ePistolary ePistle

 Famous First Words: The satellite whirled around the globe; a tiny silver bubble lost in the sky’s infinitude. --Allen Drury The Throne of Saturn

It is World Letter Writing Day! What 8 letter word has only one letter in it? Envelope. / After Kaa the Snake gained fame in The Jungle Book, he received lots of fang mail.

..........I got no car, got no mule, I got no misery.........Porgy …..I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'

I am weary of them that hate peace. --Jemima Wilkinson

It is a lovely Friday morning. 70°F is a nearly perfect temperature; the skies are a soft blue with small wispy clouds floating here and there, not seeming to be gathering into actual clouds. Puck and I encountered another small dog being walked and he was so angry at having to share the sidewalk that we hurried home. The world never got brown this summer, lawns are healthy, flowers still waft their scent around, and it is beautiful to walk through it. But it is an ordinary day for running errands, bank, grocery, gas station... Puck is now asleep under the bed and I am sitting at my computer, sipping decaf, and writing to you. See, lovely.

Hope your weekend has both rhyme and reason, but only if you want it to, ePistliers.

FYI of the Week: an epistle is a letter. The ancient Greek word for letter is epistéllō through Old French to Middle English (where it gained biblical status) to modern English. So, it is my intellectual snobbery not my holier than thou attitude that accounts for the name.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The adjective for metal is metallic, but not so for iron, which is ironic. Thank you. --Submitted by INRITH

Casper was a prolific letter writer who gave a lot of business to the Ghost Office/ Ghosts tend to start letter with Tomb it may concern

..........Woman may born you, love you, and mourn you.........Jake …..A Woman Is A Sometime Thing

Trivia Questions: Congratulations to Pheidippides who ran the first marathon, I guess.

• ^ Why did Pheidippides run over 25 miles anyway?
• ^^ Would you care to guess how many marathons were run in 2016 in the US & Canada?
• ^^^ What is the age span of marathon runners?
• ^^^^ What marathon boasts the largest number of runners?
• ^^^^^ Do you know who ran a marathon in space?

Big Hello: Bonjou – Gallo (Brittany) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: 2022 The year mowing the grass cost less than smoking it.

Image of the Week: We love you, Serena

~~I attempted to put the new forever Pete Seeger stamp but the picture wouldn't upload. ??

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: Google can give you 1,000,000 answers but a librarian can give you the directions to the restroom. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Communists write all their letters in lower case because they hate capitalism. / If you rearrange the letters of Postman...he gets very angry.

..........We'll go a-struttin' an' there'll be nuttin' too good for you.........Sportin' Life …..Dere's a Boat Dat's Leavin' Soon for New York

Moonbeam: The voices of the people are the voices of God. --Queen Liliuokalani.

Meditation of the Week: Who created God?

Puzzle of the Week: This challenge comes from listener Rawson Sheinberg, of Northville, MI. Think of an eight-letter noun composed phonetically of two consecutive names traditionally given to girls. Remove the sixth letter and rearrange the result. You'll get an event where you might hear the thing named by the original noun. What words are these? NPR Sunday Puzzle 8/28/22

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Controversial thesis: If the highest paid person in your university of college is the basketball coach or the football coach, then it is not a university, it is a sporting franchise with a side hustle in tertiary education. --Submitted by bu of ks

Month of the Week: September is Shameless Promotion Month. I will be reading from my February Sisters memoir An Act Surprising. On September 23, 2022 at 7 pm in Watkins Museum. See you there.

Nagini used to sign all his letters with love and hisses. / Talking about letters, what is the capital of Kansas? K

..........But who calls dat livin' when no gal will give in to no man what's 900 years.........Sportin' Life …..It Ain't Necessarily So

^ The marathon is a celebration of the legendary Greek soldier Pheidippides. He is said to have run over 25 miles from the battle of Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a Greek victory, only to promptly collapse and die.

Almanac: It is Friday, September 2, 2022. The moon will be in the first quarter tomorrow (9/3) and is in Scorpio. It is Acne Positivity Day, Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day, Calendar Adjustment Day, Chicken Boy's Day, Emma M. Nutt Day, International Day of Awareness for the Dolphins of Taiji, International Toy Testing Day, National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day aka Be Kind Day, and World Letter Writing Day. Because it is the first Friday in September it is also Bring Your Manners to Work Day. Finally, because it is the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day Weekend it is Cows Chip Throwing Day.

Among those born on this day were Queen Liliuokalani (1838), Henry George (1839), Cleveland Amory (1917), Allen Drury (1918), Martha Mitchell (1918), Marge Champion (1919), Joan Kennedy (1936), Peter Ueberroth (1937), Sharon McAuliffe (1948), and Keanu Reeves (1964).

On September second Pheidippides ran the first marathon (490 BCE), the great fire of London began(1666), The US Treasury Department was established by Congress (1789), gas lighting was introduced to Hawaii (1859), the Communist Party of America was organized (Chicago, 1919), the first non-stop transatlantic flight took off (37 hours, 1930), and Gershwin completed the score for Porgy and Bess (1935).

Night Sky, 9/2: Now the Moon, nearly first quarter, poses just to the right of the head of Scorpius after dusk. The star closest to the Moon there is Delta Scorpii, the brightest in the area after Antares. The website below has a star map. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Image of the Week: Max & Ollie on The Sagging Boardwalk

This Week: Saturday, September 3 – International Bacon Day & National Play Outside Day & World Beard Day

Sunday, September 4 – Bowling League Day & National Wildlife Day & Pet Rock Day

Night Sky, 9/4: Step out before the first light of dawn this week, and the sky displays the same starry panorama it does at dinnertime around New Year's. Orion is striding up in the southeast, with Aldebaran and then the Pleiades high above it. Sirius sparkles far down below Orion. The Gemini twins are lying on their sides well up in the east, left of Orion.

Monday, September 5 – Be Late For Something Day & Jury Rights Day & Yard Art Day

Tuesday, September 6 – Another Look Unlimited Day

Wednesday, September 7 – Grandma Moses Day & Neither Snow nor Rain Day & Salami Day

Night Sky,9/7: Mercury is fading and sinking very low into the sunset glow. Early in the week, you can try scanning for it with binoculars or a wide-field telescope about 20 or 30 minutes after sunset. Look just above the horizon a little left of due west. Good luck.

Thursday, September 8 – Iguana Awareness Day & International Literacy Day & National School Picture Day

I write letters in longhand because even my blood is type O. / Jennie began all her letters from summer camp with S'more News...

..........One of these mornings you're going to rise up singing.........Clair …..Summertime

^^ In 2016, over 545,000 runners competed in one of 816 marathons in the US and Canada. Add up all that race mileage and it's almost enough to circle the globe!

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Pisstified: The state of being equal parts pissed-off and mystified at the same time. --Submitted by INRITH

Moonbeam: What this world needs is a new kind of army – the army of the kind. --Cleveland Amory

Video of the Week: Queen Liliuokalani singing Aloha Oe (2:34) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1bIxMYPlas

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: So you know, Fauci has been doing this job for so long that his first controversy was when Congressional Republicans accused him of making up these germ things...He's unclear about why he's finally retiring, maybe because he can finally pay off his student loans. --Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 8/27/22

The only alternative to war is peace and the only road to peace is negotiations. --Golda Meir

I went to the Post Office to mail a letter to China but I had to wait behind Satan forever. The devil takes many forms. / My poor dad; he's waiting in line at the post office to buy stamps for email.

..........Guess I'll take my honey an' her sunny smile along.........Chorus …..Oh, I Can't Sit Down

^^^ At 100 years old, Fauja Singh became the oldest person to run a marathon in 2011, when he completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8:25:16! And incredibly, at age 3, Budhia Singh became the youngest to complete a marathon.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists. --Yosemite National Park forest ranger

Weird Word of the Week: Ensorcelled – enchanted or bewitched http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-ens1.htm

Dragon of the Week: Dragon Temple in Beijing

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Sweeten a cup of coffee or tea. Substitute a teaspoon of Aunt Jemina Original Syrup for each teaspoon of sugar or honey. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/auntjemima.html

I asked the clerk at the post office to keep my letter away from snow, rain, heat, and gloom of night. / Sorry, we no longer have forever stamps. We only have day by day stamps.

...........I'll ride that long, long road.........Porgy …..Lawd, I'm On My Way

^^^^ With 45,000 runners crossing the start line in 2010, the New York Marathon is the largest in the world. But it had humble beginnings. The New York Marathon started in 1970, with 127 people each paying $1 to run several loops around Central Park. Nothing against Central Park, but we like the 5 boroughs route better!

