Cat Herders, Halcyon Days, Cupcake Day

~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
December 15, 2013

Paris

★~ Today’s Quote:  Dogs have masters. Cats have staff. ~ Anonymous

★~ Cat Herders Day:

cat_herding

Taken from the idiom ‘like herding cats,’ which is used to describe doing something impossible A day for those of us who feel like we’re tasked with the impossible, Cat Herders Day recognizes the frustration of trying to manage the unmanageable. Whether it’s work, home, school or other areas of life, if it feels like herding cats, today’s your day.

★~ Halcyon Days ( 15-29):

Kingfisher

In the midst of holiday hustle and bustle, there is a multi day observation that often falls through the cracks: Halcyon Days, which begins a week before the winter solstice and ends a week after the solstice.

Greek mythology recounts the story of the goddess Alcyone (or Halcyone), daughter of Aeolus, god of the winds. Alcyone married a mortal king named Ceyx, who drowned at sea in a storm. Such was Alcyone’s love for her husband that she threw herself into the ocean after him. Seeing this, the gods transformed Alcyone and Ceyx into birds. Thereafter, Aeolus kept the winds calm on the sea for a week before and a week after the solstice, enabling the birds to build nests on the water and lay their eggs there.

The Greek words from which the name Halcyon is apparently derived mean, roughly, ‘sea’ and ‘conceive.’ Over the centuries, the term came to refer both to the kingfisher (an actual bird) and to the mythical bird that nested on the sea and mysteriously calmed the winds around the time of the winter solstice.

Nowadays, when we use the expression ‘halcyon days,’ it’s almost always a way of saying ‘the good old days’ or ‘when life was easy.’ More often than not, the expression refers sentimentally to a bygone time that we remember as being much more tranquil and prosperous than it really was, so the mythological origin of the term is rather apt. I’ve never heard anyone speak of looking forward to halcyon days, nor have I ever received a ‘Happy Halcyon Days’ card on December 14. But a few weeks from now, when we are putting away decorations, repairing broken toys, and looking at unpleasant credit card bills, we can look back at these two frenzied weeks of late December and reminisce, ‘Those were the halcyon days.”

★~ Cupcake Day:

Chocolate Cupcake

Fun fact: the world’s largest cupcake was on display in July 2009 at the Covent Garden Real Food Market in London. This cupcake was about 4 feet in diameter and weighed over 330 pounds! It also contained 200 eggs and took over 50 hours to make. Yikes!

Celebrate National Cupcake Day with your favorite cupcake recipe, head to a local cupcake shop, or gather your friends and go for a new cupcake record!

10 Festive Cupcakes to Bring You Christmas Cheer 

★~ Today in History:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/GhqbESuc2v8[/youtube]

♥~ 1939  – Gone With The WInd premiere: One of the 20th century’s biggest film blockbusters premiered on this date in Atlanta, GA. Based on Margaret Mitchell’s bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, the film starred Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable and was produced by David O. Selznick. It won an unprecedented eight Academy Awards, including best picture. Hattie McDaniel won a best supporting actress Oscar—the first time an African-American actor had won or been nominated. No film would touch its Oscar achievement or monetary grosses for decades. At the chilly Atlanta premiere, more than 300,000 people lined the streets to catch sight of the film’s stars arriving at the Loew’s Grand Theater.

♥~ 1939 – Nylon yarn was sold to hosiery mills to make women’s stockings, marking the first use of commercial yarn for apparel. The DuPont product enabled a record number of ladies’ hose to go on sale for the first time in May 1940. And it all started in nylon’s hometown: Wilmington, Delaware.

♥~ 1973 – Sandy Hawley became the first jockey in history to win 500 races in a single year. With this victory in the third race at Laurel racetrack on Charlie Jr., he broke the legendary Bill Shoemaker’s 20-year-old record. Hawley recorded his 6,000th career victory in 1992 aboard Summer Commander at Greenwood racetrack.

♥~ 1973 – Charlie Rich’s hit, The Most Beautiful Girl, hit #1 (for two weeks) in the U.S. “Hey, if you happen to see the most beautiful girl that walked out on me … Tell her, “I’m sorry.” Tell her, “I need my baby.” Won’t you tell her that I love her.”

♥~ 1996 – Tyco Toys’ Tickle Me Elmo stuffed animal that giggled and said, “that tickles”, when squeezed, retailed for $30 was selling out across the U.S.

