Awww Monday: Be Careful!

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Be careful where you sit around here:

You never know if the chair is already occupied!

Today is:

Commemoration Day -- Tunisia

Day of Accord and Reconciliation -- Russia (formerly Great October Socialist Revolution Day, with the date determined by the Gregorian Calendar)

Feast of Blessed John Duns Scotus (the Subtle Doctor, known for merging the views from many philosophies)
     Dunce Day -- from the word Dunse, a name for the followers of the philosophy of John Duns Scotus

Feast of Stolen Fire -- find it listed on several sites, but none have any background; maybe celebrate that Prometheus stole fire for us?

Herring King Festival -- Etaples, France (Hareng Roi, a festival worth seeing at least once in your life; through tomorrow)

International Tongue Twister Day -- internet generated

Job Action Day -- a day for workers and job seekers to put job or career in the forefront, make plans, and take action 

National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

National Day -- Tonga(obs.)

National Notary Public Day -- US 

National Revolution and Solidarity Day -- Bangladesh

October Revolution Day -- Belarus; Kyrgyzstan; Transdniestria

Recreation Day -- Tasmania, Australia

Stay Away from Anyone named Honest John Day -- internet generated; no comment

St. Florentius' Day (Patron against gall stones, ruptures)

St. Willibrord's Day (Patron of epileptics; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Utrecht, Netherlands; against convulsions, epilepsy)

Traffic Director's Day -- Traffic Directors Guild of America (those who are Traffic Managers, Inventory Control Specialists, Revenue Managers, or many other terms in the broadcasting and mobile industries)

Wish Granting Championships -- Fairy Calendar (Fairies)


Anniversary Today:

The Old Stoughton Musical Society, the oldest choral society in the US, is founded, 1786



Birthdays Today:

Jeremy London, 1972
Keith Lockhart, 1959
Joni Mitchell, 1943
Johnny Rivers, 1942
Barry Newman, 1938
Joan Sutherland, 1926
Al Hirt, 1922
Billy Graham, 1918
Albert Camus, 1913
Dean Jagger, 1903
Leon Trotsky, 1879
Madame Marie Curie, 1867
Captain James Cook, 1728


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"America Hurrah"(van Itallie play), 1966
"Face the Nation"(TV), 1954
"Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"(Radio),1932
The Republican Elephant, as drawn by T. Nast in Harper's Weekly, 1874
"The Conscious Lovers"(Steele play), 1722
The Oxford Gazette(first edition), 1665 (Now The London Gazette)


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
The first edition of the "London Gazette", the oldest surviving journal, is published, 1665
Lewis and Clark first sight the Pacific Ocean, 1805
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
Women in the U.S. state of Colorado are granted the right to vote, 1893
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
Carl B. Stokes is elected as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first African American mayor of a major American city, 1967
Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States, 1989
Mary Robinson becomes the first woman to be elected President of the Republic of Ireland, 1990
NASA launches the Mars Global Surveyor, 1996
U.S. voters in the state of Massachusetts approve a referendum legalizing the use of medical marijuana; Colorado and Washington approve the legalization of recreational use of the drug, 2012

Silly Sunday: Heritage

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs.  The rules are simple, just have fun.

This is a great opportunity to get to know other bloggers and have a laugh or two in the process.

Here is how it works: Laugh and Link Up!
1. Post a joke.
2. Link Up with the URL to your joke in the Linky Tools Widget.
3. Read my joke.
4. Leave a comment to tell me how much you enjoyed my joke.
5. Try and visit a few others participating in Silly Sunday.
6. Go to Sandee's site, linked above, and get the Silly Sunday code for your blog, too!

Last week, our church celebrated Reformation Sunday and the church's Scottish heritage.  Several families proudly wore their colours (plaids, or tartans).  A few of us got into discussions about our ancestors, and how much fun it can be to look up such information.

Boudreaux an' Thibodeaux done got in de conversation 'bout ancestors and religion, an' a question come up, an' dey go to ax MawMaw Couvillion.  She be de one you ax, 'cause she know all de families, she done de ancestor research, she done been up to Nova Scotia to see de Acadian side o' her family, an' she be a good Cajun an' go to church ever' Sunday an' ever't'ing.

"MawMaw Couvillion," Boudreaux say, "do you know, when He were on earth, was De Lawd a Cajun?"

An' MawMaw Couvillion, she t'ink 'bout dat, an' fin'ly she say, "Mais, I cain't rightly say He were from what I know wit' theology, but He sure were good enough to be!"





