Wordless and Wordy Wednesday

Ms. GA's outdoor cat buffet had a guest:

He helped himself, including to the water bowl for washing!

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

***********************************

Words for Wednesday is a meme now hosted by Elephant's Child.  If you follow the link, you can get the history of the meme, and this weeks words.  The point is to write a story/stories or part/s of a story using the prompts given.  Using both sets of words this week, i wrote the following (the prompt words are in all caps):

The OVAL window shone at NIGHTFALL, a certain sign that she was in the room with the light on.

She's probably reading, he thought to himself.  He had a SUDDEN urge to RUSH over to the house and knock at the door, but what would he say that he hadn't said before?

Oh, he knew she wasn't PERFECT, he was not UNDER such a delusion, and he knew she was a bit QUIRKY, yet he when he thought of her he went weak. The day before, when she'd worn the YELLOW dress and one of the other fellows had taken up all of her time he'd had some VIOLENT thoughts that he had to quickly squelch.  He could be TENACIOUS all he wanted, but violence she would not stand.

I'm too WEAK, he had to admit, as he leaned over to admire the MINIATURE portrait he kept of her.  Still, it doesn't hurt to dream.

Today is:

Bicycle Race Day -- anniversary of what is supposed to have been the first bicycle race ever, at the Parc de Saint-Cloud, Paris, in 1868

BookExpo America -- NY, NY, US (publishers display fall titles; through Friday)

Dia de Castilla-La Mancha -- Castile-La Mancha, Spain

Doha Document for Peace in Darfur Commemoration -- Sudan

Feast of the Visitation of Mary -- Christianity (Mary's visit of her cousin Elizabeth, chronicled in Luke 1:39-56)

"Make My Day" Day -- birth anniversary of Clint Eastwood

National Macaroon Day

National Senior Health and Fitness Day -- US (don't let age get in the way of staying healthy!) 

Royal Brunei Malay Regiment Day / Royal Brunei Armed Forces Day -- Brunei

Save Your Hearing Day -- because once it is gone, you will regret it; on the anniversary of the concert by The Who which set a Guiness World Record for loudest rock concert in 1976

Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival -- Sedalia, MO, US (with a variety of free and paid venues, it's a good time for all; through Saturday)

Speak in Complete Sentences Day -- Be a good example!

St. Petronilla's Day (Patron of mountain travellers; against fever)

Take This Job and Shove It Day -- birth anniversary of Johnny Paycheck

This Day (again) -- Fairy Calendar

What You Think Upon Grows Day -- Stephanie West Allen wants you to remember the power of positive thinking

World MS Day  

World No Tobacco Day -- WHO 

Birthdays Today:

Jonathan Tucker, 1982

Colin Farrell, 1976

Phil Keoghan, 1967

Brooke Shields, 1965

Lea Thompson, 1961

Chris Elliot, 1960

Roma Maffia, 1958

Kyle Secor, 1958

Gregory Harrison, 1950

Tom Berenger, 1950

John Bonham, 1948

Sharon Gless, 1943

Joe Namath, 1943

Johnny Paycheck, 1941

Terry Waite, 1939

Peter Yarrow, 1938

Clint Eastwood, 1930

Patricia Roberts Harris, 1924

Prince Rainier of Monaco, 1923

Denholm Elliott, 1922

Don Ameche, 1908

Norman Vincent Peale, 1898

Fred Allen, 1894

Walt Whitman, 1819

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Survivor"(TV), 2000

"Seinfeld"(TV), 1990

"Beatlemania"(Musical), 1977

Today in History:

Rameses II (The Great) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, BC1279

A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000, 526

Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus and Cumans, 1223

Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary, 1669

The Godiva procession through Coventry begins, 1678

The Province of Pennsylvania bans all theater productions, 1759

In Australia, Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains, 1813

In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to free Ireland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, 1866

Dr James Moore of the UK wins the first recorded bicycle race, a 2k velocipede race at Parc de St Cloud, Paris, 1868

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patents corn flakes, 1884

Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria, 1884

Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, 1889

The Union of South Africa (predecessor of the Republic of South Africa) is created, 1910

