A Nap is More Important (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Pile-Up (Poetry Monday)

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked 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!

This little cutie-pie was so busy napping she just did not want to turn and look at the camera:

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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.

KeepInspiring.me

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Delores and her friend Jenny are taking turns providing a theme for Poetry Monday, and i am trying my hand at participating.  This weeks theme is Mail.         

We had a great vacation,

We played without a care.

We laughed at moderation,

As fun things we did share.

Then home we came and waiting

To be tended with travail

Was a great big heaped up piling

Of all of last week's mail.

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Today is:

Bake Your Own Bread Day -- it's really not that hard, especially if you break out the bread machine.

Bunker Hill Day -- Suffolk County, MA, US (actual date)

Dia del Padre -- El Salvador; Guatemala (Father's Day)

Eat All of Your Vegetables Day / Fresh Veggies Day -- yes, i have this listed yesterday, too; internet sites disagree about the actual date, and you need your veggies today, also!     

Full Strawberry Moon / Rose Moon; related observances

    Ancient Celtic month Equos (horse-time) begins

    Nayon Full Moon -- Mayanmar

    Poson Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Independence Day/National Day -- Iceland

International Violin Day -- Stravinsky's birth anniversary

Lord Buddha's Parinirvana -- Bhutan

National Apple Struedel Day

National Heroes' Day -- Bermuda

National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival -- Weiser, ID, US (through Saturday)

Okinawa Day -- Japan/US (remembrance of signing the treaty, in 1971, to return Okinawa to Japan)

Organic Act Day -- US Virgin Islands (commemorates the organization of how the islands are governed)

Pirate Radio Day -- no actual pirate (i.e., unlicensed) radio stations will admit to declaring this a holiday, but what do you expect?

Ride to Work Day -- ride your motorcycle or scooter!  if you don't have one, watch out for those who do   

Soviet Occupation Day -- Latvia

St. Botulph of Ikanhoe's Day (Patron of agricultural and farm workers, sailors, travellers; Bossal, England; Boston, England; Boston, MA, US; Botesdale, England; Botolph Bridge, Huntingdonshire, Englad; Botolph's Bridge, Kent, Englad; Botolph, Sussex, England)

St. Herve's Day (Patron of the blind; against eye diseases and problems)

The Queen's Birthday Celebration -- Anguilla; Gibraltar; Norfolk Island

Toadstool-Squatting begins -- Fairy Calendar (Leprechauns)

Vice President's Remembrance Day -- not officially, just a day to see how many vice presidents you remember

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought -- UN

Anniversaries Today

Orpheus marries the nymph Eurydice, Ancient Greek traditional date

Birthdays Today:

Mark Walker, 1999

Lee Ryan, 1983

Venus Williams, 1980

Will Forte, 1970

Dan Jansen, 1965

Greg Kinnear, 1963

Thomas Haden Church, 1960

Mark Linn-Baker, 1953

Joe Piscopo, 1951

Barry Manilow, 1946

Art Bell, 1945

Newt Gingrich, 1943

Gene De Paul, 1919

John Richard Hersey, 1914

Ralph Bellamy, 1904

Sammy Fain, 1902

M.C. Escher, 1898

Igor Stravinsky, 1882

William Hooper, 1742

John Wesley, 1703

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Oh! Calcutta!"(Revue), 1969

"Barney Google and Snuffy Smith"(Comic strip), 1919

Today in History:

Vlad III the Impaler (a/k/a Vlad Dracul or Count Dracula) attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia, 1462

Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, 1565

Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion (modern California) for England, 1579

Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth; her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spends more than 20 years building her tomb, the Taj Mahal, 1631

The Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775

In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands, 1839

1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory, 1876

The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor, 1885

The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT, 1901

"Barney Google" cartoon strip, by Billy De Beck, premieres, 1919

Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic, 1944

The Wooden Roller Coaster at Playland, which is in the Pacific National Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada opens; it is still open today, 1958

The New Democratic Party of Canada is founded with the merger of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress, 1961

Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel, 1972

With the death of the last individual, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow becomes extinct, 1987

The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act, which had required racial classification of all South Africans at birth, 1991

Australian scientists report that they have "teleported" a laser beam, breaking it up and reconstructing it in another location, 2002

The first condemnation of discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people is issued by the United Nations Human Rights Council, 2011

The Incredibles 2 sets a box office record for an animated release, earning $180 million its opening weekend, 2018

Six Sentence Story: Quit Stalling!

