Just Like That (Awwww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, and A to Z Post

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.     

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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!

Just like that, it's kitten season:

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Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's 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.  Charlotte/Mother Owl always participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  Spike's Best Mate often leaves a wonderful poem in the comments on one of our blogs.

This week the theme is A Favorite Invention.          

             

We can all admire the wheel,

The car, the telephone,

Things useful and items fun,

Like game systems or a drone.

There are inventions silly,

Such as the LED shoe,

No need to turn on lights at night

Sounds crazy, but it's true.

Some things are very clever,

Like the robot vacuum cleaner,

Newfangled light bulbs save energy

So we can all be greener.

The problem i need solved

Is not any of these,

The best invention ever

Someone make it for me, please.

It needs to block lights and noises,

Stop the cats that all over me creep,

The best invention ever,

Would help me get more sleep!

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Today is:

Big Wind Day -- anniversary of the strongest natural wind ever recorded on the earth's surfact, at Mount Washington, NH, US; the wind gusts reached 231 mph

D.E.A.R. Day (a/k/a Drop Everything And Read) -- sponsored by the ALA, on Bevery Cleary's birth anniversary    

Eat All Your Snacks Before the Movie Even Starts Day  -- with all the ads before the movie, doesn't that happen anyway?

Festival of Cerealia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (seven day public and private festival for Ceres)

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day

Halifax Day -- North Carolina, US (anniversary of the resolution adopted authorizing voting for independence in 1776)

Hindu New Year -- Hindu (local custom/date may vary)

     Hari Raya Nyepi Tahun Baru -- Indonesia (New Year in the Balinese Saka calendar)

     Nyepi Day -- Bali, Indonesia (Day of Silence, Balinese New Year/Saka New Year celebration on which everything is closed, even the international airport)

     Ougadi -- Mauritius and some regions of India (the Telugu New Year)

     Ramayana -- Hindu (through April 21st; local customs/celebratory dates may vary) 

International Day for Street Children    

National Licorice Day     

Ramadan begins -- Islam (at sunset, through the evening of May 13)

Sinhala & Tamil New Year's Eve -- Sri Lanka

St. Sabas' Day (Patron of Lectors, torture victims)

St. Zeno's Day (Patron of anglers, children learning to speak, children learning to walk, fishermen, newborn babies; city and diocese of Verona, Italy)

Walk on Your Wild Side Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, a day in which to do something no one would expect from you

Yuri's Night -- International (Commemoration of first human in space, Yuri Gagarin)

     Cosmonaut's Day -- Russia

     International Day of Human Space Flight -- UN

Birthdays Today:

Saoirse Ronan, 1994

Riley Smith, 1982

Claire Danes, 1979

Sarah Jane Morris, 1977

Nicholas Brendon, 1971

Shannen Doherty, 1971

Nick Hexum, 1970

Art Alexakis, 1962

vince Gill, 1957

Andy Garcia, 1956

David Cassidy, 1950

Tom Clancy, 1947

Dan Lauria, 1947

David Letterman, 1947

Ed O'Neill, 1946

Herbie Hancock, 1940

Dennis Banks, 1937

Tiny Tim, 1930

Ann Miller, 1923

Beverly Cleary, 1916

Henry Clay, 1777

Lyman Hall, 1724

Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, BC599

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"21 Jump Street"(TV), 1987

"Your Hit Parade"(Radio), 1935

"Madame Bovary"(Publication date), 1857

"Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath"(Weber opera), 1826

"The Tatler"(Journal, first edition), 1709 Note:  this original version of a publication with the name lasted only two years

Today in History:

Constantinople falls to the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire, 1204

The formal inquest of Galileo by the Inquisition begins, 1633

The first edition of Tatler Magazine is published in London, 1709

The American Civil War begins at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, 1861

George C Blickensderfer patents a portable typewriter, 1892

Pierre Prier makes the first nonstop flight from London to Paris, in 3h 56m, 1911

Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England, 1937

The strongest surface wind gust ever measured, 231 mph, at Mount Washington, New Hampshire, 1943

The Salk vaccine is declared safe and effective, 1955

Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into outer space, 1961

Samuel Doe takes over Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending 130 years of peaceful and democratic presidential successions, 1980

The first launch of a space shuttle, the Colombia, 1981

The Euro Disney Resort officially opens (now Disneyland Paris), 1992

Canter & Siegel post the first commercial mass Usenet spam, 1994

Zimbabwe officially abandons the Zimbabwe Dollar as their currency, 2009

Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, Japan raises the crisis level to 7, equal to the disaster in Chernobyl, 2011

The new drug, ABT-450, with a 90-95% success rate for treating Hepatitis C, is announced, 2014

Scientists and internet entrepreneurs, including Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking, and Mark Zuckerberg, announce a joint interstellar project to send a robot spacecraft to Alpha Centauri, 2016

In an attempt to stabilize world oil prices, OPEC and several major oil companies agree to the largest-ever drop in production, 2020

A to Z: O is for Odd

Before i get to today's letter, O is for odd, i thought i would explain the note about the snake i showed yesterday for those who might want to know or who didn't read about it when it first happened last year.

#2 Son likes snakes.  When he was young, he would come in and tell me how many snakes he had caught at the creek.  He kept a pet snake for years.  No, this doesn't bother me, i had pet snakes as a kid, i like the critters.

On this occasion, though, i walked outdoors to find him with a poisonous snake, a cottonmouth, in a bucket in the yard.  He cheerfully said, "Hey, mom, guess what!  I caught a cottonmouth!  Oh, and I carried it home tied up in my jacket, so will you wash the jacket for me?"

Yes, i told him, and i added, i want that snake returned to the creek early enough for it to get to its hole, it's going to freeze tonight so it can't stay outdoors.  He agreed.

The next morning, i came down to find the note telling me the snake was still in the house, closed off in the big room downstairs, warning me not to let cats into that room or disturb the bucket.

The snake was returned to the creek that day, and he has learned it's not good to bring a viper to the house, it makes mom cranky.

Now, on to the letter of the day.

The kids around here are inventive, and come up with odd things.  Sometimes i'll see something and not know what i am looking at.

For example, this odd contraption:

A rather odd-loooking contraption.

Odd contraption set on its side.

Red-headed Alec came up with it.  You use it like this:

Uses odds and ends!

It makes a rather cheap set of speakers for your phone when you want to listen to music!


Today is 

American Academy of Arts and Letters Charter Day

Bat Appreciation Day -- sponsored by Bat Conservation International, at the time of year when bats begin awakening from hibernation

Blah, Blah, Blah Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Ellis Island Family History Day -- US (by proclamation of the nations governors and in conjunction with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, a day to celebrate the achievements and contribution of the immigrants and their descendants who came through Ellis Island; on the anniversary of the day, in 1907, when 11,747 immigrants were processed through the island, the most in one day)

Equality Day -- Canada (the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force on April 17, 1985, guaranteeing equality without regard to race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability)

Feria Nacional de San Marcos -- Palenque, Mexico (through May 10; feast of San Marcos, with rodeos, bull fights, folk dancing, parades, mariachi and muchos mas)

Flag Day -- American Samoa

Ford Mustang Day -- International (on the "birthday" of the vehicle)

Global Youth Service Day -- annual campaign to mobilize children and youth to make a difference (through Sunday)

Independence Day / Evacuation Day -- Syria

International Day of Peasants Struggle

Main Street BBQ & Bluesfest -- Washington, MO, US (professional BBQ competition, plus music and fun; through Sunday)

Make a Quilt Day -- obviously begun by someone who has no idea how long the process really takes!

Mennonite Relief Sale -- Hutchinson, Kansas, US (Mennonite, Bretheren in Christ, and Amish congregations from all across the area auction quilts, grandfather clocks, furniture, tools and crafts to raise money for hunger relief worldwide, through tomorrow)

Natchitoches Jazz Festival -- Natchitoches, LA, US (what Louisiana is known for, food, music, and passing a good time! through tomorrow)

National Cheeseball Day

National Haiku Poetry Day -- US (sponsored by The Haiku Foundation)

New Year -- Myanmar (celebrated through the 21st)

Nimble Fairies' Scattering -- Fairy Calendar

Nosy Neighbor Appreciation Day -- to be celebrated, if you dare, by greeting and thanking your neighbor for being nosy

Nothing Like A Dame Day -- a day to pay homage to the unique wit, wisdom, style and strength of dames past and present, and to cultivate the dame in you or in your life

St. Kateri Tekakwitha's Day (Patron of ecologists, ecology, environment, environmentalism, environmentalists, exiles, people who have lost their parents, people ridiculed for their piety)

St. Stephen Harding's Day (Co-founder of Cistercian Order)

Thargelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (two day festival for the birthday of Apollon and Artemis; date approximate)

Toothbrush Appreciation Day -- think of what it would be like without one!

Verrazano Day -- New York, US (Celebrates discovery of New York harbor by Giovanni Verrazano, Florentine navigator)

Women's Day -- Gabon

World Hemophilia Day


Birthdays Today:

Victoria Beckham, 1974
Jennifer Garner, 1972
Liz Phair, 1967
Lela Rochon, 1966
Norman Julius “Boomer” Esiason, 1961
Sean Bean, 1958
Olivia Hussey, 1951
Don Kirshner, 1934
Cynthia Ozick, 1928
Harry Reasoner, 1923
William Holden, 1918
Thornton Wilder, 1897
Nikita Krushchev, 1894
Adrian Constantine “Cap” Anson, 1852
J.P. Morgan, 1837
Samuel Chase, 1741


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Caveman(Film), 1981
"McCartney"(Album), 1970 (first solo album)
"No Time for Comedy"(Play), 1939


Today in History:

Geoffrey Chaucer tells his Canterbury Tales for the first time, at the court of Richard II, ten years to the day after the pilgrimage actually began, 1397
Christopher Columbus signs his contract with Spain to find the Indes, 1492
Martin Luther stands firm and refuses to recant before the Diet of Worms, 1521
Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America, 1797
The first Sino-Japanese War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895
A one day record 11,747 immigrants are processed at Ellis Island, 1907
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed by the merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company, 1924
Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig, debut, 1937
At midnight, 26 Irish counties officially break with the British Commonwealth and form the Republic of Ireland, 1949
The Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco begins, 1961
Ford Motor Company unveils the Mustang, 1964
Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air, 1964
The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely, 1970
Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, 1982
The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends, 1986
NJ Devil Martin Brodeur becomes the 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game, 1997
The 5th Summit of the Americas takes place in Port of Spain; Trinidad, thirty-four heads of government attend, 2005
An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, causes 15 deaths and major damage to nearby buildings, residences, a nursing home and middle school, 2013