Because We All Need To Laugh (Wordless Wednesday) and Find Your Sanity Spot (Words for Wednesday)

***********************************

    

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

***********************************

Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by Mark Koopmans, and are being posted by Elephant’s Child.            

This week's prompts are:

1. Toilet
2. Sunlight
3. Dogma
4. Spurs
5. Vine
6. Wilting

And/Or 

1. Ashen
2. Brexit
3. Colgate
4. Distillery
5. Elegance
6. Flighty

"Well, at least people have something to discuss besides BREXIT," Ralph said with a sigh.

Giving him a sideways glance, Brad countered, "How is all this endless talk of TOILET paper better?"

"Never said it was better," Ralph responded, pouring himself and his friend each another glass of the fruit of the VINE.  "I simply noted that it's something different."

"Hmph," Brad grunted, noncommittally.  Then, "Let's move our chairs over, out of the direct SUNLIGHT, I'm WILTING out here.  Why are we dining al fresco tonight?"

"Because the rest of the world has gone nuts, and none of my family want to talk about anything but how the SPURS not playing is ruining their leisure time.  My FLIGHTY mother is afraid they will run out of her favorite COLGATE toothpaste and she will lose all of her teeth, ruining the ELEGANCE of her appearance.  Uncle Pete is passing on rumors of conspiracies as if they were DOGMA, and I tried visiting my cousin Al and his family, place smells like a DISTILLERY they are all staying half-lit they said until it's all over.

"I had to get out of there, get some fresh air, so I have a key to the community pool, I figured you and I could come over here, use the BBQ pit to cook something decent then sit and eat in peace."

"No wonder you looked ASHEN when I first got here," Brad noted.  "It was a great idea, how about we do it again in a couple of days.  It could help keep us sane."

"Next time, you bring the meat, I'll bring the sides, and we'll call Tom, he can bring the wine," Ralph said.

"Sounds like a plan.  See you then!"

***********************************

Today is:

Awkward Moments Day -- harness the power of humor in life's more uncomfortable situations

Asklepieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Asklepios; date approximate)

Bindus Diena -- Ancient Latvain Calendar (believed to be the day bears woke from hibernation)

Celtic Tree Month Fearn (Alder) begins

Cheikh Al Maarouf Day -- Comoros

Dieticians Day -- Canada   

Electric Razor Day -- Schick, Inc., marketed the first one today in 1931

Forgive Mom and Dad Day -- because we all make mistakes; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Goddess of Fertility Day -- a modern celebration of all goddesses of fertility

Grandparents' and Grandchildren's Day -- Michigan, US

Jacques de Molay's Day -- death anniversary of the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar

Men's and Soldiers Day -- Mongolia

Mi-Careme -- Guadeloupe; Saint Barthelemy; Saint Martin (Mid-Lent)

National Anthem and Flag Day -- Aruba

National Biodiesel Day -- birth anniversary of Rudolph Diesel, who unveiled his engine at the World Fair in 1900

National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day

Oide Matsuri -- Hakui, Japan (horse-back archery; through the 23rd)

Sheelah's Day -- Ireland (probably Sheela Na Gig, goddess of fertility; celebrated the day after St. Patrick's Day by those who say she was either his wife or his mother)

Sheep and Goats (Separation) Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Anselm of Lucca's Day (Patron of Mantua, Italy)

St. Edward the Martyr's Day

Supreme Sacrifice Day -- an internet generated holiday now used to honor those who have made a supreme sacrifice, all who have given their lives for others

Take Down Tobacco Day (formerly Kids Kick Butts Day) -- Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids   

Usajingu Reitaisai -- Japan (offerings to the Kami from the Imperial Household are shared in this very important festival)

Anniversary Today:

Eddie Murphy marries Nicole Mitchell, 1993

Birthdays Today:

Alexei Yagudin, 1980

Dane Cook, 1972

Queen Latifah, 1970

Bonnie Blair, 1964

Vanessa Williams, 1963

Irene Cara, 1959

Brad Dourif, 1950

Kevin Dobson, 1944

Wilson Pickett, 1941

Charlie Pride, 1938

Sashi Kapoor, 1938

F.W. deKlerk, 1936

John Updike, 1932

George Plimpton, 1927

John Kander, 1927

Peter Graves, 1926

William H. Johnson, 1901

Edward Everett Horton, 1886

Rudolph Diesel, 1858

Grover Cleveland, 1837

John Caldwell Calhoun, 1782

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Do I Hear a Waltz?"(Musical), 1965

"Tovarich"(Musical), 1963

"Tales of Wells Fargo"(TV), 1957

"The new Babylon"(Silent Film), 1929

"Verklarte Nacht"(Schonberg, Op. 4), 1902

Today in History:

Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England, 1190

German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem, 1229

Kraków is ravaged by Mongols, 1241

According to legend, Tenochtitlan is founded on this date, 1325

John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, 1673

Henry Wells and William Fargo form American Express in Buffalo, NY, 1850

Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada, 1893

Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience (he served only 2 years), 1922

The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City, 1922

The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern US states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people, 1925

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes, 1944

Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space, 1965

The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency, 1968

In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops, 1989

White South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour, in a national referendum, to end the racist policy of Apartheid, 1992

Bosnia's Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending warring between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994

British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language, 2003

For the first time, a woman served as imam, leading a public, mixed-gender, Muslim congregation in Jum'ah prayer and delivering the sermon, 2005

The Messenger spacecraft enters Mercury's orbit, 2011

Russia formally annexes Crimea, previously part of Ukraine. by signing the Treaty on Accession, 2014

A bushfire in Tathra, New South Wales, Australia, destroys over 70 buildings, 2018

Holiday Veterinarian Humor (Wordless Wednesday) and View From The Chair (Words for Wednesday)

***********************************

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

***********************************

Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by Cindi.   

This week the prompt is:

   Look around you and choose an object in the room.  Now write something from the point of view of that object.

As a kitchen chair, I do not lead a glamorous life.

I'm plain wood, but at least I'm not particle board.  My cushion is worse for wear, but no holes yet.

Let's get real, what I do is provide a place for people to park their hind parts when they want to take a load off their feet.  Oh, and don't get me started on the cats, which park their whole selves on me.

The most excitement I get is when Dansig sits on the very edge of me, tries to take a bath, and loses his balance.  He always looks so shocked when he hits the floor, it's amusing.  

Now that I think about it, it’s also exciting when the cats use me as a springboard to try to jump to higher ground and get away from the dogs.  Watching the fur fly when SissyCat gets tired of running and turns around to chase the German shepherd is pretty funny, and sometimes to get away she dives between my rungs and Coda runs right into me.  

As I noted above, I'm wood, and not heavy but solid, and I know it has to smart a little when it happens.  Crazy dog.

At least, with the kids grown up now, I'm not usually left sticky the way I used to be.

My job includes being used in the library when an extra seat is needed, and I get sat in a lot for eating, reading, bill paying, studying, computer puttering, and plenty more.

I’m sturdier than the table I came with, that’s sure.  I was here, of course, the day the table split right down the middle and collapsed.  Bigger Girl was sitting in me, eating a sandwich, when it crashed.  She grabbed her sandwich before it could fall, and took another bite quite calmly.  Said that was the only thing you can do when the table collapses, you don’t let it take your lunch with it!

They kept me and my set of chairs when they got the new table, it had “director’s chairs” that wouldn’t have held up the way we have.

No, I guess i shouldn’t be knocking my steady and unglamorous life.  Glamor is overrated, I think, and at least it's a living, being a kitchen chair.

It could be worse, I could have been a floor and gotten walked all over my whole life.

***********************************

Today is:

Agonalia -- Ancient Roman Empire; also observed

    Festival for Diva Palatua -- guardian of Palatine Hill

    Septimonia -- to honor the Seven Hills of Rome

Feast of Sekhmet, Bast, and Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (goddess of warfare, feline goddess, and sun god; date approximate)

Fourth Republic Day -- Madagascar

International Mountain Day -- UN

Jashan-e Sadeh / Adar-Jashen -- Zoroastrian/Parsi (a mid-winter fire ceremony for purification; date approximate)

National Day / Republic Day -- Burkina Faso

National Noodle Ring Day

Nose-Scrambling and Hair-Hiking Events -- Fairy Calendar

Pampanga Day -- Pampanga Province, Philippines

Remembrance Day of Llywelyn II -- Wales (death anniversary of Llywelyn the Last, the last native-born Prince of Wales, killed in battle in 1282)

St. Damasus' Day (Patron of archaeologists)

St. Pens' Day (Patron of Llanberis, Wales)

Tango Day -- Buenos Aires, Argentina (birth anniversary of both Julio de Caro and Carlos Gardel)

Anniversaries Today:

Unicef is established, 1946

Edward VIII abdicates, 1936

Indiana becomes the 19th US State, 1816

Birthdays Today:

Rider Strong, 1979

Mos Def, 1973

Mo'Nique, 1967

Gary Dourdan, 1966

Curtis Williams, 1962

Jermaine Jackson, 1954

Ken Wahl, 1953

Susan Seidelman, 1952

Teri Garr, 1949

Brenda Lee, 1944

John Kerry, 1943

Donna Mills, 1943

David Gates, 1940

Tom Hayden, 1940

Rita Moreno, 1931

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 1918

Carlo Ponti, 1913

Naguib Mahfouz, 1911

Marjorie H. Buell, 1904

Fiorello LaGuardia, 1882

Annie Jump Cannon, 1863

Robert Koch, 1843

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"City of Angels"(Musical), 1989

