Almost Wordless Wednesday: Comfort

The other day, Little Girl knew i was having a difficult day, so she changed what she had written on my chalkboard cup:

A comforting message.

It's nice when someone knows just what to do to cheer you!


Today is

Be a Millionaire Day - now we all can go for that

Blue Jeans Day -- Levi Strauss and David Jacobs received the patent for their denim pants with riveted pockets on this day in 1873

Dainty-Four Remembrance Day  -- Fairy Calendar

Elf Fest -- Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary (near Needmore, Indiana; through next Monday)

Eliza Doolittle Day* -- in honor of Shaw and his famous fictional character, to encourage proper use of one's native language

Emancipation Day -- Florida, US

Emergency Medical Services for Children Day -- because children need different care, they aren't just tiny adults 

European Maritime Day -- European Council (this year's host for the conferences is Pireaus, Greece, and the conference will be 28-29 May)

Festival of Mjollnir -- Ancient Norse Calendar (feast of Thor's Hammer, date approximate)

Flying Solo Day -- Lindberg began his historic flight on this day in 1927

Frigga Blot -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (honoring Frigga)

Grudie Rosnoe -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (ten days of sacrifices to Rod for rain and good harvests)

Independence Day -- East Timor(2002)

Hari Kebangkitan Nasional Indonesia -- Indonesia (Indonesian National Awakening Day)

Mecklenburg Day -- North Carolina, US (commemoration of the signing of a declaration of independence from England by the citizens of Mecklenburg County on this day in 1775)

National Day -- Cameroon

National Employee Health & Fitness Day -- US (originally the 3rd Wednesday in May, but now spreading around the world as Global Employee Health & Fitness Month)

National Quiche Lorraine Day

Norman Rockwell Day -- his first Saturday Evening Post cover appeared this day in 1916

Pick Strawberries Day

St. Bernadine of Siena's Day (Patron of advertising and advertisers, communications personnel, compulsive gamblers/gambling addicts, public relations work and personnel; Italy; Aquila, Italy; Capri, Italy; Castelspina, Italy; Trevignano, Italy; the diocese of San Bernardino, California; against compulsive gambling, chest, lung, and respiratory problems and hoarseness of the throat)

St. Ives' Day (an honest lawyer; in the Anglican tradition, Patron of abandoned children and orphans, advocates, canon lawyers, judges, lawyers, and notaries; in the Roman Catholic tradition, Patron of Saint Ives, Cambridgeshire, England)

Turn Beauty Inside Out Day -- the day to remember what really counts is who you are, not just what you look like

T'veer Chong Kamhaeng -- Cambodia (Day of Remembrance, anniversary of Khmer Rouge regime takeover in 1975, a day to remember all who died at their hands and work for peace)

Weights and Measures Day / World Metrology Day -- anniversary of the treaty in 1875 which established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, France

World Autoimmune Arthritis Day -- The International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis sponsors an online virtual convention in all time zones around the world from today through Wednesday

*"One evening the King will say, "Oh, Liza, old thing,
I want all of England your praises to sing,
Next week on the twentieth of May,
I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day."


Birthdays Today:

Tahmoh Penikett, 1975
Tony Stewart, 1971
Tony Goldwyn, 1960
Bronson Pinchot, 1959
Ronald Prescott Reagan, 1958
David Paterson, 1954
Cher, 1946
Joe Cocker, 1944
Stan Mikita, 1940
Anthony Zerbe, 1936
George Gobel, 1919
Jimmy Stewart, 1908
Henri Julien Felix Rousseau, 1844
William Fargo, 1818
John Stuart Mill, 1806
Honore de Balzac, 1799
Dolly Madison, 1768

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Elegie für junge Liebende / Elegy for Young Lovers(Opera), 1961
Norman Rockwell's First Saturday Evening Post Cover, 1916


Today in History:

The first Ecumenical Council in the Christian Church, the Council of Nicea, opens, 325
An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia, 526
John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship  Matthew looking for a route to the west, 1497
Cartographer  Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas, 1570
Shakespeare's Sonnets  are first published in London, 1609
Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution, 1802
Otto is named the first modern king of Greece, 1835
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage in which all hands are lost, 1845
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, 1862
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets, 1873
The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed, 1882
Krakatoa begins to erupt (the volcano's final and most notable explosion will occur on August 26), 1883
The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope, 1891
Cuba gains independence from the United States, 1902
The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage"), 1916
Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America, 1920
By the Treaty of Jedda, the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1927
At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927
Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, 1932
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada, 1980
First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo individually, 1983
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre, 1989
In a second referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a slight majority the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada, 1995
The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976), 2002
Scientists at the Craig J. Venter Institute announce they have successfully created the world's first artificial lifeform by transplanting a synthesized genome into an existing cell, 2010

A to Z: N is for Notes

In our house, the kids know that if they want to tell me something, especially if they need for me to know something early in the morning, to leave a note on Old Bessie, the computer in the kitchen office area.

The notes are how they tell me things i need to know.

A request to be awakened early in the morning.

A note regarding a vehicle.

Even Red-headed Alec leaves me notes.

A request for the keys.

Another request for wake up.

A note about where something was left for me, and a request for info.

`

A note telling me there's a poisonous snake in the house, not to let it out.

Where would we be without our notes?
 


Today is

Day of Mushroom Encouragement -- Fairy Calendar

Dogwood Festival -- Camdenton, MO, US (a rite of spring festival under the beautiful dogwood trees; through Saturday)

Dronningens fodselsdag -- Denmark (Birthday of Queen Margrethe II)

Emancipation Day -- Washington, D.C., US

Fiesta San Antonio -- San Antonio, Texas, US (annual celebration that honors the memory of Texas heroes who fought in the Texas war for Independence. More that 150 events, with sporting events, fireworks, dances...all culminating with the traditional "Battle of Flowers" parade! through the 26th)

Get to Know Your Customers Day (celebrated the 3rd Thursday quarterly)

Holiday of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Jim Thorpe Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation in 1973)

National CPA's Goof Off Day -- US, the day after tax day because they deserve it!

National D.A.R.E Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation)

National Eggs Benedict Day

National Healthcare Decision Day -- US (to inspire, educate and empower the public and providers about the importance of advance care planning)

National High Five Day -- raising money for cancer research, sponsored by the National High Five Project

National Stress Awareness Day -- sponsored by the Health Resource Network (always on the first workday after paying taxes)

Offering to Demeter Khloe -- Ancient Greek Calendar (honoring Demeter as goddess of green shoots; date approximate)

Spring Fair in Puyallup -- Puyallup, WA, US (fun for the family, every year since 1900; through Sunday)

Support Teen Literature Day -- US (on the Thursday of National Library Week)

St. Bernadette of Lourdes' Day (Patron of people ridiculed for their piety, poor people, shepherdesses, shepherds, sick people; Lourdes, France; against bodily ills, poverty, sickness)

St. Padarn's Day (Celtic peoples traditionally begin weeding crops on this saint's day)

Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day -- US (the day after you pay your taxes, bring the comforts of home to the office; sponsored by PajamaGram)

World Entrepreneurship Day

World Voice Day -- if you've ever had laryngitis, you know how important it is to protect your voicehttp://www.world-voice-day.org

Yom HaShoah -- Judaism (Holocaust Remembrance Day; began sunset yesterday, ends at sunset today)


Anniversaries Today:

Harry Connick, Jr. marries Jill Goodare, 1994
Founding of the University of Queensland, 1910


Birthdays Today:

Lilliana Mumy, 1994
Lucas Haas, 1976
Selena Quintanilla, 1971
Martin Lawrence, 1965
Jon Cryer, 1965
Ellen Barkin, 1955
Jay O. Sanders, 1953
Kareem Adbud-Jabbar, 1947
Dusty Springfield, 1939
Bobby Vinton, 1935
Herbie Mann, 1930
Edie Adams, 1929
Pope Benedict XVI, 1927
Henry Mancini, 1924
Kingsley Amis, 1922
Peter Ustinov, 1921
Barry Nelson, 1920
Merce Cunningham, 1919
Charlie Chaplin, 1889
John Millington Synge, 1871
Wilbur Wright, 1867
Jose De Diego, 1866
Anatole France, 1844
John Franklin, 1786
Hans Sloane, 1660


