expense, too. She gets 3 weeks instead of 10 days.

The other day she asked me, “Do you know what I am looking forward to most in Amsterdam? The Museum of Bioluminescence!”

Yep, that’s sure what i think of when i think of Amsterdam. When she asked what souvenir she could bring me, i told her to get me something small from that museum’s gift shop. Whatever she brings will be unique, anyway.

Almost two weeks ago, i wrenched my back and Sweetie twisted his knee, and boy have we been a pair! Everything has gotten done that needed doing, albeit some of it rather slowly.

After all, cleaning has to be done and the bosses are saying:

Um, yeah, i sure am. Just don't expect miracles.

Little Girl is back from over a week of duty as a medic, and she showed me this:

An "official" whining report form!

It seems someone in the Army has a great sense of humor.

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Today is:

Amelia Earhart Day

Children's Day -- Vanuatu

Cousins Day -- because cousins are wonderful people to have around! sponsored by Claudia Evart of New York City, who must have had great cousins

Festival of St. Eloi -- French Basque

Jakaba Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (beginning of St. James' [Jacob] Festival, whose day is tomorrow; the beginning of hay harvest)

Jilwalla Jinks' Jamboree -- Fairy Calendar

National Drive Through Day -- but only if you won't pass out from the heat when you roll down the window! on the founding date of Jack-in-the-Box, the first drive through burger chain

National Tequila Day -- celebrate North America's first native-born distilled spirit

Pioneer Day -- Mormon Christian

Pop a Wheelie Day -- before, not after, the tequila, please; a hospital visit is no fun

Public Opinion Day -- the first public opinion poll was published this date in 1824!

Simon Bolivar Day -- Ecuador; Venezuela

Sts. Boris and Gleb's Day (Patrons of princes; Moscow, Russia)

St. Christina the Astonishing's Day (Patron of all with mental handicaps, disorders, or illnesses, and mental health care workers, psychiatrists and therapists; against insanity and mental disorders)

St. Christina of Bolsena's Day (Patron of archers, mariners, millers)

Tell an Old Joke Day

Tenjin Matsuri -- Tenmangu Jinja, Osaka, Japan (one of Japan's 3 major festivals, through tomorrow)

Anniversary Today:

Richard Moll marries Susan Brown, 1993

Birthdays Today

Bindi Irwin, 1998

Dhani Lennevald, 1984

Anna Paquin, 1982

Summer Glau, 1981

Rose Byrne, 1979

Eric Szmanda, 1975

Jennifer Lopez, 1969

Kristin Chenoweth, 1968

Kadeem Hardison, 1965

Barry Bonds, 1964

Julie A. Krone, 1963

Lynda Carter, 1951

Michael Richards, 1949

Peter Serkin, 1947

Robert Hays, 1947

Chris Sarandon, 1942

Ruth Buzzi, 1936

Pat Oliphant, 1935

Billy Taylor, 1921

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, 1900

Chief Dan George, 1899

Amelia Earhart, 1897

Oswald Chambers, 1874

Alexandre Dumas, pere, 1802

Simon Bolivar, 1783

John Newton, 1725 (wrote Amazing Grace)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Fellowship of the Ring(Publication date), 1954

Today in History

Death in Kyoto, Japan, of Kamo no Chomei (b. 1155), Japanese author, poet (waka) and essayist, critic of Japanese vernacular poetry and major figure of Japanese poetics, 1216

Citizens of Leeuwarden, Netherlands strike against a ban on foreign beer, 1487

Jacques Cartier plants a cross on the Gaspé Peninsula and takes possession of the territory in the name of Francis I of France, 1534

Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to abdicate and replaced by her 1-year-old son James VI, 1567

Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founds the trading post at Fort Pontchartrain, which later becomes the city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701

A Spanish treasure fleet of 10 ships under Admiral Ubilla leaves Havana, Cuba for Spain; on the 31st, all ships will be lost and come to be known as the !715 Treasure Fleet, 1715

Slavery is abolished in Chile, 1823

The first opinion poll was carried out in Delaware, USA, 1824

Benjamin Bonneville leads the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using Wyoming's South Pass, 1832

After 17 months of travel, Brigham Young leads 148 Mormon pioneers into Salt Lake Valley, resulting in the establishment of Salt Lake City, 1847

The first tramway opened in England, 1861

Tennessee becomes the first U.S. State to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War, 1866

Captain Matthew Webb, who was the first person to swim the English Channel, drowned while trying to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls, 1883

O. Henry is released from prison in Austin, Texas after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank, 1901

Hiram Bingham III re-discovers Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas", 1911

The passenger ship S.S. Eastland capsizes while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are killed in the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes, 1915

The first insulin treatment is carried out, on a six-year-old girl, at St Guy's Hospital, London, 1925

The Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument of foreign policy, goes into effect, 1929*

The dust bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109°F (44°C) in Chicago and 104°F (40°C) in Milwaukee, 1935

During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! ("Long live free Quebec!"), 1967

The Quietly Confident Quartet of Australia wins the Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics, the only time the United States has not won the event at Olympic level, 1980

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the last Tsar of Bulgaria when he was a child, is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, becoming the first monarch in history to regain political power through democratic election to a different office, 2001

Over half of the country of Peru enters a state of emergency as a result of unusually cold weather, 2011
The scientific theory of supersymmetry is challenged after experiments with the Large Hadron Collider yield an incredibly rare particle decay event, 2013

*Nice try, fellas.

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.

This month, the prompts are being provided by Vest at The Daily Gaggle.

Vest's words for this week are:

Dumped

Welcome

Incident

Sounded

Ended

Unaware

or and

Moving

Attended

Responsible

Smell

Arrived

Window

DUMPED. There’s no other word for it, they were dumped.

I am not sure when they ARRIVED, as I was busy elsewhere in the building. If I’d been in the front room, I might have seen them through the WINDOW and had a chance to get a license tag number, but when you are going to dump kittens at a shelter you keep MOVING and don’t take any chances. After all, if you are going to shirk your duty, not be RESPONSIBLE for your own animals, you don’t want the INCIDENT to appear on the nightly news.

I would say that you SMELL like the rat you really are, but that’s not nice to rats which can also make good pets and don’t deserve to be equated with you. You know you are doing wrong, that’s why you try to hide it. You know the penalty if you get caught dumping animals is up to six months in the local hoosegow and a $1,000 fine. So you hide your sorry self, maybe even parking in another lot and walking over, watching to make sure you aren’t seen.

When I first stepped outside of the shelter door to take out some trash, I was UNAWARE of what was awaiting. There was a box by the door, and I thought, how odd. A tiny mew SOUNDED from inside, and my heart sank. Another case of abandonment, I thought, and I peeped in.

Two kittens, quite lovely, just at the age where they should be able to eat on their own, I realized. My hand reaching in to pet them was not WELCOME, but the food and water I brought was. Once I’d ATTENDED to their immediate needs, I isolated the box and waited for the person on staff who takes care of these situations, continuing to do my own duties in the meantime.

Of course it all ENDED well, the kittens were put in an isolation cage to make sure they didn’t have anything catching, and they were played with and petted and fed until they could be fully vetted and adopted out.

All’s well that ends well, right? Except. Except it’s not an isolated thing. Except it happens more than it should. Except people who won’t stand up and do what is right and take on the responsibilities that are theirs are becoming way too many. And that is hard for me to understand.

