Thursday, May 9, 2024

Rude Awakening (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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"I was having a lovely dream last night."


"Do tell."


"I will, if you'll be quiet a moment...I was taking my favorite actress, Katharine Hepburn, to a baseball game for a date...no, don't interrupt to tell me how silly it is, it's a dream, after all and if you're going to dream, it might as well be about something worthwhile...anyway, we'd been having a wonderful time, then we stood up for the National Anthem and out walked Groucho Marx, who began singing, but instead of singing the Star Spangled Banner, he was singing America the Beautiful and mangling it horribly, and about the time he got to the line 'amber waves of grain,' I jumped up to go tell him to stop and found I'd leaped out of bed to hear you singing dreadfully at the top of your lungs!"


"I'm so sorry, but sometimes I just wake up feeling like it's such a good day I simply have to sing."


"Next time, could you go sing outdoors instead so you don't wake me up from a good dream?"


"Sorry, the last time I went out around 6am and sang outdoors, the neighbors threatened to call the police and invoke the noise ordinance!"



Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Grain.      





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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!





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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day This week's image and my poem:    





When you're the fairy princess

of the mundane world of the 'burbs,

sometimes you have to make do

though the neighbor it disturbs.


You're glad for whoever cooperates

to make your dreams come true,

even if it's your unfairy-like daddy

mowing grass in a pink tutu.



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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  


Today i am thankful Grandma appreciated the flowers i sent for her birthday.  It's always a gamble, ordering online from a local florist in another town, as you aren't sure the quality of the flowers and design will be as advertised.  Grandma was impressed and they even sent me a photo of the arrangement before they sent it out.  I'll be using them again.                                                                                                           






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Today is:


Ascension Day -- Christian; related observances

     Procession of the Holy Blood -- Belgium (religious historical procession recalling the adventurous crusaders, especially Count Thierry of Alsace, who was supposed to have carried back relics of the Holy Blood)


Europe Day -- European Union


Independence Day -- Romania (1877, from the Ottoman Empire)


Lawn Mower Day -- a rotary blade mower was patented this day in 1899


Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (first of 3 non-consecutive days dedicated to getting rid of the spirits of the malevolent dead; rituals performed today, the 11th, and the 13th)


Liberation Day -- Guernsey; Jersey


Lost Sock Memorial Day -- they go to the hozone layer!


National Butterscotch Brownie Day


National Moscato Day   


Olympieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (spring festival for Zeus; date approximate)


Remembrance for Gudrod of Gudbrandsdal -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (pagan martyr)


St. Beatus of Lungern's Day (Apostle of Switzerland)


St. Nicholas Albergati's Day (Patron of learning)


Tear Tags Off of Mattresses Day -- yes, you can!  If you bought it, you're allowed to.


Victory Day / Victory and Peace Day -- countries that didn't celebrate V-E day yesterday, mostly Russia and former SSR's


Xotira va Qadirlash Kuni -- Uzbekistan (Day of Remembrance and Honors)



Birthdays Today:


Rosario Dawson, 1979

Steve Yzerman, 1965

Tony Gwynn, 1960

Billy Joel, 1949

Candice Bergen, 1946

James L. Brooks, 1940

Charles Simic, 1938

Glenda Jackson, 1937

Albert Finney, 1936

Glenda Jackson, 1936

Richard Alonzo “Pancho” Gonzales, 1928

Mike Wallace, 1918

Howard Carter, 1873

J.M. Barrie, 1860

Belle Boyd, 1843

John Brown, 1800



Today in History:


The first battle recorded with what is considered historic accuracy and detail, the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, BC1457

Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his 4th and final voyage, 1502

Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, 1671

British inventor Joseph Bramah patents beer-pump handle, 1785

The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded, 1868

The Vienna stock market crash (Der Krach) heralds the Long Depression, 1873

The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, 1874

Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London, 1887

The first horseless carriage show in London opens, featuring 10 models, 1896

The lawn mower is patented, 1899

Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne, 1901

The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100mph, 1904

The Australian Parliament  first convenes in Canberra, 1927

Edgar Bergen and Charley McCarthy take to the airwaves, becoming an overnight radio sensation, 1937

Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco, 1949

Sam and Friends, with Jim Hensen and his muppets, debuts, 1955

The FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill, 1960

Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran, 1979

The South African parliament chooses Nelson Mandela as president, 1994

Estonia ratifies the European Constitution, 2006

A report reveals that hackers using fraudulent ATM cards in February, 2013, stole $45 million, 2013

The fossil of a Chinese feathered baby dinosaur is formally given the identification of Beibeilong sinensis (baby dragon in Chinese), 2017

The discovery of the oldest viral DNA, a form of hepatitis B in 7,000 year old skeleton found in Germany, is reported, 2018

French adventurer Jean-Jacques Savin (72) successfully crosses the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel arriving in Martinique; the journey took four months, 2019

A full published report of the contents of an Anglo-Saxon tomb found in 2003 in Prittlewell, England, is hailed by archaeologists as being Britain's equivalent of Egypt's tomb of Tutankhamen, 2019

Navajo-American composer Raven Chacon receives the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his work "Voiceless Mass", 2022

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

That’s Why Ms. SE’s Sink Won’t Drain! (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, BeThere2Day, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     






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


This month, the prompts are being provided by David M. Gascoigne and will appear on Elephant's Child's blog 



This week's prompts are:

 

  1. Decent 
  2. Necklace
  3. Ecosystem
  4. Money
  5. Ground

 

 And/or


  1. Armed
  2. Way
  3. Lodge
  4. Willing
  5. Guardians


An additional prompt from Charlotte (MotherOwl) is to include Bright Red Orange in your take on the prompts.



