ePistle eMeritus

Famous First Words: Est-ce toi? --Esther Racine Esther

Welcome to Fun At Work Day ! But I am retired, so you have fun at work today; I'll be home having actual fun. / Now that I have retired, I've come to realized that my true talent is doing nothing at all.

..........De se dire des mots doux.........Eartha Kitt .....C'est Si Bon

The idea of freedom is inspiring. But what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what's that? The freedom to starve? --Angela Davis

It is a foggy Friday morning. The temperature is above freezing (36°F) and it is not raining. Instead, the moisture is just there, hanging in the air, condensing onto windshields and sidewalks. I can feel it on my face like a lazy shower. The sky is solid gray without texture or color variance. Birds do not care and play in the mulberry singing songs and flitting among the bare branches. Puck sleeps under my feel; he adds snuffling noises to counterpoint the chirping on this morning's soundtrack. Little wind (2 mph) blows, and it is not obvious even in the switchy branches of the willow. The world is still. I sip my hazelnut decaf and nibble a cinnamon roll while I watch I drift by. And very best, I get to write to you. Not a bad morning at all.

Hope your whole weekend is fun, ePistliers.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My wife asked me if I'd seen the dog bowl. I said, “No, but I have seen her play frisbee?”. --Submitted by jm of ks

Retirement when every day is weekend. / The challenge of retirement is how to spend time without spending money.

..........Baby, how you been.........Van Halen …..Jump

Trivia Questions: Happy 187^th Birthday to Michigan

• ^ What is the capital city of Michigan?
• ^^ Michigan is the nation's leading producer of what fruit?
• ^^^ What is the largest city in Michigan?
• ^^^^ Which Michigan river connects Lake Erie and Lake Huron?
• ^^^^^ Does Flint, Michigan have clean water yet?

Big Hello: Manao ahoana – Malagasy (Madagascar) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I cleaned out our “junk drawer”. I am not obligated to accomplish anything else today. --rbh of ks

Image of the Week: So long, Ron, you won't actually be missed.

~~How could anyone vote for the man who declared war on The Mouse.

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 19% of librarians have “expert cord detangler” on their resume. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Retirement: Out of the Rat Race but with less cheese. / Congratulations on leaving your job without being escorted out.

..........Why wait any longer for the world to begin..........Bob Dylan & the Nashville Cats …..Lay Lady Lay

Music Note of the Week: The Nashville Cats who were made famous by the Lovin' Spoonful were studio musicians at Quadrophonic Studio in Nashville. Bob Dylan came to Nashville leaving his own band behind to record with them. And a boxcar load of other artists and songs we know were backed up by David Briggs (on piano) and the Nashville Cats.

Moonbeam: Just go up to somebody on the street and say, “You're it!” and then run away. --Ellen DeGeneres

Question of the Week: Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch? --Gene Siskel

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Warren Bergmann, of Neenah, WI: Think of a word for a person who helps you. Copy the last three letters and repeat them at the front, and you'll get a new, longer word that names a person who hurts you. What words are these? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 1/21/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Ben & Jerry's: Peace, Love, and Cease Fire!

Retirement: Now the run really begins. / What do you call a person who is happy on Monday? Retired.

..........I've been in my mind, it's sure a fine line.........Neil Young & the Nashville Cats …..Heart of Gold

^ Lansing in the capital of Michigan.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 26, 2024. The moon was full (Wolf) yesterday and is in Leo. It is Dental Drill Appreciation Day, National Peanut Brittle Day, and Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement. In Arkansas it is General Douglas MacArthur Day and in Michigan it is Admission Day (1837). Because it is the last Friday in January, it is also Fun at Work Day, National Big Wig Day, and National Pre-school Fitness Day.