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Today is:

Act Like A Caveman Day -- internet generated, just to be fun, especially if your neighbors think you are crazy anyway

Bayreuther Festspiele -- Bayreuth, Germany (Wagner festival, through Aug. 28)

Be Adamant About Something Day -- it's good practice

Commonwealth Constitution Day -- Puerto Rico

Culinarian's Day -- another one here because of the internet, but a good excuse to let your inner chef go wild, and enjoy the results

Ebernoe Horn Fair -- Sussex, England (ancient horn fairs were pagan fertility rites, now just a fun time for all)

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

Festival of the Knee-Knockers -- Fairy Calendar

Furrinalia -- Ancient Etruscan Calendar (Furrina, goddess of the sacred grove and spring on Janniculum hill)

also Ancient Roman Calendar (to honor those who searched for underground water sources)

Guanacaste Day -- Costa Rica

Guayaquil Day -- Guayaquil, Ecuador

Ilyap'a -- Ancient Inca Calendar (festival of the lightning god; date approximate)

National Hot Fudge Sundae Day

Oregon Brewers Festival -- Portland, OR, US (81 microbreweries from across the nation showcase their best, including rare, hard-to-find, and exotic beers; through Sunday)

Republic Day -- Tunisia

Soma-Nomaoi -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (wild horse chase which recreates a battle from over 1,000 years ago; through Monday)

St. Christopher's Day (Patron of archers, automobile drivers/motorists, bachelors, boatmen, bookbinders, busdrivers, cab drivers,epileptics, fruit dealers, fullers, gardeners, lorry drivers, mariners, market carriers, porters, sailors, taxi drivers, transportation/transporation workers, travellers, truck drivers/truckers, watermen; Baden, Germany; Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany; Fubine, Italy; Havana, Cuba; Mecklenburg, Germany; Rab, Croatia, St. Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; Toses, Girona, Calalonia, Spain ;for a holy death; against bad dreams, epilepsy, floods, hailstorms, lightning, pestilence, storms, sudden death, toothache)

St. James' Day (The Apostle, brother of St. John and son of Zebedee, the first Apostle martyred; Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, equestrians and horsemen, furriers, knights, laborers, pilgrims, soldiers, tanners, veterinarians; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; Bangued, Philippines; Brentino Belluno, Italy; Caltagirone, Italy; Cassine, Italy; Chile; Cicala, Catanzaro, Italy; Comitini, Italy; Compostela, Spain; Galicia, Spain; Gavi, Italy; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; Jemez Indian Pueblo; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; Pistoia, Italy; Rivarolo Canavese, Italy; Sahuayo, Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Spain; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; against arthritis and rheumatism; sometimes called Jacob, the Latinized version of his name, also Iago and Jaques in Romance languages) related observances

Dia Nacional de Galicia -- Galicia, Spain (National Day of Galicia, a/k/a Apostole Santiago, St. James the Apostle's Day)

The Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela -- Galicia, Spain (one of the world's largest pilgrimages still, to the church that has the supposed relics of St. James, culminates on the Saint's feast day)

Loiza Aldea Fiesta -- Puerto Rico

Video Games Day -- yet another one, this on the founding of the "U.S. National Video Game Team"

Birthdays Today

James Lafferty, 1985

Brad Renfro, 1982

Louise Brown, 1978

Matt LeBlanc, 1967

Illeana Douglas, 1965

Iman, 1965

Walter Payton, 1954

Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond, 1941

Barbara Harris, 1935

Midge Decter, 1927

Estelle Getty, 1923

Jack Gilford, 1907

Walter Brennan, 1894

Maxfield Parrish, 1870

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Chorus Line"(Musical), 1975

"You Can't Hurry Love"(Single release), 1966

Today in History

Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler, 285

Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops, 306

The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings, 864

Sebastián de Belalcázar, on his search for El Dorado, founds the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 1536

Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, 1567

Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, 1593

James VI of Scotland is crowned James I of England, bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into personal union; political union would occur later, 1603

Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México, 1693

British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians; thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England, and some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick, 1755

Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain), 1797

Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua, 1824

The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London, 1837

The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869

Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it, 1908

Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure, 1917

The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place, 1920

Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established, 1925

At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team, 1946

Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51, 1956

The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, 1957

Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born, 1978

Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948, 1994

K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit— formerly called "untouchable"— to hold this office, 1997

Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground, 2000

Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first woman president, 2007

Wikileaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history, 2010

Scientists in Britain identify the mechanism causing human allergy to cats; they believe a general cure for the condition could be available in the next five years, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Did I really resort to using those words, did I sink to that? she wondered to herself.

She'd heard a thunk in the kitchen and then heard the words, in her mother's very own inflection and tone, coming out of her mouth, "Don't make me come down there!" as if the sentence had a mind of its own and was going to be spoken no matter how she wanted to hold it back.

With a deep sigh she started to get up from her office desk, wondering if she was even going to get time to do the last 30 minutes of work the boss wanted or if she'd have to wait until the children were in bed. Most of the time she loved working from home so she could be with the children, but there were days when she admitted to herself there was something to be said for an office, at least until a colleague showed up to chat your ear off.

Stepping into the hall she was brought up short by the sight of her children dressed in the aprons they wore when they helped her cook and carrying trays of things they knew how to fix for themselves, cereal and oatmeal and toast.

"We decided to help, Mommy, we fixed dinner for you!" said the youngest with a smile, and she felt herself sink again, this time to her knees to hug them.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Resort.

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This week, i thought it would be funny to get a lot of fences at once, so i took this at the hardware store:

So many varieties from which to choose!

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Today is:

All or Nothing Day -- can't find who originated this one, but it's supposed to be the day you decide to live as if it's going to be your last!

Annie Oakley Days Festival -- Greenville, OH, US (keeping alive the legacy of "Little Miss Sure Shot" with a shooting contest today as well as a pilgrimage to her grave, then tomorrow starts the Melodrama performances, ugly boot contest, Family Fun Games, and more; through Sunday)

Arcadia Daze -- Arcadia, NY, US (lots of family friendly fun in this scenic village; through Sunday)

Aunt and Uncle Day -- originally proposed on this day in 2005 by Florida State Senator Tony Hill; if you have aunts and uncles you love, why not give them a call today

Berne Swiss Days Festival -- Berne, IN, US (Swiss food, dancing, yodeling, a stein-toss, and lots more family fun; through Saturday)

Calgary Folk Music Festival -- Calgary, AB, Canada (one of Calgary's biggest and most fun festivals; through Sunday)

Dia de la Rebeldia -- Cuba (Revolution Anniversary)

Dodge City Days -- Dodge City, KS, US (a celebration of Western heritage, this year's theme is "The Wild Side of the State"; through Aug. 5)

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

Festival of Sleipnir -- Norse Pagan (date approximate, honored Odin's eight-legged horse, Sleipnir)

Great Texas Mosquito Festival -- Clute, Texas, US (Annual salute to the fact that if you can't beat 'em, and when it's mosquitoes, you can't, you might as well celebrate 'em. There's something for all ages, including the Skeeter Beaters Baby Crawl, a Mosquito calling contest, and a Mr. & Mrs. Mosquito Legs Contest, plus games, rides, carnival food, and more; through Saturday)

Green Corn Ceremony -- Native Americans (thanksgiving for the maize harvest; these are celebrated by many tribes in many different ways and are not generally scheduled as they depend on how the corn grows; some have with rites including a Thanksgiving Prayer, Confession Chant, and Feather Dance; the Santa Ana Pueblo holds an annual Corn Festival on this date each year that is open to the public)

Groovy Chicken Day -- don't ask, just enjoy

Independence Day -- Liberia(1847); Maldives(1965)

International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo -- Grand Isle, LA, US (hurricanes have tried to derail this celebration, but they come back better than ever each time; through Saturday)

Kargil Vijay Diwas -- India (Kargil Victory Day)

National Chili Dog Day

National Coffee Milkshake Day

Nova Scotia Bluegrass and Oldtime Music Festival -- Bible Hill, NS, Canada (Canada's longest running bluegrass festival and a great event for the whole family; through Sunday)

One Voice Day -- readings around the world of the Universal Peace Covenant, sponsored by the School of Metaphysics

Otaru Tide Festival -- Otaru Wharf, Otaru City, Japan (one of Japan's biggest sea festivals, through the 28th)

Racial Desegregation Day -- date in 1944 the US Army ordered training camp facilities desegregated, and the date in 1948 President Truman signed the order integrating the US armed forces