"Whom the gods would make mad, do they first send to a lavish party without a DECENT night's sleep the evening before?"


Cici had to work the clasp twice to get her NECKLACE to stay on, and frowned at the Bright Red Orange lipstick her friend had talked her into buying, opting for this occasion to stick to her more usual color palette.


It's not that she wasn't WILLING to participate in raising MONEY for the organization, it was the WAY they went about it.  The fragile ECOSYSTEM needed protecting, but these fancy fundraiser evenings wore on her last nerve.


Some of the wealthier patrons who considered themselves the GUARDIANS of making sure everything was done properly insisted the event had to be at the LODGE, as if it were sacred GROUND.  They'd all be ARMED with condescension toward those who hadn't raised quite as much as they did or bid as much in the silent auction, in a "tut, tut, you tried your best" sort of way, of course.


She knew she could stand it for one night, since she wouldn't have to interact with them again for quite a while, but jeepers, it would be much easier if she'd slept better the night before, and she hoped she could muster the strength to hold her tongue and keep her eyes open during the speeches.



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Today is:


Donate a Days Wages to Charity Day 2024  


Fête de l'iris -- Belgium (Brussels Region Day)


Iris Day -- celebrate these beautiful spring flowers


Liberation Day -- Czech Republic; Slovakia


Mata Tirtha Aunsi -- Nepal (Mother's Day, or literally "Mother Pilgrimage New Moon")


Miguel Hidalgo Day -- Mexico (birth anniversary of the father of Mexican independence)


National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day -- US (FEMA wants you to make plans for your pets in case of disaster or emergency)


National Coconut Cream Pie Day


National Empanada Day


National Nightshift Workers Day/Third Shift Workers Day -- US (remembering those intrepid souls who keep things running smoothly through the night)


National Receptionist Day -- US (because that first impression is important; National Receptionists Association)


National School Nurse Day -- US (the school nurse is there to help! 


National Student Nurses Day -- US


National Walk, Bike or Roll to School Day -- US (encouraging kids to have fun, get their exercise, and get to school under their own steam by walking, biking or rolling their wheelchair to school under supervision as part of an event) 


No Socks Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, who want you to let your toes go free, and cut down on your laundry a bit today


Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day -- US   


Parents' Day -- South Korea


St. Ida of Nivelles' Day (Patron of erysipelas patients, toothache sufferers; against erysipelas and toothache)


Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War -- International


Truman Day -- Missouri, US


V-E Day -- some countries celebrate today, some celebrate tomorrow


World Ovarian Cancer Day -- International (because while up to 89% of women with breast cancer are likely to survive 5 years or more, only 45% of women who get ovarian cancer will survive that long) 


World Red Cross Day / World Red Crescent Day



Birthdays Today:


Enrique Iglesias, 1975

Robert M. Hensel, 1969

Melissa Gilbert, 1964

Janet McTeer, 1961

David Keith, 1954

Toni Tennille, 1943

Peter Benchley, 1940

Rick Nelson, 1940

Thomas Pynchon, 1937

Charles “Sonny” Liston, 1932

Don Rickles, 1926

David Attenborough, 1926

Robert Johnson, 1911

Bishop Fulton Sheen, 1895

Harry S Truman, 1884

Louis Moreau Gottschalk, 1829

Jean-Henri Dunant, 1828

Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla, 1753



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Let It Be"(Album), 1970

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"(Musical), 1962

"Look Back in Anger"(Play), 1959

Concerto in E-flat, "Dumbarton Oaks"(Stravinsky concerto), 1938



Today in History:


Hernando de Soto  reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo, 1541

Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, is tried and guillotined by the Reign of Terror, 1794

Future US president Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the Mexican-American war, 1846

At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens, 1877

George B. Selden files the first patent for an automobile in the US, 1879

Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine, 1886

In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people, 1902

In Rheims, France, German forces agree to an unconditional surrender, ending the war in Europe, 1945

The rollercoaster Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain, 1976

Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler make the first ascent of Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen, 1978

The World Health Organization announces the eradication of smallpox, 1980

The new Canadian War Museum opens, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day, 2005

The last piece of Yankee Stadium falls in the Bronx, New York, marking the end of the two year demolition process, 2010

The world's oldest astrolabe (mariner's navigator tool) c. 1498 from Portugeuese shipwreck of explorer Vasco da Gama is found near Al Hallaniyah Island, Oman, 2015

The largest-ever wave at 23.8m is recorded in the Southern Hemisphere at Campbell Island by New Zealand scientists, 2018

Eleven-year-old Brazilian skateboarder Gui Khury sets a world record by performing a 180-degree turn on a vertical ramp, 2020

British actor Ncuti Gatwa is named as the first black actor to play Doctor Who (as the fourteenth doctor), 2022

Dutch runner Jo Schoonbroodt, age 71, breaks Canadian Ed Whitlock's 2004 record for fastest the marathon by person over 70 by 29 seconds (2:54:19), 2022