Today is:

Basketball Day -- birth anniversary of James Naismith

Birth of Tiamat -- Ancient Babylonian Calendar (mother of gods, goddess of primeval chaos; date approximate)

Constitution Day -- Dominican Republic; Tajikistan; Tatarstan, Russian Federation

Daylight Saving Time ends -- Bermuda; Canada (most areas); Cuba; Greenland (some areas); Haiti; Mexico (Baja area); Saint Pierre and Miquelon; The Bahamas; US (most areas)

Electric Razor Day -- Jacob Schick patented the first electric razor on this day in 1937

Finnish Swedish Heritage Day -- Finland

Fish Returning Days begin -- Fairy Calendar (the fairies borrow centuries old fish in sealed crystal boxes from each other, and why they prefer each others or what they do with them, they will not tell)

Green March Day -- Morocco; Western Sahara

Gustavus Adolphus Day -- Sweden

Halfway Point of Autumn

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

International End Gossip Day -- the founder of this didn't want to be gossiped about, and left no trace

London to Brighton Veteran Car Run -- England (a race composed of only pre-1905 vehicles)

Marching Band Day -- birth anniversary of John Philip Sousa

Marooned Without A Compass Day -- internet generated; how's your sense of direction?

National Sleep-In Day -- begun by those who want you to spend the extra hour gained resetting your clocks catching up on your ZZZZ's

National Nachos Day / I Love Nachos Day

New York City Marathon -- NY, NY, US

Saxophone Day -- Adolphe Sax birth anniversary

St. Illtyd's Day (Abbot, reputed cousin of King Arthur)

St. Leonard's Day (Patron of barrel makers/coopers, blacksmiths, captives, childbirth, coal miners, coppersmiths, greengrocers, horses, imprisoned people, locksmiths, miners, porters, P.O.W.'s, prisoners; Castelmauro, Italy; Conegliano, Italy; Kirkop, Malta; against burglaries, robberies/robbers)

Zero Tasking Day -- spend the extra hour gained when turning the clocks back doing nothing, just practice being


Birthdays Today:

Ethan Hawke, 1970
Pat Tillman, 1976
Rebecca Romijn, 1972
Thandie Newton, 1972
Ethan Hawke, 1970
Kelly Rutherford, 1968
Lance Kerwin, 1960
Maria Shriver, 1955
Nigel Havers, 1949
Glenn Frey, 1948
Sally Field, 1946
Mike Nichols, 1931
Walter Perry Johnson, 1887
James Naismith, 1861
Ignace Paderewski, 1860
John Philip Sousa, 1854
Cesare Lombroso, 1835
Adolphe Sax, 1814


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(movie), 2005
"Good Morning America"(TV), 1975
"The Phil Donahue Show"(TV), 1967
"Meet The Press"(TV), 1947


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
Scenes of Clerical Life, the first work of fiction by the author later known as George Eliot, is submitted for publication, 1856
Canada celebrates its first official, national Thanksgiving Day, 1879
Mohandas Gandhi is arrested while leading a march of Indian miners in South Africa, 1913
Colonel Jacob Schick patents the first electric razor, 1928
Edwin Armstrong presents his paper "A Method of Reducing Disturbances in Radio Signaling by a System of Frequency Modulation" to the New York section of the Institute of Radio Engineers (hello, FM radio!), 1935
Parker Brothers acquires the forerunner patents for MONOPOLY from Elizabeth Magie, 1935
Plutonium is first produced at the Hanford Atomic Facility, 1944
The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and calls for all UN member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation, 1962
Cuba and the United States formally agree to begin an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States, 1965
Green March begins: 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converge on the southern city of Tarfaya and wait for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara, 1975
Australians vote to keep the Head of the Commonwealth as their head of state in the Australian republic referendum, 1999
In a meeting the Vatican described as "warm," King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia becomes the first Saudi monarch to ever have an audience with a pope, Benedict XVI; they discuss the treatment of Christians in Saudi Arabia, 2007

The Saga of Juror 83

Well, it wasn't exactly a saga, but it sure sounds better than the title How My Jury Duty Went This Week.

Around here, you know you are about to be called up because they send you a form to fill out, asking you if you are a resident who speaks, reads, and writes English, are under age 70, and asking if you have anything wrong with you that would keep you from being able to serve.

Once you've mailed that back, it's only a matter of time.  My time came last year, and Sweetie had just lost his job, i had just been hired for the holiday season at the bakery, and i begged to be delayed.

The delay put me right in the middle of the Mother's Day rush at the bakery, so i was delayed again.

This time, there would be no delay and i knew my fate.  Or at least, i thought i did.

Once there this past Monday, they told us we had drawn a great week.  Tuesday, being November 1, was the All Saints' Day holiday, and the court would be closed!  No, it's not a federal holiday, but this is Catholic territory and it's been a local day off for many people since time immemorial (or at least since the early 1700s) and they aren't going to give it up if they can help it.  The judges are especially not going to give it up.