St. Anne's Day (traditional name given to the mother of Mary; Patron of broommakers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, childless people, equestrians, expectant mothers, grandmothers, grandparents, homemakers, horse men, horse women, housewives, lace makers, lace workers, lost articles, miners, mothers, old-clothes dealers, poor people, pregnancy, pregnant women, riders, seamstresses, stablemen, turners, women in labour; Canada; France; Micmaqs; over 20 cities around the world; against poverty and sterility)

St. Joachim's Day (traditional name given to the father of Mary; Patron of fathers, grandfathers, grandparents; Adjuntas, Puerto Rico)

Wonderful Drinks Day -- Fairy Calendar

Anniversaries Today

Signing of the American's With Disabilities Act, 1990

New York becomes the 11th US State, 1788

The United States Postal Service is founded, 1775

Birthdays Today

Taylor Momsen, 1993

Kate Beckinsale, 1973

Jeremy Piven, 1964

Sandra Bullock, 1964

Kevin Spacey, 1959

Angela Hewitt, 1958

Dorothy Hamill, 1956

Susan George, 1950

Roger Taylor, 1949

Helen Mirren, 1945

Mick Jagger, 1943

Dobie Gray, 1940

Stanley Kubrick, 1928

Blake Edwards, 1922

Jason Robards, Jr., 1922

Vivian Vance, 1912

Gracie Allen, 1902

Aldous Huxley, 1894

Carl Jung, 1875

George Bernard Shaw, 1856

George Catlin, 1796

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Alice In Wonderland(Animated film), 1951

The Babe Ruth Story(Film), 1948

"The Bob Howard Show"(TV), 1948

"Young Widder Brown"(Radio), 1938

Today in History

The first recorded women's cricket match took place near Guildford, England, 1745

The birth of what would later become the United States Post Office Department is established by the Second Continental Congress, 1775

The Surrey Iron Railway, often considered the world's first public railway, opens in south London, 1803

In California, the poet and American West outlaw calling himself "Black Bart" makes his last clean getaway, 1878

Premiere of Richard Wagner's Parsifal at Bayreuth, 1882

Publication of the Unua Libro, founding the Esperanto movement, 1887

United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation), 1908

King Edward VIII, in one of his few official duties before he abdicated the throne, officially unveiled the Canadian National Vimy Memoria, 1936

The Labour Party wins the United Kingdom general election of July 5 by a landslide, removing Winston Churchill from power, 1945

U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act into United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Council, 1947

U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military of the United States, 1948

Fidel Castro leads an unsuccessful attack on the Moncada Barracks, thus beginning the Cuban Revolution, 1953

Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster, 1963

The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as the official language of the provincial government, 1977

A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing the Morris worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 1989

Mumbai, India receives 99.5cm of rain (39.17 inches) within 24 hours, bringing the city to a halt for over 2 days, 2005

Over 92,000 classified documents detailing incidents related to the war in Afghanistan are released by Wikileaks in the largest leak in U.S military history, 2010

President of France, Francois Holland finalizes a deal with Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara to forgive $4.7 billion dollars in debt incurred by the Ivory Coast when it was a French Colonial Power, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Buddy and his two girlfriends are still being stalked for their food by the duck mama and her 10 babies. Just a moment before i snapped this shot, they were all hard at it, gobbling. Then they heard a noise and scattered, realized it was me, and headed back to it.

It's okay, she just wants our picture, not our food.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. I deserve a gold star for _________ today.

2. Right now, I am loving _________.

3. The best advice I've ever been given is _________.

4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be _________.

Sweetie and i both deserve a gold star for making it to our 33rd wedding anniversary today.

Right now, i am loving fresh tomatoes from the gardens of friends who grew too many.

The best advice i've ever been given is worry doesn't change anything but working on a solution just might.

If i had to choose a new first name, it would be mimi.

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Today is:

Aberdeen International Youth Festival -- Aberdeen, Scotland (talented young people in all areas of performing arts and from around the world participate; through Aug. 4)

Antique Power and Steam Exhibition -- Burton, OH, US (over 100 antique engines show they can still cut the mustard -- or saw the logs, thresh the grain, etc.; through Sunday)

Asalha Puja Day -- Buddhism (Buddhist "Lent" begins)

Barbie-in-a-blender Day -- while i get why we do it to Barbie, what did your blender do to deserve this? originally thought of by Freeculture.org, to defend our rights to comment on cultural icons, whether they are trademarked/copyrighted or not

Bugs Bunny Day -- the "wascally wabbit" made his debut in A Wild Hare, released on this day in 1940

Day of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus -- date on the Julian Calendar, these are the legendary saints who, upon persecution by the Emperor Decius and being walled up in a cave to die as martyrs, instead slept for over 200 (in the Koran, yes, they are mentioned there, it is 300) years; based on an even more ancient legend and the prototypes of Rip Van Winkle; related observances

National Sleepy Head Day -- Finland (the last person in the house to wake on this day is awakened with water, either thrown on him/her or the person is thrown into water; in honor of the story of the Saints of Ephesus)

Seven Sleepers Day -- Ancient Latvian Calendar

Siebenschlafer -- Germany (a weather prognostication day, if it rains today, there will be rain for seven weeks more)

Farm Heritage Days -- American Farm Heritage Museum, near St. Louis, MO, US (celebrating America's farm heritage; through Sunday)

Full Buck Moon a/k/a Full Thunder Moon or Full Hay Moon; related observances

Adhi-Esala Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Waso Full Moon / Dhamma Cakka Day -- Myanmar

Gilroy Garlic Festival -- Gilroy, California (the part of the world that grows more of our garlic than anywhere else, where you can almost marinate a steak just by hanging it on the clothesline in the breeze, celebrates the stinky rose; through Sunday)

Iglesia Ni Cristo Day -- Philippines

Ipip Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (festival for working on the king's tomb; date approximate)

Jose Celso Barbosa Day -- Puerto Rico

Langholm Common Riding -- Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland (a traditional riding of the bounds, with lots of celebrating, begins 5am and ends 9:30pm)

Lumberjack Day -- for no reason that i can fathom, but there it is; not as famous as the one in September, which has its own website

Mutomboko Ceremony -- Luapula Province, Zambia (among the Lunda of the Kazembe kingdom, a rich celebration of African cultural heritage, traditional dances and music, and sponsored by the Royal Family; through tomorrow)

National Blunt Object Day -- this one is just weird, and no one wants to take the blame for starting it, either

National Creme Brulee Day

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day -- US

National Scotch Day

Over-The-Moon Night (Cows and Spoons) -- Fairy Calendar

Schools Tree Day -- Australia (because National Tree Day is always a Sunday, the schools participate in planting trees the Friday before)

System Administrator Appreciation Day -- the day to thank your system administrator for keeping your computer up and running

St. Pantaleon's Day (Patron of bachelors, physicians, torture victims; against tuberculosis)

Take Your Houseplants For a Walk Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which claims doing this will orient them to their position on the earth and make them healthier (some websites mistakenly call it take your pants for a walk day!)

Talk in an Elevator Day -- help break the taboo!