"Magnum, PI"(TV), 1980

Today in History:

Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office, 359

Llywelyn the Last (born c. 1228) the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cimeri, 1282

The Aurora Borealis is seen from New England by English settlers for the first time, 1719

The first newspaper on Curacao is published, the Curacao Gazette & Commercial Advertiser, 1812

Nitrous oxide is used in dental work for the first time in Hartford, Connecticut, 1844

Boston's Bijou Theatre becomes the first American theater lit exclusively by electricity, premiering Gilbert and Sullivan's "Iolanthe" as its first performance, 1882

The New Zealand Parliament Buildings are almost completely destroyed by fire, 1907

Color moving pictures are demonstrated in Madison Square Garden, 1909

The Boll Weevil Monument is dedicated in Enterprise, Alabama, 1919

The British Parliament enacts the Statute of Westminster 1931, establishing legislative equality between the self-governing dominions of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of Canada, the Irish Free State, Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa, 1931

Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the last time, 1934

Arthur Lucas, convicted of murder, is the last person to be executed in Canada, 1962

Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon, 1972

The Kyoto Protocol opens for signature, 1997

The People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization, 2001

In Taipei, protesters demand foreign live-in caregivers have the right to a day off each week, 2011

Pope Francis is named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year," 2013

A landmark trial for Huntington's disease in London announces positive results, the first time a drug has been able to slow an incurable brain disorder, 2017

Pictures of the Season (Wordless Wednesday), Words for Wednesday, and No Tricks, Just Treats for Shelters Bloghop (LLB In Our Backyard)

***********************************

      

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and Sandee at Comedy Plus.      

***********************************

Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts that encourages us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by Elephant's Child.  

This week's prompts are:

1.   mild
2.   uncertainty
3.   haircut
4.   consultation
5.   mystery
6. movie
   
   

And/or

1.   joy
2.   surface
3.   agreement
4.   freckle
5.   fixture
6.   solo

The first time he had stepped into the new barber shop, it had been with UNCERTAINTY.  He'd suddenly needed a HAIRCUT for business reasons and his own barber had been out of town.  Knowing that, until a new barber has given you a cut it is a MYSTERY whether you will like what you see and whether the two of you will get along, he'd discovered he liked this barber as well as, if not better than, his original.

The barber himself was MILD in his mannerisms and, in spite of great loss, seemed to radiate quiet JOY.  Upon finding out the man's widowed daughter-in-law took in sewing to make a living, he'd brought her a favorite pair of pants to have a seam repaired.  What was supposed to be a SOLO visit soon became a FIXTURE in his world.

He found that CONSULTATION with this barber on many different matters always resulted in some point of view being shared that shed light and wisdom on the subject.  One pair of pants to be mended by the seamstress had become anything that needed tailoring finding its way into her hands, and by unspoken AGREEMENT, much more time spent with her and her son.

The boy loved his barber grandfather, his mama, and was overjoyed with the time now being spent with this new friend he was learning to love, also.  His daddy, the barber's son who had died in Iraq, was a fading memory to him, living only in pictures and stories.  This man was real time, and took him to the park with his mama, and did lots of other fun things, too.  "Child, you have a FRECKLE for every inch" he would say, and they would both grin.  In fact, the boy's smile became so constant it was almost like it would have to be surgically removed if you wanted to see him without it.

The SURFACE of his life seemed to go on the same, but the deeps were stirred as this tiny, fractured family made its way into his heart.

I feel like I'm living in a cheesy romance MOVIE, he thought to himself as he stopped for a bouquet of fresh flowers on the way to take her out to dinner.

Such a change simply because once his own barber was out of town.  Who would have thought it could lead this way, but every day, he was more glad that it did.

***********************************

LLB in Our Backyard is having their annual No Tricks, Just Treats for Shelters Blog Hop. This is a fund raiser to help various shelters.  The LLB Gang will be donating $1 per hop entry and 50¢ for each comment, and our friend Sandee of Comedy Plus will be matching them this year!

From the LLB blog:

This year we will be holding our Fifth Annual Blog Hop/Fundraiser October 30th thru October 31st(Wednesday and Thursday). Publish a Halloween post letting us know some way you plan to/or have helped a shelter or pet in need, and link up to the hop. We will be donating $1 per hop entry AND 50 cents  for each comment we receive on the 30th and 31st(including duplicates)! The money raised will be split between three Blogville "Helping Hands", you can find out more by heading over and leave a comment, and help shelter pets!     

