Sleepers (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.

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

Are they watching brother below?

Nope, they were sound asleep like this!

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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

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Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is on a blog semi-break and her poetry is sorely missed, we hope she comes back soon.   Charlotte/Mother Owl participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let Diane know!

This week the theme is My Most Memorable Italian Meal.                         

It's difficult to choose one meal

when I've been to Italy twice,

from Naples to Rome to Florence

every meal was worth the price.

I've feasted on antipasti boards,

great pasta like a small mountain,

and topped off meals with gelato eaten

right there by Trevi Fountain.

It's hard to pick a favorite,

yet I will have to say

my sentimental favorite

occurred in just this way.

Several of us had gathered

for some days of R&R,

friends from lots of places

had traveled near and far.

My Italian-Canadian friend,

a cook of great renown,

had come and made some favorites,

she didn't let us down!

Sometimes you have to travel far,

but often it will be

a friend with authentic recipes

will mean the most to me.

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Today is:

Black Poetry Day -- birth anniversary of the USA's first published black poet, Jupiter Hammon (some sites say this is on the 3rd Friday of October each year)

Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day -- actually a good idea

Dessalines Day -- Haiti

Doburoku Matsuri -- Oita Prefecture, Japan (one of the few sake festivals at a shrine; through tomorrow)

Festival of Hengest -- Asatru (approximate date of the Norse celebration of Hengest and Horsa, who fought to establish Norse settlements in Eastern Britain)

Four Prunes Day (only if you dare!)

Gaudy Day a/k/a Wear Something Gaudy Day 

Hurricane Thanksgiving Day -- US Virgin Islands (only celebrated if no major storms have come through that year)

International Adjust Your Chair Day -- because you need to check at least once a year to make sure your chair has you in an ergonomically correct position     

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- UN

Large Fairies Come First Day -- Fairy Calendar (because the rest of the year they let the little ones go first)

Loyalty Day -- Argentina

Mulligan Day -- C. Daniel Rhodes wants you to give yourself or someone else a free do-over today

National Heroes Day -- Jamaica

National Pasta Day

National Police Day -- Thailand (Wan Tamruat)

Paint a Mural on a Sidewalk Day -- let your inner child go a bit wild, but please use paint that will wash away so you don't get in trouble!

Simchat Torah -- Judaism (day to celebrate the reading of the Law; begins at sunset, through sunset tomorrow)

St. Ignatius of Antioch's Day (Patron of the Church in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa; against throat diseases)

St. Richard Gwin's Day (Patron of large families, parents of large families, torture victims)

Work on Your Charisma Day -- because what else are you going to do on a lazy October afternoon?

Anniversaries Today:

Radio Corporation of America (RCA) is founded, 1919

Composer Johann S. Bach marries his niece Maria Bach, 1707

Crown Prince Fernando of Aragon marries Princess Isabella of Castile, 1469

Birthdays Today:

Eminem, 1972

Ermie Els, 1969

Norm MacDonald, 1963

Richard Roeper, 1959

Alan Jackson, 1958

Mae Jemison, 1956

Howard Rollins, 1950

Margot Kidder, 1948

George Wendt, 1948

Michael McKean, 1947

Ronn Owens, 1945

Evel Knievel, 1938

Beverly Garland, 1926

Jimmy Breslin, 1930

Tom Poston, 1921

Montgomery Clift, 1920

Rita Hayworth, 1918

Arthur Miller, 1915

Albino Luciani, Pope John Paul I, 1912

Jean Arthur, 1905

Spring Byington, 1893

Buck Ewing, 1859

Jupiter Hammon, 1711

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical"(Musical), 1967

"The Hollywood Squares"(TV), 1966

"On a Clear Day You Can See Forever"(Musical), 1965

Jailhouse Rock(Film), 1957

"Chayka/The Seagull"(Chekhov play), 1896

"Don Sanche"(Liszt opera), 1825

Today in History:

King Cyrus the Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon and releases the Jews from their 70 years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration, BC539

Battle of Neville's Cross, the defeat of King David II of Scotland by Edward III of England, 1346

German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus, 1604

Boston blacks petition the legislature for equal school facilities, 1787

The political rights of Jews are suspended in the Duchy of Warsaw, 1808

Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie), 1888

Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Clifden, Ireland, 1907

Albert Einstein arrives in the US as a refugee from Nazi Germany, 1933

The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria, England, 1956

Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra, 1964

Botswana and Lesotho join the United Nations, 1966

Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group, 1970

OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria, 1973

Mother Teresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1979

The pinnacle is fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, making it the World's tallest highrise, 2003

Australia's first Saint, Mary MacKillop, is canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, 2010

Astronomers confirm the identification of the nearest planet outside of our solar system, orbiting Alpha Centauri B, 2012

Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch muppeteer Caroll Spinney leaves "Sesame Street" after 50 years, 2018

Canada legalizes the sale of recreational cannabis, the second country after Uruguay, 2018