Falkor's ePistle

Famous First Words: there's nothing as something as one. --e e cummins ~~Happy National Nothing Day!

Hooray, It's Appreciate A Dragon Day!! Not All Heroes Wear Capes; Some Have Wings. We all know that dragons breathe fire; but did you know that when they eat spicy food (pepper farmers, strippers, drag queens) they become flame throwers. § My uncle Bert is a dragon dentist. He wears a welding mask and uses a cutting torch.

..........I get no kick from champagne.........Ethel Merman …..I Get A Kick Out Of You (Anything Goes)

As more men become more educated and women get educated, the value system has to be more enhanced and the respect for human dignity and human life is made better. --Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

It is a windy (11 mph) Friday morning. The sky is clear of clouds and the sun is shining brightly. Bare tree limbs are waving about and willow branches are thrashing the air frantically. And that little toy the crows left for me is banging against my backdoor on its string...tap, tap, tap. Ah, January in Kansas. Puck went out before daylight this morning and has been asleep under my desk since then. (Even when I slept a few extra winks in my recliner.) Veronica stopped by but when I refused to leave the door open for her to sit and watch the world go by, she left with only a look of disgust. I am fully awake now, drinking my coffee. enjoying the smoke that curls from the mouth of my twisty dragon incense burner, and writing to you. Great start to a day and a weekend.

Hope your weekend breathes fire, Dragon Wranglers.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I can find Waldo faster than I can find the twist tie that I just set on the kitchen counter.

One of the most embarrassing things that happens to dragons is getting their talons caught in their wings. § The dragons that were fighting knights in armor took to carrying hot pad holders among their weapons. § Dragons consider candles a light snack.

..........Just the perfect blendship.........Ethel Merman and Bert Lahr …..Friendship (DuBarry Was A Lady)

Trivia Questions: It's trivia; it's a quiz, it's Superman

1. Who originally created Superman?

2. What is Superman's Kryptonian name?

3. When did Superman become a newspaper comic strip?

4. What is Clark Kent's middle name?

5. When did Superman stop being a newspaper comic strip?

Big Hello: Tashi delek – Tibetan https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: A group of local buffalo recently celebrated their 200^th year as a herd. It's their Bisontennial. --Submitted by Home Groan Puns

Image of the Week: Lawrence KS Protest 1/11/26

War Quote of the Week: Hawkeye: War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. ...who goes to Hell? ...sinners ..Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell, but war is chock full of them – little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for a few of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander. M.A.S.H. Season 5, Episode 20: 2/15/77

Those long fairy tales (I don't like to mention names like Tolkein) do drag on. § The question most often posed to dragons fighting knights: Plain or crunchy?

..........Anything you can buy, I can buy cheaper.........Ethel Merman & Jerry Orbach …..Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better (Annie Get Your Gun)

Moonbeam: History is so subjective. The teller of it determines it. --Lin-Manuel Miranda

Blasphemy of the Week: Communism, Hypnotism And the Beatles A book by David A Noebel (1965).

Coffee Joke of the Week: Coffee: The ends justify the beans.

Is This Real of the Week: On Facebook, Budweiser posted and advertisement for their superbowl advertisement. Capitalism folding in on itself.

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Honestly starting to think that the only safe place to be right now is the Epstein files. --Linsey Fagan for Texas

Never play tag with a dragon. They are flaming hot at tag. § Little known fact: dragon boats run on natural exhaust. § If I had a pet dragon I would take her to concerts and show those silly little cigarette lighters how it's done.

..........I hear singing and there's no one there.........Ethel Merman & Donald O'Connor …..You're Just In Love (Call Me Madam)

1) Jerry Siegel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist) created Superman in Action Comics #1 published by National Allied Publications (a precursor to DC Comics) on April 18, 1938.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 16, 2026. The moon will be new on Sunday (1/18) and is in Capricorn. Today is Appreciate A Dragon Day, Civil Service Day, Fig Newton Day, National Nothing Day, National Quinoa Day, Religious Freedom Day, and Without A Scalpel Day. Because today is the third Friday in January it is also Hat Day and International Fetish Day.

Among those born on this day were Richard Savage (1697), Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter (1634), Niccolo Piccinni (1728), Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov (1853), Harry Carey, Sr. (1878), Ruth Rose (1896), Fulgencio Batista (1901), Ethel Merman (1908), Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (1911), Dian Fossey (1932), Marilyn Horne (1934), Ronnie Milsap (1944), Sade (1959), Don MacLean (1970), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980).

On January sixteenth Ivan IV crowned himself (1547), the British Museum opened (1759), San Francisco's Dramatic Chronicle began publication (1865), the refrigerated railroad car was patented (1868), the color organ was patented (1877), Home Rule for Ireland was accepted (1913), Prohibition was ratified (1919), the first assembly of the League of Nations met (1920), the Screen Actors Guild incorporated (1936), and the Superman comic strip debuted (1939),

Night Sky, 1/16: The bright stars of mighty Orion, the Hunter, shine in the southeastern sky during the evening. To the unaided eye, a patch of brightness below the Orion Nebula defines the southern tip of Orion's sword. The area is dominated by the bright, magnitude 2.75 star named Nair al Saif, and sometimes called Hatysa, Iota Orionis, and The Lost Jewel of Orion. Astronomers estimate that those two stars are approximately 40,000 times as luminous as our sun. The jewel is also readily seen in binoculars. In a backyard telescope, the entire area is surrounded by faint nebulosity that will be enhanced by a nebula filter.

