What did you say?

In honor of International Tongue Twister Day:

A quick witted cricket critic.

How many boards
Could the Mongols hoard
If the Mongol hordes got bored?

from the comic Calvin & Hobbes, by Bill Waterson

Six sick hicks nick six slick bricks with picks and sticks.

Seventy seven benevolent elephant.

Today is:

Book Lovers Day

Feast of Stolen Fire

Independence Day, Ecuador

International Tongue Twister Day

Magazine Day

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

National Notary Public Day

Revolution Day, Bangladesh

St. Florentius' Day

St. Willibrord's Day (patron of Holland; against epilepsy, convulsions)

World Community Day


Birthdays Today:

Keith Lockhart, 1959
Joni Mitchell, 1943
Joan Sutherland, 1926
Al Hirt, 1922
Billy Graham, 1918
Dean Jagger, 1903
Leon Trotsky, 1879
Madame Curie, 1867


Today in History:

The oldest meteorite with a known date of impact, the Ensisheim Meteorite, strikes around noon in a wheat field near the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France, 1492
Pierre Gassendi observes the transit of Mercury as predicted by Kepler, 1631
Anne Htchinson is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a heretic, 1637
Lewis and Clark first sight the Pacific Ocean, 1805
The first edition of the "London Gazette", the oldest surviving journal, is published, 1865
The first Thomas Nast cartoon depicting the Republican Party Elephant is published, 1874
Edward Bouchet becomes the first black to receive a PhD from a US college (Yale), 1876
The first air freight shipment is undertaken by the Wright brothers and department store owner Max Moorehouse (from Dayton, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio), 1910
Mao Tse Tung proclaims the "Chinese People's Republic", 1931
Fiorello H. La Guardia is elected the 99th mayor of New York City, 1933
Arthur L Mitchell becomes the first black Democratic congressman (from Illinois), 1934

Mind Games

What is it about human nature that makes us think we will have more, later?

More time, more money, more anything?

When we put off reading that email until later when there will be "more time to deal with it," when will that be?

Same with saving money for something, or buying something. Will there really be more money in the next paycheck, or will it just magically stretch further?

There will always be more to buy, more to do, more to read, more to see, than any human can get to in one lifetime.

I don't like that fact, so I just don't face it. I put off until "later," and that magical later will not come.


Today is:

Arbor Day, Australia

Gustavus Adolphus Day, Sweden

Independence Day, Chad, Dominican Republic

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict

Marooned Without A Compass Day

National Nachos Day

National Notary Public Day

Potting Shed Investitures (garden fairies) -- Fairy Calendar

Return Day

Saxophone Day

St. Illtyd's Day

St. Leonard's Day (patron of prisoners, blacksmiths, porters, horses, locksmiths, coal miners, greengrocers; against robbery)

St. Paul of Constantinople's Day (Eastern)

United Americas Day


Birthdays Today:

Pat Tillman, 1976
Rebecca Romijn, 1972
Ethan Hawke, 1970
Maria Shriver, 1955
Glenn Frey, 1948
Sally Field, 1946
Mike Nichols, 1931
Walter Perry Johnson, 1887
James Naismith, 1861
John Philip Sousa, 1854
Adolphe Sax, 1814 (yes, the musician who invented the Saxophone)


Today in History:

Shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca becomes the first known European to set foot in Texas, 1528
Spain grants independence to the Dominican Republic, 1844
Canada celebrates its first official, national Thanksgiving Day, 1879
Colonel Jacob Schick patents the first electric razor, 1928

Is the Sky Really Falling?

We read the news reports and hear the horror stories, but is the sky really falling?

After all, this is going to be the worst Christmas for consumer spending, everyone is going to go broke, all the stores will be losing so much they will shut down forever, doom and gloom to no end, might just as well pack it in, the economy is gone.

The studies show that consumers plan to spend $26 less per person on Christmas than last year.

Oh, dear. Since almost all people underestimate what Christmas will cost, and end up spending more than planned, forgive me if I don't see this as the end of life as we know it.

The doom and gloom and hype are the reason I don't watch the news any more. I read a few headlines, so I will be informed if the world does actually end. I just don't want to get caught up in the constant worry cycle the news industry seems to want to create. It is not a good climate to live in, no matter what the temperature outside may be.

As for us, my kids know that if they have food on the table, they better be grateful. All Christmas money goes for the obligatory gifts to nieces and nephews.

The world is changing. The economy changes. It is in the nature of the beast, that things change, that we live in time, and to live in time means to change. I won't let that convince me the sky is falling.


Today is:

Feast of No Return

Gunpowder Day

Guy Fawkes' Day, UK

National Doughnut Day

National Men Make Dinner Day

Pope Day

St. Elizabeth's Day


Birthdays Today:

Judy Reyes, 1967
Tatum O'Neal, 1963
Tilda Swinton, 1960
Bryan Adams, 1959
Peter Noone, 1947
Sam Shepard, 1943
Art Garfunkel, 1941
Elke Sommer, 1940
Ike Turner, 1931
Vivien Leigh, 1913
Roy Rogers, 1911
Joel McCrea, 1905
Strom Thurmond, 1902


Today in History:

Wu MeKuan, a collection of 48 Zen koans, compiled in China, 1228
Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier (Brittany); it is the first Breton dictionary as well as the first French dictionary, 1499
St. Felix's Flood ravages the Dutch coast and destroys the city of Reimerswaal in the Netherlands, 1530
The Gunpowder Plot, in which Catholics were trying to blow up the English Parliament, is foiled, 1605
Susan B. Anthony is arrested for trying to vote in Rochester, NY, 1871
The first US patent for a gasoline driven motor car is granted to George B. Selden, 1895
Calbraith Rodgers arrives in Pasadena from Sheepshead Bay, NY, completing the first transcontinental plane flight, in 49 days, 1911

What's in That Bowl?

The only thing, I think, that goes through a cat's mind when it is eating is, "What's in that Other bowl?"

This would be okay if I could feed all the cats the same stuff.

I have kittens that are supposed to be on kitten food, but all they want is the adult cat food. The adult cats, of course, knowing the kitten stuff is more fattening, wait until the right moment to steal as much kitten food as they can.

I could spend all day standing in the kitchen, if I had the time to spare, bringing out different bowls of food for different animals. The kittens come over and want to eat. I put down their food. The adult cats wander in, I put theirs down. By now, the kittens have had a few bites each and are bored, so the leave. I am busy, so the adult cats try for the kitten food. I pick up the kitten food, but the kittens hear the food rattling in the bowl and come back over.

Or all of them wander off, and one comes back in to eat. I put down food for that one, the rest hear it, they get in a food fight.

It goes this way all day, I pick up all of the food, one cat comes in, it wants to eat. I put food down. Everyone else has to eat, just a bite or two. Then, I try to pick it up, another one wants to eat.

Never do they want what they are given.

I had one friend who finally gave up and put the adult cat food, kitten food, and puppy food, all mixed, in every bowl. She figured that way, everybody got at least a bit of what they needed.

Meanwhile, I feel stuck in the kitchen, guarding cat food bowls. What a way to run a railroad.


Today is:

Arbor Day, Samoa

Chair Day

Flag Day, Panama

General Election Day in the US (first Tuesday in November)

Independence Day, Tonga

Mischief Night, Australia, UK, New Zealand

National Candy Day

National Children’s Goal-Setting Day

Skeptic's Day

Suez Day

St. Americus' Day (patron of America)

St. Charles Borromeo's Day

Use Your Common Sense Day

Will Roger's Day

Waiting for the Barbarians Day


Anniversaries Today:

Taking of the US Embassy in Teheran, Iran -- 1979
Discovery of King Tut's Tomb -- 1922
Abraham Lincoln weds Mary Todd, 1842


Birthdays Today:

Sean "Diddy" Combs, 1970
Matthew McConaughey, 1969
Ralph Macchio, 1962
Jeff Probst, 1962
Kathy Griffin, 1960
Markie Post, 1950
Laura W. Bush, 1946
Loretta Swit, 1937
Doris Roberts, 1930
Martin Balsam, 1919
Art Carney, 1918
Walter Cronkite, 1916
Will Rogers, 1879
Augustus Montague Toplady, 1740 (wrote the hymn "Rock of Ages")


Today in History:

The Flood of the Arno River causes massive damage in Florence, Italy, 1333
Thomas Wolsey, English cardinal, arrested, 1529
Benjamin Palmer patents an artificial leg, 1846
Dentist John Beers of San Francisco patents the gold crown, 1873
Tonga adopts a constitution, 1875
James Ritty patents the cash register, to combat the pilfering of the till by the bartenders in his Ohio saloon, 1879
Nellie Tayloe Ross is elected the first female US State governor, in Wyoming, 1924

I've heard it all before...

The hurrieder I go, the behinder I git. This, of course, keeps me always a day late and a dollar short.

Supposedly it is never too late to learn, but could you really teach this old dog any new tricks? Could even I learn not to leave everything until the eleventh hour, the last minute?

And while I agree that it is better late than never, I do not necessarily agree that it is better late than pregnant, which my friend Jody just found out that she is, unexpectedly yet very excitedly!

Seriously, my friend is expecting, and I'm very happy for her. Also, it is Cliche Day, so I took advantage of it. Go out there and use a few cliches today, without guilt.



Today is:

Cliche Day

Give Someone A Dollar Today Day

Housewife's Day

Independence Day, Andorra, Dominica, Micronesia

Isis Cult Feast -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Look for Circles Day

Meiji Setsu (Culture Day), Japan

National Sandwich Day

St. Hubert's Day (patron of hunters, mathematicians, foresters, furriers, makers of precision Instruments, Belgium; against dog bites, rabies)

St. Martin de Porres' Day (patron of hairdressers, persons of mixed race, public-health workers, race relations, TV in Peru)

St. Pirminius' Day (patron against snakebites. poisoning)

St. Winifred's Day


Birthdays Today:

Gemma Ward, 1987
Dolph Lundgren, 1959
Adam Ant, 1954
Kate Capshaw, 1953
Dennis Miller, 1953
Roseanne, 1952
Ken Berry, 1933
Michael Dukakis, 1933
Charles Bronson, 1921


Today in History:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina, 644
Charles VI expells all Jews from France, 1394
The English parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy, declaring Henry VIII to be the leader of the Church of England, 1534
Great Patent is granted to Plymouth Colony, 1620
A great panic occurs in Europe over the close approach of a comet, 1679
Spain acquires Louisiana, 1762
The Times of India, the world's most widely circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper, is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce, 1838
"Black Bart the Poet", stagecoach robber, commits his last robbery, leaving behind a clue that leads to his capture, 1883
J.H. Hunter patents a portable weighing scale, 1896
Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market, 1911

Morning After Blues, Epitaphs, and the Moon

It's the morning after.

No, not the morning after a big celebration, in which your head pounds, your mouth feels like the troops have marched through, and every noise sounds like a cannon going off next to your head.

(Note: I describe these symptoms from the testimony of others. As one of my biggest fears is being out of control of what I say and do, I have never allowed myself to become intoxicated or ingest recreational pharmaceuticals. I have been given to understand that the above is an approximation of how you feel the morning after doing these things, and it does not sound like the "fun" you supposedly had is worth that price anyway.)

Nor is it the morning after letting the kids have a big sleepover. There are not 6-8 kids draped over the couches, chairs, and in sleeping bags on the floors of two or more rooms, with evidence of late night shenanigans strewn everywhere.

Not the morning after a holiday feast, with a refrigerator groaning under the weight of leftovers, and your mind groaning at the thought of having to figure out how to make new meals with all of these remnants.

No, it is simply the morning after the day we changed the clocks again.

We change the clocks twice a year, for reasons no one has ever been able to fully and logically explain in such a way as to convince me it is truly needed. This always occurs on a Saturday, and on Sunday morning, you don't notice much of a difference, really. Sundays are just a bit "different" anyway, a different speed to the day, different routines than M-F, so it doesn't hit until Monday.

It's usually the light. Either it is suddenly bright way too early, or way too late. Right now, with the fall change, it is bright very early, by comparison to the several days previous. This messes with my internal sense of when things should be done. I feel like I should already be doing things that are scheduled for later in the day.

The good news about it is that I can get the laundry on the line earlier. The bad news is, it is so cold out there, I am not motivated, even with the bright, beautiful sunshine, to go out there at all.

The morning after. Always a bit of a surprise, twice a year, fooling my brain.

In celebration of Plan your Epitaph Day, I quote one of my favorites:

Here lies Timothy Snow,
Who died fighting for
A lady's honor
(She wanted to keep it).

Also, don't forget, tonight is the full moon, called the Full Beaver Moon this time of year.