UFO Days -- Elmwood, Wisconsin, US (Wisconsin's UFO capital, visit the petting zoo, shop at the community wide thrift sale, take part in the fun run, softball games, medallion hunts, bed races, and dances; watch the crowning of Miss Elmwood, the tractorcade, the car and truck show, the nightly fireworks, and stage bands; let the kids have a ball in the greased pig race and kiddie water fight; enjoy the Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast and the bake sale; and no need to miss church Sunday morning, bring a lawn chair for the ecumenical service so you don't miss a moment of the fun and excitement! through Sunday)

Victory Day -- North Korea

Walk on Stilts Day -- at your own risk always; sponsored by Bill "Stretch" Coleman, the Nine Foot Clown, who encourages everyone to walk on stilts to foster a chance to develop self-confidence, master balance and coordination, enjoy the challenge, and celebrate daring accomplishments at all ages

War Martyrs' and Invalids' Day -- Vietnam

Birthdays Today

Ashlyn Sanchez, 1996

Cheyenne Kimball, 1990

Courtney Kupets, 1986

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, 1977

Alex Rodriguez, 1975

Maya Rudolph, 1972

Triple H, 1969

Julian McMahon, 1968

Maureen McGovern, 1949

Peggy Fleming, 1948

Betty Thomas, 1947

Bobbie Gentry, 1944

James Victor, 1939

Gary Gygax, 1938

Jerry Van Dyke, 1931

Norman Lear, 1922

Leo Ernest Durocher, 1905

Joseph Bert "Joe" Tinker, 1880

José Celso Barbosa, 1857

Alexandre Dumas, fils, 1824

Queen Hatshepsut, BC1508

Today in History

Siward, Earl of Northumbria invades Scotland to support Malcolm Canmore against Macbeth of Scotland, who usurped the Scottish throne from Malcolm's father, King Duncan; Macbeth is defeated at Dunsinane, 1054

Jesuit priest Francis Xavier's ship reaches Japan, 1549

The English Parliament passes the second Navigation Act requiring that all goods bound for the American colonies have to be sent in English ships from English ports, 1663

A Royal Charter is granted to the Bank of England, 1694

The Russian Navy defeats the Swedes atthe Battle of Grengam, 1720

The first U.S. federal government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is established (later renamed Department of State), 1789

Robespierre is finally arrested, 1794

The Atlantic Cable is successfully completed, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time, 1866

Researchers at the University of Toronto led by biochemist Frederick Banting announce the discovery of the hormone insulin, 1921

The animated short A Wild Hare is released, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny, 1940

RMS Titanic, Inc. begins the first expedited salvaging of wreckage of the RMS Titanic, 1987

A pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA, US, during the Summer Olympics, 1996

Photograph negatives purchased at a garage sale prove to be early works by photographer Ansel Adams, 2010

The first Przewalski’s horse (whose wild populations were believed extinct in 1969) is born via artificial insemination at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute as part of a worldwide effort to rebuild the wild herds, 2013

Liberia shuts down most of its borders over fears about the spread of Ebola, 2014

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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As noted yesterday, it's been 33 years since Sweetie and i tied the knot.

Is that knot a bit frayed and worn in some places from the tough times? Sure. Is it stronger than ever? Absolutely.

Am i thankful? Yes, truly.

He's dedicated first and foremost to Jesus.

He loves me.

He loves our kids and our Daughter-in-Law.

He is a good deacon at our church and loves to serve others.

He volunteers at the cat shelter with me.

Even though he's retired and he doesn't have to, he comes and cleans some houses with me.

He adores his cats.

He cleans the kitchen, sweeps the floors, and uses his skills as a former chef to cook for himself when i'm working.

He does his own ironing!

He makes sure i know i am precious to him.

For all these reasons and so many more, i am very, very thankful.

Please join us and our gracious, wonderful hostess Kristi from ThankfulMe, write up your own thankful list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Today is:

Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous -- Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (pre-1963 power and sailing yachts, river parade, and Rum Runners Rendezvous celebration; through tomorrow)

Buffalo Soldiers Day -- US (as designated by Congress)

Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval a/k/a Expulsion of the Acadians Day -- Canada

Festival of Hedjihotep -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (goddess of weaving; date approximate)

Geneva Arts Fair -- Geneva, IL, US (a juried event that is becoming one of the top such events in the US; through tomorrow)

Hanover Dutch Festival -- Hanover, PA, US (celebrating the area and it's heritage)

Imp-Handling Conference -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Peru(1821)

Iowa Storytelling Festival -- Clear Lake, IA, US (come listen to professional and amateur storytellers in the scenic lakeside setting, and including a story exchange for novice storytellers)

Liberation Day / Anniversary of the Fall of Fascism -- San Marino

Nagasaki Peiron Senshuken -- Nagasaki, Japan (two day dragon boat racing festival begun in the 17th century)

National Dance Day -- US (begun by Nigel Lythgoe, now a congressionally recognized day to encourage dance education and physical fitness, so go out and bust a move on a Saturday night, but don't bust you, please)

National Day of the Cowboy -- US (celebrating the heritage, and those who still work as cowboys/cowgirls today)

National Milk Chocolate Day

Olavsokuaftan (Olavsoka Eve) and the Olai Festival -- Faroe Islands (St. Olav's Eve, the night before the opening of Parliament and the festival of St. Olav; through tomorrow)

"Paddle for Perthes" Disease Awareness Day -- to promote awareness of the children's condition called Legg-Calve-Perthes disease

Quilt Exhibition -- Billings Farm, Woodstock, VT, US (a juried show, demonstrations and other activities; through Sept. 16)

Soma-Nomaoi -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (three day wild horse chase which recreates a battle from over 1,000 years ago)

St. Arduinus of Trepino's Day (Patron of Trepino, Italy)

Sumidagawa River Fireworks Festival -- Tokyo, Japan (one of Japan's largest fireworks festivals, held almost every year since 1733, making it also one of the world's oldest continuously held fireworks displays)

Taylor Horse Fest -- Taylor, ND, US (big enough to be fun, small enough to get you lots of time with the stars of the show, the horses! through tomorrow)

Terry Fox Day -- born in Winnipeg on this date in 1958, he raised $24 million for cancer research by running over 3,000 miles on an artificial leg before his death in 1981 at age 23

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

8#World Congress of Esperanto -- Lisbon, Portugal; through next Saturday

World Hepatitis Day -- International

Anniversaries Today

The first Singing Telegram is delivered, 1933

Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard, 1540

Birthdays Today

Lori Loughlin, 1964

Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox, 1958

Hugo Chavez, 1954

Sally Struthers, 1948

Linda Kelsey, 1946

Jim Davis, 1945

Rick Wright, 1945

Bill Bradley, 1943

Phil Proctor, 1040

Darryl Hickman, 1931

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, 1929

Jacques Piccard, 1922

Earl Tupper, 1907

Rudy Vallee, 1901

Joe E. Brown, 1892

Beatrix Potter, 1866

Thomas Heyward, Jr., 1746

Today in History

Thomas Cromwell is executed at the order of Henry VIII of England on charges of treason, 1540

Bermuda is first settled by Europeans, survivors of the English ship Sea Venture en route to Virginia, 1609

Maximilien Robespierre is executed by guillotine in Paris during the French Revolution, 1794

Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina, 1865

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, guaranteeing due process and establishing citizenship for African Americans is certified, 1868

First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1935

The Metropolitan Police Flying Squad foils a bullion robbery in the "Battle of London Airport", 1948

The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan, the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851, 1976

Andorra joins the United Nations, 1993

Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championships, 2001

The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland, 2005

The U-550, a sunken German U-Boat, is discovered off the cost of Massachusetts, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, don't expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes.

This whole weekend has been about Sweetie and me reminiscing and enjoying our anniversary weekend, as we have dubbed it.

We are trying to keep the magic alive, after all.

Boudreaux an' Clothile done decide to keep de magic alive in marriage, you gots to go on a marriage retreat, so dey decide to go to de church one call de "Marriage Encounter". Dey pack up an' go fo' de weekend.

At de retreat, one o' de speakers say, "Gentlemen, you need to show your wife that you are paying attention to her, that you know her likes and dislikes. For example, what's her favorite flower?"

An' Boudreaux say, "Oh, I know dat! My Clothile be de bes' at bakin', she do it all de time! Mais cher, it be White Lily All Purpose, right?"

An' Clothile say, "Mais oui, an' I t'ink you should also know dat de reason I bake so much be because punchin' you husband be frowned on!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files. It is now hosted by River at Drifting Through Life.