Next was assignment to judges, and i was assigned to a judge who wasn't going to be ready for potential juror interviews until Wednesday, so i was free to go until then.  Thus i was able to still do Ms. S's house, albeit late, and then do Ms. C's house on Tuesday as usual.

Wednesday morning, i went to the cat shelter and got as much done as i could until it was time to go to court.  At the courthouse, one set of jurors were let go because the defendant went ahead and pled guilty.  The rest of us waited, and waited, and waited.  They showed a movie, and those of us who didn't want to watch the movie went in the reading room, and we waited.

By 11:45, i was starting to wonder if the judge i'd been assigned to had gotten them to settle their case.  We were allowed to go to lunch until 1pm.  Most of us decamped to either the greasy cafe in the building or to one of the local eateries.

At 1pm, it was another hurry back to wait.  Then, finally, at 1:25, they came in and said one of the cases had settled, and started calling numbers of those who could leave.  Bingo!  My number came up, and i was gone.

Thursday and Friday i was able to do my normal routines.

The score for the week is two days of jury service, in which i didn't even have to be interviewed as a potential juror and for which i will be paid the princely sum of $12/day plus milage.  This means i didn't miss any work (my Wednesday lady is out of town, so i wouldn't have had work that day anyway) and, best of all, they cannot call me back for 2 whole years!



Today is:

Children's Day -- Malaysia

Conmemoracion Patriotica en la Ciudad de Colon -- Panama

Day of the First Shout for Independence -- El Salvador

Digital Scrapbooking Day -- it certainly takes up less room than the other kinds!

Egyptian Day -- Medieval Europe day of bad forturne (common saying on this day was, "Notwithstanding, I will trust the Lord.")

Fall Country Jamboree -- Barberville, FL, US (celebration of pioneer life, with music, crafts, historic displays, Native and Cracker camps, and more; through tomorrow)

Festival of Amun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Guy Fawkes' Day -- Canadian province of Newfoundland & Labrador; New Zealand; UK; a/k/a Gunpowder Day, bonfires celebrate that Guy Fawkes plot did not succeed; related famous celebrations
     Burning of the Tar Barrels -- Ottery St. Mary, Devon, UK (17 barrels soaked in tar are lit outside 17 taverns and carried through the town)
     Guy Fawkes Carnival -- Bridgwater, Somerset, UK (a festival that traces its origins to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605)
     Lewes Bonfire Night -- Lewes, East Sussex, UK
     Turning the Devil's Stone -- Shebbear, Devon, UK (erratic stone, possibly from an Ice Age deposit, turned every year on this day to assure good forturne)

Kalamazoo Russian Festival -- Kalamazoo, MI, US

Lovington Fall Arts and Crafts Festival -- Lovington, NM, US (over 100 local and regional crafters; through tomorrow)

National Doughnut Day -- well, it's better than buy a donut day, that one's too obvious

Nones of November -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Peddler's Village Apple Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (fun for all, through tomorrow)

Popes Day -- US name for the remembrance of Guy Fawkes' Day

Sadie Hawkins Day -- US (on the Saturday nearest Nov. 9, and based on the Li'l Abner comic, a day for women to ask out the man of their choice; also widely observed on Feb. 29 because of a law passed by Parliament of Scotland in 1288)

Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens -- Pine Mountain, GA, US (a six-race steeplechase)

St. Elizabeth's Day and St. Zechariah's Day -- parents of John the Baptist (Elizabeth is Patron of pregnant women)

Texas Book Festival -- Austin, TX, US (one of the nation's most prestigious literary festivals, especially celebrating renowned Texas authors; through tomorrow)

Unique 150 Hands-On Mystery Object Event -- Logic Puzzle Museum, Burlington, WI, US (come join the fun and use your brain puzzling out what these 298 mystery objects, many of them antique, are or used to do; through Nov. 20)

Verboort Sausage and Kraut Dinner -- Forest Grove, OR, US (beer and their famous sausage, as well as home-baked goods and fun)

Wet Wellington Day -- Fairy Calendar (Imps and Gremlins; they really love it when this falls on a Wednesday)

Wuwuchim Fire Ceremonies begin -- Hopi Native American (dating approximate, as these ceremonies are now mostly closed to outsiders, a celebration of Masaw, god of death, and Spider Woman, the earth mother; a 16 day festival and manhood ceremony for adolescent boys)


Anniversary Today:

George W. Bush marries Laura Welch, 1977


Birthdays Today:

Kevin Jonas, 1987
Corin Nemec, 1971
Judy Reyes, 1967
Tatum O'Neal, 1963
Tilda Swinton, 1960
Bryan Adams, 1959
Bill Walton, 1952
Peter Noone, 1947
Sam Shepard, 1943
Art Garfunkel, 1941
Elke Sommer, 1940
Geoffrey Wolff, 1937
Ike Turner, 1931
Vivien Leigh, 1913
Roy Rogers, 1911
Joel McCrea, 1905
Strom Thurmond, 1902
Raymond Loewy, 1893
Will Durant, 1885
Ida M. Tarbell, 1857
Eugene Debs, 1855


Debuting/Premiering Today

"Into the Woods"(Sondheim musical), 1987
"Fifth of July"(Wilson play), 1980
"The Nat King Cole Show, 1956
The New York Weekly Journal(first edition), 1733


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
The first post office in the Colonies is opened in the home of Richard Fairbanks, 1639
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
Colombia joins the United Nations, 1945
USS Rentz, USS Reeves and USS Oldendorf visit Qingdao (Tsing Tao) China — the first US Naval visit to China since 1949, 1986
André Dallaire attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada, but is thwarted when the Prime Minister's wife locks the door, 1995
Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial, 2006
China's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1 goes into orbit around the Moon, 2007
The Fundão Dam in Brazil collapses, killing 23 and causing a second dam to fail, which releases a massive flood of mud down the Rio Dulce, 2015

Good Morning Feline and Friendly Fill-ins

Feline Friday is hosted by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.
Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is..
1) post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (They may be silly or cute)
2) go to Steve's page, linked above, then on the menu bar click on the Feline Friday tab to get the code
3) paste the code under your cat picture
4) add your name and link
That’s all there is to it! Be sure to check back every so often and visit all the Feline Friday bloggers. Also, please leave a nice comment on their blogs. Nasty comments will be deleted!

How your day starts with kittens.

Mom!  Mommommommom!  We're hungry!  Put down the coffee, we're hungry!

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

Friendly Fill-Ins are four fun and easy statements to complete. Ellen of 15andmeowing provides the first two statements and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader.  They try to make sure they will be fun to both answer and share. On Friday, the linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM. Please head to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

Week 26: November 4, 2016

1. Peace ____________________________.

2. I need to ___________________________, but I keep procrastinating.

3. A friend is _____________________. 

4. I _____________  try to _____________________. 



1. Peace is possible, we all need to want peace more than we want other things.

2. I need to clean and organize my house, but i keep procrastinating because who in the world wants to clean their own house after cleaning other people's all day long?

3. A friend is someone you love and make time for.

4. I always try to vote in every single election.  Even if i don't like who is running, i go vote.  The only time i didn't was because i ended up in the hospital, and it was a local election and the person i wanted didn't stand a chance anyway.  It still bothers me that i couldn't.  Too many people have fought to give me the right, and too many women wished they could and never got the chance for me to waste the opportunity.



Today is:

Arbor Day -- Samoa

Breeder's Cup World Championship -- Santa Anita Park, Los Angeles, CA, US (the world's best horses compete in 14 races; through tomorrow)

Chicken Lady Day -- Miami, FL, US (in honor of The Chicken Lady, whose nonprofit organization helps people get over being "chicken" about public speaking)

Citizenship Day -- Northern Mariana Islands

Colorado Country Christmas Gift Show -- Denver, CO, US (through Sunday)

Community Service Day -- Dominica

Constitution Day/National Day -- Tonga

Feast of Qudrat (Power) -- Baha'i

Festival of Fisher's Ghost -- Campbelltown City, Australia (ten days of celebrating the legends of Australia's most famous ghost, Frederick Fisher)

Flag Day -- Panama

Giorno dell'Unita Nazionale e Festa delle Forze Armate and Victory Day -- Italy (National Unity and Armed Forces Day; celebration of the 1918 Treaty with Austria)

Guy Fawkes Eve -- sometimes called Mischief Night in some parts of Australia, UK, and New Zealand, although that is more appropriate to April 30/October 30

Honeymoon Day -- reminisce about your own special trip, on the birth anniversary of Art Carney

King Tut Day -- his tomb was opened this day in 1922

Ludi Plebeii -- Ancient Roman Calendar (public games, through the 17th)

Medical Science Liaison (MSL) Awareness And Appreciation Day -- US

National Candy Day -- guess they're thinking you still have some left over from Hallowe'en

National Farm Toy Show -- National Farm Toy Museum, Dyersville, IA, US ("The Granddaddy of Them All" among farm toy enthusiasts and collectors; through Sunday)

Pirates Week Festival -- Cayman Islands (mock pirate invasions, old sailing vessels, and lots of good natured fun; the islands take turns hosting events through the 26th)

St. Charles Borromeo's Day (Patron of apple orchards, bishops, catechists, seminarians, spiritual directors/leaders, starch makers; Joliette, Quebec; Lombardy, Italy; Monterey, CA; Rocca di Papa, Italy; against abdominal pain, colic, intestinal disorders, stomach diseases, ulcers)
     a Bank Holiday in Andorra

Unity Day -- Russia

Will Roger's Day -- especially in OK, US; related observance
     Use Your Common Sense Day -- because "Common sense ain't all that common."

