ePistle eXertion

Famous First Words: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... the 23^th Amendment to the US Constitution

Today is Have Fun At Work Day! … Work? Again? Didn't I just do that yesterday? » Working from home is all fun and games until your chair and your bed start turning into one.

..........Fremd bin ich eingezogen.........Franz Schubert …..Gute Nacht (I arrived a stranger)

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone. --Thomas Merton

It is a rainy Friday morning. The sky is slate gray and without texture or variance. The temperature is 39°F with little wind so the piles of snow are still melting and trickling. It has rained lightly for over 12 hours so the soil is damp and the world smells of wet dirt and foliage. Puck with but 3 feet from the door to do his business and then came back in without a single bark to the neighboring dogs. There is no rain falling at the second but the drip drip drip from the corner of the roof keeps the rhythm of the morning. I am munching a donut and sipping coffee and I am awaiting perpetually and forever a renaissance of wonder. (from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's I Am Waiting)

Hope your weekend is not all work but every minute fun, Fun Factory Flunkies.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Optimism: The art of being wrong about how bad things will get.

Correction of the Correction of the Week: The REAL official website of The Farm: https://thefarmcommunity.com/ ~~Thank you to tm of ks for pointing it out. So sorry

A camel can work for a whole week without drinking. But a human can drink for a whole week without working. » The boss asked me why I only seem to get sick on weekdays. So I told her about my weekend immune system.

January 29 was the Chinese New Year – 2025: The Year Of The Snake! Paula Python just gave birth to a bouncing baby boa.

..........Another season, another reason..........Eddie Cantor …..Makin' Whoopee

Trivia Questions: It's Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day!

1. When did social security start?

2. How is your social security number generated?

3. What number or what person received the first SSN?

4. How much was the budget of Social Security in 2015?

5. How many people receive Social Security benefits?

Big Hello: 'lorana – Rapa Nui (Easter Island) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: No matter how many times a snake sheds its skin, it's still a snake.

Image of the Week: Year of the Snake

Coffee Joke of the Week: Feeling Slothee, Drink More Coffee.

Friday is a superhero who always arrives in time to save the week. » I'd tell you a construction joke … but I'm still working on it.

Bertha Blacksnake was the first snake confirmed as Secretary of the Interior. She became the first civil serpent.

..........It's so nice to be back home where I belong.........Carol Channing …..Hello Dolly

Moonbeam: I need this wild life, this freedom. --Zane Grey

Blasphemy of the Week: “I don't have anyone in my life who I think owes me an apology.” I couldn't get to the author's name. ~~True for me too.

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Trump's furious because as a Bishop, Budde can move as far as she wants diagonally, but as a Russian pawn he can only move one square at a time. --Jonwensley --Submitted by gt of oh

Octogenarian Joke the Week: Back in my day there was so much toilet paper and eggs that we would throw them at the houses of our enemies. https://www.facebook.com/iheartrecipes

I proposed a meeting free day at work; they scheduled it for February 30^th » Dragons sleep all day because they hunt knights.

Once in the rain forest I came upon an anaconda making love to a rusty bulldozer. And when her eggs hatched they were boa constructors.

..........It's dark and cloudy, I believe it's gonna rain.........Charlie Musselwhite …..The Blues Overtook Me

1. Social Security was signed into law 9/14/25 by FDR. The first taxes were collected in January 1937 and regular ongoing monthly benefits began in January 1940.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 31, 2025. The moon was new on Wednesday (1/29) and is in Pisces. Today is Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day, Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, and Street Children Day. Because it is the last Friday it is also Fun at Work Day, National Big Wig Day, and National Preschool Fitness Day. This weekend is National Toboggan Days: 31-2/1.

Among those born on this day were Francois-Xavier de Laval (1623), Robert Morris (1734), Franz Schubert (1797), Theodore W. Richards (1868), Zane Grey (1872), Anna Pavlova (1882), Eddie Cantor (1892), Tallulah Bankhead (1903), John O'Hara (1905), Thomas Merton (1915), Jackie Robinson (1919), Stewart Udall (1920), Carol Channing (1921), Joanne Dru (1923), Norman Mailer (1923), Jean Simmons (1926), Suzanne Pleshette (1937), Charlie Musselwhite (1944), Harry Casey (KC, 1951), Phil Collins (1951), Johnny Rotten (1956) and Minnie Driver (1971).

On January thirty-first the Spanish government went bankrupt (1627), Borden introduced "evaporated milk" (1851), Sirius dwarf discovered (1862), the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution passed congress (1865), Jose Marti left NYC for Cuba (1895), Three Sisters opened in Moscow (1901), Scotch Tape was first marketed (1928), Green Hornet debuted on radio (1936), Yugoslavia became a republic (1946), the Tet Offensive began (1968), Apollo 14 launched (1971) and Kroc bought the Padres (1974).