"The only way I've ever found that works is to quit stalling and just get started," she said, giving him a pen and paper.

"But I don't know what to write!" he exclaimed, trying to push the writing implements away while she stood there and shook her head.

"Neither do I, ever, until I sit down and just start putting words down, then they start to flow, and next thing you know, I have a letter to mail," she answered.

"Besides, motivation follows action, it usually does not precede it, so if you wait until you are motivated, you won't ever do it!  And it's not like you have to write a novel, a quick update about work, asking how she is, and telling her you love her is plenty."

"All right," he said, picking up the pen and beginning.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Stall.


Today is:

Coronation Day -- United Kingdom

Coronation Day and Social Forestry Day -- Bhutan (anniversary of  the coronation day of the Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the 4th Druk Gyalpo, in 1974, and the day children plant trees)

Curwood Festival -- Owosso, MI, US (over 40 events commemorate the life and work of James Oliver Curwood, the Owosso-born author and conservationist; through Sunday)

Fardagar -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (time when farm workers moved from one farm to another, the time to settle debts, and until the 20th-Century, the day to start the fiscal year; always the Thursday through Sunday of the 7th week of summer)

Festa della Republica -- Italy (National Day/Feast of the Republic)

Festival of Light and Dark Spots -- Fairy Calendar

Festival of Utter Confusion -- an internet declared holiday, and this is the one for me!

Great American Brass Band Festival -- Danville, KY, US (this year's theme is Brass Greats of American Jazz; through Sunday)

Harvard Milk Days Festival -- Harvard, IL, US (parade, carnival, food, fireworks, petting zoo, and more, all as a salute to hard working dairy farmers; through Sunday)

Hristo Botev Day -- Bulgaria (poet and national hero who fell fighting the Turks this day in 1876)

"I Love My Dentist" Day -- no one will claim starting this one, so it makes me suspicious

Isabel Province Day -- Isabel Province, Solomon Islands

National Bubba Day -- created by comedian T. Bubba Bechtol for Bubbas everywhere to have their day

National Leave the Office Earlier Day -- sponsored by Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, who urges people to maximize productivity so they can leave the office earlier every day

National Rocky Road Day

Shelburne County Lobster Festival -- Shelburne County, NS, Canada (celebrating the Lobster Capital of Canada; through Sunday)

South Carolina Festival of Flowers -- Greenwood, SC, US (thirty-six events, something for everyone; through Sunday)

St. Blandina's Day (Patron of girls, people falsely accused, torture victims; Lyon, France)

St. Elmo's Day (a/k/a St. Erasmus; Patron of ammunition workers, boatmen, childbirth and women in labor, explosives workers, mariners, navigators, ordnance workers, sailors, watermen; Gaeta, Italy; against abdominal pains, appendicitis, birth pains, childhood intestinal disease, colic, danger at sea, intestinal disorders, seasickness, stomach diseases, storms)

Yell "Fudge" at the Cobras in North America Day -- at noon, your local time, because according to Wellcat Holidays, cobras hate fudge and will not stay if we mention it


Anniversaries Today:

U.S. President Grover Cleveland marries Frances Folsom, 1886 (only president to wed in the executive mansion)
Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Her Other Realms and Territories & Head of the Commonwealth, 1953 (the first major international event to be televised)


Birthdays Today:

Justin Long, 1978
Zachary Quinto, 1977
Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso, Queen consort of Lesotho, 1976
Wayne Brady, 1972
Wentworth Miller, 1972
Joel Tobeck, 1971
Dana Carvey, 1955
Gary Grimes, 1955
Dennis Haysbert, 1954
Diana Canova, 1953
Cornel West, 1953
Jerry Mathers, 1948
Marvin Hamlisch, 1944
Charles Haid, 1943
Stacy Keach, Jr., 1941
Charlie Watts, 1941
Sally Kellerman, 1937
Milo O’Shea, 1926
Johnny Weissmuller, 1904
Hedda Hopper, 1890
Sir Edward Elgar, 1857
Thomas Hardy, 1840
Marquis de Sade, 1740
Martha Dandridge Custiss Washington, 1731


Today in History:

The Vandals enter Rome and begin 2 weeks of plundering, 455
The First Siege of Antioch ends when Crusader forces take the city, 1098
The first Récollet missionaries arrive at Quebec City, from Rouen, France, 1615
Bridget Bishop is the first person to go to trial in the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, 1692
The Derby horserace is held for the first time in Epsom, England, 1780
P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States, 1835
The Slavic congress in Prague begins, 1848
Guglielmo Marconi applies for a patent for his early radio device, 1896
U.S. President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act, making Native American Indians withing US territories and states US citizens, 1924
Lou Gehrig begins his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, 1925
In a referendum, Italians vote to turn Italy from a monarchy into a Republic, and exile their king, Umberto II di Savoia, 1946
The USSR and Yugoslavia sign the Belgrade declaration and thus normalize relations, 1955
Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on another world, 1966
Pope John Paul II visits his native Poland, becoming the first Pope to visit a Communist country, 1979
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service brings television transmissions to the Kingdom for the first time, 1999
Europe launches its first probe to voyage to another planet, Mars, 2003
The World Health Organization announces the E. coli strain responsible for the 2011 E.coli O104:H4 outbreak had never before been isolated from patients, 2011

Not coming soon to any theater i know of, but a fun idea.

"What's there, what's there, let me see, let me see!" Little Girl sang out as she ran toward where i stood near the mail box.

Nothing for you this time, i'm afraid, i told her.

"What do you mean, nothing!" she demanded.  "See this!  It says 'Resident', and I'm a resident!"

Yes, i replied with a grin, you may have the Schlotzsky's Deli ad, the rest of it is bills and tax information.

"Boring!" she said, handing all of it, including the deli flyer, back to me as we went in.

"You know the one, her name is long and starts with a Q, she's the one I mean!" Festus was saying.

What's under discussion? i asked.

"We're talking about who would play the cats in a movie, and we've decided on a few of them," #2 Son replied.

"Yeah, we decided KidaMosquito is such a character she'd either have to be Reese Witherspoon or she'd have to be played by a guy, like Robert DiNero," Festus said.

"And my Dansig would be Bruce Willis, wouldn't you my buddy!" #2 Son crooned over his large orange cat in a most un-macho way, with a snuggle and a kiss.

"We know Mikey would be Jamie Foxx or William DeFoe.  And we were talking about Enigma, she'd be that girl whose name I can't remember."

"Oh, I know who you are talking about!  She was in the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild, right?" Little Girl asked.

"Yeah!  Her!" Festus said.

Quvenzhané Wallis, i said.

"That's it!" #2 Son replied.

It's nice to know they know their cats so well they can tell who would play them in a movie.


Today is:

Big Snow Day -- remembering the 15 inch snowflakes that fell on in Fort Keough, Montana, in 1887

Chocolate Cake Day

Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism -- Germany (anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz)

Day the Netjers of Heaven Receive Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Family Literacy Day -- Canada

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (for the continuation of all life-sustaining things; a multi-day ceremony and feast that begins around this time of year)

Listen to Classical Music During Lunch Day -- in honor of Mozart

Mozart Day

National Speak Up and Succeed Day -- encouraging joining Toastmasters International, as fear of speaking can block your road to success!