Fraternal Picture of the Week: The Morning Briefing

This Week: Saturday, January 17 – Bald Eagle Appreciation Days (17-18), Popeye Day & Kid Inventors' Day

Sunday, January 18 – Pooh (Winnie the) Day & Thesaurus Day & World Snow Day

Night Sky, 1/18 : The moon will reach its new phase at 2:52 pm EST, 11:52 am PST, or 19:52 GMT.

Monday, January 19 – Martin Luther King Jr Day & National Popcorn Day & World Day of Migrants And Refugees & World Quark Day

Tuesday, January 20 – International Day of Acceptances & National Disc Jockey Day & Penguin Awareness Day

Wednesday, January 21 – Mariachi Day & National Hugging Day

Night Sky, 1/21: Sunrise: 7:25 am Sunset: 5:30 pm (9 hours, 44 minutes of daylight) Moonrise: 2:33 pm Moonset: 4:58 am

Thursday, January 22 – Answer Your Cat's Questions Day & Celebration of Life Day & Roe vs Wade Day

Two dragons walk into a bar. Doris Dragon says, “This place is roasting.” Deborah Dragon answers, “Then keep your trap shut, okay?” § Dragons: heating things up one selfie at a time.

..........Have a kumquat—have two.........Ethel Merman …..Mr Goldstone, I Love You (Gypsy)

2) Superman was named Kal-El at birth. His father was Jor-El. I don't know whether that means his last name is -El.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: MAGA is now boycotting Jeopardy. It's estimated they could lose up to 7 viewers. --Peter Gough

Moonbeam: We are like some poor flock of owls in places of confusion. --Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter

Fun Fact of the Week: On January 16, 1966 folk singer Joan Baez was sentenced to 10 days in jail for participating in a protest which blocked the entrance to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California. She was part of an action to impede the drafting of young men for the US war in Vietnam.

Second Is This For Real of the Week: 1/10/26 meeting of the “Melon Felon” and CEOs of oil companies: First, Trump showed up wearing a lapel pin of himself under the traditional American flag pin because of course he did. When a reporter asked him what it was, he said, "That's called a Happy Trump. Considering the fact that I’m never happy, I’m never satisfied. I will never be satisfied until we make America great again, but we’re getting pretty close, I tell you what. This is called a Happy Trump.” Source: Gale Mollett

Video of the Week: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund: Adorable gorillas (:51) https://gorillafund.org/video-vault/?playlist=5997cb1&video=13510c8

All girls know that they can be anything now. That transformation is to me one of the most satisfying things. --Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

As a side hustle I rent portable event toilets. I paint dragons on them because I'm into dragons and because now I can call my business Commode-o-dragon. § Warning! Dating dragons is a fire hazard. § What did the dragon say when she came upon a vampire biting a neck? BOGO ...On the other hand there are dragons who hate it when their food touches.

..........Floating on a starlit ceiling.........Ethel Merman …..Ridin' High (Red, Hot, And Blue)

3) Superman became a daily newspaper comic strip on 1/16/39. A separate, color Sunday strip was added on November 5^th of that year.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Happiness is an inside job. --ASL Fingerspelling

Weird Word of the Week: Pissified: when you are both pissed off and mystified at their stupidity at the same time. --Submitted by UUHS https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pissified

Dragon of the Week:

The Flagon with the Dragon has the pellets with the poison. --Danny Kaye (The Court Jester)

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Make barbecue sauce. Make an excellent barbecue sauce by mixing Coca-Cola with Heinz Ketchup. Brush the mixture on chicken or ribs while grilling. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cocacola.html ~~I'm from Kansas City, home of great BBQ, and I think this sounds terrible.

All those jokes about dragons eating spicy food are so wrong. Dragons are so hot they don't notice. You measure peppers in Scovilles; you measure dragons in Kelvins. § A dragon would never explode but a dino might. § These dragon jokes are so old they were the first thing ever to be discovered by a paleontologist.

...........Just who loves who more than who.........Ethel Merman & Fernando Lamas …..Mutual Admiration Society (Happy Hunting)

4) Superman's earth name is Clark Joseph Kent.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Just heard someone say, “It's never a good sign when folk music starts getting good again. --Father Nathan Monk

Pre Quote of the Week: I will not carry a gun...I’ll carry your books, I’ll carry a torch, I’ll carry a tune, I’ll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to Old Virginia, I’ll even hari-kari if you show me how, but I will not carry a gun! --Hawkeye (M*A*S*H)

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: MarsCon 2026 (15-18, Virginia Beach, VA) So much to see and so... https://marscon.org/

Sick Joke of the Week: During a nuclear explosion there is a certain distance of the radius where all of the supermarket frozen pizza will be cooked to perfection. --Rick's Friend Jake

Spark of Joy of the Week: No, you can't have Greenland; you haven't even finished your Venezuela yet. --Submitted by gr of oh

Darius Dragon ate a paladin once. He said it tasted lawful. § Donna Dragon trains every day to dance in the Talon Show. § Those of you with green dragons, please wait until it ripens. § Dragons didn't last as long as dinosaurs because they smoked.

..........And keep up each other's morales.........Ethel Merman & Arthur Treacher …..Let's Be Buddies

5) The newspaper strips ran continuously until May 1966 and were syndicated by the McClure Syndicate. At its peak, the strip had an estimated readership of over 20 million people.

