gRinning ePistle

 Famous First Words: An Act for the encouragement of learning... Copyright Act of 1790

It's National Smile Day! Smiles are 1) Fat free 2) Sugar free 3) reduce blood pressure 4) help relieve pain 5) Lighten Depression 6) Require no batteries AND 7) are absolutely free of cost. / You can't breathe through your nose while you're smiling...of course you can, I just wanted to make you smile.

..........never bargained for you..........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..Dazed and Confused

Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters All we are saying is give peace a chance. --Lennon and Ono

It is warm (66°F), rainy Friday morning. The sky is solid gray clouds with spots that are somehow grayer but without real differentiation. There is little to no breeze so the willow branches seem to be sleeping and the mulberry moves only as birds land on its limbs. Earlier birds' song is now hushed and even motor sounds and wheels squealing in the rain are gone. (The mulberries are gone from this tree, but there is still mulberry bird crap on the windshield of the car which always stays in the garage when it's home.) Puck is snoring gently under my feet as a counterpoint to the hum of the computer. My creamy decaf opens up my nostrils and feels good flowing down my throat. Ah, what a pleasant morning.

Hope the weekend puts a smile on your face, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My patience is basically like a gift card...not sure how much is left on it but we can give it a try. --Submitted by INRITH

Your smile must be a mighty black hole, nothing can escape its pull. / Smiles are like underwear. They keep your cheeks up.

..........You know you're my one desire .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..I Can't Quit You, Baby

Trivia Questions: It is World No Tobacco Day

• ^ Which country has the highest percentage of smokers?
• ^^ Where does the US rank?
• ^^^ How much nicotine is in the average cigarette?
• ^^^^ What is the lethal dose of nicotine?
• ^^^^^ Which country has the lowest percentage of smokers?

Big Hello: Hęr's cē – Muscogee (Creek/Seminole: Oklahoma) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm ~~The first e is suppose to have a line (macron) over the top as well as the squiggle (cedilla) under it. My special characters didn't seem to have such a thing. I have no idea how it is pronounced.

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Help! I've fallen and I can't think of a reason to get up.

Image of the Week: This year's hollyhocks. --Picture by jm of ks

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: 5 out of 5 dentists and librarians think it's gross to chew on those tiny library pencils. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. --Phyllis Diller / Beauty is power; a smile is its sword. --John Ray

..........I'm gonna give you every inch of my love .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..Whole Lotta Love

Moonbeam: Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. --Walt Whitman

Blasphemy of the Week: Planet before Profit

Puzzle of the Week: From the noted crossword constructor and editor Peter Gordon. Think of a famous film with a three-word title (six letters in the first word, three letters in the second, and four letters in the last), in which the first and last words are rhymes for consecutive numbers. What movie is it? NPR Sunday Puzzle 5/16/24

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My preferred brand of sunscreen is a house. --dr of oh

Guess what I'm wearing. The smile you gave me. / Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms. --Thomas Gray

..........You send me the blues way down the line .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..The Lemon Song

^ Nauru is the country with the highest percentage of smokers at 42.1%. Nauru, formerly Pleasant Island, is a country in Oceania with a population of 12,668; so about 5,333 people in the country smoke.

Almanac: It is Friday, May 31, 2024. The moon reached the last quarter yesterday (5/30) and is in Pisces. It is World No-Tobacco Day (W.H.O.), National Macaroon Day, Heat Safety Awareness Day, and What You Think Upon Grows Day.

Among those born on this day were Walt Whitman (1819), Emily Bissell (1861), Norman Vincent Peale (1898), Don Ameche (1908), Scoop Jackson (1912), Robert A. Ley (1921), Jim Hutton (1934), Peter Yarrow (1938), Johnny Paycheck (1941), Joe Namath (1943), John Bonzo Bonham (1948), Rhea Perlman (1948), Tom Berenger (1950), Chris Elliott (1960), and Lea Thompson (1961).

On May thirty-first women revolted in Amsterdam (1531), the colony of Massachusetts annexed the colony of Maine (1634), Lady Godiva wrote through Coventry (1678), US Copyright laws were enacted (1790), the New Orlean's mint closed (1861), Gilmore's Garden was renamed Madison Square Garden (1879), the first taxis picked up fares in NYC (1907), the 17th Amendment was ratified (direct election of senators, 1913), Lennon and Ono recorded "Give Peace a Chance" (1969), and Jim Wright resigned as speaker of the house (1989).

