~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥
April 21, 2012

★~Today’s Quote: My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz.  It’s the letter I use to spell yuzz-a-ma-tuzz.  You’ll be sort of surprised what there is to be found once you go beyond ‘Z’ and start poking around!  ~Dr. Seuss

★~  World Creativity and Innovation Day:

It’s World Creativity and Innovation Day!  Think of the word “create” for a moment. When we think of creativity and play, it could almost seem like a frivolous pursuit, until we think of the word, “creation” — like bringing something into being. I believe that creativity is even more important than whatever it is you’ve got going on in the real world. This is where universes are created, dreams are built, and empires are overcome! World Creativity and Innovation Day  has been celebrated in over 46 countries since 2002 and encourages people to make the world a better place. The best way to celebrate today is by using your imagination but Did You Know (below) has a few idea to help spark your imagination.

★~ Kindergarten Day:

In 1840 Friedrich Fröbel opened the first Kindergarten in Germany as a program for transitioning young children from the experience of being at home to the experience of being in the classroom.  The picture above is of a Waldorf School Kindergarten. A Waldorf Kindergarten provides a nurturing, supportive place for children to grow, learn, and blossom.  A Waldorf Kindergarten smells of fresh baked bread, the teacher wear aprons and guide the children through the day morning with rhythm, routine and fairy dust. These days when I walk through the Kindergarten and move up the stairs towards the Waldorf high school that Cole now attends I am so grateful that he learned more about Gnomes and fairies and knitting in kindergarten than he did about reading writing and arithmetic–it was a magical time that served him very well.

★~ Record Store Day:

Each year on the third Saturday of April, fans and artists all over the world come together to support independent record stores on Record Store Day. Chris Brown, an employee at a local record store, came up with the idea in 2007. In April of 2008, Metallica kicked off the first Record Store Day with a performance at Rasputin Music in San Francisco, California.

To support the cause, many artists release exclusive vinyls, CDs, and promotional materials on Record Store Day. To celebrate, head to your local independent record store and show your support! Visit the official Record Store Day website to find a participating store near you

★~ Chocolate Covered Cashew Day!

Roasted cashews coated in rich milk chocolate are not a burden to celebrate and it gets even better…Cashews are rich in all kinds of things that are good for you so they are a treat you can eat without guilt.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1856 –The first rail train to pass over the mighty Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, IL made its journey across a newly completed bridge between the two rail centers.

♥~ 1959 – The largest fish ever hooked by a rod and reel was landed by Alf Dean. Ol’ Alf told the fellas down at the marina about the 16-foot, 10-inch white shark that weighed in at 2,664 pounds!  Dean made the historic catch in South Australia.

♥~ 1963 –The Beatles and The Rolling Stones met for the first time together, at the Crawdaddy Club in Richmond, England. The Stones opened show.

♥~ 1984 – Michael Jackson’s Thriller album slipped a couple of notches from number 1 to number 3 on the pop album charts. Michael needn’t have been too upset. Thriller was number one for 37 weeks, setting a record in music history for the longest run at the top.

♥~ 1986 – A record audience watched as the long-sealed vault of racketeer, Al Capone was opened during a much-hyped TV special. Guess what? All that Geraldo found were broken bottles and no trace that Capone and his gang had ever stashed anything there.

♥~ 1997 – The ashes of 1960s LSD guru Timothy Leary and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were blasted into space (actually an orbit of the Earth) in the world’s first space funeral.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1837- Friedrich Froebel, invented kindergarten. Little Freddy was born on this day iin Germany and grew up to become a teacher, author and toy maker. Friedrich’s experience as an educator led him to the conclusion that playtime can be very instructive; an essential part of a child’s education. He founded the first kindergarten for this purpose in 1837 in Blankenburg, Germany.  This directed playtime led to his invention of a series of toys that were designed to stimulate learning. He called these toys, gifts. The mother of famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright gave her son some of these gifts … in the form of maple wood blocks. Wright often spoke of the value the gifts had brought him throughout his life. Now put your paper and paste away; it’s time to find out who else was born today.

♥~ 753BC – Rome.  Although nobody knows for sure that Rome was founded in 753BC  or on April 21 when in Rome do what the Italians do and today they celebrate Rome’s 2764 birthday. Lets skip the candles, though.

♥~ 1915 – Anthony Quinn Academy Award-winning actor: Viva Zapata! [1952], Lust for Life [1956]; The Guns of Navarone, The Inheritance, The Old Man and the Sea, Zorba the Greek; died June 3, 2001

♥~ 1926 – Queen Elizabeth II (Elisabeth Mary) Queen of the United Kingdom [1952- ]; eldest daughter of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon; married Philip Mountbatten [1947]: four children: Charles [Prince of Wales], Anne, Andrew, Edward

♥~ 1951 –Tony Danza actor: Family Law, Who’s the Boss, Taxi, Angels in the Outfield, Baby Talk; TV talk show host: The Tony Danza Show [co-executive producer]

★~ Did You Know:

♥_ On June 4, 2007 artist Noah Scalin created a skull on his blog and promised to create a different skull every day for a year. He did. He created a variety of skulls: everything from his first orange paper skull to a flower skull to a PB&J skullto a skull made out of pennies. That’s 365 skulls and counting. (He continues the project today with submissions from readers.)

His daily project inspired the book 365: A Daily Creativity Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life! In it, Scalin encourages readers to create their own year-long project. He shares one suggestion each day to help spark readers’ imaginations. He writes that “a daily project is a personal journey that can offer you a rare opportunity for self-discovery and personal growth with tangible results.” Here are a few ideas to get you started.

♥~ “The first step is the hardest, so start small today and make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only the materials in your immediate environment.”

♥~ “Create a bridge. Connect two things in a creative way. It could be small enough for an amoeba or big enough for an elephant to cross it.”

♥~ “Learn something new. Ask a friend to help you do something using a technique or skill they’re good at.”

♥~ “Time travel. Make something that seems like it came from another era in history.”

♥~“Write a ten-word autobiography. Bonus: Illustrate it!

♥~ “Create a mosaic using cut paper. Snippets of color from magazines are ideal for this.”

♥~ “Put pen to paper and draw for at least thirty minutes without stopping. If you get stuck, just doodle until an idea comes to you. For an even greater challenge, don’t lift the pen from the page until the time is up.”

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I am off and running today…I will catch up later. Hope you all have a super Saturday! I will see you tomorrow! Odd Loves Company so leave a comment if you have an El Morno Moment!

♥