sOlstitial ePistle

Famous First Words: Hm, so we are here? --Jean Paul Sartre No Exit

It is the Summer Solstice 2024. So, I entered “summer solstice jokes” in my browser. The very first result was a joke of its own: www.amazon.com Shop summer jokes – Amazon.com® Official Site Discover new arrivals & latest discounts in summer jokes from your favorite brands. (Then it tried to talk me into Prime.) I don't have a favorite brand of joke; I'm not even sure I know what brands of jokes are. I acknowledge genres ... walks into a bar / knock, knock / How many ... does it take to change a light bulb). Maybe brands are the names of comics. I'd like 3 Nora Ephrons, 2 Geroge Carlins, and a Tig Notaro, please. Oh, and throw in a couple of Mae West quotes.

..........Summertime, and the livin' is easy.........Janice Joplin …...Summertime Porgy and Bess

Extremism can flourish only in an environment where basic governmental social responsibility for the welfare of the people is neglected. --Benazir Bhutto

It is gorgeous Friday (74°F) morning. The Cooper's Hawk aka Red Shouldered Hawk and his or her hunting companion stopped at the willow tree briefly on their way to breakfast. There is no breeze so the branches of all the trees are still. Some robins are flitting through the mulberry picking any berries that have ripened since yesterday. A lone hawk now sits higher up than usual sunning itself as the sun slowly emerges from over the rooftops and from under the clouds. Clearly, looking majestic tops this hawks agenda for the day. There is no bird song filling the air, only the grumbling of car motors as people go off to work. Wow! I had to stop and take a dump and a nap. While this makes less pleasant reading, it is as important to the rest of my day as the chocolate croissant and cup of decaf I consumed. Now, the sun is up and a breeze is wisping the willow and mulberry in a graceful dance of the morning. I can walk without pain or creaking bones. All and all a great day.

Hope your weekend is full of sunshine, ePistliers

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Having cats in the house is like living with art that sometimes throws up on the carpet. --Submitted by Heinlein Society

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. --Sam Keen / Thank you for making the longest day of the year longer by explaining why it's the longest day of the year.

..........Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head.........The Lovin' Spoonful …..Summer in the City

Trivia Questions: The Ferris Wheels turns 131 years old today.

• ^ When or where did the first Ferris Wheel turn?
• ^^ What do you know about the inventor, George W Ferris?
• ^^^ How big was the first Ferris Wheel?
• ^^^^ How many Ferris Wheels are currently operational in the US?
• ^^^^^ Where is the world's tallest operational Ferris Wheel?

Big Hello: Ecomower or Ekamowir omo – Nauruan (Micronesia) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Soul Train lasted longer than the Confederacy. (35 years to 4 years, 3 months respectively).

Image of the Week: And the hollyhock dolls from my patch.

Fake Library Statistics of the Week: Only 8% of librarians really mean it when they respond, “Wow!” to a patron's story. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts

Some of the best memories are made in flip-flops. --Kellie Elmore / The Kansas Sunflowers are so excited about the solstice they wet their plants.

..........It happened forever, for a short time.........The Motels …..Suddenly Last Summer

Moonbeam: I live a very dull life here...indeed I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else. --Martha Washington

Blasphemy of the Week: There ought to be a sign posted in every “Christian” bookstore that reads, “The views expressed in these books do not necessarily express the views of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”. --Voddie Baucham

Puzzle of the Week: Think of a famous English writer with a three-word name. The first two letters of the last name followed by the first two letters of the middle name followed by the first two letters of the first name, in order, spell an adjective that describes this author today. Who is it?

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: In 100 years we have gone from teaching Latin and Greek in high school to teaching remedial reading in college. --Joseph Sobran --Submitted by bc of tx

June has never looked more beautiful than she does now, unadorned and honest, vulnerable yet invincible. --Marie Lu / The Kansas cottonwoods are so excited about the solstice; it was such a re-leaf.

..........My love, warm as the sunshine.........Johnny Rivers …..Summer Rain

^ The Ferris Wheel was invented in 1893 for the Chicago World's Fair.

