Tempting

Where are you heading today? i asked Bigger Girl.

"I'm going with Vera to Plato's Closet for jeans.  Every pair of jeans I own has a hole in them, except these, and these are guy jeans!" she answered.

Sounds like time to shop, i said.

"Yes, but I may buy more guy jeans.  You know what the best thing is about them?  Pockets!"  She turned a pocked inside out.  "Look at this!  A real pocket, that you can really use!"

For those kinds of pockets, i might have to switch to guy jeans, i said, laughing.

"Oh, mom, here's my knife kit!" #2 Son said as he came in.  The culinary school provides a kit for each student, and they are responsible for keeping them clean and bringing them each day.

Nice! i said, and Sweetie walked in and said, "Cool knives!  German made, those are good quality!"

"Don't I know it!" #2 Son said.  "When they gave us the knives, I sat through the first lecture on knife use, taking notes with one hand and flipping this paring knife in the other.  The whole class, I was flipping this knife, and I caught it every time, and when the lecture was over, I went to put it back in the case and cut myself on one of the other knives!"

As we laughed, he said, "Yeah, I tested out how sharp they are.  I've used each one to shave some of the hair off of my arms!"

Remind me not to let you cook for me using those, i said drily.

"I cleaned them!" he protested as we all laughed more.

"Well, on that note, it's Five Dollar Friday, I'm heading out," Sweetie said.

"Smoothies!" #2 Son called out.

"Yes," Sweetie answered.  "I'm kind of tired today, I need the energy."

"Power Punch Plus, extra turbinado!" #2 Son said.

"Yes, that's what I get every time," Sweetie said.

"Yes!  The man knows!  Oh, and did you know you can get it with a quad shot of turbinado?" #2 Son asked.

"You don't want me having a quad shot," Sweetie said.  "I'd pass out from the sugar rush."

Don't tempt your father, i said.

"Well, I'm going to make some tempting chocolate donuts," #2 Son said.  And he did, and they must have been good, because this is all that's left.

Empty donut plate, nothing left but some powdered sugar!

Today is:

Afrma Fancy Rat and Mouse Annual Show -- Riverside, CA (don't laugh, rats and mice make great pets!)
 
Arizona Musicfest -- North Scottsdale, AZ, US (a winter classical music festival; through Mar. 5)

Backward Day -- no info on the origin, but if you want to do something backward, go ahead
    
Brookfield Ice Harvest and Winter Carnival -- Brookfield, VT, US (demonstrating traditional ice harvesting using original equipment near the Brookfield Floating Bridge, one of only two such bridges still extant; through tomorrow)

Cultural Caravan for Peace -- various cities in Mali and on the Niger River; this is the "Festival au Desert", the most remote music festival in the world, with tonight's Great Night for Peace in Bamako, and the remaining concerts to be held as they travel into Niger through Feb. 15

Eat Brussels Sprouts Day --  saute in olive oil with some garlic, they are worth it!

Eve of Brigantia -- Ireland (St. Bridget's Eve, the night when she crosses the countryside and bestows blessings)

Feast of Great Typos -- another that no one will claim inventing, but since we've all made them, we may as well celebrate them

Feast of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates)

H&ll is Freezing Over Day -- internet generated day to review the list of things you said you would do when h*ll freezes over

Independence Day -- Nauru(1968)

Inspire Your Heart With the Arts Day -- begun by Rev Jayne Howard Feldman as a day to use art to feed your soul

Ka Moloka'I Makahiki -- Molokai, Hawaii (traditional ceremonial end of the harvest festival, a time of peace; still celebrated with ceremonies and sporting events)

Kumquat Festival -- Dade City, FL, US (because kumquats are not just funny, they are delicious!)
 
National Brandy Alexander Day

National Bug Busting Day -- UK (this is one idea that needs export to the whole world! the aim is to have every child checked for head lice on the same day, and thus get rid of them in one fell swoop, so they don't circulate endlesslyhttp://www.national-awareness-days.com/national-bug-busting-day.html)

National Gorilla Suit Day -- Mad Magazine's Maddest Artist, Don Martin, says this is the day to pull that gorilla suit out of the closet and step out in style.

