cHocolate cHip ePistle

Famous First Words: The streets of London are... Charles Dickens Sketches By Boz

Happy Girl Scout Cookie Day! I can usually keep my New Year's Resolutions until cookie season. ₰ Are we really counting on the girl scouts to turn this economy around?

..........Break forth into singing, O Mountains.........William Boyce …..Sing O Heavens

When fascism comes to the United States it will be wrapped in the American Flag and will claim to be 100% Americanism. --Sinclair Lewis

It is a cloudy Friday morning. The sky is covered in large clumps of fluffy clouds that crowd out all visibility of the sky above. The clumps are gray on the bottoms where we see them but here and there is a gap between the clumps that shows a tiny piece of blue and sunlight whitens the clouds around it. The temperature is above freezing but the wind is strong enough to chill the skin if you open your window at the bank drive through. Inside it's warm and cozy. Puck is asleep on one of his pillows. Veronica ran up and down the hall frantically a couple of times but now has disappeared upstairs. As I feel better and better all the time, my house gets clearer, at least cleaner than it has been for a while and that makes me feel like I am almost back to normal. (Oops, a hidden reference to my hip surgery that I promised not to do. Sorry!). I have even begun to think of planting flowers in the yard. Spring is bound to get here sooner or later; you can't really trust that groundhog. So I plan to have a great weekend and I hope the same for you.

Hope your weekend is sweet and covered in chocolate, Lemon-Ups.

First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Living the dream, one nightmare at a time.

Correction of the Week: Social Security was signed into law in 1935, not 1925. Thanks to vr of th

Would you like to buy some girl scout cookies or are you a male chauvinist pig? ₰ Buy more cookies, my cats need more of these cat sized boxes.

..........St Louis woman, with her diamond ring.........Eubie Blake …..St Louis Blues

Trivia Questions: Happy Bubble Gum Day !

1. Would you like to guess how much bubble gum is chewed around the world every year?

2. What percentage of bubble gum is sugar?

3. What harm does swallowing bubble gum really do?

4. Why is pink the most used color for bubble gum?

5. How big is the bubble gum industry?

Big Hello: Bonzour – Réunion Creole https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm

Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: FBI uncovers Al-Qaeda plot to just sit back and enjoy the collapse of the United States. --the Onion

Image of the Week:

Coffee Joke of the Week: I don't drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.

How is your Fantasy Girl Scout Cookie game going? ₰ When I told the girl scout that I didn't have any cash on me, she pulled out her phone and asked for my paypal number. I thought Be Prepared was the boy scout motto.

..........He's sweet just like choc'late candy.........Eubie Blake …..I'm Just Wild About Harry

Moonbeam: Wealth is not about having a lot of money; it's about having a lot of options. --Chris Rock

Blasphemy of the Week: Good thing Jesus lives in our hearts cause if he lived in America he'd be deported. --Submitted by MMS

Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: That trick I had up my sleeve turned out to be a dryer sheet. --Submitted by UUHS

Sometimes you just have to pull the car over, park illegally, and buy some Samoas. ₰ Strength of character is measured by how few cookies you can eat after opening the box but before getting them home..

..........He came to town like a midwinter storm...........Oscar Brand …..Cotton Eye Joe

1. 100,000 tons of bubble gum is chewed every year around the world.

Almanac: It is Friday, February 7, 2025. The moon reached the first quarter on Wednesday (2/5) and is in Gemini. Today is Ballet Day, Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day**, Charles Dickens Day, "e" Day (math), Girl Scout Cookie Day, Wave All Your Fingers at Your Neighbors Day, Wear Red Day (for heart health), National Periodic Table Day, and Who Shall I Be Day. Because it is the first Friday it is also Bubble Gum Day, Give Kids A Smile Day, Wear Red Day, and Working Naked Day.

