Feline Friday: All I Survey

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.  It's fun and easy, you can use a picture of your own perfect feline.

This is Mikey:

Mikey, one of the reason i have to rewash stuff in the kitchen so often.

His usual line:  Whadda ya mean, get off your kitchen counter!  I'm King of All I Survey!






Today is:

Constitution Day -- Andorra

Dita e Veres -- Albania (Summer Day)

Festival of Veturius Mamurius -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival of armor makers)

Genius Day -- for Einstein, of course

International Ask A Question Day -- because that's what geniuses do

Jonquil Festival -- Washington State Park, Arkansas, US (through Sunday)

Learn about Butterflies Day -- if you go looking for who started this holiday, you will find out lots about butterflies and nothing about him/her, which i guess makes it a success

Moth-er Day -- for all individuals and museums that have moth collections; some websites have this listed as the day before Mother's Day

Mother Tongue Day -- Estonia

National Heroes Day -- Saint Vincent and Grenadines

National Potato Chip Day

National Pi Day - Why today? Because today is 3.14, the value of Pi.

Red Nose Day -- Comic Relief "Fun Raiser", for famine relief

Runic Half Month Beorc (Birch) begins

Sherlock Holmes Weekend -- Cape May, NJ, US (a weekend of mystery for amateur sleuths and fans of A.C. Doyle)

Shopping Cart Day -- patent filed today in 1938 by Sylvan Goldman

St. Matilda, Queen of Germany's Day (Patron of dying children, disappointing children, falsely accused people, large families, people ridiculed for their piety, queens, second marriages, widows)

Ten Most Wanted Day -- the FBI started its list this day in 1950

The European Fine Art Fair:  Maastricht 2013 -- Maastricht, Netherlands (The Fine Arts Fair; through the 23rd)

White Day -- China; Japan; South Korea; Taiwan (One month after Valentine's Day, which is the day women give gifts to men; today, the men return the favor.)

World Sleep Day -- sponsored by the World Association of Sleep Medicine, aiming to lessen the burdens of sleep problems on society; this year's theme is Restuful Sleep, Easy Breathing, Healthy Body.


Birthdays Today:

Justin Bieber, 1994
Colby O'Donis, 1989
Taylor Hanson, 1983
Grace Park, 1974
Kirby Puckett, 1961
Tamara Tunie, 1959
Rick Dees, 1951
Pam Ayres, 1947
Billy Crystal, 1947
Rita Tushingham, 1942
Michael Caine, 1933
Quincy Jones, 1933
Frank Borman, 1928
S. Truet Cathy, 1921
Hank Ketcham, 1920
Horton Foote, 1916
Les Brown, 1912
Albert Einstein, 1879
Casey Jones, 1864
Lucy Hobbs Taylor, 1833
Johann Strauss, Sr., 1804


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"10 Most Wanted"(FBI list), 1950
"The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu"(Comic Opera), 1885
"MacBeth"(Opera), 1847


Today in History:

The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice, 1489
England grants a patent for Providence Plantations (now Rhode Island), 1644
Scotland dismisses Willem III & Mary Stuart as king & queen, 1689
Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin, 1794
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded in New York, 1821
Gilbert and Sullivan's Mikado premiers in London, 1885
During the Great Blizzard of 1888, New York receives its second largest snowfall on record, 21", 1888
The United States goes on the gold standard, 1900
Hugo de Vries rediscovers Mendel's laws of genetics, 1900
The first theater for rear movie projection is built, in NYC, 1931
A jury in Dallas, Texas, finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, 1964
Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released, 1994
Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle, 1995
The Chinese city of Chongqing (formerly Chunking) is upgraded to a centrally administered municipality, 1997
Over a million Lebanese people take to the streets of Beirut to protest against Syrian military presence, in what comes to be called the Cedar Revolution, 2005
After measuring its spin and parity, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider announce they firmly believe the particle discovered in July 2012 is a Higgs boson, 2013

Games Kids Play

From where i was sitting on the floor feeding kittens, all i could see was that Festus was carrying a box, a rather large box.

Festus, what are you bringing into my house? i asked.

"Well, it's nothing that explodes, causes fires, or is really dangerous," he said, somewhat evasively.

As i turned a bit more, i could see a computer cord hanging out of it, and i know he's a computer genius.  He and his father build all of their own, and he's come in handy a couple of times with ours.

