Famous First Words: The City of Los Angeles shall continue... Incorporation Charter of Los Angles
Tomorrow I will be 81. Somehow, I thought getting old would take longer. °° So I'm an octogenarian which is Latin for “Holy Crap, I'm 80”. °° I'm at the age where if I wake up and nothing hurts, I assume I'm dead. °° I might be too old to learn new tricks; but my old tricks work just fine.
I'm so old I remember the Grand Canyon when it was just a ditch.
..........Like a circle round the sun.........Muddy Waters …..All Night Long
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. --Maya Angelou
It is gray Friday morning. The temperature of 46°F is not cold but the 10 mph northwest wind makes it seem so. The sky is heavily overcast and the ground is wet from overnight rains. The wind is keeping the willow branches in constant motion, writhing and dancing in the cool spring air. Puck went out, barked a little, and came back in to sleep on this pile of blankets on top of a pillow. (Prince and the Pea ?) I am drinking treated decaf and eating mini blueberry muffins. The warm coffee tickles my nose when I bring the cup to my face. I think it is part of what I like about warm liquids in the morning. Wow, the furnace just kicked in; even the equipment thinks it's a chilly morning. The roar of the fan blocks out any birdsong that would make it through the door. So I turned on music. Pack Up Your Sorrows by Richard & Mimi Farina. Are we ready for a great weekend?
Hope your weekend is a reason to celebrate, party animals
Best of luck is you are peacefully protesting tomorrow. Stay safe.
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I went to an antiques auction yesterday. Three people bid on me. --Submitted by jm of ks
Absurdity of the Week: Donald Trump's tariff list includes 10% on the McDonald Islands which are inhabited solely by penguins. The era of penguins ruining our economy by flooding the market with cheap krill is over. --Submitted by sh of
My 80s, the Snapdragon period of life: My mind has snapped and the rest of me is draggin'. °° In your 80s time speeds up...times you need to pee in a day...times you don't remember why you came into the kitchen...times for a nap. °° My bank has begun to send me their free calendar – one month at a time.
I'm so old the first concert I went to was at Stonehenge.
..........I hope you're ready for me.........Muddy Waters …..I'm Ready
Trivia Questions: It's National D.A.R.E. Day
What do the letters D.A.R.E stand for?
How long has D.A.R.E been around?
What is prevention science?
What was the typical D.A.R.E meeting like?
How effective is D.A.R.E?
Big Hello: Malō – Samoan https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Drinking a large amount of water every day helps you avoid other people's drama because you're too busy peeing. Stay Hydrated! --Submitted by UUHS
Image of the Week: My official birthday portrait. I'm singing at a Save Democracy Rally in South Park, Lawrence, KS 3/30/35. Oddly, I'm the one on the extreme right.
Question of the Week: If poison is past its expiry date, is it more poisonous or is it no longer poisonous?
I am swift as a gazelle. An old one. With arthritis. Run over by a land rover. Seven days ago. --Submitted by jm of ks °° You're Only Old Once: A book for Obsolete Children by Dr Seuss. °° My new all nighter means that I didn't have to get up to pee.
I'm so old my driver's license is carved in stone.
..........Well, you're having a good time now.........Muddy Waters …..Gypsy Woman
Moonbeam: What is man? … What a strange union of matter and mind! A machine for converting materials into spiritual force. --Benjamin Peirce
Blasphemy of the Week: God is always trying to give us good things, but our hands are too full to receive them." --St Augustine --Submitted by js of kc
Coffee Joke of the Week: I run on Coffee, Chaos, and Cuss words.
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: CVS has their Gillette razors under more security than Pete Hegseth's war plans. --Submitted by Feminist News
Last week my son turned 59. But I've explained to him that he can't have any more birthdays because it sounds older to say, “My son is sixty.” than “I'm 81.” °° No one can use the “keep that up and you'll die young” argument against me anymore. °° I get “butt wiggle”, “bingo wing flap”, and “boob wobble”; and that's just while I'm brushing my teeth.
I'm so old my birth certificate has expired.
..........Well, all whiskey and women would not let me pray.........Muddy Waters …..Rollin' and Tumblin'
1) D.A.R.E. = Drug Abuse Resistance Education
Almanac: It is Friday, April 4, 2025. The moon enters the first quarter tomorrow and is in Cancer. Today is International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance in Mine Action, Hospital Admitting Clerks Day, International Kids Yoga Day, National D.A.R.E. Day, Victims of Violence Wholly Day, Vitamin C Day, and World Rat Day, Because it is the first Friday in April it is also National Day of No Silence. In Massachusetts it is Student Government Day.
