tHankful ePistle

 Famous First Words: The election will be over soon... Ronald Reagan's Election Eve Speech. 1980

November is National Gratitude Month! If you can't be content with what you have received, be thankful for what you have escaped. / Gratitude is the wine for the soul. Go on. Get drunk. --Rumi

..........You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown.........Ry Cooder and Terry Evans …..Cross Road Blues

I just want to encourage people to register to vote. That is the most important thing to me. Because there’s a lot of upset people, and there’s a lot of people who have power. --Lizzo

It is a rainy Friday morning. The earth is glad for the rain and soaks it up greedily. Ms Veronica, who often sticks her head out the door the sniff and look around, decided this was not the day to try to actually go outside but Puck ran right out to do his business and then ran right back inside to shake tiny water drops across the living room. A northwest wind gusts up to 14 mph and the tapping of rain drops on the chimney varies as the gusts pass by. I have opened my blinds so I can sit at my computer and watch the willow branches blow nearly straight out from the tree. I feel like the rain is watering me as well, adding moisture and softening my inner dirt clods. Ahh, what a morning.

Hope you have lots to be thankful for this weekend, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Don't judge me until you've ridden a mile on my broom.

I feel a very unusual sensation – if it's not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude. ==Benjamin Disraeli / The thing I'm most grateful for right now is elastic waistbands.

..........Hurry up, hurry up, children.........The Wonders …..Cotton Needs Pickin'

Trivia Questions: On this date in 1954 the Philadelphia A's moved to Kansas City

• ^ How long were the A's in Philadelphia?
• ^^ Where did the name come from?
• ^^^ Why did the A's move?
• ^^^^ When was the first game between the Philadelphia A's and the Philadelphia Phillies?
• ^^^^^ When did the A's leave Kansas City?

Big Hello: Tjike – Herero (Namibia, Botswana, and Angola) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Your X-Ray showed a broken rib, but we fixed it with Photoshop. --Submitted by PsyDe

Image of the Week: William Burroughs in Lawrence with his Jack-o-lantern

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 75% of librarians are sad microfiche isn't as popular because they miss making “Teach a man to fiche” jokes. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

I'm thankful for laughter except when milk comes out of my nose. --Woody Allen / Even though we can't have all we want, we ought to be thankful we don't get what we deserve.

..........And the heck of a job he done......... Amy Madigan …..He Made A Woman Out Of Me

Moonbeam: The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. --Eden Phillpotts

Meditation of the Week: Are there universal human rights?

Puzzle of the Week: From Wei-hwa Huang, of San Jose, who's the four-time champion of the World Puzzle Championship. He notes that it's unusual for a multi-word movie title to consist entirely of words starting with vowels, none of which are the article "a." or pronoun "I." Can you name a popular movie with a five-word title — with word lengths 10, 10, 3, 2, 4 — all of which start with vowels?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Our town is so small we don't have a town drunk, so we all take turns. --Submitted by bc of tx

We hope that when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics. - William Vaughn / I want to say thank you to all the people who walked into my life and made it outstanding, and all the people who walked out of my life and made it fantastic.

..........Blind dog Foolton, Smoke House Brown.........Ry Cooder, Joe Seneca, Juke Logan and the Wonders …..Willie Brown Blues

^ The Athletics (A's) were a major league baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954.

Almanac: It is Friday, November 4, 2022. The moon will be full next Tuesday (11/8, Beaver Moon) and is in Pisces. It is National Chicken Lady Day, National Candy Day, National Easy-Bake Oven Day, Sausage & Kraut Day, and Use Your Common Sense Day.

Among those born on this day were William II (of Orange, 1650), Eden Phillpotts (1862), G.E. Moore (1873), James Fraser (1876), Will Rogers (1879), Pauline Trigere (1912), Gig Young (1913), Walter Cronkite (1916), Cameron Mitchell (1918), Markie Post (1950), and Ralph Macchio (1962).

On November fourth Lincoln married Mary Todd (1842), the first nationally observed uniform election was held in the US (1845), the lighthouse was build on Alcatraz (1854), the University of Washington was founded (Seattle, 1861), Italy annexed Venetia (1866), the gold crown for the tooth was patented (1873), California repealed the ban on professional boxing (1924), Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected as the first female governor in the US (WY, 1924), Eisenhower was elected (1952), the Philadelphia A's moved to Kansas City (1954), Ronald Reagan was elected (1980), and Nicaragua held its first free elections in 56 years (1984).

Night Sky, 11/4: The waxing gibbous Moon shines with Jupiter this evening. They're only about 2° to 4° apart at the time of evening in the Americas. They're both prime targets for small telescopes! Most scopes will usually show at least the tan North and South Equatorial Belts on Jupiter's dazzling whiteness, and of course its own four big moons on either side of it (except when one of them is hidden behind Jupiter, passing in front of it, or eclipsed in its shadow). http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Image of the Week: Alien brothers (and grandma), apparently, awaiting the Great Pumpkin

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I always preferred the English spelling of “diarrhea” which is “diarrhoea” because it really looks like you've lost control of your vowels. --Adam Burke --Submitted by INRITH

This Week: Saturday, November 5 – Bison Day & Firewood Day & Pumpkin Destruction Day & Sadie Hawkins Day

Daylight Savings Time Ends but only if you had it in the first place.

With the end of Daylight Savings Time, we can all enjoy watching the sunset as we eat lunch. INRITH

Sunday, November 6 – National Basketball Day & Saxophone Day & National Nachos Day

Monday, November 7 – Color The World Orange Day & Employee Brotherhood Day

Night Sky, 11/7: Total Lunar Eclipse. Visible: Europe, Asia, Australia, N America, much of S America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, and Antarctica ….... Viewing info

Tuesday, November 8 – Abet and Aid Punsters Day & Dunce Day & Election Day

Wednesday, November 9 – Carl Sagan Day & World Freedom Day & Kristallnacht

Night Sky, 11/9: Saturn, in Capricornus, glows highest in the south right after dark. As night progresses, it moves lower toward the southwest and sets around midnight

Thursday, November 10 – Sesame Street Day & World Science Day for Peace and Development

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. --William Arthur Ward / There's always something to be thankful for. If you can't pay your bills, you can be thankful you're not one of your creditors.

..........She got an Elgin movement from her head down to her toes.........Ry Cooder …..Walking Blues

^^ Philadelphia created a new franchise to compete with the National League's Philadelphia Phillies. Former catcher Connie Mack was recruited to manage the club. Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia Athletics, a name taken from the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When the man who embodies all 7 deadly sins—lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride—is signing Bibles, it means that it is time to reevaluate your religion. --Submitted by 98%

Moonbeam: Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. --Will Rogers

Video of the Week: Surprisingly, I found out this week that I really enjoy the many, many videos of a wide variety of animals eating pumpkins. Click here (2:49)

Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: This week Chicago was named the number one city in the nation for rat population...You may say this means Chicago is filthy. No, no, no, this just proves that the rest of the country is a sinking ship. --Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 10/29/22

"With what is going on in our country, we need to get out to the polls and vote for what we believe in. Not showing up is not an option. --Billie Eillish

Don't pray when it rains, if you don't pray when the sun shines. --Satchel Paige /My sock may not match, but my feet are warm.

..........I get up early and I punch the clock.........The Wonders …..Maintenance Man

^^^ By the summer of 1954, it was obvious that the A's were on an irreversible slide into bankruptcy.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving so self-checkout cashiers can be with their families. --Submitted b y jm or ks

Weird Word of the Week: Leucipottomy – the count of white horse figures carved into hillsides. (really) http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-leu1.htm

Gmail would not let me put any of 5 pictures of St George and the Dragon in this email. I don't know what the problem is.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean grease from hands. Rubbing Barbasol shaving cream between your hands will dissolve grime without water. Keep a can of it at the workbench. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/barbasol.html

A woman has got to love a bad man once or twice in her life to be thankful for a good one. --Marjorie Rawlings / Gratitude is like gravy, you can put it on everything.

...........I'll be in the saddle.........Bill Kanengiser …..Turkish March

^^^^ The Athletics played the Phillies for the first time in interleague play in June 2003 at Veterans Stadium In turn, the Phillies played the Athletics in Oakland in June 2005. In 2011 the Athletics visited the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park for an interleague series in which the Phillies took two out of three games.

