7 Feb

 

7 February 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 6 Day 38 \ Ave. Sky Cover 15% \ Visibility 19 miles Flagstaff Today 40° \18°  Wind 7mph \ Gusts 16mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 132mi \ Nearest Lightning 2205mi
Feb. Averages for Flagstaff: 47° \ 19° \5 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

1-7
Women's Heart Week
World Interfaith Harmony Week
2-8
Publicity for Profit Week
4-11  
Freelance Writer Appreciation Week
5-11
African Heritage & Health Week
Burn Awareness Week Link  
Children's Authors & Illustrators Week
5-12  
Children's Authors & Illustrators Week
5-12  
Dump Your Significant Jerk Week
6-12 Children's Mental Health Week Link 
6-10
6-10
International Networking Week
National School Counseling Week Link 
Pride in Foodservice Week
Pride in Foodservice Week Link 
Tax Identity Theft Week
Tax Identity Theft Week Link 
Tinnitus Awareness Week
Tinnitus Awareness Week Link 
7-14 
7-14 
Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week Link
Have A Heart for A Chained Dog Week Link
National Marriage Week Link  Link
Risk Awareness Week
7-12
Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend
Love Makes the World Go Round; But, Laughter Keeps Us From

 

Daily Observations

African American Coaches Day
Ballet Day
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Clash Day
 "e" Day (math) Link
Laura Ingalls Wilder Day
National Fettuccine Alfredo Day
National Periodic Table Day  Link
Rose Day
Safer Internet Day Link
Wave All Your Fingers At Your Neighbor's Day
Who Shall I Be Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another nice winter day.

My ophthalmologist really likes his ‘toys’. My checkup today included a picture of my eye. I looked into the machine at a small green flower. There was a very, very bright flash of white light, then on to the other eye. The Dr. looked at the pictures and said I was doing fine.

Beyoncé is now the artist with the most Grammy Awards in the history of the awards. She really is a great talent.

Over 2300 people have been killed, with the number rising hourly, in a huge earthquake in Turkey/Syria. The pictures are quite disturbing.

Other Balloons…

Arizona is a great state…

v The 13 stripes on the Arizona flag represent the 13 original colonies of the United States.

v The negotiations for Geronimo's final surrender took place in Skeleton Canyon, near present day Douglas, Arizona, in 1886.

v Prescott, Arizona is home to the world's oldest rodeo, and Payson, Arizona is home to the world's oldest continuous rodeo, both of which date back to the 1880's.

Facts…

Cleopatra Was a Victim of Roman Propaganda

Cleopatra’s legacy is so complicated because it tangles with historical biases against strong, female rulers and the propaganda of the early Roman Empire. Today, most people know Cleopatra as a seductress, one who had romances with two of the most powerful Roman leaders in the first century CE, and who used her sex appeal to manipulate geopolitics in her favor. However, the source of many of these colorful tales is Octavian’s (later Caesar Augustus’) propaganda machine; he launched the equivalent of a fake news campaign to discredit the foreign queen and his rival Mark Antony. When Octavian proved victorious against Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, the victors became the authors of history, and it has taken millennia for scholars to learn more about the real life of this fascinating final pharaoh. 

Slang Origins

1986: Righteous

Meaning: something cool or amazing

The ‘80s seem to have spawned a dozen ways to call something cool. “Righteous” is yet another. Perhaps its most famous usage happens in a scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” in which a school secretary uses the slang of the day (including several words on this list) to describe all the people who think Ferris is a “righteous dude.”

Trivia…

Moby Dick was the favorite book of one of the three founders of the coffee empire Starbucks. He wanted to name the company after the story's fabled ship Pequod, but he and his partners reconsidered and settled instead on the name of the first mate, Starbuck.

Historical Events

1795 – The 11th Amendment was ratified, reaffirming the sovereignty of the individual United States.
1817 – The first public gas streetlight was lit in Baltimore, Maryland, the first in the United States.
1914 – The silent film Kid Auto Races at Venice premiered in theaters, featuring Charlie Chaplin in his first screen appearance as The Little Tramp.

Birthdays Today

@90 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American writer (d. 1958)
“I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life that are the real ones after all.”– Laura Ingalls Wilder
@82 – John Deere, blacksmith, founded Deere & Company (d. 1886)
“It is a source of consolation to me to know that I never willfully wronged any man and that I never put on the market a poorly-made implement.”– John Deere
@78 – James Augustus Murray, English, 3rd editor for the Oxford English Dictionary (d. 1915)
@75 – [Clarence Linden]’Buster’ Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983; heart attack)
@70 – An Wang, Chinese-American engineer, founded Wang Laboratories (d. 1990; cancer)
@65 – Sinclair Lewis, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951; alcoholism)
63 – James Spader, American actor
61 – Garth Brooks, American singer-songwriter
61 – Eddie Izzard, English comedian
“I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from.”– Eddie Izzard
@61 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor and director (d. 2017; heart failure)
@58 – Charles Dickens, English novelist and critic (d. 1870)
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”– Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities
58 – Chris Rock, American comedic actor
“You don’t pay taxes – they take taxes.”– Chris Rock
@57 – Sir Thomas More, English Scholar (d. 1535; executed)
“A man acts suitably to his nature, when he conquers his enemy in such a way as that no other creature but a man could be capable of, and that is by the strength of his understanding.”– Thomas More
51 – Robyn Lively, American actress
49 – Steve Nash, basketball star
45 – Ashton Kutcher, American actor
“I don’t believe that old cliche that good things come to those who wait. I think good things come to those who want something so bad they can’t sit still.”– Ashton Kutcher
38 – Tina Majorino, American actress