Okay, i said, and turned back to feeding the kittens.  Somehow i couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it, but in the course of cooking dinner and attending prayer service and all the other stuff of the day, i forgot about it.

Until i got home from prayer service.  Sweetie let me use his car, as #2 Son takes the Jalopy to school in the evenings.  As i got out, i saw something fly over my head and land at my feet with a clank.

It was a soda can.  Turning to look behind me, i noticed Festus, looking sheepish.  He had a tennis racquet in his hand.  Looking the other direction, there was Young Jacob with another, and Little Girl laughing fit to be tied.

So it turned out the box did have his computer so that they could set up a three way competition game with our computer and an old laptop.  It also contained two tennis racquets and an empty soda can, so they could play their own form of tennis, or maybe badminton, using Bigger Girl's car, Cicero, as the net.

Around here, somehow, there's always more than meets the eye.


Today is:

Africa Scout Day -- Africa (celebration of all Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Africa)

Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis

Ear Muff Day -- invented by Chester Greenwood in 1873, when he was only 15; if you need them today, keep a good thought for Chester

Good Samaritan Involvement Day -- emphasizing the importance of unselfish aid to others

Kasuga Matsuri -- Kasuga Grand Shrine, Nara, Japan (Monkey Festival)

K-9 Veterans Day -- US (on the day in 1942 the US Army K-9 Corps was established)

Louisiana Sportsmen's Show and Festival -- Gonzales, LA, US (boat show for NOLA, BR, and the Gulf Coast, and includes a jambalaya cook off; through Sunday)

National Coconut Tort Day

National Jewel Day -- for no other reason than that someone who liked jewels wanted a holiday for them

National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day -- an experiment in whether or not bad luck ensues

Saint Ansovinus of Camerino (Patron protector of crops)

Sticking Very Close Together for Fairies of the Fourth and Fifth Flights -- Fairy Calendar

Uranus Day -- the planet was discovered this day in 1781

World Kidney Day -- www.worldkidneyday.org



Birthdays Today:

Emile Hirsch, 1985
Rachael Bella, 1984
Will Clark, 1964
Adam Clayton, 1960
Glenne Headly, 1957
Dana Delany, 1956
Deborah Raffin, 1953
Charo, 1951
William H. Macy, 1950
Neil Sedaka, 1939
Helen "Callaghan" Candaele Saint Aubin, 1929
William Casey, 1913
L. Ron Hubbard. 1911
Sammy Kaye, 1910
Walter Annenberg, 1908
Percival Lowell, 1855
Lorenzo Delmonico, 1813
Joseph Priestly, 1733


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Larry King Show"(TV), 1983
"Same Time, Next Year"(Play), 1975
"Brigadoon"(Musical), 1947
"Three Musketeers"(Musical), 1928
"The Pink Lady"(Musical), 1911
"Marie Magdalena"(Opera), 1846
"Médée"(Opera), 1797


Today in History:

Twelfth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 607
Spanish explorer Cortez lands in Mexico, 1519
The Spanish fleet occupies Djerba, at Tripoli, 1560
Cambridge College is renamed Harvard for clergyman John Harvard, 1639
Jews are denied the right to build a synagogue in New Amsterdam, 1656
Massachusetts gains title to Maine for $6,000, 1677
The twenty-seventh recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 1759
William Herschel discovers Uranus, 1781
The Uncle Sam cartoon figure makes its debut in the NY Lantern weekly, 1852
The US Senate begins Pres Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial, 1868
Oxford defeats Cambridge in their first golf match, 1878
The Siege of Khartoum, Sudan begins, Madhist Sudanese against the Egyptian, British, and loyalist Sudanese forces, 1884
In France the length of the workday for women and children is limited to 11 hours by law, 1900
Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) declares independence from China, 1921
A law is passed in the US state of Tennessee prohibiting the teaching of evolution, 1925
Clyde Tombaugh announces the discovery of Pluto at Lowell Observatory, 1930
Rotaract begins as a youth program of Rotary International, 1968
Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module, 1969
The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan, 1988
India's Missionaries of Charity chooses Sister Nirmala to succeed Mother Teresa as its leader, 1997
Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $1,000 per ounce for the first time, 2008
A Harvard Medical School study claims that red meat increases the risk of death and has additional negative health implications, 2012
In Greenland, the Siumut party wins the parliamentary election, setting up Aleqa Hammond to become the country's first female Prime Minister, 2013

The Worker is Worthy of His Wages

#2 Son has now had a MeJob for over a month.  A few days ago, he was finally able to access the money he has earned.

