★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 23, 2012

Meet Chelsea, a Camp-Run-A-Pup camper from way back. Chelsea is not shy about letting you know she’s used to living the life of a queen and delights in being catered too. However, she has a benevolent disposition, graciously accepts treats, and enjoys recreational swimming. She doesn’t want it to rain or thunder on her parade; storms are not her cuppa. Chelsea has a loving family that includes four humans, a canine brother, a turtle, and a bird.

★~  Today’s Quote: The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.  Carl Rogers

★~ Spongecake Day: 

Today is National Sponge Cake Day! Sponge cake is the perfect dessert to enjoy at the end of a warm summer day. It is light and fluffy and has just enough sweetness to cleanse the palette after a meal.

It’s said that one of Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting developed her own version of the sponge cake, which had already been around for quite some time. Apparently, back then, even the Royals were cutting back on the lunch meal, and poor Anna, a lady-in-waiting, couldn’t stand the hunger pangs any longer. She asked her servants to sneak her in a pot of tea and some baked goods to tide her over to supper. Soon she started inviting her friends round for five o’clock tea, arguably one of Britain’s best traditions.

One of the treats served at these gatherings was two layers of sponge cake sandwiched between jam and whipped cream, dusted in castor sugar and cut into small squares. Eventually the Queen caught on and the “sandwiches” became her personal favorite and were eventually named after her.Hope you have a chance to soak up a little sponge cake in honor of Sponge Cake Day. Victoria Sponge Cake

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1902 – Fannie Merrit Farmer opened her cooking school, Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery, in Boston, MA. Ms. Farmer was the leading cooking authority of her day. Known as the ‘mother of measurements’, she revolutionized food preparation throughout the world with her introduction of precise measurements — the level teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, etc. And, in 1919, candy maker Frank O’Connor paid Fannie the ultimate compliment by naming his now famous company, Fanny Farmer Candy Shops.

♥~1968 – Rocker Keith Moon of The Who drove a Lincoln into the swimming pool at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan.

♥~ 1991- In Lansing, Michigan, 250 gerbils chewed their way out of shipping boxes and scampered though the airport. Most were gerbilnapped by airport visitors.

♥~ 1999 – Robert Bogucki was rescued after getting lost in the Great Sandy Desert of Australia on July 11. During the 43 day ordeal Bogucki lost 44 pounds. Bogucki, an Alaskan fireman, was found by a TV camera crew covering the search.

♥~ 2000 – Richard Hatch shocked U.S. TV viewers when he was crowned the original sole survivor on CBS’ Survivor 1 – Borneo. Hatch won $1,000,000 for his stay on the island of Pulau Tiga in the South China Sea.

♥~ 2006 – Annie Donnelly, a 38-year-old bookkeeper for a doctors’ office, pleaded guilty to stealing $2.3 million from her employers. The Long Island mom spent the money on lottery tickets, buying as much as $6,000 worth of tickets a day trying to hit the jackpot.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1912 – Gene (Eugene Curran) Kelly dancer, actor: Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, Anchors Aweigh, The Three Musketeers, Marjorie Morningstar, Inherit the Wind, North and South Book I; director:Singin’ in the Rain, Hello, Dolly!, A Guide for the Married Man, The Cheyenne Social Club; died Feb 2, 1996

♥~ 1925 – Robert Mulligan film director: To Kill a Mockingbird, Fear Strikes Out, The Great Imposter, Love with the Proper Stranger, Inside Daisy Clover, Up the Down Staircase, The Stalking Moon, The Pursuit of Happiness, Same Time, Next Year, Summer of ’42; died Dec 20, 2008

♥~ 1934 – Barbara Eden (Barbara Jean Moorhead) actress: I Dream of Jeannie, Harper Valley P.T.A., The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Seven Faces of Dr. Lao

♥~ 1936 – Rudy Lewis singer: group: Drifters: Up on the Roof, On Broadway; died in May 1964

♥~ Did you know: Odd College Courses …

♥~ Sociology of Fame and Lady Gaga (University of South Carolina) – No, you won’t get extra credit for wearing sirloin to class. As the syllabus warns, “This is not a course in Lady Gaga but in sociology; and it is not a course about Lady Gaga as much as about the culture of the fame as exemplified by the career of Lady Gaga. There will be no PowerPoint presentations in this class nor any music or videos.”

♥~ Wordplay (Princeton) – A Wry Plod from Babel to Scrabble (Princeton UniversityObsessed with Words With Friends? If you’re at Princeton, you’ll almost certainly enjoy this class, where students will “challenge one another to games of Scrabble and Boggle, and enjoy the ‘Princeton dimension’ of the whole enterprise.”

♥~ “Oh look, a chicken!” Embracing Distraction as a Way of Knowing (Belmont University) – it’s a course on using distraction to learn. Oh look, candy! Yay! What was I saying?

♥~ Things That Go Bump in the Night (Hampshire College) – Great course title! It looks at “experimental topics in the philosophy of mind,” including phantom limb phenomena, ambiguous figures and “split-brain syndrome,” when the two brain hemispheres seem to be occupied by two independent consciousnesses.

♥~ Zombies in Popular Media (Columbia College Chicago) –  “This course explores the history, significance, and representation of the zombie as a figure in horror and fantasy texts. Instruction follows an intense schedule, using critical theory and source media (literature, comics, and films) to spur discussion and exploration of the figures many incarnations. Daily assignments focus on reflection and commentary, while final projects foster thoughtful connections between student disciplines and the figure of the zombie.”

♥~ The Politics of Death, Dismemberment, and Resurrection in Harry Potter (George Washington University). This course pretty much covers it all.

♥~ How to Watch Television ( Montclair State) –  Has that big screen in your living room always perplexed you? Flummoxed by the little rectangle that seems to control its every image and sound? Sorry to say, this class isn’t going to help. Despite its title, “How to Watch Television” is really about analyzing the medium and evaluating TV’s impact on our lives.

♥~ Goldberg’s Canon: Makin Whoopi (Bates College) – you have to major in rhetoric to pick this course! (Really “rhetoric” can be a major?)

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Two people (my sweet mother and Carol Smith) both shared this e-mail with me…I think they are ganging up on me!!

(Just watch and wait…like I did….)

Of-course I laughed! His Parachute did not open?? I couldn’t help laughing…admit it you laughed too! You did! I know it!

Have a FUN day!

♥