Famous First Words: Granted: I am an inmate of a mental hospital... Günther Grass The Tin Drum
October is Free Thought Month! I just aced my philosophy test. The question was: What is the central question of epistemology? I answered: How should I know? !! Was it hard to adopt nihilism as your personal philosophy? Nah, there was nothing to it.
..........I can't tell if I'm a kingpin or a pauper.........Red Hot Chili Peppers with Flea …..Give It Away
The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms. --William O Douglas
It is a cold (46°, wind NW 14 mph) Friday morning. The sun is trying to melt away the fluffy white clouds but the wind keeps blowing more our way. Puck seemed to enjoy a cool morning staying outside long enough to breathe deep and try a drink of the cold water left out for birds and squirrels and the possum under the shed. The birds are silent and perhaps still in bed. Even the squirrels are absent from the morning sunflower feast. Some trees are beginning to show color on top but the world is still very green for the middle of October in Kansas. Puck is beneath my desk; his little snortings rising up like prayers. Veronica came and loved me up until I gave her some cat treats which she ate before disappearing. The willow trees are dancing wildly but the hammock in the neighbors yard is rocking slowly as if a kitten is sleeping there and even the wind refuses to disturb it. The picture is so autumnal that I expect my coffee to taste like pumpkin spice any minute now. But the best part, as always, is writing to you.
Hope your weekend flows as freely as your thoughts, my little thinkers
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments. --Isaac Asimov
Empirical Reasoning: 1) Observe 2) Hypothesize 3) Experiment 4) Assess Data 5) Have a beer !! We're thinking about that than which nothing greater can be thought. !! It's all in your mind, you know. --George Harrison
..........Please don't dominate the rap, Jack, if you've got nothing new to say.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..New Speedway Boogie
Trivia Questions: It's World Anesthesia Day
What are the 4 kinds of anesthesia?
What are the 4 responsibilities of the anesthesiologist?
How many times a day is anesthesia used in the US?
Where does anesthesiologist rank on the best paying jobs list?
How many anesthesiologists are there in the US?
Big Hello: Hee Haj - Folkspraak https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: “I'm gonna put this somewhere safe” is an ancient incantation that opens a portal to a random point in another timeline, through which all safely kept things travel, never to be seen again. --Submitted by Laughing Librarian
Image of the Week: Happy Dictionary Day
Insult of the Week: If you're looking for sympathy, you'll find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary. --David Sedaris Barrel Fever
Sometimes I wonder if my fish thinks about me. !! A friend told me my thinking is too one-dimensional. I can't imagine y.
..........Let there be songs to fill the air.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Ripple
Moonbeam: Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious. --Oscar Wilde
Blasphemy of the Week: If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. --George Carlin
Coffee Joke of the Week: Coffee is the tiny adult in charge when the rest of me is feral. https://www.facebook.com/maythecoffeebewithyou
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Moses left them alone for 40 days. They built a golden cow. This is why group chats need moderators.
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question? … !! Is it solipsistic here, or is it just me?
..........For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Box Of Rain
1) Types of Anesthesia 1)Local: numbs one small area 2) Intravenous: patient can be awakened during sedation 3) Regional: a larger than local area (the epidural is an example) 4) General: a coma-like state
Almanac: It is Friday, October 16th. The moon enters its first quarter on Sunday (10/18) and is in Libra. Today is Department Store Day, Dictionary Day, Global Cat Day, National Boss's Day aka Boss's Day, National Feral Cat Day, World Anesthesia Day, World Food Day, and World Spine Day. Because it is the third Friday it is also Mammography Day.
Among those born on this day were Noah Webster (1758), Oscar Wilde (1854), David Ben-Gurion (1886), Eugene O'Neill (1888), Michael Collins (1890), William O. Douglas (1898), William Conrad (1921), Angela Lansbury (1925), Günter Grass (1927), Barry Corbin (1940), C F Turner (1943), Suzanne Somers (1946), Bob Weir (1947), David Zucker (1947), Tim Robbins (1958), and Flea (1962).
