Your Kid is Still Your Kid, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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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.  

In September, Bigger Girl flew in from Seattle to visit for a few days, and she and i got to run errands together and chat.  Last month, she flew in and was here only about 24 hours, just long enough to go to Grandma's funeral.

This is my high-functioning Asperger's child who is scared of small children so she used to wear Goth clothing not because she was Goth, but because it was "soccer mom repellant."  It made those with small children hustle them away.

She once went to a Halloween party in a lacy blouse with an old-fashioned medicine bottle around her neck labeled "arsenic."  Yes, she was a movie reference.

(This was the year Little Girl dressed in her business suit and wore a sign around her neck which said, "Closed."  She was the US Government during a shutdown.)

Now she's all grown up and living away from home but your kid is still your kid, and some things just don't change much.

At the funeral, i went outside to see who was hanging out on the porch and she was there scooping dirt from the garden into a plastic zip baggie.

She said, "A friend asked for a bag of dirt from Louisiana.  I'm not asking questions, I'm just making it happen.  In exchange I'm getting a bottle of home distilled bourbon that tastes like what warm feels like."

I don't ask too many questions, either, i just enjoy her.

How about some funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is Election Day in the USA.  If you are registered, please go vote.

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere the event badge.

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Today is:

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

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

Bunka no hi -- Japan (Culture Day)

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

Cuenca Day -- Cuenca, Ecuador

Housewives' Day -- birth anniversary of Roseanne Barr

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

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

Melbourne Cup Day -- Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia (155th running)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Victory Day -- Maldives

Birthdays Today:

Gemma Ward, 1987

Evgeny Plushenko, 1982

Dolph Lundgren, 1959

Phil Simms, 1956

Adam Ant, 1954

Kathy Kinney, 1954

Kate Capshaw, 1953

Dennis Miller, 1953

Roseanne, 1952

Steve Landesberg, 1945

Ken Berry, 1933

Michael Dukakis, 1933

Monica Vitti, 1933

Charles Bronson, 1921

Bob Feller, 1918

Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, 1908

Edward Douglass White, 1845

William Cullen Bryant, 1794

Stephen Fuller Austin, 1793

Thomas Kyd, 1558

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Diff'rent Strokes"(TV), 1978

"Good Morning America"(TV), 1973

Play Misty for Me(Film, NYC release date), 1971

"The Unsinkable Molly Brown"(Musical), 1960

"A Connecticut Yankee"(Musical), 1927

Today in History:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina, 644

Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, 1493

The English parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII to be the leader of the Church of England, 1534

Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony, 1620

A great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet, 1679

Spain acquires Louisiana, 1762

The Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec, 1817

The Times of India, the world's most widely circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, 1838

John W. Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first African-American elected to Congress, 1868

"Black Bart the Poet", stagecoach robber, commits his last robbery, leaving behind a clue that leads to his capture, 1883

J.H. Hunter patents a portable weighing scale, 1896

Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market, 1911

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika, 1957

NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury; it would later become the first probe to reach that planet, 1973

Dutch and British astronomers find spiral nebula Dwingeloo 1, 1994

Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule across Pakistan, suspending the Constitution, 2007

US Border Patrol discovers a sophisticated tunnel used by drug smugglers from Tijuana, Mexico to Otay Mesa, California, 2010

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for global action on climate change after warning from scientists, 2014

New York's 104-storey One World Trade Center officially opens 13 years after the September 11 attacks, 2014

Air pollution levels in Delhi, India reach such high levels that authorities declare a public health emergency, 2019

South African writer Damon Galgut wins literature's Booker Prize for his novel "The Promise", 2021

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupts on Flores Island in eastern Indonesia, 2024

Learning Life (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Big Birds

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at 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!

Little Ben is learning life by observing, and he is always observing.  He doesn’t want you to sit with him, he wants you to stand and walk around and show him things.

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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

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Our dear friend Diane has left it to us

and we're not going to make a fuss,

we miss her poetry and wit

but carry on as Poetry Monday's a hit!

Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Charlotte/Mother Owl and i are keeping it going while she takes a blog break, we hope temporarily.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let us know!

This week the theme is Big bird.

A man came into a restaurant

an ostrich by his side

and asked for a table for two

as the staff looked on wide-eyed.

They sat and looked at a menu,

and soon the gentleman said,

"I'll have a burger and fries."

