Sometime was not Wednesday

The rain has to let up sometime.

Sometime was not Wednesday.

Even my Sweetie, who wears short sleeves when i need a sweater, is getting cold.

Now that's saying something.

To cheer myself, i've taken to looking up fun stuff wherever i can find it.  A few things i've found:

From Mr. Bob Downing, a suggestion.  "When you put Tabasco on your food, and someone who's not from here asks you if you shouldn't taste it first, tell them you already know what Tabasco tastes like."

A woman was talking about how her memory is going, and noted, "My memory is so bad, I could plan my own surprise party!"

Mr. Carl Spillman has a suggestion for anyone who has to go to a wedding or a funeral.  Watch the preacher afterward.  If the preacher hangs around, either he hasn't been paid, or the food is going to be excellent.

Overheard at a knitting club right after December 21 last year:  "That was the worst apocalypse ever!"  Several knitters dropped quite a few stitches.

Enjoy your Thursday.  If we can, we will be drying out.  Or floating away.  Whichever.


Today is:

Apple Wassailing Day -- Carhampton, England (ancient tradition to bless the trees, waking the tree spirits and scaring away bad spirits)

Blessing of the Animals -- Hispanic Christian (in association with St. Anthony's Day)

Ditch Your New Years Resolutions Day -- no info on origin, but probably someone who gave up; will you?

Felicitas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (honoring the goddess of good luck)

Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo -- Espace de Fontvielle, Monte Carlo (the best circus acts and performers from five continents; through the 27th)

Festival of Janus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (main festival for the god of beginnings, endings, and doorways)

Hot Heads Chili Day -- no clue what this one means, but i guess we can have chili for dinner

Kid Inventors' Day -- celebrating how inventive kids are; on the birth anniversary of Ben Franklin, who invented swim fins at age 12

Liberation Day -- Poland (liberation from the Nazis in 1945)

Make Your All-Time Top Ten Favorite TV Characters List -- because nothing says you can't make your own top ten lists

National Hot Buttered Rum Day

Nosso Senhor do Bonfim Festival -- Salvador, Brazil (Our Lord of the Happy Ending Festival, at the church by that name; through the 27th)

Patras Carnival -- Patras, Greece (the town crier announces the opening ceremony, with festivities through Clean Monday)

Popeye Day -- The Sailor Man debut in the comics this date in 1929

Professional Boxer's Day -- Ali's birth anniversary

St. Anthony the Great's Day (a/k/a Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Patriarch of the Abbots; Patron of amputees, animals/domestic animals, basket weavers, brush makers, butchers, cemetary workers/grave diggers, epileptics, hermits, monks, relief from pestilence, swine/hogs, swineherds; Hospitaliers; Burgio, Sicily, Italy; Canas, Brazil; Castrofilippo, Agrigento, Italy; Fivizzano, Italy; Fontainemore, Italy; Mook, Netherlands; Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy; against eczema, epilepsy, ergotism, erysipelas, pestilence, Saint Anthony's Fire, skin diseases and rashes) related observance
     Blessing of the Animals at the Cathedral -- Church of San Antonio, Mexico City, Mexico (where this saint is San Antonio Abad)

Sundance Film Festival -- Park City, UT, US (the premier US independent films festival; through the 27th)

Women in Blue Jeans Conference -- Mitchell, SD, US (celebrating women in agriculture; through tomorrow)

Zirgu Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Day of the Horses)


Anniversaries Today:

Octavian marries Livia Drusilla, BC38
George Burns marries Gracie Allen, 1926


Birthdays Today:

Kid Rock, 1971
Michelle Obama, 1964
Jim Carrey, 1962
Susanna Hoffs, 1959
Anthony Glise, 1956
Andy Kaufman, 1949
Muhammad Ali, 1942
Maury Povich, 1939
Shari Lewis, 1934
James Earl Jones, 1931
Vidal Sassoon, 1928
Eartha Kitt, 1927
Betty White, 1922
Al Capone, 1899
Nevil Shute, 1899
Mack Sennett, 1884
David Lloyd George, 1863
Anton Chekhov, 1860
Anne Bronte, 1820
Benjamin Franklin, 1706


Today in History:

Pope Gregory XI moves the Papacy back to Rome from Avignon, 1377
Cesare Borgia returns in triumph to Rome from Romagna, 1501
Giovanni da Verrazzano begins his voyage to find a passage to China, 1524
The Edict of St Germain recognizes Huguenots in France, 1562
England's Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Addresses, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War, 1648
An avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switzerland, kills 53, 1718
Capt James Cook becomes the first to cross Antarctic Circle (66° 33' S), 1773
The first cable car patented, by Andrew S Hallidie (begins service in 1873), 1871
Queen Liliuokalani is deposed, the Kingdom of Hawaii becomes a republic, 1893
Sir Robert Falcon Scott reaches the South Pole, one month after Roald Amundsen, 1912
The first fully automatic photographic film developing machine patented, 1928
Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by Elzie Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip, 1929
Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, is arrested by secret police in Hungary, 1945
The United Nations Security Council holds its first meeting, 1946
The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs, 1949
The Great Brinks Robbery - 11 thieves steal more than $2 million from an armored car Company's offices in Boston, Massachusetts, 1950
A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton nuclear bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares incident, 1966
Harald V becomes King of Norway on the death of his father, Olav V, 1991
The Czech Republic applies for membership of the European Union, 1996
Mount Nyiragongo erupts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing an estimated 400,000 people, 2002
Rioting begins between Muslim and Christian groups in Jos, Nigeria, which resulting in at least 200 deaths, 2010