Famous First Words: Pour, oh, pour the pirate sherry... The Pirates of Penzance
The Christmas Bird Count is underway. When bird-watchers find a nest they get so egg-sighted. / A bird-watcher reminisced about her past. “I have many egrets”.
..........take a look at yourself.........Bo Diddley …..Before You Accuse Me
I believe in one thing—that only a life lived for others is a life worth living. --Albert Einstein
It is a cold (31°F), gray Friday morning. The sky is smeared with a cloud layer that prevents the rising sun from making much of an impact on the day. There is no wind to enhance the cold, nor does it seem to threaten rain. It is just a gray December day. Puck is sleeping under my feet and I am sipping Chocolate Hazelnut decaf and typing. Jeff is at work and Dashiell now has the stomach troubles that I have just gotten over. (...over which I have just gotten...Gee, it's fun to be an English major). The local murder of crows is in the backyard discussing their plans and making a great noise with it. It is very quiet in the house; Puck is not even snoring. There is only the furnace humming now and then. I stop and turn my head, the silence is wonderful. But, I digress, I have no place to go this morning, no errands, no appointments. I only have to sit here and write to you. What a small blessing this old year has given me. Hope it does the same for you.
Hope your weekend lasts all year, ePistlers
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: A sinkhole roughly the size of seven washing machines has closed the northbound lanes of State Line Road near 100th Street in KCMO. --Americans will measure with anything but the metric system. --Submitted by FNOG
You're a bird-watcher, great, what's in the tree over there? Yeah, they're all birds. / An ornithologist I know took a trip to Germany to drive on the Audubon.
..........And I miss them groovy puddles on the floor.........John Hartford …..The Good Old Electric Washing Machine
Trivia Questions: Happy Hundred and Third birthday to the American Meteorological Society.
- ^ Do you have any idea who founded or where they founded the AMS?
- ^^ Who makes up the bulk of the society's members?
- ^^^ How did the MS help advance meteorological science in the early days?
- ^^^^ What certification programs does the AMS offer?
- ^^^^^ How many members do you figure the AMS have, more or less?
Big Hello: Tiervâ – Inari Saami (Finland) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It's so cold my teeth were chattering all night...and I wasn't even wearing them. ---Maxine.com
Image of the Week: The always lovely Plaza Lights
Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 67% of librarians are currently wearing every cardigan they own and the weird one at the library that doesn't seem to belong to anyone. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
A bird-watcher I know traded a seagull for a sausage and got sick. She took a tern for the wurst. / I met a girl who took care of owls for rich people who had them as pets. They called her Hootenanny.
..........I'm walkin' in the rain..........Del Shannon …..Runaway
Moonbeam: Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. --Rudyard Kipling
Meditation of the Week: What can I know? --Immanuel Kant
Puzzle of the Week: This challenge came from listener Neville Fogarty of Newport News, Va. Think of a convenience introduced in the 19th century that is still around today. Its name has two words. Take the first three letters of the first word and the first letter of its second word, in order to get a convenience introduced in the 21st century that serves a similar purpose. Their names are otherwise unrelated. What two conveniences are these? --Sunday Puzzle 12/24/17
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: There's nothing like opening Christmas gifts to remind you that the people you're closest to in the world know absolutely nothing about you. --Submitted by INRITH
bird-watchers, are you tired of the same bird jokes every time someone finds out about your hobby? Well, toucan play that game. / There's a really big bird-watching event this weekend. It's the Superb owl.
..........I could fly 'neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings.........The Monkees (with Michael Nesmith & Davy Jones) …..Daydream Believer
^ The American Meteorological Society was founded in 1919 by Charles Franklin Brooks of the Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, Massachusetts. Its initial membership came primarily from the U.S. Signal Corps and U.S. Weather Bureau and numbered just less than 600.
Almanac: It is Friday, December 30, 2022. The moon went into the first quarter yesterday (12/29) and is in Aries. It is Bacon Day, National Bicarbonate of Soda Day, and Falling Needles Family Fest Day. Because it is the last business day of the year it is also No Interruptions Day.
Among those born on this day were Titus (39), Alessandro Piccinini (1566), William Croft (1678), Heinrich Ebell (1775), Theodor Fontane (1819), Rudyard Kipling (1865), Simon Guggenheim (1867), Alfred Einstein (1880), Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904), Bert Parks (1914), Bo Diddley (Ellas Bates, 1928), Skeeter Davis (Mary Penick, 1931), Russ Tamblyn (1934), Sandy Koufax (1935), John Hartford (1937), Del Shannon (Charles Westover, 1939), James Burrows (1940), Michael Nesmith (1942), Davy Jones (1945), Jeff Lynne (1947), Matt Lauer (1957), Tracy Ullman (1959), and Tiger Woods (1975).