Waiting for the Barbarians Day -- internet generated, and i thought they came and took over a long time ago!

World Community Day -- sponsored by Church Women United to focus on justice and peace through non-violent means;  this year's theme is "Through G-d Our Hands Can Heal"


Anniversaries Today:

Taking of the US Embassy in Teheran, Iran -- 1979
Discovery of King Tut's Tomb -- 1922
Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd, 1842
Mary II of England marries William, Prince of Orange, 1677 (ruled jointly as William and Mary)


Birthdays Today:

Sean "Diddy" Combs, 1970
Matthew McConaughey, 1969
Andrea McArdle, 1963
Ralph Macchio, 1962
Jeff Probst, 1962
Kathy Griffin, 1960
Markie Post, 1950
Laura W. Bush, 1946
Robert Mapplethorpe, 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")


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Crimes of the Heart"(Henley play), 1981
"One Man's Family"(TV), 1949
"Prince Igor"(Borodin opera), 1890
Symphony No. 1 in C minor(Brahms Op. 68), 1876


Today in History:

The Flood of the Arno River causes massive damage in Florence, Italy, 1333
Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier, 1429
Thomas Wolsey, English cardinal, arrested, 1529
Mozart's Symphony No. 36 is performed for the first time in Linz, Austria, 1783
The Erie Canal is completed with Governor DeWitt Clinton performing the Wedding of The Waters ceremony in New York Harbour, 1825
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
London's first deep-level tube railway opens between King William Street and Stockwell, 1890
The Italian unknown soldier is buried in the Altare della Patria (Fatherland Altar) in Rome, 1921
Nellie Tayloe Ross is elected the first female US State governor, in Wyoming, 1924
The rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio, 1955
Two-thirds of Florence, Italy is submerged as the River Arno floods; together with the contemporaneous flood of the Po River in northern Italy, this leads to 113 deaths, 30,000 made homeless, and the destruction of numerous Renaissance artworks and books, 1966
Genie, a 13-year-old feral child is found in Los Angeles, California having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life, 1970
The Netherlands experiences the first Car Free Sunday caused by the oil crisis, as the highways are deserted and are used only by cyclists and roller skaters, 1973
First conference that focuses exclusively on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web, in San Francisco, 1994
Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated by an extremist Orthodox Israeli, 1995
Chinese authorities arrest cyber-dissident He Depu for signing a pro-democracy letter to the 16th Communist Party Congress, 2002
Barak Obama is elected President of the United States, 2008
In Australia's Northern Territory in the lands of the Jawoyn people, archaeologists discover what is believed to be the world's oldest example of a stone ax, estimated at 35,500 years old, 2010
Tim Scott becomes the first African-American senator from the south (South Carolina) since the time of Reconstruction, 2014

Six Sentence Story: Whose Fault?

"Why are you so obsessed with this?" his friend asked.

"Because it is their fault my family lost most of what it took generations to build!" he snapped, his eyes flashing.

"How can it be their fault?  I thought they helped your family when the trouble started."

"It's their fault because their family never had much, but suddenly, my family has trouble and they have enough to buy up most of our holdings to 'help' us -- how?  I always believed they had some kind of assistance, and now that their grandson has moved back here with his family to stay, I'm going to get to the bottom of it!"


Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Fault.



Today is:

Apaturia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a three day meeting of the clans and welcoming newcomers and children into the community; date approximate)

Betcha Festival -- Onomichi, Japan (men in costume "beat" children with bamboo whisks to prevent them getting ill in the coming year)

Bunka no hi -- Japan (Culture Day)

Chhat Parwa/Chhath Puja -- Nepal (start of the four day Hindu/Vedic Festival of the sun god Surya)

Cliche Day -- get them all out of your system today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Cuenca Day -- Cuenca, Ecuador

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (fifth day of the festival)
     Bhai Tika -- ritual where sisters honor brothers for the protection they give
     Gyan Panchami -- Jain (celebration of knowledge and education)

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

Housewives' Day -- birth anniversary of Roseanne Barr

Independence Day -- Dominica(1978); Federated States of Micronesia(1986); Panama (also called Separation Day, separating from Colombia in 1903)

Let Someone Have the Last Word Day -- internet generated, probably so you will quit with the cliches

Men Make Dinner Day -- BBQ is not allowed, but you can go to menmakedinnerday.com for ideas