Among those born on this day were Thomas More (1478), William Boyce (1710), Ann Radcliffe (1764), John Deere (1804), Charles Dickens (1812), Frederick Douglass (1817), Ernst Franck (1847), Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867), Eubie Blake (1883), Sinclair Lewis (1885), David Ignatow (1914), Oscar Brand (1920), Al Fuzzy Smith (1928), Gay Talese (1932), Dan Quisenberry (1950), James Spader (1960), Garth Brooks (1962), and Chris Rock (1966).

** Musk's decision to stop foreign aid puts HIV treatment aid in jeopardy https://uk.news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-halts-international-hiv-160043420.html

On February seventh Michail Romanov became the czar (1613), Sketches by Boz by Dickens was published (1836), Monopoly was invented (1935), shoe rationing began in the US (1943), MacArthur returned to Manila (1945), the blockade of Cuba began (1962), Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali (1964), Yasser Arafat became president of the PLO (1969), and Swiss women finally got the vote (1971).

Night Sky, 2/7: Orion is now high in the southeast right after dark. Left of it is Gemini, headed up by Castor and Pollux at far left. The stick-figure Twins are still lying on their sides. Well below their legs is bright Procyon. Standing 4° above Procyon is 3rd-magnitude Gomeisa, Beta Canis Minoris, the only other easy naked-eye star of Canis Minor. The Little Dog is seen in profile, but only his back and the top of his head. Procyon marks his rump, Beta CMi is the back of his neck, and two fainter stars just above that are the top of his head and his nose. Those last two are only 4th and 5th magnitude, respectively. Binoculars help through light pollution. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/

Fraternal Picture of the Week: A little snow in Seattle

This Week: Saturday, February 8 – Iglobal Movie Day & International Snowmobile Ride Day & Laugh and Get Rich Day & Opera Day

Night Sky, 2/8: Centaurids Meteor Shower. Up to 6 per hour. https://orbitaltoday.com/2025/01/28/februarys-only-meteor-shower-the-2025-alpha-centaurids-strikes-the-sky/

Sunday, February 9 – Autism Sunday & National Pizza Day & Super Bowl LIX

Monday, February 10 – Clean Out Your Computer Day & National Football Hangover Day & Umbrella Day

Tuesday, February 11 – Extraterrestrial Culture & Visitors Day & Get Out Your Guitar Day & World Day of the Sick

Wednesday, February 12 – Darwin Day & Paul Bunyan Day & NAACP Day

Night Sky, 2/12: Uranus, magnitude 5.7 at the Taurus-Aries border, is very high toward the southwest during early evening, 18° west of Jupiter along the ecliptic. You'll need a good finder chart to tell it from the similar-looking surrounding stars.

Thursday, February 13 – Desperation Day & Get A Different Name Day & International Condom Day

The Girl Scout website wants to put cookies on our hard drive. Should I accept? ...Only if they're thin mints. ₰ No, one box is not the serving size.

..........Hoist up your anchor, make for the sea.........Oscar Brand …..Small Boat Calypso

2. 60-70% of bubble gum is sugar.

Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Volkswagen should bring back the beetle as an electric car and call it the lightning bug. --Heather Ifversen

Moonbeam: Slaves are generally expected to sing as well as work. --Frederick Douglass

Fun Fact of the Week: e Day celebrates the mathematical constant e, which has a wide range of mathematical applications. Here's a bit of background on e and why it's worthy of celebration! As the history of mathematics has unfolded, mathematicians have discovered a number that, in addition to being useful in number theory, occurs over and over in describing nature in mathematical terms. This number is the mathematical constant e. It is an irrational number (a non–repeating decimal) and also a transcendental number (it is not the solution of any algebraic polynomial). The first 20 decimal places of the numerical value of e are: e = 2.71828182845904523536...

Video of the Week: In Honor of Periodic Table Day Tom Lehrer: The Elements Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2cfju6GTNs (1:20)

The trouble with this country is that there are too many people going around saying, “The trouble with this country is...” --Sinclair Lewis

I prefer to call this “girl scout cookies season” instead of winter. ₰ I live in Kansas City, why aren't there any girl scout cookies shaped like red football helmets?

