~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 27, 2013

★~ Today’s Quote:  It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then. Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

★~ Full Moon: 

(Joanne, Joey, George Moon Howling)

The January full moon falls in the wee hours (Sunday, January 27) at 4:38 Universal Time. Although the full moon occurs at the same instant worldwide, the clock time (and possibly the date) varies by time zone. For general reference, however, we can say the moon is full all night tonight, lighting up the nighttime from dusk till dawn. In North America, we often call the second full moon after the winter solstice the Wolf Moon, Hunger Moon or Snow Moon.

This Full Moon is in the dramatic heart-centered astrological sign Leo, while the  Sun is in detached mind-oriented Aquarius. During this moon phase emotions are bubbling high and low, and yet precious illuminated insights will reveal themselves through all of the conflict, clashes and perhaps overly dramatic interactions. Ultimately, the mind (Aquarius) and heart (Leo) are seeking to connect with each other during the Full Moon in Leo instead of remaining at odds.

Now is the time to implement your plans for 2013. Go for your dreams. Go for your wishes and heart’s desires. Saturn will help us make it real and lasting.”

★~ Thomas Crapper Day: 

Sir Thomas Crapper one of history’s great inventors died today in the year 1910. Then again, maybe he didn’t. It depends on whether he ever lived. Sir Thomas Crapper is widely recognized as the inventor of the flush toilet.  His biography is classified as non-fiction by the Library of Congress. It appears now, however, that Sir Thomas lived only in the mind of British author Wallace Reyburn, who wrote the alleged biography entitled Flushed With Pride. According to the bathroom history, Clean and Decent by Lawrence Wright, the island of Crete had flush toilets as early as 2500 B.C.; so the invention of the flush toilets is surrounded by a ton of craptroversy . . I will leave further research up to you.

★~ Chocolate Cake Day:

Celebrating Chocolate Cake Day with ‘Better Than Sex Cake’ by Erma Bombeck (Ocala Star-Banner October 30, 1990)

There are some people who believe that food is more important than sex.

I don’t know either one of them personally. And I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage.

But recently I was intrigued with a recipe in my local paper called Better Than Sex Cake.

The kitchen in my home has always been recognized as an experimental test site. Everyone acknowledges that, it was here that I broiled my first angle food cake and tried to pass it off as a sheet cake. And I was burning fish to a crisps long before Prudhomme did it and christened it “Cajun.

What better place to test the Better Than Sex Cake, and what better audience than my grown, unmarried children, one of whom was celebrating a birthday?

I began with a box of German chocolate cake mix. When it was baked and slightly cooked, I poked little holes in the top of the cake with a pencil and dribbled in seven ounces of sweetened condensed milk and half a jar of carmel sauce and let it stand for an hour. After that, I buried the entire cake in a carton of Cool Whip. Crushed eight Heath Candy bars and sprinkled them over the top. I ran my fingers around the edge, licked them off…and gave it an NC-17 rating.

As I put the cake on a shelf in the refrigerator, I couldn’t help scrutinizing it. Could this be the answer to safe sex? Was there a chance it could make a generation ignore their biological clocks? Was it possible for a cake to accomplish what Harry and Sally had failed to prove? That you don’t need sex to have a relationship?

That evening I hoisted the cake above the table like a chalice before serving it.

“I don’ t think I’m old enough to eat this one,” said one

“Will I feel cheap in the morning?” asked the other one.

“Shut up and eat!” I commanded.

Slowly…they dipped their forks through the layers of rich, creamy, chocolate caressed by whip cream. No one breathed as the carmel stretched lazily in mid-air before falling on a chunk of candy. Lips clung hungrily to the moist crumbs.

I watched closely. Moans were made. Eyes rolled back in their heads. Shrieks of “Yes! Yes!”

“So, what do you guys thing?” I asked, “Is there a future for the Better Than Sex Cake?”

They looked at one another, “Mom, it’s just a cake. You do understand that don’t you? We worry about you. You’re very sick.

As I cleared the table, all my dreams of having them go to Club Med and meet a nice dessert just went out the window.