Night Sky, 1/31: The waxing crescent Moon shines under 1.1-magnitude Saturn this evening Venus, more than 200 times brighter than Saturn at magnitude –4.8, looks on expectantly from above. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Day at the Gym with Pole Dancer and the Ring Bearer

 

Week: Saturday, February 1 – Barber Day & Candy-Making Day & Freedom Day & Spunky Old Broads Day

Sunday, February 2 – Groundhog Day aka Hedgehog Day & Imbolc & Sled Dog Day & World Wetlands Day

Night Sky, 2/2 : The biggest well-known asterism (informal star pattern) is the Winter Hexagon. It fills the sky toward the east and south these evenings. Start with brilliant Sirius at its bottom. Going clockwise from there, march up through Procyon, Pollux and Castor, Menkalinan and Capella on high, down to Aldebaran, then to Rigel in Orion's foot, and back to Sirius. Betelgeuse shines inside the Hexagon, way off center. The Hexagon is somewhat distended. But if you draw a line through its middle from Capella down to Sirius, the "Hexagon" is fairly symmetric with respect to that long axis. Take the line from Aldebaran to Capella, turn it to go from Aldebaran to Betelgeuse instead, and the Winter Hexagon becomes the Heavenly G.

Monday, February 3 – Feed the Birds Day & National Missing Persons Day & Veterinary Pharmacists Day

Tuesday, February 4 – National Hemp Day & USO Day & World Cancer Day

Wednesday, February 5 – Shower With a Friend Day & Sterile Packaging Day & Western Monarch Day & Weather Forecaster's Day

Night Sky, 2/5: Mars is now shrinking and fading a bit, to about 14.0 arcseconds in diameter and magnitude –1.1. Mars comes into view in twilight as a steady orange spark low in the east-northeast. As darkness deepens, watch for Pollux and Castor emerge into view on the upper left of it.

Thursday, February 6 – National Sweater Day & Play Monopoly Day & International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation

The human resources manager brought a compass to work to make sure everyone was one the right career path. » Hard work never killed anybody, but why take the chance? --Edgar Bergen

Do you remember Vinnie the Vindshield Viper? Great sense of rhythm.

..........Is there nothing more anybody can do.........Phil Collins …..Another Day In Paradise

2. The first 3 numbers indicate your geographic region. The 4^th & 5^th numbers are assigned in groups of 10,000 to post offices. The last 4 digits were a serial number that increased from 0001 to 9999 within each group.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Florida: It's snowing. Canada: We told you guys not to mess with us.

Moonbeam: Only good girls keep diaries. Bad girls don't have time. --Tallulah Bankhead

Fun Fact of the Week: Remember me going on about Steve Earle and Gallway Girl. I didn't know at the time that he also wrote it. Even cooler. I listened to it again before writing this. And then I listen to it by a bunch of other people (The Kilkennys, Mundy, and the High Kings). I still don't know whether I like Earle's rendition best. But I love the song by all those people

Video of the Week: Garth Hudson –good-bye to the last of The Band: https://www.instagram.com/radiolenvie/reel/DFGRkelyZbo/

We are saved by hope for that which we do not see and we wait for it with patience. --Thomas Merton

Frida Frog took the bus to work because her car got toad. » I wanted to become a computer thief, but I just couldn't hack it.

We came across some convention of snakes. There were hundreds of them in all different kinds and sizes. We became very afraid. They were all making noise. It was hiss panic.

..........Well I was there and I saw what you did.........Phil Collins …..In The Air Tonight

3. John D Sweeney, JR of New Rochele, NY was issued the first SSN, 055-09-0001.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Now that I'm in my 80s, I've given up taking risks and having adventures. Now, I only have near life experiences.

Weird Word of the Week: Obelus – the mathematical symbol for division ÷ https://parade.com/1195613/marynliles/funny-words/

Dragon of the Week:

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Thicken gravy, soup, or beef stew. Grind up Cheerios in the blender and stir the powdered oats into the gravy, soup, or stew. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cheerios.html ~~Yuck, just sayin'

The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one. » My brain works hard each day at work, so on the weekends I put my liver to work. ÷

Diamondback Emergency 911: OMG! OMG!! OMG!!! Poison Control? I just bit my tongue...again.

...........Look at the shape the nation's in.........Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop …..What The Hell

4. In 1935 the SSA budget was $0. In 2015 the SSA budget was $12.5 billion.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Apparently, Elon is upset that folks have started calling the Tesla swasticar. --Submitted by 98%

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Console Room 2025 (31-2, Bloomington, MN) Rockin' Through the WHOniverse https://console-room.org/

Actual Science Conference of the Week: 24^th International Nanotechnology Exhibition & Conference (29-31, Tokyo, Japan) Bridge to future business https://www.nanotechexpo.jp/en/

Why did the mail clerk bring a stepstool to work? So she could climb the corporate ladder. » Yeah, my boss is stress free because he delegates it to his workers.

Henretta the Hysterical Herpetologist is trying to mate garden snakes with kangaroos. She thinks she can market the offspring as jump ropes.

..........Dearie should have said so long, so long ago.........Carol Channing …..So Long Dearie

5. In December 2024 about 68 million people received Social Security benefits.

Late Night Joke of the Week: This is going to be more challenging because all of the chiefs players have to rush to the game from their day shifts at State Farm. --Stephen Colbert

Quote of the Week: What people call “standard English” is really just the dialect of the elite. --Cathleen Schine The Grammarians

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

Today's Peace of History: January 31, 1993: 300,000 Berliners rallied to protest attacks on immigrants, and against racism and renewed support for Nazism on the 60th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's rise to power. Today is the 92^nd anniversary. Less than 100 years. When will we ever learn?

I told my bosses if they want me to lean in they need to fix my desk chair. » At work several of us formed a band. We call ourselves 999 Megabytes. We haven't had a gig.

Alice Adder danced all the time, even as a child, she was always moving, always swaying; obviously she was viper active.

..........let his conscience guide him.........Eddie Cantor …..Ma

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 31, 2025, ePistle sXertion. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: America may be unique in being a country which leapt from barbarism to decadence without touching civilization. --John O'Hara

Cost of War:

As of 01/30/25 State Department Costs: $256,737,664,095

As of 01/23/25 State Department Costs: $256,184,692,725

As of 01/30/25 Homeland Security: $1,190,577,145,152

As of 01/23/25 Homeland Security: $1,189,976,515,960

As of 01/30/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,276,198,462,321

As of 01/23/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,274,653,986,850

As of 01/30/25 Military Costs: $3,128,650,732,399

As of 01/23/25 Military Costs: $3,127,478,087,992

As of 01/30/25 Veterans Care: $4,099,172,258,474

As of 01/23/25 Veterans Care: $4,087,464,648,537

As of 01/30/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,951,337,249,022

As of 01/23/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,935,758,035,973 https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/

Pride makes us artificial and humility makes us real. --Thomas Merton

Famous Last Words: ...if-you-don't-go-down-with-ME!” --A A Milne Disobedience

..........Hinunter und immer weiter..........Franz Schubert …..Wohin? (down and on and on)

I am a real fan of whiteboards. They are remarkable. » At the job interview they asked me if I could make spreadsheets. I told them I Excel at it.

May Peace grace your work

And Joy inform your leisure

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Love is the beauty of the soul. --St Augustine 

eLated ePistle

Famous First Words: You loafers... Opening line of Boris Godunov

It's Hunt For Happiness Week (19-25). Money can't buy happiness but it can get you a really nice yacht to cry on. Ħ Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened. --Dr Seuss

..........You simply got no choice.........Neil Diamond …..Song Sung Blue

All we are saying is Give Peace A Chance. --John Lennon & Yoko Ono from the Toronto Peace Festival

It is another cold (17°F) Friday morning. The sky is clear of clouds and is a very pale blue. Puck went out but did not stay long and is now asleep under my feet. Veronica has been up for a while watching the storage shed rabbits sitting in the cold. I am eating sausage links and drinking toasted almond decaf. It's not a bad start to a morning. The house is warm and the furnace is noisy. Sometimes it sounds like far away music and sometimes it sounds like someone giving a speech. But I can never understand the words. Ah, the reassuring sounds of civilization. Best of all, I get to write to you.

Hope your weekend, your week, and your year are filled with happiness, gaiety gatherers!

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: My lust for shenanigans is eternal. https://www.facebook.com/poetryofmonsters

Money can't buy happiness but it can buy ice cream and that's pretty close. Ħ Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length. --Robert Frost

..........Live is too short to have sorrow.........Aaron Neville …..Tell it Like It Is

Trivia Questions: Happy 103^rd birthday of the Eskimo Pie!

1. Do you have any idea who invented the Eskimo Pie?

2. Who was the inventor's first partner in his frozen chocolate bar endeavor?

3. Who currently owns Eskimo Pie?

4. Why did the Eskimo Pie change its name - twice?

5. In what European countries has Eskimo become a generic term for any chocolate ice cream treat?

Big Hello: Rimaykullayki – Quechua (It is the language of the Inca Empire and still spoken in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile.)

https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Correction of the Week: Gaskin's (#3 of the Theorems. Pay attention!) Farm website is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farm_(Tennessee) Not wherever I said it was last week. Sorry about that.

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking. --Steven Wright

Image of the Week: My hollyhocks are still standing tall but they look cold.