Among those born on this day were Marcus Aureius Antoniius (188), Dorothea Dix (1802), Benjamin Pierce (1809), Linus Yale (1821), Nikolai Amani (1872), Arthur Murray (1895), John Cameron Swayze (1906). Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (1908), Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield, 1915), Eric Rohmer (1920), Gil Hodges (1924), Eva Marie Saint (1924), Cloris Leachman (1926), Maya Angelou (Marguerite Johnson , 1928), Peter Attenborough (1938), Craig T. Nelson (1946), Christine Lahti (1950), and Robert Downy Jr. (1965).
On April fourth Francis Drake was knighted (1581), the city of Los Angeles was incorporated (1850), Golden Gate Park was established (1870), vitamin C was first isolated (1932), Faisal II ascended to throne of Iraq (1939), the first demonstration against nuclear weapons was held (1958), Senegal declared independence (1960), the first artificial heart was implanted (1969), the first electric power plant fueled by garbage began operating (1972), Winston Smith began his secret diary (1984), and Kansas beat Oklahoma to win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship (1988).
Night Sky, 4/4: The first quarter moon this evening shines under Castor, Pollus, and Mars. They seem to move faster near the zenith than on the horizon. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Fraternal Picture of the Week: Max is batting leadoff for Bennie's Jets and Ollie is Caesar
This Week: Saturday, April 5 – International Day of Conscience & International Pillow Fight Day & Slow Art Day
Sunday, April 6 – Dictionary Day & New Beers Eve & Tartan Day
Night Sky, 4/6: The Big Dipper is high in the northeast these evenings, tipping over to the left dumping its water. Its handle and the two stars of its bowl closest to the handle form a broad, rough arc. To the right of it, somewhat near the focus of that arc, shines a lone 3rd-magnitude star. That's Cor Caroli, the brightest star of Canes Venatici. It's a beautiful telescopic double, magnitudes 2.9 and 5.6, separation 19 arcseconds. They're spectral types B and G, respectively.
Monday, April 7 – Metric System Day & International Beaver Day & No Housework Day
Tuesday, April 8 – National Be Kind to Lawyers Day & National Library Day & Trading Card for Grown-Ups Day
Wednesday, April 9 – Appomattox Day & Jumbo Day & National Unicorn Day
Night Sky, 4/9: Jupiter shines bright white (magnitude –2.1) high in the west these evenings, in Taurus 38° lower right of Mars along the ecliptic. This week Jupiter shines midway between Aldebaran below it and Beta Tauri (El Nath) above it. This line of three turns straight on April 1st and 2nd.
Thursday, April 10 – ASPCA Day & Poem In Your Pocket Day & Safety Pin Day & Take Action For Libraries Day
I've given up eating healthy food. I can use all the preservatives I can get. °° 80 is the age where you can get by with forgetting absolutely anything you want – names, relationships, who wrote Shakespeare's sonnets. °° I remember the words to every Beatles song but I'm not sure of my address.
I'm so old my memories are in black and white.
..........I don't see a doggone thing.........Muddy Waters …..I Can't Get Satisfied
2) D.A.R.E. Began in Los Angeles in 1984 for middle-schools and 1989 for high schools. It went national in 1989.
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Moonbeam: Brains are still unfashionable for women to wear, and it has always been proof of women's superiority that the more intelligent a man is, the more women admire him, while the bigger fool a woman is, the more men run after her. --Dorothea Dix
Fun Fact of the Week: Corey Booker held the senate floor (24 hrs) longer than JD Vance was in Greenland (3 hr).
Video of the Week: In Honor of World Rat Day (31): https://youtu.be/9Gtr8GatGIk
Open your eyes to the beauty around, open your mind to the wonders of life, open your heart to those who love you and always be true to yourself. --Maya Angelou
I'm so old I still owe Moses a few bucks.
Who needs presents when you've got 80 years of hilarious memories. °° As an octogenarian I strive to keep my joints as flexible as my attitude. °° It is said that wisdom comes with age, but it is possible it is only selective memory. °° Senior Center games: Trying to guess what your tattoo was originally.
..........I feel like ballin' the jack.........Muddy Waters …..I Feel So Good
3) Prevention Science is the scientific study and evaluation of prevention curricula). It emerged as a field of science in the 1990. Columbia University's Dr Herbert Kleber led the program. Some studies were also made independent of D.A.R.E.
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you don't like the United States why don't you just leave? Because I don't want to be a victim of its Foreign Policy. --Submitted by MMS
Weird Word of the Week: Skirl – To play on the bagpipes. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skirl
Dragon of the Week: The oldest known image of a dragon is this Hongshan Jade Dragon dated to around 5,000 years ago.
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Feed pill medication to a dog or cat. Place the pill in the palm of your hand, smother it with Cheez Whiz, and let your dog or cat lap up the cheese, oblivious to the fact that she's also consumed the pill. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cheezwhiz.html
I'm so old my baby pictures are cave drawings.
In your 80s every day is a new adventure: Where did you leave your keys? How long do you boil an egg? Who are you? °° Being 81 is kind of like being a tortoise on caffeine. °° Everyday I wake up feeling like it's the day after even though there was no night before.