Among those born on this day were Jean B Pigalle (1714), Johan F L Sievers (1742), Emmanuel A Forster (1748), Benjamin R. Haydon (1786), Eugene France (1804), Julia Dent Grant (1826), Mary Mapes Dodge (1831), Douglas MacArthur (1880), Maria Augusta von Trapp (1905), Polykarp Kusch (1911), Cora Baird (1912), Jimmy Van Heusen (1913), Paul Newman (1925), Eartha Kitt (1928), Philip José Farmer (1928), M R Turner (1929), Bob Uecker (1935), Angela Davis (1944), Gene Siskel (1946), David Briggs (1951), Eddie Van Halen (1957), Ellen DeGeneres (1958), and Wayne Gretzky (1961).

On January twenty-sixth Racine's Esther premiered (1689), Isaac Newton received Jean Bernoulli's 6 month time-limit problem, solved it before going to bed that same night (1697), Venice, Poland, and Austria signed a peace treaty with Turkey (1699), Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia premiered (1833), Michigan became the 26th state (1837), Tennessee outlawed alcohol (1838), Louisiana seceded (6th, 1861), Virginia rejoined the US (1870), the electric dental drill was patented (1875), Wilde's Duchess of Padua premiered (1891), Synge's Playboy of the Western World opened (1907), Strauss's Die Rosenkavalier premiered (1911), Executive Order # 9981 ended segregation in the US armed forced (1948), JG Travell became the first woman personal physician to the president (1961), Albee's Seascape premiered (1975), Mamet's American Buffalo premiered (1976), and Webber's Phantom of the Opera opened (1988).

Night Sky, 1/26: As soon as it's fully dark, spot the equilateral Winter Triangle in the southeast. Sirius is its brightest and lowest star. Betelgeuse stands above Sirius by about two fists at arm's length. To the left of their midpoint is Procyon. Can you discern their colors? Sirius (spectral type A0) is cold white, Betelgeuse (M2) is yellow-orange, and Procyon (F5) is a pale yellowish white. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Afternoon at the theater with Bluey

This Week: Saturday, January 27 Auschwitz Liberation Day & Local Quilt Shop Day & National Seed Swap Day & Viet Nam Peace Day

Sunday, January 28 – Global Community Engagement Day & National Kazoo Day & Rubber Ducky Day

Night Sky, 1/28: After dark now the Great Square of Pegasus is sinking low in the west, tipped onto one corner. Meanwhile, the Big Dipper is creeping up in the north-northeast, tipped up on its handle.

Monday, January 29 – Curmudgeons Day & Freethinkers Day & Seeing Eye Dog Day

Tuesday, January 30 – Croissant Day & National Plan for a Vacation Day

Wednesday, January 31 – Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day & Inspire Your Heart with Art Day & Street Children Day

Night Sky, 1/31: Jupiter, magnitude –2.4 in Aries, is the bright white dot very high in the south at nightfall, and lower in the southwest later. It sets around midnight or 1 a.m. In a telescope Jupiter has shrunk to only 40 arcseconds (ars) wide. An ars is a mere magnitude +1.3, is a very difficult catch near Mercury late this week even with binoculars or a telescope. The two are in conjunction.

Thursday, February 1 – Candy-Making Day & International Face and Body Art Day & World Hijab Day

Retirement: Taking all the meaning out of weekends. / Retirement is waking up in the morning with nothing to do and by bedtime having done only half of it.

..........All the people were singing.........Joan Baez & the Nashville Cats …..The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

^^ Michigan raises more tart cherries than any other state.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: How many narcissists does it take to change a light bulb? None. They use gas lighting.

Moonbeam: As science pushes forward, ignorance and superstition gallop around the flanks and bite science in the rear with big dark teeth. --Philip José Farmer

Blasphemy of the Week: Redemptive suffering is ghastly theology. Seldom is suffering redemptive and if it were, surely humanity would be redeemed by now. --Mark Sandlin

Video of the Week: Bill and Cora Baird's puppets singing Deck the Halls: (1:50) Bing Videos Spoiler alert – Ed Sullivan is a puppet too.

You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time. --Angela Davis

Retirement: Not the end of your life just the end of your bank account. / I retired for health reasons. My company was sick of me and I was sick of them.