The whole situation has been one snafu after another.  For one thing, many employers of hourly wage earners pay their employees via a pay card issued by a big bank.  In theory, it's easy, just like a credit or debit card.  In practice, there are fees to get your money, fees for inactivity on the card, fees to make a purchase, tons of fees, all charged to people who can afford such things the least -- hourly wage earners who only get minimum wage or just above it.  There's an article about the practice here, and i don't like what i'm reading.

Then there's the whole explanation #2 Son was given when he asked about his pay after his first couple of weeks.  "You should have been given a pay card when you went to orientation.  Since you weren't, you have to go to the main office and talk to them."

Talking to them didn't do much good.  He was given a card that they said would work.  It didn't.  He was eventually issued a check for a portion of his pay, and sent another pay card overnight from the main company.

After countless hours online trying to activate it all and calling customer service over and over and calling the regional office over and over, he finally got the right card, and it was activated, and he got his full pay.

Because of all this, i asked if they offer direct deposit to a bank account.  It seems that they do, but they make that option harder to pick, and there is a ton of paperwork to fill out to have that done.  We are going to do it anyway.  He has had a savings account at the credit union since he was very young, and now that he's 18, we will go today and convert it over to a free student account with a checking account and his own debit card that won't have a ton of fees, unless he uses an out of network ATM.

Then we will wade through the work to get his money direct deposited.  Wish us luck.


Today is:

Alfred Hitchcock Day -- some internet sources say March 8, and no one knows who picked either day, but his genius is worth celebrating

Arbor Day -- China; Taiwan

Donkey Appreciation Day -- formerly celebrated, but the lowly donkey is no longer as indispensable as he was; if you share my fondness for beasts of burden, celebrate it anyway

Girl Scouts Birthday -- US

Huddling of Fairies of the Third Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Kronprinsessans Namnsdag -- Sweden (Name Day of HRH Crown Princess Victoria, the Heir Apparent; an official flag day)

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day festival, dates approximate; celebrates the marriage of Kore and Dionysos)

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria -- in 415, she was murdered for the three crimes of being intelligent, female, and pagan

National Baked Scallops Day

National Day -- Mauritius (anniversary of independence in 1968)

National Decoration Day -- Liberia

National No Smoking Day -- UK (for help quitting, go here)

Plant a Flower Day -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation; now's a good time to give wildlife friendly perennials a head start, starting them indoors if you have to

Registered Dietitian Day -- US

St. Gregory the Great's Day (Patron of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, popes, schoolchildren, singers, stonemasons, stone cutters, students, and teachers; England; Kercem, Malta; Legazpi, Philippines; Montone, Italy; San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Italy; West Indies; against gout and plague)
     note that Pope St. Gregory is also celebrated on Sept. 3, the date he was elected pope
     Graekarismessa (Mass of St. Gregory) -- Torshavn, Faroe Islands (traditional day on which the oystercatcher, their symbolic national bird, returns)
     Gregoru Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Gregory's Day, similar to groundhog day for weather prediction)

St. Seraphina's Day (Patron of the disabled and handicapped, and of spinners)

World Day Against Cyber Censorship -- sponsored by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International

World Maths Day -- International

Youth Day -- Zambia


Anniversaries Today:

Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, 1971
Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman, 1969


Birthdays Today:

Frank Catalano, 1978
Aaron Eckhart, 1968
David Daniels, 1966
Darryl Strawberry, 1962
Marlon Jackson, 1957
Rob Cohen, 1949
James Taylor, 1948
Liza Minnelli, 1946
Al Jarreau, 1940
Barbara Feldon, 1933
Andrew Young, 1932
Edward Albee, 1928
Wally Schirra, 1923
Jack Kerouac, 1922
Gordon MacRae, 1921
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1881
Simon Newcomb, 1835
Charles Cunningham Boycott, 1832
Clement Studebaker, 1821

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moses und Aaron"(Opera), 1954
"Fervaal"(Opera; d'Indy Op. 40), 1897
"Simon Boccanegra"(Opera), 1857


Today in History:

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher, 415
Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius, 538
Orvieto, Italy, rules it will behead and burn Jewish-Christian couples, 1350
Jews are expelled from Syria, 1496
New Jersey becomes an English colony, 1664
The first steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine, 1755
Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain, 1881
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time, 1894
The first main line electric train in UK, from Liverpool to Southport, begins running, 1904
The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States, by Juliette Gordon Lowe, 1912
The foundation stone of the new Australian capital in Canberra is laid, 1913
Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax, 1930
The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism, 1947
The Church of England ordains its first female priests, 1994
Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO, 1999
Financier Bernard Madoff plead guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history, 2009
The U.S. Census Bureau reports the world now has 7 billion people, 2012

Weighty matter.