Protest Sign of the Week: Wake Up And Smell The Fascism

Better Protest Sign of the Week: In Case Of ICE Apply Heat

Quote of the Week: Very early in my life it was too late. --Marguerite Duras

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm sorry I'm late. The troll that blocks my driveway had harder riddles than usual today. --Submitted by Feral Spiritualists

Today's Peace of History: January 16, 1992: The government of El Salvador and rebel leaders signed a pact in Mexico City ending 12 years of civil war that had killed at least 75,000 people.

Dwarves have an old saying: The early beard gets the wyrm. § Never make a dragon angry; they don't call them earthquakes for nothing. § One of the major differences between dragons and pieces of paper is that you can't make a paper airplane out of a dragon. § What was the dragon doing on the highway? About 30 mph.

..........What you got? Hey, what you're doin'.........Ethel Merman …..Something For The Boys (Something For The Boys)

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 16, 2026: Falkor's ePistle . Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: The only thought in the world that is worth anything is free thought. To free thought we owe all past progress and all hope for the future. Since when has any one made it appear that shackled thought could get on better than that which is free? Brains are a great misfortune if one is never to use them. --Richard Savage.

Cost of War:

As of 01/15/26 State Department Costs: $284,549,700,991

As of 01/08/26 State Department Costs: $283,989,129,547

As of 01/15/26 Homeland Security: $1,220,786,857,468

As of 01/08/26 Homeland Security: $1,220,177,897,700

As of 01/15/26 Interest on War Debt: $1,353,880,648,371

As of 01/08/26 Interest on War Debt: $1,352,314,797,214

As of 01/15/26 Military Costs: $3,187,631,857,429

As of 01/08/26 Military Costs: $3,186,442,854,218

As of 01/15/26 Veterans Care: $4,688,024,639,270

As of 01/08/26 Veterans Care: $4,676,154,123,058

As of 01/15/26 Total Cost of Wars: $10,734,876,695,374

As of 01/08/26 Total Cost of Wars: $10,719,081,458,925

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

We also know what it means to see our children begin to smile again with a restoration of hope and faith in the future. --Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Famous Last Words: ...loved me with an everlasting love. --Arturo Toscanini died 1/16/57

..........I'm gonna raise the roof.........Ethel Merman …..Before The Parade Passes By (Hello Dolly)

Dragons continue to be wrinkly because everyone is afraid to iron them. § The difference between St George and Rudolph is that George slays a dragon and Rudolph drags a sleigh. § I'm reading a book about a short ballerina. It's called The Girl with the Draggin Tutu.

May Peace warm your heart

And Joy cool your brain

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Projected ePistle

Famous First Words: One is not born, but rather becomes a woman. --Simone de Beauvoir The Second Sex

Ah, January, the month of the new year, new starts, new everything. The city of Lawrence has many new projects. There's improved roads and new shopping areas and steam shovels and mud and pavement. Everyday I pass by it and think, I probably should have buried those bodies someplace else. [] I got T-boned by a construction delivery truck the other day. It was a literal ton of bricks.

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. --President Dwight D Eisenhower

..........He'll go a-roving plundering no more.........Joan Baez …..Lowlands

Violence is black children going to school for 12 years and receiving 6 years worth of education. --Julian Bond

It is a chilly (33°F) Friday morning. The sky is a clear blue without even a hint of clouds. The sun is rising over rooftops and trees making clear the shapes and colors of deep blue houses and brown, bare branches. Even the robin's breast picks up the light and shines it forward. The robin makes no sound but from a distance a crow calls to its murder. Both Puck and Veronica have been out. Now Puck sleeps and snores on his pillow and Veronica silently prowls the house watching me pour a cup of coffee and doctor it up...silently watching me type at my desk. My coffee is sinful delight; it brings a smile to my mouth and a sigh of satisfaction to my soul. And now it's time to write to you. What a wonderful day this is shaping up to be.

Hope your weekend is free of foreign kidnappers, dear readers. ~~Sorry, I'm trying to think positively about being suddenly insinuated into an international criminal organization in the midst of committing a crime with our money and no accountability.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Earth received a cease and desist order from the universe for excessive drama. --Submitted by Club42

The 6 Phases of a New Project: 1) Enthusiasm 2) Disillusionment 3) Panic 4) Search for the guilty 5) Punishment of the innocent 6) Praise and honors for the non-participants [] To the Optimist, the glass is half full. To the Pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the Project Manager, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal. --John Steinbeck

..........How the winds are laughing.........Joan Baez …..Donna Donna

Trivia Questions: January is National Conscience Month.

1. What is the mission of National Conscience Month?

2. How can we begin educating our conscience?

3. How do we expand our perspective?

4. What are steps we can take to develop empathy?

5. From where might the conscience arise?

Big Hello: sà-wàr-dee – Thai https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: At three days old, 2026 was still young enough for Donald Trump to fu*k it. Witches Against Maga

Image of the Week: Scrabble Shoes

~~Someone should write a song. “bouncing letters and numbers with every step...the ole scrabble shoes”

Let's face it, if I had 8 weeks to do this project, I'd still start 2 days before the deadline. [] That new hospital construction project has this gross looking vehicle. They call it the Icky Bod Crane.

