A to Z: A is for Award

McGuffy Ann, of McGuffy's Reader, saw fit a few days back to nominate me for a blogging award, and i am very grateful.

Also, i am somewhat stumped, as it is called the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.  Inspiring?

Some bloggers don't accept awards, and i've never really decided one way or another how i feel about them.  It's nice to be recognized.  It's sometimes difficult to know whom to nominate in return, as many of the blogs i read are people who don't accept such awards.  Yes, i've tried before, it was something of a flop.

To thank McGuffy Ann, though, i'm going to do some of the particulars of this award.

The first is to thank the person who bestowed it, and link back to her blog.  McGuffy Ann, you take excellent care of your critters and work in animal rescue and foster kittens, and i find you inspiring, and i thank you for this honor.  Yes, i have linked back to your blog above.

Since i am a tech dunce, the second one took a bit of figuring on my part, as it is to post the award logo.  In order to do that, i had to figure out how to get the image onto my computer and then into Picasa and then on here, and here it is:

Third and fourth is to nominate other bloggers and leave comments on their blogs letting them know.  That is the step i believe i must skip, as again, most of the blogs i read have been nominated before by others, or just don't accept awards.

Fifth is to mention three things that have inspired me lately.

Since Lent began, i have been inspired by the very excellent Lenten devotional written by our pastor for this season.  In fact, he preaches almost every Sunday, writes books, and produces a Lent and Advent devotional each year, with small group Bible studies centered around them.  This year's has been stellar, as usual delving deeply into the Scripture and including teachings from early church fathers up through the most recent theologians.

The owners/editors of our local newspaper inspired me recently with how they handled a serious problem.  Their press decided to quit working in the middle of a run.  They not only kept at it until they found the solution and got it working again, they turned to and helped, along with almost everyone in their offices, with deliveries for those delivery drivers who have second jobs and couldn't finish because of how late it was when they got the papers.  Not only did they come out and apologize for the inconvenience of people getting their papers late, they apologized because their phone system got overloaded when people began calling to see what was wrong.  Then they set out to upgrade the phone system so that doesn't happen again.

Acknowledging the problem and then getting right on the solution is inspiring customer service to me.

Finally, i am inspired by Ms. Belinda, a friend from church who recently had a stroke.  She is working hard in therapy, and has almost fully recovered.  She won't give up until she gets there, either!  She's being patient with getting rides to church and the store and appointments until such time as she is cleared to drive, and i know it's hard for her.  She's accepting it without complaint, and i don't know that i could do that.

So, there we have it.  Thank you again, McGuffy Ann, and all who read and comment here.

Today is

APAWS International Pooper Scooper week -- The Association of Professional Animal Waste Specialists believe every dog should have its day, but not on someone else's lawn!

April Fool's Day  a/k/a Huntingowk Day or Gowkie Day in Scotland, because an April Fool is called a gowk; in England it is All Fools Day or April Noddy Day, as an April fool is a "noddy"

Azalea Festival -- Muskogee, OK, US (month long celebration with citywide events throughout)

Capture of Brielle Remembrance -- Brielle, Netherlands

Civil Service Day -- Thailand

Community Spirit Days -- an open invitation, all month long, for any town or community to involve itself in a special service project

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

Edible Book Day -- Sponsored by the Edible Book Festival, Austin, TX, US (celebrating books and culinary creativity by making edible representations of books, then eating them)

Fossil Fools Day -- part of the conservationist movement of many organizations that want us to decrease reliance on fossil fuels and stop corporate polluters

Greek Cypriot Day -- Cyprus (EOKA Day)

International Fun at Work Day -- sponsored by Playfair, which encourages non-foolish humor that is non-toxic

International Tatting Day

Investiture of the New Captains Regent -- San Marino (sometimes listed as National Day)

Islamic Republic Day -- Iran

Kalends of April -- Ancient Roman Empire; also
     Festival of Fortuna Virilis -- Fortune in her role of bringing luck to women who want better relationships with men
     Veneralia -- ritual yearly washing of the statue of Venus

