eLlipsis...ePistle

 Famous First Words: Hey there, Stella, baby. --Stanley Kowalski Streetcar Named Desire

I'm so glad I grew up speaking English. Where's the challenge in a language that coordinates pronunciation and spelling. / English Game: Place the word “only” anywhere in this sentence: She told him that she loved him.

..........Just look, my friend, there's happiness in living.........Ferlin Husky …..Don't Let The Good Life Pass You By

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” —Saint Francis de Sales

It is a busy Friday morning. The sky is a beautiful blue without a cloud anywhere. Puck and I walked in the cool (43°F) of the morning and barked at two squirrels, one person, and several phantoms. Then Jeff and I went to the grocery store because our cupboards were bare. Third thing – we put away food and put away food and put away food. But now...now...I have a cup of freshly brewed decaf, sweetened and creamed. In my ear, dog snoring floats gently. I take a long sniff and a small bite of cream cheese muffin and sit down to write to you. Whew!

Hope your weekend rolls trippingly off the tongue, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Elton John has bought his pet rabbit a treadmill. It's a little fit bunny. --Submitted by HPF

Yes, English can be weird. It can be understood through tough thorough thought, though. --David Burge / If “womb” is pronounced “woom” and “tomb” is pronounced “toom”, shouldn't “bomb” be pronounced “boom”?

..........And hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near.........Andy Williams …..It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Trivia Questions: It is World Transplant Day

^ Who decides who gets a donated organ?

^^ Can I just buy one of your kidneys?

^^^ What are organs that are often transplanted?

^^^^ More or less, how many people are waiting for a transplant?

^^^^^ More or less, how many transplants were performed in the US in 2020?

Big Hello: Shalom – Hebrew https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The world is a magical place full of people waiting to be offended by something. --Submitted by PsyDe

Max Picture of the Week: Max in his preppy sweater and serious new haircut is out shining some Christmas Decorations

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 50% of librarians say the glass is half full, 50% say it's half empty; 100% say you aren't allowed to have it in the computer lab. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Peruse: a) to look at or read in an informal or relaxed way b) to examine or read in a very careful way / Why don't these words rhyme? Cough...rough...through...tough

..........Can you help me occupy my brain..........Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne …..Paranoid

Moonbeam: The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness. --Joseph Conrad

Meditation Seed of the Week: What do you think is the most beautiful word in the English language? ~~Here is somebody's opinion on that. https://www.rd.com/article/beautiful-word-english-language/

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My secret to a happy, stress-free Christmas? I'm Jewish. --Submitted by MMS

Week of the Week: Cookie Cutter Week (1-7) –If you use a reindeer cookie cutter, you end up with cookie doe. / These Rudolph cookies really sleigh.

English in a nutshell: Queue pronounced kyoo. Write down 4 letters. Only pronounce the first letter. / It makes me really uncomfortable that the word Australia contains three A's and all of them are pronounced differently.

..........When the trust is found to be lies..........Jefferson Airplane …..Somebody To Love

^ A national computer system and strict standards are in place to ensure ethical and fair distribution of organs. Organs are matched by blood and tissue typing, organ size, medical urgency, waiting time and geographic location. ~~Hearts only need to match on blood type and size, not tissue.

Almanac: It is Friday, December 3, 2021. The moon will be new tomorrow and is in Scorpio. It is Be A Blessing Day, International Baboon Day. International Day of Persons With Disabilities, National Roof Over Your Head Day, and World Transplant Day. Because it is the first Friday it is also Bartender Appreciation Day, Faux Fur Friday, and National Salesperson Day.

Among those born on this day were Samuel Crompton (1753), Gilbert Stuart (1755), Rowland Hill (1795), France Preseren (1800), Cleveland Abbe (1838), Octavia Hill (1838), Joseph Conrad (1857), Anton von Webern (1883), Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn (1886), Anna Freud (1895), Kate O'Brien (1897), Maria Callas (1923), Ferlin Husky (1927), Andy Williams (1930), Jean-Luc Godard (1930), Phyllis Morgan (1931), Valerie Perrine (1943), Ozzy Osbourne (1948), Mickey Thomas (Jefferson Airplane, 1949), Daryl Hannah (1960), and Brendan Fraser (1968).

