Being Brave (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

 ***********************************

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

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Horizon, who is usually scared of his own shadow, came out to say hello.

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

Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. I would like to be more ___________and less ___________.

2. The color of  my ____________ is ________________.

3. _________ was a difficult choice for me to make.

4. I never have trouble _________.

1. I would like to be more   often at home  and less   busy working all of the time.

2. The color of  my   preferences  is   purple.  As far as i am concerned, all of the other colors exist to show off how beautiful purple is.

3. Attending a different church  was a difficult choice for me to make.   We had been at that church for 20 years, but it had no Sunday school or youth program at all, and at that time, our children were still young and needed more than to just nap in the pews during a sermon they didn't understand.  The church we attend now is just right for us.

4. I never have trouble   avoiding the use of "always" and "never."  The reason i avoid them is because i know that as soon as i use one or the other, i will get tested on that. 

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

Today is:

Basava Jayanti -- KA, India (birth anniversary of 12th century philosopher Basavanna)

Carabao Festival -- Pulilan, Philippines (to honor their patron, St. Isidro [St. Isadore the Farmer], hundreds of carabaos [water buffalo] are dressed up and paraded, and eventually blessed in front of the church; through tomorrow)

Dance Like a Chicken Day -- no idea why today, but i'm waiting for wedding season

Drunk Driving Memorial Day -- not sponsored by MADD, or anyone else i can find, but let's all work and pray for the day drunk driving by anyone is just a bad memory     

Eid al Fitr -- Islam (celebration of the end of Ramadan; began sundown yesterday, runs through sundown on the 16th, although local dating and official government observances may vary)

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks, Skates, and Rays a Voice -- Whale Times or Shark Research Institute (to raise awareness and encourage advocacy to protect elasmobranchs)    

French Fairy Awareness Day -- Fairy Calendar

Gesta de Independencia -- Paraguay

Izumo-taisha Shrine Grand Festival -- Izumo-taisha, Japan (through tomorrow)

King Father Nordom Sihanouk's Birthday -- Cambodia

Marshmallow Fluff Day -- Mr. Durkee and Mr. Mower announced, on this day in 1920, that they were in business producing this sweet confection

Mars Invictus Festival -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Midnight Sun at North Cape -- Norway (the sun will not set until July 30)

National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

National Unification Day -- Liberia

President Kamuzu Banda's Birthday -- Malawi

Runic Half-Month Ing (expansive energy) commences

"Stars and Stripes Forever" Day -- first public performance of the composition was this day in 1897

St. Bonifatius' Day (4th Ice Saint)

St. Matthias the Apostle's Day (Patron of carpenters, reformed alcoholics, tailors; Gary, Indiana; Great Falls-Billings, Montana; against alcoholism and smallpox)

Underground America Day -- Malcolm Wells wants us to imagine what our landscapes would look like if more of our buildings were under ground   

Anniversaries Today:

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark marries Mary Donaldson, 2004

Carlsbad Caverns National Park established, NM, US, 1930

Birthdays Today:

Miranda Cosgrove, 1993

Amber Tamblyn, 1983

Dan Auerbach, 1979

Martine McCutdcheon, 1976

Cate Blanchett, 1969

Danny Wood, 1969

Jose Da Silveira, 1965

Suzy Kolber, 1964

Tim Roth, 1961

Valerie Still, 1961

Ronan Tynan, 1960

David Byrne, 1952

Robert Zemechis, 1951

Meg Foster, 1948

George Lucas, 1944

Jack Bruce, 1943

Atanasio "Tony" Perez, 1942

Bobby Darin, 1936

Laszlo Kovacs, 1933

Patrice Munsel, 1925

Otto Klemperer, 1885

Robert Owen, 1771

Thomas Gainsborough, 1727

Gabrile Daniel Fahrenheit, 1686

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Kids Are Alright"(Documentary), 1979

“It’s Time for Ernie"(Ernie Kovacs' TV premier), 1951

"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd: A Requiem for those we love"(Hindemith composition), 1946

"Die Hebriden/The Hebrides"(Mendelssohn Op. 26), 1832

Today in History:

Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony, 1607

Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox  vaccination, 1796

The Lewis and Clark expedition sets out, 1804

Paraguay  gains independence from Spain, 1811

The first edition of the London Illustrated Times is published, 1842

Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk, 1853

Vaseline, the first petroleum jelly, is marketed, 1878

Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five, 1939

Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established; immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1948

Kuwait joins the United Nations, 1963

Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched, 1973

The Institute for War documents publishes Anne Franks complete diary, 1986

The last episode of Seinfeld airs, with commercials going for $2M per 30 seconds, 1998

Scientists at Stanford University invent a working bionic eye the is powered only by focused light; the eye could eventually restore the sight of millions of people suffering from macular degeneration and retinal pigmentosa, 2012

Gabriel Medina becomes the first surfer ever to land the move called a "Backflip" in competition, 2016

The successful transfer of memory in snails as achieved by scientists from University of California is published in the journal "eNeuro", 2018

Chinese mountain climber and double amputee Xia Boyu reaches the summit of Mt Everest, 2018

Wikipedia confirms that the Republic of China has banned all versions of its site, 2019