Does anyone else feel like January just melted away?
It has disappeared, and I didn't get much done, it seems. I feel like I have spent the whole month trying to get warm, and little else. I'm like one of those heat seeking missiles, I believe.
So, in order to try not to let February get away from me, I will attempt to have my taxes done by the end of this month. If I can accomplish that, and keep up with the usual day to day work, I will feel a little bit more in control.
At this point, I could go off on a philosophical discussion of the illusion of control, and fate, and determinism, ad nauseum, but I will refrain from doing that to anyone and sit on my heating pad and sort paperwork instead.
Today is:
Australia Day
Be An Encourager Day
Candlemas Eve
Cross-Quarter Day
Freedom Day
G.I. Joe Day
Give Kids A Smile Day
Hula in The Coola Day
Independence Day, Honduras
National Baked Alaska Day
National Enrolled Agent's Day
Robinson Crusoe Day
Spunky Old Broads' Day (also all month -- I hope I live long enough to qualify as one of these someday!)
Spring Mother Celebration -- Norse Calendar
St. Brigid's Day (aka St. Bridget; patron of dairy workers, dairy maids, poultry raisers, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand)
Women's Heart Health Day
Working Naked Day (Not me, I don't want to scare the natives!)
Birthdays Today:
Lisa Marie Presley, 1968
Pauly Shore, 1968
Sherilyn Fenn, 1965
Brandon Lee, 1965
Princess Stephanie of Monaco, 1965
Bill Mumy, 1954
Rick James, 1948
Sherman Helmsley, 1938
Don Everly, 1937
Garrett Morris, 1937
Boris Yeltsin, 1931
S.J. Perelman, 1904
Langston Hughes, 1902
Clark Gable, 1901
John Ford, 1895
Today in History:
Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, is rescued from the uninhabited archipelago of Juan Fernandez, 1709
The Ottoman sultan orders the capture of his unwelcome guest, King Charles XII, resulting in the Kalabalik i Bender (Tumult in Bender), 1713
The first US steamboat patent is issued, by Georgia, to Briggs & Longstreet, 1788
The American Insurance Company of Philadelphia opens, the first such company managed by blacks, 1810
Volcano Mayon on Luzon, Philippines erupts killing 1,200, 1814
The first US dental school, the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, is incorporated, 1840
Auburn University is chartered as the East Alabama Male College, 1856
Morris Raphall of NYC becomes the first rabbi to open the House of Representatives, 1860
Julia Howe publishes the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," 1862
Jefferson Long of Georgia is the first black to make an official speech in the House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates), 1871
The first volume of A New English Dictionary, later called the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, is published, 1888
Thomas Edison completes the world's first movie studio, in West Orange, N.J., 1893
The first auto insurance policy is issued, by The Travelers Insurace Co., 1898
China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet, 1902
The first US federal penitentiary is completed, at Leavenworth, Kansas, 1906
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police, 1920
We had some mild and pleasant weather last week, which usually signals that Old Man Winter is on his way out.
This does not mean no more cold. In fact, we are back down to freezing temperatures again now. After all, even though he knows he will lose, in fact has lost, Old Man Winter keeps fighting for a few more weeks -- stubborn to the end.
It just means we need to hold out a bit longer.
I wish a mild and pleasant and early spring to everyone.
Today is:
Backward Day
Child Labor Day
Feast of Great Typos (I've made several of those!)
Independence Day, Nauru
Inspire Your Heart with Art Day
Kitchen God Visits Heaven, China
National Brandy Alexander Day
National Popcorn Day
National Seed Swap Day
St. John Bosco's Day (patron of editors, apprentices)
Valkyries' Day, Norse
Birthdays Today:
Justin Timberlake, 1981
Kerry Washington, 1977
Minnie Driver, 1971
Kelly Lynch, 1959
Nolan Ryan, 1947
Charlie Musselwhite, 1944
Richard Gephardt, 1941
suzanne Pleshette, 1937
James Franciscus, 1934
Ernie Banks, 1931
Jean Simmons, 1929
Carol Channing, 1923
Norman Mailer, 1923
Mario Lanza, 1921
Jackie Robinson, 1919
Thomas Merton, 1915
Garry Moore, 1915
Tallulah Bankhead, 1903
Eddie Cantor, 1892
Zane Grey, 1872
Tokugawa Ieyasu, Shogun of Japan, 1543
Today in History:
The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital, 1747
The Corn Laws (tarrifs on imported grains) are abolished in Britain, paving the way for more free trade, 1849
An automobile exceeds 100 mph (161 kph) for the first time, at Daytona Beach, driven by A. G. MacDonald, 1905
Scotch tape is first marketed by the 3M Company, 1928
I remember having mononucleosis in college. It was not fun.