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Brown Sugar"(Rolling Stones single release), 1971
"Fibber McGee and Molly"(Radio), 1935
"Mazeppa"(Symphonic poem, Liszt' S 100), 1854
"The Contrast"(Comedy), 1787 (First play by an American author, Royall Tyler, to be professionally produced on stage)


Today in History:

Calculated date of the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War, BC1178
The Jewish fortress of Masada falls to the Roman Army, ending the Jewish revolt, 73
Martin Luther is called before the Diet of Worms, 1521
Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina, 1582
The United States Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada, 1880
The first passenger rail opens in India, 1853
Ebenezer Bassett, the first African-American diplomat, begins his service in Haiti, 1869 
US Marshal Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle, in Dodge City, 1881
Harriet Quimby becomes the first female pilot to cross the English Channel, 1912
Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Amritsar Massacre by the British, 1919
Annie Oakley shoots a record 100 clay targets in a row, 1922
Dr. Albert Hofmann first ingests LSD, thus discovering its effects, 1943
Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, 1947
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation, 1963
The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean, 1992
The Queen Mary II embarks on her first transatlantic voyage, 2004
President of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo declares the First Ivorian Civil War to be over, 2007

What a way to start a week!

With one of those early morning notes from the kids.

My kids know i get up early, usually 4am early.  By somewhere between 5-5:30am i'm usually downstairs getting the day going.  They know i check email first things (then don't usually mess with it the rest of the day), so if they have something they need to tell me, they leave a note, usually on scratch paper with whatever pen/pencil/marker is handy, right on my computer.

Monday morning's note:

#1 Son's note.

For any who can't read his writing, it says, "Mom, The van is totally out of gas.  It was turned on with the keys in ignition when I got home at 11:30pm."

Ferreting out the whys and wherefores, it turned out that when #2 Son came home around 8pm from taking Young Jacob home, he was so tired he simply got out of the vehicle and left it running, came in and went to bed!  He gets up at 3am to be at work for 4, so it's understandable, but still.  How do you forget to turn off the car?

Anyway, Sweetie had a light day at work as The Big Boss is out of town, so he managed to grab a spare gas can on the way to run work errands. fill it and bring me enough gas to get it going.  It was almost dead empty.  It probably would have started, but wouldn't have made it to the nearest gas station, about a half a mile away, that's how low it was.

Talking about it later, #1 Son said, "I had to leave the note, I didn't want you to get in and start driving and then wonder why the van stopped!"

Smart move, and we've all had a great chuckle of it.  Except #2 Son, who is slightly red faced.


Today is

Alpenfest -- Gaylord, MI, US (a Swiss inspired festival for the whole family that includes "The World's Largest Coffee Break"; through Saturday)

Be a Dork Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which encourages you to wear goofy clothes and fall off a swingset today and be proud of Dorkiness

Cigarette Warning Day -- anniversary of the 1968 law passed in the US that requires health warnings on cigarette packaging

Fast of Shiva Asar B'Tammuz -- Judaism (a day of fasting and mourning the destruction of the tablets by Moses, the disruption of Temple services in 423BCE, and the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem right before the Temple was destroyed in 70AD)

Feast of Rowana/Rauni -- Druid/Cornish/Flemish (rowan tree goddess; date approximate)

Festival of Castor and Pullox -- Ancient Roman Calendar every five years (celebrated with a cavalry and chariot procession)

Festival of Santa Rosalia -- Palermo; Sicily (remembrance of the Patron saint of the city on the date, in 1624, when she stopped the plague)

Gorestnici -- Bulgaria (fire festival of 3 days duration, honoring the ancient belief that these are the 3 hottest days of the year)

Gummi Worm Day

Hakata Gion Yamagasa -- Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka, Japan (festival of floats, dates back to the 13th century, includes dousing teams carrying one ton floats with water as they race!)

