CatCat, Lasers Off and On (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

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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.

On Wednesday, CatCat let me pet him (it was the third time ever, and the first since the last time his mommy was out of town)!  Later, he turned his lasers off and on.

(ETA:  Warning!  Sad news, read at your own risk.  After preparing the above post, Ms. G let me know CatCat became very ill suddenly Thursday afternoon.  He was rushed to the vet but there was nothing they could do.  She did not want to talk, so i am not sure exactly what happened, but i am very glad that on Wednesday morning, when he was still feeling himself, he let me pet him, and jumped on the couch to sit next to me, and posed for his pictures in his favorite bed.)

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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!      

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

1. A pleasant memory that I have from grade school is _________.

2. My plans this month include _________.

3. Please don't ask me to choose between _________ and _________.

4. In _________ years, I see myself _________.

1. A pleasant memory that I have from grade school is   any time spent in Mr. Z's classes in 6th grade.  He was the best grade school teacher i ever had.

2. My plans this month include   paying my quarterly taxes, ouch!

3. Please don't ask me to choose between   cats  and   dogs.  Both are important, and i've had plenty of both since early childhood.

4. In   a few  years, I see myself   retired.  Not sure how many yet, will keep you posted.

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Today is:

Blessed Father Jacques Leval Day -- Mauritius (physician turned priest who lived among and ministered to the poorest of the poor in Mauritius; people of all faiths make a pilgrimage to his tomb today)

Bonza Bottler Day

Chrysanthemum Day / Kiku no Sekku -- Japan

Day of the Victims of Holocaust and of Racial Violence -- Slovakia

Festivity of Our Lady of Aranzazu -- Oñati, Basque

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day -- spreading the word about the very preventable problem of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders 

Heritage Open Days -- UK  (What's on your doorstep?  Go find out, explore for free places that often charge admission or are not usually open to the public, castles to cottages to battlefields, all over the country; through the 18th)  

Independence Day -- Tajikistan(1991)

Indra Jatra -- Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (the biggest religious street festival in Kathmandu, celebrating of the founding of Kathmandu, with several days of chariot processions, masked dances, and tableau; today is the municipal day off for the festival)

Karasu-zumo -- Kamigamo-jinja Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (a distinctive local festival where the Shinto priests imitate crows)

Liberation Ceremony -- Petange, Luxembourg

Milk-Bathing Festival -- Fairy Calendar

National Day -- North Korea(1948)

National Sports Day -- Indonesia

National Steak Au Poivre Day

St. Peter Claver's Day (Patron of African missions, inter-racial justice, race relations; Colombia; Lake Charles, LA; Shreveport, LA; Witbank, South Africa; against slavery)

Synaxis of Ss. Joachim and Anna -- Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches

Teddy Bear Day -- internet generated, but since it's so much fun to have one, celebrate your old friend

Wienerschnitzel Day

Wonderful Weirdos Day -- we all have a few in our lives, they remind us to be true to ourselves, so thank them today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Anniversaries Today:

California becomes the 31st US State, 1850

Birthdays Today:

Michelle Williams, 1980

Michael Buble, 1975

Goran Visnjic, 1972

Rachel Hunter, 1969

Adam Sandler, 1966

Hugh Grant, 1960

Mario Batall, 1960

Angela Cartwright, 1952

Michael Keaton, 1951

Tom Wopat, 1951

Joe Theisman, 1949

Billy Preston, 1946

Otis Redding, 1941

Sylvia Miles, 1934

Cliff Robertson, 1925

James Hilton, 1900

Colonel Harland Sanders, 1890

Alf Landon, 1887

Leo Tolstoy, 1828

William Bligh, 1754

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Welcome Back, Kotter"(TV), 1975

"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids"(TV), 1972

Imagine(Lennon album release), 1971

Today in History:

William I, The Conqueror, dies in a horse-riding accident, 1087

The New England colonies declare war on the Wampanoag Tribe, 1675

The first steam engine arrives in the US colonies, 1753

The first recorded black to graduate from a US college, Alexander Lucius Twilight, receives a BA from Middlebury College, 1817

Charles Durant, the first US aeronaut, flies a balloon from Castle Garden, NYC to Perth Amboy, NJ, 1830

The first plate glass photograph is taken by John Herschel, 1839

California becomes the 31st state and the territories of New Mexico and Utah are created, 1850

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is finalized, 1886

Orville Wright makes the first one-hour plane flight, 1908

J. Verdrines becomes the first person to fly at over 100mph, 1912

First actual case of a computer bug being found: a moth lodges in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University, 1947

Hurricane Betsy makes its second landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, becoming the first hurricane to do over $1billion in actual unadjusted damages, 1965

The four-day Attica Prison riot begins, 1971

The Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state, 1993

At exactly 01:46:40 UTC, the Unix billenium is reached, marking the beginning of the use of 10-digit Unix timestamps, 2001

The "Ophel Treasure", about 1,400 years old, is discovered near the foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem, 2013

Queen Elizabeth II becomes Great Britain's longest-reigning monarch at 63 years and seven months, beating the previous record set by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, 2015

Egyptian archaeologists announce the discovery of the 3,500-year-old tomb of a goldsmith and his family in Draa Abul-Naga, Egypt, 2017

In what could be world's most important modern literary discovery, Jason Scott-Warren finds poet John Milton's own copy of Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623 complete with Milton's own notes and annotations in a Philadelphia library, 2019

Scientist reveal evidence of the earliest milk consumption from cows by humans, 6,000 years ago from the dental plaque of teeth of prehistoric farmers from Britain, 2020

Tom Brady becomes first player in NFL history to start 300 regular season games, 2021