On October sixteenth the Council of Vienne opened (1311), the first modern hotel in the US opened (Boston, 1829), John Brown raided Harper's Ferry (1859), the first hotel with indoor plumbing opened (1869), ~~This is my definition of modern hotel, by the way~~ Sanger opened the first birth control clinic (Brooklyn, 1916), the Chicago subway opened (1943), Elizabeth II married Prince Philip (1957), China became the fifth nuclear power (1964), Halley's comet was observed again (1982), Baby Jessica was rescued from a well shaft (1987), the US set off a nuclear test in Nevada (1990), and Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize (2007).
Night Sky, 10/16: Saturn, Mars, & Jupiter are visible in the morning sky before sunrise. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Fraternal Picture of the Week: Battle of the Windmills
This Week: Saturday, October 17 – Black Poetry Day** & National Playing Card Collectors Day & Sweetest Day & Wear Something Gaudy Day
** The most beautiful peace poem I've ever read is Langston Hughes' Give Us Our Peace. https://www.how-matters.org/2011/09/16/langston-hughes/
Sunday, October 18 – Newspaper Comic Strip Appreciation Day & World Toy Camera Day
Night Sky, 10/18: October's first-quarter moon begins at 12:12 pm CDT. The Great Square of Pegasus is high in the southern sky and Andromeda is adjacent to it to the northeast. The 3 stars in the Summer Triangle are Deneb in Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila.
Monday, October 19 – Accounting Day & Evaluate Your Life Day & Lung Health Day
Tuesday, October 20 – Disabled Women's Equal Pay Day & National Day of Writing & Sloth International Day
Wednesday, October 21 – Hagfish Day & International Print Day & National Fossil Day & Reptile Awareness Day
Night Sky, 10/21: Sunrise: 7:31 am Sunset: 6:42 pm 11 hours and 11 minutes of daylight. Moonrise: 1:32 pm Moonset: 10:31 pm
Thursday, October 22 – Make A Dog's Day Day & Smart Is Cool Day & INTERNATIONAL CAP LOCKS DAY
Think outside the box? I want to think outside this timeline. !! Descartes walked into a bar. The bartender said, “You want a beer?” “I don't think so,” he replied, and promptly disappeared.
..........Trouble ahead, trouble behind.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Casey Jones
2) Anesthesiologist's Responsibilities 1) Evaluate the patient's current health prior to use 2) Administer anesthesia and monitor patient during surgery 3) Assess patient after the procedure 4) Personally performing or supervising the person administering the anesthesia.
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: If you want to make everyone happy, don't be a leader. Sell Ice Cream. --Nick Saban
Moonbeam: Thought is a strenuous art – few practice it, and then only at rare times. --David Ben-Gurion
Fun Fact of the Week: When a company gets fined $10m for a practice that made them $100m, the government isn't regulating crime, it's taking a 10% cut as a business partner. --Submitted by AnarchistBeauties
Video of the Week: Happy National Feral Cat Day! You're a tiny barn cat on a big farm. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1191155141497353
The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people. --William O Douglas
If you're thinking what I'm thinking you probably need professional help. !! The way to start is by thinking about how you think. This may feel difficult at first, like trying to look down at your own mouth or defending the electoral college. --Elliot Kalan
..........I'm on my way, on my way.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo
3) Anesthesia is administered approximately 60,000 times a day in hospitals and medical facilities. --National Institutes of Health
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I tell myself never again and then there I go againing like I've never agained before. --Submitted by INRITH
Weird Word of the Week: Bombinate: to make a humming or buzzing sound as bees or machinery. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bombinate
Dragon of the Week: Moon Swallower
Wacky Uses for Common Products: Clean permanent marker from a dry-erase board. Saturate a clean cloth with Coca-Cola and wipe down the dry erase board to remove permanent marker. https://www.wackyuses.com/wacky/cocacola4.html
Do Zen Masters send out Not Thinking Of You cards? !! Am I not thinking what I think I am not thinking?
...........Just don't tell them that you know me.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Sugaree
4) US News & World Report ranked anesthesiologists at the #1 best paying job: average salary $187,200/year; The unemployment rate is 1.7% and the field keeps adding new jobs.