...........I got mojo too.........Muddy Waters …..You're Hoochie Coochie Man
A typical D.A.R.E meeting usually involved a police officer coming to school to talk about drugs and alcohol. The cop would also tell kids about the over 9000 chemicals in tobacco. Then, the cop pulls out a dollar bill that they likely took out of their child's piggy bank, and burns it to try and show how people burn away their money on cigarettes. Little did they know that destroying or defacing currency is a crime.
~~My grammar checker is unable to deal with the period after the E in D.A.R.E.
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I have officially passed the “you look good for your age” stage; now it's “Oh, you're still alive!”
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Awesome Con 2025 (4-6, Washington DC) ...bringing together 60,000 fans... https://awesome-con.com/
Actual Science Conference of the Week: 33rd European Congress of Psychiatry (5-8, Madrid, Spain) The EPA is honoured to announce that Her Majesty Queen Letizia of Spain has graciously accepted the Honorary Presidency of the 33rd European Congress of Psychiatry. https://epa-congress.org/
Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If cats looked like frogs we'd realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That's what people remember. --Terry Pratchett
Spark of Joy of the Week: Demonstration organized by children (:44) https://youtu.be/nDqS7RhWYp8
I'm so old my birthstone is lava.
When Mr Berman, my father's friend, turned 80, the children in the neighborhood started breaking into his house to steal his glasses. °° The prize for living this long is Atrophy. °° I used to wake up feeling like a million bucks, now it's more like a bounced check.
..........I hear a lot of buzzing.........Muddy Waters …..Honey Bee
5) There are numerous studies that don't support the program as a drug abuse deterrent: When it comes to marijuana specifically, 5.8% of 8th graders, 13.8% of 10th graders, and 19.4% of seniors were using it in 2008. Just five years later, those figures increased to 7%, 18%, and 22.7%.
Protest Sign of the Week: A Woman's Place Is In The Resistance
Better Protest Sign of the Week: Abort Unwanted Presidents
Quote of the Week: I'm confused how a cemetery can raise its funeral prices and blame it on the cost of living. --Katt Williams
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: They say white people don't have their own culture but I just got invited to a gender reveal party for a dog and there's no way we appropriated that from anyone else. --@BigRadMachine
Today's Peace of History: April 4, 1969: CBS cancelled “The Smothers Brothers' Comedy Hour," a television show which featured edgy political satire and such rock bands as the Beatles, the Who, Jefferson Airplane and the Doors. The brothers had refused to censor a comment made by Joan Baez. She wanted to dedicate a song to her husband, David, who was about to go to jail for objecting to the draft during the Vietnam War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdmlMnh5Zeo
I'm so old I babysat God when he was a toddler.
Octogenarians are great multitaskers. For instance, I can sneeze and pee at the same time with no trouble at all. °° The older I get the earlier it gets late. °° You know you're getting old when you can't walk past a bathroom without thinking ”I may as well pee while I'm here”.
..........Back down the road I'm goin'.........Muddy Waters …..Rolling Stone
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, April 4, 2025, bIrthday ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.
Moonbeam: Often injustice lies in what you aren't doing, not only in what you are doing. --Marchus Aurelius
Cost of War:
As of 04/03/25 State Department Costs: $261,744,745,476
As of 03/27/25 State Department Costs: $261.183,218,722
As of 04/03/25 Homeland Security: $1,196,015,933,585
As of 03/27/25 Homeland Security: $1,195,405,957,996
As of 04/03/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,290,184,012,817
As of 03/27/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,288,615.546.487
As of 04/03/25 Military Costs: $3,139,269,433,213
As of 03/27/25 Military Costs: $3,138,078,607,284
As of 04/03/25 Veterans Care: $4,205,186,909,447
As of 03/27/25 Veterans Care: $4,193,298,608,405
As of 04/03/25 Total Cost of Wars: $10,092,403,192,668
As of 03/27/25 Total Cost of Wars: $10,076,584,432,630
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
Each one of us has lived through some devastation, some loneliness, some weather superstorm or spiritual superstorm, when we look at each other we must say, I understand. I understand how you feel because I have been there myself. We must support each other and empathize with each other because each of us is more alike than we are unalike. --Maya Angelou
Famous Last Words: He loved big brother. --George Orwell 1984
..........Well, bye-bye, baby, I hope we meet again.........Muddy Waters …..You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone
When I die and my atoms become free, I hope they travel the universe I never got to see.
The fire marshal sent me a letter. I assumed it was a birthday card, but it was a notice that my birthday cake would be a fire hazard and it had been banned. °° There is hope, you're only as old as you remember you are. °° There's a certain age where you can no longer use the term “Good girl gone bad”. It's more like “her old ass should know better”.
May your begin each day
And your Joy last a lifetime
prairie mama
christine
Last Laugh:
Love is the whole thing. We are only pieces. --Rumi