Coffee Joke of the Week: Coffee: Because a good day never starts with a spinach smoothie. https://www.facebook.com/groups/886961092207455

Money can't buy you happiness but poverty can't buy you anything. Ħ The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase: If you pursue happiness you'll never find it. --C P Snow

..........I'm a desperate man.........Warren Zevon …..Lawyers, Guns and Money

Moonbeam: Beware of monotony; it's the mother of all the deadly sins. --Edith Wharton

Blasphemy of the Week: The Bible tells us to be like God, and then on page after page it describes God as a mass murderer. This may be the single most important key to the political behavior of Western Civilization. --Robert Anton Wilson

Puzzle of the Week: From listener Greg VanMechelen, of Berkeley, CA. Think of a well-known international location in nine letters. Take the first five letters and shift each of them 13 places later in the alphabet. The result will be a synonym for the remaining four letters in the place's name. What place is it? NPR Puzzle Sunday 1/19/25

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Society is like a stew. If you don't stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top. --Edward Abbey

Money can't buy happiness but I am accepting donations to test the hypothesis. Ħ If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. --Albert Einstein

..........hard headed woman of mine.........Blues Brothers …..She Caught The Katy

1. The Eskimo Pie was invented by Christian Kent Nelson in his home laboratory in 1920. It was the first chocolate covered ice cream bar in the US.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 24, 2025. The moon reached the third quarter last Wednesday (1/22) and is in Sagittarius. Today is Belly Laugh Day, Beer Can Day, National Compliment Day, National Peanut Butter Day, Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day, International Day of Education, International Mobile Phone Recycling Day, and World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture.

Among those born on this day were Frederick II (aka the great, 1712), Ernst Hoffmann (1776), Edith Wharton (1862), Mark Goodson (1913), Ernest Borgnine (1915), Oral Roberts (1918), Maria Tallchief (1925), Ray Stevens (1939), Neil Diamond (1941), Aaron Neville (1941), Warren Zevon (1947), John Belushi (1949) and Yakov Smirnoff (1951).

On January twenty-ninth the Connecticut colony was organized (1639), Boris Godunov premiered (St. Petersburg, 1874), the Eskimo Pie was patented (1922), American Dream premiered (NYC, 1961), the 24th Amendment went into effect (outlawing poll tax, 1964), George Foreman KOed Ron Lyle in the 5th (1976), Roots began airing (1977), and the Macintosh was unveiled (1984).

Night Sky, 1/24: Mars is still barely more than 2° from Pollux; it is slowly retrograding westward: toward the upper right as seen during the evening. After tonight they'll widen. Keep watch. Mars will reach its western stationary point on February 24th, at which time it will appear just about equidistant (7.2°) from both Pollux and Castor. After that, it will resume its usual eastward (prograde) motion. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Kids and Dogs and Grandma, Oh my.

This Week: Saturday, January 25 – A Room Of One's Own Day & National Seed Swap Day & Robert Burns Day

Sunday, January 26 – Clashing Clothes Day & International Customs Day & Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement

Night Sky, 1/26: After 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. Left of their midpoint shines Procyon. Can you discern their colors? Sirius (spectral type A0) is cold white, Betelgeuse (M2) is yellow-orange, and Procyon (F5) is a pale, very slightly yellowish white. And, standing 4° above Procyon is 3rd-magnitude Gomeisa, Beta Canis Minoris, the only other easy naked-eye star of Canis Minor.

Monday, January 27 – Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day & Holocaust Memorial Day & VietNam Peace Day

Tuesday, January 28 – Fancy Rat and Mouse Day & National Kazoo Day & Rubber Ducky Day

Wednesday, January 29 – Chinese New Year (Year of the Snake) & Freethinkers Day & National Puzzle Day

Night Sky, 1/29: Saturn, magnitude +1.1 in Aquarius, is a spark in the southwest after dark — near brilliant Venus but beginning to pull away from it. The two planets are in conjunction 2.2° apart on January 18th. By the 29th Saturn is 6° below Venus.

Thursday, January 30 – Croissant Day & National Inane Answering Message Day

Money can't buy happiness but I have noticed that only rich people actually say that. Ħ Happiness is something that comes into our live through a door we don't even remember leaving open --Rose Lane

..........What do ya want for nothing..........Blues Brothers …..Rubber Biscuit

2. The pie was an immediate success locally, and in July 1921 Nelson partnered with Russell C Stover (the KC candy maker) to market and produce the Eskimo Pie.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: To capture joy we must cast a net of gratitude. --Submitted by Unity of Lawrence

Moonbeam: The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it. --Edith Wharton