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Fall is cute, but coffee is still doing all the work. https://www.facebook.com/maythecoffeebewithyou
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: Sci-Fi Valley Con 2026 (16-18, Altoona, PA) Step into a realm of warmth and wonder... https://scifivalleycon.com/
Whatever This Is of the Week: It's National Feral Cat Day. One Christmas season Bruce worked at the Topsy's Popcorn factory in the neighborhood of 75th & Wornall, KCMO. It was a warm December and one night when I went to pick him up, Mike's cat was sleeping in the backseat. When I got to the factory, I pulled around back to where the workers came out and the cat bolted, ran, streaked out of the car into the darkness of an alley. Calling did not bring him back. Come to find out there was a clowder of cats that lived behind topsy's and were encouraged to do so with occasional gifts of milk and food. The cats kept mice and rats to a minimum. So I once drove a cat to run away from home and join a gang. ~~Bruce saw him a couple of times after that but he refused to return to civilization.
Spark of Joy of the Week: Maybe I'm not overthinking, maybe I'm just regularly thinking about stuff that's overhappening. --Submitted by INRITH
It's like no one in my family appreciates that I stayed up all night overthinking for them. !! I'm thinking about what I need to think about.
..........You gotta play your hand.........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Truckin'
5) According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 29,200 anesthesiologists working in the US today.
Protest Sign of the Week: How Many Homeless Families Does It Take To Make A Billionaire?
Quote of the Week: There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking itself is dangerous. --Hannah Arendt
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Unlike the brain, the stomach alerts you when it's empty. --Submitted by Writers, Readers and General Tomfoolery
Today's Peace of History: October 16, 1967: Folksinger Joan Baez was arrested in a peace demonstration as rallies took place across America during “Stop the Draft Week.” 1158 young men returned their draft cards in eighteen US cities. Baez was among 122 anti-draft protesters arrested for sitting down at the entrance of the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, CA; she was sentenced to 10 days in prison.
Positive Thinking: When I fell down the stairs today, I thought, “Wow! I sure fell down those steps fast”. !! Think Less! Stupid More!
..........Fare you well, my honey..........Grateful Dead with Bob Weir …..Brokedown Palace
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, October 16, 2026, Mulled ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.
Moonbeam: I love every bone in their heads. --Eugene O'Neill
Cost of War: Pentagon Spending 10/15/26: $1,060,035,930,378 This week's total is nineteen billion, two hundred and sixty-nine million, ninety-four thousand, five hundred and twenty-four dollars spent on warfare.
Pentagon Spending 10/8/26:$1,040,766,835,854
Pentagon Spending 10/1/26: $1,020,702,251,165
Imagine peace and love rule our lives. Think it, feel it, say it, pray it. Make it so. --Thomas Hillman
Pentagon Spending in September 2026: $83,835,546,693
Pentagon Spending in August 2026: $89,089,647,361
Pentagon Spending in July 2026: $85,053,017,282
Pentagon Spending in June 2026: $82,621,957,422
Pentagon Spending in May 2026: $87,601,145,719
Pentagon Spending in April 2026: $81,264,897,194
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
Measles in the US: October: 4,080 confirmed cases (786 new cases)
September: 3.294 confirmed cases (725 new cases)
August: 2566 (335 new cases)
July: 2231 (158 new cases)
June: 2073 (231 new cases)
May: 1,842 (94 new cases)
April: 1,748 (386 new cases)
An Update: There have been 3 deaths from measles in 2026; there were 3 in 2025. Between 2000 and 2004, only one death was reported (2015). In the entire year 2010 there were only 63 confirmed cases. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html
Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? --William O Douglas
Famous Last Words: I'm a Writer, but then, Nobody's Perfect --Tombstone Billy Wilder (also the last line of Some Like It Hot)
..........It's the edge of the world and all of Western civilization.........Red Hot Chili Peppers with Flea …..Californication
If you give me a minute to think, I'm sure I can make it worse. !! What did you expect from thought that's absolutely free?
May Peace soothe your mind
And Joy relax your soul
prairie mama
christine
Last Laugh:
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