The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles, 1927

A 7.1 magnitude Earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan, 1931

The Republic of South Africa is created, 1961

The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide  that buries the town of Yungay, Peru, 1970

In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30, 1971

The Muppet Movie, Jim Henson's Muppets' first foray into the world of feature length motion pictures, is released, 1979

The burning of Jaffna Library, Sri Lanka, is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century, 1981

Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead, 1985

Athena 98.4 FM, the first legal private radio station in Greece, starts broadcasting, 1987

Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat, 2005

Asteroid 1998 QE2, an asteroid measuring nearly 1.7 miles across, and its moon, pass within 3.6 million miles of the earth, 2013

Rantings and Ramblings for Tuesday

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she starts the discussion by saying, Get something off your chest.   No, don't throw your bra at me: unless it's after 7 pm and you're home for the evening, because Yes! 

There will be no bra throwing here, it's not the Flora-Bama Bar.  Yes, if you are there, it's considered perfectly acceptable, once you reach a certain state of feeling good, to sow your wild oats by throwing your bra up into the rafters.  It remains there until the bar gets blown out to sea by the next hurricane, and then when the bar is rebuilt, you may go throw in another if you choose.

But i digress, as i often do.

Please note that the following might be upsetting if you are sensitive about medical topics.  If you are, then you might just want to skip this section.

What i need to get off my chest today is a rant about something i do not normally rant about -- health care.

It's not what you think, though.  No politics.  More the state of health care of the chronically ill and end of life issues.

A dear friend of mine has been going through the wringer over the last 3-4 weeks.  Both she and a good friend of hers have chronic health issues.  Her friend, whom i will call S, has battled several infections, as well as other things.

Almost 4 weeks ago, S went from being fine one day to deathly ill with sepsis the next.  She fell and injured herself as well.  Once in the hospital and stable, she became delusional and would not eat.

S has no family that she trusts, so she made my friend her person for the medical people to talk to and make decisions for her.  My friend begged them to put a feeding tube into S.  They wouldn't until it was too late.

The upshot of all of it is that S is now in ICU with no brain activity.  After all of their refusals to put in a feeding tube, letting her go 3 weeks without eating before doing so, they are now refusing to let her end be peaceful.  They keep coding her.  They've broken her ribs.  They are keeping a corpse going now, when they should be letting go, just as they should have been treating her this aggressively two or three weeks ago, and she would probably have been out of the hospital by now.

It makes me furious when people demand that medical personnel "do everything" to save a person who is terminal.  That is simply delaying the inevitable because of a selfish desire not to have to go through the grief of loss.

It makes me equally furious when medical personnel refuse to aggressively treat someone until it's way too late, then try to be heroic and save someone they allowed to get beyond saving.  S deserved their consideration weeks ago when it was still possible to not just treat her infection and fall injury but to get her as well as she could get and send her home.

She didn't deserve to end up like this, and my friend didn't deserve to be put into this position, first having to beg for treatment, and now not being allowed to label S as a DNR because even if she was made a medical proxy, she isn't actual next of kin.

It's sad and it's a shameful reflection on the medical people involved.

Rant over, thank you for letting me get it out.

***********************************

And now, a bit of random news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked. 

For the past several weeks, i've been trying to get our ISP to send someone over to replace our router.  Yes, i'm willing to have them ship me a new one, and i will ship the old one back, but that's not how they roll.  The router has been having trouble off and on (mostly on), but every time i called i got someone who obviously spoke English as a second (or maybe third) language.  Each time, i could not convince the person that unplugging and replugging it in wasn't working.  Finally i got someone to agree that the continuously flashing red light meant a need for a new router, he asked could they come Tuesday afternoon (today).

Of course, i don't have to be at work Tuesday afternoon.  Except that, of course, Ms. JAI decided to ask me to come on Tuesday afternoon.  That's fine, Sweetie will be home!

Yes, he should get home just in time.  The Big Boss, from whom we barely hear any more now that he's married, wants errands run this morning.