Night Sky, 5/31: Vega is the brightest star on the northeastern side of the sky. Arcturus is the brightest high overhead. A third of the way from Arcturus to Vega is dim Corona Borealis, the semicircular Northern Crown. Its one moderately bright star is Alpha Cor Bor, a.k.a. Gemma or Alphecca, magnitude 2.2. But within the next year or so, astronomers expect there may suddenly be two! Because T Coronae Borealis, a famous recurrent nova, shows signs (a gradual dimming) of being about to blow again for its first time since 1946. If it does, it could match the brightness of Alphecca. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Max and Ollie making faces at the sound

This Week: Saturday, June 1 – Drawing Day aka Pencil Day & National Black Bear Day & National Trails Day & Go Barefoot Day

Sunday, June 2 – National Gun Violence Awareness Day

Night Sky, 6/2: To many people, "Cassiopeia" means "Cold." Late fall and winter are when this landmark constellation stands high overhead. But even on hot June evenings, it still lurks low (as seen from mid-northern latitudes). As twilight fades out, look for it down near the north horizon: a wide, upright W. The farther north you are the higher it'll appear, but even as far south as San Diego and Atlanta it's completely above the horizon.

Monday, June 3 – Bike Travel Day & National Egg Day & World Bicycle Day

Tuesday, June 4 – Audacity to Hope Day & Hug Your Cat Day & National Punk Day

Wednesday, June 5 – Festival of Popular Delusions Day & World Environment Day

Thursday, June 6 – National Eyewear Day & World Pest Day & Yo-yo Day

Night Sky, 6/6: Mars and Saturn are up in early dawn. The highest and easiest is Saturn, in the southeast. It's magnitude 1.2, fairly modest, but there's nothing else that bright anywhere near it. Its background is dim Aquarius. Look for Mars far lower left of Saturn, by roughly three fists at arm's length. It's magnitude 1.1, and again, nothing else there is as bright. Mars lies in dimmer Pisces.

Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth. / She gave me a smile I could feel in my hip pocket. --Raymond Chandler

..........Gonna make me sweat, gonna make me move .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..Black Dog

^^ 11.5% of US citizens smoke cigarettes. This comes to about 28.3 million people. This does not count cigar smokers or people who use nicotine in vapes.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: T-Shirt: Will Trade Racists For Refugees –Submitted by akb of kc

Moonbeam: To me, every day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle. --Walt Whitman

My Very Own Conspiracy Theory of the Week: It's Alito's wife who supported the January Coup with flags and Thomas' wife who gave support to the insurrectionists with texts (and who knows what else). I believe that there is a Supreme Wives Club and it is plotting to take over the United States one recreational vehicle at a time.

Video of the Week: Peter Yarrow singing We Shall Overcome (5:20)

Revolution, Evolution, Mastrubation, Flagellation, Regulation All we are saying is give peace a chance.

If you see me laughing in public it's because the voices in my head are telling jokes. / A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities. --Herman Melville

..........There's a feeling I get when I look to the west .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..Stairway to Heaven

^^^ Nicotine levels vary greatly from brand to brand. On average, each cigarette contains roughly 10-12 milligrams of nicotine. This ranges from 6 mg on the low end to 28 mg on the high side. Only about 1.2-1.8 mg enter the body for each cigarette smoked. 22-35 mg inhaled per pack

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The “Lock Her Up” crowd is freaking out about “Lock Him Up”. See, pronouns DO matter. --Submitted by ff of ks

Weird Word of the Week: Idioticon: n. A dictionary of a specific dialect, or of the words and phrases peculiar to one part of a country. Idioticon (worldwidewords.org) This etymology is interesting.