Fun Facts of the Week: It's National Compliment Day and here are the 5 reasons to give out compliments. 1) It increases your happiness 2) it makes you grateful. 3) it strengthens your interpersonal relationships 4) it increases your stress resilience and physical health 5) it creates a ripple of positivity. https://thedaily.case.edu/5-reasons-why-you-should-give-compliments/

Video of the Week: Maria Tallchief performing with Rudolph Nureyev Flower Festival in Genzano (8:40)

Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism --John Lennon & Yoko Ono from the Toronto Peace Festival

Money can't buy happiness but it can buy you the kind of misery you prefer. Ħ That man is happiest whose pleasures are cheapest. --Henry David Thoreau

..........I wonder could they set me free.........Neville Brothers …..Voodoo

3. Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream owns the Eskimo Pie brand which is now called Edy's Pie.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Money is not the key to happiness. However, if you have enough money you can have a key made.

Weird Word of the Week: Absquatulate (ab–SKWAG-chuh-kety): To leave abruptly or flee. https://www.busuu.com/en/english/funny-words

Dragon of the Week: Perhaps this is the 2024 Year of the Dragon surrounding earth on its way out making room for the young Year of the Snake on its way in.

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Attract birds to your yard. Fill a bird feeder with Cheerios https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cheerios.html

What's the use of happiness if it can buy you money? Ħ Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy just to be normal. – Albert Camus

...........Walking through the streets of SoHo in the rain.........Warren Zevon ….Werewolves of London

4. Nelson, the inventor, called the treat I Scream Bar but it changed to Eskimo Pie before being marketed nationwide. Dreyer's changed it to Edy's Pie in 2020 to be part of the resolution on racial equality.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The people who want to invade Greenland say it is too cold to have the inauguration outside. KS Indivisible

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: COSine 2025 (24-26, Colorado Springs, CO) Produced by First Friday Fandom …... https://www.firstfridayfandom.org/cosine/

Actual Science Conference of the Week: The 20^th Technology Conference by Technology Future, Inc. ..thought-leaders and professionals... https://tfi-ctfg.com/20th-annual-tfi-technology-conference/

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Greenland → terra

Money can't buy happiness but it can keep you comfortable while you figure out what will make you happy. Ħ Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away. --Benjamin Franklin

..........Good times never seemed so good.........Neil Diamond …..Sweet Caroline

5. France and the Soviet Union use Eskimo to mean any frozen bar covered in chocolate.

Late Night Joke of the Week: We're gonna play “Who Wore It Best?” - me, Melania, or The Hamburglar? Onlookers were uncertain if she was there to attend her husband's inauguration or to kill Indiana Jones. --Jimmy Fallon 1/20/25 ~~I thought it made her look like Nastasha chasing Moose and Squirrel even though I couldn't find a single picture of the cartoon character wearing a hat.

Quote of the Week: If we laugh and sing a little as we fight the good fight of freedom, it makes it all go easier. I will not allow my life's light to be determined by the darkness around me. --Sojourner Truth

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If I was meant to be controlled I would have come with a remote. --Submitted by FTLOD

Today's Peace of History: January 24, 1970: John Lennon & Yoko Ono cropped their hair short for the first time in years, declaring 1970 "Year One for Peace" and helped organize the Toronto Peace Festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEE1B3wEf20

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. Ħ Smile, it is the key that fits the lock of everybody's heart. --Anthony J D'Angelo

..........In the First Self-Righteous Church.........Dammit Ray Stevens …..The Mississippi Squirrel Revival

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 24, 2025, eLated ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Daughter of Today's Peace of History: January 24, 1977: The TV mini-series "Roots" based on the Alex Haley novel began airing on ABC.

Moonbeam: If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time. --Edith Wharton

Cost of War:

• As of 01/23/25 State Department Costs: $256,184,692,725

• As of 01/16/25 State Department Costs: $255,623,915,640

• As of 01/23/25 Homeland Security: $1,189,976,515,960

• As of 01/16/25 Homeland Security: $1,189,367,404,898

• As of 01/23/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,274,653,986,850

• As of 01/16/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,273,087,708,156

• As of 01/23/25 Military Costs: $3,127,478,087,992

• As of 01/16/25 Military Costs: $3,126,288,897,456

• As of 01/23/25 Veterans Care: $4,087,464,648,537

• As of 01/16/25 Veterans Care: $4,075,592,554,563

• As of 01/23/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,935,758,035,973

• As of 01/16/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,919,961,043,664

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

Revolution, evolution, mastrubation, flagellation, regulation, integrations. --John Lennon & Yoko Ono from the Toronto Peace Festival

Famous Last Words: Long Live Poland. --Maria Mandl, convicted of war crimes for her work at Auschwitz-Birkenau https://www.liberationroute.com/stories/457/maria-mandel

..........He'd jump on his camel named Clyde, and ride.........Dammit Ray Stevens …..Ahab, The Arab

Money can't buy happiness but it can buy you a drum set so that nobody else is happy either. Ħ The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness. --William Saroyan

May Peace give you joy

And Joy give you peace

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities. --Janos Arany

uPstaged ePistle

 Famous First Words: It's getting frosty outside. --Anton Chekhov The Cherry Orchard

It is Konstantin Stanislavski's birthday. Nintendo has expressly forbidden Chris Pratt from using method acting in the Mario Movie. They have warned him that eating shrooms on set is both unprofessional and illegal. . ҈ Besides, Chris Pratt is only cool because he has all those fans.