Last weekend, a butterfly very graciously consented to pose for me for a bit:

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Today is:

Badminton World Championships -- Nanjing, China (through Sunday)

Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day (Buy your cheese that will be sacrificed on Cheese Sacrifice Day, and no, I never have found out why there is a Cheese Sacrifice Day anyway or to whom you are supposed to sacrifice it.)*

Chicken Wings Day -- Buffalo, NY, US (they want it to be a national day, and maybe someday it will be)

Feast of St. Martha, Virgin, Dragon Charmer, Sister of Lazarus (Patron of butlers, cooks, dieticians, domestic servants, homemakers, hotel keepers, housemaids, housewives, inkeepers, laundry workers, maids, manservants, servants, servers, single laywomen, travellers; Villajoyosa, Spain, which village she saved on her feast day by sending a flash flood to wash away the Moorish invaders in 1538)

Festival of Domhnach Chrom Dubh -- Ireland (Black Chrom's Sunday, associated with the god Lugh and connected to the festival of Lammas; also connected to John Barleycorn, the personification of the grain, who is killed by being harvested at this time; many honor St. Patrick's Fast by making a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, where he fasted until he overcame the pagan deity Crom Cruach [Crom of the Reek])

Fiesta de Santa Maria Ribarteme (a/k/a Festival of Near Death Experiences) -- As Neves, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain (festival of Mary in which those who have come back from near death are carried to the shrine in open coffins, or walk there clad in shrouds)

Heyannir month commences -- Icelandic Calendar (Harvest Month, literally translates "Hay Working")

International Tiger Day

Mi'kmaq Pilgrimage to St. Anne Mission -- Mi'kmaq First Nations of Canada and Maine

NASA Day -- marking the day President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law, creating NASA

National Anthem Day -- Romania

National Lasagna Day

National Thai Language Day -- Thailand (Wan Phasa Thai Haeng Chat)

National Tree Day -- Australia

Photograph Your Children When They're Not Looking Day -- get a good, candid shot to enjoy

Procession of the Penitents -- Veurne, Belgium (passion play dating back to the 15th century)

Rain Day Festival -- Waynesburg, Pennsylvania (yes, it has rained at 113 out of the 140 observances of this festival on this date)

Runic Half-Month Thorn begins (defense)

St. Lazarus' Day -- date given in the Martyrologium Romanum; celebrated on Lazarus Saturday by most Eastern Churches and on Dec. 17 in most Western Churches

St. Olaf's (Olav) Day (Norway's Viking king; Patron of carvers, difficult marriages, kings; Norway)related observances

Olavsokadagur -- Faroe Islands (opening of Logting, or Parliament; a National Day, on the Feast Day of St. Olav)

Oslok Eve -- Norway (celebrating the valiant death of their hero on this evening at the battle at Stiklestadt in 1030)

sometimes associated with Thor's Day among the Norse and Thunor of the Anglo-Saxons

Territory Day -- Wallis and Futuna

Valencia Fair Battle of the Flowers -- Valencia, spain (conclusion and highlight of the Valencia Fair, with a parade and thousands of carnations thrown from floats, making a magical carpet of petals for all to enjoy)

*"A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be oversophisticated. Yet it remains cheese, milk's leap toward immortality." Clifton Fadiman

Anniversaries Today

Andy Taylor marries Tracey Wilson, 1982

Charles, Prince of Wales, marries Lady Diana Spencer, 1981

Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1565

Birthdays Today

Danger Mouse, 1977

Josh Radnor, 1974

Wanya Morris, 1973

Wil Wheaton, 1972

Julian McMahon, 1968

Martina McBride, 1966

Alexandra Paul, 1963

Patty Scialfa, 1956

Ken Burns, 1953

Tim Gunn, 1953

Marilyn Quayle, 1949

David Warner, 1941

Peter Jennings, 1938

Elizabeth Dole, 1936

Paul Taylor, 1930

Chester Bomar Himes, 1909

Melvin Belli, 1907

Clara Bow, 1905

Dag Hammarskjold, 1905

Stanley Kunitz, 1905

Benito Mussolini, 1883

Newton Booth Tarkington, 1869

Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, 1861

Alexis de Tocqueville, 1805

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Friday Night Videos"(TV), 1983

Help(Film), 1965

"Steamboat Willie"(Animated short, first appearance of Mickey Mouse), 1928

Today in History

King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes, 1030

James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling, 1567

English naval forces under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France, 1588

John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there, 1793

Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, 1836

In Tipperary, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police, 1848

The First Hague Convention is signed, 1899

Sir Robert Baden Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England; this is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement, 1907

The International Atomic Energy Agency is established, 1957

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel, 1987

The film Cry Freedom is seized by South African authorities, 1988

Astronomers announce the discovery of Eris, the largest dwarf planet in the solar system, 2005

South Sudan becomes the 54th member of the African Union, 2011

Scientists reveal new research identifying a mechanism by which Earth-warming carbon is pulled deep into the Southern Ocean, and locked away, and scientists claim this process may be threatened by climate change, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!

This week's Awww is a story as well as photos.

There's a cat at the shelter named Hibiscus, but i call her "Biscuits" because she is the color of raw biscuit dough and she's at least two biscuits shy of a Pillsbury tube.

No, I do not want to turn around for a picture!

She does not like women very much, she adores men. She is overweight, but we've had her on a diet. She has the run of the shelter most of the time to get her some exercise, and she likes to try to scoop fallen kitten food from under the kitten cages, so while the diet is helping, she really needs to be where she has only her food.

The problem has been that Biscuits is the perfect cat if you have always wanted to have an abusive relationship with your cat. She always didn't mean to play nice then turn around and bite or claw you, and she always promises it will never happen again.

Anyway, there's this cute young couple that adore her, biting, clawing, and all. They have been coming to visit her for months, but they couldn't have pets where they lived.

Don't you speak cat! My posture is telling you to go away!

Then Biscuits caught a break. Their lease was coming up, and somehow (we all wonder how, NOT!) she still hasn't been adopted. We will hold a cat at the shelter for up to seven days before you have to pick it up. Exactly seven days before their new lease, at an apartment that allows pets, they came in and made it official.

Hibiscus has a home!!! They come for her this Wednesday, August 1, their move-in day.

Had to go down the hall where she couldn't see me to get any cooperation.

After they adopted her, they petted and kissed on her and she swatted them both and they laughed. They are going to be perfect for each other.

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Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.

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Today is:

Dia del Amigo -- Paraguay

Father-in-Law Day -- unsponsored and unclaimed, but fathers-in-law deserve respect, too

Feast of the Throne -- Morocco; Western Sahara

Festival of Fortuna Huiusque Diei -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Fortune of the Present Day")

Friendship Day/International Day of Friendship -- UN

Herbal Ballooning -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Vanuatu(1980)

Kronia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Kronos as god of the harvest)

Martyr's Day -- South Sudan

National Cheesecake Day

National Support Public Education Day -- Change.org wants this to be an official day for support of US public education systems

Paperback Day -- anniversary of the 1935 publication of Penguin #1, Arial, A Life of Shelley, by Andre Maurois in London, the first successful series of paperback books

Sts. Abdon and Sennen's Day (Patrons of barrel makers and coopers; the ashes of ferns cut and burned on this day will keep away insects and unwanted guests)

Sumiyoshi Matsuri -- Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, Osaka, Japan (Osaka's last major summer festival, through Aug. 1)

Anniversaries Today

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, marries Michael Tindall, 2011

Birthdays Today

Hope Solo, 1981

Jaime Pressly, 1977

Misty May-Treanor, 1977

Hilary Swank, 1974

Tom Green, 1971

Simon Baker, 1969

Vivica A. Fox, 1964

Lisa Kudrow, 1963

Alton Brown, 1962

Laurence Fishburne, 1961

Kate Bush, 1958

Delta Burke, 1956

Ken Olin, 1954

Jean Reno, 1948

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1947

William Atherton, 1947

David Sanborn, 1945

Paul Anka, 1941

Peter Bogdanovich, 1939

Buddy Guy, 1936

Allan Huber “Bud” Selig, 1934

Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, 1933

Thomas Sowell, 1930

Sid Krofft, 1929

Christine McGuire, 1926

Henry W. Bloch, 1922

Henry Spencer Moore, 1898

Casey Stengel, 1891

Henry Ford, 1863

Thorstein Bunde Veblen, 1857

Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, 1855

Emily Bronte, 1818

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Santa Barbara"(TV), 1984

"Death Valley Days"(Radio), 1930

Today in History

City of Baghdad is founded, 762

The First Defenestration of Prague, 1419

Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage, 1502

At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs, which set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years, 1608

In Jamestown, Virginia, the first European style representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time, 1619

An earthquake in Naples, Italy kills 10,000 people, 1629

Baltimore, Maryland is founded, 1729

Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly-built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers, 1756

First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps,1859

Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah, 1863

In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first Football World Cup, 1930

Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short, 1932

A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto, 1956

US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid, 1965

David Scott and James Irwin on Apollo Lunar Module module, Falcon, land with first Lunar Rover on the moon, 1971

Six Royal Canadian Army Cadets are killed and fifty-four injured in an accidental grenade blast at CFB Valcartier Cadet Camp, 1974

Jimmy Hoffa disappears, 1975

In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line, 2003

Israel and Palestinian officials agree to resume negotiations for a peace agreement, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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It's time once again for a Random and Happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.