"Mom, I have a goal for my study of Spanish!" Bigger Girl informed me.

What's that? i asked.

"I want to be able to speak it so well that I can translate the story I wrote without having to look up every other word!" she said.

A worthy goal, i noted.

"By the way, how's my accent?" she asked.

Well, i know what words you are saying, but you will always sound like a gringo, i'm afraid.

"Like a what?"

A gringo, it's what some Hispanics call whites.  It comes from the song the cowboys used to sing, "Green Grows the Grass."

"Oh, okay," she said, then started reciting vocabulary.  "El chico, la chica, yes, both mean child.  El novio, la novia, boyfriend, girlfriend, I don't need either one right now.  Oh, by the way, be praying for my boy friend Tiger, that he will quit smoking."

How about i pray for his soul, too, i said.

"Well, yes, but I really want him to quit smoking."

Yes, smoking is definitely no good, now or in the afterlife, i grinned.

"Very funny," she snorted.

"Oh, wow, this is heavy!" Little Girl said at that moment, coming in with a package.  "How can something so small be so heavy!"

It must be the salt your dad buys through mail order, i said.  It's a five pound bag.

"Yes, it says 'Saltworks' on the package, but why does it have to be so heavy!  The mailman handed it to me, and I tried to grab it with just one hand, and then I almost dropped it.  I didn't expect it to be so heavy!"

Well, small doesn't always mean lightweight, i noted.  A five-pound baby in your arms feels like it's going to float away, but a five-pound weight for working out sure doesn't.  It's how dense the stuff is, like the old 'what's heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of steel.'

Thinking for a minute, Little Girl said, "Oh, I get it!  They weigh the same, but the feathers take up more room!"

Exactly.  Like the way muscle on a human body takes up less room that fat for the same amount of weight.  The muscle is more dense.

"Speaking of muscle, I can hardly wait for swim team to start up!  I like how much leaner and more muscular I get when I'm working out on swim team," Little Girl said, then left to go do a bit of "working out" with her homework.


Today is:

Bunching of Fairies for the Second Flight -- Fairy Calendar

Charter Day -- Pennsylvania, US

Cheltenham Hunt Festival -- Cheltenham Racecourse, Prestbury, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England (a five day Festival, with the big race on that final day)

Debunking Day -- internet holiday possibly started by someone tired of internet myths

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles -- Ancient Roman and Greek Calendars

Frankenstein's Birthday -- Mary Shelley's famous tale was published today in 1818

Johnny Appleseed Day / Apple Appreciation Day -- death anniversary of John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman; some say March 18

King Moshoeshoe I's Anniversary -- Lesotho

National Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day

Organize Your Home Office Day -- Lisa Kanarek wants everyone to organize their home office on the second Tuesday in March; my response is:  in one day!  is she out of her mind!

Reestablishment of Independence -- Lithuania (independence from the USSR)

St. Eulogius of Cordova's Day (Patron of carpenters, coppersmiths)

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film -- International

Worship of Tools Day -- begun by someone who knew we would be nowhere without tools



Anniversaries Today:

Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare, 1302
Emperor Napoleon married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise, 1810


Birthdays Today:

Terrance Howard, 1969
Alex Kingston, 1963
Curtis Brown, Jr., 1956
Douglas Adams, 1952
Bobby McFerrin, 1950
Jerry Zucker, 1950
Dominique Sanda, 1948
Charles W. Swan, 1942
Antonin Scalia, 1936
Sam Donaldson, 1934
Rupert Murdoch, 1931
Ralph Abernathy, 1926
Mercer Ellington, 1919
Ezra Jack Keats, 1916
Harold Wilson, 1916
Lawrence Welk, 1903
Robert Treat Paine, 1731
Torquato Tasso, 1544