"Me, too," the bird nodded her head.

When the bill came due,

the man as if it wasn't strange

reached into his pocket

and pulled out the exact change.

This went on once a week for a month,

the bird ordering the same as the gent,

and he always paid for everything

with exact change, down to the cent.

Finally, a staffer asked him,

what in the world was the deal,

the ostrich and the money,

was all of this even real?

The man said, "I found a bottle

and you know what happened then,

I got to make three wishes,

for whatever I had a yen.

"I wished for long, healthy life,

that seemed normal enough,

but running out of money

would make a long life tough.

"I wished for just what I need

no matter what I buy,

from a stick of gum to a yacht,

I have just that much to apply.

"Of course, we know the story,

you always trip up on your third,

A chick with long legs who always agrees,

is how I got the Big Bird."

Future themes are:

Nov 2 Big bird (Today!)

Nov 9 Planes

Nov 16 Fairy tales

Nov 23 Earthquake

Nov 30 Oasis

(All themes are from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and Other Arts Facebook group.)

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Today is:

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

     Dead Relatives' Day -- Sicily

     Dia de Finados -- Brazil; Portugal

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

Balfour Declaration Day -- Israel

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

Coronation of Haile Selassie -- Rastafarian

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

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

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

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

International Stress Awareness Week -- UK (International Stress Management Association; through Friday) 

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

Karatsu Kunchi -- Karatsu and Saga, Japan

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

Marlborough Provincial Anniversary Day -- Marlborough, New Zealand

National Day/Constitution Day -- Tonga(obs.)

National Deviled Egg Day

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

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

Recreation Day -- Tasmania, Australia

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

Soulcaker's Play -- Cheshire, UK

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

Traffic Director's Day -- Traffic Directors Guild of America (those who are Traffic Managers, Inventory Control Specialists, Revenue Managers, or many other terms in the broadcasting and mobile industries, including radio and TV traffic directors, who always schedule your favorite shows when you just can't watch, and put more and more commercials in when they can; on the Monday nearest the anniversary of the first commercial radio broadcast in Pittsburgh in 1922)     

World Ballet Day

Anniversaries Today:

North Dakota becomes the 39th US State, 1889

South Dakota becomes the 40th US State, 1889

Birthdays Today:

k.d. lang, 1961

Shere Hite, 1942

Stephanie Powers, 1942

Pat Buchanan, 1938

Ray Walston, 1914

Burt Lancaster, 1913

Paul Ford, 1901

Warren G. Harding, 1865

James K. Polk, 1795

Marie Antionette, 1755

Daniel Boone, 1734

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Spruce Goose makes its first (only) flight, 1947

KDKA Radio Pittsburgh, PA, US makes the first scheduled radio broadcast, of election results, 1920

Today in History:

The African Free School, the first free school in NYC, opens, 1787

The popular vote for US president is first recorded and Andrew "By God" Jackson (a/k/a Old Hickory) defeats John Quincy Adams, 1824

New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally, 1868

Johnny Campbell officially leads the crowd in cheering at a University of Minnesota football game, the official birth of cheerleading, 1898

The British newspaper the "Daily Mirror" begins publication, 1903

The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities", 1917

Charlotte Woodward, who attended the historic Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention of 1848, becomes the only one of the women who attended to live long enough to cast a vote in a national election, 1920

Australia's Qantas Airways begins service, 1922

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established, 1936

In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built, 1947

Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case, 1960

The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT, 1988

The International Space Station becomes permanently staffed, 2000

China makes its first orbital docking as its unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft successfully docks with the orbiting Tiangong 1 space station module, 2011

The New York Marathon is cancelled due to the damage from Hurricane Sandy, 2012

Separatists in Eastern Ukraine hold elections in Donetsk and Luhansk; Russia will recognize the elected leaders, but Ukraine and Western nations declare the elections illegitimate, 2014

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull scraps Knights and Dames from Australia's honours system, 2015

The Chicago Cubs defeat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series, ending the longest MLB championship drought at 108 years, 2016

The government of Ethiopia and Tigrayan authorities reach a peace agreement after two years of talks in South Africa, 2021

Apple Records releases the last Beatles song "Now and Then;” the song was built from an unfinished John Lennon demo and created using AI technology, 2023

Kemi Badenoch becomes the first black woman to lead a major British political party when elected leader of the Conservative Party, 2024