..........The people are dancin' and having their fun.........The Byrds & the Nashville Cats …..You're Still On My Mind

^^^ Detroit is the largest city in Michigan.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When you think your dog is barking at nothing, she's actually barking at capitalism. --Submitted by akb of kc

Weird Word of the Week: Cynanthropy – the delusion of believing one is a dog. cynanthropy | Etymology of cynanthropy by etymonline

Dragon of the Week: Gummy Wyrms – not a real candy, sorry.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Grow moss. Mix one can of Budweiser beer, one-half teaspoon Domino Sugar, and a few patches of moss in a blender. Puree and then paint the slurry one-quarter-inch think on walls, masonry planters, or fountains to initiate a mossy patina. Budweiser®: Wacky Uses

Retirement: The job for which I waited 50 years. / When I retired, they retired my office extension number.

...........Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt..........Jimmy Buffett & the Nashville Cats …..Margaritaville

^^^^ The Detroit River runs from lake Huron to Lake Erie.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Accidentally said “Shirley” instead of “Siri” and now my phone if stuck in Airplane mode. --George Takei --Submitted by ff of ks

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: SSA+S Toracon (27, Sarasota, FL) Anime, Gaming, and Comic Convention. SSA+S Toracon: Anime, Gaming, Comic & Sci-Fi Convention

Actual Science Conference of the Week: 12^th Annual Lancaster STEM Expo (27. Lancaster TX ...bring your curiosity, enthusiasm, and thirst for knowledge. Lancaster ISD to Host 12th Annual STEAM Expo | Lancaster STEM Early College

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Mentor → Tormentor

Retirement: Like a Vegas vacation – enjoy it to the fullest without running out of money. / When Ms Martin retired after 25 years as a kindergarten teacher, they gave her a gold watch made from macaroni and glitter.

..........play clean as country water.........Lovin Spoonful & the Nashville Cats …..Nashville Cats

^^^^^ According to researchers, Flint officially had clean water in February of 2019. However, Flint residents have a complex relationship with the water due to the previous contamination and the lack of trust in the local government. The problem began in April of 2014, so it lasted at least 5 years.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What do you mean when you use the word “hero”?

Quote of the Week: I will always be on the side of those who have nothing and are not even allowed to enjoy the nothing they have in peace. --Federico Garcia Lorca

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Sarcasm doesn't get you anywhere. / Well, it got me to the Sarcasm World Championship in Peru in '98. / Really? / No

Today's Peace of History, January 26, 2020: Koffee, a 19-year-old Jamaican singer, won best reggae album at the Grammys. She was the first woman to win that prize. Ever

Retirement: An attempt to regain that 40 years you'll never get back. / One of the problems with retirement is that you never get a day off.

..........Change, nothin' stays the same.........Van Halen …..Unchained

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 26, 2024, ePistle eMeritus. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Science shows us truth and beauty and fills each day with a fresh wonder of the exquisite order which governs our world. --Polykarp Kusch

Cost of War:

• As of 01/25/24 State Department War Costs since 2001: $227,249,537,149.
• As of 01/18/24 State Department War Costs since 2001: $226.702,064,306.
• As of 01/25/24 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,193,835,101,420.
• As of 01/18/24 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,192,305,936,236.
• As of 01/25/24 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,158,546,984,771.
• As of 01/18/24 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,157,952,382,573.
• As of 01/25/24 Veterans Care since 2001: $3,474,837,125,137.
• As of 01/18/24 Veterans Care since 2001: $3,463,247,171,604.
• As of 01/25/24 Military Costs since 2001: $3,066,115,663,558.
• As of 01/18/24 Military Costs since 2001: $3,064,954,793,913.
• As of 01/25/24 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $9,120,585,104,246.
• As of 01/18/24 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $9,105,164,706,612.

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

I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. --Angela Davis

Famous Last Words: I have loved much. --Beatrice Oscar Wilde: The Duchess of Padua

..........Been an awful good girl.........Eartha Kitt …..Santa Baby

Retirement: The beginning of your second childhood. / Happy hour is the best hour of retirement. Well, that and every other hour.

May Peace be your overcoat
And Joy the warm hat
prairie mama
christine

Last Laugh: