~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 4, 2012

Post Updated: March 4, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:
The King of Ing:
I love the King of Ing
He makes me want to sing
Add him to an action word
And it’s a gerund… now a thing! — Nancy Wright

★~ Grammar Day:

Grammar Day is not a day to correct you child when she says “me and my sister” or to roll your eyes when yet another Facebook friend uses “your” when he means “you’re” or to, too, and two incorrectly. Today, we add the K to OK in every text and celebrate English as a fabulous language filled with mellifluous words embedded in complex sentences. It is the language of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, and Simon & Garfunkel.

Isn’t it fun that Grammar Day falls after the day after Dr. Seuss’ birthday? Seuss excelled at using the English language creatively! The Cat in the Hat, perhaps more widely quoted than any classic, is written with no words longer than three syllables—most coming from a standard list of words every first grader should know

Celebrate Grammar Day by using your prepositions proudly, and let the adverbs fly. Visit Grammar Girl for great tips.

Learn What Your Name Means Day:

Have you ever wondered what your name means? Or why your parents gave you the name you have? Perhaps it’s a family name that has been passed through the generations, or maybe it has some other kind of significance.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are at least 151,671 last names and 5,163 first names in use in the United States.

Yes, I know we just had Change Your Name Day in February, but today kicks off Name Week. Names will be celebrated more creatively as the week goes on.

★~ Pound Cake Day: (Food of the Day challenge #243)

The original pound cakes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. This principle made it simple to remember the recipe and come up with a name to file it under in your recipe holder.

Because we often watch our pounds and work hard to keep our waistlines in proportion, the ingredients have changed and the pound cake lightened up.

Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? How do you dress up your pound cake?

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1791 – Vermont, became the 14th state.  It is the Green Mountain State! Coincidentally, that’s what the French phrase ‘vert mont’ means. Montpelier is Vermont’s capital city. Hail Vermont is the state song which goes right along with the state motto: Vermont, Freedom and Unity. The hermit thrush stands alone as the state bird; and the red clover is the colorful state flower which attracts the state insect, the honeybee. The Morgan horse is the state animal, and the state tree … you guessed it … is the one that makes all that famous Vermont maple syrup, the sugar maple tree.

♥~ 1942 – The Stage Door Canteen opened on West 44th Street in New York City. The canteen became widely known as a service club for men in the armed forces and a much welcomed place to spend what would otherwise have been lonely hours. The USO, the United Service Organization, grew out of the ‘canteen’ operation, to provide entertainment for American troops around the world.

♥~ 1950 – Walt Disney’s Cinderella was released. It was the first full-length, animated, feature film in eight years from the man who brought us Mickey Mouse.

♥ – 1974 – People Magazine:  officially launched with the Mar 4, 1974, issue featuring a cover photo of Mia Farrow.

★~ Born Today: 

♥~ 1678 – Antonio Lucio Vivaldi musician: violin; composer: The Four Seasons, Nisi dominus, Summer Storm, Primavera, Concerto per liuto e mandolino, Griselda, Gloria,Symphony 4 in B Minor, Magnificat, Quattro stagione; died July 28, 1741

♥~ 1888 – Knute Rockne College Football Hall of Famer: coach: Notre Dame [1918-1930]: 122 games: won 105, lost 12, tied 5; killed in plane crash Mar 31, 1931

♥~  1954 – Catherine O’Hara actress: A Simple Twist of Fate, Wyatt Earp, Home Alone series, Dick Tracy, Beetlejuice; comedienne: The Steve Allen Comedy Hour, Second City TV, SCTV Network 90

♥~ 1969 – Chaz Bono (Chastity Sun Bono) transgender advocate, writer, musician; only child of entertainers Sonny & Cher.

♥~ 1990 – Andrea Bowen actress: Desperate Housewives, Eye of the Dolphin, Luckey Quarter, Red Riding Hood, Highball

★~ Did You Know:  Top Ten Grammar Myths:

♥~ A run-on sentence is a really long sentence.

♥~ You shouldn’t start a sentence with the word “however.”

♥~“Irregardless” is not a word.

♥~ There is only one way to write the possessive form of a word that ends in “s.”

Passive voice is always wrong.

♥~“I.e.” and “e.g.” mean the same thing.

♥~ You use “a” before words that start with consonants and “an” before words that start with vowels.

♥~ It’s incorrect to answer the question “How are you?” with the statement “I’m good.”

♥~ You shouldn’t split infinitives.

♥~  You shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition.

♥~  Click for  Explanations 

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This past week has been a sad week.

The mother of our El Morno friend Teresa died after a life of being loved well by her sweet husband, Mr. Teresa, and her five wonderful children. RIP, Mrs. Teresa.

We lost Barrette Fiske, the dad of one of Cole’s classmates and a friend since our children were 18 months old and started Waldorf Parent Child together. It was a sudden and unexpected death. Just recently, he took Cole out to dinner and to a movie so they could talk cars. He was a fabulous dad, a dad that hung on his daughter’s every word.  I had a dream last night; it was very short. Joe met Barrett somewhere on high, they hugged, and Joe said, “What the fuck.” RIP, Barrett Fiske.

This week will be a happier week.

Today, 15 years ago, Joe brought home a stack of Jack Nicholson movies from the movie store, and the marathon began as we waited for a certain baby to decide to be born. The worst part was when Joe stopped and rewound each movie just a bit to catch certain pieces of dialogue again and again and again.

Truthfully, I expected Cole to make his arrival saying, “Do I ice her? Do I marry her? Which one of these?” It was a very long day and Cole waited three more days to make his arrival, but I can honestly say he was worth waiting for.

A 16th birthday deserves a full week of celebrating, so Cole and I are having dinner at a favorite restaurant and may do a little car shopping along the way…

Odd loves your company, so leave a comment.

Happy Sunday!