National Seed Swap Day -- find or set one up in your area, so you can expand your garden, and help others expand theirs

National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytellinghttp://www.sfs.org.uk/ encourages you to celebrat one of the most ancient art forms)

Orchid Festival -- Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, US (through Mar. 22)

Phlegm-Green, Moldy-Grey, and Gazzard Day -- Fairy Calendar (don't ask what color Gazzard is, it doesn't exist in the human world, and you don't want it to)

Play An Old Game You Haven’t Played in Years Night -- internet generated, and a great idea

Scotch Tape Day -- it hit the market this day in 1928

St. John Bosco's Day (Patron of apprentices, boys, editors, laborers, schoolchildren, students, young people-especially youth of Mexican descent)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Timberlake, 1981
Kerry Washington, 1977
Portia de Rossi, 1973
Minnie Driver, 1971
Kelly Lynch, 1959
Jhn Lydon, 1956
Nolan Ryan, 1947
Charlie Musselwhite, 1944
Richard Gephardt, 1941
Jessica Walter, 1941
Stuart Margolin, 1940
Queen Beatrix, 1938
suzanne Pleshette, 1937
Philip Glass, 1937
James Franciscus, 1934
Ernie Banks, 1931
Jean Simmons, 1929
Carol Channing, 1923
Norman Mailer, 1923
Mario Lanza, 1921
Jackie Robinson, 1919
Thomas Merton, 1915
Garry Moore, 1915
Tallulah Bankhead, 1903
Eddie Cantor, 1892
Zane Grey, 1872
Franz Schubert, 1797
Robert Morris, 1734
Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan, 1543


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"These Are My Children"(TV), 1949 (first daytime TV Soap Opera)
"The Green Hornet"(Radio), 1936
"The Lone Ranger"(Radio), 1933
"Three Sisters"(Chekhov Play), 1901
"Hedda Gabler"(Ibsen Play), 1891


Today in History:

Guy Fawkes is executed for his plotting against Parliament and James I of England, 1606
The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, 1747
The Corn Laws (tariffs on imported grains) are abolished in Britain, paving the way for  more free trade, 1849
The United States orders all Native Americans to move into reservations, 1876
The Bulletin of Sydney is founded, publishes for 128 years, 1880
An automobile exceeds 100 mph (161 kph) for the first time, at Daytona Beach, driven by A. G. MacDonald, 1905
The Soviet Union exiles Leon Trotsky, 1929
Scotch tape is first marketed by the 3M Company, 1930
Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont, US receives the first US Social Security monthly payment check, for $22.54, 1940
President Harry S. Truman announces a program to develop the hydrogen bomb, 1950
A North Sea flood causes over 1,800 deaths in the Netherlands, 1953
Explorer 1 – The first successful launch of an American satellite into orbit, 1958
James Van Allen discovers the Van Allen radiation belt, 1958
Mercury-Redstone 2 – Ham the Chimp travels into outer space, 1961
The Soviet Union launches the unmanned Luna 9 spacecraft as part of the Luna program, 1966
Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon, 1971
The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow, 1990
Comet Hyakutake is discovered by Japanese amateur astronomer Yuji Hyakutake, 1996
NASA reveals the Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR), a lunar mining robot which could be used to produce fuel and water directly on the Moon, 2013

Feline Friday: Kitchen King

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

#2 Son's cat, Dansig, is a lot like #2 Son.  He's convinced he owns the kitchen.

I am king of all I survey!

Speaking of #2 Son, he came in from school yesterday and said, "They gave us our knife kits today, and guess what!"

You cut yourself, didn't you? i asked.

"You got it!" he grinned, and reached into the cabinet where we keep the first aid kit.

Some things are just predictable.