Dr. D was in a huge dither yesterday. One of the attorneys for one of her cases had asked her to prepare a document for him, and she’d spent all day Sunday working on it, only to have her computer erase it before she could save it.

We spent almost two hours, but we got it reconstructed and sent, and i again realized that if you keep playing with the computer, you can figured out how to do just about anything you need to, even if you don’t quite know how.

She is also enjoying her new phone, now that she knows how to turn it on and open it.

Little Girl is preparing to move out again. It’s been wonderful having her at home since her previous lease ran out. She’s getting a bit antsy, though. Once you are out on your own, it’s not easy going back home.

Bigger Girl arrived safely in Amsterdam, and sent Grandma a text telling her so when i was at her house this Saturday. Let's see, i am paying extra for her to be able to call and text us from another country, and she sends her "I've arrived safely" messages to Grandma and not me? Guess i know where i am in the pecking order, and i am glad i have enough of a sense of humor not to mind a bit!

July is a long month, and long months make for being busy at the homeless ministry on the last Sunday. Everyone is out or almost out of food and money with two or three days left in the month. We usually have about 200 people, this weekend we had 300.

Because of some extra donations, we were able to give everyone a hot meal, a bag with sandwiches, cookies and a drink, and a box with the equivalent of three meals. All of the food is ready to eat, utensils included. It made my day to know everyone got plenty.

Speaking of food:

Sweetie wrenched his knee and was finally hurting badly enough to see a doctor. (Except for his eye and ear docs, he doesn't go unless he's desperate.) A cortisone shot has been administered, and i am hoping it works fast.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is:

Always Live Better Than Yesterday Day

Cotton Candy Day

Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola -- (Founder of the Jesuits, especially revered in Spain; Patron of retreats, soldiers, and the Society of Jesus which he founded; Basque country; Bilbao, Spain; Bizkaia, Spain; Gipuzkoa, Spain; Guipuscoa, Spain; Guipúzcoa, Spain; Spiritual Exercises (by Pope Pius XI); Vizcaya, Spain)

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai -- Hachinohe City, Japan (one of the most elaborate neputa festivals, through Aug. 4)

Jump for Jellybeans Day

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day -- Hawai'i (State Flag Day)

Lammas Eve / Lughnassad Eve

Lithasblot -- Norse harvest festival with a "blot", or offering, to the gods, celebrated through tomorrow

Loki and Sigyn's Day - Asatru / Norse Pagan (aka Devoted Couples Day)

Make Homemade Ice Cream and Invite the Neighbors Over Day -- summer's almost over, make the most of the days we have left!

Moby Dick Marathon -- aboard the last US wooden whaler, the Charles W. Morgan, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (through tomorrow, from noon to noon, a marathon reading of Moby Dick in honor of Melville's birthday)

Mutts' Day -- because mutts deserve a day as much as purebreeds do!

National Raspberry Cake Day

South Mountain Fair -- Arendtsville, PA, US (celebrating agriculture, arts, crafts, and industry; through Saturday)

St. Germanus' Day (Patron of Auxerre, France)

St. Joseph of Arimathea's Day -- Eastern Orthodox Church (Patron of funeral directors)

Uncommon Instruments Day

World Ranger Day -- the International Ranger Federation wants us to honor wildlife rangers around the world as they work to protect the world's natural and cultural treasures, and remember those killed in the line of duty

Birthdays Today

Eric Lively, 1981

Dean Cain, 1966

J.K. Rowling, 1965

Jim Corr, 1964

Wesley Snipes, 1962

Bill Berry, 1958

Michael Biehn, 1956

Barry Van Dyke, 1951

Evonne Goolagong, 1951

Gary Lewis, 1946

Geraldine Chaplin, 1944

Susan Flannery, 1943

France Nuyen, 1939

Ted Cassidy, 1932

Don Murray, 1929

Curt Gowdy, 1919

Milton Friedman, 1912

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Living Daylights(Film), 1987

"The Shadow"(Radio), 1930

Today in History

Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide, BC30

The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji, 781

Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city, 904

The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect, 1492

On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus

becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad, 1498

Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India, 1658

The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1667

Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers, 1703

The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States," 1777

First U.S. patent is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process, 1790

Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city, 1856

The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia, 1865

The radio mystery program The Shadow is aired for the first time, 1930

Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius in Persepolis, 1938

First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, 1954

At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain, 1961

The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy, 1970

Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover, 1971

NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, 1976

A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage, 1987

Georgia joins the United Nations, 1992

Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro, 2006

Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end, 2007

U.S. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps wins a record 19th Olympic medal, with gold in the 4x200metres freestyle relay, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.

This month, the prompts are being provided by River at Drifting Through Life.

This week's words are:

1. pitiless

2. circumstance

3. coffee

4. black

5. shimmer

6. bottles

and/or:

1. reminded

2. sluice

3. blazing

4. fragment

5. routine

6. compartment

"That sun is PITILESS! How can you drink hot COFFEE in this heat?"

She smiled at her husband and took another sip of her steaming BLACK unction and said, "Ah, ambrosia!" After all, she always said she liked her brew dark as the swamp mud and hot as the bayou in July.

Shaking his head, he turned to the BOTTLES of iced beverages in the cooler. The sun was BLAZING down and he wondered how long they would remain cold. The little drawer COMPARTMENT in the top held their lunches, and he had to struggle with himself to keep from sneaking one of the brownies.

Although she was staring at the water, looking toward the area of the SLUICE gate and watching for the SHIMMER that would tell them when it opened, she knew just what he was thinking. "Need you be REMINDED that my eye is upon you?" she said, still smiling. He reluctantly grabbed a drink and let the top fall closed.

Eyes like a hawk, he thought to himself. No wonder they put her on duty for this. The only CIRCUMSTANCE that could get him out here in the heat and BLAZING sun was to keep her company, and the picnic she packed for them after. It didn't mean he wanted it to become a ROUTINE.

"And there it is!" she called out, and he looked up to see her smiling and pointing. "I'll call back up to the house and tell them, then we can go find a shady spot and eat."

"That's the best news I've heard today," he said with relief, hefting the cooler and heading for the shade trees.

“No brownies until I get there!” she called after him. She knew him too well.

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Today is:

Air Force Day -- US (declared by President Truman in 1947)

Anniversary of the Founding of Scouting -- first day of Brownsea Island Camp in 1907, where Robert Baden-Powell began Scouting

Armed Forces Day -- Lebanon

Earth Overshoot Day -- according to the Global Footprint Network, this is the date on which humanity has exhausted the Earth's budget of resources for the year

Emancipation Day -- Barbados; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and Grendines; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands (Trad.)

