Famous First Words: To the red country... John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath
Happy Birthday, Steve Martin! Talking about music is like dancing about architecture. / Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.
..........Brush off the clouds and cheer up........Shelley Fabares & James Darren …..Put On A Happy Face
Every renaissance comes to the world with a cry, the cry of the human spirit to be free. --Anne Sullivan
It is a bright, warm (55° F) Friday morning. The sky is a pastel blue with fluffy white clouds gathering in groups around the sky. They seem to be headed north in no hurry at all. A light breeze makes the willow branches – newly decked out in yellow-green leaves – dance gracefully high above the yard. Closer to the ground and to my window a young tree is sprouting green everywhere and trying to sway in a more dignified manner than the giggling willow. So far, no birds have flown by the window or perched on the roof of the shed; but unseen high pitched chirps are singing matins to the world. The sun has just risen above the house enough to cast a glow on the dancing willow and the other tall trees – the very highest whose leaves are still yellow with youth and the shorter one with the very, very green leaves. ~~Spring in Lawrence, who can resist it. --Alan Miller c 1967~~ As I watch the willow not attempting to match the rhythm of the birds, I bring the cup to my face and breathe in the smell of chocolate, steamy and creamy. As the chocolate nut flavor flows over my tongue and down my throat, I notice not a single cloud left in the pale blue sky. Perfect.
Hope your weekend is wild and crazy, ePistliers.
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Strong women don't have attitudes; they have standards. --Submitted by Women for Kansas
I'm tired of wasting letters when punctuation will do, period. / Writer's block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol.
..........How lovely to be so grown-up and free..........Shelley Fabares …..How Lovely To Be A Woman
Trivia Questions: Happy World Marbles Day!
- ^ How long, do you think, has the game of Marbles been around?
- ^^ How long have Marbles been mass produced?
- ^^^ Would you care to guess when Marble championships became international?
- ^^^^ How many kinds of Marbles can you name?
- ^^^^^ What is KC's only functioning Marbles factory?
There are some cool marbles on this website: https://www.marblecollecting.com/marble-collectors-society-of-america/
Big Hello: Xsaqär – Kaqchikel (Guatemala) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I, personally, think Cinderella should have lived a happy life with all her animal friends rather than settle for a man who had her try on a shoe because he didn't recognize her without makeup. --okiecorri --Submitted by bc of tx
Image of the Week: Kansas Relays are back this year.
Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 35% of librarians' favorite Karaoke song is Sound of Silence. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke. / I just gave my cat a bath. Now how do I get all this fur off my tongue?
..........There's music to play, places to go, people to see.........James Darren …..A Lot of Livin' To Do
Moonbeam: “I believe that we do not know anything for certain, but everything probably.” --Christiaan Huygens
Question of the Week: When taking a True or False test, how do you answer a half true statement?
Puzzle of the Week: From Mark Maxwell-Smith. Think of an eight-letter word for a certain kind of musician. Switch the order of the second and fourth letters and you'll get a word for a certain writer. What words are these? I'm looking for words, not famous people. NPR Sunday Puzzle 4/9/23
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you spell your name backwards and put an umlaut over the first vowel, that's our IKEA furniture name. --Submitted by INRITH ~~Ënitsirhc
I didn't sing, dance, or act, though working around that minor detail made me inventive. / A celebrity is any well-known TV or movie star who looks like he spends more than two hours working on his hair.
..........Don't let me go like this.........The Marcels …..One Last Kiss
^ Popular in ancient Egypt and Rome, marbles were usually made of clay, bone, round stones, and other materials.
Almanac: It is Friday, April 14, 2023. The moon was in the last quarter yesterday (4/13) and is in Capricorn. It is Children with Alopecia Day, Dictionary Day, International Moment of Laughter Day, National Dolphin Day, National Pecan Day , Pan American Day, Pathologists' Assistant Day, and World Marbles Day. This weekend is American Fancy Rat & Mouse Days.
Among those born on this day were Abraham Elsevier (1592), Christiaan Huygens (1629), Ernst Hesse (1676), Emanuele Barbella (1718), Junius Morgan (1813), Charles Halle (1819), Edgar Stillman Kelley (1857), Anne Sullivan (1866), Arnold Toynbee (1889), Vere Childe (1892), Martin Kessel (1901), Frits Philips (1905), Everhard van Royen (1913), John Paul Steves (1920), Shorty Rogers (1924), Rod Steiger (1925), William Thornton (1929), Buddy Knox (1933), George Takei (1940), Pete Rose (1941), Ryan O'Neal (1941), Steve Martin (1945), Ty Grimes (Captain Beefheart, 1948), and Sarah Michelle Gellar (1977).
