"Success is not
final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue
that counts."~ Winston Churchill
I never fail to
have the courage to successfully enjoy a Happy Friday!
Mar 10, 2017
Daylight Saving
Tomorrow night March 11, 2am is the time to change your clocks and the batteries in smoke and fire detectors. This time of year we again tear the bottom off the blanket and sew it on the top as we heed the political call to control time and change our clocks to Spring Forward. Lots of fun as we continue the semi-annual game to convince ourselves that we are indeed the masters of time. Meanwhile the birds and bees happily continue to forage, blissfully ignorant of our plight.
Happy National Pi and Potato Chip Day
Not sure how it happened these two are celebrated on the same day, March 14. Especially because Pi is infinite without repetition and eating potato chips is infinite with repetition. Regardless, I bet you cannot eat just 3.14 potato chips, especially if they are Better Made brand.
Artisanal, Bespoke, and Handcrafted
These words have increasing play on social media and are often used interchangeably, but there are subtle differences.
Artisanal is an adjective, pertaining to a person skilled in an applied art. Men were taught artisanal skills such as clothes-making and carpentry, etc. Also, pertaining to a high-quality or distinctive product made in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods.
Bespoke is another adjective relating to goods, especially clothing made to order, such as a bespoke suit.
Handcrafted is a past participle verb meaning to make skillfully by hand, such as a handcrafted rocking chair.
Artisanal is an adjective, pertaining to a person skilled in an applied art. Men were taught artisanal skills such as clothes-making and carpentry, etc. Also, pertaining to a high-quality or distinctive product made in small quantities, usually by hand or using traditional methods.
Bespoke is another adjective relating to goods, especially clothing made to order, such as a bespoke suit.
Handcrafted is a past participle verb meaning to make skillfully by hand, such as a handcrafted rocking chair.
Name Changes
When the Anglo-Saxons conquered Britain in the 5th Century, they transformed not only its society, but its language, which we now know as Old English. Remnants of their rule remain inscribed in maps of not only London, but Britain; the Anglo-Saxon suffix ‘-ham’ (as in Birmingham) meant homestead, for example, while ‘-ton’ (like Brighton) referred to a farm. The ending ‘-ing’, meant belonging to or associated with someone, or their followers. So Paddington was the farmstead belonging to Padda or his clan, Kennington was that of Cēna’s people.
When the Normans invaded in 1066, though, they seized Saxon properties to hand out among their loyalists and tacked on new names accordingly. One winner in the land-grab was the abbey of Bec-Hellouin, in Normandy, which was granted the land that once belonged to a Saxon chief named Tota. All of which turned into the name today, Tooting.
Around 190, London was Londinium.
When the Normans invaded in 1066, though, they seized Saxon properties to hand out among their loyalists and tacked on new names accordingly. One winner in the land-grab was the abbey of Bec-Hellouin, in Normandy, which was granted the land that once belonged to a Saxon chief named Tota. All of which turned into the name today, Tooting.
Around 190, London was Londinium.
Forth Bridge
During March 1890, the Forth railway bridge, connecting Edinburgh to Fife over the Firth of Forth, opened, becoming an internationally recognized Scottish landmark. So, the tongue twisting Forth bridge over the Firth of Forth connects to Fife.
Newts and Salamanders
Newt and salamander are often used interchangeably, but there are subtle distinctions between the two. Newts are a type of salamander, belonging to a subfamily called Pleurodelinae of the family Salamandridae. Both are able to regenerate nearly all parts of the body, such as limbs, tail, eyes, intestines, heart, and spinal cord.
Newts have three metamorphoses throughout their life, an aquatic larva, a terrestrial juvenile stage called an eft, and an adult stage. As adults, newts live a semi-aquatic to aquatic life. Most newts have webbed feet and a paddle-like tail, which make it easier to live in the water. Newts usually have rougher skin than salamanders. During the breeding season, they develop a flat tail.
Adult salamanders live a mostly terrestrial life except when breeding and laying eggs. A salamander is pregnant for only a few days. Salamanders typically have longer and more rounded tails with well-developed toes for digging in soil. Salamanders have smooth, wet skin like a frog. There are over 600 different species of salamanders.
All newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts, just like a toad is a frog, but all frogs are not toads.
Newts have three metamorphoses throughout their life, an aquatic larva, a terrestrial juvenile stage called an eft, and an adult stage. As adults, newts live a semi-aquatic to aquatic life. Most newts have webbed feet and a paddle-like tail, which make it easier to live in the water. Newts usually have rougher skin than salamanders. During the breeding season, they develop a flat tail.