Today is:

Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo -- Rapid City, SD, US (everything you could want in such an event, including the stockman banquet and ball; through Feb. 8)

Carnaval de Quebec -- Quebec City, Canada (a vigorous winter celebration, where they have the cold around long enough to need it; through Feb. 15)

Cash Register Day -- James Ritty and John Birch were granted a patent on this day in 1883 for an early mechanical cash register

Congressional Brawl Day -- marking the first ever all out brawl in the US Congress in 1798

Draw A Dinosaur Day -- and post it to the web site 

Feast of King Charles the Martyr -- Anglican

Inane Answering Message Day -- the day to change those annoying messages, sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

King's Birthday -- Jordan

Martyrs' Day -- India (assassination anniversary of Gandhi)

Montana Winter Fair -- Lewistown, MT, US (from farm exhibits to a fiddler's contest, there's fun to be had here; through Sunday)

National Croissant Day

National Preschool Fitness Day -- get them loving moving early 

Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Festival of Peace)

Puce and Ochre Day -- Fairy Calendar

School Day of Nonviolence and Peace -- sponsored by DENIP

St. Aldegund's Day (Patron of cancer patients; against cancer, childhood diseases, sudden death, wounds)

St. Bathilde's Day (Patron of children, sick people, widows; against bodily ills and sickness)

St. Martina of Rome's Day (Patron of nursing mothers; Rome, Italy)

Tapati Festival -- Rapa Nui (Easter Island; a unique and exotic  Polynesian festival, showcasing the island's culture and traditions; through Feb. 14)

Three Archbishops' Day -- Eastern Orthodox (a/k/a Holy Hierarchs' Day)

Winterlude Festival -- Ottawa, ON, Canada (enjoy parades, dances, snow races, and more; through the 16th, with most of the festivities on weekends)

Yodel For Your Neighbors Day -- Why?  Do you hate your neighbors?


Birthdays Today:

Johnathan Lee Iverson, 1976
Christian Bale, 1974
Brett Butler, 1958
Phil Collins, 1951
Charles Dutton, 1951
Steve Marriott, 1947
Marty Balin, 1942
Dick Cheney, 1941
Vanessa Redgrave, 1937
Boris spassky, 1937
Tammy Grimes, 1934
Louis Ruckeyser, 1933
Gene Hackman, 1930
Dorothy Malone, 1925
Dick Martin, 1922
Barbara W. Tuchman, 1912
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882
Isaiah Thomas, 1749
Thomas Rolfe, 1615 (Only child of John Rolfe and Pocahontas.)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Yogi Bear Show"(TV), 1958
"Robert Montgomery Presents"(TV), 1950
City Lights(Chaplin Movie), 1931
 
 
Today in History:

The Jews of Freilsburg, Germany, are massacred, 1349
King Charles I of England is beheaded, 1649
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed after having been dead for two years, 1661
The Forty-seven Ronin, under the command of Oishi Kuranosuke, avenge the death of their master, 1703
Henry Greathead tests the first boat intended to be specialized as a lifeboat for rescue purposes, which he invented, on the River Tyne in England, 1790
The burned Library of Congress is reestablished, with Thomas Jefferson contributing, 1815
Edward Bransfield sights the Trinity Peninsula and claims the discovery of Antarctica, 1820
The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened, 1826
A fire destroys two-thirds of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, 1841
The city of Yerba Buena is renamed San Francisco, for the nearby mission of the same name, 1847
William Wells Brown publishes the first Black drama, "Leap to Freedom," 1858
The US Navy's first ironclad warship, the Monitor, is launched, 1862
The pneumatic hammer is patented by Charles King of Detroit, 1894
The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy, 1911
The House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill, 1913
"The Lone Ranger" begins a 21 year run on ABC radio, 1933
Indian pacifist and leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated by Pandit Nathuram Godse, a Hindu extremist, 1948
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s home is bombed in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1956
The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert is broken up by the police, 1969
Carole King's Tapestry album is released, it would become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide, 1971
Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations, 1972
The Monitor National Marine Sanctuary was established as the first United States National Marine Sanctuary, 1975
Richard Skrenta writes the first PC virus code, which is 400 lines long and disguised as an Apple boot program called "Elk Cloner", 1982
Peter Leko of Hungary becomes the world's youngest chess grand master at age 14, 1994
Workers from the National Institutes of Health announce the success of clinical trials testing the first preventive treatment for sickle-cell disease, 1995
Over half a million people participate in the world's largest wildlife survey after extreme cold drives exotic birds into Britain's back gardens, 2011

No wonder.

Most weeks, i clean Ms. P's house on Thursdays.

Every once in a while, they throw me for a loop and ask me to come on Wednesday instead.  That's what happened yesterday.

When i arrived, i found 7 loads of laundry waiting.  So i sorted and got that started, then went through the rest of the house.