Poverty, privation and want are the school of the good soldier. --Napoleon Bonaparte

..........Oh, look now Joseph, I have cherries by command.........Joan Baez …..Cherry Tree Carol

Moonbeam: If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing slowly...very slowly. --Gypsy Rose Lee

Blasphemy of the Week: What do you call a system that leaves people one paycheck away from being #homeless? Christian Nationalism. But, as a consolation, you do get eternal life. --Submitted by MMS

Coffee Joke of the Week: This coffee is so strong it's brew-tally honest.

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Shark Week used to be a pagan holiday until Constantine rewrote history at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. --Submitted by Wittenburg Door

Craft stores should issue tickets to patrons who begin a new quilting project before finishing the last one. [] The first 90% of a new project takes 90% of the time. The remaining 10% of the project takes the other 90% of the time.

I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. --General William Techumseh Sherman

..........Watch them jugs a-fillin' in the pale moonlight.........Joan Baez …..Copper Kettle

1) National Conscience Month is observed annually by the American Meditation Institute to encourage people to use their conscience as a guide for better decisions, promoting personal wisdom, peace, and creativity.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 9, 2026. The moon enters its third quarter tomorrow (1/10) and is in Libra. Today is Play God Day, Balloon Ascension Day, Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, National Cassoulet Day, and National Static Electricity Day. And because it is the second Friday it is also National Hockey Mom Day.

Among those born on this day were Johann Weichmann (1620), Thomas Warton (1728), William Jackson (1815), Lizette Reese (1856), Joseph B. Strauss (1870), Simone de Beauvoir (1908), Dr. Hepcat (1913), Gypsy Rose Lee (1914), Les Paul (1915), Judith Krantz (1928), Algis Budrys (1931), Bob Denver 91935), Joan Baez (1941), Jimmy Page (1944), and William Cowsill (1948).

On January ninth the first women's golf tournament was held (1811), NYC's Astor Library opened (1854), Fisk University was established (1866), Wind Cave National Park was established (1903), the US invaded Honduras (1912), the first helicopter (autogiro) was flown (1923), and construction of the Aswan Dam began (1960).

Night Sky, 1/9: Jupiter is incredibly bright; it's near the Gemini twins. Saturn is low in the southwest after sunset. The beehive cluster will be visible in the night sky throughout January! The beehive cluster, more formally known as Messier 44, or M44, is made of at least 1,000 stars. It's an open star cluster, meaning it's a loosely-bound group of stars.

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Robin Hood and Legolas

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: This morning I coughed up a pawn, a knight, and a bishop. I must have a chess infection. --Home Groan Puns

This Week: Saturday, January 10 – Houseplant Appreciation Day & National Cut Your Energy Costs Day & National Save The Eagles Day

Night Sky, 10/10: Jupiter will be at its most brilliant of the year.

Sunday, January 11 – Learn Your Name In Morse Code Day & National Human Trafficking Awareness Day & National Sunday Supper Day

Night Sky, 10/11: Since the moon is waning, Orion, Taurus, Gemini, and the dazzling Sirius are all visible.

Monday, January 12 – National Clean Off Your Desk Day & National Hot Tea Day & Plough Monday

Tuesday, January 13 -Korean American Day & National Poetry At Work Day & PRB Day

Night Sky, 1/13: Sunrise: 7:38 am Sunset: 5:20 pm (9 hr & 42 minutes of daylight) Moonrise: 10:52 am Moonset: 9:15 pm

Wednesday, January 14 – International Kite Day & Organize Your Home Day & World Logic Day

Thursday, January 15 – Humanitarian Day & National Hat Day & Thank Your Mentor Day

Night Sky, 1/15: It is near the new moon which means the sky is dark. This is an excellent time for viewing faint objects like galaxies. You need a telescope, minimal light pollution and a star map.

Do you know what they call an engineer without a degree? Project Manager [] Any project can be accurately estimated once it's complete.

War is, by its definition, an inhumane act. --President Ulysses S Grant

..........What will your mother think, pretty Peggy-o.........Joan Baez …..Fennario

2) Ground judgments in facts. Learn relevant facts before moralizing. Use simple fact-checking.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Misery might love company but so does joy. And joy throws much better parties. https://www.facebook.com/TheHippiePeaceFreaks

Moonbeam: I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message. --Les Paul

Fun Fact of the Week: Play God Day is a day to perform simple acts of kindness, like offering blessings or help to others, rather than miracles, to make someone's day better.

Video of the Week: Gypsy Rose Lee: Put the Blame on Mame (1:30) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=479616561524084

There is a thin line between politics and theatricals. --Julian Bond

It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we would grow too fond of it. --General Robert E Lee

My boss just told me she was assigning me to a new project. I was excited. Then she said, “It started a month ago”. [] Just when you finish idiot-proofing your project, the company hires a new, improved idiot.

..........And the choirs kept singing Freedom.........Joan Baez …..Birmingham Sunday

3) We can expand our perspective by exposure. Read diverse voices (literature, journalism, biographies) and by seeking dialogue with people who hold different views. (Per last week's ePistle – share a meal.)

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Nothing is more dangerous than a shallow thinker with a deep vocabulary. --Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Weird Word of the Week: Solivagant: rambling alone : marked by solitary wandering https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/beautiful-useless-obscure-words

Dragon of the Week:

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean milk stains from clothes. Saturate the milk stains with a can of Coca-Cola, let the garment sit for five minutes, and then launder in your regular wash. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cocacola.html

The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. --General Douglas MacArthur

A badly planned project will take three times longer than expected. A well planned project will take twice as long. [] I set out to learn cooking in the new year. I began with beef stew. But my parsley, basil, and rosemary all turned against me. Thyme is on my side though.