Erma’s Better Than Sex Chocolate Cake: 

• German Chocolate Cake Mix- Follow the instructions on the box
• After the cake cools slightly, poke little holes in the top of the cake.
• Dribble seven ounces of sweetened condensed milk and half a jar caramel topping over it and let it stand for one hour.
• Ice the cake with cool whip and top it off with 8 crumbled Heath bars sprinkled on top.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1870 – Kappa Alpha Theta, the first women’s Greek letter society, or sorority, was founded at Indiana Asbury University — now DePauw University — in Greencastle, Indiana.

♥~ 1880 – Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park, NJ patented the electric incandescent lamp. We’ve been turning it on ever since…

♥~ 1968 – The Bee Gees played their first American concert, as a group. They earned $50,000 to entertain at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.

♥~ 1968 – Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay was released, seven weeks after the singer’s death. It became #1 on March 16, 1968 and remained at the top spot for a month.

♥~ 1976 – Laverne and Shirley, a spin-off from Happy Days, premiered on ABC TV. Penny Marshall starred as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams was Shirley Feeney. The show ran through May 10, 1983.

♥~ 1984 – ‘The Great One’, Wayne Gretzky, set a National Hockey League record for consecutive game scoring, as his streak ended at 51 games. The streak began on October 5, 1983, ending with the L.A. Kings defeating the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2. Gretzky collected 153 points (61 goals and 92 assists) during the run. Gretzky left Edmonton to play for the Kings in 1988.

★~Trending Now:

♥~ Victoria Azarenka defeats Li Na, retains Australian Open title

♥~ Job seekers work crowd surrounding Senior Bowl

♥~ New Norovirus strain spreads across US

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Theophilus) composer: Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, Symphony #41, Requiem, A Little Night Music; died in 1791; died Dec 5, 1791

♥~ 1832 – Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) mathematician, writer: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, The Hunting of the Snark; died Jan 14, 1898

♥~ 1948 – Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ballet dancer, a household name even to non-balletomanes. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and biggest names in dance.

★~ Did You Know: In honor of Sir Thomas Crapper here are a few tips in the event of a toilet flushing emergency. 

Three steps that could save you from a “messy” situation when a plunger isn’t at hand and you’re in a crisis situation.

♥~ STEP ONE:

HELP! Toilet is not flushing as it should! Water is rising! What do you do first? Take the lid off the tank as quickly as possible and close the toilet flapper.

The toilet flapper allows water to flow from the toilet tank into the toilet bowl so if the toilet looks like it’s about to overflow you should close the toilet flapper as quickly as possible to prevent any more water from getting into the toilet bowl.

♥~ STEP TWO:

OK…you’ve at least avoided an overflow. Now what? ADD HOT WATER! Add a few cups of hot water to the toilet bowl before you attempt plunging, and you may not have to plunge at all. After you pour the hot water in, let it sit for a few minutes. The heat melts the fats in the “clog” & makes it all more flushable. This could come in very handy if you happen to clog a toilet at a friends house and you don’t want to face the embarrassment of asking for a plunger.

If after surveying your surroundings you can’t find a bucket….look for a wastebasket. Empty out the wastebasket (people rarely keep a lot of garbage in their bathroom wastebasket) and fill it up with hot water from the sink. (Or you can fill up the basket from the shower head for quicker results.) Pour the hot water down the toilet carefully and the clog should be draining in no time.

♥~ STEP THREE (IF NECESSARY):

If Step Two doesn’t completely take care of the problem…another option is to add some dishwashing liquid. Just squirt two or three seconds worth down the toilet, wait a little while, then flush. (But be ready to grab the flapper in the event it was unsuccessful!) The soap helps “break up” the clog.

If you are “company” in another persons home and don’t want to ask for dishwashing liquid, use shampoo from the shower, squirt some in the toilet and let it sit for as long as you can occupy the bathroom without raising suspicion.

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Speaking of Full Moons. Do you remember our Moon Howl?  Odd offered moon dollars in exchange for moon howling videos and pictures.  Thank you to all of you who howled your hearts out! And a special thank you to Odd El Morno friend Joanne who sent us the howling video featured above ^ and Elijah who sent me a howling picture which due to a tech error on my part will be appear on tomorrows El Morno.

The weather is suppose to be yucky all day…sleet, snow, ice but I don’t think that will get in the way of Sunday Morning breakfast at Sally’s. I’m in the mood for a hearty breakfast!  Do you enjoy Sunday morning breakfast out?

♥