On December fourth Thomas Herriot introduced potatoes to England (1586), Illinois was admitted to the union (21st, 1818), Andrew Jackson was elected president (7th, 1828), the first US dental society was organized (1834), the first fire insurance policy was issued (RI, 1835), Frederick Douglass published the first issue of his newspaper, North Star (1857), the first black men served on trial jury (Jefferson Davis, 1868), Cohen's Talk of the Town premiered (1907), neon lights were introduced to the public (Paris, 1910), Turkey and Armenia signed a peace treaty (1920), US Congress session was first broadcast on radio (1923), Alka Seltzer went on sale (1931), the US government asked the UN to order Franco out of Spain (1946), A Streetcar Named Desire premiered (1947), Paul Harvey began his national radio broadcast (1950), Wilt Chamberlain played his first college basketball game (52 points, 1956), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first aired on tv (1964), Nixon commuted Jimmy Hoffa's jail term (1971), and 11 people were trampled to death at a Who concert (Cincinnati, 1979).

Night Sky, 12/3: New Moon in Sagittarius at 2:44 am

Image of the Week: This is a picture of me taken this week. I am wearing a Suzy Creamcheese original.*Suzy Creamcheese was a character in songs by the Mothers of Invention. *Suzy Creamcheese was a hippie boutique in Lawrence in the late 60s.

This Week: Saturday, December 4 – National Cookie Die & National Dice Day & World Pear Day

Night Sky, 12/4:Solar Eclipse: People located at the southernmost tips of South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand will experience the partial phases. The path of the moon’s umbral shadow begins in the Southern Ocean about 300 miles (500 km) southeast of the Falkland Islands, crosses the Antarctic continent, and ends at sunset in the Southern Ocean. A partial eclipse will be seen within the much broader path of the moon’s penumbral shadow, which includes the Southern Ocean, southern Africa and the southeastern corner of Australia and Tasmania. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Sunday, December 5 – AFL-CIO Day & Bathtub Party Day & International Ninja Day

Monday, December 6 – Miner's Day & Mitten Tree Day & St. Nicholas' Feast Day

Tuesday, December 7 – International Civil Aviation Day & National Cotton Candy Day & World Trick Shot Day

Wednesday, December 8 – National Day of Lard & Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day

Night Sky, 12/9 : Monocerotid meteor shower 2021: The Monocerotid meteor shower will be active from 5 December to 20 December, producing its peak rate of meteors around 9 December. ... The shower is expected to reach peak activity at around 10 pm CST on 8 December 2021.

Thursday, December 9 – International Anti-Corruption Day & Weary Willie Day

I am reminded that English is a flawed language every time I am forced to use “that that” in a sentence. I cannot believe that that “that that” thing is a thing we use in English. / Excuse me there's no excuse for this. I'm not content with this content.

..........Do away with people laughin' at my hair.........Jefferson Airplane …..Three fifths Of A Mile in Ten Second

^^ Buying or selling organs is illegal. It is a federal felony to give or receive money or any other tangible gift in exchange for a donated organ.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Is there a nicer feeling than being in a room full of people and the dog chooses to come sit next to you? I think not. --Submitted by PsyDe

Moonbeam: The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness. --Joseph Conrad

Video of the Week: It's that time of year...Pot in the Latkes by MC Flo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2GOrdxCm6Q

Ollie's Very Own Picture of the Week: Ollie and the alien pjs

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: You may not have noticed because not only do Americans not care about soccer, they don't even have an American team in the tournament to not care about because the US did not qualify for the World Cup. The U.S. team was eliminated by Trinidad and Tobago, which, by the way, is the least humiliating thing to happen to the United States this year. --Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 6/23/18

“If you are depressed you are living in the past, if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present.” —Lao Tzu

A friend pointed out that the phrase “new direction” sounds exactly like “nude erection” and my life has never been the same. / Y'all'd've know this if you lived in the south.

..........Go ask Alice, I think she'll know.........Jefferson Airplane …..White Rabbit

^^^ Organs and tissue that can be donated include: heart, kidneys, lungs, pancreas, liver, intestines, corneas, skin, tendons, bone, nerve and heart valves. If you are not registered, you can become a donor by visiting registerme.org .

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's that time of year when we put away our every day anxiety and switch to our festive holiday anxiety. --Submitted by INRITH

Collective Nouns of the Week: An Obstinacy of buffalo and a Business of ferrets

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Soothe insect bites. Dissolve two Alka-Seltzer tablets in a glass of water, dip a cloth into the solution, and place the cloth on the bite for twenty minutes. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/alkaseltzer.html

Strange Fact of Life of the Week: Every box of raisins is a tragic tale of grapes that could have been wine.