Now, my Little Girl's best friend, the one she spends time with almost every day, has been diagnosed with it. We get to play the wait and see game, hoping she hasn't spread the joy.
As often as those kids forget which cup of water is their own and grab the first one they "think" was the right one, I figure it's a coin toss.
Meanwhile, Bigger Girl got an A for her science experiment at the school science fair. She experimented on her younger brother and sister, making them take a math test, then go 20 hours with no sleep, take the test again, then drink an energy drink, and take the test a 3rd time. All of this to show how caffeine affects concentration, sleepiness, attention, and problem solving ability.
Enjoy tonight's Full Wolf Moon, if it won't be cloudy where you are.
Today is:
Escape Day
Festival of Peace
Full Wolf Moon (So called because of the hungry wolves howling this time of year.)
Inane Answering Message Day
Mahayana New Year (Through Feb. 1) -- Buddhist
National Croissant Day
National Inane Answering Message Day
Paul Bunyan Sled Dog Races (30th and 31st)
Perigean Spring Tides
Puce and Ochre Day -- Fairy Calendar
St. Aldegund's Day (patron against cancer, childhood illness, fever, eye disease, sudden death, wounds)
St. Bathild's Day
Three Archbishops' Day
Tu B'shvat --Jewish
Yodel For Your Neighbors Day (Why? Do you hate your neighbors?)
Birthdays Today:
Brett Butler, 1958
Phil Collins, 1951
Steve Marriott, 1947
Marty Balin, 1942
Dick Cheney, 1941
Vanessa Redgrave, 1937
Boris spassky, 1937
Tammy Grimes, 1934
Louis Ruckeyser, 1933
Gene Hackman, 1930
Dorothy Malone, 1925
Dick Martin, 1922
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1882
Thomas Rolfe, 1615 (Only child of John Rolfe and Pocahontas.)
Today in History:
The Jews of Freilsburg, Germany, are massacred, 1349
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, is ritually executed after having been dead for two years, 1661
Henry Greathead tests the first boat intended to be specialized as a lifeboat for rescue purposes, which he invented, on the River Tyne in England, 1790
The burned Library of Congress is reestablished, with Thomas Jefferson contributing much of his beloved violin collection, 1815
The Menai Suspension Bridge, considered the world's first modern suspension bridge, connecting the Isle of Anglesey to the north West coast of Wales is opened, 1826
A fire destroys two-thirds of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, 1841
The city of Yerba Buena is renamed San Francisco, for the nearby mission of the same name, 1847
William Wells Brown publishes the first Black drama, "Leap to Freedom," 1858
The US Navy's first ironclad warship, the Monitor, is launched, 1862
The pneumatic hammer is patented by Charles King of Detroit, 1894
The House of Lords rejects the Irish Home Rule Bill, 1913
"The Lone Ranger" begins a 21 year run on ABC radio, 1933
I am convinced, after this morning more than ever, that computers are worse spoiled brats that children sometimes are.
Mine is acting like the consummate whiny baby today. So I will let it have its tantrum, shut it down, and let it get over itself.
Like I used to tell the kids, "Put on your big kid pants and deal with it!"
I wonder what the equivalent to big kid pants is for a computer?
Today is:
Blue and Pink Day -- Fairy Calendar
Carnation Day
Freethinkers Day (To honor Thomas Paine)
Fun at Work Day
National Corn Chip Day
National Puzzle Day
St. Sulpicius Severus' Day
Thomas Paine Day
World Leprosy Day
Anniversaries Today:
Kansas becomes the 34th US state, 1861
Birthdays Today:
Adam Lambert, 1982
Jonny Lang, 1981
Andrew Keegan, 1979
Sara Gilbert, 1975
Heather Graham, 1970
Greg Louganis, 1960
Oprah Winfrey, 1954
Teresa Teng, 1953
Ann Jillian, 1950
Tom Selleck, 1945
Katharine Ross, 1942
John Forsythe, 1918
Victor Mature, 1913
W.C. Fields, 1880
Anton Chekhov, 1860
William McKinley, 1843
Today in History:
The first performance of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1595
John Beckley of Virginia is appointed the first Librarian of Congress, 1802
Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" is first published, 1845
The Victoria Cross is established to acknowledge bravery, 1856
Liliuokalani is proclaimed Queen of Hawaii, its last monarch, 1891
Walt Disney starts his first job as an artist, earning $40/week with the KC Slide Co, 1920
Is serendipity dying out?
