~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 2, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote:  “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”  ― Dr. Seuss

★~ Same Old Stuff Day:

One of the biggest reasons people get stuck in a rut, bored by their lives and doing the same old thing instead of taking action to change their lives for the better, is simply that the process is uncomfortable. Today we are invited to push the “old stuff” in our lives to the side and try something new.

And what will happen when you try something new? I am so glad you asked….“You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights….Oh the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all.” And “Will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed. (98¾% guaranteed.)” Dr. Seuss—sort of.

Celebrate “Same Old Stuff Day” by making an effort to try something new every day for a week. But If you want to stay stuck I wrote a tutorial here: Tips for Staying Stuck.

★~ Banana Cream Pie Day: (Food of the Day challenge #241):

I want to keep you up to date on Emily and my Food of the Day challenge: We have eaten the Food of the Day every day now for 241 days, which I think is very impressive, if I do say so myself—and I will have to if I don’t keep you up to date. So, I have decided to note the number of days on El Morno under the Food of the Day. Original thinking at its best.

Now, about banana cream pie. What is not to love? Traditional banana cream pie recipes call for a crust made out of graham crackers or pastry dough; a layer of sliced bananas; a custard filling made with eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla; and a topping of whipped cream or meringue; pecans or drizzles of chocolate and caramel.

Gotta dash…Bakers Square is calling my name.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1957 – Teenage heartthrob Tab Hunter’s song Young Love was number one in the U.S.

♥~ 1962 – Wilt ‘The Stilt’ Chamberlain scored 100 points and broke an NBA record as the Philadelphia Warriors beat the New York Knicks 169-147. This record still stands today.

♥~ 1965 – Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and Eleanor Parker starred in the film adaptation of the popular Broadway hit, The Sound of Music. The musical, about the Trapp Family, was a hit for over three years and one of the most popular motion pictures of all time.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1904- Geisel, Theodor (Dr. Seuss) – Dr. Seuss, books have sold more than 200 million copies and have been translated into 20 languages. His career began with And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, which was turned down by 27 publishing houses before being published by Vanguard Press.

♥~ 1917 – Desi Arnaz (Desiderio Alberto Arnez y De Acha III) bandleader, singer: Babalu; actor: I Love Lucy; married to Lucille Ball; co-owner of Desilu Productions; introduced 3-camera sitcom technique; died Dec 2, 1986

♥~ 1950 – Karen Carpenter  drummer, singer: Grammy Award-winning group: The Carpenters: Best New Artist, Group w/Vocal: Close to You [1970]; We’ve Only Just Begun,Top of the World, Please Mr. Postman; died Feb 4, 1983

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss)  honors include: two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, and the Pulitzer Prize.

♥~ Geisel married twice but never had any children. When people commented about this, he used to say ’You have ‘em; I’ll entertain ‘em.’

♥~ The Lorax it’s widely recognized as Dr. Seuss’ take on environmentalism and how humans are destroying nature. Loggers were so upset about the book that some groups within the industry sponsored “The Truax,” a similar book — but from the logging point of view. The book also used to contain the line, “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie,” but 14 years after the book was published, the Ohio Sea Grant Program wrote to Seuss creator Theodore Geisel, and told him how much conditions had improved and requested that he take the line out. Geisel agreed and said that it wouldn’t be in future editions.

♥~ Geisel’s threaten a law suit when an anti-abortion organizations added the line “A person’s a person, no matter how small,”  from “Horton Hears A Who” to their letter head.  He was was very clear that he would not speak to the subject of abortion.

♥~ If I Ran a Zoo  published in 1950, is the first recorded instance of the word “nerd.”

♥~ Geisel’s editor, bet him that he couldn’t write a book using 50 words or less.   Geisel started writing and came up with “Green Eggs and Ham” — which uses exactly 50 words. The 50 words are:  a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

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When people speak of “the classics,” I cannot help but think of Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, and To Think that I Saw It On Mulberry Street! Dr. Seuss books resonate with us, perhaps because we recognize the characters inside ourselves.

I don’t know if you have a fish (Cat in the Hat) in your head, but I sure do—one that, without being asked, will tell me the minute I step outside my comfort zone and try something new that I will be doomed. When I ignore the voice and things go astray, the fish screams, “Now you have gone and done it! This mess is so big and so deep and so tall, it will never be picked up. There is simple no way at all.” Have you ever been stuck with someone on a boat, on a goat, in the rain, on a train, in the dark, in a tree, in a car, in a box with a fox, in a house, with a mouse, here there and everywhere, insisting that that person could make it through and things would be just fine? Or been the one who would not try? Not at all?

And aren’t we all a little Grinch like from time to time? “I must stop this *whole* thing! Why, for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now. I must stop Christmas from coming… but how?” Sound familiar? I like a life that rhymes and is full of silliness, wit, and whimsy, and I believe with all my whole heart that “unless you and I care a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” (Dr. Seuss.)

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! I like you a lot.

My favorite Dr. Seuss book was And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street but I also loved The Cat in The Hat. What was your Favorite Dr. Seuss book! What you don’t like Dr Seuss?!! There is one in every crowd!  Maybe you would like him in a car? Odd Loves Company, so please share!

Want a bite of Banana Creme Pie?

♥