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Cops"(TV), 1989
"A Raisin in the Sun"(Play), 1959
"Don Carlos"(Opera), 1867
"Rigoletto"(Opera), 1851
"I Capuleti e i Montecchi"(Opera), 1830
"The Daily Courant"(Newspaper; first British daily paper), 1702


Today in History:

Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty),BC1425
Volcano Etna in Italy erupts killing 15,000, 1669
The first English daily newspaper "Daily Courant," begins publishing, 1702
Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation, 1708
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is published, 1818
Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Maori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand, 1845
Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government, 1848
The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield, 1864
The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture,1872
The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins, lasting 4 days, 1888
The first confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918
The Bank of Canada opens, 1935
Reginald Weit became the first African American to play in the US Tennis Open, 1948
Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," the first Broadway play by a black woman, opens, 1959
Mt. Etna in Sicily erupts, 1974
Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon, 1983
Mikhail S Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader, 1985
Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, 1999
Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile, 2006
An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and triggering the second largest nuclear accident in history, 2011

Aww Monday:Why?

Aww Monday is brought to us by Sandy at Comedy Plus.  It's easy, just post a picture that will make us all say, "Aww, how cute!"

The six tiny kittens now have their eyes open and are moving around more.  They still aren't big enough, though to be allowed to run loose.

It's roomier in here!

Lorax doesn't quite understand.  He sits with them some, and tries to play with them.  He seems to wonder why they are in the kitten cage.

Why they in there, mama?

As they get bigger, they will get the hang of playing with big brother more.


Today is:

Australia Celebrations:
     Adelaide Cup Day -- SA
     Labour Day -- VIC
     Canberra Day -- ACT
     Eight Hours Day -- Tas (a/k/a Labour Day)

Brain Awareness Week begins-- the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research

Commonwealth Day -- Commonwealth of Nations (the 54 Countries which today celebrate their ties to one another; Her Majesty the Queen will issue a special message to all Commonwealth Nations citizens through their respective Presidents and Prime Ministers)

Doctor's Day -- Venezuela

Dream Day -- supposedly begun by an instructor at Columbia University as a day to concentrate on how to make your dreams come true

Farvardigan -- Ancient Persia, Zoroastrians (10 day festival for the dead before Nowruz, the New Year)

Festival of Life in the Cracks Day -- internet holiday declared because this is where most of us are, and we deserve to be celebrated!

Harriet Tubman Day -- anniversary of her death in 1913

International Day of Awesomeness -- Celebrate what is awesome about you - always on Chuck Norris' birth anniversary, because no one is more awesome than Chuck

Mario Day -- for gamers, based on the date Mar 10

National Blueberry Popover Day

National Heroes and Benefactors Day -- Belize

National Pack Your Lunch Day -- because it's cheaper and healthier

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day -- US

Shiogama Jinja Hote Festival -- Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan (mikoshi parades and Shinto music)

Sport Your Trainers Day -- Scotland (get in the mood for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, instead of your regular shoes, sport your trainers today!)

St. Kessog's Day (Patron of Lennox, Scotland; Scotland)

Taranaki Provincial Anniversary Day -- Taranaki, New Zealand

Telephone Day -- Bell sent the first message by phone, to Watson in the next room, this day in 1876

Tibetan Uprising Day -- Tibetan Independence Supporters commemoration of the 1959 uprising

Whoopsical Day -- Fairy Calendar

Workplace Napping Day -- on this, the Monday after DST begins, show your boss the studies that highlight the benefit of power naps
    some sites call it National Napping Day; either way, lie down and be counted!


Birthdays Today:

Emily Osment, 1992
Carrie Underwood, 1983
Shannon Miller, 1977
John Hamm, 1971
Edie Brickell, 1966
Prince Edward, 1964
Jasmine Guy, 1964
Rick Rubin, 1963
Pam Oliver, 1961
Sharon Stone, 1958
Shannon Tweed, 1957
Kim Campbell, 1947
Bob Greene, 1947
Tom Scholz, 1947
Chuck Norris, 1940
Dave Rabe, 1940
James Earl Ray, 1928
Pamela Mason, 1918
Bix Beiderbecke, 1903
Clare Boothe Luce, 1903


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"(TV), 1997
"The Incredible Hulk"(TV), 1978
"Sweet Bird of Youth"(Play), 1959


Today in History:

The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end, BC241
Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire, 418
King Charles I dissolves Parliament; he calls it back 11 years later, 1629
English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania, 1681
French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform, 1762
John Stone, of Concord, Massachusetts, patents a pile driver, 1791
England begins its first modern census, 1801
In St. Louis, Missouri, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States, 1804
The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria, 1831
Abraham Lincoln patents a device to help free ships in rivers from shallow water; he built a small scale model, but no full-size device was ever built, and makes him the only US president to hold a patent, 1849
Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you," 1876
Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women officers landed at New York to officially begin the work of the Salvation Army in the US, 1880
Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching, 1891
The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst ever, kills 1099 miners in Northern France, 1906
After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall," 1896
China ends slavery, 1910
Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation, 1922
In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr.; he later retracts his guilty plea, 1969
Astronomers discover rings around Uranus, 1977
In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup, 1990
The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom, 2000
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars, 2006

Silly Sunday: Birthday Fun

#2 Son turned 18 yesterday!  He was offered the opportunity to take yesterday off from his job, or today.  He chose today, because he wants to go to a baseball game with Grandpa.

We had chocolate cake, as we usually do.  It had to be baked as a layer cake instead of my usual sheet cake, as we have only the toaster oven.  Anyone who knows my skill with cake will know that i gave up and cut the layers to put into the sheet cake pan after they were cool and frosted them so you couldn't tell.  It was much better than a layer cake attempted by me would have been.

As is typical on such occasions, all of the jokes were hauled out about how he's in a unique position.  He's legally an adult, but still a teen for two years, so he gets the best of both worlds.  It's no longer his parent's responsibility to see to it that he stays alive.  And, of course, he can vote or join the military or get called up for jury duty.

That last one reminds me of a joke.

"Tee" Boudreaux had turned 18 and been summoned for jury duty for the first time.

The judge asked the potential jurors if there was any reason they couldn't serve, and "Tee" raised his hand.

When the judge acknowledged him, "Tee" said, "Mais oui, Judge, I cain't be away from de job dat long!"

"Do you mean to tell me the people at your job couldn't get along without you while you serve on a jury?" the judge asked.

"Well, Judge, I rightly don' know if dey can or not, but if dey can, I don' wan' dem to know it!"


Today is:

Armored Warships Day -- the first battle between armored warships, the Monitor and the Merrimac, was this day in 1862

Baron Bliss Day -- Belize

Buergbrennen -- Luxembourg (traditional burning of special bonfires on the first Sunday of Lent)

Day to Mourn Slavery -- commemorates the day it was outlawed worldwide in 1927, and to mourn that it still exists

Daylight Saving Time -- if your area is observing this, it switched over at two o'clock this morning; if you are just finding this out, you are already late!
     Check Your Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monixide Detectors Day -- make sure the batteries are fresh and that they are in good working order

Eid Al Moalim -- Lebanon (Teacher's Day)

Get Over It Day™ -- halfway between Valentines and April Fools, a day to just get over something or someone that is bugging you

Girl Scout Sunday -- US (encouraging Girl Scouts to wear their uniforms to church services and represent their troop to their congregations; the first day of Girl Scout Week in the US)

National Crabmeat Day

National Meatball Day

Orthodox Sunday -- Orthodox Christian

Panic Day -- a day in which to run around in a panic and tell everyone you can't take it any more, to get it all out of your system, i guess; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Saitousai -- Kashima-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan (festival to pray for good harvest that dates back to the Nara period of 710-794, and still includes traditional dress)

Second Day of No Interest to Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

St. Catherine of Bologna's Day (Patron of art, artists, Bologna Academy of Art, liberal arts, painters; against temptation)

St. Dominic Savio's Day (Patron of boys, children's choirs, choir boys, choirs, falsely accused people, juvenile delinquents, and Pueri Cantores)

St. Frances of Rome's Day (Patron of automobile drivers/motorists, cabbies/taxi drivers, lay people, people ridiculed for their piety, Roman housewives, widows)

Strinennia -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (festival to call birds and spring to come back)

Takaosan Hiwatari Matsuri -- Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan  (fire walking festival, usually on this date but can vary)

World Glaucoma Week begins -- to expand global awareness of the Silent Thief of Sight


Anniversaries Today:

Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1796
Gustav Mahler marries Alma Schindler, 1902


Birthdays Today:

Emmanuel Lewis, 1971
Juliette Binoche, 1964
Terence John "Terry" Mulholland, 1963
Linda Fiorentino, 1960
Jeffrey Osborne, 1948
David Hume Kennerly, 1947
Bobby Fischer, 1943
Trish Van Devere, 1943
Raul Julia, 1940
Marty Ingels, 1936
Mickey Gilley, 1936
Joyce Van Patten, 1934
Yuri Gagarin, 1934
Keely Smith, 1932
Ornette Coleman, 1930
Wally Bronner, 1927
Irene Papas, 1926
Mickey Spillane, 1918
Samuel Barber, 1910
Will Greer, 1902
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, 1890
Amerigo Vespucci, 1454


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Family"(TV), 1976
"Rising of the Moon"(Play), 1907
"Hamlet"(Opera), 1868
"Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor/The Merry Wives of Windsor"(Opera), 1849
"Ernani"(Opera), 1844
"Nabucco"(Opera), 1842
"Horace"(Play), 1640


Today in History:

Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China, BC141
First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg, 1009
Jews are expelled from Carintha Austria, 1496
Nicolaus Copernicus makes his first recorded astronomical observation, 1497
Marten Luther preaches his first Invocavit sermon, 1522
Kissing in public is banned in Naples, punishable by death, 1562
Publication of the economics book The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, 1776
Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours, 1839
The Amistad Ruling:  The US Supreme Court rules that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally, and were to be set free, 1841
The first documented discovery of gold in California occurred at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush, 1842
Albert Potts of Philadelphia patents the street mailbox, 1858
The Westmoreland County Coal Strike, involving 15,000 coal miners
represented by the United Mine Workers, begins, 1910
Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, 1916
Pink's War: The first Royal Air Force operation conducted independently of the British Army or Royal Navy begins, 1925
President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to the Congress, the first of his New Deal policies, 1932
CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly, in which Edward R. Murrow criticizes the senator, 1954
The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York, 1959
Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic American to serve in that position, 1990
Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Comet Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day, 1997
Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights, 2011
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft transmits images that for the very first time, allow scientists to create a 3D reconstruction of ancient water channels below the surface of Mars, 2013

Fun Night

Last night was another fun night at rEcess.

It went very smoothly.  Lots of volunteers, and plenty of action with the kids.

Katie came, for the first time since her mom had another baby.  She now has two little brothers.  That's a handful, although Katie is doing better.  She is beginning to understand that she can't put her hands in her mouth all of the time, and she can feed herself small amounts of food now.  At age 4, she's still about the size of a 2-year-old and non-verbal.

Katie, quite a handful.

Gina came with her four siblings.  Her feeding tube is giving her trouble, but that doesn't get in the way of her enjoying herself.

Lynn, with a volunteer.  She was playing queen.

You can tell from the flowers in the volunteer's hair that Little Girl had brought flower wreaths again.

She loves making flower wreaths to wear.

The night wouldn't be complete if Jack didn't come along.

Jack is going to move along, with or without the chair.  He just doesn't stop.

It was wonderful watching Lynn crawling all around again.  She's only become able to do that in the past few months.

She was never expected to be able to do this at all!

Then, there was Gracie, who made a new friend.

Gracie and Gargantua, the stuffed elephant.

 Every time she comes back, we are all impressed with how much Gracie is improving.  Early on, she pointed to her feet and kicked and looked at me expectantly.  When i asked her if she wanted to take off her shoes, she practically yelled, "Shoes off!"  She then said, "Socks off!" in an equally imperious tone, so we did just that.

She's happiest without these.

Happy feet, with her new friend nearby.

Gracie's vocabulary is growing.  She draws on the board and calls out "Ta da!" when she is done with each picture.  She identifies colors, and when i mentioned that her lunch bag has a frog face on it, she hopped like a frog.  Also, while i've seen her smile a lot, i've never heard her giggling and laughing so much as she did while calling out "Pop, pop, pop!" as she and one of Gina's sisters played with bubbles.

We played air hockey, and when some of the older siblings and adults were shooting pool, she sneaked up and stole a couple of the balls, which she then rolled across the floor and chased with glee.  She and all of the kids were very active, with loud games and making shamrock crafts and chasing each other all over the church basement.

She also conned any man she could into getting a ride.

She loves rides, a perch from which to watch all of the action.

We all had fun, and as it was time to go, Gracie's mom told her, "Tell them good-bye!"  Gracie then waved and called, "Good-bye, Ms. Mimi!" as she got in the elevator.