With stops to reboot the laundry, washing, drying, and folding, i managed to clean the bathrooms, wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, sweep and vacuum and mop floors, sanitize surfaces, get the garbage out, and even clean the inside of the refrigerator.

This was done in a matter of 8 1/2 hours.

At the end, i wondered to myself, self, why can't i get this much done at my own house in one day?

Then it hit me.  First, when i'm there, i don't have anyone in the house undoing what i've just done as fast as i can do it, if not faster.  No one to come behind me and cook a full meal as soon as i've washed all the dishes.  No one to decide to do a project that gets spread out all over an entire room or two, and ends up with glitter spilled everywhere.

Second, there are no cats.  There's very little dust and no cat hair all over, no cleaning an area just to turn around and find some critter baptized it with tinkle or barf, no looking at a just cleaned area to see even more cat hair.  (Seriously, i think i sweep and vacuum up enough cat hair in this house each week to knit myself another litter of kittens, if i ever needed another litter of kittens, which i don't.)

Third, when i'm done, i'm done.  There's a sense of finality to cleaning someone else's house, i find, that just isn't there when cleaning my own.  Yes, i'll be doing Ms. P's again next week, i hope, but there's still a sense that i got stuff done and it's done.  At home, i'm watching it deteriorate, and there is no done.

Finally, at home, i'm not paid!  That, i think, is one of the biggest factors.  When they come up with pay, i'll probably be more interested!

Yes, i know, that'll be the day.  Anyway, it's no wonder it takes me days to do at home what i can do there in one day.

Now i'm going to wonder if there's money in the budget for me to pay myself.  It might be worth a look. 


Today is:

Blue and Pink Day -- Fairy Calendar

Bubblegum Sculpture Day -- commonly listed on ecard sites, and not to be confused with National Bubble Gum Day, coming in February

Carnation Day -- in honor of William McKinley; also on the date of his assassination each year, Sept. 14

Curmudgeons' Day -- W.C. Field's birth anniversary

National Corn Chip Day

National Puzzle Day -- because they are just fun

Sahid Diwash -- Nepal (Martyrs' Day)

St. Constantius of Perugia (Patron of Perugia, Italy)

St. Gildas the Wise's Day (one of the earliest British historians)

St. Moritz Polo world Cup on Snow -- St. Moritz, Switzerland (winter polo on the frozen lake of St. Moritz; through Sunday)

Thomas Paine Day/Freethinkers' Day -- birth anniversary of Thomas Paine



Anniversaries Today:

Establishment of The Seeing Eye, 1929 (first US guide dog school)
Kansas becomes the 34th US state, 1861


Birthdays Today:

Adam Lambert, 1982
Jonny Lang, 1981
Andrew Keegan, 1979
Sara Gilbert, 1975
Heather Graham, 1970
Bobby Phillips, 1968
Nick Turturro, 1962
Greg Louganis, 1960
Oprah Winfrey, 1954
Teresa Teng, 1953
Ann Jillian, 1950
Tom Selleck, 1945
Katharine Ross, 1942
Germaine Greer, 1939
John Forsythe, 1918
Victor Mature, 1913
Huddie William "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, 1885
W.C. Fields, 1880
Anton Chekhov, 1860
William McKinley, 1843
Henry Morton Stanley, 1841
Thomas Paine, 1737
Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Sweet Charity"(Musical), 1966
Dr. Strangelove(Film), 1964
Sleeping Beauty(Cartoon movie), 1959
"The Potting Shed"(Play), 1957
"All My Sons"(Play), 1947
"The Raven"(publication date), 1845
"Idomeneo"(Mozart Opera), 1781
"The Beggar's Opera"(Gay Ballad Opera), 1728


Today in History:

The first performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1595
John Beckley of Virginia is appointed the first Librarian of Congress, 1802
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" is first published, 1845
The Victoria Cross is established to acknowledge bravery, 1856
Karl Benz patents the first successful gasoline-driven automobile, 1886
Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch, 1891
Walt Disney starts his first job as an artist, earning $40/week with the KC Slide Co, 1920
North America's first guide dog school, The Seeing Eye, is incorporated in Nashville, Tennessee, 1929
The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced, 1936
The first inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced, 1963
Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so, 1989
President Jacques Chirac announces a "definitive end" to French nuclear weapons testing, 1996
La Fenice, Venice's opera house, is destroyed by fire, 1996
The first direct commercial flights from mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines flight lands in Beijing, 2005

Okay, who cut the cheese?