These calendar collisions happen to me all of the time.  In the same way that there is no traffic on the highway until i get to the stop sign and want to turn out, so there's nothing to do on the calendar until everyone wants to be on the calendar at once.

There's a good calendar collision coming up this Friday.  Ms. M and her daughter, precious Gracie, have moved back to town, and i am going to babysit.

The people in charge of rEcess are having a volunteer appreciation night then, so Gracie is coming with me.  She will get to play with Aiden, a child of one of the volunteers, who is her best running buddy.

We are going to have a great time, i just know it.  Those are the kinds of happy accidents i enjoy, when i can combine several things i like into one event.

(For those unfamiliar with the stories, Gracie spent the first two years of her life in a crib in a Bulgarian orphanage, and was unable to speak and had all kinds of  labels when Ms. M adopted her and brought her home.  Last Sunday, at Sunday school, now 7-year-old Gracie told me, "I'm reading Peter and the Wolf, by Sergei Prokofiev!" and indeed she is reading it, by herself.  She used to attend rEcess, the program where we babysit special needs kids and their siblings so the parents can go out for a date night.  She doesn't need the rEcess program now, but they have happily said she can come with me to the volunteer appreciation barbecue.)

Today is:

Anguilla Day -- Anguilla

Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

Dia de Canarias -- CN, Spain (Canary Island Day)

Dia de las Madres -- Nicaragua(Mother's Day)

Duanwu -- China (Dragon Boat Festival Day)

Einherjar -- Asatru (Modern Norse Pagan) Calendar (a memorial for the war dead in Valhalla)

Feast Day of St. Joan of Arc (Patron of captives, martyrs, opposition of Church authorities, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, rape victims, soldiers, WACs, WAVES; France)

Heirloom Seed Day -- While i can't find the history of this one, it's a good one to celebrate, we need to raise awareness of and preserve heirloom seeds

Indian Arrival Day -- Trinidad and Tobago (anniversary of the 1845 arrival of the first Indian laborers to Trinidad)

Lod Massacre Remembrance Day -- Puerto Rico

Loomis Day -- because if we are going to honor Marconi, we should also honor the Washington, D.C., dentist Mahlon Loomis, who patented a wireless telegraphy system before Marconi was even born

My Bucket's Got a Hole In It Day -- this one may be listed on another day as well, since no two sites agree; mercy, just go get a new one already! or go get out your HanK Williams records

National Mint Julep Day

Shavuot -- Judaism (Feast of Weeks; begins at sundown, through sundown on June 1)

St. Walstan of Bawburgh's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, farmers and farm workers, field hands, husbandmen)

Tano (Dano) Festival -- Korea (start of a 3 day traditional festival of spring and farming, with summer food offered at the household shrine of the ancestors; 5th day of 5th lunar month)

This Day -- Fairy Calendar

Water a Flower Day -- no sponsor or reason given for this day, except that the spring rains are slowing and you don't want your garden to wilt

Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Jane Seymore, 1536

Birthdays Today:

Blake Bashoff, 1981

Trey Parker, 1972

Wynonna Judd, 1964

Tom Morello, 1964

Ted McGinley, 1958

Colm Meaney, 1953

Stephen Tobolowsky, 1951

Meredith MacRae, 1945

Gale Eugene Sayers, 1943

Michael J. Pollard, 1939

Keir Dullea, 1936

Clint Walker, 1927

Benny Goodman, 1909

Mel Blanc, 1908

Countee Cullen, 1903

Peter Carl Fabergé, 1846

Czar Peter the Great, 1672

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Paperback Writer"(Single release), 1966

"War Requiem"(Britten Op. 66), 1962

"Odisséia de uma raça / Odyssey of a Race"(Villa-Lobos Symphonic poem), 1954

"Prodana nevesta / The Bartered Bride"(Opera), 1866

Today in History:

Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem; the Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall, 70

19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal, 1431

In Florida, Hernando de Soto  lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold, 1539

Publication of La Gazette, the first French newspaper, 1631

The Pennsylvania Evening Post become the first daily paper in the US, 1783&

John Francis attempts to murder Queen Victoria, 1842

Westminster's Big Ben rang for the first time in London, 1859

Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern "Memorial Day") is observed in the United States for the first time, 1868