Ohara-Matsuri Festival -- Kagoshima, Japan (one of Japan's largest autumn festivals, with 22,000+ dancers in the parade; through tomorrow)

Parsley Scattering Season ends -- Fairy Calendar

Sandwich Day -- birth anniversary of John Montague, Fourth Earl of Sandwich and reputed inventor of the food item which bears his name; make yourself a really good one in his memory

SOS Day -- on this date in 1906 the Second International Radio Telegraphic Conference at Berlin, Germany, proposed it as the new wireless distress signal to replace CQD (Come Quick, Danger)

St. Hubert's Day (Patron of archers, dogs, forest workers, furriers, hunters and hunting, machinists, mathmematicians, metal workers, opticians, precision instrument makers, smelters, trappers; Liege, Belgium; Saint-Hubert, Belgium; against dog bites, hydrophobia/rabies)

St. Martin de Porres' Day (Patron of African-Americans, bargers/hair stylists, inter-racial justice, hotel-keepers/innkeepers, paupers, persons of mixed race, poor people, public education, public health, public schools, race relations/racial harmony, social justice, state schools, television; Biloxi, MI, US; Peru)

St. Pirminius' Day (Patron of Monsheim, Germany; against poisoning, snake bite)

St. Winifred's Day (Patron of incest victims, martyrs; Gwytherin, Wales; Holywell, Wales; Shrewsbury, England)

Thanksgiving Day -- Liberia

Tunnel Day -- NY, NY, US (anniversary of the start of the first subway tunnel in 1900)

Victory Day -- Maldives

Will Rogers' Days -- Claremore and Oologah, OK, US (through the 6th; celebrating the man's wit and humor at his birthplace and the museum dedicated to him)


Birthdays Today:

Gemma Ward, 1987
Evgeny Plushenko, 1982
Dolph Lundgren, 1959
Phil Simms, 1956
Adam Ant, 1954
Kathy Kinney, 1954
Kate Capshaw, 1953
Dennis Miller, 1953
Roseanne, 1952
Steve Landesberg, 1945
Ken Berry, 1933
Michael Dukakis, 1933
Monica Vitti, 1933
Charles Bronson, 1921
Bob Feller, 1918
Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski, 1908
Edward Douglass White, 1845
William Cullen Bryant, 1794
Stephen Fuller Austin, 1793
Thomas Kyd, 1558


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Diff'rent Strokes"(TV), 1978
"Good Morning America"(TV), 1973
Play Misty for Me(Film, NYC release date), 1971
"The Unsinkable Molly Brown"(Musical), 1960
"A Connecticut Yankee"(Musical), 1927


Today in History:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina, 644
Christopher Columbus first sights the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea, 1493
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 Bank of Montreal, Canada's oldest chartered bank, opens in Montreal, Quebec, 1817
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
John W. Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first African-American elected to Congress, 1868
"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
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit, a dog named Laika, 1957
NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury; it would later become the first probe to reach that planet, 1973
Dutch and British astronomers find spiral nebula Dwingeloo 1, 1994
Pervez Musharraf declares emergency rule across Pakistan, suspending the Constitution, 2007
US Border Patrol discovers a sophisticated tunnel used by drug smugglers from Tijuana, Mexico to Otay Mesa, California, 2010
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for action on climate change after warnings from scientists, 2014
One World Trade Center officially opens in New York City, 13 years after the September 11 attacks, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: How to know...

...the office you clean, which formerly had only female employees, has hired a male worker:

A reminder to Chad to put the seat down.

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.


Today is:

All Souls' Day -- Christian (celebrations in Ecuador are among the most colorful; 2nd of the Dias de los Muertos in Mexico) related observances:
     Dead Relatives' Day -- Sicily
     Dia de Finados -- Brazil; Portugal

Aztec Day of the Dead -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (date approximate)

Balfour Declaration Day -- Israel

Cookie Monster's Birthday -- go have a cookie to celebrate! (but only after your dinner, as Cookie Monster now points out; boy, things have changed)

Coronation of Haile Selassie -- Rastafarian

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (fourth day of the festival)
     Goru Tihar/Goru Puja -- Day of Oxen (among most people)
     Gobardhan Puja -- Day of Cowdung (among followers of Krishna)
     Mha Puja -- Day of Self (among the Newar community)

Dveselu Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (day for families to gather with the spirits of their ancestors at the graveyard to celebrate the continuity of life)

Edgar Allan Poe Evermore -- Mount Hope Estate, Manheim, PA, US (nights of suspense with the stories from the master, acted by professionals; through Nov. 13)

Festival of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

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)

Indian Arrival Day / Arrival of Indentured Laborers' Day -- Mauritius

International Day to End Impunity -- International (calling for the ending impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers) 

Karatsu Kunchi -- Karatsu and Saga, Japan

Look for Circles Day -- internet generated, and we run in circles looking for who created it and why!

National Deviled Egg Day

National Stress Awareness Day -- UK (International Stress Management Association) 

National Traffic Directors Day -- meaning radio and TV traffic directors, who always schedule your favorite shows when you just can't watch, and put more and more commercials in when they can; on the anniversary of the first commercial radio broadcast in Pittsburgh in 1922, sponsored by the Traffic Directors Guild of America 

Potting-Shed Investitures -- Fairy Calendar (Garden Fairies)

Plan Your Epitaph Day -- sponsored by Dead or Alive of Arcata, CA, because a forgettable epitaph is almost a fate worse than death, so make plans to do yours right!

Practice Being Psychic Day -- but you already knew that, didn't you?

Refuse to Capitalize the First Letters in Your Name Day -- k.d.lang's birth anniversary

Soulcaker's Play -- Cheshire, UK

St Eustachius' Day  (Patron of difficult situations, fire prevention, firefighters, hunters and hunting, torture victims, trappers; Madrid, Spain; Poli, Italy; against fire and torture)


Anniversaries Today:

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


Birthdays Today:

k.d. lang, 1961
Shere Hite, 1942
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


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Spruce Goose makes its first (only) flight, 1947
KDKA Radio Pittsburgh, PA, US makes the first scheduled radio broadcast, of election results, 1920


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 African Free School, the first free school in NYC, opens, 1787
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, 1903
The Balfour Declaration proclaims British support for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" with the clear understanding "that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities", 1917
Charlotte Woodward, who attended the historic Seneca Falls Women's Rights Convention of 1848, becomes the only one of the women who attended to live long enough to cast a vote in a national election, 1920
Australia's Qantas Airways begins service, 1922
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established, 1936
In California, designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built, 1947
Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case, 1960
The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT, 1988
The International Space Station becomes permanently staffed, 2000
China makes its first orbital docking as its unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft successfully docks with the orbiting Tiangong 1 space station module, 2011
The New York Marathon is cancelled due to the damage from Hurricane Sandy, 2012

Tuesday Coffee Chat: Trying Again

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she asks the question,   How do you handle your failures?  Are you a crawl back into bed and wait for it all to pass kinda person?  Or are you a jump immediately back on the horse sort? 






As much as everyone says things like "fail forward" and "if you don't fail, you aren't trying anything", failure is something i was trained from a young age to avoid.  Nothing but stellar grades and the best work were considered acceptable at all times.

It's not easy to go against the grain of such early tendencies.  In point of fact, it's almost impossible.  So for years i was afraid to start or do anything that wasn't an almost guaranteed success.  If it wasn't going to turn out great from the beginning, i generally didn't start it at all.

It took a lot of wasted years to overcome that early training and realize it is okay if something doesn't quite turn out the first time i try it.  A failed recipe, project that doesn't look like i imagined it should, or job done but not done perfectly is no longer a reason for self-flagellation and months of regret and going over and over what i did wrong.

Instead, it's a call to regroup and try again.  Sometimes, it's a call to realize maybe i wasn't cut out to do that thing, and it's okay, because i wasn't made to do everything.

These days, i'm not so afraid to try something new, and see how it goes, and if i enjoyed it, even if it didn't work out the first time, i either try it again, or am satisfied with the experiment.

One of my favorite quotes about failure is often attributed to W.C Fields, although no one knows the origin.  It goes, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Then quit.  There's no use being a d*mn fool about it."

Sometimes, if it's important, and you really want to do it, you keep trying, and keep doing better every time.  Sometimes, you try it once and then quit.

Either way, if you learned from it, it's not failure.

In other news, i've been called up for jury duty again, and this time i'm having to slog through it.  My hope is to be done tomorrow or Thursday, but either way, if i don't get around to as many blogs, it's because i'm up to my ears in courtroom drama.



Today is:

All Hallow's Day a/k/a All Saint's Day -- Christian, and a Holy Day of Obligation in the Roman Catholic Church; a recognized holiday (although not necessarily a day off work) in Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovena, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Cote d'Ivoire, Croatia, East Timor, Ecuador, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Holy See, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Monaco, New Caledonia, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of the Congo, Reunion, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, San Marino, Senegal, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Wallis and Fortuna)

Apaturia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day Phratriai brotherhood festival; dates approximate)

Bulgarian National Revival Leaders' Day -- Bulgaria

Cake Appreciation Day -- while i can't find a reason or sponsor for this, i'm sure the Cake Appreciation Society would approve

Cook for Your Pets Day -- did the dogs lobby for this?