It sounds like a funny question to ask, but I saw an article on this a couple of weeks ago. I have been wondering about it ever since,
Today is Serendipity Day, the anniversary of the day the word was coined. It comes from Serendip, the Persian name for Sri Lanka, and means the stumbling upon something fortunate while looking for something else, and being smart enough to recognize it. I tend to think of it as adding up 2 plus 2 and getting 4.3.
So, does serendipity happen as often as it used to? This question has come up because of the computer age, believe it or not. When we use computers to look for ideas, products, answers to questions, or to do research, the computer programs usually steer us right to what we asked for, and then gives us options that match our requests. You've seen this when you look for a specific book on a website, and then it tells you that you might also be interested in these other titles, all having to do with the same subject. This cuts out, or at least cuts down on, the possibility of running into a book you weren't actually looking for, but which will meet another need, which can happen when you just browse in a bookstore.
Because serendipity depends upon a person being sagacious enough to recognize the situation for what it is, I also wonder if our shorter attention spans are making it rarer. The fact that we tend to skim along from page to page on the web, or surf channel to channel on the tv, seems to have even the most attentive of us moving at a faster pace than ever. Are we passing up serendipitous opportunities because we just aren't spending enough time pondering, perusing, or digesting new information?
As I have thought about this topic, I have noticed myself slowing down a bit and taking closer looks at things. It paid off yesterday in me catching, out of the corner of my eye, a glimpse of something in a shopping cart of another shopper. I had wandered back to where the store has free coffee and found out the store once again carries a product they had stopped stocking at one point. I would not have searched for the item if I hadn't noticed it in her cart, especially as it is in the garden center now, instead of near pet food where it used to be. Serendipity? Luck? God's provision? (On that last one, yes, definitely, that is always part of it.) Whatever it is, I want to slow down and look and see more, not just glance all of the time.
If serendipity is being passed up now, I hope it makes a comeback.
Today is:
Bald Eagle Day
Clash Day
Daisy Day
Fun at Work Day
Hall of Fame Day
Independence Day, Rwanda
National Blueberry Pancake Day
National Kazoo Day
National Spieling Day
Rattlesnake Roundup Day
Rinkydinks Annual Snowball Fight
Serendipity Day
St. Charlemagne's Day
St. Thomas Aquinas's Day (patron of students, pencil makers, theologians)
Birthdays Today:
Elijah Wood, 1981
Nick Carter, 1980
Joey Fatone, Jr. 1977
Sarah McLachlan, 1968
Nicolas Sarkozy, 1955
Rick Warren, 1954
Alan Alda, 1936
Susan Sontag, 1933
Jackson Pollack, 1912
Robert Stroud, 1890 (The Birdman of Alcatraz)
Arthur Rubenstein, 1887
Colette, 1873
Jose' Marti, 1853
Peter the Great of Russia, 1775
St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225
Today in History:
The Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted by Pope Gregory VIII, 1077
The first Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria, 1099
Pope Alexander VI gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France, 1495
Edward VI, age nine, succeeds his father Henry VIII as king of England, 1547
By the Edict of Orleans, the persecution of French Huguenots is suspended, 1561
Sir Thomas Warner found the first British colony in the Caribbean, on St. Kitts, 1624
The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree (it was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917), 1724
Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity, 1754
London's Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight, 1807
Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom, 1813
In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick, 1887
The first Jewish US Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, is appointed by Wilson, 1916
Mrs. Mildred, over at Mildred's Menagerie ( http://mildredsmenagerie.blogspot.com/2010/01/tapestry.html ), inspired me to quote a poem today.
This poem was quoted in at least 2 of Corrie Ten Boom's books that I remember. (For any not familiar with the story, Corrie and her family hid Jews during the German occupation of the Netherlands, and were eventually caught and imprisoned.) She said she did not know who wrote it, so if anyone has any further knowledge of it, let me know and I will give the appropriate kudos.
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I do not choose the colors;
He weaves it carefully.
Sometimes He chooses sorrow,
And I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the underside.