New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public, 1879

The Treaty of London, 1913, ends the First Balkan War and Albania becomes an independent nation, 1913

In China protests erupt against the Great Powers infringing on Chinese sovereignty, 1925

A dike along the flooding Columbia River breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes, 1948

The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour in Auckland, New Zealand, is officially opened, 1959

launch of Surveyor 1 the first US spacecraft to achieve landing on an extraterrestrial body, 1966

At the Ascot Park in Gardena, California, daredevil Evel Knievel jumps his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row, 1967

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators, 1989

272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies are held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City. The last remaining steel beam is removed and transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, 2002

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel pledges to end all nuclear power within 12 years, 2011        

Awww Monday: Relax!

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Nobody relaxes quite like a happy kitten!

Today is:

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Bolder Boulder 10k -- Boulder, CO, UK (a fun way to spend Memorial Day)

Castleton Garland Celebration -- Derbyshire, England (a Garland King and Lady ride the bounds of the parish on white horses, after which the garland the King wore is placed on the church tower; possibly dating back to Oak Apple Celebrations)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day in 1453

Feast of Mars -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Ganatantra Diwas / Republic Day -- Nepal (National Day)

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers -- UN

Learn About Composting Day -- can't find a sponsor for this day, but there is a week sponsored each year here; and you can learn about composting here, too 

Memorial Day -- US and Territories (trad. and obs.)

     Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day -- US (on observed Memorial Day, an interfaith encouragement to pray and work for permanent peace in the world)

Mount Everest Day -- Nepal (declared on the anniversary of first ascent in 1953)

National Coq Au Vin Day

National Heroes' Day -- Turks and Caicos Islands

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy; no longer officially recognized, but many localities have traditions that have grown up around this date which are still celebrated)

Pink Flamingo Day -- Don Feathersone created the first one on this day in 1957

Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day -- supposedly dating back, in Europe and the Americas, to the days when you put a piece of cloth in your larder for good luck; why it became a pillow no one knows

Runic Half-Month of Odal (home, possessions) commences

Spring Bank Holiday -- UK

     Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling and Wake -- Cooper’s Hill, England (ancient tradition -- pre-Roman -- of rolling a large wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down the hill; winner of the races to catch it wins the cheese, and the rolling is now always held on the Monday Spring Bank Holiday)

     Tetbury Woolsack Races -- Gumstool Hill, Tetbury, England (this formerly important wool producing town still holds races up and down the hill, from the Royal Oak Pub up to the Crown Pub and back; part of traditional Whitsuntide folklore customs, which is now always held on the Monday Spring Bank Holiday)

Squoosh an Ice Cream Sandwich Day -- rules say you must squoosh, not squish or squash!

St. Bona of Pisa's Day (Patron of couriers, flight attendants, guides, pilgrims, travellers; Pisa, Italy)

Tour of Somerville -- Somerville, NJ, US (the oldest continuously run major bicycle race in America, always on observed Memorial Day)

Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790

Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848

Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967

Lisa Whelchel, 1963

Melissa Etheridge, 1961

Adrian Paul, 1959

Rupert Everett,1959

Annette Bening, 1958

LaToya Jackson, 1956

Danny Elfman, 1953

Anthony Geary, 1947

Kevin Conway, 1942

Al Unser, Sr., 1939

Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr, 1938

Paul Erlich, 1932

John F. Kennedy, 1917

Tenzing Norgay, 1914

T.H. White, 1906

Bob Hope, 1903

Oswald Spengler, 1880

G.K. Chesterton, 1874

Patrick Henry, 1736

Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453

Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660

Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677

The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733

In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765

Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874

Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886

Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913

Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914

Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942

Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953

First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954

Amputee  Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985

Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999

Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, 1999

A WWII Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., US, 2004

Scientists describe the 160-million year-old fossile of Aurornis xui as the most basal species of Avialae, possibly shifting the evolutionary position of the Archaeopteryx as the oldest known bird, 2013