Almanac: It is Friday, June 21, 2024. The moon will be full (Strawberry) tomorrow morning at 1:07 am and is in Capricorn. It is Cuckoo Warning Day, Atheists Solidarity Day aka World Humanist Day, Go Skateboarding Day, National Daylight Appreciation Day, National Flip Flop Day, Summer Solstice, Take Your Dog to Work Day, and Ugliest Dog Day.

Among those born on this day were Martha Washington (1732), Daniel Carter Beard (1851), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905), Mary McCarthy (1912), Jane Russell (1921), Judy Holliday (1922), Maureen Stapleton (1925), Francoise Sagan (1935), Meredith Baxter Birney (1944), Michael Gross (1947), Benazir Bhutto (1953), and Prince William of Wales (1982).

On June twenty-first New Hampshire ratified the US Constitution (1788), the first Ferris Wheel premiered (Chicago, 1893), the Hawaiian Red Cross was founded (1917), former Attorney General, John Mitchell and former Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman began 19 month sentences in an Alabama prison (1977), and Donald Fagan and Walter Becker announced the break up of Steely Dan (1981).

Night Sky, 6/21: The Strawberry Full Moon arrives at 9:10 pm tonight. But the best viewing will be 5 to 10 minutes later/ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Mom and Dad with two Medieval Dragons

This Week: Saturday, June 22 – Great American Backyard Campout Day & International Being You Day & World Rainforest Day

Sunday, June 23 - America's Kids Day & International Women in Engineering Day & Let It Go Day

Night Sky, 6/23: Jupiter is emerging into view almost three fists lower left of Mars, shining through the horizon murk at magnitude -2.0 as dawn brightens. Neptune (8^th magnitude in Pisces) arrives pre dawn.

Monday, June 24 – Celebration of the Senses & International Fairy Day & World UFO Day

Tuesday, June 25 – Day of the Seafarer & Global Smurfs Day & National Catfish Day

Wednesday, June 26 – Harry Potter Day & National Canoe Day & National Coconut Day

Night Sky, 6/26: June Bootids Meteor Shower (Bootes constellation) https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20240627_10_100

Thursday, June 27 – Celebrate Joy Day & International Workers of the World Day & National Handshake Day & PTSD Awareness Day

I am summer, come to lure you away from your computer...come dance on my fresh grass, dig your toes into my beaches. --Oriana Green / Summer is such a crazy time. The frogs are wearing open-toad sandals and the bananas are wearing sunscreen so they won't peel.

..........Dust off the sun and moon and sing a song of cheer.........Nat King Cole ….Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

^^ Ferris was a bridge builder who came up with the concept of the Ferris Wheel and sketched it on a cocktail napkin at an Engineer's Banquet in 1891.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Orion's Belt is a big waist of space. Terrible joke. Only three stars.

Moonbeam: You are the hero of your own story --Mary McCarthy

Supreme Question of the Week: It's weird how the focus is on whether the gifts were reported, instead of why they were received. --John Collins

Hippy Update of the Week: My latest problem is finding a comfortable position to sleep in at night. I'm only getting a couple of hours of sleep and it's making being awake unpleasant. My hip – it's doing great, hurts less all the time, my exercises allow for more extension and less pain. We changed the dressing today and the incision is healing nicely. If I could just sleep a few more hours a day. Friday Morning Update: I slept through the night – 7 hours. Maybe a new hip like a new baby just needs time to be able to make it through the night. I feel much better.

Addendum to Hippy Update of the Week: People who want to visit – this is the week. Monday morning is taken up with Scrabble and Wednesday afternoon with a doctor appointment. The rest of the week is open.

Video of the Week: Film of the first Ferris Wheel (:47) film first ferris wheel chicago 1893 - Google Search

Democracy is necessary to peace and to undermining the forces of terrorism. --Benazir Bhutto

The summer night is like a perfection of thought. --Wallace Stevens / Lots of people go camping in the summer. For me, it's just too in-tents.