Dragon of the Week:

Hippy Update of the Week: So on Wednesday, I got my last teeth removed and a bottom plate put in. Now my hip and my mouth both hurt. Actually, it didn't take very long at all (that is after waiting 45 minutes in the waiting room) and I have to wear the new plate for 24 hours because one's gums swell. My tongue is complaining because it's favorite place to hang out is now full of teeth but it's going to have to get used to it. When they put in the new plate they poked around and then gave me a mirror to see what they/I looked like. The teeth looked okay but my mouth was full of blood and I looked like a vampire. It was horrible. I did say goodbye to the teeth the night before. It's been at least 70 years. That's not a bad run. Next thing on the list is the surgery itself.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Loosen rusty nuts and bolts. Pour Canada Dry Club Soda over them. The carbonation bubbles away rust. Canada Dry® Club Soda: Wacky Uses

If you see me smiling, it's because I'm thinking of doing something evil or, at least, naughty. If you see me laughing, I've already done it. / Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles. --George Eliot

...........It is the summer of my smiles .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..The Rain Song

^^^^ The fatal human dose of nicotine has been estimated to be 50-60 mg. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Toothy Update of the Week: It is now Thursday night. My lower plate is so loose it will not stay in place when I talk or eat - two things I used my mouth for a lot. I hope this hip is worth it.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I think my guardian angel drinks. --Submitted by jm of ks

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Narrativity 2024 – A Convention for Story (5/30-6/2, Plymouth, MN) –Romancing the Muse Narrativity – A Convention for Story

Actual Science Conference of the Week: American Society of Mechanical Engineers Hawaii Section General Meeting (5/31, Online event) Global networking on a local level ASME Sections | Local Engineering Chapters

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Heaven Can Wait

A group of smiles is called a joy-brigade. / Measure the brightness of a smile with a light-year scale.

..........The winds of Thor are blowing cold .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..No Quarter

^^^^^ Ghana records the lowest smoking rate with a mere 3.7% of its population indulging. That's about 1,250,000 people.

Science Quote of the Week: If you are filling a glass and reach the halfway point, it's half-full. If you are emptying a glass and reach the halfway point, it's half-empty. No need to invoke your emotional state. --Neil deGrasse Tyson --Submitted by SH

Quote of the Week: If you aren't going all the way, why go at all? --(Broadway) Joe Namath

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: When life gives you mold, make penicillin. --Submitted by SH

Today's Peace of History, May 31, 1531: The burgomasters of Amsterdam decided to build a storehouse for wool on The Holy Place (why was it Holy? In 1345, a dying man had just received the holy sacrament, and then vomited right back up and the vomit was thrown into the fire and in the morning when the coals were raked over the sacrament was found to be still a prefect white and in tact making this location, The Holy Place). So when the government wanted to build this storehouse for wool in this very Holy Place...The pious women of Amsterdam petitioned the burgomasters not to commit this horror in The Holy Place. But, the burgomasters unmoved began to dig the foundation for the wool storehouse. And on this night, so very long ago, 300 pious women with shovels in hand refilled the foundation dirt back into the holes dug that day. And this was, The Women's Uprising of 1531 or revolt of 1531.

Susie Smile is also a black belt in Grin-jitsu. / I'm planning a Smile Convention at the nudist park. The theme is Grin and Bear It.

..........I hear the rested rivers call .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..The Rover

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, May 31, 2024, gRinning ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. --Walt Whitman

Cost of War:

• As of 05/30/24 State Department Costs: $237,256,364,747.
• As of 05/23/24 State Department Costs: $236,702,199,114.
• As of 05/30/24 Homeland Security: $1,169,416,424,936.
• As of 05/23/24 Homeland Security: $1,168,814,492,297.
• As of 05/30/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,221,785,165,967.
• As of 05/23/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,220,237,412,378.
• As of 05/30/24 Military Costs: $3,087,336,946,327.
• As of 05/23/24 Military Costs: $3,086,161,797,544.
• As of 05/30/24 Veterans Care: $3,686,705,952,112.
• As of 05/23/24 Veterans Care: $3,674,973,713,907.
• As of 05/30/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,402,502,154,698.
• As of 05/23/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,386,890,980,943.

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

Let's hear it for the people now. All we are saying is give peace a chance.

Famous Last Words: Warry, shift. --Walt Whitman

..........We can watch the white dove go .........Led Zepplin with John Bonham …..Houses of the Holy

Keep smiling and one day life will get tired of upsetting you. / A smile is happiness you'll find right under your nose. --Tom Wilson

May Peace smile on you
And you smile with Joy
prairie mama
christine

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