Fast in Honor of the Holy Mother of Jesus / Procession of the Cross and Dormition Fast -- Orthodox Christian

Feast of Kamal (Perfection) -- Baha'i

Fiesta de Santo Domingo -- Managua, Nicaragua (patron saint; through the 10th)

Girlfriends' Day -- a day to celebrate the women who enrich your life

Halifax International Busker Festival -- Halifax, NS, Canada (with action packed, mind blowing shows from around the globe; through August 6)

Harriet Quimby Day -- first woman to earn a pilot's license, this date in 1911

Hirosaki Neputa Matsuri -- Hirosaki, Japan (through the 7th, parade and purification ritual to rid the the town of future illness and bad fortune)

Homowo -- Ghana (a festival of thanksgiving and remembrance, among various groups of Ga peoples, all through August and September.)

Imps Charity Scramble -- Fairy calendar (Do they scramble the imps, or do the imps scramble for something?)

Independence Day / National Day -- Benin(1960)

Kalends of August -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances

Feast of Spes (personification of hope)

Festival for Victoria (goddess of victory)

Lammas Day / Lammac Tide -- Christian, a Cross Quarter Day (called the Gule of August in Wales, and known as August Eve and Lady Day Eve)

Liberation of Haile Selassie -- Rastafari

Lughnassad / Imbolc -- Wicca and Pagan (based in the Northern Hemisphere on the Celtic Feast of Bread, beginning of the harvest season)

Maine Lobster Festival -- Rockland, ME, US (more fun than a lobster can shake a tail at; through Sunday)

Minden Day -- British Armed Forces

Nagaoka Festival -- Nagaoka, Japan (through the 3rd, samuri procession, traditional music and dances, fireworks)

National Day -- Switzerland (where it is also called Swiss Confederation Day, when Switzerland became a single unit in 1291)

National Minority Donor Awareness Week -- US (bringing awareness to the fact that there are fewer minorities who are organ donors)

National Non-Parent Day -- sponsored by The National Organization for Non-Parents and No Kidding!

National Raspberry Cream Pie Day

Parents' Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo

Respect For Parents Day -- with information here

Rounds Resounding Day -- sponsored by Rounds Resounding Society (Grab your friends and sing a few songs that go in rounds, like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Frere Jacques".)

Social Resistance Day -- North Cyprus

Spiderman Day -- he first appeared today in Amazing Fantasy #15, released Aug. 1, 1963

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori's Day (Founder of the Redemptorists, a/k/a Ligourians; Patron of confessors, final perseverence, moralists, scrupulous people, theologians, vocations; Pagani, Italy; Sant'Agata de' Goti, Italy; against arthritis, scrupulosity disorder)

World Breastfeeding Week begins -- International (the theme this year is "Breastfeeding: Foundation of Life")

World Lung Cancer Day -- International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer

World Scout Scarf Day -- wear your Scout Scarf in public today

World Wide Web Day -- what would become our current ability to waste time reading blogs and doing other fun stuff was begun as an idea at CERN during August back in 1990

Yorkshire Day -- Yorkshire, England

Anniversaries Today:

Colorado becomes the 38th US State, 1876

Birthdays Today:

Tempestt Bledsoe, 1973

Robert Cray, 1953

Giancarlo Giannini, 1942

Jerry Garcia, 1942

Yves Saint Laurent, 1942

Ronald Harmon "Ron" Brown, 1941

Dom DeLuise, 1933

Tom Wilson, 1931

James Hill, 1916

Herman Melville, 1819

Maria Mitchell, 1818

Francis Scott Key, 1779

William Clark, 1770

Debuting/Premiering Today:

M2(TV Network), 1996

"The Rush Limbaugh Show"(Radio), 1988

MTV(TV Network), 1981

Today in History:

The future Caesar Augustus, Octavian, enters Alexandria, Egypt, and brings it under the control of Rome, BC30

Japan sends Ono no Imoko to the Sui court in China as envoy, 607

The Swiss Confederation is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter, 1291

Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile drive the Jews out of Spain, 1492

Henry Tudor, soon to be Henry VII, sails with his army to England, 1495

The first black Americans arrive in Jamestown, Virginia, 1619

Oxygen is "discovered" for the 3rd time, by Priestly, 1774

The Act of Union is passed in which merges the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1800

Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire, 1834

First coast to coast automobile trip, from San Francisco to New York, is completed, 1903

The first Jeep is produced, 1941

Anne Frank makes the last entry in her diary, 1944

The United States and Canada form the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), 1957

Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967

Peat cutters discover Lindow Man, Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England, 1984

CERN physicists begin discussing building what would eventually become the World Wide Web, 1990

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia join the European Environment Agency, 2001

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies and is succeeded by Prince Abdullah, 2005

Buddhist treasures buried during the Mongolian Communist Purge in the 1930's are rediscovered in the Gobi Desert, 2009

Russia grants NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden one year of temporary political asylum; Snowden leaves Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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"Have you seen all the neat tricks they show online? Life hacks or something, some of them are really cool!"

"Oh, yes, I've seen some of them, but they are hardly life transforming."

"Come on, you believe in recycling, haven't you always wanted to have dozens of uses for tea bags before you have to throw them away?"

"No, I'd rather find dozens of uses for hundred dollar bills!"

"I'd call you a party pooper, but instead I have to admit, me, too!"

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Transform.

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The other day, i was surprised as i rounded a corner and saw this fence:

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Today is:

Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival -- Davenport, IA, US (fifteen bands at 3 venues and a great time for all; through Sunday)

Day of the Airborne Forces -- Russia; Ukraine

Day of Azerbaijani Cinema -- Azerbaijan (anniversary of the 1898 showing of the first motion pictures taken in Azerbaijan)

Distribution of Charity Monies -- Fairy Calendar (Imps only)

Emancipation Day -- Bermuda (first day of the Cup Match)

Festival at Sandpoint -- Lake Pend Oreille, Sandpoint, ID, US (internationally renowned summer concert series in a casual and relaxed atmosphere; through the 12th)

Festival of Amen and Hapi -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (offerings to the god of transcendent powers and the god of the Nile to assure the flooding of the Nile; date approximate)

Lollapalooza -- Grant Park, Chicago, IL, US (through Sunday)

Lincoln Penny Day -- US (the Lincoln Cent entered circulation on this day in 1909, and is one of the longest running coins in continual production in history)

Mountain Dance and Folk Festival -- Asheville, NC, US (celebrating the cultural heritage of the southern Appalachian Mountains; through Saturday)

Make Some Old Fashioned Lemonade Day

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Nuestra Senora de los Angeles -- Costa Rica (Feast of Our Lady of the Angels)

Ribfest -- Kalamazoo, MI, US (live festival and cook off; through Saturday)

Rockhound Gemboree -- Bancroft, ON, Canada (expeditions to prime mineral locations as well as dealers, demonstrations, swapping, and the chance for rockhounds to have a great time; through Sunday)

Shimizu Minato Matsuri -- Shimizu City, Japan (through the 4th, commemorates the reopening of Shimizu Port to international trade)

St. Elias' Day (Elijah the Prophet) related observance

Iliden -- Bosnia-Herzegovina; Ukraine; other Slavic countries where he is titled St. Ilia

Republic Day -- Macedonia

St. Eusebius of Vercelli's Day (Patron of Vercelli, Italy)

Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day -- if the US is really determined to keep the littlest coins, the least we can do is pool them together in the trays so conveniently found in stores and restaurants

Anniversary Today:

The first US Census is recorded, 1790

Birthdays Today:

Edward Furlong, 1977

Michael Weiss, 1976

Sam Worthington, 1976

Mary-Louise Parker, 1964

Victoria Jackson, 1959

Butch Patrick, 1953

Kathryn Harrold, 1950

James Fallows, 1949

Joanna Cassidy, 1944

Wes Craven, 1939

Lamar Hunt, 1932

Peter O'Toole, 1932

James Baldwin, 1924

Carroll O'Connor, 1924

Myrna Loy, 1905

Jack L. Warner, 1892

Elisha Gray, 1835

Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant, 1754

Today in History:

Philip II of Macedon leads his army to defeat the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, which secured Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean, BC338

Hannibal leads his Corinthian army to defeat the superior forces of Rome, BC216

Henry Hudson sails into what it is now known as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean, 1610

First United States Census, 1790

First parachute jump in the US, 1819

Japan's samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869

Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, 1870

Andrew Hallidie tests the first cable car system in San Francisco, 1873

Wild Bill Hickok meets his death; shot in the back while playing poker, his hand, a pair of Aces and a pair of eights, is now called "Dead Man's Hand", 1876

Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary) dies, 1903

Typhoon in China kills about 60,000, 1922

The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson, 1932

Pakistan is re-admitted back into the Commonwealth of Nations, 1989

Iraq invades Kuwait, setting the stage for the Gulf War, 1990

Two previously unknown works by Mozart - a concerto movement and a prelude, are performed in Salzburg, Austria, 2009

The U.S. Government estimates the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, 2010

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Tripod SissyCat loves her grass munching spot:

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Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. I would like tickets to _____________________.