Literally, not figuratively.

Little Girl came to me and said, "This makes me exceedingly angry!"  Then she held out this:

Sharp cheddar, as found in the fridge.

"Really!" she exclaimed.  "Who does this!  Look at this!"  She then held it sideways for my inspection.

It has certainly been creatively deconstructed.

As we both laughed over how sometimes boys are unfathomable, she grated what was left for some quesadillas.

It can certainly make you wonder how they are going to survive on their own, if they don't even know how to cut cheese straight.


Today is:

Army Day -- Armenia

Data Privacy Day -- International

Festival of the Lenaia to Dionysus -- Ancient Greek Calendar, end January through early February

Fun At Work Day -- inject laughter and fun into your workplace (if you dare); some sites have this as a national or international day, and dates given vary, but my warning stands if you decide to celebrate this at all

Jackhammer Day -- US (the pneumatic jackhammer was patented this day in 1894 by Charles Brady King of Detroit, MI)

National Blueberry Pancake Day

National Kazoo Day -- because anyone can play one!

National Spieling Day -- internet generated, and whatever your area of expertise, spiel about it today

Rinkydinks Annual Snowball Fight -- Fairy Calendar

Runic Half-month Elhaz (elk) commences

St. Charlemagne's Day (Patron of the University of Paris)

St. Thomas Aquinas's Day (Patron of academics, apologists, book sellers, chastity, colleges, learning, pencil makers, philosophers, publishers, scholars, schools, students, theologians, universities; Aquino, Italy; Belcastro, Italy; Falerna, Italy; University of Vigo; all Catholic academies, schools, and universities; against lightning, storms)

Telephone Exchange Day -- US (the first telephone exchange was set up in New Haven, CT with 22 subscribers on this day in 1878)

US Nationals Snow Sculpting Competition and Championships -- Lake Geneve, WI, US (through Feb. 7)


Anniversary Today:

Adoption of the Great Seal of the United States, 1782


Birthdays Today:

Elijah Wood, 1981
Nick Carter, 1980
Joey Fatone, Jr. 1977
Kathryn Morris, 1969
Sarah McLachlan, 1968
Harley Jane Kozak, 1957
Nicolas Sarkozy, 1955
Rick Warren, 1954
John Beck, 1943
Susan Howard, 1943
Alan Alda, 1936
Susan Sontag, 1933
Claes Oldenburg, 1929
Jackson Pollack, 1912
Robert Stroud, 1890 (The Birdman of Alcatraz)
Arthur Rubenstein, 1887
Auguste Piccard, 1884
Jean Felix Piccard, 1884
Colette, 1873
Jose' Marti, 1853
Henry Morton Stanley, 1841
Alexander Mackenzie, 1822
Peter the Great of Russia, 1775
St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Fantasy Island"(TV), 1978
"Barnaby Jones"(TV), 1973
"Symphony No. 1/Jeremiah"(Bernstein), 1944


Today in History:

The Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted by Pope Gregory VIII, 1077
The first Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria, 1099
Pope Alexander VI gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France, 1495
Edward VI, age nine, succeeds his father Henry VIII as king of England, 1547
By the Edict of Orleans, the persecution of French Huguenots is suspended, 1561
Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland, 1573
Sir Thomas Warner found the first British colony in the Caribbean, on St. Kitts, 1624
The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree (it was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917), 1724
Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity, 1754
London's Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight, 1807
Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom, 1813
The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway, 1855
In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick, 1887
Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding in an automobile. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h), 1896
The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie, 1902
An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard, 1915
The first Jewish  US Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, appointed by Wilson, 1916
A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I, 1921
The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence, 1933
The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today, 1958
The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament, 1965
Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region, 1984
Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief, 1985
Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board, 1986
Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled up the Egyptian's streets in demonstrations referred to as "Friday of Anger" against the Mubarak regime, 2011

Not coming soon to any theater i know of, but a fun idea.

"What's there, what's there, let me see, let me see!" Little Girl sang out as she ran toward where i stood near the mail box.