Puzzle of the Week: Think of a familiar three-word phrase in the form of "in the blank." The word that fills the blank will start with the letter "S." Move the "S" to the end and you'll get another familiar phrase in the form of "in the blank." What phrases are these? NPR Sunday Puzzle 4/26/06

If GH can substitute for P in hiccough and OUGH can substitute for O as in DOUGH, and PHTH can substitute for T as in phthisis and EIGH can stand for A as in neighbour, and TTE can substitute for T as in gazette, and EAU can substitute for O and in plateau. The correct way to spell potato would be ghoughphtheightteeau / UK – We call it Autumn, from the French word “autompne” and later, the Latin “autumnus”. USA – We call it fall because leaves fall down

...........One begins to read between the pages of a look.........Jefferson Airplane …..Comin' Back To Me

^^^^ Almost 107,000 people in the United States are currently on the waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant. -- Aug 12, 2021

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: St Peter: It says here that you should go to hell but since you have a PhD, we'll count that as time served.--Submitted by Philosophy Matters

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: L.A. ComicCon (3-5, Los Angeles) --A confluence of comics, gaming, sci-fi, horror, pop culture, and that one obscure thing that you thought everyone had forgotten about... https://www.comicconla.com/

Name That Poet of the Week: Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as vague and ague,
But be careful how you speak,
Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak,

Actual Science Conference of the Week: 5^th International Online Conference on Mathematics (1-3, Online event) An Istanbul Meeting for World Mathematicians. http://icomath.com/index.php

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: In the swing... in the wings

Will Will Smith smith? Will Smith will smith. / Is firefly the opposite of waterfall? / Is spelt spelled spelt or spelled?

..........Man prepares to meet his destiny, yeah.........Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne …..Into The Void

^^^^^ 39,034 organ transplants were performed using organs from both deceased and living donors in 2020, marking the tenth consecutive record-setting year for transplants in the U.S. 85% (33,309) of the transplants performed involved organs from deceased donors.

My Own Writing of the Week: I never cared much for sex on acid. There was just too much going on while I was stoned. When I make love I want all my attention right there in my cunt and in my mouth. I don't want to space out watching the flowers on the comforter move. But, late in the evening when you're gliding down and you smoke a little weed to slow yourself even more so you're kind of floating between trippy and not, sensation is still intense but the mind is not so, love can be magical.

Drinking has never made me lucky. There was a potential Young Apollo who stopped by my house on St. Patrick's Day with a fifth of good Irish Whiskey that someone had left in his truck. But I'm so little a drinker I wasn't able to keep up at all and kept asking if people diluted this with other stuff like coke or orange juice. Finally, he took the rest of his bottle and went off to find someone who liked the stuff. I hope he ended up lucky and in love. --From Drugs and Alcohol

Poet of the Week: Gerard Nolst Trenité The Chaos

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: God literally sacrificed his only begotten son, he's cool with abortions, trust me. --Sey Smythe --Submitted by MMS

Today's Peace of History, December 3, 1833: Oberlin College (then Oberlin Collegiate Institute) opened for its first class. It was the first college to enroll men and women on equal terms, and to accept African-American men and women on equal terms with white students.

“The major problem is quite simply one of grammar, and the main work to consult in this matter is Dr. Dan Streetmentioner’s Time Traveler’s Handbook of 1001 Tense Formations. ... Most readers get as far as the Future Semiconditionally Modified Subinverted Plagal Past Subjunctive Intentional before giving up; and in fact in later editions of the book all the pages beyond this point have been left blank to save on printing costs. --Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy / Why does the word monosyllabic have five syllables?

..........Wherever you're going, I'm going your way.........Andy Williams …..Moon River

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle December 3, 2021, elliptical...ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. 2511 Morningside Dr. Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: Words, as is well known, are the great foes of reality. --Joseph Conrad

Cost of War:

As of 12/02/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,934,032,582,319.

As of 11/25/21 Military Costs of War since 2001: $2,932,915,343,436.

As of 12/02/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,090,894,763,672.

As of 11/25/21 Homeland Security Costs since 2001: $1,090,322,525,888.

As of 12/02/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $164,966,398,143.

As of 11/25/21 State Department War on Terror Costs since 2001: $164,439,976,700.

As of 12/02/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,019,872,048,577.

As of 11/25/21 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,018,400,960,261.

As of 12/02/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,156,153,125,319 .

As of 11/25/21 Veterans Care since 2001: 2,145,003,771,546 .

As of 12/02/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,365,914,623,529.

As of 11/25/21 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,351,086,203,505.

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

“Don't search for anything except peace. Try to calm the mind. Everything else will come on its own." —Baba Hari Das

Famous Last Words: He passed on unsuspected and deadly, like a pest in the street full of men. --Joseph Conrad The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale

..........And speaks to me of flowers that will bloom again in spring.........Ferlin Husky …..Snowbird

Does it bug anyone else that you pronounce all the letters in salmonella? / I feel like one of the greatest conquests of the English language is the phrase “I'ma” because it's an abbreviation for “I am going to”. Like we managed to subtract all the spaces and three-fourths of the letters and we still know what it means. That's powerful.

May Peace watch your p's

And Joy take care of your q's

prairie mama

christine

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