Coronation Day of Fourth Druk Gyalpo -- Bhutan

CrossQuarter Day

Day of the Innocents -- Mexico (first Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead)

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (3rd day of the festival)
     Gai Tihar and Laxmi Puja -- Day of Cows and Laxmi (goddess of wealth; day three of the festival)

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

Graveyards Day -- a traditional day to tend the graves of ancestors

I Am So Thankful Month begins -- before the "holiday" frenzy, spend not just a day, but a month, practicing gratitude

Haryana Day -- Haryaha, India

Independence Day -- Antigua & Barbuda(1981); North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic, from the Ottoman Empire)

International Coaches Day -- no one claims to have started this; if you have, or had, a great coach in your life, let him/her know

Kalends of November -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
     Pomonia -- Festival to Pomona

Kanhada Rajyothsaya -- Kamataka, India (Kamataka Formation Day)

Kite Festival of Santiago Sacatepequez -- Santiago Sacatepequez, Guatemala (kite flying in the graveyard to scare away evil spirits)

Liberty Day / D. Hamilton Jackson Day -- US Virgin Islands

Melbourne Cup Day -- Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia (154th running)

NaNoWriMo -- National Novel Writer's Month, write one if you have it in you!

National Author's Day -- US

National Family Literacy Day® -- US (but no matter where you live, turn off the tv, pick up a good book! National Center for Families Learning)

National French Fried Clam / Deep Fried Clam Day

National Vinegar Day

No Driving with Cell Phones Day -- the first law against talking on a hand-held device while driving went into effect in NY, US, on this day in 2001

Old Celtic New Year

Olive Festival -- Galilee, Israel (through the month, especially centered around Kawkab and Hurfeish, with open houses, oil production tours, feasts, lectures, concerts, dance performances, and olives galore)

Ozark Mountain Christmas/Branson Festival of Lights -- Branson, MO, US

Plate Tectonics Day -- birth anniversary of Alfred Wegener, who came up with the theory of continental drift

Remembrance Day -- Slovenia

Revival Leaders' Day -- Bulgaria

Revolution Day/National Day -- Algeria

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan -- Beginning of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, Hebrew Year 5777, at sundown today

Samhain -- Celtic, 3rd Station, and Wicca, Northern Hemisphere (Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere)

State Foundation Day --  Andhra Pradesh, India; Karnataka, India; Kerala, India

World Vegan Day -- International


Anniversaries Today:

The Prime Meridian is set at Greenwich, England, 1884
Boston Female Medical School opens, 1848



Birthdays Today:

Penn Bagdley, 1986
Toni Collette, 1972
Jenny McCarthy, 1972
Fernando Valenzuela, 1960
Rachel Ticotin, 1958
Lyle Lovett, 1957
Dan Peek, 1951
Larry Flynt, 1942
Gary Player, 1935
Betsy Palmer, 1926
James Jackson Kilpatrick, 1920
Alfred Wegener, 1880
Stephen Crane, 1871


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Foreigner"(Larry Shue comedy), 1984
Hello Kitty, 1974 (condsidered her "birth date")
"Top Banana"(Mercer musical), 1951
Ebony Magazine(First edition), 1945
"Harvey"(Mary Chase comedy), 1944
"The Constant Wife"(Maugham play), 1926
"Emperor Jones"(O'Neill play), 1920
The Crisis: A Record of The Darker Races(Magazine of the NAACP, first edition edited by W.E.B. DuBois), 1910
"John Bull's Other Island"(Shaw comedy), 1904
Harper's Bazaar(Magazine, first edition), 1867


Today in History:

The name "Austria" is first used for Ostarrichin, 996
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
George Washington gives his "Farewell Address" and the Continental Army is dissolved, 1783
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 (now the National Weather Service) 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 the new Tsar of Russia, 1894
The National Geographic Magazine publishes its first picture of bare breasted women (from a Zulu tribe), 1896
The first Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public, 1897
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
Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral in an upset victory during a match race deemed "the match of the century" in horse racing, 1938
The first animal conceived by artificial insemination, a rabbit, is displayed, 1939
American photographer Ansel Adams takes a picture of a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico that would become one of the most famous images in the history of photography, 1941
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, by the US, at Eniwetok Atoll, 1952
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game, 1959
The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opens, 1963
The Motion Picture Association of America's film rating system is officially introduced, originating with the ratings G, M, R, and X, 1968
Honda becomes the first Asian automaker to build cars in the US, 1982
Serbia joins the United Nations, 2000
First part of the Gomery Report, which discusses allegations of political money manipulation by members of the Liberal Party of Canada, is released in Canada. 2005
Astronomers claim to have detected light from the first stars in the universe by studying high-energy radiation data, 2012
Australian scientists announce the discovery of three new marsupials in Queensland, all shrew-like antechinus species, 2013