On December thirtieth Dido & Aeneas premiered (1689), the first coffee plant was sown in Hawaii (1817), the Gadsden Purchase was made (1854), the American Meteorological Society formed (1873), the Pirates of Penzance premiered (1879), Sun Yat-sen was elected the first president of the Republic of China (1911), the United Auto Workers staged a sit-down strike at Fisher Body (1936), Wake Up and Dream premiered (1929), California opened its first freeway (Arroyo Seco, 1940), Kiss Me Kate opened (1948), Skylab sent back first space photos of comet Kohoutek (1973), Gretaky set NHL record 60 goals by 39th game of season (1981), and the Vatican recognized Israel (1993).
Night Sky, 12/30: Cassiopeia is usually called a flattened letter W, but now it's a flattened M very high overhead around 7 or 8 pm, just a little west of north. Three hours later it will have turned around to stand on one end high in the northwest. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Fraternal Picture of the Week: Christmas Cookie Ritual
This Week: Saturday, December 31- Mahogany & Make Up You Mind Day & World Peace Meditation Day
Night Sky, 12/31: After the noise and hoopla at the turning of midnight tonight, step outside into the silent, cold dark. Shining high in the south will be Sirius, with the other bright stars of Canis Major to its right and below it. Sirius is the bottom star of the bright, equilateral Winter Triangle. The others are Betelgeuse in Orion's shoulder to Sirius's upper right, and Procyon the same distance to Sirius's upper left. The Triangle now stands upright, just about in balance on the point of Sirius. Happy New Year.
Sunday, January 1 – New Years Day & Copyright Day & Polar Bear Plunge Day & World Day of Peace
Monday, January 2 – National Science Fiction Day & National Buffet Day & Stop Spam Day
Tuesday, January 3 – Festival of Sleep Day & JRR Tolkien Day
Wednesday, January 4 – Earth at Perihelion & Trivia Day & World Braille Day
Night Sky, 1/4: Mercury and Venus pass each other this week very low in the southwest in twilight. Try it with binoculars about 30 minutes after sundown. Venus is by far the brightest at magnitude –3.9. Mercury begins the week 4° upper left of it on Christmas Eve. They pass 1.7° apart on the 29th, with Mercury now to Venus's right. Thereafter Mercury sinks away fast, while Venus continues creeping a little upward. During this time Mercury fades rapidly: from magnitude –0.3 on December 24th to +0.8 by the 31st, a loss of two thirds of its light in seven days.
Thursday, January 5 – National Bird Day & Monopoly Game Day & Twelfth Night
The only reason I took up bird-watching is so I can use the words tits and boobies in normal conversation. / After a decade of research it was determined that hummingbirds hum because they don't know the lyrics.
..........You've got me runnin', goin' out of my mind.........ELO with Jeff Lynne …..Don't Bring Me Down
^^ Many of the initial members were not practicing meteorologists, but after the dues were raised from $1 to $2 in 1922, the weather hobbyists began dropping their membership, and the Society moved toward a membership made up primarily of professionals in the field.
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: From now until early January we will be in the “I have no idea what day of the week it is” portion of the year. --Thoughts From Aisle 4
Moonbeam: Against a stupidity that is in fashion, now wisdom compensates. --Theodor Fontane
Video of the Week: The Christmas Decorations in the Biden White House (2:18) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os58X8tevCQ
Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: After an exhaustive search, X AE A-XII, Elon's 2 year old son, will be the new CEO of Twitter. --Roxanne Roberts Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 12/24/22
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. --Albert Einstein
My friend George stood all day at the window watching the construction street next door. He needed a crane for his life list. / The sparrows used to put crow-tons on their salads.
..........Well, it's alright, if you live the life you please.........Traveling Wilburys with Jeff Lynne …..End Of The Line
^^^ The thirties and forties were a period of significant advancement in the atmospheric sciences, and the AMS made a substantial impact through the publication of fundamental contributions to science in the Bulletin, the production of books and monographs, and the organization of specialized meetings.
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I still don't know what I'm wearing to the living room for New Year's Eve. I might not even go. --Submitted by RHOZ
Weird Word of the Week: Limnophilous (lim-NOF-uh-luhs) – fond of or living in inland bodies of water such as lakes, pools, etc. https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/84455
Dragon of the Week: Dragon on the wall of the Town Hall in Munich, Germany.
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Mousse your hair. A small dab of Barbasol shaving cream combed through your hair will keep it in place. If you use a blow dryer with shaving cream in your hair, you can make your hair stand on end. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/barbasol.html
Birds invest their money in the stork market. / Birds never review for tests. They just wing it.
...........'Cause I've made your reservation.........The Monkees (with Michael Nesmith & Davy Jones) …..Last Train To Clarksville
^^^^ The AMS administers two professional certification programs, the Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) and Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) programs, and also offers an array of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships to support students pursuing careers in the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences.
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: A new study shows that the most expensive vehicle to operate is a grocery cart.
Brief Movie Review of the Week: During the pandemic, my movie crush, Viggo Mortensen, wrote and directed a movie based on his relationship with his dad who had Alsheimer's. Jeff found a wonderful movie streaming service called Kanopy which is free if you have a library card, which, of course, I do. So I finally got to see Falling. I discovered that he also wrote the music too. Well, it's as depressing as all get out. The father in the movie was an asshole before he got old and grandpa Bray wasn't - so there wasn't much I could relate to.
Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Yellow Pages --> Yelp
Birds fly south in the winter because it's too far to walk. / Oliver Owl writes Hoo-dunnits. / That murder of crows stick so close together we call them velcrow.
..........And I'll never forget this night in the rain.........Del Shannon …..Two Silhouettes
^^^^^ The American Meteorological Society has more than 13,000 individual members in nearly 100 countries. Membership is an array of membership categories that accommodate a wide range of people including students, teachers, corporations and weather enthusiasts.
My Own Writing of the Week: Three's a match: I never liked maison a trois with two men. They were either afraid - somewhere deep in their souls - to touch each other lest "gay" somehow break out on them like chicken pox. Then it wasn't a threesome at all. It was just one woman and two demanding jerks. Or they were so glad to have an excuse to touch each other without actually having to “be” gay that I became superfluous.
But I do remember a long, wonderful weekend in the mountains of Arkansas with my dear friend and her dear friend and a can of Reddi-whip®. He'd built the house himself and it had windows pointing every direction that showed deciduous trees wet with the fall rain. Their autumn leaves gave the air a yellow glow. I don't remember much about him, but I remember her -- in Technicolor, long brown hair, and a smile the size of Rhode Island. She was a little bitty woman with two big sons. And the feistiest woman I ever knew.
From: Always Surrender by Christine Smith
Update of the Week: I was sick again this week. This time with intestinal troubles – both directions...all liquid. No one else in the house got it, so it wasn't contagious. The online doctor said that diarrhea usually lasts a day or two. So when it was still a problem on the morning of the third day, I bought el cheapo Imodium and it hasn't been a problem since.
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If we found out reincarnation was real and had a way to verifiably track who a reincarnated person was in a previous life, how long would it take for companies to make sure you inherited debt from your previous lives. --Zullie --Submitted by MMS
Today's Peace of History:,December 30, 1901: The worst year in the 20th century for lynching in the U.S. ended with a total of 130 victims (105 blacks, 25 whites). Ida Wells-Barnett had been a teacher and newspaper editor in Memphis, Tennessee, where she wrote against the evils of lynching in her columns in The Free Speech and Headlight. Forced from the South by threat of violence, she continued her efforts in Chicago.
What's black and white and black and white and black and white? A penguin falling down the stairs. / Baby birds love to play peckaboo.
..........That keeps you in the back roads by the rivers of my memory.........John Hartford …..Gentle On My Mind
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle December 30, 2022, Feathered ePistle ~~This ePistle doesn't count. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith, Lawrence, KS
Moonbeam: I think serial monogamy says it all. --Tracey Ullman
Cost of War:
As of 12/29/22 State Department War Costs since 2001: $196,138,981,916.
- As of 12/22/22 State Department War Costs since 2001: $195,580,972,168.
- As of 12/29/22 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,106,940,052,104.
- As of 12/22/22 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,105,381,439,265.
- As of 12/29/22 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,124,754,566,619.
- As of 12/22/22 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,124,148,395,092.
- As of 12/29/22 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,816,153,444,512.
- As of 12/22/22 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,804,337,670,422.
- As of 12/29/22 Military Costs since 2001: $3,000,140,196,870.
- As of 12/22/22 Military Costs since 2001: $2,998,956,539,907.
- As of 12/29/22 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,244,135,713,548.
- As of 12/22/22 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,228,407,179,197.
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. --Albert Einstein
Famous Last Words: All thine. --Chorus Kiss Me Kate
..........Let me hear the choir sing.........Bo Diddley …..Pretty Thing
That bird, the one that's always out of breath, is a puffin. / Why wouldn't the rooster cross the road? Because he was a chicken.
May Peace preen you feathers
And Joy jubilate your voice
prairie mama
christine
Last Laugh:
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