Punch the Clock Day -- internet generated, and no reason for it given; this has to be one of the more baffling ones

Sioux Empire Farm Show -- Sioux Falls, SD, US (great winter farm show, since you can't be planting, come out and have fun; through Saturday)

St. Angela Merici's Day (Founder of the Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula; Patron of the disabled and ill; against bodily ills and the death of parents)

St. Devota's Day (Patron of Corsica; Monaco)

Thomas Crapper Day -- death date, in 1910, of the perfector of the flush toilet mechanism

Up-Helly-AA Day -- Lerwick, Shetland (the largest fire festival in Europe, with tomorrow as a day off so everyone can recover)


Anniversaries Today:

Founding of the National Geographic Society, 1888
The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, 1870
The University of Georgia is chartered, the first state university in the US, 1785


Birthdays Today:

Julie Foudy, 1971
Jennifer LB Leese, 1970
Patton Oswalt, 1969
Alan Cumming, 1965
Bridget Fonda,1964
Cris Collinsworth, 1959
Mimi Rogers, 1956
Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1948
Nick Mason, 1944
Mairead Corrigan, 1944
James Cromwell, 1942
Troy Donahue, 1936
Donna Reed, 1921
David Seville, 1919
Skitch Henderson, 1918
Hyman George Rickover, 1900
Jerome Kern, 1885
Samuel Gompers, 1850
Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), 1832
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Laverne and Shirley"(TV), 1976
Tarzan of the Apes(Film), 1918


Today in History:

Trajan becomes Roman Emperor, 98
The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, 661
Song Dynasty General Yue Fei is wrongfully executed, 1142
Dante Alighieri becomes a Florentine political exile, 1302
The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31, 1606
The first American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island, 1662
Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Instanbul, 1695
Czar Peter the Great sets the first Russian state budget, 1710
Abdication of Stanislas, the last king of Poland, 1736
The US Congress approves the opening of Indian Territory for settlement, which led to the forced relocation of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears," 1825
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are incorporated, 1870
Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the electric incandescent lamp, 1880
The National Geographic Society is organized, in Washington, D.C., 1888
"Tarzan of the Apes," the first Tarzan movie, premiers, 1918
Apollo 1 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, 1967
More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space, 1967
Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper, 1980
The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, breaks through, 1983
American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Taro becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna, 1993
Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 1996
Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services, 2006

Not Very Wordless Wednesday: Oh, Crud!

Because i'm a church lady.  "Oh, crud!" is about as bad as it should get.

And that's what i said when i realized i hadn't mailed out something that has a due date -- in three days.

It's in the mail now.  Yes, our box needs help.

We know the box isn't much to look at, but some vandals have hit it a couple of times, mostly with pumpkins.  At least when they knock it off, we can just stick it back on, you can't make it much worse.

Meanwhile, another moment of truth when Sweetie brought in this:

Vintage guitar amp, with vintage plug.

Actually, the "vintage" plug was added, and is the kind you use on a lamp, not an amp.  It's not grounded at all.  And yes, that is tape.

Plug held on with tape, and a plastic fastener.

So there's this amp, and it was a prototype, only a few made, but somewhere along the way it got a "new" plus (the amp is about 50, the plug about 40), and if it doesn't get a better plug put on it, it could easily burn up.

Another "how did it get like this" moment.  To his credit, Sweetie only just traded for this amp recently, so it's not his fault, and he wants to take care of the situation quickly.

These things happen, and when they do, i say, "Oh, crud!" and deal with it.  And get a post out of it, because these crazy things are my life.


Today is:

Assembly Line Workers' Day -- listed on many sites but no particular reason for it to be this day; then again, why not today?