It's a wonderful night when we can see obvious improvement in so many ways.




Today is:

Bear Tie Ball -- Chicago, IL, US (the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation's black tie fundraiser; this year's theme is "Into the Wild: A Road to the Cure")

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Saturday:  Geneology Day, begin or continue the journey to learn about your family

Daylight Saving Time begins tonight -- Bermuda; Canada (most regions); Cuba; Haiti; Mexico (some areas); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; The Bahamas; Turks and Caicos Islands; US (most areas)(begins 2am tomorrow morning, so "spring forward" one hour before you go to bed tonight)

Day of No Interest to Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Finnmarkslopet -- Alta, Finland (the world's northernmost dog sled races, since 1981)

Girls Write Now Day -- on International Women's Day, encouraging girls as the makers of future history to put pen to paper and make their voices heard

Highland County Maple Festival -- Highland County, VA, US (this weekend and next)

International Fanny Pack Day -- started by someone who really likes the things (although i do admit they come in handy for keeping your money with you at all times when you have a garage sale)

International Women's Day -- also celebrated as:
     Day for Women's Rights and International Peace -- UN
     Mother's Day -- Afghanistan; Albania; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Laos; Macedonia; Montenegro; Republic of Moldova; Russia; Serbia; Slovenia; Tajikistan; Vietnam

Natchez Spring Pilgrimage -- Natchez, MS, US (tour of 25 antebellum mansions, some of which are private homes; through Apr. 8)

National Peanut Cluster Day

National Proofreading Day -- to promote accuracy in written messages

Revolution Day -- Syria

St. John of God's Day (Patron of alcoholics, bookbinders, booksellers, dying people, firefighters, heart patients, hospitals, hospital workers, nurses, publishers, printers, sick people; Tultepec, Mexico; against alcoholism, bodily ills and sickness)

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign -- Canisteo, NY (San Juan Capistrano has swallows, and Canisteo has living trees planted to spell out the name of the valley where the turkey vultures/buzzards return each year, traditionally on St. Patrick's Day; this weekend and next enjoy living history events, dealers, and demonstrations on Amish farms -- but only on Saturdays on the farms)


Anniversary Today:

Harry Hamlin marries Nicollette Sheridan, 1991


Birthdays Today:

Marcia Newby, 23, 1988
Bob, Clint, and Dave Moffatt, 1984
Kat Von D, 1982
James Van der Beek, 1977
Freddie Prinze, Jr., 1976
Kathy Ireland, 1963
Camryn Manheim, 1961
Aidan Quinn, 1959
James Edward "Jim" Rice, 1953
Carole Bayer Sager, 1947
Micky Dolenz, 1945
Lynn Redgrave, 1943
Susan Clark, 1940
Raynoma Gordy Singleton, 1937
Cyd Charisse, 1923
Alan Hale, Jr., 1921
Claire Trevor, 1909
Louise Beavers, 1902
Kenneth Grahame, 1859
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., 1841
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, 1714


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Mary, Mary"(Play), 1961
Symphony No. 2 in D major(Sibelius Op. 43), 1901
"Don Quixote"(Straus Op. 35), 1898
"Emilia Galotti"(Play), 1772


Today in History:

William Claxton completes his translation from French into English of Mirror of the World; as England's first printer, he will soon turn this into England's first illustrated print book, 1481
John Casor becomes the first legally-recognized slave in what will be the United States, 1655
Anne Stuart, sister of Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1702
Thomas Paine's "African Slavery in America," the first article in the U.S. calling for the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery is published, 1775
Gnadenhütten massacre: Ninety-six Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity are killed by Pennsylvania militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians, 1782
The New York Stock Exchange is founded, 1817
The first train crosses the first US railway suspension bridge at Niagara Falls, 1855
Everett Horton of Connecticut patents a fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes, 1887
International Women's Day is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, 1911
Mahatma Gandhi starts civil disobedience in India, 1930
Daytona Beach Road Course holds their first oval stock car race, 1936
Phyllis M Daley is the first black nurse sworn-in as US Navy ensign, 1945
Ghana joins the United Nations, 1957
The first radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is transmitted on BBC Radio 4, 1978
Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc publicly for the first time, 1979
Martina Navratilova becomes the 1st tennis player to earn $10 million, 1986
The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing, 1999
The first comprehensive map of the debris field of the RMS Titanic is revealed, 2012