Kha b-Nisan -- Assyrians (traditional New Year celebration)

Loki's Day -- by some calculations, but more likely it was moved to this date to celebrate the trickster of all time on the trickiest day of the year

Miyako Odori -- Kobu Kaburenjo Theatre, Kyoto, Japan ("Dance of the Old Capital", the highly anticipated geisha dance and music festival, through the 30th)

National Day of Hope -- US; recognizing victims of child abuse and neglect, a day to recommit to make the world safe for children

National Sourdough Bread Day

National Walking Day -- US (sponsored by the American Heart Association)

Orissa Day -- Orissa, India

One Cent Day -- no history on this, just noted on several sites

Paraprofessional Appreciation Day -- honoring the contributions of paraprofessionals everywhere

Pigasus Award Announcement Day -- by James Randi, awarded to parapsychological, paranormal or psychic frauds

Reading is Funny Day -- a day to read riddles, jokes, and fun things with kids to show them how great reading can be

School Year Begins -- Japan, most schools and universities

Sizdeh Be-dar -- Iran (Nature Day, an ancient Persian celebration to get out and joyfully spend the day outdoors)

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival -- Skagit Valley, WA, US; through the 30th

Sorry Charlie Day -- a day to recognize Charlie the Tuna, always rejected but never giving up, and anyone who has ever been rejected and lived to tell about it

St. Gilbert de Moray's Day (Patron of Caithness, Scotland)

St. Stupid's Day (First Church of the Last Laughhttp://www.saintstupid.com/)

Tree Loving Week begins -- South Korea (always the week that includes April 5, their Arbor Day)

Uzupis Day -- Uzupis District, Vilnius, Lithuania

Whole Grain Sampling Day -- sponsored by the Whole Grains Council


Anniversaries Today:

Nunavut becomes Canada's third independent territory, 1999
Jim Bakker marries Tammy Faye LaValley, 1961


Birthdays Today:

Randy Orton, 1980
Jon Gosselin, 1977
Rachel Maddow, 1973
Susan Boyle, 1961
Libby Riddles, 1956
Annette O’Toole, 1953
Samuel A. Alito, Jr, 1950
David Eisenhower, 1947
Daniel Joseph “Rusty” Staub, 1944
Ali MacGraw, 1938
Gordon Jump, 1932
Debbie Reynolds, 1932
Jane Powell, 1929
Anne McCaffrey, 1926
Toshiro Mifune, 1920
Abraham Maslow, 1908
Clara "Mother" Hale, 1905
Lon Chaney, 1883
Sergei Rachmaninoff, 1873
Otto von Bismarck, 1815
William Harvey, 1578
Emperor Go-Saga of Japan, 1220


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Will Rogers Follies"(Musical), 1991
"General Hospital"(TV), 1963
"The Doctors"(TV), 1963
Der blaue Engel/The Blue Angel(Film; premier of Marlene Dietrich), 1930


Today in History:

The ruins of the city of Pompeii are found, 1748
Japan's volcano Unsen erupts, killing about 53,000, 1793
Samuel Morey patents the internal combustion engine, 1826
Cincinnati becomes the first US city to pay firefighters, 1853
Singapore, Penang & Malakka become British crown colonies, 1867
The London-Paris telephone connection is opened, 1891
The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois, 1891
The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, 1918
The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed, 1924
Generalisimo Frederico Franco announces the end of the Spanish Civil War, 1939
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Aleutian Islands creates a tsunami that strikes Hawai'i, killing 159, 1946
The twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland, 1949
The Canadian government repeals Japanese Canadian internment after seven years, 1949
The BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax on its current affairs programme Panorama, 1957
Project Tiger, a tiger conservation program, is launched in the Corbett National Park, India, 1973
Apple Inc. is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, 1976
The Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia is created, 1996
Comet Hale-Bopp is seen passing over perihelion, 1997
Nunavut is established as a Canadian territory carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories, 1999
Croatia and Albania join NATO, 2009