Hundadagar -- Icelandic tradition, the "dog days" of summer begin, through Aug. 23

Ides of July -- Ancient Roman Calendar

I Love Horses Day -- all over the web with no specific reason given, but do you need a reason to celebrate horses?

Marrakesh Popular Arts Festival -- Marrakesh, Morocco (the country's best Folklore Festival, featuring art and music as well; through Sunday)

National Tapioca Pudding Day

Nazul Al-Quran -- Brunei Darussalam; Malaysia (Quran Revelation Day)

No-Hitter Day -- George Bradley of the St. Louis Brown Stockings pitched the first officially recognized no-hitter in MLB against the Hartford Dark Blues on this date in 1876

Petal-Hopping for Beginners Day -- Fairy Calendar

Pet Fire Safety Day -- make a plan to get yourself and your pets safely out of your home in case of a fire!

Respect Canada Day -- because Canada deserves it!

St. Bonaventure's Day (Patron against intestinal problems; of Bagnoregio, Italy; Cochiti Indian Pueblo; St. Bonaventure University, New York)

St. Swithun's Day -- Saint Swithun's Society Annual Celebration in Toronto, ON, Canada; the weather prognostication associated with this saint says if it rains today, it will rain for the next 40 days (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)

St. Swithun's Festival -- St Swithun's Church, Church Street, Worcester, England (from today, which is St. Swithun's Day, through the 18th)

St. Vladimir of Kiev's Day (Patron of converts, parents of large families, reformed and penitant murderers; Russia; Ukranian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, Connecticut; Winnipeg, Manitoba)

Sultan's Birthday -- Brunei Darussalam

Thangka unveiling Tashilungpo -- Tibet (Buddha Exhibition Festival) related observance
     Zamling Chisang -- Universal Prayer Day (to the Tibetan Deities, especially Samye Dolde)



Birthdays Today

Tanner Maguire, 1998
Emily Roeske, 1991
Brian Austin Green, 1973
Beth Stern, 1972
Adam Savage, 1967
Irene Jacob, 1966
Forest Whitaker, 1961
Lolita Davidovich, 1961
Kim Alexis, 1960
William Aames, 1960
Terry O’Quinn, 1952
Jesse Ventura, 1951
Arianna Huffington, 1950
Richard Russo, 1949
Linda Ronstadt, 1946
Jan-Michael Vincent, 1944
Alex George Karras, 1935
Ken Kercheval, 1935
Julian Bream, 1933
Clive Cussler, 1931
Jacques Derrida, 1930
Mother Fraqnces Xavier Cabrini, 1850
Thomas Bulfinch, 1796
Clement Clarke Moore, 1779
Rembrandt Van Rijn, 1606


Debuting/Premiering Today:

MSNBC(Network), 1996
"One Life to Live"(TV), 1968


Today in History

Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege, 1099
John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, 1381
Alexei Chirikov sights land and sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska, 1741
The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign, 1799
Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine to explore the west, 1806
Napoléon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon, 1815
A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823
Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union, 1870
The stratovolcano Mount Bandai, Japan, erupts killing approximately 500 people, 1888
In Seattle, Washington, William Boeing and George Conrad Westervelt incorporate Pacific Aero Products (later renamed Boeing), 1916
Eighteen Nobel laureates sign the Mainau Declaration against nuclear weapons, later co-signed by thirty-four others, 1955
AOL Time Warner disbands Netscape Communications Corporation; the Mozilla Foundation is established on the same day, 2003
Entire villages are burned to the ground and 40,000 people flee their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: On My Computer

But, of course, a few words must sneak in to explain.  My night owl children leaves notes on my computer, knowing i will get them very early in the morning.

The following is the note i found on my computer on Sunday morning:

Yes, he means the poisonous snake he'd caught the day before!

 




Today is:

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday -- US (with a wreath laying ceremony at the rebuilt cabin near where he was born)

Borrowed Days (through the 14th) -- Scottish Highlands (Gaelic Faoilteach, days supposedly borrowed from January, and if the weather is bad, the rest of the year will be good.)