It's a new year and I decided to review and share my ten universal theorems.

1) Fear Not

Be Not Afraid, it is said, are the most repeated words in all the holy texts throughout the world.

..........With some decorations bought at Tiffany's.........Eartha Kitt …..Santa Baby

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs -- balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage -- balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. --Dwight Eisenhower

It is a beautiful Friday morning. The sun is shining and the temperature is above freezing (47°) which is in and of itself a beautiful thing. The sky is clear of clouds but now and then a jet trail sweeps by. I've been to the doctor who declared that I am hale and hearty. It seems like everyone in town is out this morning...driving, shopping, walking. Puck is outside barking at some dog or other. I can hear the response. He is getting bolder about walking on and sometimes falling through the snow. I am finishing a cup of cold cinnamon coffee left over from before the doctor. It was better warm, but it's bad cold. Anyway, have a great weekend until it gets cold again.

Hope there's method to the madness of your weekend, Thespians

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Effective january 20^th, Air Force One will be known as Con Air. --Submitted by ma of va

Discovery of the Week: I listened to Steve Earle's Galway Girl for the first time this week. (It's because it's one of the songs of the week below and I've linked it to the YouTube of Steve singing it.) Galway Girl by Celtic Thunder is a favorite of mine. So I'm listening to an arguably perfect fusing of country and Irish music. I listened to it three times to make sure that's really what I heard. Wow! A million years ago we saw Steve Earle in concert and he was great. But it was before Galway Girl came out. I haven't decided yet whether I actually like this fusion, but I certainly respect the performance.

I was a Disneyland costume worker for a day. It's because I took method acting way too far. I was told – a little too late – that I needed to wear pants inside and outside my Donald Duck outfit. . ҈ I auditioned for a part on Broadway once. I was told the only way I would be in a cast was if I broke my arm.

2) All you have to do is straighten up.

This one comes from my mother, of course.

..........Now daddy ran the whiskey in a big-block Dodge..........Steve Earle …..Copperhead Road

Trivia Questions: Happy Birthday to the Flush Toilet (patented in 1861 or was it?)

1. Who and or When was the flush toilet patented?

2. Generally, which stall in a public restroom is the cleanest?

3. About how many times does the average person use the toilet annually?

4. When did modern toilet paper appear?

5. What has replaced the flush toilet on the International Space Station?

Big Hello: sat sri akāl – Punjabi https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Frequent urges to self-govern, constant aching for freedom...Mr Jefferson, you have Independicitis.

Image of the Week: Puck's winter bathroom

Coffee Joke of the Week: If you're drinking coffee it isn't procrastinating, it's procaffinating.

When an actor gets drunk to play the part of a drunk, it's method acting. So what do we think the set of Breaking Bad was like? ҈ The difference between the president of the United States and an actor is that one leads the land and the other lands the lead.

3) There is a price for enlightenment, what you pay is attention

Quoted from Stephen (Gaskin) of The Farm. http://www.thefarm.org/

..........I want to go to the devil.........Eartha Kitt …..I Want To Be Evil

Moonbeam: A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine. --Anne Bronte

Blasphemy of the Week: Some of you are sitting at the table I sent you to flip. --Jesus

Puzzle of the Week: From our friend Joseph Young, and it's a numerical challenge for a change. Take the digits 2, 3, 4, and 5. Arrange them in some way using standard arithmetic operations to equal 2,025. Can you do it? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 1/12/25

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Steve had discovered a problem with working for himself. When he called in sick, he knew he was lying.

There is a fine line between the Method Actor and the Schizophrenic. --Nicholas Cage ҈ What has 24 actors, 3 settings, 2 writers and 1 plot? 875 Hallmark movies. ~~Are there primarily comic actors who are method?

4) The only time you actually have is now.

Ram Dass Be Here Now

..........Lovers leaves and friends will let you down..........Steve Earle …..My Old Friend The Blues

1. Tom Crapper patented several toilet related accessories during the 1860s, none of them were the flush toilet. Alexander Cumming, a watchmaker and inventor, patented the first true flush toilet in 1875.