Adult salamanders live a mostly terrestrial life except when breeding and laying eggs. A salamander is pregnant for only a few days. Salamanders typically have longer and more rounded tails with well-developed toes for digging in soil. Salamanders have smooth, wet skin like a frog. There are over 600 different species of salamanders.
All newts are salamanders, but not all salamanders are newts, just like a toad is a frog, but all frogs are not toads.
Picture-in-Picture Redo
Microsoft Windows 10 is coming out with a new update soon. It has a feature called Compact Overlay window. You can keep watching a movie or video chat on one corner of your screen, even when switching apps to check email or browse the web.
The compact overlay mode will be shown above other windows so it will not get blocked. Another way to be unproductive by watching and listening to YouTube videos or Skypeing while trying to get something accomplished.
The compact overlay mode will be shown above other windows so it will not get blocked. Another way to be unproductive by watching and listening to YouTube videos or Skypeing while trying to get something accomplished.
Mar 3, 2017
Happy Friday
A smile is the seed of
blooming happiness.
It is always blooming happiness for me, especially on a Happy Friday!
It is always blooming happiness for me, especially on a Happy Friday!
Happy National I Want You to be Happy Day
Today, March 3. This day was created
as a day encouraging us to do something to make others happy.
Putting a smile on someone’s face tends to put one on yours, too.
How appropriate that it falls on a Happy Friday this year.
IHOP National Pancake Day
Unlike the worldwide pancake
day we celebrated this week, IHOP has its own. It began as a
charitable event during 2006. Head over to IHOP on Tuesday March 7
for a free short stack of pancakes. IHOP encourages a donation for
its charities supporting children battling critical illnesses.
Statue of Liberty Fact
Statue of liberty seven spikes represent
the seven oceans and seven continents.
Grass Art
Some
things are as boring as watching grass grow. These artists take
that idea to a whole new level. Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey
make photographs using grass. They call it Chlorophyll
Apparitions.
When grass is grown from seed on a vertical surface, it can record complex images much as photographic film does: Each germinating blade produces chlorophyll in proportion to the light that reaches it. Stronger light produces greener grass, and blades deprived of light grow, but produce no chlorophyll, leaving them yellow. “In a sense we have adapted the photographic art of producing pictures on a sensitive film to the light sensitivity of emergent blades of young grass.”
They shine negatives of a picture through a projector to produce a light onto a canvas that has been coated with a growing medium and real grass seeds. If you are interested in more of the process, here is a LINK
When grass is grown from seed on a vertical surface, it can record complex images much as photographic film does: Each germinating blade produces chlorophyll in proportion to the light that reaches it. Stronger light produces greener grass, and blades deprived of light grow, but produce no chlorophyll, leaving them yellow. “In a sense we have adapted the photographic art of producing pictures on a sensitive film to the light sensitivity of emergent blades of young grass.”
They shine negatives of a picture through a projector to produce a light onto a canvas that has been coated with a growing medium and real grass seeds. If you are interested in more of the process, here is a LINK
Seven More Peanut Butter Facts
Peanut butter more or less as we know it today was popularized at the 1893 World Fair. In the early 1900s, peanut butter made frequent appearances in tea rooms across the nation where it was billed as a dish for rich people. Back then, it was paired with items, such as cucumbers, cheese, celery, and crackers. At that point, peanut butter was still considered a “high end” food and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were not a commonly eaten food item.
Peanut butter spread to the masses during the 1920s and 1930s, shortly after pre-sliced bread came into existence. At that time commercial brands Skippy and Peter Pan began.
With the Great Depression, peanut butter on bread became a staple in many American households, because it provided a hearty, filling meal with a cheaper-than-meat substitute for protein.
During WWII the peanut butter and jelly sandwich became a popular meal among United States soldiers. When soldiers arrived home from the war, peanut butter and jelly sales skyrocketed.
The PB&J is a bigger hit in the United States than in most other countries.
The average American will eat around 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they turn 18.
Incidentally, peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes (a type of plant with seeds that grow inside pods like peas or beans). Nuts are grown on trees, peanuts grow underground. March is National Peanut Month.
Peanut butter spread to the masses during the 1920s and 1930s, shortly after pre-sliced bread came into existence. At that time commercial brands Skippy and Peter Pan began.
With the Great Depression, peanut butter on bread became a staple in many American households, because it provided a hearty, filling meal with a cheaper-than-meat substitute for protein.
During WWII the peanut butter and jelly sandwich became a popular meal among United States soldiers. When soldiers arrived home from the war, peanut butter and jelly sales skyrocketed.
The PB&J is a bigger hit in the United States than in most other countries.
The average American will eat around 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they turn 18.
Incidentally, peanuts are not nuts, they are legumes (a type of plant with seeds that grow inside pods like peas or beans). Nuts are grown on trees, peanuts grow underground. March is National Peanut Month.
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