Darwin Day -- International (birth anniversary)

Day Holy to Diana -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Lost Penny Day -- in honor of pennies, the first US coin to commemorate a person; collect all those pennies you have hanging around and donate them to a good cause

Oglethorpe Day/Georgia Day -- Georgia, US (landing of General Oglethorpe at what is now Savannah in 1733)

Pick A New Love Song Day -- internet generated, and why?  Only bother if your old one has worn thin.

Plum Pudding Day -- shouldn't this be at Christmas? Ah, well, i don't set them, i just report them.

Powamu Festival -- Pueblo/Hopi Native Americans (8 day sacred Bean Dance and purification ceremonies; date approximate)

Red Hand Day -- UN (Drawing attention to the plight of child soldiers.)

Runic Half Month of Sigel (Sun) begins

Sacrifice to Dionysos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Julian the Hospitaler (Patron of boatmen, carnival/circus workers, childless people, clowns, ferrymen, fiddlers, hospitality, hotel keepers/innkeepers, jugglers, knights, pilgrims, repentant murderers, shepherds, travelers, wandering musicians; to obtain lodging while traveling; San Giljan, Malta)

Union Day -- Myanmar

Youth Day -- Venezuela


Anniversaries Today:

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded, 1909
Michigan State University is founded, 1855
Maria Therese Habsburg marries Emperor Francios I, 1736


Birthdays Today:

Jennifer Stone, 1993
Christina Ricci, 1980
Jesse Spencer, 1979
Naseem Hamed, 1974
Josh Brolin, 1968
Chyna Phillips, 1968
Arsenio Hall, 1955
Joanna Kerns, 1953
Michael McDonald, 1952
Simon MacCorkindale, 1952
Steve Hackett, 1950
Cliff De Young, 1947
Maud Adams, 1945
Ray Manzarek, 1939
Judy Blume, 1938
Joe Don Baker, 1936
Bill Russell, 1934
Arlen Specter, 1930
Joe Garagiola, 1926
Franco Zeffirelli, 1923
Dom DiMaggio, 1917
Lorne Greene, 1915
Ted Mack, 1904
Roy Harris, 1898
Omar Bradley, 1893
Anna Pavlova, 1881
John Llewellyn Lewis, 1880
John Graham Chambers, 1843
Charles Darwin, 1809
Abraham Lincoln, 1809
Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 1775
Cotton Mather, 1663
John Winthrop the Younger, 1606
John Winthrop the Elder, 1588
Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun, 1218


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Child's Play"(Play), 1970
"Dracula"(Film), 1931
"Rhapsody In Blue", 1924
"Beggar on Horseback"(Play), 1924
"Fruen Fra Havet(The Lady from the Sea)"(Ibsen Play), 1889



Today in History:

Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India, 1502
Santiago, Chile, is founded by Pedro de Valdivia, 1541
A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason, 1554
The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a., the oldest existing life insurance company in the Netherlands is founded, 1719
Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah, 1733
The first US fugitive slave law, requiring the return of runaway slaves, is passed, 1793
The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire, 1816
The Creek Indian treaty is signed, requiring the tribes to turn over all of their land in Georgia to the government and migrate west by Sept. 1 the following year, 1825
Ecuador annexes the Galapagos Islands, 1832
Official proclamation sets April 15 as last day of grace for US silver coins to circulate in Canada, 1870
The US Congress abolishes bimetallism and authorizes $1 and $3 gold coins, 1873
King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands/Hawaii becomes the first king to visit the US, 1874
The first news dispatch by telephone takes place, between Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, 1877
News of the Battle of Isandlwana, the single greatest defeat for the British Army at the hands of a native army, reaches London, 1879
The New York to Paris auto race, via Alaska and Siberia, begins; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel, 1908
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms, 1909
The last Ch'ing (Manchu) emperor of China, Hsuan T'ung, abdicates, 1912
A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union, 1947
U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus, 1961
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union, 1974
Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia, 1990
NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, 2001
The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom, 2004