Nothing for you this time, i'm afraid, i told her.

"What do you mean, nothing!" she demanded.  "See this!  It says 'Resident', and I'm a resident!"

Yes, i replied with a grin, you may have the Schlotzsky's Deli ad, the rest of it is bills and tax information.

"Boring!" she said, handing all of it, including the deli flyer, back to me as we went in.

"You know the one, her name is long and starts with a Q, she's the one I mean!" Festus was saying.

What's under discussion? i asked.

"We're talking about who would play the cats in a movie, and we've decided on a few of them," #2 Son replied.

"Yeah, we decided KidaMosquito is such a character she'd either have to be Reese Witherspoon or she'd have to be played by a guy, like Robert DiNero," Festus said.

"And my Dansig would be Bruce Willis, wouldn't you my buddy!" #2 Son crooned over his large orange cat in a most un-macho way, with a snuggle and a kiss.

"We know Mikey would be Jamie Foxx or William DeFoe.  And we were talking about Enigma, she'd be that girl whose name I can't remember."

"Oh, I know who you are talking about!  She was in the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild, right?" Little Girl asked.

"Yeah!  Her!" Festus said.

Quvenzhané Wallis, i said.

"That's it!" #2 Son replied.

It's nice to know they know their cats so well they can tell who would play them in a movie.


Today is:

Big Snow Day -- remembering the 15 inch snowflakes that fell on in Fort Keough, Montana, in 1887

Chocolate Cake Day

Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism -- Germany (anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz)

Day the Netjers of Heaven Receive Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Family Literacy Day -- Canada

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (for the continuation of all life-sustaining things; a multi-day ceremony and feast that begins around this time of year)

Listen to Classical Music During Lunch Day -- in honor of Mozart

Mozart Day

National Speak Up and Succeed Day -- encouraging joining Toastmasters International, as fear of speaking can block your road to success!

Punch the Clock Day -- internet generated, and no reason for it given; this has to be one of the more baffling ones

Sioux Empire Farm Show -- Sioux Falls, SD, US (great winter farm show, since you can't be planting, come out and have fun; through Saturday)

St. Angela Merici's Day (Founder of the Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula; Patron of the disabled and ill; against bodily ills and the death of parents)

St. Devota's Day (Patron of Corsica; Monaco)

Thomas Crapper Day -- death date, in 1910, of the perfector of the flush toilet mechanism

Up-Helly-AA Day -- Lerwick, Shetland (the largest fire festival in Europe, with tomorrow as a day off so everyone can recover)


Anniversaries Today:

Founding of the National Geographic Society, 1888
The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, 1870
The University of Georgia is chartered, the first state university in the US, 1785


Birthdays Today:

Julie Foudy, 1971
Jennifer LB Leese, 1970
Patton Oswalt, 1969
Alan Cumming, 1965
Bridget Fonda,1964
Cris Collinsworth, 1959
Mimi Rogers, 1956
Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1948
Nick Mason, 1944
Mairead Corrigan, 1944
James Cromwell, 1942
Troy Donahue, 1936
Donna Reed, 1921
David Seville, 1919
Skitch Henderson, 1918
Hyman George Rickover, 1900
Jerome Kern, 1885
Samuel Gompers, 1850
Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), 1832
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Laverne and Shirley"(TV), 1976
Tarzan of the Apes(Film), 1918


Today in History:

Trajan becomes Roman Emperor, 98
The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, 661
Song Dynasty General Yue Fei is wrongfully executed, 1142
Dante Alighieri becomes a Florentine political exile, 1302
The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31, 1606
The first American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island, 1662
Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Instanbul, 1695
Czar Peter the Great sets the first Russian state budget, 1710
Abdication of Stanislas, the last king of Poland, 1736
The US Congress approves the opening of Indian Territory for settlement, which led to the forced relocation of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears," 1825
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are incorporated, 1870
Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the electric incandescent lamp, 1880
The National Geographic Society is organized, in Washington, D.C., 1888
"Tarzan of the Apes," the first Tarzan movie, premiers, 1918
Apollo 1 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, 1967
More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space, 1967
Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper, 1980
The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, breaks through, 1983
American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Taro becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna, 1993
Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 1996
Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services, 2006