~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
March 18, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote: With the coming of spring, I am calm again. ~ Gustav Mahler

★~ Goddess of Fertility Day: 

In the ancient times, a few days before the spring equinox, women wishing to conceive would make offerings to the Greek goddess, Aphrodite, and to other gods and goddesses of fertility in celebration of life, fertility, and rebirth. Often referred to as Ostara (after the Norse goddess of fertility), the day was often marked with a “plentiful feast, cleaning, decorating, and exploration.”

Celebrating the Goddess of Fertility Day is not only for those wishing to start or grow a family; it is also for those that want to seed a new project or grow an existing one.

★~ Awkward Moment Day:

“The awkward moment when the person you are staring at catches you and you quickly have to change your eye direction.” Awkward moments happen…. Today we laugh at ourselves and find the humor in our missteps —

★~ It’s Oatmeal Cookie Day!

Oatmeal cookies have been around since the late 1800s. They originated in England, and evolved from the savory oatcake. In the Middle Ages, soldiers carried oatcakes with them in case they needed a quick boost of energy during battle. Although our modern-day version is much sweeter, oatcakes and oatmeal cookies share many of the same ingredients. For example, spices, nuts, and raisins are the most common add-ins for both recipes. My version includes chocolate chips and no raisins.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1931 –  The first electric razor was marketed by Schick, Inc.

♥~ 1850 –  Businessmen William Fargo and Henry Wells combined their express mail businesses to start American Express. They started another famous delivery and banking company a short time later, with Wells getting first billing.

♥~ 1893 –  Stanley Cup. Lord Frederick Stanley, the former governor-general of Canada started a tradition on this date when he pledged to donate a silver challenge cup to the best hockey team in Canada. The cup still exists, only now it’s awarded to the best team in the National Hockey League. And it still bears the name of its donor.

♥~ 1937 – A public school building in New London, Texas was destroyed by a natural gas explosion. An investigation later determined that a gas leak in the large, unvented basement of the school had been ignited by an unknown spark in the building.  The death toll was 298. The natural gas used in the building was raw, unprocessed natural gas, which is virtually odorless. As a result of the disaster, the Texas Legislatures passed regulations requiring that all utility gas must be odorized so that leaks could be more easily detected.

♥~ 1978 – The Bee Gees started an eight-week stay at the top of the pop music charts with Night Fever (they had a total of nine #1 hits) from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

♥~ 1995 – Michael Jordan announces that he will be returning to the NBA; changing Jersey to #45.

♥~ 2004 – A 100-foot diameter asteroid passed within 26,500 miles of Earth. It was the closest recored brush by an asteroid.

★~Born Today:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/hRIRTQ_k-Sg[/youtube]

♥~ 1858 – Rudolf Diesel – Invented the diesel engine and unveiled it at the World Fair in 1900. Diesel originally designed the engine to run on peanut oil and was a big believer in the role plant oils could play in fueling America. Biodiesel is a cleaner-burning, petroleum-free alternative to diesel that can be made from any fat or vegetable oil. This day honors the man whose vision comes full circle as biodiesel becomes an increasingly popular fuel.

♥~ 1927- John Kander, Composer (“Chicago”), turns 85

♥~ 1938 –Charley Pride Country Music Hall of  Famer: Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’, Why Baby Why; member of Grand Ol’ Opry, CMA Entertainer of the Year [1971], Male Vocalist of the Year [1971-1972]; semipro baseball player

♥~ 1943 – Kevin Dobson, Actor: Kojak, Knots Landing, Shannon, Dirty Work, Code of Honor, Midway

♥~ 1950 – Brad Dourif, Actor:  Phoenix, Color of Night, Wild Palms, Final Judgement, Jungle Fever, Body Parts, Mississippi Burning, Blue Velvet, Dune, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Studs Lonigan

♥~ 1959  – Irene Cara, singer: Fame, The Dream; actress: Fame, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Caged in Paradiso, City Heat, For Us the Living, Killing ’Em Softly

♥~ 1962 – James McMurtry, Rock singer, songwriter

♥~ 1963 – Vanessa Williams  singer: LPs: The Comfort Zone, The Sweetest Days; actress: Eraser, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man; Broadway: Kiss of the Spider Woman, Into The Woods; Miss America 1984

♥~ 1979 – Queen Latifah,  rapper, Hip-hop’s first lady (though some would attribute that to Roxanne Shanté), the woman behind the moniker is Dana Owens. She came from a police family–both her father and older brother were cops, which would later influence her rhyming style and life philosophy. Owens witnessed both sides of Black urban life in the USA while growing up. After a brief stint as a Burger King employee, she soon found herself making waves in the hip-hop music scene.

★~ Good to Know: 

This is fun: 102-year-old man creatively rants about English spelling:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/2_dc65V7DV8[/youtube]

Hack: Use a wine glass in a bowl for a raised dip container!

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Better late than never? Hope your Tuesday has been terrific but if it hasn’t please feel free to rant–it is rant Tuesday!

Odd Loves Company!