...........it's a still life watercolor of a now late afternoon.........Joan Baez …..The Dangling Conversation

4) Develop empathy in disciplined ways. Use perspective-taking or combine empathy with tempering. Emotional responses inform but do not override factual assessment.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: An injury sustained in a pillow fight is known as a concushion. --Andrey Bratus

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: OrcaCon 2026 (9-11, Seattle, WA) ...a cozy inclusive tabletop games convention. https://www.orcacon.org/

Static Electricity Appreciation Video of the Week: A video of the student whose hair stands on end. (:20) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sqKhxQkMotg

Spark of Joy of the Week: At Scrabble on Monday a discussion arose about kidnapping leaders of foreign countries. (Nobody wanted to kidnap poor Charles III.) It started with a cartoon: A map of southern Florida with a circle around Mar-a-lago. There was an arrow from Cuba to Florida with a note 325 miles. I think it would be so righteous somehow for Cuba to kidnap the Don. The idea of him trying to talk the Cubans into giving him land for a hotel in Havana, priceless. The conversation spread out...the medieval king's ransom...kidnapping actual kids...and arrived at a wife swapping scenario: we kidnap all the leaders of the world and each country picks a flag out of a hat...

Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. --President George Washington

Our new project manager thinks that nine women can make a baby in one month. [] Elon Musk's 2026 project is to build giant sunglasses for the Earth. The planet will be so cool, it will solve global warming.

..........Una poca de gracia.........Joan Baez …..La Bamba (One little bit of grace)

5) While some religious perspectives argue conscience requires a spiritual soul, atheists typically attribute it to complex, unconscious computations in the brain, emergent properties of intelligence, or innate human social behaviors, though the exact mechanism of subjective consciousness remains a scientific puzzle.

Protest Sign of the Week: Less Fascism More Cowbell

Quote of the Week: Dear Future Generations, please accept our apologies, we were rolling drunk on petroleum. --Kurt Vonnegut

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: What I love about cats is thow they collectively, as a species, have never once been fed. --Submitted by UUHS

Today's Peace of History: , January 9, 1967: Julian Bond, elected more than a year before, was finally sworn in as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. The legislature had refused to allow him to take his seat because of his opposition to the Vietnam War and specifically his endorsement of a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) statement accusing the United States of violating international law in Vietnam. Bond had been the director of SNCC.

War is a racket. --General Smedley D Butler

True story: my org is discussing the new name for our next project... Our current project "Servicing 2" is finishing soon. There is discussion around naming the next version, and "Servicing X" came from a "trendy" exec. I mentioned a good abbreviation would be "ServX". I'm waiting for either a commendation or a write-up. [] My daughter came home with her high school art project the other day. It was a painting she titled "Raining Cheerios". I asked why she would do a painting of cheerios falling from the sky. She said: "Because I'm a cerealist"

..........I became a slave to the wind.........Joan Baez …..Tumbleweed

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 9, 2026: Projected ePistle . Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: You know, I have no worst experiences. --Bob Denver

Cost of War:

As of 01/08/26 State Department Costs: $283,989,129,547

As of 01/01/26 State Department Costs: $283,431,727,533

As of 01/08/26 Homeland Security: $1,220,177,897,700

As of 01/01/26 Homeland Security: $1,219,572,461,971

As of 01/08/26 Interest on War Debt: $ 1,352,314,797,214

As of 01/01/26 Interest on War Debt: $1,350,757,968,320

As of 01/08/26 Military Costs: $3,186,442,854,218

As of 01/01/26 Military Costs: $3,185,260,814,791

As of 01/08/26 Veterans Care: $4,676,154,123,058

As of 01/01/26 Veterans Care: $4,664,354,201,478

As of 01/08/26 Total Cost of Wars: $10,719,081,458,923

As of 01/01/26 Total Cost of Wars: $10,703,380,813,758

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

The war in Iraq has as much to do with terrorism as the administration has to do with compassion. --Julian Bond

Famous Last Words: I've already paid. --Joan Baez Diamonds & Rust...legend has it being about her and Dylan.

..........Hearts starve as well as bodies.........Joan Baez & Mimi Farina …..Bread And Roses

Any soldier worth his salt should be antiwar. --Norman Schwarzkopf

On time, on budget, on spec – pick 2. [] Remember, if you can't convince them, confuse them.

May Peace be your resource

And Joy be your inspiration

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Predictable ePistle

Famous First Words: My Dorabella couldn't... --Wolfgang Mozart Cosi fan tutte (La mia Dorabella capace non è)

What will 2026 bring? Here are some predictions I found on the internet. Your dreams will be livestreamed. Neuroscientists are developing tech that maps dreams in near real-time using brainwave patterns. With the rise of streaming culture and oversharing, the next evolution could be broadcasting dreams live—raw, surreal, and unfiltered. ~~I can see where this is going. It will start with Reality Tv Stars -even the losers- having their own channels. Instead of 15 minutes, each has 15 channels of fame. Dreams would only be one of 15 pieces of life that will be in the cloud and on your internet forever. Someday we'll all have our own channels. You get your first one when you're born and gather additional channels as you grow up. I'll have one site that's animated and I'm a curling champion.