Almanac: It is Friday, January 17, 2025. The moon goes into the last quarter on Tuesday (1/21) and is in Virgo. Today is Cable Car Day, International Mentoring Day, Link (Muhammad Ali's birthday), Kid Inventors' Day, National Bootlegger's Day, National Rye Whiskey Day, and Popeye Day. Because it is the third Friday it is also Hat Day and International Fetish Day.

Among those born on this day were Philip the Bold (1342), Benjamin Franklin (1706), Anne Bronte (1820), Konstantin Stanislavski (1863), Mack Sennett (1880), Al Capone (1899), Nevil Shute (1899), Betty White (1922), Eartha Kitt (1927), Vidal Sassoon (1928), James Earl Jones (1931), Paul O. Williams (1935), Paul Revere (the rock and roll guy, 1938), Maury Povich (1939), Andy Kaufman (1949), Steve Earle (1955), and Jim Carrey (1962).

On January seventeenth the Treaty of Konigsberg was signed (1656), the Flush toilet was patented (1861), the cable car was patented (1871), Queen Liliuokalani was deposed (1893), The Cherry Orchard opened in Moscow (1904), George Burns married Gracie Allen (1926), the UN Security Council held its first meeting (1946), President Eisenhower warns against the "military-industrial complex" (1961), Yellow Submarine was released (1969), and La Raza Unida (The United People) formed (1970).

Night Sky, 1/17: Here it is the coldest very bottom of the year on average. But the Summer Star, Vega, is still hanging in! Look for it twinkling over the northwest horizon during and shortly after nightfall. The farther north you are the higher it will be. If you're as far south as Florida it's already gone. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: Architects

Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Just drove into a pothole in Topeka and came out in Wichita. --Submitted by ar of ks

Wacky Poem of the Week: Famous Poems Rewritten as Limericks I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud

• There once was a poet named Will

• Who tramped his way over a hill

• And was speechless for hours

• Over some stupid flowers

• This was before TV, but still. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian

This Week: Saturday, January 18 – Bald Eagle Appreciation Days & Pooh (Winnie The) Day & Thesaurus Day

Sunday, January 19 – National Popcorn Day & World Day of Migrants and Refugees & World Quark Day

Night Sky, 1/19: Right after dark, face east and look very high. The bright star there is Capella, the Goat Star. To the right of it, by a couple of finger-widths at arm's length, is a small, narrow triangle of 3rd- and 4th-magnitude stars known as "The Kids." Though they're not exactly eye-grabbing, they form a never-forgotten asterism with Capella.

Monday, January 20 – Blue Monday & Inauguration Day & Martin Luther King Jr Day & National Disc Jockey Day

Tuesday, January 21 – Mariachi Day & National Hugging Day & National Hug Your Puppy Day

Wednesday, January 22 – Answer Your Cat's Questions Day & National Polka Dot Day & Roe vs Wade Day

Night Sky, 1/22: Mars is in opposition this week, glaring at magnitude –1.4 near the Cancer-Gemini border below Castor and Pollux. It comes into view as a steady orange spark low in the east-northeast in twilight. Watch Mars shift position night by night to line up with Castor and Pollux on January 16th and 17th.

Thursday, January 24 – Belly Laugh Day & Talk Like a Grizzled Prospector Day

I'm a Method Actor. I spent years training for the drinking and carousing I had to do in this film. George Clooney. ҈ How many actors does it take to wallpaper a room? Only three if you slice them very thin.

5) It's all in your mind, you know.

George Harrison Yellow Submarine

..........I love that man like a schoolboy loves his pie.........Eartha Kitt …..St Louis Blues

2. In public restrooms, the first toilet cubicle is always the least used – which also makes it the cleanest.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I watch so many crime dramas that when I turn my television off at night, I wipe my fingerprints off the remote. --Submitted by INRITH

Moonbeam: Everybody pays lip service to the safety of the aeroplane, but nobody is prepared to pay for it. --Nevil Shute

Fun Fact of the Week: Rye Whiskey was first distilled in Pennsylvania in 1750, decades before bourbon whiskey. It was a popular choice for early Americans, especially after the war when they lost access to other spirits.

Video of the Week: Betty White on Saturday Night Live (3:23) with Census Taker, Tina Fey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbI1eJ_zAB8

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. --Dwight Eisenhower

I have no idea what “method actor” means. --Viggo Mortensen ҈ You know you're in a plane full of actors when the whining continues after the motor has been shut off.

6) Resist Not Evil

Jesus … Matthew 5:39 (This is a hard one. It is followed by if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the left.)