Today is:

All Soul's Day

Balfour Declaration Day, Israel

Dead Relative's Day, Sicily

Dia de Finados, Portugal

Full Beaver Moon

Independence Day, Bahrain, Panama

National Deviled Egg Day

Plan Your Epitaph Day

Recreation Day, Australia

Soulcaker's Play, Cheshire, UK

Thanksgiving, Liberia


Anniversaries Today:

North Dakota becomes the 39th US State, 1889
South Dakota becomes the 40th US State, 1889


Birthdays Today:

Stephanie Powers, 1942
Pat Buchanan, 1938
Ray Walston, 1914
Burt Lancaster, 1913
Paul Ford, 1901
Warren G. Harding, 1865
James K. Polk, 1795
Marie Antionette, 1755
Daniel Boone, 1734


Today in History:

The Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, and Connecticut colonies combine forces and attach the Great Swamp Fort of the Narragansetts during King Philip's War, 1675
The popular vote for US president is first recorded and Andrew "By God" Jackson (a/k/a Old Hickory) defeats John Quincy Adams, 1824
New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally, 1868
Johnny Campbell officially leads the crowd in cheering at a University of Minnesota football game, the official birth of cheerleading, 1898
The British newspaper the "Daily Mirror" begins publication, 1904
Australia's Qantas Airways begins service, 1922

The sugar rush is over and done for the moment.

Daylight Savings Time (which has never been sufficiently explained to anyone, but seems to have simply become a national habit we don't know how to break) is ended, so we are back on Standard Time.

Today, among other special day celebrations, is National Author Day. I salute those who write. If what you write is excellent, I am grateful that you choose to share it with us, so we can learn from or be entertained by you. Even if what you write is awful, at least you have the courage to do it.

Writing used to be on my someday list.

Remember, writing more can help you get better at writing, but editing what you write will help you get better faster. The desire to see fewer of those red marks from the editing pencil on your work will inspire you to improve much faster than just plain writing more. At least, that is what they used to tell me in school.


Today is:

All Hallow's Day a/k/a All Saint's Day

CrossQuarter Day

Gooseberry Humble's Tummy-Rumbling Contest -- Fairy Calendar

Graveyards Day

Independence Day, Antigua&Barbuda, Yemen

Liberty Day, US Virgin Islands

National Author's Day

National Day of Hope and Mourning, Lithuania

National Doubletalk Day

National Family Literacy Day

National French Fried Clam Day

Old Celtic New Year

Padre Cicero Day

Recreation Day, Tasmania

Samhain -- Celtic, 3rd Station, and Wicca, Northern Hemisphere (Beltane

in the Southern Hemisphere)

Zero Tasking Day


Birthdays Today:

Fernando Valenzuela, 1960
Lyle Lovett, 1957
Dan Peek, 1951
Larry Flynt, 1942
Gary Player, 1935
Stephen Crane, 1871


Today in History:

Pompei is buried by Mt. Vesuvius, 79
The name "Austria" is first used for Ostarrichin
King John of England begins imprisoning Jews, 1210
The Duke of Brabant orders the execution of all Jews in Brussels, claiming they were poisoning wells, 1349
First exhibit of the works of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, 1512
The Netherlands is hit by a flood disaster, resulting in the deaths of thousands, 1570
Shakespeare's "Othello" first presented, 1604
Shakespeare's "The Tempest" first presented, 1611
An earthquake in Lisbon leaves over 50,000 dead, 1755
The Stamp Act goes into effect in the British colonies, 1765
Founding of Mission San Juan Capistrano, 1776
George Washington gives his "Farewell Address" and the Continental Army is dissolved, 1783
The African Free Schook, the first free school in NYC, opens, 1787
John Adams becomes the first Us president to move into the (still not quite finished) White House, 1800*
*Note: It was still called the Executive Mansion at this time
The first published reference to poker, as a Mississippi riverboat game, 1834
The Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse, which is still in use, is lit for the first time; its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for 19 miles in good conditions, 1859
Passage of the first US Civil Rights Bill, 1866
First publication of "Harpers Bazaar", 1867
The US Weather Bureau begins operations, with 24 locations, 1870
Edward Scripps and John Sweeney found Penny Press (now the Cleveland Press), 1878
The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded at the Hayes' Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary, 1884
Dr. Roux of Paris introduces a vaccine for diphtheria, 1894
Nicholas II becomes czar of Russia, 1894
The National Geographic Magazine publishes its first picture of bare breasted women (from a Zulu tribe), 1896
Sigma Phi Epsilon, the largest national male college fraternity in the US, is established at Richmond College, 1901
Parris Island becomes the officially designated Marine Corps Recruit Depot, 1915
The Ottoman Empire is officially abolished, 1922
The first animal conceived by artificial insemination, a rabbit, is displayed, 1939
The first issue of Ebony Magazine is published, by John H. Johnson, 1945
Charles Cooper of the Celtics becomes the first black NBA player, 1950
The first hydrogen nuclear device is exploded, at Eniwetok Atoll, 1952