It's Sunday, and a day off from the A to Z topics.

We've had great news in the kitten department -- our first litter of the season, the five that the lady wanted removed from her property the day they were born, have all been adopted or pre-adopted.   The nine in the house now are coming along nicely, and in fact i'm really to send Chrissy and Cookie up there as soon as i can arrange it.

Grandpa is coming to town today to take the kids to a baseball game.  They love it so much and i'm so glad they have grandparents who love them and with whom they want to spend time.  So many kids these days don't have that in their lives, or live far away, or have broken families and don't get to see grandparents on one side or another.

 Since it is a Sunday, and after church or a long morning nap you might have a bit of time on your hands, you might be amused by The Psychopath Test at http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-are-you-a-psychopath-test2

My results were that i am 87% empathetic, 2% delusional, 83% sociable, and 78% law abiding.  Apparently i have no gross defects of character and am not a psychopath.  Just in case any of your wondered.

If you take the test, share the results in the comments, we are all friends here, right? 


Today is

Domingo del Angel -- Palma de Mallorca, Spain (Angel Sunday, a fiesta dating back to the 15th century)

Empowered Women Entrepreneurs Day

Genocide Memorial Day -- Rwanda

Goddess Karna's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (goddess of crying and wailing)

International Beaver Day -- celebrating the species that restores valuable wetlands www.beaversww.org

International Snailpaper Day -- relax today with a hard copy of a regular, old fashioned newspaper

Kanamara Matsuri -- Kawasaki, Japan ("Festival of the Steel Phallus", a phallic symbol festival)

Metric System Day -- officially adopted in France on this day in 1795

Motherhood and Beauty Day -- Armenia (day the Armenian Orthodox Church celebrated the Annunciation; it is the only Church to celebrate it on this day, which is also observed as Mother's Day in this country)

National Coffee Cake Day

No Housework Day/Let Someone Else Clean Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, enjoy this one!

Pandia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a festival of Zeus; date approximate)

Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day -- Tanzania

St. Saint John Baptist de La Salle's Day (Patron of educators, school principals, teachers)

Women's Day -- Mozambique

World Health Day -- UN

Yom HaShoah -- Judaism (Holocaust Remembrance Day; begins at sunset)

Yo-Yo and Skill Toy Convention -- Spinning Top and Yo-Yo Museum, Burlington, WI, US (exhibitions, contests, demonstrations, and fun; through Sunday)


Anniversaries Today:

Prague University is chartered by Charles IV, the first university in central Europe, 1348


Birthdays Today:

Russell Crowe, 1964
Jackie Chan, 1954
Janis Ian, 1951
Francis Coppola, 1939
David Frost, 1939
Wayne Rogers, 1933
James Garner, 1928
Ravi Shankar, 1920
Billie Holiday, 1915
Walter Winchell, 1897
W.K. Kellogg, 1860
William Ellery Channing, 1780
William Wordsworth, 1770
St. Francis Xavier, 1506


Today in History:

Attila's Huns plunder Metz, in northern France, 451
Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I issues the first draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the basis for much civil law even today, 529
A crowd in Florence, Italy, storms the Convent of San Marco, demanding Fra Savonarola be turned over as they rebelled against his Bonfires of the Vanities and interference with trade, 1498
Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu, 1521
Michael Cardozo becomes the first Jewish lawyer in Brazil, 1645
American pioneers found Marietta, Ohio, as the first permanent settlement of the new Northwest Territory, 1788
France adopts the meter as the standard measure of length, 1795
The Mississippi Territory is established, 1798
English chemist John Walker invents wooden matches, 1827
Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation is assassinated by the Irish, in one of the few Canadian political assassinations, and the only one of a federal politician, 1868
Nebraska establishes an 8 hour work day, 1891
Texas Oil Company (Texaco) is formed, 1902
An eruption of Mt. Vesuvius devastates Naples, 1906
Dr. K. Winfield Ney performs the first brain tumor operation under a local anesthesia, at Beth Israel Hospital, 1923
Using phone lines, the first long distance television image is sent, of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, from Washington, D.C. to NYC, 1927
Booker T. Washington becomes the first African-American depicted on a postage stamp in the US, 1940
Syria is officially recognized as independent from France, 1946
Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech, 1954
Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco, 1956
IBM announces the System/360, 1964
The publication of RFC1 marks the symbolic birth of the Internet, 1969
Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter, 1978
During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk, 1983
Mars Odyssey is launched, 2001
Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent, 2009