As for us, today is our usual day to do a morning shift at the cat shelter near here.  Sweetie and i will be there at 6am to feed, water, and change litter boxes for all cats and kittens that are in cages, the intake room, the offices, or the upper respiratory infection room (that one gets done last, of course.  This shelter has been open about 10 years, and i have done one or two shifts per week almost since it opened!

We go on Fridays, too, in the evenings, just to do food and water, and to clean toilets and sinks and the kitchen because somebody needs to take care of the people there, too, and who better than a janitor?

***********************************

Today is:

Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security

Anniversary of the Declaration of the Slovak Nation -- Slovakia

Buy A Doughnut Day -- any wonder who started this one? (insert eye-roll here)

Checklists Day -- prevent tragedy, create great checklists; in honor of the development of the first well known checklist following a B-17 prototype's crash due to pilot error

Create a Great Funeral Day -- don't make your family choose the plans in the midst of grief, plan your sending away party now, it's more fun when it's done -- in advance!

Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions -- most former Soviet Republics

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL, US (hosted at the "Yachting Capital of the World"; through Sunday)

Hawaiki Nui Va'a Race -- French Polynesia (spectacular three-day open water outrigger canoe race from Huahine to Raiatea to Tahaa to Bora Bora; through Friday)

Look in the Back of Your Refrigerator Day / Haunted Refrigerator Night (And hope the old hamburger isn't grazing on the moldy salad.)

Mischief Night, a/k/a Goosey Night, Devil's Night, Cabbage Night -- US

National Candy Corn Day

Practice Winter Snuggling Night -- when it gets really cold, you'll be glad you practiced

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan -- Beginning of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, Hebrew Year 5780, at sundown today

St. Dorothy of Montau's Day (Patron of brides, difficult marriages, dying children, parents of large families, widows; Pomerania; Prussia)

St. Marcellus' Day  (as a Roman centurion who threw down his armor and refused to take part in pagan worship, he is Patron of conscientious objectors)

The Rhyne Toll -- Chetwode Manor, UK (through Nov 7) -- the Lord of the Manor may tax any cattle he finds on his Liberty (free pasture) on these days

Try on Your Halloween Costume Early Day -- to see how goofy you look, and make sure you have everything you need

Will Rogers' Days -- Claremore and Oologah, OK, US (celebrating the man's wit and humor at his birthplace and the museum dedicated to him; through Monday)

Birthdays Today:

Nastia Liukin, 1989

Matthew Morrison, 1978

Gavin Rossdale, 1967

Diego Armando Maradona, 1960

Kevin Pollack, 1958

Charles Martin Smith, 1953

Harry Hamlin, 1951

Andrea Mitchell, 1946

Henry Winkler, 1945

Ed Lauter, 1940

Grace Slick, 1939

Claude Lelouch, 1937

Dick Gautier, 1937

Dick Vermeil, 1936

Robert Caro, 1935

Louis Malle, 1932

Ruth Gordon, 1896

Charles Atlas, 1893

Ezra Pound, 1885

William "Bull" Halsey, 1882

Emily Post, 1872

Alfred Sisley, 1839

Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1821

Richard Sheridan, 1751

John Adams, 1735

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Symphony No. 11 in G minor(Shostakovich Op. 103), 1957

"Panama Hattie"(Musical), 1940

"War of the Worlds"(Radio), 1938

Today in History:

Antioch surrenders to Rashidun Caliphate and his Muslim forces after the Battle of the Iron Bridge, 637

End of the 8th Crusade, 1270

King Henry VII, Tudor, crowned, 1485

Queen Isabella bans violence against Indians, 1503

The first Methodist church in the US is initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC), 1768

Dr. Richard Gatling patents the machine gun, 1862

Founding of Helena, Montana (capital city), 1864

John Willis Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first black elected to the US Congress (by special election, he was challenged by the loser, but was allowed to address Congress from the lectern), 1868

Daniel Cooper patents the time clock, 1894

Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes the first woman US Senator, 1896

The first US Automobile Show opens in Madison Square Garden, NYC, 1900

Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly, 1905

Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy, 1922

John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter, 1925

Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States, 1938

Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 1944

Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier, 1945

Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, 1960

The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise, 1961

The Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time, 1973

The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire, 1974

Prince Juan Carlos becomes Spain's acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco, 1975

In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the TurboGrafx-16, known as PC Engine, 1987

Quebec sovereignists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote is 50.6% to 49.4%), 1995

The last Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) early time-sharing operating system is shut down at the Canadian Department of National Defense in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2000

George Lucas sells Lucasfilm, Ltd., to the Walt Disney Company, 2012

Canada and the EU sign a free trade deal, 2016