★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
January 1, 2013

★~ Todays Quote: Celebrate what you want to see more of. ~ Tom Peters

★~ Happy New Year:

The world’s most celebrated holiday, New Year’s Day, has been observed on January 1 in most English-speaking countries since 1751 when the British calendar act was passed. Before that, folks wished everyone a Happy New Year on March 25, to coincide, approximately, with the beginning of spring.

In many other countries, it is customary to wish everyone a Happy Birthday (rather than Happy New Year) on January 1st since the day is called Everyman’s Birthday; the day when everyone gets a year older whether it’s their real birthday or not. For some unknown reason, this rule also applies to race horses. No matter when they were born, all race horses become a year older today. So, wish a horse and your friends, “Happy Birthday” today, and don’t nag them about their ages.

★~ Bloody Mary Day:

You may have woken up with a headache after celebrating the New Year last night (and, consequently, National Champagne Day).

But the queen of all hangover drinks, the Bloody Mary should amend things properly! The tomato juice snaps the body back into shape by providing a variety of vitamins and nutrients to combat the damages of excessive alcohol consumption, and with the addition of Worcerstershire sauce, Tabasco and other seasonings, it’s just a delicious quaff. Substitute tequila for a Bloody Maria, or if you prefer the drink without liquor, a Virgin Mary (or “Contrary Mary”) is equally potable.

The saucy elixir dates back to 1921, when bartender Fernand Petiot served its originator at Harry’s Bar in Paris, before moving to the United States and creating a spicier version with the addition of Tabasco in 1933 at the Regis Bar in New York. And thus the brunchtime hair of the dog was born. Cheers!

★~  First Foot Day:

Here’s a fun New Year’s tradition from Scotland. The first person to enter your home this year is the First Footer and they bring with them a lump of coal to warm your home, a silver coin for wealth and prosperity and some bread so you will never be hungry.

After greeting everyone in the house, the first footer must exit through a different door from the one he had entered. Nobody should leave the house before the first footer shows up because the first traffic across the threshold should be coming in, not going out. Ideally the first footer should be a dark-haired male. The  folklore goes back to the era of the Viking raiders when a fair-haired Norseman at a Scotsman’s door meant trouble. Blonde and red-haired male first footers bring BAD LUCK. A female first footer spells DISASTER on the entire household.

★~ Banished word List 2013:

In 1987 the Dishonor List of Banished Words and Phrases was issued (as it is every year) by Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, MI. The 1987 list included the phrase, “The patient did not fulfill his wellness potential.” As explained in the list, “This statement not only obscures the fact that the patient died, but places the blame squarely on the patient for this inexcusable failure.”

“YOLO,” “fiscal cliff” and “trending” are among the dozen words that landed on the 2013,  38th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.  Click here for the entire 2013 list.

★~ Today In History:

♥~ 1890 – The very first Tournament of Roses Parade was staged in Pasadena, California. Horse-drawn carriages decorated in flowers made up the parade.

♥~ 1892 – Ellis Island opened this day to begin the processing of what would amount to more than 20 million immigrants to the United States. The immigration center was also used as a deportation station, and later, a Coast Guard Station, and then, a national park. Ellis Island is now a museum.

♥~ 1898 – Happy birthday Big Apple. The five boroughs of New York became the city of New York this day. It was called ‘the consolidation’ as the five boroughs were fused into a single, powerful city.

♥~ 1925 – The Four Horsemen of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame played together for the last time as the Irish downed Stanford (which apparently enjoyed losing in the Rose Bowl) 27-10. The Four Horsemen were Jim Crowley, Elmer Layden, Don Miller and Harry Stuhldreher. When it comes to bowl games, the Rose Bowl is ‘the granddaddy of them all’. The Orange Bowl in Miami started in 1935, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans that same year, the Sun Bowl in 1936, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas in 1937 and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville in 1946. Boy, this kind of info can kind of bowl you over, can’t it?