Not till the loom is silent,
And shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unfold the canvass
And explain the reasons why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the skillful Weaver's hands
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
When she spoke, Corrie would often demonstrate this principle by showing first the tangled and unlovely back side of a woven tapestry, then turning it to show a lovely crown on the front.
There is a reason why. We just don't know it, yet.
Today is:
Brussels Lace Day
Chocolate Cake Day
Family Literacy Day
Holocost Memorial Day
National Activity Professionals Day
National Compliment Day
National School Nurse Day
Punch the Clock Day
St. Angela Merici's Day
Anniversaries Today:
The University of Georgia is chartered, the first state university in the US, 1785
The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, 1870
Birthdays Today:
Jennifer LB Leese, 1970
Patton Oswalt, 1969
Bridget Fonda,1964
Cris Collinsworth, 1959
Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1948
Nick Mason, 1944
Troy Donahue, 1936
Donna Reed, 1921
David Seville, 1919
Skitch Henderson, 1918
Jerome Kern, 1885
Samuel Gompers, 1850
Lewis Carroll, 1832
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756
Today in History:
Trajan becomes Roman Emperor, 98
The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, 661
Song Dynasty General Yue Feiis wrongfully executed, 1142
Dante becomes a Florentine political exile, 1302
The first American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island, 1662
Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Instanbul, 1695
Czar Peter the Great sets the first Russian state budget, 1710
Abdication of Stanislas, the last king of Poland, 1736
The US Congress approves the opening of Indian Territory for settlement, which led to the forced relocation of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears," 1825
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are incorporated, 1870
Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the electric incandescent lamp, 1880
The National Geographic Society is organized, in Washington, D.C., 1888
"Tarzan of the Apes," the first Tarzan movie, premiers, 1918
When I found out I was teaching personal finance again this semester, I was elated. I think every high school student needs to take a course in this important subject before graduating. It is a shame that we don't teach these kids how to handle money.
Later, when I found out I was teaching 9, 10, and 11 year olds, I panicked. The curriculum is geared to teens! How do I do this?
Well, my approach, of just talking to them, reading them stories (the Dave Ramsey "Jr." stories), and taking it slowly is paying off. Today Joshua, whose mom will tell you has the attention span of a flea on a hot brick, not only explained the snowball illustration I gave last week, he left the class saying, "I don't want to pay interest to anybody, I just want to earn interest on my money!"
Hallelujah! They are getting it!
Today is:
Australia Day (Commemorates Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival at Sydney Cove with the First Fleet, on January 26, 1778.)
Duarte Day, Dominican Republic
End of the Fifth Quarter of the Ninth Dozen of the Thirteenth Set -- Fairy Calendar
Lotus 1-2-3 Day
National Peanut Brittle Day
National Popcorn Day
National Speak Up and Succeed Day
Republic Day, India
Spike the Punch Day
Spouse's Day
St. Paula's Day (patron of widows)
Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement
Up-Helly-AA Day, Lerwick, Shetland (fire festival)
Anniversaries Today:
Michigan becomes the 26th US state, 1837
Birthdays Today:
Kherington Payne, 1990
Kirk Franklin, 1970
Wayne Gretzky, 1961
Anita Baker, 1958
Ellen DeGeneres, 1958
Eddie Van Halen, 1955
Lucinda Williams, 1953
Gene Siskel, 1946
Angela Davis, 1944
Scott Glenn, 1942
Bob Uecker, 1935
Jules Feiffer, 1929
Paul Newman, 1925
Anne Jeffreys, 1923
Maria Augusta von Trapp, 1905
Douglas MacArthur, 1880
Mary Maples Dodge, 1831
Emperor Go-Nara of Japan, 1497
Today in History:
The fifth recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 66
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil, 1500
Isaac Newton receives Jean Bernoulli's 6 month time-limit problem, and solves the problem before going to bed that same night, 1697
The magnitude 9 Cascadia Earthquake took place off the west coast of the North America, as evidenced by Japanese records, 1700
The Rum Rebellion, the only successful (albeit short-lived) armed takeover of the government in Australia, 1808
Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States, 1838
Hong Kong is proclaimed a sovereign territory of Britain, 1841
The first US income tax, passed to raise funds for the Civil War, is repealed, 1871
Muhammad Ahmed ("Mahdi") rebels conquer Khartoum, Sudan, 1885
The World's largest diamond, the 3,106-carat Cullinan, is found, 1905
The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III is officially introduced into British Military Service, and remains the oldest military rifle still in official use, 1907
Former Ford Motor Co. executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer, 1920