..........I saw a Deadhead sticker on a cadillac.........Don Henley …..The Boys of Summer

^^^ The first wheel was 264 feet high and could carry 60 passengers in each of its 36 cars. A ride cost only 50¢ (the equivalent of $10.52 today.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Spices were first brought to Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Some of them are still at the back of my cupboard.

Weird Word of the Week: Kip – nap or longer sleep. Likely from the Danish Kippe – hut or ale house. Kip (worldwidewords.org)

Dragon of the Week:

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Preserve newspaper clippings. Dissolve one capful of Phillips; Milk of Magnesia in one quart Canada Dry Club Soda. Let the mixture stand overnight. The next day, stir the mixture well, then soak you clipping in the solution for one hour. Blot the newspaper clipping between two sheets of Bounty and place on a screen to dry. Canada Dry® Club Soda: Wacky Uses

Summertime is always that best of what might be. --Charles Bowden / Watermelon – when you go on red and stop on green.

...........A pledge to keep the sun above........Of the Wand and the Moon ..Song of Summer Solstice

^^^^ The total number of Ferris Wheels in the United States is 52.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My life coach just informed me that I didn't make the team.

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: SoonerCon 2024 (21-23, Norman, OK) ...Adventure Awaits Soonercon | Oklahoma's Premier Pop Culture Convention

Actual Science Conference of the Week: SoSE 2024 (System of Systems Engineering)(23-24, Tacoma, WA) AI Role in SoSE SOSE 2024 – System of Systems Engineering Conference (sosengineering.org)

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Edgar Rice Burroughs → BU RI ED

In summer the song sings itself above the muffled words. --William Carlos Williams / A group of sunshine particles is known as a ray brigade.

..........We were young and restless.........Bryan Adams …..Summer of 69

^^^^^ High Roller is a 550 ft tall Ferris Wheel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, NV. It opened in 2014 as the world tallest Ferris Wheel.

Conspiracy Theory of the Week: 3 Conspiracy Theorists walk into a bar; you can't tell me that's just a coincidence.

Quote of the Week: Not only is it summer solstice, there is a full moon. May love surround you like sunshine on a sunny day. --William Shakespeare

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Counting to 10 only makes it premeditated.

Today's Peace of History, June 21, 1997: 100,000 marched in solidarity with striking newspaper workers in Detroit after nearly two years on the picket line.

I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days. --Henry David Thoreau / How did the sun get all those degrees when it didn't go to college?

..........Summer's here and the time is right.........Martha and the Vandellas …..Dancin' In The Streets

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, June 21, 2024, sOlstitial ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company. --Jean-Paul Sartre

Cost of War:

• As of 06/20/24 State Department Costs: $238,943,811,484.
• As of 06/06/24 State Department Costs: $237,822,734,407.
• As of 06/20/24 Homeland Security: $1,171,249,349,754.
• As of 06/06/24 Homeland Security: $1,170,031,635,897.
• As of 06/20/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,226,498,743.193.
• As of 06/06/24 Interest on War Debt: $1,223,367,154,515.
• As of 06/20/24 Military Costs: $3,090,915,791,993.
• As of 06/06/24 Military Costs: $3,088,538,087,502.
• As of 06/20/24 Veterans Care: $3,722,436,390,115.
• As of 06/06/24 Veterans Care: $3,698,697,915,564.
• As of 06/20/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,450,046,174,277.
• As of 06/06/24 Total Cost of Wars: $9,418,458,893,821.

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

The military wants a system that protects its policies and privileges. --Benazir Bhutto

Famous Last Words: (a pause) My name is Fred. Jean Paul Satre The Respectful Prostitute

..........We need a change now, wouldn't it be nice.........The Beach Boys ….Summer In Paradise

I expect some new phase of life this summer, and shall try to get the honey from each moment. --Lucy Stone / It's summer in Kansas, even the bees say it's swarm.

May Peace sooth your brain
And Joy cool your soul
prairie mama
christine

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