On April fourteenth the word "telescope" was first used (Cesi, 1611), Pocahontas married Rolfe (1614), the first US abolitionist society was organized (1775), NY adopted a new constitution (1777), US Medical Corp was formed (1818), the Territory of Wisconsin was created (1836), Tubman opened the underground railroad (1853), the first Pony Express rider arrived in San Francisco (1860), the continuous rolling printing press was patented (1863), Abraham Lincoln was shot (1865), the Canadian Homestead Act was passed (1872), the first kinetoscope was shown to the public (1894), Sousa's El Capitan premiered (1896), the Curies isolated the element radium (1902), Candida premiered (1904), the Titanic set sail for the final time (1912), Jeux d'Enfants premiered (1932), Grapes of Wrath was published (1939), the electron microscope was demonstrated (1940), A flash of light was observed in Plato Crater on the moon (1948), the Nuremberg trials began (1949), Canine Laika was launched in Sputnik 2 (1958), Bye Bye Birdie opened (1960), blockage against China was lifted (1971), Desmond Tutu was elected archbishop of Capetown (1986), and the court dismissed Apple's lawsuit against Microsoft (1992).
Night Sky, 4/14: This evening Mars shines just a fraction of a degree from Epsilon Geminorum, a fifth as bright. Binoculars give a fine view. 45 minutes after sunset. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Fraternal Picture of the Week: "Eat ice cream. Read books. Be happy." -- Carew Papritz
This Week: Saturday, April 15- Jackie Robinson Day & Take A Wild Guess Day
Sunday, April 16- National Bean Counter Day & National Orchid Day & Save The Elephant Day
Night Sky, 4/16: Right after dark, the Sickle of Leo stands vertical high in the south. Its bottom star is Regulus, Leo's brightest. Leo himself is walking horizontally westward. The Sickle forms his front leg, chest, mane, and part of his head. Off to the left, a long right triangle forms his hind end and long tail.
Monday, April 17- Bat Appreciation Day & Herbalist Day & Nothing Like A Dame Day
Tuesday, April 18- Adult Autism Day & National Animal Cracker Day & Pinata Day
Wednesday, April 19- Bicycle Day & National Garlic Day & National Hanging Out Day
Thursday, April 20 – 4/20 Day & National D.A.R.E. Day
Night Sky, 4/20: Total solar eclipse – Visible in South Indian and South Pacific, Australia. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2023-april-20
There is one thing I would break up over, and that is if she caught me with another woman. I won't stand for that. / How to make a million dollars: first, get a million dollars.
..........Who can understand anything they say.........Chorus …..Kids
^^ Truly round marbles were expensive and difficult to come by until mass-produced in Ohio during the late 1880s using hardened clay. It was during this time that marbles became affordable for more children to purchase with their own money. Soon after that, marbles would come to be made of glass — the most popular material today.
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In Maryland, two teenagers have won a marbles championship. The winning teens quickly said thank you, then boarded their time machine, to return to the year 1937.
Moonbeam: Humor is a powerful tool, and some of these politicians are so far out and easy to lampoon. They just provide such delicious opportunities. --George Takei
Video of the Week: Footage of the Titanic setting sail from Southampton in 1912 (4:49) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkjjxioYIuE
Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: So we are celebrating by taking a week off just to look at each other and ask ourselves where did all the time go. --Peter Sagal The only thing worse than not remembering what you did with your limited time on earth is having recorded evidence of it. --Bill Kurtis Wait Wait Don't Tell Me: 25th Anniversary Spectacular, Part II. 4/8/23
I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. --Anne Sullivan
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night. / I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.
..........And we'll be true..........Chorus …..We Love You, Conrad
^^^ As early as 1932, international championships were held for this game. The British and World Marbles Championships are held every year in West Sussex of England. Other competitions are also held in the United States, Australia, and other parts of the world.
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Some people stir the pot and some people smoke it...
Weird Word of the Week: Bumfuzzle. This is a simple term that refers to being confused, perplexed, or flustered or to cause confusion. This word is derived from the Old English dumfoozle. https://expresswriters.com/34-craziest-words-english/
Dragon of the Week: Dragon playing marbles
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Remove fat from soup. Wrap ice cubs in a sheet of Bounty Paper Towels and skim over the top. The ice attracts the fat, which clings to the paper towels. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/bounty.html
I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't. / I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.
...........But now I love each blossom that I see.........Dick Van Dyke …..Rosie
^^^^ Most people don’t know that different types of marbles vary from locality to locality. There’s agate (aggie for short) made with various patterns similar to the alley. The alley is made of marble or alabaster and streaked with wavy patterns. The Bumblebee is machine-made, with a mostly yellow color and two black stripes on either side. China has geometric patterns resembling flowers, and price may vary depending on the pattern.
