Fred Says (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, and Monthly Poetry Group

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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.

Fred says, go away and let me hide, I'm sleepy!

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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!   

(Please note that Ms. Ellen might or might not be participating today.  She got news that her cat Sammy is very ill, and she's trying to spend more time with him as he undergoes treatment.)   

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

1. I have never been able to _________.

2. I _________ competition.

3. I _________ when spring has sprung.

4. I would like everyone to know _________.

1. I have never been able to   draw, paint, sculpt, or do those kinds of visual arts.

2. I   am ambivalent about  competition.   When it's used for self improvement (trying to beat your own best time at something, for example) or as a way to strive for excellence, it can be a good thing.  Too many use it as a reason to be what we used to call a "bad sport."

3. I   have mixed feelings  when spring has sprung.   As much as i love the new growth and the beauty of the season, our winters are generally pussycats and spring means air conditioning season and the attendant heat is on the way.  Here we look forward to Autumn when the heat breaks, not spring when the non-existent snow melts.

4. I would like everyone to know   what Victor Moubarak says on his blog, "if we should meet and you forget me, you've lost nothing; if you meet Jesus and forget Him, you've lost everything."

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It's time for the Monthly Poetry Group, hosted by Karen at Baking in a Tornado.  Participants write a poem about a topic one of us chose.  This month, Karen chose Collections.  Be sure to go check out all the poems.

There are a few collections

around for you to see,

some you might expect,

some a surprise might be.

For someone who really only

entertains just now and then,

there are whole collections of china

that could serve half the UN.

In the very highest cabinets

away above my head

the remainder of the good crystal

we got when we were wed.

There is a book collection,

that's one you should expect,

the best time is spent reading,

as a hobby it's just perfect.

This curio cabinet does hold

many family mementoes,

it's a time capsule of sorts,

so full it can hardly close.

The funniest collection

is not something we try

to collect or even keep,

not trying to be wry,

We've a cat hair collection

that the cats shed every day,

since we won't knit a litter of kittens,

this is the one we throw away!

The other participants:

Karen at Baking in a Tornado with Collections and Perceptions  

Diane at On the Border 

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Today is:

Anniversary of the Arengo and the Feast of the Militants -- San Marino

Annunciation of the Virgin Mary -- Roman Catholic Christian

     Lady Day/Quarter Day -- England; Ireland; Wales (traditional New Year's Day)

     Varfrudagen -- Sweden (waffle day)

Daylight Saving Time begins -- Israel; Jordan; Palestinian Territories; Syria

Day of the Shining Ones of Heaven move Upstream -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of King Amenhotep I -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (rituals depicting his death and burial, performed for the Deir-el-Medina workforce; date approximate)

Hilaria -- Ancient Roman Empire ("Day of Joy", honoring Attis)

Independence Day -- Cyprus; Greece(1821)

International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade -- UN

International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members -- UN

International Waffle Day -- based on Sweden's tradition of having waffles on Annunciation Day

Medal of Honor Day -- US (first one awarded this date in 1963)

Mother's Day -- Slovenia

National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy -- Greece; US

National Lobster Newburg Day

National Pecan Day -- anniversary of George Washington's planting of Pecan trees at Mt. Vernon in 1775

National Skipping Day -- UK (a fun and healthy way to exercise)     

Numbskulls and Clodhoppers' Dance -- Fairy Calendar (i know a couple of people who qualify on both counts; i need to find out how to buy tickets!)

Old New Year's Day -- until 1751, British Empire

Revolution Day -- Greece (anniversary of the revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1821)

Sacrifice to Kronos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (private sacrifices to Kronos; date approximate)

St. Dismas' Day ("Dismas" is the name given to the unnamed "Thief on the Cross", crucified next to Jesus according to Biblical accounts, and who repented; Patron of condemned/death row prisoners, funeral directors/undertakers, penitent criminals, prisoners, reformed thieves; Merizo, Guam)

Struggle for Human Rights Day -- Slovakia

The Tichborne Dole - in Alresford, Hampshire, UK; since 1150, a gallon of flour is given to every resident by the Tichborne family head on this day, to avoid a curse

Tolkien Reading Day -- sponsored by The Tolkien Society on the anniversary of the fall of Sauron

Wear a Hat Day -- UK (a brain tumour awareness event and fundraiser) 

Birthdays Today:

Danica Patrick, 1982

Lee Pace, 1979

Sheryl Swoopes, 1971

Sarah Jessica Parker, 1965

Marcia Cross, 1962

John Stockwell, 1961

Mary Gross, 1953

Paul Miles, 1952

Bonnie Bedelia, 1948

Elton John, 1947

Bonnie Bedelia, 1946

Paul Michael Glaser, 1943

Aretha Franklin, 1942

Anita Bryant, 1940

Gloria Steinem, 1934

James Lovell, 1928

Eileen Ford, 1922

Simone Signoret, 1921

Howard Cosell, 1920

Norman Borlaug, 1940

David Lean, 1908

Bela Bartok, 1881

Arturo Toscanini, 1867

Gutzon Borglum, 1867

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Barrymore"(Play), 1997

"Cagney & Lacey"(TV), 1982

Today in History:

The first Easter, according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus, 31

According to legend, Venice, Italy is born today at noon, 421

Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France, leading to his death on April 6, 1199

Robert the Bruce becomes King of Scotland, 1306

Sir Walter Raleigh renews Humphrey Gilbert's patent to explore North America, 1584

Henry Hudson embarks on an exploration for Dutch East India Co., 1609

Lord Baltimore founds Catholic colony of Maryland, 1634

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens, 1655

Mount Etna in Sicily erupts, destroying Nicolosi, killing 20,000, 1669

The Slave Trade Act becomes law, abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire, 1807

The Swansea and Mumbles Railway in England, then known as the Oystermouth Railway, becomes the first passenger carrying railway in the world, 1807

Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from the University of Oxford for publishing the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism, 1811

Greeks revolt against the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence, 1821

In New York City, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 garment workers, leading to factory reform laws, 1911

The Georgian Orthodox Church restores its autocephaly abolished by Imperial Russia in 1811, 1917

The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 1948

The European Economic Community is established (West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), 1957

Canada's Avro Arrow makes its first flight, 1958

Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, 1965

The first fully functional space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Center to be prepared for its first launch, 1979

The world's first wiki, a part of the Portland Pattern Repository, is made public by Ward Cunningham, 1995

The European Union's Veterinarian Committee bans the export of British beef and its by-products as a result of mad cow disease, 1996

Protesters demanding a new election in Belarus, following the rigged Belarusian presidential election, clash with riot police, 2006

In southwest China, environmental and health concerns among residents are raised when 1,000 dead ducks pulled from the Sichuan River, 2013

The world's largest banana split ever, at 8,040 metres long, is made in Innisfail, Australia, 2017

Doctors perform the first ever organ transplant from a live HIV+ patient to an HIV+ recipient, a kidney transplant in Boston, MA, US, 2019

NASA has to cancel a planned all female spacewalk because it doesn't have enough space suits in the right size, 2019

The Renaissance masterpiece The Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck goes on display, after a seven-year restoration, in St Bravo's Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, 2021