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Counting to ten just makes it premeditated. --Submitted by bc of tx

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: CoKoCon (2-5, Tempe,AZ) ...traditional science fiction/fantasy convention in the Phoenix metropolitan area... ~~In my opinion traditional is good..it means there are a lot of actors that you have to pay to see. Guests of Honor: Joseph Nassise and local author Linda Addison. http://www.cokocon.org/2022/index.html

Actual Science Conference of the Week:CIGRE 2022 (28-2, Paris) <de>coding the future of energy. Together. https://new.siemens.com/global/en/company/fairs-events/fairs/cigre.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbyYBhCdARIsAArC6LKgZ8u_pVbV7teZr9W71Vz8t2MXH__aF7kkUQrdoxQ9qsPY_gJVxmEaAjSkEALw_wcB&acz=1

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Clarinet (Claire, Annette) → Recital

When I told the clerk at the Post Office that this letter had to be in Des Moines by Friday, she asked if I was trying to tell her how to do her job? / It's hard for women to get ahead at the Post Office. It's a mail dominated industry.

..........I'll carry you away from war........Bess …..Gone, Gone, Gone

^^^^^ During the 2007 Boston Marathon, astronaut Sunita Williams ran 26.2 miles while onboard the International Space Station in 4 hours and 24 minutes.

My Own Writing of the Week: The university in the 1960s was a perfect place to reshape, well, really, anything. I studied English Literature (I tell people I have a degree in reading), worked for peace and justice, and indulged myself. Feminist activism wasn't on the menu yet, but it was coming, we all knew it. I attended a junior college, a college, and, finally, a university. I received a bachelor's degree. My mother wanted to go to college but it was the depression and there was no money. My mother expected me to go to college and I enjoyed it twice – once for me and once for her. I worked with the Student Peace Union and Students for a Democratic Society trying to make it a better world and trying to end the Vietnam war. The indulgences are discussed later.

I also researched and found a history of women who loved sex and wrote juicy books about it. Anais Nin / George Sand / Radclyff Hall / Sappho / Pauline Réage / Christina Rossetti / Helen Gurley Brown -Always Surrender: Memories, observations, micro-stories, fantasies, and lies from my life as an insurgent in the sexual revolution by Christine Smith

The sexual embrace can only be compared with music and with prayer. --Marcus Aurelius

Quote of the Week: Student loan forgiveness undermines one of our military's greatest recruitment tools at a time of dangerously low enlistments. --Jim Banks

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you are having second thoughts you're two ahead of most people.

Today's Peace of History, September 2, 1945: Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam a republic and independent from France (National Day). Half a million people gathered in Hanoi to hear him read the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence which was based on the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

At least the penny postcard is still only $.44 / The Post Office refused to sell mollusk stamps. It's bad enough they're called Snail Mail without advertising it.

..........I wanna stay here with you forever.........Bess …..I Loves You, Porgy

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle September 2, 2022, ePistolary ePistle Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith Lawrence, KS 66047

Moonbeam: Let it be known that any irregularities in my mental stability have been brought upon me by outside forces...namely the administration of King Richard Milhous Nixon. --Martha Mitchell

Cost of War:

• As of 9/01/22 State Department War Costs since 2001: $186,669,932,135.
• As of 8/25/22 State Department War Costs since 2001: $186,095,320,365.
• As of 9/01/22 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,080,492,045,961.
• As of 8/25/22 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,078,887,049,373.
• As of 9/01/22 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,114,469,158,154.
• As of 8/25/22 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,113,844,993,154.
• As of 9/01/22 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,615,669,518,426.
• As of 8/25/22 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,603,502,956,037.
• As of 9/01/22 Military Costs since 2001: $2,980,059,015,720.
• As of 8/25/22 Military Costs since 2001: $2,978,840,360,377.
• As of 9/01/22 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7.977,362,301,406.
• As of 8/25/22 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $7,961,172,821,578.

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

We could have peace in one year if women were organized. --Jeannette Rankin

Famous Last Words: ...for the use of the person giving such information. An Act to Establish the Treasury Department

..........Oh, dey's so fresh an' fine an' dey's just off de vine, strawberries..........Chorus …..Street Cries

Every year our local Post Office has customer appreciation day and has a big watermailin feast. / The bad news is they're sending out pink slips to postal employees...the good news is they're sending them by mail.

May Peace encourage your journey

And Joy vitalize your path

prairie mama

christine

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