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I'm more concerned about Clarence's wife than Hunter's Laptop. --Submitted by SDS
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: 2023 Universe Multicultural Film Festival (14-16, Rolling Hills, CA) ...it is a place for unique movies that can open their minds and fresh their eyes. http://umfilms.org/About.html
Actual Science Conference of the Week: Verão Quântico - Quantum Summer (10-14, Espirito Santo Brazil) ...cosmology, gravitation, and quantum field theory. https://inspirehep.net/conferences/2619954
Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Musician: Sitarist →> Writer: Satirist
Nothing I do is done by popular demand. / First the doctor told me the good news. I was going to have a disease named after me.
..........What's the story, morning glory.........Chorus …..Telephone Hour
^^^^^ Moon Marble Company, 600 E Front St, Bonner Springs, 66012. https://www.moonmarble.com/
My Own Writing of the Week: We begin life making single syllable noises (goo, ma) and work up to Shakespeare and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. But at the best and the worst times in our lives we revert to single syllable noises.
Those gasps, at first irregular, escape from the soul as the body sheds its ego to embrace eternity. Then coming more often, but still irregular, sometimes surrounding actual sounds of air rushing through the vocal cords. Finally a regular pattern building toward that explosion of bliss. These are the sounds that meditation chants are meant to recreate; these are the Aphrodite mantras.
Music of Ecstasy
Gasping and grasping heaven
A duet of hearts
The satyr (because he was hairy) used to play a game I called "How do I love thee". He was a slow and deliberate lover; it was wonderful. Now and again he would stop in the middle of a leisurely session and bend his mouth close to my ear and whisper "I love ...". It always started with "I love..." Sometimes it was a simple "I love the way your hair looks in the rain". Sometimes it was more involved "I love the way you hold on to me when we kiss. The way your arm wraps around my back and you touch my neck. It's so sexy." Then there would be another measured, calibrated thrust or two. And I would answer back "I love your laugh" and squeeze around him. Then he would say another thing he loved, "I love the way your eyes don't match." Cuddle, cuddle. This would last until one or the other of us could not hold out any longer. I never knew whether abandoning the game for the sexual climax was winning or losing; it seemed to be more like a win/win situation. Sometimes it was a matter of pushing the other person towards orgasm. Other times it was a poetry contest with ever more elaborate chains. Once it was an attempt to match rhythm with our bodies. It was certainly fun in all of those ways. Alas, neither of us ever said, "I love you".
I have absolutely no preference between being circumcised or not. Circumcision began as an adult ritual. Men cut off their foreskin and laid in on the altar of Isis. Now, that's devotion. Whew! At some point in my child bearing year the medical community was trying to connect increased incidence of various female cancers with circumcision of the husband. I don't know what they found out. I just had to answer some fairly strange questions during prenatal visits. Isis also presides over health and hygiene.
Techniques From Always Surrender by Christine Smith
Quote of the Week: The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage. --Mark Russell. ~~Good-bye, Mark, and thanks for all the jokes.
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If Sudafed put a rainbow on their boxes maybe Kid Rock fans can finally get themselves clean. --Submitted by 98%
Today's Peace of History, April 14, 1947: Segregation of Mexican-American children, common in California at the time, was declared unconstitutional by the Federal Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit. The suit had been brought against several school districts in Orange County by Gonzalo Méndez and several World War II veterans. Separate schools for those of Mexican parentage were struck down in Méndez et al. v. Westminster School District.
I got a flue shot and now my chimney works perfectly. / I guess I wouldn't believe in anything anymore if it weren't for my lucky astrology mood watch.
..........Then it's gotta be right...........The Marcels …..Honestly Sincere
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle April 14, 2023, wild and crazy ePistle Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.
Moonbeam: Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do. --Jean-Paul Sartre
Cost of War:
- As of 04/13/23 State Department War Costs since 2001: $204,446,361,537.
- As of 04/06/23 State Department War Costs since 2001: $203,916,585,078
- As of 04/13/23 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,130,143,410,813.
- As of 04/06/23 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,128,663,748,876.
- As of 04/13/23 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,133,777,011,305.
- As of 04/06/23 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,133,202,609,684.
- As of 04/13/23 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,992,038,437,277.
- As of 04/06/23 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,980,823,147,017.
- As of 04/13/23 Military Costs since 2001: $3,017,757,168,420.
- As of 04/06/23 Military Costs since 2001: $3,016,633,835,831.
- As of 04/13/23 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,178,165,414,157.
- As of 04/06/23 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,463,242,426,950.
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
We are afraid of ideas, of experimenting, of change. We shrink from thinking a problem through to a logical conclusion. --Anne Sullivan
Famous Last Words: She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously. --John Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath
..........I'm gonna miss you so.........Ann-Margaret …..Bye Bye Birdy
Or is it that I think too much? / Well, excuuuuuuse me!
May Peace till your garden
And Joy plant your flowers
prairie mama
christine
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