★~Born Today:

gustave-eiffel

♥~ 1832 – Gustave Alexandre Eiffel , born in Dijon, France (1832). He was an early pioneer in using metal to construct bridges, and he went on to build the Eiffel Tower for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889. It was the tallest structure in the world at the time, at 1.000 feet, and Eiffel decided to leave the metal scaffolding exposed because he thought the tower would be more stable if the wind could blow through it. Many people at the time thought it was ugly, but it still holds up to the wind. In 1999, Paris was hit by a windstorm that knocked down more than 100,000 trees. The Eiffel Tower only swayed nine centimeters

♥~ 1928 – Jimmy Nelson ventriloquist: Danny O’Day, Farfel the Dog; LP: Jimmy Nelson’s Instant Ventriloquism

♥~ 1933 – Tim Conway actor, comedian: McHale’s Navy, The Tim Conway Show, The Carol Burnett Show, various Dorf videos

♥~ 1949 – Don Johnson (Donnie Wayne Johnson) actor: Nash Bridges, Miami Vice, Harrad Experiment, A Boy and His Dog, The Long, Hot Summer, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man,Revenge of the Stepford Wives

♥~ 1979 – Adam Brody actor: Missing Brendan, The Ring, American Pie 2, Growing Up Brady, Never Land, Judging Amy, Family Law, Smallville, The O.C.

★~ Good to Know: Perfect for a Sunday Morno 

[youtube]http://youtu.be/-Lug_IxFKo8[/youtube]

NPR’s “Snap Judgment.” Noah Silverman St. John

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I need to dash off and get ready to shoot our annual Christmas Card. At 9am sharp, team holiday picture, will be arriving…. The talented Barb, our photographer and friend, Vickie (our friend, and camp helper) and Cole.  I’m sure that I will have plenty of stories to share of our adventure…

The June Bug is tucked in our garage after bringing her home from school yesterday — Bless her heart :-D. FYI The June Bug has a Facebook page and Cole will be updating his blog about once a week as he moves into phase 2 of restoring the June Bug in preparation for the March 7, Senior Project Presentations.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday!

Odd Loves Company!

13 thoughts on “Cat Herders, Halcyon Days, Cupcake Day

  1. Good luck with the Christmas shoot!
    I don’t remember the product, but I do remember the cat catchers commercial was funny.
    Good morning!

    • I looked for the product and couldn’t find it, but I sort of remember it. It will show up! Nobody shot me and that was a good thing…I’ve been know to bring out the worst in people during a photo shoot (according to Cole) Vickie and Barb on the other hands are pillars of patience. Thank goodness.
      Cupcake has your name on it! Hope you are breathing up a storm.

  2. Morno,
    Sounds like a big day. Not much for cats herding, but I like that bird. Cupcakes for Sunday night dessert. Winner.
    Hope the picture taking is inside. Have a good one.

    • You’ll be the most popular guy at dinner. Hope you took chocolate.
      Nope we shot the pictures outside in the winter wonderland.

  3. Now that I have that song in my head for the rest of the day…..Thanks for all the great birthday celebrators today! Many are close personal friends of mine…hahaha . Herding cats is one of Chris’s favorite expressions. It is not a Chrisism but it is something he says a lot!!! Happy photo shoot—-I am sure it is going to rock!

    • It does stick, doesn’t it…Hey, did you happen to see. Ok. Enough. Herding cats just describes so many situations. Does Chris say it reference to home life or work?
      Oh, yes, we rocked! Mostly to keep from freezing.

  4. What a magnificent bird. Love the red beak. Cupcakes are always good. Chocolate cupcakes are my favorite. The kid was good. Liked his presentation.
    I’m sure your Christmas card will be amazing, as always. Hope I’m still on your list.
    Stay warm, looks like Chicago is having a cold day.

    • I love the Kingfish too.
      Of-course, you are still on my list and I owe most of the amazing to the photographer, Vickie and my pups!

  5. Love the photo of the herding cats — and the saying is true, you know. Cats have staff!

    I’m obviously playing catchup after a couple of days on the road. Maybe I’ll blog about it. Maybe not.

    Hope the photo session went well!

  6. Oldest grandsons 24th birthday .. Can’t believe that time has passed already. A wonderful surprise appeared when we were out to celebrate…. My AF grandson came into the room when I wasn’t looking. Home for Christmas! Greatest gift of all. Love chocolate cupcakes. Hope Coles “June”is warmer than most bugs that age. I know the feeling of herding cats..Treasure everyday with Cole, Katybeth. They are moved out and on their own before you can blink!

    • Oh that is a wonderful surprise! A very Merry Christmas. The key is dressing warm when you ride in the Bug. 😀 You are right—I’m trying to soak it all in, we are having a lot of fun.

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