♥~ 1971 – This was the last day we sang along with, “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” or heard the Marlboro Theme on radio or TV. Tobacco ads representing $20 million dollars in advertising were banned from broadcast.

♥~ 1976 – NBC Television, debuted a new abstract capital ‘N’ — a corporate symbol that replaced the familiar peacock logo after 20 years. The cost of the new NBC logo was estimated to be between $750,000 and $1 million. Nebraska Public Television went after NBC for copying its logo; which it had broadcast for several years. The cost… $35 dollars. NBC paid the costs and the ‘N’ stayed around for a short time before being replaced by… the peacock. NBC shipped the abstract goofiness to Nebraska Public TV and told them to put it to good use.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1735 – Paul Revere silversmith, patriot: “The British are coming!”, member of Sons of Liberty and participant in Boston Tea Party; died May 10, 1818

♥~ 1752 – Betsy Ross (Elizabeth Griscom) flagmaker from Philadelphia, legendary folklore says she sewed the first American flag; died Jan 30, 1836

♥~ 1895 – J. (John) Edgar Hoover Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] starting May 19, 1924; investigated communists and leftists whether for national security or his own interests; probed into the lives of everyone from presidents to the Ku Klux Klan; remained director until his death May 2, 1972

♥~ 1919 – J.D. (Jerome David) Salinger short story writer: Franny and Zooey; novelist: The Catcher in the Rye; died Jan 27, 2010

♥~ 1964 – Dedee Pfeiffer actress: Jack’s Family Adventure, Secret at Arrow Lake, Fix, AVH: Alien vs. Hunter, Seventeen & Missing, A Killer Within

♥~ 1969 – Verne Troyer actor: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Pinocchio’s Revenge, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Mighty Joe Young, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Bubble Boy,Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

★~ Did You Know: New Years Customs:

♥~ Seek out ring-shaped food for breakfast. Consider bagels or doughnuts for breakfast representing the year coming full circle.

♥~ Eat pork. Lots of people consider pork to be the luckiest of all foods to eat on New Year’s Day. Why? Pigs are rotund, which represents prosperity. They also “root forward” with their noses, which is supposed to symbolize progress.

♥~ Smash a pomegranate on the floor. In Greece, when the new year turns, a pomegranate is smashed on the floor in front of the door to break it open and reveal seeds symbolizing prosperity and good fortune. The more seeds, the more luck.

♥~ Roast whole fish for lunch.  Fish are lucky in three ways: their scales resemble coins, they travel in schools, which represents prosperity, and they swim forward, symbolizing progress.

♥~ Whip up a batch of Hoppin’ John. This dish of black-eyed peas and rice is customary for New Year’s Day in the American south, where black-eyed peas are considered auspicious based on their resemblance to coins.

♥~ Cook some lentils. Coin-shaped legumes are lucky in Brazil and Italy, and are said to have been eaten for luck since the Roman times.

♥~ In Greece, New Year’s day is also the Festival of St. Basil, one of the founders of the Greek Orthodox Church. One of the traditional foods served is Vassilopitta, or St Basil’s cake. A silver or gold coin is baked inside the cake. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake will be especially lucky during the coming year.

♥~ Lock your car! According to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more vehicles are stolen on New Year’s Day than on any other holiday throughout the year.

♥~ 40 to 45% of Americans  make one or more resolutions each year.

♥~ Among the top new years resolutions are resolutions about weight loss, exercise, and stopping to smoke. Also popular are resolutions dealing with better money management / debt reduction.

♥~ In Italy, people wear red underwear on New Year’s Day as a symbol of good luck for the upcoming year.

#

Happy New Year! Hope you have a wonderful first day of the New Year. Did you make any New Years resolutions? I choose three words every year to focus on throughout the year. This works really well for me. Learn more about three word resolutions on Christ Brogans blog.

Cole is off to play a little flag football with friends (New Years tradition) and I am planning on a nap and hanging out with my campers.  How do you spend New Years Day?

Odd Loves Company!