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. --Khalil Gibran

..........we tak a cup o' kindness yet.........Robert Burns …..Auld Lang Syne

Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition. --Isaac Asimov

It is gray Friday morning. The sky is heavily ladened with a thick cloud layer which has no light or dark areas; the sun gives no hint whether it is shining above or not. Nonetheless, the birds are out singing and eating sunflower seeds. Squirrels are out too, but they are silent. Willow limbs are moving sluggishly as if they are still hung over from their New Year's Eve party. Puck went out but did not stay long and now he is snoring on his pillow. (I wonder what he dreams about.) Veronica, the cat, put in a brief appearance earlier but left right away and I haven't seen her since. Perhaps she has been partying with the willow tree. Ah, it is a new year and I am still writing to you. That's wonderful.

Hope your weekend and your year hit all the bright spots, dear hearts.

New Year's Jokes of the Week: Mitch McConnell Vows To Continue Falling Down Stairs In Face Of Fascist Takeover. --the Onion

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Idk, it feels pretty irresponsible to start another year like RIGHT after this one. Borderline reckless. --Jonathan Edward Durham

Edible Clothes: Food designers predict a crossover with sustainability: clothes made from rice paper, seaweed, or fruit leather that you can eat once worn. Perfect for festivals, survival gear, or snack emergencies. ~~Cocoa Chanel's Basic Black Forest Cake Dress or Heidi Plum's grapeskin leather jacket or Martha Stewart's Knitted Kale Kaps. Anyway, they say any pair of panties are edible if you're confident and you try hard enough.

A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside. --Denis Waitley

..........by New Year's night.........The Eagles …..Please Come Home For Christmas

Trivia Questions: It is National Science Fiction Day because it is Isaac Asimov's birthday.

1. What was the first science fiction book published?

2. What is the best-selling science fiction book ever?

3. Who issues the Hugo Award for best science fiction book of the year?

4. How many books did Isaac Asimov actually write?

5. What is your favorite science fiction book?

Big Hello: Miga – Teribe (Panama and Costa Rica) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The word nun is just an “n” doing a cartwheel. --Submitted by INRITH

Image of the Week: Image from the Webb Telescope … start the new year thinking big...

New Year's Joke of the Week: Trump Assures Wall Street He'll Go Back To Just F**king Over Poor People Soon. --Submitted by The Onion

The Kelce-Swift wedding will spark global economic growth. ~~I haven't read a single thing about this wedding. Since I heard it was an engagement I have hoped that it is held somewhere besides Kansas City. I fear the city would put wedding bell decorations on every lamppost in the city. I imagine very, very long white lace banners streaming from every tall building in a 30 mile radius. “Tweens from all over the world coming to the city to stand in the spot that Taylor stood in on their first KC date. “...human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together. Mass Hysteria...”

The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load. --Elizabeth II

..........When the bells all ring and the horns all blow.........Ella Fitzgerald …..What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

Moonbeam: The poverty of the country is such that all the power and sway has got into the hands of the rich, who by extortious advantages, having the common people in their debt, have always curbed and oppressed them in all manner of ways. --Nathaniel Bacon c. 1670

Blasphemy of the Week: The Christians stole the winter solstice from the pagans, and capitalism stole it from the Christians. --George Monbiot

New Year's Joke of the Week: Trump Issues Executive Order Reversing All Vasectomies. --Submitted by The Onion

Coffee Joke of the Week: Sunday is when I get to drink coffee for pleasure instead of necessity.

Distant Cousin of Coffee Joke of the Week: Coffee is just anxiety with better branding. https://www.facebook.com/maythecoffeebewithyou

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The Philosophical Musings of the man who has everything...What do you take from the man who has nothing? --Submitted by Philosophy Matters

Obesity drugs for everyone – even for pets. The availability of GLP-1 in pill form shaves the waistlines, even for pets. ~~I took GLP-1 and now my fork feels like a shovel. I'm basically eating air and feeling full. So many people said “Polly want a cracker?” that my parrot got really, really fat. She finally died of it. But actually, it was quite a weight off my shoulders.

We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing. --Billy Graham

..........And baby, let's make promises that we can keep..........Otis Redding & Carla Thomas …..New Year's Resolution

1) Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) is widely seen as the first true science fiction novel for grounding fantasy in scientific possibility.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 2, 2026. The moon will be full (Wolf) tomorrow (1/3) and is in Gemini. Today is Happy Mew Year for Cats Day, National Buffet Day, National Motivation and Inspiration Day, National Personal Trainer Awareness Day, National Science Fiction Day, Pet Travel and Safety Day, Stop Spam Day, and World Introvert Day.

Among those born on this day were Nathaniel Bacon (1647), Mily Balakirev (1837), Martha Carey Thomas (1857), Louis Breguet (1880), Sally Rand (1904), Isaac Asimov (1920), Davod Jerbert (1927), Julius LaRosa (1930), Dabney Coleman (1932), Roger Miller (1936), Ricky Van Shelton (1952), Diane Lane (1965), and Tia Carrere (1966).