Azhirnikhua -- Abkhazia (Day of World Creation)

Cakes and Ale Day -- emblems of the good life, a day to remember the good things we have, and be grateful

Celebration of the 2nd Week of Moonhopper -- Fairy Calendar

Daikoku Matsuri -- Kanda Myojin Shine, Tokyo, Japan (purification ceremony; through tomorrow)

Day of Defenders of the Native Land (Army Day) -- Uzbekistan

Feast of Divina Pastora -- Barquisimeto, Venezuela (religious procession attended by about 2million people)

Feast of the Ass -- Medieval Christianity (commemorates the Flight Into Egypt)

Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition -- Rockford, IL, US (frozen art fun; through Saturday)

International Kite Festival -- Jaipur and Ahmedabad, India

Makar Sandranti -- India/Hindu Calendar (part of the sidereal solstice festivals)

National Dress Up Your Pet Day -- do you really dislike your pet this much?

National Forest Conservation Day -- Thailand

National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day

National No-Tillage Conference -- Cincinnati, OH, US (conference to encourage ecologically sound farming; through Saturday)

Niino no Yukimatsuri -- Izu shrine, Niino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (snow festival with offerings made to bring a good harvest in the coming year; through tomorrow)

Organize Your Home Day -- another one that i can't figure out who started it, but i will say s/he was nuts to think this could be done in one day

Orthodox New Year -- RS, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Serbia

Pongal continues -- Tamil New Year, among the Tamil People (multiple day thanksgiving festival at the end of harvest)
     Tamil Thai Pongal Day -- Sri Lanka
     Maghi Parba/Maghe Sankranti -- Western Nepal

Ratification Day -- US (anniversary of the Treaty of Paris that recognized the independence of the US from England)

Revolution and Youth Day -- Tunisia

Sidereal Winter Solstice Celebrations -- throughout South and Southeast Asia

St. Felix of Nola's Day (Patron of domestic animals, eyes; Nola, Italy; against eye diseases, false witness, lies, perjury)

St. Sava's Day (Patron of Serbia and all Serbs)

Take a Missionary to Lunch Day -- to honor Albert Schweitzer's birth anniversary

Wings Over Willcox -- Willcox, AZ, US (tours of the playa and wetlands, birding, workshops, and more; through Sunday)



Anniversary Today:

Joe DiMaggio marries Marilyn Monroe, 1954


Birthdays Today:

Kristin Cavallari, 1987
Jason Bateman, 1969
Emily Watson, 1967
Shepard Smith, 1964
Steven Soderbergh, 1963
Lawrence Kasdan, 1949
Carl Weathers, 1948
Nina Totenberg, 1944
Holland Taylor, 1943
Faye Dunaway, 1941
Jack Jones, 1938
Andy Rooney, 1919
William Bendix, 1906
John dos Passos, 1896
Hal Roach, 1892
Hugh Lofting, 1886
Albert Schweitzer, 1875
Thornton W. Burgess, 1874
Richard Felton Outcault, 1863
Matthew Fontaine Maury, 1806
Benedict Arnold, 1741


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Bionic Woman"(TV), 1976
"Sanford and Son"(TV), 1972
"Sinfonia Antartica"(Vaughan Williams' 7th symphony), 1953
"Today Show"(TV), 1952
"Tosca"(Puccini Opera), 1900


Today in History:

The Knights Templar are formally approved by the Roman Catholic Church, 1129
Pope Leo X issues a papal bull against slavery, 1514
Spain annexes Cuba, 1539
The "Fundamental Orders", the first written constitution that created a government, is adopted in Connecticut, 1639
Massachusetts holds a day of fasting for wrongly accusing "witches", 1699
Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the American Revolutionary War, 1783
The US Supreme Court rules that racial separation on trains is unconstitutional, 1878
An earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills more than 1000, 1907
Henry Ford introduces the assembly line to the production of the Model-T, 1914
The first prototype of the MiG-17 makes its maiden flight, 1950
The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and banknote issuing authority, is established, 1960
Toronto, Ontario Mayor Mel Lastman becomes the first mayor in Canada to call in the Army to help with emergency medical evacuations and snow removal after more than one meter of snow paralyzes the city, 1999
The national flag of Georgia, the so-called "five cross flag", is restored to official use after a hiatus of some 500 years, 2004
Landing of the Huygens probe on Saturn's moon Titan, 2005