~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
October 1, 2011

★~ Today’s Picture: Abby, Nathan, Cole playing hard.

★~ Today’s Quote: Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.` Henry Ford

★~ World Vegetarian Day:

First you need to find a vegetarian (which shouldn’t be too hard these days). Next, go up to the person and give them a big hug, pat them on the back, or shake their hand. And then — once you are done applauding them for their ethical, environmental, and humanitarian lifestyle — go out and get yourself a burger. Because, by Jove, you’ve earned it!

★~ Frugal Fun Day: 

The challenge is to spend less than $5 having fun while spending time with friends and family. A few ideas: Head to the airport and watch the airplanes land and take off (does anyone still do this?), take an unhurried trip to the library, watch old sitcoms while you enjoy frugal snacks, start a fall leaf collection or – – – (now it’s your turn to fill in the blank with your favorite frugal family time activity).

★~ Homemade Cookie Day:

Go for it! Enjoy cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, sugar cookie, Oreos . . . STOP! No Oreos. It’s HOMEMADE Cookie Day, so step back from the Oreos and enjoy a nice snickerdoodle instead.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1847 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer, discovered a comet and was elected this same day to the American Academy of Arts — the first woman to be so honored. Mitchell (1818-1889) was the first person to find a comet by telescope.

♥~ 1908 –  Ford introduced the Model T at a price of $850, but by 1924 the basic model sold for as little as $260. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford sold 15,007,033 Model Ts in the US. Although the first Model Ts were not built on an assembly line, the demand for the cars was so high that Ford developed a system where workers remained at their stations and cars came to them. This enabled Ford to turn out a Model T every 10 seconds. Customers could have the Model T in any color they wanted; as long as they wanted black.

♥~ 1942 – Little Golden Books published its first children’s book, The Poky Little Puppy.

♥~ 1962 – “From New York … heeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny!” Ed McMahon introduced the new host of NBC’s Tonight Show for the first time. Johnny Carson entertained late-night America for nearly three decades, give or take 20 years for vacations…

♥~ 1971 – Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida, USA.

♥~ 1994 – Eric Clapton’s album From the Cradle was number one in the U.S.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1920 – Walter Matthau Academy Award-winning actor: The Fortune Cookie [1966]; The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, Dennis the Menace, Kotch,Pete & Tillie, Plaza Suite, The Sunshine Boys, JFK, Fail-Safe, Earthquake; died July 1, 2000

♥~ 1924 – Jimmy Carter  39th U.S. President [1977-1981]; married to Rosalynn Smith [three sons, one daughter]; full name: James Earl Carter

♥~ 1927 – Tom Bosley actor: Happy Days, Father Dowling Mysteries, Murder, She Wrote, The Dean Martin Show, The Debbie Reynolds Show, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home; died Oct 19, 2010

♥~ 1933 – Richard Harris actor: Camelot, The Guns of Navarone, Hawaii, A Man Called Horse, Mutiny on the Bounty, Unforgiven, Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone,Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; singer: MacArthur Park, Didn’t We; LP: A Tramp Shining; died Oct 25, 2002

♥~ 1935 – Julie Andrews (Julia Wells) Academy Award-winning actress: Mary Poppins [1964]; The Sound of Music, Victor/Victoria, 10, Hawaii; Emmy Award-winner: Victoria Regina: Hallmark Hall of Fame [1961-62]; My Fair Lady, The Boyfriend

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Vegetarianism has traditionally been linked to the people of ancient India. Even today, Indians make up more than 70 percent of the world’s vegetarian population.

♥~ The first Vegetarian Society was formed in 1847 in England. The goal of the society was to dispel the common belief that it’s not possible to lead a healthy life without eating meat.

♥~ There are varying degrees of vegetarianism. The strictest of vegetarians not only steer clear of all forms of meat, they also avoid all animal products, including honey (bees are often killed in the production of honey), and foods which might contain traces of animal products, such as bread baked in buttered tins and sugar to which bone charcoal has been added (to make it white).

♥~ You might recall the scene in Notting Hill where William Thacker (Hugh Grant) goes on a blind date with a slightly off-the-wall “fruitarian”. Fruitarianism is a very real form of vegetarianism, where the diet consists of fruit, nuts, seeds and other plant material that can be gathered without killing the plant (e.g. pears can be picked without killing the plant, carrots cannot).

♥~ Many vegetarians follow a meat-free diet in an attempt to lower the pressure meat production places on the environment. According to Wikipedia.org, growing crops for farm animals requires nearly half of the United States’ water supply and 80% of its agricultural land.

♥~ Other people go the vegetarian route for religious reasons. Some of the denominations that actively advocate vegetarianism include the Hare Krishna and Rastafarian movements.

♥~ British research shows that a child’s IQ predicts his likelihood of becoming a vegetarian as a young adult. You guessed it: the smarter the child, the more likely he’ll eventually shun meat.

♥~ While veggie eating holds many health benefits, it also has other interesting effects on the body: research shows that avoiding red meat improves the sex appeal of male body odor.

♥~  The list of famous vegetarians includes Sir Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osborne, Sinead O’Connor, Brad Pitt, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford and Leonardo da Vinci.

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I could be a vegetarian if I didn’t like meat so much. However, I do want animals to be well cared for and to be humanely treated, so I try to buy from farms, ranches, and hatcheries that take good care of there live stock.

Cousin Carla makes the world’s best cookies. Really. I secured a domain name for her (“Carla Cooks),” I spread the word about her cookies far and wide, I have sold her cookies, and her cookie customers have sent back rave reviews . . . but she has one small problem: She can’t sell her own cookies. She gives them away unless I insist she sends me a bill.

Carla’s  brother (Cousin Craig) works in the athletic department of a huge college campus, and now her daughter attends the same college, but can she sell starving-for-homemade-cookies to college kids? NO. She gives them away!! It’s very frustrating.

I think she might suffer from cookiesalestropicaphobia: The fear of succeeding at selling cookies.  Any ideas of how Carla might get over this debilitating fear? Maybe she should hang out with Girl Scouts.

The photo of the day will now include autumn images and sunrises. If you have picture you would like to share on El Morno, just send it to me at Katybeth@myoddfamily.com

♥
Kb