On January second the Staatsoper of Hamburg opened (Adam und Eva, 1678), Austria ended interrogation torture (1776), Georgia ratified the US constitution (1788), Cosi fan tutti premiered (1790), the free black community of Philadelphia PA petitioned Congress to abolish slavery (1800), the Liberator began publication (1831), the first US Curling Club opened (1832), Der Fliegende Hollander premiered (1843), the White House hired its first female staffer (Alice Sanger, 1890), Jupiter's satellite, Elara, was discovered (1905), the National Woman's Party formed (1913), there was another Irish uprising (1919), Lithuania gained independence (1919), JFK threw his hat in the ring (1960), the Jets signed Joe Namath (1965), Sid Vicious went on trial (1979), Philadelphia swore in its first black mayor (1984),

Night Sky, 1/2: The night sky features a brilliant, nearly full Wolf Supermoon rising with bright Jupiter, forming a striking pair near the Gemini stars (Castor & Pollux). This coincides with the peak of the fast-moving Quadrantid meteor shower, although the bright moonlight will make fainter meteors hard to spot, with prominent constellations like Orion, Taurus, and Auriga overhead.

Fraternal Picture of the Week: The Christmas Swing

New Year's Joke of the Week: Trump Denies Writing 36-Volume Comic Titled “Don And Jeff: Time Pedophiles”. --Submitted by The Onion

This Week: Saturday, January 3 – Festival of Sleep Day & JRR Tolkien Day & National Play Outside Day

Night Sky, 1/2: The moon reaches full at 10:02 am in Cancer. The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks January 3-4, 2026, offering a potentially strong display (up to 200/hr) but with poor viewing conditions due to the bright, nearly full "Wolf Supermoon". Originated by asteroid 2003 EH1, look for fireballs after midnight in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sunday, January 4 – Trivia Day & World Braille Day & World Hypnotism Day

Monday, January 5 – National Bird Day & National Screenwriters Day & Twelfth Night

Night Sky, 1/5: Look east for Jupiter (very bright), with Pollux above and to its left, as the Moon passes Regulus in Leo in the early morning before sunrise.

Tuesday, January 6 – Bean Day aka National Bean Day & National Shortbread Day & Three Kings Day aka Epiphany

Wednesday, January 7 – Harlem Globetrotter's Day & Old Rock Day & National Bobblehead Day

Night Sky, 1/7: Sunrise: 7:38 am Sunset: 5:04 pm (9 hours and 26 minutes of daylight) Moonset: 9:35 am Moonrise: 8:03 pm

Thursday, January 8 – Argyle Day & Midwife's Day aka Women's Day & Show and Tell Day At Work

Night Sky, 1/8: Saturn is best observed shortly after sunset. Venus and Mars are not prominent evening objects as they are near the sun's position in the sky. Comet 24P/Schaumasse will be at perihelion (closest approach to the Sun). It might be visible through binoculars or a small telescope, but not to the naked eye,

With scent-enabled devices being tested (like OVR Technology), we might soon be able to “smell” a recipe, perfume ad, or forest walk from our screen. That's either revolutionary or deeply cursed. ~~Hopefully, we're still aways from recreating the actual smell of the person you are seeing. It will be interesting for online dating apps. Will you pick your fragrance after you enter your personal data? Will the consumer be able to pick which flavors are included in any given whiffbar? Whole lines of scents created just for the chemicals in the device. Can't wait.

Everybody has losses – it's unavoidable in life. Sharing our pain is very healing. --Isabel Allende

..........Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.........Fleetwood Mac …..Don't Stop

2) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is by far the best selling with over 100 million copies sold surpassing other giants like 1984 and Dune.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I bet the ultimate secret of the universe is something stupid. --Existential Comics --Submitted by MMS

Moonbeam: Success is not defined by what others think, but by what you believe. --Sally Rand

New Year's Joke of the Week: Kids, if you like men with big white beards, the color red, and the redistribution of property, have I got a book for you. --@shujaxhaider --Submitted by USDS

Fun Fact of the Week: Happy Mew Year is a playful way to say Happy New Year to your cat, celebrated annually on January 2nd, a special day for cat lovers to show extra appreciation for their feline companions, give them treats, toys, and focus on their health for the year ahead, making it a fun tradition for pet owners. ~~FYI there are weight reduction drugs especially for cats.

Video of the Week: Sally Rand's famous Fan Dance (2:54) https://youtu.be/ahldaCK0DDI

And above all things, never think that you're not good enough yourself. A person should never think that. My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning. --Isaac Asimov

Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing. --Alexksandr Solzhenitsyn

More people are declaring independence — literally. Micro-countries like Liberland or Sealand are already real. In 2026, expect a boom in digital micronations with their own laws, currencies, and Discord-based governments. ~~I think a micronation of 1 may be a little too tacky. So I am accepting applications for citizenship in Brayacia (Bray' a shi ah) {Bray is my maiden name.} You must be at least 16 years old, alive and kicking, and you must pick a name for yourself that is unique to this nation. Brayacia has no currency or formal governmental structure. My Brayacian name is: Lady Bird Fart.

..........We're gonna celebrate.........Daft Punk …..One More Time

3) The Hugo Awards are given out by members of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS) at the annual World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon).