..........a bulgin' at the trousers and a heart of solid oak.........Oscar Brand …..Bell Bottom Trousers

3. One of the most famous, but false facts, is that swallowed gum will remain in your gastrointestinal tract for seven years. It is not so. Swallowed bubble gum will not get stuck to your intestines, but will pass through your system, because, gum base cannot be digested, as it has fiber that is indigestible.

Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: While we're talking about it, the Electoral College is DEI for red states. --Submitted by 1stKAFB

Weird Word of the Week: Bumfuzzle – to perplex or confuse https://parade.com/1195613/marynliles/funny-words/

Dragon of the Week:

Wacky Uses for Common Products: How many boxes of these thin mints do you have to eat before you see results? ₰ Money can't buy you happiness but it can buy you cases of Girl Scout Cookies.

...........I worked too hard to call my life my own........Garth Brooks …..Shameless

4. The color of the first successful bubble gum was pink, because it was the only color that was left with the inventor.

Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: They're eating the checks. They're eating the balances. --Submitted by 98%

Science Fiction Convention of the Week: CapriCon 45 (6-9, Chicago) Let your geek flag fly https://capricon.org/

Blasphemy of the Week II: Cosplay Christians is my new favorite description of Christian Nationalists. --Mark Sandlin --Submitted by https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554307011761

Actual Science Conference of the Week: 2025 Breast Cancer Conference (7, Chicago) knowledge and skills for the interprofessional oncology team https://education.nccn.org/breast2025

I just ate three boxes of peanut butter patties, do I get a badge? ₰ It is certainly fun being a girl scout when you live next door to the Cookie Monster.

..........Well, it's bulls and blood, it's dust and mud........Garth Brooks …..Rodeo

5. Kids in North America spend approximately half a billion dollars on bubble gum every year.

Late Night Joke of the Week: Denmark, Panama, Greenland – the Axis of Where Are Those? --Jon Stewart The Daily Show 2/3/25

Quote of the Week: Happiness arises in a state of peace, not of tumult. --Ann Radcliffe

Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The difference between Donald Trump and Jim Jones is that Trump would charge you for the kool-aid. --Submitted by Lawrence Liberals

Today's Peace of History: February 7, 1991: The Reverend Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's president after winning the country’s first-ever democratic election. Haiti had achieved its independence from France in 1804 but had a long succession of unstable governments, as well as significant U.S. control in the first half of the 20th century, including military occupation from 1915 to 1934.

My idea of fitness in getting a whole caramel deLight in my mouth. ₰ Fig Newtons are made with real figs. What are girl scout cookies made with?

..........Like a bird upon the wind these waters are my sky........Garth Brooks …..The River

Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle, February 7, 2025, cHocolate cHip ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith. Lawrence, KS.

Moonbeam: It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. --Laura Ingalls Wilder

Cost of War:

• As of 02/06/25 State Department Costs: $256,184,692,725

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

• As of 02/06/25 Homeland Security: $1,191,205,991,712

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

• As of 02/06/25 Interest on War Debt: $1,277,815,294,946

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

• As of 02/06/25 Military Costs: $3,129,878,509,574

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

• As of 02/06/25 Veterans Care: $4,111,430,159,698

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

• As of 02/06/25 Total Cost of Wars: $9,967,648,054,794

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

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

Under a tyranny, most friends are a liability. One quarter of them turn “reasonable” and become your enemies, one quarter are afraid to speak, and one quarter are killed and you die with them. But the blessed final quarter keep you alive. --Sinclair Lewis

Famous Last Words: ...and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously. --Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck who died 2/7/91 of heart failure

..........Yeah, I'm not big on social graces.........Garth Brooks …..Friends in Low Place

My daughter was out selling girl scout cookies when she was mugged by a Keebler elf. And Pam Bondi not only didn't arrest them, she ate all the remaining boxes of evidence. ₰ What were the first words Mark Getz new girlfriend said to him? “Wanna buy some girl scout cookies?”

May Peace be your dough

And Joy be your glaze

prairie mama

christine

Last Laugh:

Love does not reflect; it is unreasonable and knows no moderation. --St Peter Chrysologus

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