Quote of the Week: Kanye endorsing Hershel Walker is like meth endorsing lead paint. --Jimmy Kimmel

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Tiger Con (5-6, Valdosta, GA) We trace our origins to the Moody Comics and Anime Club on Moody Air Force Base. http://tigerconvention.com/about/ ~~The idea of an Anime Club on an air force base, kind of freaks me out. Top Gun with Archie and Veronica

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Prayers needed. Nothing wrong, I just wanna hit the lottery and quit my job. --Submitted by RHOZ

Actual Science Conference of the Week: CIO's Future of Cloud Summit (8/Online) Mastering complexity & digital Innovation https://virtualevents.idg.com/event/c187ea1e-8175-4d91-9088-cc4d0c8eb730/summary?RefId=Cal&rt=_uPd2xIqm06Ao35jKvp1Wg&utm_source=techcalendar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FoCloud_techcal_reg

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

Act with kindness, but do not expect gratitude. --Confucius / Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. --Karl Barth

..........I never thought I'd need you.........Amy Madigan …..If I Lose

^^^^^ From 1955 to 1967, the Athletics played, 13 seasons, in Kansas City between the team's time in Philadelphia and Oakland.

My Own Writing of the Week: For several encounters Odysseus and I made jokes about Redi-whip® and the marvels of its sweet nothingness in proximity to certain parts of the anatomy. Then one afternoon as I was laying in bed, nearly napping, I felt something swoop down my back hissing and spitting liquid as it moved. I screamed. Moral: Redi-Whip® - Yes! Surprise - No!

Odysseus wrote wonderful science fiction and robot poetry. He nicknamed himself using the phrase - 4 conventions, 4 satisfied women - as justification. I never asked about the first three. I hope he is still counting; hope he's in the hundreds.

I really loved that man. Years later, after I had not seen him for a decade, I rolled over one night and reached out and there was no one there. I knew immediately that it was Odysseus I was reaching for. And suddenly without any reason to it, my body ached for him again. With the help of my team of vibrators, I got over it right away.

Brando was an actor; he wasn't so young as all that and certainly wasn't an Apollo. We started kissing on the couch. We kissed a while and then I shifted my weight and my face so that I could meander kisses down his lovely, thin neck on my way to a nipple. But he took my face in both hands and kissed me again and said rather matter-of-factly, "No, I'm not done yet." Then he went on kissing me for a long time. It was quite nice and got richer and better with nuances and subtleties as we went along. Then he put the tip of his thumb in the edge of my mouth between my teeth and stuck his tongue amazingly, deep into my throat and bent my head back. When he finished he said, "Remember that - how it bends back that way". And he did it again, exactly the same with the thumb and the tongue and everything. It went on for a while and when he finally came up for air he said, "Remember, 'cause when I am way up inside of you I'm going to do that again." I almost came right then. But I cleverly endured until he, in fact, kissed me that way while he was deep inside me.

I love actors, they do what they're told. Stand there... take that off... say that again with a Scottish accent

From Always Surrender by Christine Smith

Son of Quote of the Week: Nothing is ever so wrong in this world that a sensible woman can't set it right in the course of an afternoon. --Jean Giraudoux The Madwoman of Chaillot

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm your mother. I don't need a search warrant. --Bill Keane Family Circus 11/2/22

Today's Peace of History, November 4, 2008: The first African American ever nominated by a major political party as candidate for president went before the electorate.

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude. --Friedrich Nietzsche / It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.

..........Well, well, well, who sent you here.........Stevie Vai …..Head-Cuttin' Duel

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle November 4, 2022, tHankful ePIstle Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS

Moonbeam: America's healthcare system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system. --Walter Cronkite

Cost of War:

• As of 11/03/22 State Department War Costs since 2001: $191,673,313,189.
• As of 10/27/22 State Department War Costs since 2001: $191,118,610,845.
• As of 11/03/22 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,094,466,763,981.
• As of 10/27/22 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,092,917,596,307.
• As of 11/03/22 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,119,903,601,988.
• As of 10/27/22 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,119,301,336,375.
• As of 11/03/22 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,721,598,223,976.
• As of 10/27/22 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,709,858,963,140.
• As of 11/03/22 Military Costs since 2001: $2,990,669,127,772.
• As of 10/27/22 Military Costs since 2001: $2,989,493,271,628.
• As of 11/03/22 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,118,314,835,234.
• As of 10/27/22 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,102,691,035,659.

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

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have. --John Lewis

Famous Last Words: ...as baseless as the grossest superstitions. --G E Moore's The Refutation of Idealism

..........Hush, hush, hush, hush.........Ry Cooder and the Heavenly Doves …..Somebody's Calling My Name ~~Today's songs are from the movie Crossroads starring Ralph Macchio (Wouldn't it be nice if he was promoting The Blues today, instead of martial arts?)

Dear Mom, thank you for keeping all the bad stuff I did from dad. / Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude. --Anne Frank

May Peace dwell within you

And Joy surround you

prairie mama

christine

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