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Jeffery Dahmer said tattoos taste terrible. Stay safe from cannibals. Get more tattoos. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088716755199

Weird Word of the Week: Chrysalism: The peaceful feeling that comes from being indoors during a thunderstorm. https://word-lists.com/word-lists/100-rare-words-with-beautiful-meanings/

Dragons of the Week:

New Year's Joke of the Week: The Impotent Potus intends to write Netanyahu a strongly worded check. --Submitted by The Onion

Thank you, Canada, for holding our hair back for all of 2025. We owe you.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Fertilize azaleas or gardenias. Watering azaleas or gardenias with Coca-Cola increases the acidity in the soil, which azaleas love, and boosts plant performance. The sugar in the Coke feed microorganisms in the soil, increasing the organic matter in the soil https://word-lists.com/word-lists/100-rare-words-with-beautiful-meanings/

Life is all about sharing. If we are good at something, pass it on. That is the pleasure I get from teaching – whether its television or books. We should all share. --Mary Berry

SpaceX announces an IPO, supercharging extraterrestrial markets. Financial markets go into orbit, to the moon and beyond as SpaceX expands rocket launches by orders-of-magnitude. ~~Elon Musk will create a galactic stock market in order to sell stock to extraterrestrial markets since he already has all the money minted on Earth. Rocket stocks soared to new heights but then a minor guidance problem caused them to plummet.

...........Kissing the old year out.........Bing Crosby ….Let's Start The New Year Right

4) Isaac Asimov was incredibly prolific, writing or editing over 500 books, along with hundreds of short stories, essays, and articles, covering science fiction (like his famous Foundation and Robot series) and popular science, history, and more, making him one of history's most productive authors.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Gary basks in the glow of a fifteen-minute window with no empty cardboard boxes in the house. --Benjamin Schwartz --Submitted by The New Yorker ~~Side note: 2025 is the 100^th anniversary of the founding of The New Yorker.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Painted Desert Fur Con (1/2-4, Phoenix, AZ) ...Arizona's destination for the furry community. https://painteddesertfc.org/

New Year's Joke of the Week: Trump Vows To Reopen Joanns As Prison --Submitted by The Onion

Short Labor History of the Week: It is the birthday of the International Workers of the World aka IWW aka Wobblies. It was created at a Conference of Industrial Unionists in Chicago in 1905. The mission of the IWW was and still is to form One Big Union!

Spark of Joy of the Week: It is the birthday of the Wobblies and here is a collection of IWW cartoons...cartooning capitalism https://www.cartooningcapitalism.com/iww-cartoons

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing. --Elie Wiesel

China demands all payments to them be made in actual gold. The white house staff tried melting down all those gold appliqués that the president had stuck to the walls but it wasn't enough. The US may have to just send the key to Ft Knox to Xi Jinping.

..........May we all have our hopes.........Abba …..Happy New Year

5) My favorite is The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. “Gully Foyle is my name. Terra is my nation. Deep space is my dwelling place, the stars my destination.”

Protest Sign of the Week: One Nation Under Distress

Quote of the Week: Bless you, wherever you are. Windswept child of a shooting star. --John Lennon

New Year's Joke of the Week: A modern Christmas Carol remake where Scrooge doesn't change his ways but instead makes his whole personality about how the woke Christmas ghosts are trying to cancel him. @vonTraphaus

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My advice on growing old: Go ahead and do it. --Hershel Franklin --Submitted by bu of ks

Today's Peace of History: January 2, 1995: An estimated 100,000 Bangladeshi women traveled from the countryside to attend a rally in Dacca, the capital, to protest Islamist clerics' attacks on women's education and employment. Khaleda Zia, the country’s first female prime minister, had introduced compulsory free primary education, free education for girls up to class ten, a stipend for the girl students, and food for the education program.

I'm just someone who likes cooking and for whom sharing food is a form of expression. --Maya Angelou

JD Vance takes over the white house and redecorates it like PeeWee's Playhouse. He changes the name of the Green Room to French Horn Haunt with an automatic applause machine for whenever he plays. And the Blue Room changes to Erika Kirk's Game Room. And he requires that every room have at least 3 “young” couches.

..........I love the days we spent together.........Nat King Cole …..Happy New Year

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 2, 2026: Predictable ePistle . Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: The man's world must become a man's and woman's world. --M Carey Thomas

Cost of War:

As of 01/01/26 State Department Costs: $283,431,727,533

As of 12/25/25 State Department Costs: $282,903,955,387

As of 01/01/26 Homeland Security: $ 1,219,572,461,971

As of 12/25/25 Homeland Security: $1,218,999,203,600

As of 01/01/26 Interest on War Debt: $1,350,757,968,320

As of 12/25/25 Interest on War Debt: $ 1,349,283,761,430

As of 01/01/26 Military Costs: $ 3,185,260,814,791

As of 12/25/25 Military Costs: $3,184,141,458,478

As of 01/01/26 Veterans Care: $4,664,354,201,478

As of 12/25/25 Veterans Care: $4,653,177,494,231

As of 01/01/26 Total Cost of Wars: $10,703,380,813,758

As of 12/25/25 Total Cost of Wars: $10,688,507,503,721

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. --Isaac Asimov

Famous Last Words: Hier steh' ich treu dir bis zum Tod --Richard Wagner The Flying Dutchman (Here I stand true to you until death.)

..........Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you.........Taylor Swift …..New Year's Day

Our father's and our family's music is focused on uniting people through justice, peace, and love; and sharing a meal can bring togetherness, community, love and understanding. --Cedella Marley

Luigi is exonerated for killing the CEO of UnitedHealthCare. He runs for office and wins. Everybody gets national health care. ~~Sigh. I can dream can't I?

May Peace fill you with hope

And Joy fill you with anticipation

prairie mama

christine

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