..........Because her hair was black and her eyes were blue..........Steve Earle …..The Galway Girl

3. The average person uses a toilet about 2,500 times a year. That works out to 6.8 times a day. It comes to about three year sitting on a toilet per lifetime.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: It just spins in circles until it makes you throw up. I think they call it politics. --Bill Abbott

Weird Word of the Week: Erf – You may think this is some sort of sound, but it's actually a word that means “plot of land”. https://parade.com/1195613/marynliles/funny-words/

Dragon of the Week: Snow Dragon

Wacky Uses for Common Products: Relieve dry chapped hands. Pour one cup of Cheerios in a blender and blend into a very fine powder. Empty the powder into a large bowl. Rub your chapped hands in the powder, gently removing the top layer of dead skin cells. Rinse with cool water, pat dry, and then apply hand cream. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cheerios.html

I'm a method actor as well as a method singer. --Jill Scott ҈ At every television audition the actor brought an alarm clock because she wanted to play prime time.

7) All you need is love.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo

...........I like the old fashioned flowers, violets are for me.........Eartha Kitt …..Just An Old Fashioned Girl

4. Scott Paper Company was the first manufacturer to use a roll for toilet paper in 1890.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I was just minding my own business then all of a sudden 1995 was 30 years ago, I need to lay down. --Submitted by FNOG

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: ChattaCon (17-19, Chattanooga, TN) What are YOU doing for the weekend? https://chattacon.org/

Actual Science Conference of the Week: Human Amyloid Imaging (HAI) (15-17, San Juan, PR) Focuses on advancements in amyloid imaging for Alzheimer's... https://www.alzforum.org/conference-calendar/3181191

Answer to Puzzle of the Week: 3⁴ X 5²

When the waitress asked the Method Actor what she wanted, she said, “Whatever my character is having.” ҈ How many actors does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. That's the stage manager's job.

8) We are all one.

This is most often credited to the Buddha.

..........And God only knows all the secrets it keeps..........Steve Earle …..The Mountain

5. NASA invested more than $20 million on a suction-style toilet for the space station.

Late Night Joke of the Week: That Joe Biden story is the most Joe Biden Joe Biden has ever Joe Bidened. --Stephen Colbert

Quote of the Week: By the way, he cut the deficit, wanted to decriminalize marijuana, deregulated so many industries that he gave us cheap flights and craft beer. Basically all of those years ago, he was the first millennial. And he could make great playlists, as we’ve heard as well.” --Jason Carter at his grandfather's funeral.

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you can't summon the flames directly from hell, store bought is fine. https://www.facebook.com/PoetryandEveryemotion

Today's Peace of History: January 17, 1970: Some 300 Chicano activists gathered in Crystal City, Texas, to form an independent political party. La Raza Unida (The United People) Party addressed a broad cross-section of issues – restoration of land grants, farm workers’ rights, enhanced education, voting and political rights.

Grace has fifteen shovels. She bought a new one each time she wanted to dig deep into her character. ҈ An actor goes into a pet shop for a parrot. He is playing Long John Silver and needs a parrot to sit on his shoulder. The pet store has no parrots but the owner tells the actor that she has a stuffed parrot at home and would be happen to bring it in the next day and he could use that. “Oh, I can't do that”, he explains, “that's the day I'm having my leg cut off.”

9) Who draws water must adorn the well.

An Old Alchemy Law … This list is one of my adornments to the well of those who have influenced me.

..........En chantant des chansons..........Eartha Kitt …..C'est Si Bon

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, January 17, 2025, uPstaged ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: Unless the theatre can ennoble you, make you a better person, you should flee from it. --Konstantin Stanislavski

Cost of War:

• As of 01/16/25 State Department Costs: $255,623,915,640

• As of 01/09/25 State Department Costs: $255,069,664,989

• As of 01/16/25 Homeland Security: $1,189,367,404,898

• As of 01/09/25 Homeland Security: $1,188,765,352,970

• As of 01/16/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,273,087,708,156

• As of 01/09/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,271,539,564,236

• As of 01/16/25 Military Costs: $3,126,288,897,456

• As of 01/09/25 Military Costs: $3,125,113,524,249

• As of 01/16/25 Veterans Care: $4,075,592,554,563

• As of 01/09/25 Veterans Care: $4,063,856,807,585

• As of 01/16/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,919,961,043,664

• As of 01/09/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,904,345,010,799

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

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. --Dwight Eisenhower

Famous Last Words: Hi, I'm Art Buchwald, and I just died. --Art Buchwald died at age 81 on 1/17/07

..........on the blue side of evenin' when the darkness takes control..........Steve Earle …..Down The Road

10) We are living in a decaying empire, for Pete's sake, enjoy it.

When Sue was a professional actor, she used the Method. Now she gets up early to spend an hour walking around the house in a robe with a thermometer in her mouth before she calls in sick to her waitress job. ҈ The definition of a true gentleman is someone who knows how to act but doesn't.

May Peace mold your emotions

And Joy shape your actions

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh: STELLA! I have a new hypothesis!!

To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. --David Viscott