On Human Nature and Finding What's Not There!

Today i am full of conflicting thoughts, so if you continue to read, you will be subject to my blank verse, which is very blank indeed.

Of course I'm sad!
They want to amputate another of my toes!
My diabetes is out of control,
And I'm depressed.
Pass me a donut.

That is what came to me the other day in response to a real life situation of someone at church.  She is depressed.  She is probably going to lose another toe.  She wants to be cured, she doesn't want to do what it takes to properly take care of herself.  As one doctor said (not her doctor but it seems to fit), "They come to me wanting a pill to cure them so they can go back out and do the same things that made them sick in the first place."

This is one of those situations where i am sympathetic and angry at the same time.

So, on to another thought.  Yesterday i cleaned for Ms. GA.  She and her husband were leaving town, so i had instructions to give one of the cats his medicine before i left.  That was an adventure, as i had to follow him into the attic closet, among other places, but he finally got his meds and i got my hissing at and we both left feeling glad it was over.

The cat sitter was going to take over where i left off.

After they left, though, i got a text from Ms. GA.  "We forgot to bring some plants in.   Could you bring in the ones on the patio table?  And the fern that doesn't much look like a fern that's by where we used to keep the water bucket.  Also the fern that's where the bird house used to be."

Yes, i had to laugh, and i figured out where the bird house and the water bucket used to be, and got the ferns.

Today i'm heading back to Grandma and Grandpa's house in NOLA.  Grandma is talking about painting the living room.  We may only get to some prep work, like buying supplies, today, but it's going to be an adventure.


Today is:

Afrma Fancy Rat and Mouse Annual Show -- Riverside, CA (don't laugh, rats and mice make great pets!)

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show -- West Springfield, MA, US (8 1/2 acres of hobby train fun; through tomorrow)

Army Day -- Armenia

Big Garden Birdwatch -- UK (sponsored by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; through Monday) 

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)

Data Privacy Day -- International

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

Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates, this is the adult version of last weekend's celebration for kids)

Greater Springfield Garage Sale -- Springfield, MO, US (if you want to find it used, you can probably find it here at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds; through tomorrow)

Great Fruitcake Toss -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (what to do with leftover fruitcake?  toss, hurl, or launch it for fun and prizes)

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire -- Gainesville, FL, US (jousting, birds of prey, medieval arts, food, entertainment; through tomorrow, and again next weekend)

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

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

Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year/Lhosar/Seol-Nal/Tet -- celebrations throughout Asia are held both before and after this "official" Western date, some for up to a month; there are Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist celebrations
     Sonam Lhosar -- Nepal (Tamang New Year)

National Blueberry Pancake Day

National Kazoo Day -- because anyone can play one!

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

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

National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytelling encourages you to celebrate one of the most ancient art forms)

Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival -- Orange City, FL, US (learn about the manatee and have fun doing it; through tomorrow)

Polar Bear Festival/Polar Bear Jump -- Seward, AK, US (lots of fun, if you want to freeze!)

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)

Swamp Buggy Races -- Naples, Florida (the world famous swamp buggy races; through tomorrow)

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

Traditional Day of Offering -- Bhutan (first day of 12th month of Tibetan calendar)

Wakakusa Yamayaki -- Nara, Japan (Grass Burning on Mt. Wakakusayama, and fireworks; an annual New Year tradition)


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