2 Please don’t ask me to _______________________.

3. I’d rather _________ than _________.

4. By this time next year, _________.

1. I would like tickets to a weekend retreat. One of those silent retreats, where you get to rest and be introspective for a couple of days.

2. Please don't ask me to fold or iron clothes. Both make my back hurt, and i have to do a good bit of both for work.

3. I'd rather pray than worry.

4. By this time next year, i hope we will have made a good bit of progress on paying our debts.

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Today is:

AgriFair -- Abbotsford, BC, Canada ("the best little country fair" and a rodeo; through Sunday)

Armed Forces Day -- Equatorial Guinea

Blueberry Arts Festival -- Ketchikan, AK, US (with a pet and doll parade, slug race, the Gigglefeet Dance Festival, and more; through Sunday)

Boom Days -- Leadville, CO, US (celebrate the mining heritage of the Rockies with a parade and even a celebrity pack burro race; through Sunday)

Braham Pie Day -- Braham, MN, US (a home-made pie festival)

Brat Days -- Sheboygan, WI, US (celebrating bratwurst and more; through Saturday)

Canada's National Ukrainian Festival -- Dauphin, MB, Canada (experience the richness of Ukrainian culture; through Sunday)

Czech Festival -- Wilber, NE, US (to promote the preservation of Czech culture, sponsored by the Nebraska Czechs of Wilber; through Sunday)

Dia de la Bandera -- Venezuela (Flag Day)

Edinburgh Festival Fringe -- Edinburgh, Scotland (the largest art gathering in the world that began on the "fringe" of the Edinburgh International Festival by groups that were not allowed to perform there; through the 27th)

Edinburgh International Festival -- Edinburgh, Scotland (one of the world's most exciting venues for opera, dance, theater, classical music and the visual arts; through the 27th)

Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru (The National Eisteddfod of Wales) -- Cardiff, Wales (preserving the Welsh language and heritage, with music, drama, literature, arts and crafts; through the 11th)

Fairy Washing Festival -- Fairy Calendar (do the fairies wash themselves, or is everyone supposed to wash his/her fairy?)

Feast of Caligo, the mother of Chaos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate, and this is as good a day to celebrate chaos as any other)

Fete National de l'Arbre -- Niger (Independence Day, 1960)

Fiesta de San Salvador -- San Salvador, El Salvador

Gigglefeet Dance Festival -- Ketchikan, AK, US (today and Sunday, celebrating dance in the community and part of the Blueberry Arts Festival)

Golpe de la Libertad -- Equatorial Guinea (Freedom Day)

Grab Some Nuts Day -- almonds and walnuts are especially good for you

International Beer Day -- Uniting The World Through Beer

International Friendship Day (original date proposed by Joyce Hall, founder of Hallmark Cards, back in 1935 because it is the center of the largest lull between major holidays; the UN celebrates it on July 30 and many countries celebrate on the second Sunday in August)

International Tree Climbing Championships and Arbor Fair -- Franklin Park, Columbus, OH, US (sponsored by the International Society of Arboriculture, and designed to simulate working conditions of professional arborists, with five different qualifying events; through August 8)

Kanto Matsuri -- Akita, Japan (a four day festival, praying for good harvest, purification ceremonies, and feats of skill)

Musikfest -- Bethlehem, PA, US (10 days, 15 stages, over 500 musical performances, so there is something here for everyone!)

National Watermelon Day

Onekama Days -- Onekama, MI, US (family fun, through Monday)

Palio Del Golfo -- La Spezia, Italy (a special, traditional rowing contest over a 2,000m course, plus a festival; through Monday)

Pidjiguiti Day -- Guinea-Bissau (Colonization Martyr's Day; Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti)

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo -- Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland (display of military color an pageantry; through the 25th)

Satchmo Summerfest -- New Orleans, LA, US (because one jazz festival in this city is never enough; through Sunday)

Sinjska Alka -- Sinj, Croatia (knight tournament that is a celebration of the victory over the Turks in 1715, in which the whole district takes pride in keeping the tradition by making and restoring all the equipment used, with accompanying festivals and fun at home, in church, and in public; through Sunday)

Sioux Empire Fair -- Sioux Falls, SD, US (entertainment, concerts, livestock exhibits, farm exhibits, and tons of fun; through the 11th)

Somers Day -- Bermuda (Second Day of Cup Match)

St. Lydia Purpuraria's Day (Lydia the "seller of purple" who was Paul's first convert in Philippi; Patron of dyers)

St. Nicodemus' Day (member of the Sanhedrin and secret disciple who helped bury Jesus)

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally -- Sturgis, SD, US (the grand-daddy of all motorcycle rallies and races; through the 12th)

Tall Timber Days -- Grand Rapids, MN, US (lumberjack shows, chainsaw carvers, and lots of fun; through Sunday)

Te Tonka Ha Rendezvous and Benton Fremont Days -- Lake Benton, MN, US (come to the Hole in the Mountain County Park where they reenact the fur-trading atmosphere of the 1840s, complete with muzzle-loader contest, tomahawk and knife throwing, log sawing, and more; through Sunday)

Twins Day Festival -- Twinsburg, OH, US (no, you aren't seeing double, it's a celebration of multiples; through Sunday)

White Oak Rendezvous -- Deer River, MN, US (reliving the history of a North West Company Fur Post from 1798 and an accompanying Ojibwe Native Village from the same time period; through Sunday)

Birthdays Today:

Evangeline Lilly, 1979

Blaine Wilson, 1974

Isaiah Washington, 1963

John McGinley, 1959

Jay North, 1951

John Landis, 1950

Martha Stewart, 1941

Martin Sheen, 1940

Steve Berkoff, 1937

Tony Bennett, 1926

Leon Uris, 1924

P.D. James, 1920

Margaret "Maggie" Kuhn, 1905

John T. Scopes, 1900

Ernest Taylor "Ernie" Pyle, 1900

Elisha Graves Otis, 1811

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Unforgiven(Film), 1992

"Primetime Live"(TV), 1989

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)"(Single release), 1963

"Chu Chin Chow"(Musical), 1916

"William Tell"(Opera), 1829

Today in History:

Tiberius, Roman Empire general, defeats the Dalmatians at the river Bathinus, 8

Columbus sets Sail for the "Indes",departing from Palos, Spain, 1492

John Rut, at St. John's, Newfoundland, sends the first known letter from North America, 1527

The "Peace of the Ladies" (Treaty of Cambrai) is finalized between the Holy Roman Empire and France, it was negotiated by Louise of Savoy and Margaret of Austria, 1529

Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes, 1678

First ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps, 1811

Harvard defeats Yale in the first intercollegiate rowing race, 1852*

Second Maori War begins in New Zealand, 1860

The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company is founded, 1900

The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travels beneath the Arctic ice cap, 1958

President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, 2005

After last months extensive flooding, North Korea finally asks the United Nations for food aid, 2012

The Athens stock exchange reopens after a month and immediately falls by 22%, 2015

*In fact, it was the first American intercollegiate athletic event ever.